Christy

Christy's letter-writing campaign has found success, with one company even sending a grand piano to the mission, a gift far grander than anticipated. This gift comes with challenges, however; it will require David to transport it from El Pano to Cutter Gap. It takes him and a team of men two days to deliver the piano to the mission. Miss Alice gently rebukes Christy for not consulting the others before initiating her letter campaign, as the mission policy is to make no direct appeals for aid. Despite this, the mission continues to receive numerous donations from Christy’s initial campaign, many of which the mission either can’t use or which the local people would refuse to receive as charity. David strikes on the idea of setting up a simple store at the mission, where they can offer the goods at extremely low prices, and that way make them available to the locals in a way that won’t be seen as patronizing.

One of the persistent challenges Christy faces early in her position is an over-sensitivity to smells, particularly the smell of unbathed children—a sign of the impoverished conditions they live in. To cope with her duties without gagging, she saturates a handkerchief in perfume and keeps it at hand to mask other smells as necessary. However, as she grows to love the children, the issue of odor fades into insignificance. Her commitment to personal cleanliness even inspires older girls to emulate her, and they visit the mission to bathe, wash their hair, and press their clothes.

She also helps the girls in other ways: One child with a speech disorder faces relentless teasing, and by secretly sewing large, beautiful buttons onto the girl’s coat, Christy finds a way to make her feel valued. The girl approaches Christy gleefully, speaking clearly for the first time as she glows over her new buttons. Through these interactions, Christy discovers the power of physical affection in learning and begins to include simple signs of tenderness and acceptance. These moments reinforce Christy's commitment to her work and give her hope for the months ahead.

As part of Christy’s ongoing work with the mission, Miss Alice assigns her the task of making personal visits to every family that sends children to the school. Her initial visit is to the Morrison cabin, undertaken in the hope of mending the estrangement between Ruby Mae Morrison, the young woman who has had to take up residence at the mission, and her parents. She finds the Morrisons unresponsive to her overtures, however, unwilling to forgive and insisting that Ruby Mae still needs to be taught a lesson.

The next visit is more promising. Along with David, Christy revisits the Spencer cabin, where she had previously witnessed the treatment of Bob Allen’s injury on her first introduction to the people of the Cove. The Spencers regard the visit as an honor, cleaning their modest cabin and adorning it with flowers. Jeb Spencer begins playing music and singing, thus introducing Christy again to the central place of music in their society. Of all the folk songs she hears, one makes a lasting impression on her—“Down in the Valley,” a beautiful, contemplative song that she feels expresses the inner life of the women of Cutter Gap: “Here in these astringent lines someone had captured what I had felt so deeply, especially about the plight of the mountain women” (168).

After the impromptu concert, Fairlight Spencer shows Christy a quilt she had made and confesses that she can’t read or write, opening herself up to the new teacher and laying the foundation for a lasting friendship. On the way back to the mission, Christy tries to talk to David about the position of women in that society, and David responds by noting—perhaps with a touch of admiration—her passion for the subject.

With Fairlight’s expression of interest in reading and writing, Christy eagerly begins teaching her. Fairlight comes to the mission for private lessons and quickly proves adept at grasping the basics of reading. Another initiative Christy becomes involved in is the Sewing Circle, which meets on Saturdays when Miss Alice is in residence at the mission. During these gatherings, while the women sew, Christy reads stories from the Bible which Miss Alice has selected, passages that highlight the love and forgiveness of God. Miss Alice sees these themes as particularly necessary for the spiritual education of the people of Cutter Gap, who have been conditioned by their denominational traditions to think about God in terms of sin and judgment. Christy also encourages them to consider taking up the traditional craft of weaving again, so they can make items that the mission could sell on their behalf down in larger cities.

Later, Christy asks Miss Alice about the history of Doctor MacNeill's family. His ancestor, Neil MacNeill, visited relatives in the New World in the mid-18th century, oblivious to the aftermath of the Culloden Moor massacre that occurred in his absence back in Scotland. Upon his return, Neil found his clan devastated by the Disarming Act, which outlawed traditional Scottish customs and disrupted their way of life. Neil used his wealth to orchestrate an exodus of his people, financing several voyages to transport 1,800 Scottish immigrants to America. Settling in the Smoky Mountains, these immigrants recreated much of their traditional Scottish society in the highlands of Appalachia.

With Fairlight now under her tutelage, Christy commits time to consider her vision for providing a more robust program of adult education to increase literacy in the community. But to expand adult classes, they will eventually need an expanded program, likely with more staff, better facilities, and more supplies. Christy is still embarrassed by the gentle rebuke she received after first taking matters into her own hands with the letter-writing campaign. She tries to involve more of the mission staff in her idea this time to raise support for the mission from local sponsors, though not begging for it, which goes against the ideals of the mission’s founder.

