Title: The Ending to the Road Home Author: Gap Summary: Christy follows her heart, and chooses the man she REALLY loves. Christy Huddleston stood in front of the schoolhouse. After months of feminine evasion, she was finally forced to choose between Reverend David Grantland and Doctor Neil MacNeill. Christy stared at the diamond ring in her hand. "She's thinking about MacNeill, " despaired David. "She's thinking of the preacher," sighed Neil, getting off of his horse. Actually Christy was examining the stone for flaws. "Is this the best David can do?" she thought in disgust. "Christy!" implored David, his nerves ready to snap from the suspense. Christy debated with herself, then finally resolved to tell the truth. "I cannot marry you, David," she announced. David sucked in his breath, stung. "There's another man whose name is written on my secret heart..." Neil's face split with a broad grin, and he proudly began walking towards Christy. "And his name is Dr..." "Jacob Ferrand," said that gentleman, appearing out of nowhere, perched precariously on a horse. Christy beamed, and raced towards him. David's jaw dropped open in a soundless scream. Neil, however, was in worse shape, looking like he'd been hit by a tank...er, I mean a train. Dr. Ferrand carefully dismounted, anxious not to aggravate his rheumatism. David finally found his voice. "But, why, Christy, why?" he sobbed. It was bad enough when he thought it was MacNeill, but this revelation was too much to bear. "It sounds sooo distinguished to be able to say you've married a doctor. And I've always liked older men," replied Christy, gazing dreamily at Ferrand. "I'm old!" cried Neil desperately. Christy paid no attention to him. The young teacher was too absorbed in admiring her lover. " My what big muscles you have doctor!" she cooed. David choked at seeing Christy fawn over the decidedly corpulent Ferrand. The shock took its toll on the preacher. "Christy," he moaned weakly, before passing out into a dead faint. Unfortunately, no one caught David; they were all busy watching Ferrand help Christy onto his horse. The beautiful Miss Huddleston then rode off into the sunset with her love. " I have big muscles!" shrieked Neil at the top of his lungs. He ripped off his flannel shirt, to the excited squeals of Christyfest fans. But the happy couple were long gone, setting forth to begin a new life together. THE END Title: The Epilogue to the Sequel to the Ending of the Road Home (Pt 1) Author: Gap It was ten years since Ferrand's untimely encounter with Miss Alice's shotgun. Yet Christy was still a Huddleston. David and Neil regarded each other with gloomy satisfaction, content that at least the other man was not preferred. Christy's heart was buried in the grave forever. That was until one day... "Oh, Miz Christy!" gushed Lulu Spencer on her wedding day. "I was so scared I'd be an old maid just like you." Stung, the schoolteacher instantly bristled. Old maid! How could anyone call her an old maid with two gorgeous men hanging on her every word? She'd show her! She'd show them all! Christy scanned the crowd. Yes, there was David, sourly postponing his wedding plans for another summer. And she could hear Neil blowing his nose; weddings always made him sentimental. Christy weighed her two suitors carefully in her mind... "YOO HOO, DR. MACNEILL!" David snapped out of his reverie, horrified to see Christy skip over to his rival's side. It didn't take long to figure out what had happened; Christy batted her eyelashes at Neil once, and the stubborn Scot melted like beeswax. "I knew it." Fairlight Spencer appeared out of nowhere, openly triumphant. "Don't tell me, you saw it in a dream." David sneered. But his sarcasm was understandable in the circumstances. "Nope. I knew she'd end up with Neil. Seeing he's most like Ferrand than you." David's eyes narrowed. Well, he wasn't giving up without a fight... At first it seemed like an uphill battle. Neil was a muscular physician who got older with every minute. But David fought back with valor. One morning, he appeared at the breakfast table...with a bushy beard and mustache. Alarmed at Christy's delight, Neil decided on drastic measures; the next Sunday, he showed up at church. David stiffened in the pulpit, as Neil squeezed poor Ruby Mae out of the pew, to sit by the beaming Christy. It was open warfare now. David cultivated a booming voice like Ferrand, while Neil took up body building. One day it would be David, waving a paper under Christy's nose, certifying that he earned a medical degree through the El Pano School of Correspondance. Then the next day, Neil would return from a secret trip from Knoxville with another paper that legally changed his name to Jacob Ferrand. Christy smugly basked in their attention while the Cove looked on, wondering, who would the young schoolmarm choose? End Part 1 Title: The Epilogue to the Sequel to the Ending of the Road Home (Pt 2) Sometime in the mid 1980's... Part 2 Christy banged the television set with her cane. Those boys had promised to fix the antenna as fast as they could, but she was missing her favorite soap. "David! Can you fix the TV?" The white haired man sitting at the dining table stirred, but did not wake. "DAVID!!!" screeched the bad-tempered old lady at the top of her lungs. He woke up with a start. "What's that? You want to marry me?" he asked eagerly. Christy rolled her eyes, there was no point in trying to make the stone deaf preacher understand. David continued to look hopefully at Christy, but she went back to glaring at the blank screen. With a sigh, he put on his bifocals and started to read his mail. There was a telegram addressed to him... Thump. Christy frowned with annoyance. Was it the set again? No, David had fallen over backwards in his chair. Christy heaved herself out of the easy chair, and shuffled closer to investigate. David lay as stiff as a board, staring blankly at the ceiling. The telegram was still clutched in his hand; stooping down with great difficulty, Christy read it. "Margaret dead. Dolly." Least'un Spencer (the fourth) was trying to adjust the TV antenna on the mission roof. He was defeated in his efforts by the well-intentioned assistance of Neil MacNeill, aka Jacob Ferrand. By all reasoning, the Scot should have been dead a long time ago, but he stubbornly refused to leave the field clear for David. Now over 100, Neil was quite senile, with only two thoughts left in his head: 1. that he wanted to marry Christy Huddleston and 2. that he had big muscles. Least'un tolerated the ancient physician, as everyone else in the Cove did. No one was as good-natured as Doc MacNeill-Ferrand, who always popped out his false teeth to the fascination of the young'uns. Neil caught sight of Christy, who had come out of the house. "Look, Miss Huddleston," he called out with childish glee. "I've got..." "Big muscles." finished Least'un with a sigh. He didn't like Miz Christy, the old lady was a terror to two generations of Cove scholars, with her intense dislike of children. But she was looking mighty pert for some reason. "Let's get married, Neil." Least'un blinked in astonishment. Did he become as deaf as the preacher or was that the root beer talking? Nope, he heard right; the radiance on the Doc's face was blinding. Christy flipped her flowing grey hair over her shoulders; she meant to do it gracefully, but her tricks had become rusty with long disuse. Not that Neil minded; ecstatic, he took a step towards his love...and tumbled off the roof. Least'un made short work of making his way to the spread-eagled body, lying lifelessly on the ground. The young man listened to Neil's heart. "I'm sorry, Miz Christy, but he's gone." At least the Doc died happy, reflected Least'un, seeing the smile frozen on the corpse's face. Christy's sobs were heart-wrenching. Least'un patted her shoulder awkwardly. It must be horrible, waiting a whole lifetime to find out you loved someone, then having him die like that. Least'un said so, and was surprised to see the little old teacher shake her head violently. "It's not that, " she sobbed, "I'm going to die an old maid!" And she did. The end for keeps