DISCLAIMER: The beautiful story of "Christy" is owned by the Lesourd family, and the author of this story is in no way seeking profit from what he has written. This was written purely for fun and enjoyment. Title: A Light Upon the Shore Author: Seth D. A LIGHT UPON THE SHORE CHAPTER 1 I pulled my heavy flannel jacket up over the top of my hair as I mounted Princess. She neighed lovingly as I reached down to stoke her velvety skin. Bending my head to kiss her warm body, I was amazed at the heat that radiated from her. I lingered to allow her warmth to flow over my face as a tide washing over a sandy beach. It was...in way, refreshing on that crisp December morning. It was Christmas Eve, and now I was certain that we were going to have a white Christmas. I was always amazed at the beauty of the mountains in Spring, but nothing could ever compare to the Mountain Winters. The endless mountains covered with soft downy blankets of white were enough to fill one's eyes with beauty sufficient for a lifetime, but God never finishes any of His jobs with "just enough." Not at all! It was so exciting as every day He never ceased to surprise us with a new miracle. One day, while my kids from school and I were exercising our best efforts to construct a snowman, whom the children named Snowy (much to Creed's displeasure as he fought for the name Rascal), Ruby Mae and Zady had discovered a treasure. Underneath the shade of an evergreen tree and surrounded by a small tuft of grass, was a pale purple wildflower. Only the Lord knows how it survived. And that was only ONE of the many joys that had been popping up this Holiday season. With a sigh, I looked to my side. "Shall we go?" I asked with a grin. "To the mission!" was the answer of the man on another horse beside me. I smiled to myself as I clicked my tongue and guided Princess beside his horse. Above my head, frosted evergreen trees with ice cicles that called out to my eager tongue formed a kingdom of ice; beside me I had my King; and I was riding on my beloved animal. "Is this what it feels like to be a queen?" I pondered silently. Looking once again to the man beside me, I almost let out a small chuckle. Somehow I had always known that he was the one. Sure, I had been confused because of the constant presence of another man, but, there was just something about... "Pennie for your thoughts..." I looked up sharply as his voice cut my thoughts short. Warmth flowed into my cheeks. I was embarassed to be caught so deep in my thoughts. I just laughed and we continued on through the Christmas Eve Winter wonderland... *** It had taken us an hour to reach the mission despite the fact that we lived less than half an hour on horseback away. We could hardly ride ten feet without stopping to cherish another of nature's artwork. When we had reached the mission, we had split up and headed separately to the church. I had gone with Miss Alice and he had met with some of the mountain men. I had never seen such a large group of the mountain people in one building before that I can ever remember. The entire church was completely full to where I had barely enough room to sit down between Fairlight and Miss Alice. It was a joyous celebration! Only one week before, the mission had sent out an invitation to anyone far and near in the cove to come and join in a Christmas get-together to think about the Babe of Bethlehem, reminisce, sing praises to God, and maybe even have a Christmas sermon, if David was able to catch everyone's attention. Just as the chatter began to rise to an almost unbearable level, I heard a loud whistle, then the tones of that ever familiar Scottish accent. "I think we're all here. Rev'rend?" He raised his eyebrows in David's direction before reclaiming his seat. "Uh, thank-you very much, Doctor. I'm sure you all know why you are here." He paused for effect, and I could see by the size and concentratedness of the crowd that he was going to have a difficult time controlling their attention very long. "It has been two years since our last Christmas celebration like this, and we all thought that it was about time to gather everyone together again!" The crowd had divided opinions about this, which they voiced through bright smiles or tired groans. "So, to begin, why don't we just open it up to you. If anyone feels moved to get up and share a Christmas story with us...or, I guess it doesn't even have to be focused around Christmas. This is just free remembering time, so take it away!" He smiled so bright that I couldn't help but smile back. He looked around the room for anyone who might have some old or new story to chew over, but for a while there was nothing but silence. "Do y'all remember 'The Christmas of Surprises' we had ourselves 'bout two years ago?" came the sound of a woman's whispery voice from the throng that almost sounded like Opal. That one question reacted in an uproar of "Yea's" and only a few "not sure's." "The Christmas of Surprises." I