I'm gonna be (500 miles)

"So how did you like it today?" Shelagh asked Tom who had joined her on an outreach visit to two villages near the small town of Kifaru while on the drive back to Nonnatus Mission. Shelagh had invited him to join her so as to show him her programme. Patrick, too, had encouraged him to join the Nonnatuns every now and then since it would help him to gain a better understanding of the various layers to health policy and practice in Moshi region.

"I loved it", Tom said, beaming. "This was so very interesting. I can see why Dr Turner is talking about you so much."

Shelagh blushed. "Well, Nonnatus Mission and he go back a few years."

"Actually, he talks about you and your work most of the time." Shelagh felt her cheeks getting even warmer and she quickly turned away from Tom. She looked out of the car window where the first houses of Moshi town appeared; modest rectangular stone buildings with corrugated iron roofs.

Then she took out her notebook and began to write down her field notes until the car stopped at Nonnatus Mission compound. It was almost 6 pm and dusk was already looming.

Alec, the driver, Shelagh, Tom and Jane got out of the car and all four quickly unloaded the mobile clinic equipment. Jane offered to clean the instruments, which Shelagh happily agreed to; she still had to complete a few statistics.

A few minutes later, Tom stood outside the main house, waiting for his taxi to arrive. He lived in another part of town, sharing a house with two other British medical students, who also worked at KCMC. Shelagh was eager to get on with her work but also did not want Tom to have to wait alone, hence she walked up to him.

"Thank you for taking me," Tom said when he noticed her approaching him. "If you don't mind, I would like to come along another time. Would this be possible?"

"Of course," Shelagh said. "Just let me know when your schedule allows it and I'll take you along."

Tom smiled and took in a deep breath. "You, erm…" he began and Shelagh smiled at him encouragingly. "You said that you like hiking and that you might show me some routes in the highlands," he continued carefully. "I was thinking I might go for a hike on Sunday. Would you like to join me? That is if you don't have other plans."

Shelagh smiled. He was always so very careful, almost shy, to ask something of her. She recognized herself a few years back in the younger man – even though she would never even have dared to ask a man a question like this outside the professional sphere.

Shelagh briefly pondered his request. She loved the lush landscape of the Kilimanjaro highlands and enjoyed going for day-tours there. She had not done it in a while. Even though she normally felt safe wherever she went in and around Moshi, she followed Nonnatus Mission security policy in that she never went for longer walks or hikes on her own; she always went with at least one second person.

For a while, Trixie and Shelagh had gone hiking regularly. Since Trixie's old friend Jenny had moved to Moshi, though, Trixie spent most weekends at Jenny's house.

"Yes, I would like to go," she finally said. "I haven't been hiking in quite a while and it would be lovely to go with you," she added, smiling brightly.

"Splendid," Tom exclaimed. "Should I call you on Saturday and we arrange everything then?"

Shelagh agreed and at the same moment, the gate opened and Tom's taxi arrived. Shelagh extended her hand for a farewell, turned around and quickly walked towards her room. It was almost time for dinner and she wanted to clean up before.

On Sunday, Shelagh and Tom met at 7 am at the central bus station to catch a daladala, a minibus, to Machame, located at the slope of Mount Kilimanjaro, known for being the starting point for climbers and hikers. Shelagh and Tom planned to go for a short three or four hour hike in the highlands and return to Moshi by late afternoon.

Shelagh suggested they get off the daladala at a stop just outside of Machame to immediately begin walking. It was a sunny day and it was barely 9 am when the two started hiking along the narrow pathways running through the typical small-scale coffee fields, interspersed with banana plants, larger trees, grass huts and an occasional tethered cow.

"I hope I have not kept you from church this morning," Tom said. "I only realized last night that you probably do attend service regularly."

"Never mind. I do actually, but I also join the Sisters' morning prayers. So skipping church one Sunday won't hurt anyone," Shelagh smiled.

"Well I feel bad for skipping it myself," Tom said. "My father is a vicar and every time I skip service, even just once, I can just hear his voice scolding me."

"Oh, I see. Is this why you are interested in matters of religion and belief in your research?" Shelagh asked and Tom nodded.

