Obadiah's Angel
Chapter 2
An Upsetting Encounter
By
Becky
†
Obadiah made his way to the front desk and asked the man there if he knew where he could hire a carriage to take him to the train station. Mr. Smythe nodded and said, "Aye, that I do, sir. I'll get ye one right away." With that, he went out the back door.
Obadiah sat down in the overstuffed chair and waited for the man to return. Taking notice that the dining room had cleared out, he walked over and poured himself a glass of water. Glancing at his pocket watch, he noted that he had almost an hour before the train departed.
The encounter with the barrister had upset him immensely, and he was still shaken to think perhaps Sir Donald had witnessed the whole affair, but was relieved that he would not be in the company of the man on this next leg of his journey.
He looked up as Mr. Smythe returned. The man was smiling and said, "The carriage is being readied, sir. It will be just a few moments, and then you can be on your way."
Obadiah thanked the man and looked out the window, noting the day was sunny and bright with just the barest hint of cloud cover in the distance.
Seeing the carriage approaching from the stables, Obadiah rose from the chair and gathered his bags. "Thank you for the fine breakfast. It was a pleasure staying here. You run a fine coach house," he commented.
Making his way out the door, he set the bags on the cobblestone walk. As the carriage came to a stop, the driver jumped down and placed his bags on the seat as Obadiah climbed in.
The ride to the station was quiet and pleasant, with a light breeze bringing the varied scents of roses and lilacs with it. Obadiah thought about his new assignment and how much he wanted to do a good job as the pastor. Never before had he felt such overwhelming enthusiasm as he did now. He was light hearted at the thought of how much he could accomplish in a smaller church. 'My own parish,' he thought wistfully. 'Being there for the members of my congregation.'
"Yes, I shall put all my efforts into making it grow," he whispered softly as the carriage pulled up to the train station. Climbing out , he handed the man a shilling for his services and took his bags. Looking around, Obadiah spotted a small bench. Making his way over to it, he set his bags down and took a seat to await the train that would take him to London.
Obadiah took out his watch and looked once again at the time. The train was late. He had been sitting on the bench since 9 o'clock, and it was almost noon. Sighing, he rose and made his way to the ticket window to inquire about the arrival of the train. The station master assured him that sometimes unforeseen problems arose, and that the train had been late before, sometimes as much as six hours behind schedule. With a "Thank you sir," Obadiah turned around, and went back to the bench, and sat down.
Sighing , he took in his surroundings. He noticed a small establishment across from the station that had several patrons seated around tables, eating lunch. He suddenly found he was quite hungry and decided he needed to eat before the train arrived.
Leaving his bags sitting on the platform, he walked across to the small cafe and took a seat at a small, cozy table underneath a willow tree.
The owner approached him and handed him a card with several food items listed there. Studying the list, Obadiah noticed they served a steak and kidney pie. Smiling at the man, he handed the card back and placed his order. "I believe I will have the steak and kidney pie, and a pot of tea, please." The waiter nodded and then turned and left.
While waiting for his meal, Obadiah noticed a newspaper on the table. Opening it, he began to read a bit of the area news. Several minutes later, his meal was brought, and he began to eat as he continued to read the paper. As he sat there, oblivious to the goings on around him, several young women began to take notice of the young and attractive preacher. Seating themselves at the next table over, they stole sidelong glances at him and whispered amongst themselves.
One particular girl was brazen enough to approach him. "Hey there, handsome," she said, as she smiled and leaned toward him, giving him a glimpse of her ample bosom.
He was rather startled and could not believe she was speaking to him in such a manner.
"What's your name, cutie?" she continued with her brazen talk in a rather suggestive tone. "Have you ever been defrocked?"
His eyebrow climbed high as he looked at her sternly and said, "That is most improper talk for a young lady."
She boldly looked him up and down, gave him a smile and a wink, and went back to her table. She continued to cast shameless glances his way, and the tittering laughter between her and her friends was grating on his nerves. Rising from the chair, he left the money to pay for his meal on the table. Turning to retrieve his hat from the other chair, he made ready to return to the station platform and await the train.
When he started to leave the cafe, the girl caught his arm, smiled once again at him, and asked, "Are you sure?"
He shook his head, jerked his arm from her grasp, and quickly left the patio. Walking briskly from the cafe, the girl's echoing laughter could be heard even from across the street.
Hastening to the platform, he found another seat away from the stares of the young women at the eatery and sat down with a wary glance in that direction. Anxiously looking around from time to time to make sure he would not be accosted again, he finally relaxed when he saw them leave.
The little encounter had shaken him, and he found himself rather nervous for quite sometime. He was not one to be upset so readily, but he had to admit to himself, strong women frightened him.
He thought about his mother and how domineering she'd been, how she always seemed to know, or so she thought, what was vital to his happiness. She was the reason he'd gone into the ministry, to escape her control and domineering attitude. He thought about her from time to time, but it was not often with fondness. He was relieved to be away from her, as he thought about how she had tried to marry him off to the Brewster girl, how she'd insisted it was a perfect match. "Perfect for her perhaps," he sneered in reaction to his thoughts. The girl's father was wealthy and a widower, and Obadiah knew why his mother had tried so hard to get him engaged. Years later, he would admit to himself it had been her illness that had contributed to her actions.
He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts, and took out his prayer book. Finding comfort among the words, he read from the Psalms. Then he thought about his first Sunday at his new assignment and began looking up several passages. He turned the page corners down marking the chapter he intended to use. The encounter with the brazen girl had placed the idea firmly in his thoughts. As his first Sunday Sermon was swirling in his head, he read several passages on wickedness. 'Yes,' he thought, 'this will be my first sermon on Sunday; start them off with Genesis, Genesis 6:5.'