smiled as I remembered it. Two years ago, around this time, Cutter Gap had been faced by so many surprises that it had been given that name. "Great idea, Opal!" David grined broadly at the chance to get some energy flowing through the shivering crowd. Most of the men were standing, and I was almost afraid that their legs would become stiff. But, everyone seemed to forget pains of the physical world as they followed David down memory lane. "I think we all remember that year. Why don't we spend a while to share memories and even maybe surprise ourselves again?" I chuckled. So did Miss Alice. She turned to me and whispered, "I think our dear preacher may get somewhere with this, yet." "Well," the sound of bundled cloth coats and wool scarfs rubbing together began the trip to our memories like an overture as we all turned to face a kind looking man that rose from the crowd. "If no one else wants to start...I think I'd like ta take ya all back to the day before Christmas Eve that very year..." *** December 23, Two Years Earlier "Miz Christy!! Miz Alice!! Preacher!! Breakfast is served!!" A mixture of Ruby Mae's joviant invitation, the sound of hot oil crackling in a skillet, and the smell of hot sausage teasing our noses drew all three of us quickly to the kitchen where we grumbled and yawned at the red head smiling brighter than ever. "Well I never did think you was ever goin' ta come outta your beds. I's a musta been screamin' and a yellin' for ten minutes now! You just wait, Preacher. I've got the best hot sausage you ever did tast sittin' right here on this here plate just for'a you!" She paused. I wondered if it was to give any of us a chance to shoot a word in, or just to catch her breath. "Well, come on, now then. Don't you be shy! Anyone for possum and eggs? My speciality!" And so we sat down, and began just another regular morning. *** "So...what do you think?" I stared into Fairlight's bright blue eyes as they bounced around nervously. I had just asked her opinion of how the dress rehearsal of my schoolchildren's Christmas play this year had gone, and I didn't think she had even heard a word. "Fairlight?" I paused. She rubbed her hand across her forehead, and I saw the telltale gleam of sweat along her hairline. "Fairlight. What's wrong? Are you okay?" Her eyes flickered back to mine. "Christy..." She spoke in such a whisper that I could barely hear. "I've been...." She paused again and took a second to collect her thoughts. "For the past week, I've been 'a noticin' something. Anytime I'm outside, ya know leavin' a bone for the wee coons er somethin' that stick around, I hear a strange rustlin' in them there bushes there thet I ain't never heard 'afore. Sometimes I even heared a low breathin' sound..." She gestured a worn finger quickly in the general direction of a small grouping of bushes a short distance to my right. I took a quick glance, then looked down to scrape some mud off of my shoes. "And then, you know what?" her hushed tone continued. "I go inside and look out not two minutes later, and the bone I left is gone!" Her eyes lit on fire with the seriousness of what she had to say. "Completely!" I felt sorry for her. Maybe she had been working too hard lately and was just tired and thought she was noticing something that wasn't there. "Fairlight, are you sure? Maybe..." "Miz Christy. Sure as I was thet Jeb was th'un fer me, I'm sure thet..." Her eyes darted back to the bushes. I myself had heard the rustling this time. I spoke in a purpousfully loud voice. "Fairlight, did you say you had an extra scrap of meat you wanted to leave for the stray animals? Well, why don't you just toss it down, and let's get inside out of the cold?" She nervously nodded, grabbed a scrap of the meat that was tied to the roof just inside the wooden doorway, and we scurried inside. Shutting the thin door behind us, I echoed Fairlight's deep sigh. I still didn't quite know for sure whether someone or something was outside the door in those bushes or not, but I had heard the noise, too. "Christy," she was still whispering. "I ain't told you the worst of it, yet..." I could see small glints of moisture forming in her eyes as she swallowed hard. "A week ago 'fore I'd been hearin' anythin', Zady was comin' home from school when....she thought she heared someone behind her, but when she looked back, there wasn't nothin' there. She didn't really think nothin' of it, but when she got home, she heard a big crack behind her, and then a bush started shakin' somethin' awful....my poor baby was all a'scared....she screamed and ran in the house..." I stopped her. "Fairlight? Have you talked to Jeb about all this?" "No, I didn't want ta worry him none..." Our eyes mutually moved back to the door. It was such a thin piece of hard wood, but yet it was our protector from the fear that someone might be out there. I looked to her, but her eyes remained glued to the door. I tried to shake the girlish fear from my head, and