Christy said. âBut I want you to think about how youâd feel if some of the other children wouldnât let you join their club.â
âSpeakinâ factually, Miz Christy,â Ruby Mae said with a sly grin, âyou got us doinâ so much thinkinâ about other people, I donât see as how thereâll be any room left for thinkinâ about our ârithmetic test.â
Christy laughed. âNice try, Ruby Mae.â
That afternoon, after the children left school for the day, Christy sat at her desk, grading papers. The sun cast long yellow rays through the windows, spreading onto the floor like melted butter. The sweet smell of honeysuckle carried on the warm breeze. A scarlet tanager warbled joyously from the branch of a hickory tree.
Christy loved this time of day, when the echoes of the childrenâs voices still lingered and the chalk dust still hung in the air. It was a time to reflect on her day. How could she help the children learn better? What could she do tomorrow and the next day to make their hard lives a little easier?
She scanned Ruby Maeâs math test. Four wrong answers out of seven. No, Ruby Mae definitely did not have her mind on âârithmeticâ today.
Christy piled up the math tests and straightened her desk. Sheâd grade the rest at home this evening.
Before leaving, she opened her desk drawer and removed the Sears Roebuck catalog sheâd put there for safekeeping. Locking up temptation, she thought with a rueful smile. Just like the gold in her trunk, back at the mission house.
She thumbed through the pages. Page after page of things . Things people needed, things people didnât need.
When sheâd first come to Cutter Gap, sheâd wondered how these people could get by on so little. She still remembered the first mountain home sheâd seenâthe cabin belonging to Clara Spencer and her family. It was gloomy and cramped, just two rooms, side by side. The family owned a few sticks of furniture and a big iron pot in the kitchenâa pot that was empty, more often than not. And yet the love and happiness Christy had discovered in the midst of those tiny rooms had filled her with awe.
Christy flipped to the back of the catalog, where she happened upon a page of school supplies. Chalkboards, pencils, paper by the pound, even beautiful desks! How wonderful it would be to be able to order everything she needed and have it all magically appear. But that was not the way the world workedâ a lesson Mountie had learned only too well this afternoon.
âKnock, knock!â
Christy
looked up in surprise to see Doctor MacNeill standing in the doorway. He was holding a slightly wilted handful of wild violets.
âNeil! What brings you here?â
âI had to stop by to talk to Miss Alice about a scarlet fever case sheâs been helping me with. Thought you might want to take a walk.â He gave an embarrassed grin. âSorry about the violets. Itâs the thought that counts.â
Christy grinned. âIâm sure they were lovely.â
âWhatâs that?â Neil pointed to the catalog.
âTrouble, thatâs what it is.â
As she started to close the catalog, Christyâs gaze fell on a beautiful dress. Back home in Asheville, sheâd seen one of her old friends in a dress just like it. Blue satin, sleeves trimmed in lace, tiny pearl buttons down the bodice. It had been beautiful.
Christy traced her finger over the drawing of the dress.
Be the belle of the ball! . . . the description began.
Quickly, she slapped the catalog shut. There was no point in imagining such a thing. It wouldnât be the same as having it.
Like an imaginary doll, she thought with sudden sadness.
Ten
F or sure and certain nobody followed us?â Bessie asked for what had to be the hundredth time that afternoon.
âFor sure and certain, Bessie,â Ruby Mae said. She peered through the thick