The fall wind seemed as if it had a little more bite to it than it did the day before as Reverend Alden finished part of his circuit. He pulled his suit coat closed over his chest to try and stay a little warmer and was almost ready to turn his buggy toward Walnut Grove when he noticed his horse starting to limp, "Whoa," he said pulled gently on the reins.

Alden stepped down from his buggy and walked to his horse, patting the animal as he looked at the horse's right front hoof, "Oh. No wonder your limping," he bent down and rubbed the animal's leg. It appeared that the wobbling wheel on the Reverend's buggy had caused the animal to pull a tendon or something.

Clearly the preacher was no veterinarian, and somewhat at a loss of what to do for his horse. He looked up the road and could see some of the outlaying buildings of Sleepy Eye. Alden sighed, "We'll head there and I'll get you looked after," he said as he led his horse by the bridle, up the road, rather than make the animal suffer any more by riding in his rig.

It was almost noon, which on a normal day would have gotten him back to Walnut Grove without issue and would have allowed him to prepare for his Sunday service the next morning. Something about the day was beginning to irritate the preacher, but he was unable to put his finger on it.

An hour had passed and Reverend Alden finally reached the outskirts of Sleepy Eye. Alden rather despised the town, as it held a more loud and boisterous feel about it unlike his hometown of Walnut Grove. In fact the sooner he could leave Sleepy Eye the better off he'd feel, especially on a Saturday.

Alden walked his horse and buggy along the main street and stopped a young boy who seemed to be in somewhat of a hurry, "excuse me, young man," he smiled at the lad.

"What? Can't you see I'm in a hurry?" the youngster stated, as he kept looking over his shoulder.

"Could you point me in the direction of the livery stable?" Alden smiled naively.

The boy looked at the preacher and huffed, "Yeah, sure. It's just over there..." he said before dashing off into a crowd only to be followed by an angry merchant who was yelling after the boy, "His gone down the alley between the post office and the undertakers!"

Alden's right eyebrow crept upwards, "Thank you. I think," he said as watched the throng following the merchant as they chased the boy. The Reverend quickly pulled on the horse's bridle and hurried up the street.

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Nels Oleson finished sweeping the front steps up to the mercantile and stopped to breathe in some of the fresh fall air. He smiled at folks was they walked by and then spotted Caroline Ingalls walking across the little bridge with little Carrie in tow.

"Good afternoon, Caroline. You're in town a little later than normal," Oleson smiled.

"Yes, we are Nels. We had a small issue with the hen house last night. Charles said it was fox. I say it was more the curiosity of a certain little girl," she smiled. "I still have two dozen eggs for you," Caroline smiled.

Nels chuckled, "Kids will be kids," he stepped aside to allow Caroline and Carrie up and into the store. Nels followed them through to the counter and placed a small wicker basket on the counter so he could remove the eggs from Caroline's basket, "They look like fine eggs, today, just the same," he smiled.

"Why thank you Nels. That's not what Mrs. Oleson would say," Caroline looked around the store. "Speaking of Mrs. Oleson, when is she due home? I'm sure you miss her," Caroline looked back at the merchant.

Nels didn't comment on the missing part, but answered the other question, "Harriet is due in on the stage later tonight. She said she was stopping in Sleepy Eye to look at a dress she saw the last time she was there."

"Oh, that is so nice," Caroline smiled, "She'll like that."

"Lord knows she needs another dress," Nels rolled his eyes which caused Caroline to giggle. Nels blushed, "Please don't tell her I said that!" Caroline continued to laugh and promised that she'd say nothing. Nels was likely the only one of the lot that really had anything going for him as a decent citizen in the community. Most folks felt sorry for the man, but strangely, he was happy.

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The Reverend stood at the livery door and watched the stable master examine his horse. After a few minutes the man walked over to the preacher, "He'll be okay in a bout a week," he said.

"A week! But I need to get back to Walnut grove for tomorrow," Alden was insistent. "Have you got any other horses?"

The man nodded, "I do. But I'm not hooking any one of them up to that rig of yours until that front wheel baring is fixed. That's what cause your horse to pull in the wrong direction," he looked over to the Reverend's buggy.

Alden sighed.

"Don't look so sorry there, Reverend. There's a stage headed to Walnut Grove this afternoon. It'll get you there before nine o'clock tonight," the man said. "The coach office is just up the street and turn left. You can't miss it."

"Thank you!" Alden smiled broadly at the man before he marched into the stable to retrieve his carpet bag, "Could I ask you to fix that wheel?"

The stable master smiled, "I'll have it ready mid week. How's that?"

Alden extended his hand, "Wonderful. Just wonderful. Thank you again!" he shook the man's hand and walked away. The stable master smiled then returned to his work.

Alden wasted no time to get to the stagecoach office. He wanted on that coach and out of Sleepy Eye as soon as possible. In fact he longed for his bed in his home - well what was his late wife's home. He promised her on her deathbed he'd live there but he found the place too big and too lonely. He decided that eventually he'd hand it over for a school of some sort, some day. But today wasn't it. He wanted his bed.

Reverend Alden stood at the window and waited for the clerk, "Here you go Reverend. You might as well wait over there. The coach won't be here for another half an hour."

"Oh, that's fine. By the way, are there any other passengers?" he asked.

The clerk looked down at his book, "Just one," he looked up to the preacher.

"Oh wonderful. Someone to talk to!" Alden said as he walked back to his seat. Perhaps things were starting to look up.