decided to face whatever it was I was running from. I stepped forward to the door, and slowly opened it just a crack. I could feel my heart pounding deep withing my chest as I peeked outside. The scrap of meat was gone. Completely. *** "So you think that will keep you stocked up until two weeks from this Sunday, then?" "Yes.....I believe it will, Neil." Alice scanned the grouping of various salves, creams, and other medicinal products that the young doctor was unloading from his bag. Reaching for a basket, she began to pack them in tightly as Neil sighed and ran a hand through his thick curls. "Well, that'll be all then." With a quick nod to Alice, he turned to leave. Poking his calloused hands through the thin tattered coat, he grabbed the door handle and swung it open. "Hello..." came that unforgettable voice from a pale form standing directly in front of him. Neil stood frozen in time. Alice rose slowly from her hard wooden chair, as the person took one step forward, then paused. Alice and Neil moved not an inch in disbelief as the person's eyes rolled backwards, and with arms and legs shaking involuntarily, the uninvited guest began to fall forward as Neil barely had time to reach out his arms to break the fall. CHAPTER 2 "And this one's for you, Sam Houston!" I smiled brightly as I handed a small package to the little boy that was wrapped in a simple paper bag with "Merry Christmas" colored on it. "Thanks, teacher!" I always loved handing out Christmas presents to my kids. Seeing children open gifts is one of the most precious things in life. "Heloooo! Uuunited States Maiiiilll!!" My schoolchildren and I ran outside to greet Mr. Pentland as he dragged a heaping six letters up to the schoolyard. It never ceased to amaze me how little things like "six letters" seemed like so much more here in the cove than back home. As their cheerful, but loud voices begged for letters bearing their name, Mr. Pentland waved his hands in a futile attempt to quiet them. I chuckled as he looked up at me in a stressed mess. "How do you keep these here noisy things under control, Miz Christy?" I only laughed louder as I hushed them. "Alright..." He moved his arms around, making use of the space he now had since they had backed off. "I see here I have a letter for one Miz Christy from Ashhhhheville," I was shocked to hear there was a letter for me. It had been months since my last letter from home. Then a sudden wintry gust of air that washed over my entire body reminded me of the season. I assumed it would be a Christmas card from Mom and Dad. "Oh, well how 'bout that...here's another'un fer ya, too," his gruff voice proclaimed as he handed me another envelope. This one was thicker than most, and had a return address I couldn't recognize. Curiosity burned within me as I tucked it away in the pocket of my thick woolen coat. It would have to wait until later. *** Alice stood quietly above the motionless form that was lying on her bed. Tears were burning paths down her cheeks as she knelt down beside her daughter. Only hours ago Neil had completed a thorough examination on her. He had decided that she had developed a very rare and terminal case of Strightomata, a disease spread through tiny parasites that thrive in warm, wet conditions. Alice choked on a swallow as she once again heard Neil's voice ringing through her ears... "I.....I'm sorry...there's nothing I can do for her now, Alice.....if only she had come sooner..." "No, Neil, thee...thee is a doctor of modern medicine...surely there is something thee can do..." she had responded tearfully, wringing her wrists. "Alice....she has already slipped into a coma. That was not a mere fainting spell we saw out there. She has something I can't cure and..." "If thee would but get over thy hate for what she has done to thee, maybe thee could really try to save her!" she had snapped at him without thinking clearly. "You..." he had sighed and ran his rough hand through his hair. "There is nothing I can do! Do you think I don't remember how I fell in love with her so long ago? Do you truly think I could have forgotten the way that she had loved me back? Alice Henderson, she may have been your daughter, but she was my wife, and I did love her! She is the one who lied to us and faked a death even! Yes, I would do anything to save her life. I even try to save the lives of my worst enemies!" He pointed a finger towards the room Margaret was lying in. "But go! Stay by her side and tell her that things are going to get better and that Mommy will help her get well. Tell her that there is no disease spreading throughout her entire body, eating away at her bones. But..." he paused, turned around to wipe at his burning eyes, then back to face the shocked Alice. "But there is, Alice...there is a disease that is going to kill her! And when she finds out that she is dying and that you lied to her...what will that do t...ttt...to her..." Alice watched as one single tear streamed down