August 29, 1885
4:45 PM PST

Emmett Lloyd Brown swallowed, just as he was listening to Mayor Hubert speak at the town meeting. He was rather starting to wonder why he agreed to show up. After all, it was not as if he could actually make any real significant difference. After all, he was residing a whole century in the past - and, as such, he didn't belong in the year 1885.

It has actually been almost eight months, since he had last seen Martin Seamus McFly - who was his close friend from 1985. He had last seen Marty in 1955, when they had to retrieve a sports almanac from Biff Tannen. Even though he did grow very close to Marty's ancestors, Seamus and Maggie McFly - he still missed the future teenager.

"We quite have one last important order of business," announced Mayor Hubert. "We managed to find someone who is quite willing to teach, and it's a middle-aged woman. She will need someone to pick her up at the train station, and bring her into town."

Emmett swallowed, as he glanced around. To his dismay, he sure could hear the other townsfolk just muttering about "being too busy" or "having other plans". Even Seamus mentioned "having a lot of farm work to do". There seemed to not be one volunteer.

"Uh, Mayor Hubert, I'm willing to pick her up," offered Emmett, as his heart quite went out to her. Even if the others might not really have any such malicious thoughts about the newcomer, he simply couldn't help but feel bad. "I have not made any huge plans, so I... I am more than willing to make all the arrangements necessary to pick her up."

"Your offer is sure much appreciated," replied Mayor Hubert, with a grateful smile. "As I learn more details about when she'll be arriving - I'll be rather certain to stop by your blacksmith shop, and let you know. At any rate, the town meeting is now adjourned."

Emmett sighed, just as he stood up. He began to wonder if he actually made the right decision. He sure wondered if, in the original timeline, nobody had volunteered to pick her up. Still, he felt as if he was morally obliged to make a newcomer feel welcome.

"I simply wish to congratulate you, Mr. Brown," called out a familiar voice. As Emmett turned around, he saw that it was Seamus. "I do hope you don't quite think me a... I rather did want to pick up the new schoolteacher, but I already had plans to work on the farm. So, uh, I hope you don't think any less of me - and I really wish you luck."

"There is no need to worry, Mr. McFly," Emmett replied, softly. "After all, I do not like to pass judgement on anyone - and I can understand how much work really goes into tending a farm. I suppose you really would not have time to, uh, stop by my place."

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Brown," Seamus replied, shaking his heads. "After all, I promised Mags that I would head straight home - and... Our Will rather seems to be running a minor fever - but, with the proper treatment, I do reckon that he will be just fine."

"Well, I am quite sorry to hear about Will," Emmett replied, squeezing Seamus' arm. "I will pray that he gets better, soon. I do hope you have a good day, and you tell your wife that I said 'howdy'." As the duo stepped out of the town hall, he added, "Do you still have some of those chocolate chunks that I gave to you? You seem to really..."

"We do have several pints left ," Seamus replied, nodding. "Me wife is quite more of a chocolate lover, though - than I am." He stepped into his carriage, as he added, "You have a fine evening, sir! 'Tis a shame that we could not spend more time together!"

Emmett smiled, as he waved to Marty's ancestor. He glanced up towards the sky, as he began to ponder over how nice the weather was. He sure began to wonder what the schoolteacher was like. He hoped so much that she would be a rather nice lady.

He sighed, as his thoughts then turned to Marty. Earlier in the day, he had buried the DeLorean time machine in the Del Gato mine - and he rather made a final decision that he would ask Western Union to deliver a letter to Marty in 1955. He would instruct for Marty to ask the Emmett Brown of 1955 fix the time machine, and send Marty home.

While the next plan was so painful for him, to say the least - he would also give Marty explicit instructions to not go back in time, and pick him up. He quite decided that he had caused enough disruption to the space-time continuum - and, besides that, he certainly came to enjoy living in the fresh air and wide open spaces of the Old West.

Indeed, as sad as it might be, he quite decided that it was best for his young friend to remain being over the hills and far away - as he rather knew that Marty would be a lot happier living in 1985. Besides, Marty had other friends - including Jennifer Parker.

