"Neil?"
He walked over to me. "And that is why, I brought you this." He pulled his hand from behind his back. He was holding a glass dish of ice cream. "Strawberries and cream," he said.
"But Sam Houston?"
"Is alive and complaining that his arm hurts and wants to know when he can go look for arrow heads again. He only had a minor wound with soft tissue damage to the shoulder. He was a very lucky boy though." Neil sat down on the bench beside me and looked at me carefully--I could tell that he used his physician's eyes. "I have a note from him and the rest of the children in my pocket, but before I let you read it," he paused, dipped the spoon into the ice cream, and then brought a bite to my lips. "You have to eat this whole dish."
"Neil don't be silly!" I reached for his pocket, but he dodged me.
"No, no no. A deal is a deal." He had that mischievous grin on his face again, like he knew a secret. I opened my mouth, and he fed me the ice cream. To my surprise it tasted good. It had been so long since I had tasted ice cream.
"How did you know that strawberries and cream was my favorite?" I asked.
"A doctor knows these kinds of things, Miss Huddleston. Besides, you look like a strawberries and cream kind of lass." He fed me another bite. I blushed.
"I can eat it on my own you know." I told him. He forced more in my mouth as if to stop my talking.
"You can do everything on your own, but this time, I am not going to let you." He filled my mouth with another cool spoonful. "Are you okay?" His voice had taken a serious tone.
"Yes, I think so. I am just worried about George now." I paused. "And, I can't shake this feeling that I will never be anyone's daughter again. No one will ever love me like that again." I crossed my arms so that I would not cry.
"I felt that way when my parents died. But you should never say never, Miss Huddleston." He fed me another bite. "I looked in on George before I came up here. His vital signs are good, Christy, but we are just going to have to wait it out."
After he fed me the last bite of ice cream, I had to admit that I felt better. "Okay, I kept my end of the bargain, can I see the letter now?"
Dr MacNeill took from his pocket a homemade envelope. The children had decorated it with colors and pictures. He handed it to me. I opened it. Inside I found: a drawing that Clara had done; it was of the schoolhouse. There was also a scratchy note from Sam Houston; it read, "I'm just fine and dandy, teacher, don't fret none, but come home to us soon. We miss you."
"He wrote that with his bad arm." Neil explained. "He told me to tell you that so you wouldn't think his penmanship had gone sour."
Mountie had written a word for every letter in the alphabet. Ruby Mae had pressed flowers and pasted them on paper; underneath them she had written--the flowers just aren't near as purty without you here, Mizz Christy. Little Burl had written a prayer. "Dear God. Please make Mizz Christy's family all better so that she can come home to us." Lundy Taylor had written an essay. The last line read: Until Mizz Christy come to Cutter Gap, I thought that I was a no account idiot, but now I want to be a teacher like her, so I can shows other kids that they are not no account idiots. Rob Allen wrote a poem:
The morning spilled over the mountains today
I walked along the creek
It was a deliciously warm morning for May
And I found myself at the schoolhouse door
But inside there was not that gleeful ray
For our schoolteacher had gone away.
There was also a note from John Spencer that read: I have written a song for you Mizz Christy, but you will have to come back to Cutter Gap to hear it.
Tears of joy filled my eyes. I looked up at Neil, whose eyes had never left mine.
"I just love how much you care about those children." He said. "I've never met anyone quite like you Christy Huddleston."
We sat there for a long time. I was exhausted from running such a large range of emotion. With Neil sitting so near, I could smell him. He had a distinct scent of pipe tobacco, lie soap, and the faint bitter smell of medicine. Before I had thought, I leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for cheering me up."
He grinned and pressed his hand on his cheek where I had kissed him. "Okay, Miss Huddleston. It's time for you to take a nap. Alice, David, and I will watch over George, but you need some sleep." He got up, took my hand, and led me back inside the hospital.