his face. "Neil...thee does love Margaret...." she spoke softly as she reached out her hand to touch his arm. He jerked away, and looked back to the room that was holding his wife prisoner. He wanted to break in there, and tear apart the Strightomata. He wanted so badly to chase it away and save her like he should be able to. But this was a disease that he could not treat. He backed to the door. "Neil, stay here with me...it would help..." Alice had pleaded to the heart-torn man. Neil MacNeil shook his head quickly as a few glints of water built up in his eyes. Alice had never before in her life seen that man cry, yet he looked like he was ready to cry stronger than a child. Grabbing the door handle, he had charged outside to his horse, and raced off. "Riiiinnng!!" the phone rang, arousing Alice from her revery. Brushing Margaret's cheek with a kiss before leaving the room, she watched as one of her own tears slid down the cheek of her daughter's. "uhh...Cutter Gap Mission..." she picked up the receiver after passing downstairs to where the phone was located. She pushed herself to stop crying, so that she could hear the voice on the other end of the receiver. "Is Alice Henderson there?" the deep voice of a man plunged her into her past. Before responding, she erupted into more tears, and slammed down the phone. Was that really his voice? Was that really him? "It had to be..." she told herself. "I was never able to forget that voice..." she thought. Cries of pain resounded throughout the empty mission house as Alice fell weakly to the floor. First her only child had showed up with a terminal disease...and now he had called. Looking up toward Heaven, she whispered. "Why, God....why?" Suddenly, the door to the mission opened, and Alice tried to quickly raise herself and turn around so that her emotions would be hid, but she did not succeed. David had entered and seen her in her emotional state before she had had the chance. He spoke not a word, but simply walked over to her, kneeled down beside her, and hugged her tightly. *** Neil swung open the door of his cabin, and ran inside. Once he had retrieved the key, he quickly entered the locked room that was a mystery to many people, and hurried to the back where there was an intricate wardrobe. Within itself it held everything that was left of the Margaret he had once known. He opened it up slowly and pulled out one of the many dresses that hung inside. Holding the lavender silk gown tightly to him as tears began to fall, he was plunged into the past. Back to the day when he had found Margaret at his door, wanting to come back. How could he let her? Yet, how could he say no? She had completely betrayed his trust, and even faked a death. How could he forgive her? How could he not? For a second he had almost fallen back into love with her, but then Christy had shown up on horseback. In a fury of confusion, he had followed her. And then the Preacher had given Christy a ring. He remembered how the young girl's eyes had echoed the same confusion he had felt in his heart. Then, she had run. Run to the mission where she did not emerge for three entire days, confused beyond control. When he had returned home, Margaret was gone. To his relief. To his sorrow. Later, he had heard word that she had gotten a job with some sort of traveling singers and dancers, but he had never seen her again. He cried on into the night, repeating the name of his wife over and over... *** I shook off the wintry coldness that clung to my being as I quickly donned a snug robe that night in my room. What a day it had been! I had come home to a recovering Miss Alice and a terminally ill Margaret. Life in Cutter Gap showed no sign of life becoming easier at the moment. Gazing out my window, I frowned at the muddy wetlands that Cutter Gap was at the moment. We were well into December, and not even a flake of snow had graced the mountains. I had been looking forward to another snowy winter in the cove, but as of now, it didn't appear that I was going to get it. I carefully turned up the oil lamp that was on my desk to where it was bright enough for me to read. Reaching into the pocket of my overcoat, I pulled out the two envelopes addressed to me. I smiled as my eyes feasted on the bright reds, greens, and blues that decorated the Christmas card from Mom and Dad that I assumed Mom had painted herself. With anticipation, I began to tear the other envelope, placing the card aside. I still could think of no connection that I had with the return address, which caused my excitement to mount as I finally got the top torn open. "Christy!" I heard a familiar whisper at my door. I couldn't quite place the voice, but it was familiar. "Hello?" I responded. Tying my robe together, I added, "Come on in." I squinted to see through the lamplight as two figures came through my doorway. My smile brightened as I recognized my two guests. I ran forward and gave one of them a hug. "Welcome home!" I