Title:  "Ring"
By SaraJane  - email:  sarajane83@hotmail.com
April 2001
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DISCLAIMER:  The characters in this story are not my own.  They are from the 
novel Christy by Catherine Marshall and the CBS series "Christy".  In no way 
is this story meant to infringe upon "Christy" rights, as this is purely 
non-profit, unpublished fan fiction.  Catherine Marshal's story of Christy 
is owned by the LeSourd Family.  I am in no way seeking profit or credit for 
her story.  I am continuing the story of "Christy" for my own amusement 
only.  Any additions in story line and characters were invented by the 
writer.  Any similarities to other works of fan fiction are purely 
coincidental.

I have been reading the fan fiction on the Christy Link and wanted to try 
some of my own.  I have started two of them.  This is the first one I have 
finished.  It's fairly short.  One of my favorite times in the book and 
especially the television series is when the character, Doctor Neil MacNeil 
"spins" a story.  I have not even tried to attempt his wonderful Scottish 
brogue, so please use your own imagination.  They say when you write, to 
write about things you know.  This is an actual, true story passed down to 
me from my father who grew up in the lower Southeastern section of the 
Ozarks in Missouri."

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                                            RING

"Ya gots ta tell Teacher tha story, Doc…" Turning to Christy, "me an' tha 
Doc share a pitiful sorry losin' our bestest hounds, Singer Lee an' Ring", 
explained Sam Houston.

Christy began to correct him.  "You mean Doc and I".

"Ya mean you an' tha Doc done lost a hound like me an' tha Doc?"

"No, Sam Houston", Christy smiled, looking down at his serious little face, 
"I mean the proper English is Doc and I, not me and the Doc".

Sam Houston shook his head.  "What's tha diff-er-rence, Teacher, tha Doc an' 
you or you an' the Doc, it's tha same meanen".

"If you two would stop your English lesson long enough, I could get on with 
the story…that's if you're still interested".


"Sorry Doc.  Wimmen jus' don' understan us men no how sometimes.  No 
off-fense Miz Christy".
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Christy, Neil and Sam Houston were enjoying the comfort of a fallen log 
around an early morning campfire by God's Fist.  They had found Sam Houston 
there paying his respects to Singer Lee's remains. They were concerned this 
little boy had decided to take such a journey, alone.   Naturally, Sam 
Houston was feeling "poorly".  Neil hoped to share a special moment with 
him, and Christy, of course.

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Neil's eyes twinkled and he leaned back enjoying the moment before "the 
story" began.  He paused long enough and began.

"The first time I saw old Ring, he was tied to a pole fence in Jim Belski's 
yard.  Two days before I had traded Mr. Belski, sight unseen, a quarter-ton 
of pea hay for the hound."

Sam Houston chimed in, "Ma Pa an' me, we had heered bout a new hound tha' 
Doc had gotten hisself".  Lookin' at 'em, ma Pa's faith in the Doc's 
judgment sure done nose-dived!"

Neil began again, "Ring was a big, black and tan hound except for a white 
ring around his neck, hence his name.  He was so lean, his ribs stuck out, 
and he'd sat on his haunches so much he'd worn away his hair.  His long ears 
drooped down his melancholy face, and his eyes were as lifeless as dried up 
olives.  He was covered with mange spots.  Wood ticks had imbedded 
themselves in his hide.  He was not at all what had been described to me.  I 
was around hounds all my life, but I figured that hound to be about as 
useful as a one-legged stool."

"Not long after, I took old Ring to visit my Aunt Hattie.  He took to a 
scent and went crazy.  She claimed God put something special in that moist, 
black nose.  For five years until he died, no squirrel, possum, or raccoon 
was safe in Cutter Gap and beyond.  When he'd hit a track, his deep-throated 
call ran full and clear with scarcely a pause.  You could pick up his voice 
a mile away on those crisp, autumn nights."

Neil looked at Sam Houston and then Christy.  "The thrill of it made you 
tingle, your heart catch, and your eyes misty with that voice like no other 
you'd ever heard nor ever would again."

"Ring's reputation reached as far as Knoxville and hunters outside the cove 
begged to hunt with us, dumfounded at the stories of Ring's uncanny nose.  
People still talk about him in western Tennessee where the great river runs 
quietly past tree-shaded banks."
"Ring lived to hunt.  And he died hunting.  One minute we heard him running 
the scale of that tremendous, melodious voice, then suddenly stark silence 
that bumped our hearts."

"Jeb Spencer and I found him at the edge of the river.  I reached down and 
gently lifted his head, hoping for that familiar, warm look and the thump of 
his tail.  But those eyes would never see again."

"What 'zactly hoppened to 'im Doc?" Sam Houston asked.

"Well, Sam Houston, I reckon his heart played out."

"We buried him by the river.  Walking back home in the cold, frosty 
moonlight, Jeb asked me, "What made him so great, Doc?"

"I was silent for several paces, thinking about Ring…A dog's got feelins' 
same as a human.  Show 'em love, and let them know it, and they'll give out 
the best in 'em.  My Aunt Hattie claimed the Lord gave him that voice and 
that nose."  His voice lowered.  "I guess I gave him something Jim Belski 
never did."

"Tha's purely a fact, Doc .  I don' cotton to lovin' no gals, but hounds is 
diff-er-ent," said Sam Houston as he curled his head down on Christy's lap 
and began to fall asleep.

  Christy and Neil sat enjoying the silence for a few minutes, watching the 
fire as it burned down to glowing embers.  Neil moved a little closer to 
where Christy was sitting.  Even though Sam Houston had fallen asleep, Neil 
had decided to comment on the little man's last bit of wisdom.    He took 
Christy's left hand in his, noted it's small size and the softness of her 
fingers, and looked down as though talking to the sleeping, little boy.

"Sometimes love makes all the difference, Sam Houston.  You take a totally 
unlovely human being, strong-willed, prideful, sometimes arrogant, set in 
their ways, battered with the elements of life, and give them a 
once-in-a-lifetime chance to love and be loved, and they'll spend the rest 
of their life proving they are worth of that love."

With that, Neil gently took Christy's hand, turned it over, closed his eyes 
and placed a tender kiss on her wrist.

Sam Houston hadn't heard as he was already fast asleep , but Christy was 
wide-awake and the meaning had not been lost on her.

THE END