"Yes, they sure seemed like it. And covering the station until it can be remanned, not to mention this bundle of goods. My landy, this has been one hell of a trip so far!" She said as they drove out of the yard and back on the trail to Kalispell.
"I mean, what can happen next? And how much time for it to happen between here and town?" She added, thinking of the few things that they had been through so far, in her first few days in the West. She looked back at Pops and smiled, he seemed to be resting comfortably, as comfortably as anyone could be on a mattress in the back of a wagon. She was being jostled, and her teeth rattled as they moved along the trail, but it just seemed a natural part of traveling out there in the wilds. She saw a wolf once darting through the brush.
There were deer feeding in a clearing they went by. The animals stopped and looked at them, and then they were beyond them. It seemed there was wildlife of all kinds around them, on hoof or on the wing in the cobalt blue sky.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Yes, they sure seemed like it. And covering the station until it can be remanned, not to mention this bundle of goods. My landy, this has been one hell of a trip so far!" She said as they drove out of the yard and back on the trail to Kalispell.
"I always aim ta please my passengers!" Addy chuckled as the wagon rattled down the road. "Reckon it's a good taste'a whacher gonna run into in town, an' ya've done right fine. Yer gonna get on just fine there, I got no doubt, an' folks are gonna love ya...mostly!" There were always exceptions!
"I mean, what can happen next? And how much time for it to happen between here and town?"
Addy chuckled. "Ya sound too eager! We got most of th' day, reckon we oughta be there a bit before sunset. I'll take ya right ta Doc Danforth's place, an' we can unload Pops there...like as not, ya can spend th' night there, there's plenty'a room, an' Miss Leah an; her mother are stayin' there."
Glancing at Angie, Addy shrugged. "An' that don't suit ya, I can make room at my place. Ain't luxury, but it'll do." She chuckled. "Or there's th' room at th' back'a th' barn!"
Angie broke out laughing. "Addy, I swear, riding with you is going to be the real highlight of this trip. As to what I find in town when we get there. It can't be worse than what I left in Chicago. I'll be sure to give it a fair shot at it, though. Now this Danforth fellow, he has his fiancée and future mother-in-law living there with him, I mean, wouldn't that be tight quarters, I mean, with the four of them and Pops too? Sounds crowded to me." And it did.
"So why aren't Leah and her mother staying elsewhere, though it's not any of my business?" She asked, aware that not all things were open to discussion with just anyone, and at the moment, Angelique Laurant, MD, was the 'just anybody' referred to earlier. "I'd rather not create any problems if I can help it," She meant that.
If there was one thing she had learned, struggling in a man's world as a doctor, no less a surgeon, it was not to make waves or enemies. The latter happened whether she attempted to avoid it or not. It was, as she saw it, their problem, not hers.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Not real sure why th' ladies moved to th' clinic," Addy explained, "'cept that it might have somethin' ta do with Elias Steelegrave...an' it ain't just th' ladies an' Doc Danforth. Miss Leah men...guards, in case her father or one'a her brothers tries ta do somethin'."
Shrugging, she glanced at Angie. "Can't imagine haftin' ta have protection from my own family...we're pretty close, though most of em's still in Tennessee. My youngest brother is stayin' with me, only just he's helpin' his brother in law move ta Helena. We all had our share'a fights, but there was love, an' we'd do anything fer each other."
"Good grief, this man must be a real monster to want harm to come to his own daughter. And some sons that would allow him to do that? Now this sort of thing is just beyond belief. You mean the woman who is responsible for the building of this regional hospital is under threat from her kin? I find that hard to believe, though I don't doubt that it's possible or even true, I just find it illogical, though it happens all too often where I came from."
"I can't wait to meet her and Doctor Danforth. Not to mention Josiah. It will be so good to see him again, and to actually work side by side with him! almost a dream come true!"
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Josiah's a crusty ol' coot!" Addy chuckled. "He keeps everyone in line, an' I think he likes showin' Dr. Danforth th' ropes. Honestly, with you there, Kalispell's real lucky, an' that hospital's gonna be real good fer th' territory."
Helena and Great Falls were both a long way off, and if time wasn't a factor, the rough roads would do harm to a patient. And in the winter...well, all bets were off, so having a hospital right there in town would save many lives.
"I don't think Elias will bother you, an' th' thinkin' is he'll leave th' hospital alone, since he won't wanna make th' whole town against him." Otherwise, she was with Angie, she didn't understand hating your family so much.
"So, now, what notion got in yer noggin ta be a doctor, anyway?"
"That crusty old coot you just mentioned got me interested in what he did, and so I was always hanging around his office, and before long, I was handing him what he needed. I was his all-around gofer who didn't know squat, but was learning fast, you can bet on that!" She shared, "He helped me through secondary school and then helped to get me into medical school. I owe that man, and now, he told me about what he was doing and suggested I apply unless I had a better offer."
She was grinning as she talked about those early days with Doctor Boone in Chicago. "Now this Elias sounds like he believes he's the ruler of the roost. I doubt that's true, or that he would hurt something as valuable as this hospital. If he did, that would be calling out a lynch mob!" She said forcefully. "And well deserved it would be, don't you think?"
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"Were I not a Christian woman," Addy grumbled, "I'd be right along on stringin' him up already. He an' his kin...'cept Miss Leah...have caused enough grief already. Just don't understand th' need ta cause so much trouble, an' have everyone afraid'a ya."
She shrugged, shaking her head. "Reckon there was plenty'a evil done durin' th' war, reckon some folks just don't care. maybe they ain't capable of carin'?" She shrugged again. "So long's they stay outta my way!"
They were passing farms more frequently, indicating that they were getting closer to town.
"It surely sounds to me like this Elias Steelgrave is a man to be reckoned with. Out to destroy his daughter, or so it would seem." She agreed with Addy's description of the man, "I can't understand why a man would be so, so vindictive. Doesn't he have enough of whatever? I guess that's what money and power is all about, but I just can't understand it."
"Looks to me like we're seeing more farms, must be getting closer to this town of ours. I mean, it would be a bit late to turn back, wouldn't it?" She added, getting a bit more excited about the end of the journey.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
"Reckon you can always turn back," Addy observed with a shrug, "but I'm still headed this way, so it'd be a mighty long walk! Them nice shoes'd have holes in 'em in no time!"
She chuckled, shaking her head. "Ya know, I think as soon as ya took yer first step this way there was no goin' back, an' all th' better for it!"
There were some folks who had grand ideas and good intentions, but once they encountered the truth of it, they were just as happy to go back to what was comfortable and familiar. But there was no disputing that Angelique wasn't that sort of person. She was driven by passion and curiosity, and she would keep moving forward.
"Reckon we got a couple more hours. How 'bout ya pull out some'a them goodies out that Mrs. Hagen sent along?"