grinned. "Don't tell David that we're here....we want it to be a surprise...." I nodded, then paused. "Wait..." I whispered. "There's something different about you..." I pointed to the person I had hugged as the guest turned sideways, showing me the difference. I smiled even wider, and gave them both hugs. *** Fairlight shuddered as she drew her dark brown shawl tighter around her petite frame. A particularly cold draft seemed to have descended upon the cove, and, as she walked through the woods toward home, she began to feel as if her entire body was becoming numb. CRACK! She jerked to a stop, and turned to look behind her. Darkness had overcome the daylight, but the probing fingers of moonlight as they reached down through the trees were sufficient to illuminate most of the woods. A shiver danced through her spine as she heard her own voice call, "Hello?" Suddenly, the bare trees around her began to grow leaves as she heard a low unearthing whisper coming from them. "Fairlight....we have been waiting....Fairlight..." they seemed to whisper. The inky darkness melted away as the sun rose high into the sky. Confused and from fright, Fairlight began to back away in the direction of her house. The trees continued to grow deep green leaves and whisper her name, and, as she was backing away in confused fear, she tripped over a sprouting plant. The small sprout shot up from the hard packed earth and became a mighty tree, where it began to yield bushels worth of green apples that glimmered in the sun's power. Astounded by the beauty of the tree, her fear dissipated until, from behind her, she heard, "Fairlight?" She turned as fast as she could, but before she could get herself completely turned around.... Breathing hard and sweating, Fairlight woke up in her bed. She choked on her own swallow as the darkness of the night pressed on her from all sides. She looked beside her, but Jeb wasn't there. Remembering that he was going to be returning from selling their last stock of honey at El Pano tomorrow morning, she forced herself to calm down. She knew why she had had that dream. "This is crazy," she told herself and made up her mind. She was going to face her fear once and for all. Creak! The door of her cabin opened slowly to a windswept barren yard that contained the source of her confusion and fright. The moon was shining brightly in her glory so that the entire area was illuminated. She took a step into the moonlight, and set her path straight for the small gathering of bushes off to the side of the little clearing. She paused at a space of about five feet from the bushes, and took a deep breath. After a few moments to gather her courage, she approached the bushes. Peeking behind the spiny needles of the bushes, she found her fear. Piles of bones and other leftover scraps of food lay there in a heap. Half reassured that she had found where all of those quickly disappearing scraps had gone and half even more afraid because she hadn't just been imagining something , she looked beyone the bushes into the woods that lay beyond. As she peered through the blackness, her eyes fell upon the outline of a man's form a great distance off lying in a ditch-type depression. Her heart jumped to her throat as new trails of terror teased her mind. What if Jeb had tried to come home early and had been injured or shot at? What if some strange man was out there laying in the woods? Unable to leave with so many unanswered questions, she stepped forward, and slowly approached the man. She pushed herself to walk about ten feet away from the unidentified form. She squinted, but the darkness was too impenetrable for her to identify him. However, all of a sudden the moon shifted and cast down a bright beam of moonlight directly beside the man. Fairlight raised her hand to her heart. It wasn't Jeb that she saw, but there was something unexplainably familiar about the man that tormented her memory as she couldn't decide what it was about the man that told her heart that she knew him. He stirred in his sleep, showing her that he was alive, and she almost ran back to her door, but the familiarity of the man stopped her. Where did she know him from? He stirred again, and this time his right arm fell into her vision. It was clutching something. Looking closer, her eyes fell upon a half-eaten green apple. *** The next morning brought with it another cold barren day without a single promise of snow. But that day would also bring to us the conclusion of the surprises at Cutter Gap. A conclusion that would surprise us all... CHAPTER 4 "Are we ready?" David tried to hurry us all out the door. By cove traditions, the Christmas sermon was always on Christmas Eve to allow each family to have their personal time and reflections on Christmas morn. Thus, the devoted preacher had futily attempted to awaken the women at the mission house, including myself, extra early every Christmas Eve. He never once was successful. As Ruby Mae and I finally