"You know, my father was a missionary," she explained. "I think I understand you very well." The two went on comparing their childhoods spent with fathers who were men of the church until, about one hour later, they fell silent again. They walked next to each other, only occasionally pointing out a particularly spectacular view, an interesting plant or an unknown bird species to each other.

Shelagh felt happy. She had missed hiking, she realized, and she liked doing so with Tom. He was so very gentle and funny and made her feel comfortable. Still, she occasionally noticed him glancing at her sideways with an expression she could not quite fathom.

Shelagh pondered whether she should ask him to stay for dinner at Nonnatus Mission after their return to Moshi. Normally, the nurses were not encouraged to have male visitors, but in Tom's case, Shelagh decided, this might not apply. He was a colleague, and working with Dr Turner, who was considered a good friend of Nonnatus Mission.

What would Patrick Turner think of her and Tom hiking out here, Shelagh suddenly caught herself thinking. Was Patrick someone who went out to hike? They had never talked about it; only that he wanted to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. She realized that even though she knew a lot about his work, she hardly knew anything about Patrick's private life.

Shelagh shook her head, trying to stop this train of thoughts. Why would she care about what Patrick might think, she wondered. Why was it that she kept thinking about men in the first place? She had never ever seriously considered being with anyone in her life. And now she kept thinking about what a man might think of her walking with another man or whether she should invite one to dinner. She took in a deep breath, noticing how the crisp morning air gave way to the warming day. No more silly thoughts, she resolved and increased her walking speed.

It was almost 6 pm when Shelagh got out of the taxi she and Tom had shared for their return from the bus station. Shelagh felt tired but also elated from her hike, the beautiful weather, the breath-taking landscape and her nice company. She genuinely liked Tom which surprised her since she usually took a long time to warm up to new acquaintances.

She paid the taxi driver and slowly walked to the Nurses' quarter. It seemed to be empty. Patience and Cynthia usually visited relatives on Sundays and would not be back until later that evening. Trixie, too; she was probably at Jenny's house. Jenny and her housemates were known for their Saturday night parties. Trixie kept trying to coax Shelagh into joining her for one of the parties but Shelagh declined.

She had never been a party girl and even though she occasionally thought it might be nice to meet new people in this small cosmos of expats and aid workers, she thought that for someone like her, considering to join a religious order, parties like these would hardly be considered appropriate. Moreover, she felt most comfortable in the company of people she knew.

Shelagh had been looking forward to the quiet of her room, but after she had entered it and listened to the silence surrounding her for a while, she felt uncomfortable being all alone. First, she opened her laptop, connected it to her small stereo and put iTunes on shuffle. Then she took off her clothes and wrapped a kanga cloth around her body. She liked using the colourful fabric for a robe like the local women did.

She went to the bathroom and took a long hot shower to soothe her muscles. Her body was not used to hiking for a few hours anymore, she noticed. Shelagh enjoyed the hot water and let out a deep sigh. Maybe she should have asked Tom to stay for dinner after all. She usually was quite content on her own and never minded staying all by herself. But during the past months, she had often found herself not quite enjoying her quiet Sunday evenings the way she used to, even though she could not tell why exactly.

After a few more minutes, Shelagh stepped out of the shower and reached for her towel. She looked down her naked body. She was slim and her skin pale, only her arms had a slight tan below the line of the short sleeves of the blouses and T-Shirts she usually wore.

She had never thought of herself as a woman who would be noticed by a man. She never ever had aroused interest in someone, unlike her friends at high school or her fellow nursing students. Now she saw Tom's warm brown eyes before her and she wondered whether he would like her this way. Shelagh felt her cheeks turn red by thinking such a thought, quickly dried herself and returned to her room.

When she entered, her eyes fell on a bottle of body lotion Trixie had given her for her last birthday. The only cosmetics Shelagh used regularly were scented soap, shampoo and toothpaste. Most of the products on her shelf in the shared bathroom were given to her by Trixie who said she wanted to make sure Shelagh looked out for her body while it was not too late.

Shelagh smiled when she opened the bottle and took in the faint smell of lemon. She began smoothing the lotion on her body and thought she should do this more often. Perhaps Trixie was right, perhaps she could take care a bit more of her body. But then, there was always so much else to do, and she felt it was a waste of time to spend too much time on vanity.