His thoughts then turned back to the schoolteacher. For some reason, he really could not help but feel rather apprehensive. He was uncertain as to just why, though. Was he afraid that the schoolteacher just would not like him, for some reason or another?

As much as he hated to consider the thought - was he, subconsciously, intimidated by the fact that the teacher was a female? The fact was, he had such a tendency to feel nervous around unmarried women. Perhaps, he was very leery of meeting another Jill Wooster - a woman who had acted as if she loved him, and then cruelly rejected him.

Oh, don't be silly! Emmett chided himself. Just because the teacher is a female, and you are a male - that's really no reason to believe that she will fall for you, only to later spurn you. Besides, it has been about forty years - since the day that she...

Emmett stopped short, as he realized that the incident would happen over sixty years in the future. It was rather unsettling to him, in fact, that Jill Wooster's cruel rejection of him still stung him strongly. He thought that he had gotten over it, a long time ago.

While, technically, the incident might be in the future - as far as his own life was quite concerned, it was in the past. As such, he had to let go of such negative emotions. It would be rather unjust to just assume the worst about the new schoolteacher, based solely on her gender. Most likely, the schoolteacher would have no feelings for him.

Granted, he really hoped that the teacher would like him on a friendship level - but the chances of the teacher having any romantic feelings for him was very slim, even if she was middle-aged and single. Besides, Emmett himself was not exactly middle-aged.

While the rejuvenation surgery that he underwent in 2015 made him look about three decades younger, he did still have white hair - and it sure was rare for men under the age of fifty to have white hair. He would still look quite old for a middle-aged woman.

He sighed, as he caught sight of his blacksmith shop and home. He figured that it was about time to begin writing his letter to Marty. He simply had a lot of money to use, in order to bribe the Western Union faculty into holding onto the letter. This would quite be a painful process for him, as the thought of never seeing Marty again was painful.

As Emmett stepped into his shop, he started to think of just what all his decision would entail. Would he be able to live another 35 years, until he saw himself born as a baby? Most likely, though, he would not live to see Marty's birth. Tears came to his eyes.

He went to prepare himself a glass of iced tea, as he wondered just what the teacher would be like. What if she just turned out to be a stern type of woman? He would feel sorry for all the children in town, and he would feel so tempted to just abandon her.

On the other hand, though, she might be one of the gentle types. The chances of her falling in love with him, however, would be very unlikely. He sighed, as he quite began to ponder over his motive for volunteering. At the time, he really felt bad that nobody else was volunteering. However, did he have a deeper - more subconscious - motive?

He sipped on his iced tea, and then sat on his bed. He started to wonder why he was even really thinking about romance. A long time ago, he had actually resigned himself to remaining single for the rest of his life. He really should have no problem with that.

Besides, getting involvement in such a social relationship in his past could rather result in a disruption of the space-time continuum. He simply opted to not have Marty return for him, for that very reason. So, as such, how come he had romance on his mind?

"Perhaps, I had better get some sleep," muttered Emmett, as he set the glass of iced tea beside him. He decided that the letter could rather wait until the next day. At the moment, he felt rather tired. He hoped that, upon waking up, he might actually begin to think more sensibly. "I do need to stop entertaining myself with such nonsense."

Emmett stretched, as he crawled under the covers. He did not care if it was not even quite suppertime. He rather had to be going out of his mind, if volunteering to pick up the new schoolteacher made him think of Jill Wooster - and thinking about romance.

"Or, perhaps, I'm just quite starting to miss Marty," suggested Emmett, sighing. "Since I opted not to have him return for me... However, it's really not as if I didn't make any friends in this era. I've even grown close to Marty's ancestors, so I should not be..."

Emmett sighed, as he blinked back his tears. Between having opted not to have Marty return for him and having volunteered to pick up the new schoolteacher, he really had a lot on his mind. As a scientist, though, he rather knew that he had to think with logic - and not with emotion. Still, as a human being, he could not simply deny his emotions.

Tears began to roll down his cheeks, as he lay his head against the pillow. Indeed, he felt a rather deep sense of longing for Marty. Still, he knew that Marty was better off living in 1985 - while Emmett was happier with living here. It would be for the best.