followed David out the door into the frozen beyond, we realized that Miss Alice was not behind us. I excused myself and told David and Ruby Mae to go on without me and that I would be coming soon. Relunctantly they had complied. "Miss Alice?" I cautiously walked into the room where I knew the dying Margaret lay. I was sure that I would find Miss Alice there, and I had been right. The sight of the adult woman I had grown to love kneeling beside that bedside, heaving with sobs, and constantly repeating, "I love thee...please come back..." to the lifeless form of the beautiful Margaret lying perfectly on the bed, was enough to break the heart of even the most heartless man. I walked quietly over to her, and layed my hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me through a blurred vision and put her arms around me. "Oh, Christy....oh...my daughter....she....she's d...ddd...die..." she sobbed. "Shhhh...." I quietly replied as I hugged her. "Riiingg!" the phone rang. We both looked up, surprised. Phone calls were not at all that common. Not wanting to leave Miss Alice, but also not wanting to make her answer the phone, I nudged her to follow me to the phone that was still ringing. She held in her eyes a fear that grew with each ring, which I did not at that moment understand. "Hello?" I picked up the receiver. "Is Alice Henderson there?" I gave the receiver to Miss Alice and watched as her hand went to her heart. She tried to hang it up, but I caught her hand, and once again spoke into the technological innovation. "She cannot speak with you right now...may I take a message for her? May I ask your name?" "I must speak with her..." the man's voice was adamant. "I'm sorry...but she is not able to right now..." "I...I am the father of Margaret..." he slowly said. I pushed my heart back down to my chest as I tried to reply. "Who is this really? Why would you play such a cruel joke on Miss Alice?" "I am not lying....I am Margaret's father....and I need to speak with Alice..." I placed my hand over the receiver, and spoke to the confused woman beside me. "Miss Alice...I don't know who is on this phone..." "It...it is....Margaret's father....the man who..." she cried quietly. I began to understand the fear I saw in her eyes. Her only daughter was dying, and now the man who had been the source of hurt beyond explanation was back in her life. I spoke slowly. "Maybe this is a gift to you from God. Don't you see? Within your heart you have for so long carried the burden of what happened between you and this man, despite your repentance for it. Please try to see what I am trying to say. Maybe if you simply talk to this man, you will be able to forgive him AND yourself. Don't you see how God might be sending you a blessing?" I paused. "I'll let you decide what to do..." I left the woman who appeared to be praying for help as the receiver sat there...waiting for her. *** "And so Jesus was the very first Christmas present to all of us," David paused as he looked out over the meager, but faithful congregation. "He was our gift from God. Isn't it exciting? He later on died for us so that we could go to Heaven instead of Hell. And now all those who have not made a change have left to do is simply ask for God's forgiveness and change their lives! I have. Have you?" He stopped as he saw Miss Alice and I coming through the doorway, smiling. Then, he drew in his breath quickly out of surprise as he saw the couple following me, the unexpected guests that had shown up at my room the previous night. "Ida!" he called, and hurried from the pulpit to embrace her. Then he stepped back, and looked down to her stomach. She nodded and reached over to grab her husband's hand. "The baby's due the end of May!" her excited voice chimed. David gave her another hug, and also hugged his brother-in-law. "Congratulations, Clarence," he excitedly said to the man beaming proudly beside Ida. David wanted to continue his small reunion, but noticed that the entire congregation was patiently sitting on the partially frozen pews. He winked to Ida, then walked back up to the pulpit proudly. With a grin from ear to ear, he announced the return of his sister and brother-in-law and Ida's pregnancy. As Miss Alice, Clarence, Ida, and I bent down to sit on a free pew, I looked to the happy couple. I began to envy their happiness. In that instant, I began to question my wisdom in turning down the ring that David had wanted so bad to place on my finger, but before I had had the chance to fall into the undying circle of confusion that single question had always spurned, something overcame David. The color drained from his face and he appeared as if he had seen a ghost. All of a sudden, the doors to the church swung open. Turning, the awesome sight I saw reminded me of God's undying grace and love for us. There, standing with a small, knowing smile in front of a backdrop of inticate, crystalline flakes of snow that were coming down by the