The Princess Club / Family Secrets / Mountain Madness by Catherine Marshall Read Free Book Online

Christy said. “But I want you to think about how you’d feel if some of the other children wouldn’t let you join their club.”
    â€œSpeakin’ factually, Miz Christy,” Ruby Mae said with a sly grin, “you got us doin’ so much thinkin’ about other people, I don’t see as how there’ll be any room left for thinkin’ about our ’rithmetic test.”
    Christy laughed. “Nice try, Ruby Mae.”
    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 children’s 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 Mae’s math test. Four wrong answers out of seven. No, Ruby Mae definitely did not have her mind on “’rithmetic” today.
    Christy piled up the math tests and straightened her desk. She’d grade the rest at home this evening.
    Before leaving, she opened her desk drawer and removed the Sears Roebuck catalog she’d 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 didn’t need.
    When she’d first come to Cutter Gap, she’d wondered how these people could get by on so little. She still remembered the first mountain home she’d seen—the 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 kitchen—a 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 worked— a lesson Mountie had learned only too well this afternoon.
    â€œKnock, knock!”
    Christy
looked up in surprise to see Doctor MacNeill standing in the doorway. He was holding a slightly wilted handful of wild violets.
    â€œNeil! What brings you here?”
    â€œI had to stop by to talk to Miss Alice about a scarlet fever case she’s been helping me with. Thought you might want to take a walk.” He gave an embarrassed grin. “Sorry about the violets. It’s the thought that counts.”
    Christy grinned. “I’m sure they were lovely.”
    â€œWhat’s that?” Neil pointed to the catalog.
    â€œTrouble, that’s what it is.”
    As she started to close the catalog, Christy’s gaze fell on a beautiful dress. Back home in Asheville, she’d 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 wouldn’t be the same as having it.
    Like an imaginary doll, she thought with sudden sadness.

Ten
    F or sure and certain nobody followed us?” Bessie asked for what had to be the hundredth time that afternoon.
    â€œFor sure and certain, Bessie,” Ruby Mae said. She peered through the thick