Chapter 3
They arrived at the station just in time to catch the early train and had their pick of the carriages, being some of the few who were up that early. Timothy studied Michaela's face as he packed their bags into the compartments above their seats. She looked so troubled and almost on the verge of tears. He contemplated leaving her alone for a bit, with the excuse of going to find some coffee but she looked so distraught. He sat down beside her, took her hand, and offered a sympathetic smile. She gratefully returned the smile and squeezed his hand.
"Thank you Reverend. I'm glad you are coming with me; this is going to be difficult in many ways so it will be a comfort to have you by my side. I guess I ought to explain more about this situation to you." He stopped her, "It can wait Dr Mike. Why don't you sleep for a bit?" But she insisted she wasn't tired and that talking would be better than dwelling on her thoughts. "Walter Davis is a dear family friend," she explained, "He and my father attended medical school together and they were extremely close, almost brothers really. In fact he moved his family from Wyoming to Boston so they could be in practice together. Our families grew up together. After Daddy passed on, Walter moved back to Wyoming. He couldn't bear to see anything that reminded him of my father. Horace brought me a telegram this morning from Mrs. Davis saying that there is a bad tumor growing in her husband's stomach. No doctors are willing to take the risk of trying to remove it. It sounds bad and I'm not sure if I'll even be able to help. And to make matters worse, the family is deeply religious and Walter is asking for a priest but there are none in the immediate area. Most of Wyoming is Protestant. Walter has had heated debates with most of the nearby preachers and none will give him last rights." She paused, her face pained. "I'm afraid I never did ask you if you would be comfortable with this. I just assumed, knowing your kind nature, that it wouldn't be a problem…" Timothy firmly assured her that she needn't worry about that. Her face relaxed into a smile, she squeezed his hand again and then turned towards the window to gaze at the passing countryside.
Timothy took this opportunity to gauge his present emotions. Holding Michaela's hand and being alone with her previously would have made his stomach flop. He realized, with relief, that he wasn't having those nervous feelings. Her hand did feel comfortable is his though, and he enjoyed the sensation. He didn't get the opportunity for much human contact, other than shaking hands and occasionally being slapped on the back by one of the men. It occurred to him though that Sully would probably chop his head off if he saw the Reverend holding hands with his wife, even in the most innocent manner. He let go and murmured an excuse of going to look for that coffee now and stretching his legs. Now that he was sure of himself, Timothy felt just a bit excited about traveling to a new place and meeting new people. Who knew what was waiting in Wyoming?