While she got dressed with a fresh pair of cotton trousers and a long-sleeved cotton blouse, Shelagh's eyes caught sight of her mobile phone, placed on her nightstand, still connected to its charger. She had forgotten it this morning and had only noticed while already at the bus station.

Shelagh took the phone from the nightstand and noticed six missed calls. Two were from Trixie, probably wanting to invite her over to Jenny's. Four were from Patrick. Shelagh knit her eyebrows. Why would Patrick Turner call her on a Sunday, and why four times? She groaned. He was often working on weekends and most likely had some silly question. He probably needed some data from her reporting or the names of local contacts he kept failing to remember.

Shelagh sat down on her bed and dialled his number but immediately hung up again. It was almost dinner time and she did not want to disturb his father-son time with Timothy. Then her phone rang and startled her out of her thoughts. It was Patrick. She had apparently not hung up quickly enough. She picked up, breathed in and said: "Good evening, Dr Turner,… Patrick", her voice suddenly slightly wobbly.

"Shelagh, what is it? You called?" Patrick asked, slightly confused.

Shelagh paused. "Erm, well, actually it was you who called me several times this afternoon. I left my phone at home and came back only now."

"Well, wait, umm," Patrick stuttered. Then she heard him call: "Timothy, it's Shelagh on the phone. Do you want to talk to her?"

Shelagh bit her lips while Patrick explained to her: "I apologize. When you called right now, I was caught up deep in my thoughts. I forgot that Timothy called you earlier today because he wanted to ask you something. Ah, here he is, let me hand over the phone."

"Hi Shelagh," she heard the boy, voice trembling with excitement.

"Hello Timothy," Shelagh greeted warmly. "What is it you called me about?"

"I wanted to ask you whether you want to have dinner with us," he said.

Shelagh held her breath in surprise.

"Shelagh? Are you there?" she heard Timothy ask.

"Yes, erm, I am sorry, yes, I just…" her voice trailed off. "It is just, this is a bit spontaneous, you know."

"Oh, I see", Timothy said, his voice thick with disappointment.

Shelagh felt sorry for the boy. "But then, I don't have anything else planned", she slowly continued. "I could probably be some place by seven thirty if I go out now."

"Yes, that would be great", Timothy said, excitedly again. "So you will come?"

"Yes, I will," she laughed. "How come you invite me?" she asked.

"We never got to celebrate our win in the three-legged race. And Dad said that you got into an argument afterwards and that was why we had to leave so early. I think you two should make up again."

Shelagh laughed. "Thank you, Timothy, this is very considerate of you. Now could I speak to your father to discuss the details?"

"Sure, here he is," Timothy replied and handed over the phone.

Patrick's voice sounded reserved, almost shy, when he spoke: "So you two agreed on dinner tonight? I am sorry if he rushed you into something," he said almost apologetically.

"Oh, no, I don't mind," Shelagh said. "How could I deny him his wish – and he is right, we haven't yet had an opportunity of celebrating our victory. Should I bring anything?"

"Erm, well, we planned on having a little barbecue tonight. Nothing fancy… actually, since you only called back now, we haven't prepared anything special. We will probably have only some steaks, bread and a few cucumbers and tomatoes."

"Perfect," Shelagh smiled. "I'll be at your place by seven thirty then. I could certainly find a few slices of cake for pudding. See you at seven," she said and put down her phone.

Shelagh noticed her hands were trembling slightly and her breath was quicker than normal. She remained seated on her bed for a while until she gave herself a start and got up. She walked to her chest of drawers and brushed her hair. She normally wore it in a practical ponytail or pinned up but decided that she would just leave it flow over her shoulders like it was now.

Then she dialled the number of Salim, the taxi driver with whom she usually drove, and asked him to pick her up in half an hour. When he asked her where she wanted to go, Shelagh realized that although she knew in which area of town the Turners lived, she did not know the exact location of their house. She told Salim she would yet have to find out, said goodbye to him and embarrassedly dialled Patrick's number again.

"Hello, Shelagh?" he responded almost immediately.

"Erm, yes," she said embarrassedly. "Could you give me the directions to your house? I forgot to ask how to get there."

"Oh, of course, I should have thought of it," he apologized and did as she asked.