dozens, was Margaret! The snow was dusting her body and giving her a more beautiful shimmer as she walked slowly into the church. Miss Alice arose, her hand on her cheek, stood up slowly, then ran to Margaret, and the two stood there, frozen in time as no one spoke a word. Then, to all of our surprise, Neil came walking up behind her. He joined Miss Alice and Margaret in a hug. No word could express what the three of them were feeling, and I myself was confused about exactly what was going on, but I just watched, my heart soaring. *** "Christy!" Fairlight excitedly called to me as I was leaving the church. I turned and was surprised to see her in the middle of Opal and some man I had never seen before, but had a strange likeness to the two women he was with. He looked thin and beat-up as if he had been living in a ditch for months without much to eat. I don't think I had ever seen her as excited as she was that day. "I'd like ya to meet my long lost brother Charley..." tears came to her eyes as she made the introduction. "D'ya remember how I told ya 'bout him 'a leavin' us at such a young age when ma said he couldn't have none of the green apples she had gathered fer supper? Well...he...he's back..." the tears began to flow as she hugged him tighter. "I think he's the greatest Christmas present I have ever gotten!" "Pleased to meet you," I shook his hand. "How did you ever find your sisters?" "Oh, well, I ain't rightly sure...I had been travelin' from place to place searching for work so thet I could make myself a livin', but wasn't findin' nothin'. In El Pano, I heard some folks talkin' 'bout the Spencer honey, and one had mentioned how 'Jeb and Fairlight Spencer had themselves the best honey 'round,' and I couldn't believe my ears. I didn't believe it would be my sister Fairlight, but I walked all the way here, and as I was 'a travelin' I saw this young'un who had so much of my sister in her, I wondered if she could be my neice." Now tears began to well up in his eyes. "I followed her home...and accidently scared her...Then I stayed near their house...after I ss...sssaw this Fairlight Spencer," it was so touching to see him crying so freely, "I was sure it was my sister...but I couldn't get myself to go up to her. I didn't know what she would be thinkin'...or if she'd even remember me..." The four of us stood there in the snow silently. There was no reason for anyone to speak a word. All of us just being there, together, was enough. *** "So, there's something I don't quite understand..." I questioned. The night hours were dragging on as Margaret, Miss Alice, and I were gathered in my bedroom listening to Margaret's story, trying to talk away the indegestion Ruby Mae's latest possum surprise had left us feeling. "How did you come in contact with your father?" I asked timidly. "I was traveling with my dancin' group, and accidently bumped into this older man at a market, who, when looking at me, began to almost break down and cry as if he had seen a ghost. After asking my name and where I had been born, he began to apologize to me for what he had done to mother. I think that the guilt has built up in him that...." she paused. "Well, then, he wanted to come home here and take me with him. I refused because of what had happened the last time I had returned, saying that I was never going to come back." I could see hurt in her eyes, and began to feel guilt. I knew that I was part of the source of her hurt. "But my meeting with my...my father..." her voice trailed off as she held back a tear. "I didn't know what to do...so, in my confusion, I sent you a letter, Christy...but you never replied..." Understanding hit me like a knife as I remembered the strange letter I had received that was still laying on my desk. I arose, and quickly retrieved it, holding it like a treasure. "I am so so sorry..." I began to apologize. "I sat down to read it, and then Ida and Clarence had shown up..." She smiled her forgiveness through a trickle of tears. Then, the voice of Miss Alice cut through the silence. "And so he called me. Twice. The first time I had hung up on him..." regret shined in her eyes. "But," she also smiled through tears, "I have finally been able to forgive him...and myself..." She smiled in my direction. "I thank thee, Christy..." and then she gazed up to heaven, "and I thank thee God, for your forgiveness, and for my daughter...so many Christmas presents that I did not deserve..." *** I watched the snow continue to fall out my window. The beauty of Christmas had returned to the mountains, and we were finally going to have a white Christmas. It seemed like the perfect ending, except for one factor. Neil. He had left quickly after his appearance at the church. I wondered how he felt about Magaret. I wondered how she felt about him. And, yes, I wondered how I felt about him and David. They were both still a mystery to me. And, yet it would not be long until I would finally understand my heart. THE END