Inspired by Queen Esther from the Bible, Christy resolves to meet with the wealthiest local magnate, Hazen Smith. Following Esther's example, she dresses in her finest attire, gets her hair styled, and purchases a new hat for the occasion, determined to look like someone who commands respect and deserves attention. Christy impresses him with her presentation, underscoring that she seeks his help only if he feels moved to contribute. The meeting goes far better than Christy had hoped: not only does she secure his interest in the mission, but he also pledges to arrange venues at which she can present the mission’s needs to a larger audience.

Christy receives a letter from her father, inviting her to come home for a visit, but she finds that she doesn’t want to leave Cutter Gap. The social circles of Asheville have more to offer, but the joy and authenticity she finds in her growing local circle at the mission strikes her as the better of the two. For entertainment and leisure, music dominates the cultural life of the Cove, and between the mission’s new piano and David’s ukelele, the missionaries find that music can open doors with the locals better than anything else. Amid the happiness of such occasions, Christy has further cause for celebration when she receives a letter from Hazen Smith with a donation and a description of forthcoming supplies.

While many of David’s pastoral visitations involve music, some are just simple conversations with the locals at their cabins. Christy accompanies him on one such visit, to see 93-year-old Aunt Polly Teague. Aware of her imminent mortality, Aunt Polly seeks reassurance from David about the afterlife. David, having been trained in seminary to discuss all the various interpretive options regarding the Bible’s teaching on the subject, struggles to provide a clear answer to Aunt Polly's questions. Aunt Polly, however, fills out the conversation with the profound reflections that David lacks, telling them a testimony of how she came to faith at a difficult time earlier in her life, and how her relationship with God continues to give her all the assurance she needs for the hope of what lies beyond death.

While Christy continues to teach Fairlight reading and writing skills, Fairlight’s friendship opens Christy’s eyes to the practical wisdom and wholesomeness of mountain life. Fairlight’s influence teaches her the art of embracing the present moment. As Christy reflects on these things, she comes to understand mountain society a little better: “I began to wonder if the mountain values were not more civilized than civilization’s. […] Now I realized why these mountain people were shy with strangers. They had never learned the citified arts of hiding feelings or of smiling when the heart was cold” (211). This helps Christy understand the place of feuds in their society, too. When a mountain person extends friendship, they expose themselves to vulnerability, as these bonds are deep, intense, and often extend into family ties. Violating such a profound bond is viewed as the ultimate betrayal.

While many outsiders view the mountain people as lazy and shiftless, Christy now knows better. Such perceptions are mostly a case of hard-working mountain people knowing how to relax. Christy and Fairlight see this principle in action as they go out to watch David’s work project, in which he enlists several mountain men to help him set up the poles for a new telephone wire into the Cove. This laborious endeavor is the fruit of Christy’s earlier letter campaign, written before she realized just how much work it was going to be. Many of the local men help David willingly, giving long hours to the project, but a few are a little too relaxed about it. He has an angry confrontation with Ozias Holt about the latter’s laziness on the job, which the women fear might lead to retribution against David and the mission.

At the school, both the children and the mission staff are delighted by the beautiful new books and maps that Hazen Smith has sent them. But it quickly becomes clear that ill will has been stirred up in the community. Christy arrives at school one morning to find that the books and maps have been vandalized—cut, torn, and trampled. Christy is heartbroken and angered by the damage, feelings compounded when buckeyes hidden in the school stove explode on her like firecrackers. The day worsens even further when Lundy Taylor starts bullying another student and then refuses to listen to Christy’s orders. Taking immediate action, Christy approaches Lundy, yanking him by the hair back into a seat. Lundy raises his fists for a confrontation, but David arrives in time to defuse tension and redirect the students.

Lundy doesn’t return to school the next week, and his part in the story recedes into the background briefly while the new telephone wiring is completed. David receives word that a test call will come in at a prearranged time, and news spreads quickly throughout the Cove. Residents of the Cove crowd excitedly together into the mission house to see if the new technology will work. When the call comes in, David answers it and then holds the receiver to Little Burl's ear, who is amazed to hear a voice on the other end: “The boy’s face was a study: bewilderment, confusion, joy, awe” (227).

As the days drag on, Christy remains troubled by Lundy’s absence from school. Eventually, she resolves to visit Lundy's father, Bird's-Eye Taylor, at their home cabin. The situation is intimidating, and the cabin even more so: “the most isolated and freakishly placed [cabin] I had seen so far” (229). While the family is wary of her intentions, and even a little hostile, they are amused to hear the full story of what happened at the school, which reveals that Lundy had overstated the matter to his parents.

More than a week after her visit, Lundy returns to school. However, trouble ensues when Lundy kicks Little Burl so hard during a playground scuffle that the boy loses consciousness. Christy is baffled by Lundy’s aggression towards Little Burl, who was merely playing hide and seek under the schoolhouse.