Saturday, September 24, 1910
Sarah arrived at the Eagle Creek depot early. She sat on the bench and re-evaluated the last few days. When the train clamored into the station, Mrs. Hines was no where to be found. Sarah waited until the last minute to board. She gave her ticket to the conductor and warily looked for Mrs. Hines, finally she and Preacher Sam scrambled on to the platform. A porter took her luggage and she climbed aboard. Sarah waved and she made it to her seat just as the train began to pull away. Sam waved and blew his wife a kiss.
Sarah was puzzled by her light green complexion.
"Are you alright Mrs. Hines?"
She winced in pain and then mumbled, "I've been better. Sorry I'm late."
Sarah asked carefully, "Where were you?"
"I had to get Dixie to open the apothecary so I could get a bottle of elixir."
She opened the bottle and took a swig. "I ate something bad or slept on my side wrong, I dunno, I just know I am in pain."
"Are you going to be alright?"
"I'll live. How are you?"
Sarah swished her mouth. "Fine, I um, fine."
"Ok. Do you want to get this off your chest now or later?"
Sarah sighed. She just shook her head.
"Then I'll start. You feel like an idiot?"
Sarah rolled her eyes.
"Let's go to the dinning car. It'll be empty since they're not serving breakfast on this trip."
The ladies walked back to the dinning car.
Sarah sat down and cradled her head in her folded arms.
Crystal asked, "Romantic entanglements?"
Sarah shrugged. "I do have one hopeful sign. I got a telegram from the boy I truly love back in Helena."
Crystal tilted her head. "Really?"
Sarah reached in her blouse. She took out a small, red, heart shaped box with the word "Simon" on it. Inside was a smaller version of his picture and a folded up telegram. She unfolded it.
"The telegram says: 'Sarah, I've broken up with Harriett. I love you. Will you marry me?'"
Crystal had a dubious expression. "This is a boy who has not asked about you or called or wrote and he just up and proposed via a telegram?"
Sarah quickly nodded.
"You've gotten engaged and have not told a soul in town?"
Sarah gave an unconvincing shrug.
"Let me see that telegram."
Sarah shook her head. "No."
"Why not?"
Sarah quickly folded it back up and placed it into the locket. She rebuttoned her blouse.
Crystal was flabbergasted. "Why do you choose to live in this… childish fantasy world of yours? If Kimberly Buchanan told me a boy she fell in love with several months ago who lives four hundred miles away whom she has had absolutely no contact with suddenly decided to propose marriage to her via a telegram I would say that she was too old to believe such nonsense."
Sarah did not like that assessment. "You don't know me."
Crystal leaned in closer. "And then I would tell her that trying to date Jake Watson AND Brian Anderson at the same time is by far the stupidest thing she could do."
Sarah didn't say anything.
Crystal guffawed, "You seriously thought you could date two boys who were best friends in a town of 895 people and they would not find out about it?"
Sarah popped her lips.
"You and Tommy went to see a play last Friday evening in River City? And that went very well, except for the one minor incident involving a deceased feline.
The next day you went over to see him. You rode horses and…." She made kisses.
Sarah gave a slight smile and nodded.
Crystal looked both ways. She whispered, "Lucky girl."
Sarah gasped.
"Sweetheart, I'm married, but I'm not dead."
They shared a giggle.
Sarah looked off into the distance.
Crystal leaned forward and spoke in a low tone. "I can read you like a book, you know. Shall I try?"
Sarah shrugged.
"You didn't have too much contact with either boy during the week. You could play it all on the sly. And then, on the Friday night trip, Tommy doesn't show up. You and Pete go to town."
Sarah sighed and looked down.
"The park by the River City Boardwalk is dark and secluded. 'Oh come on, Sarah, prove your love for me.'"
Sarah shook her head. "We didn't… um."
"You didn't have to… completely. He would not even expect that from you. You don't have to be a tramp; you just have to be a pliable, desperate, over confident sixteen-year-old girl to satisfy enough of his cravings that go beyond simple pecks on the cheek.
And to make things worse, while he touched you, you thought of Tommy."
Sarah mumbled, "I thought I'd be strong enough to resist temptation but," she collapsed her shoulders.
"…it usually comes gradually. Good girls don't become bad girls overnight, it takes time. He has to convince you but more importantly, you have to convince yourself that you can get away with it. I'll let you in on a little secret: men have a sickening ability to detach their desires from their feelings with as much ferocity as girls have to manipulate their boyfriends into granting them license to increase the level of affections."
Sarah shook her head. "I'm better than this."
"I agree which is why we're on this trip. Sweetheart, despite what the new morality declares, despite what 'modern girls' do, despite what the sophisticated coeds at Jennings do you're better than that, Sarah Conrad.
It still counts, no matter what Emily says or how much you pretend or how much you think you'll never get caught; eventually, if you are half the woman I think you are, you allow a boy to cross a certain line because it is thrilling and by being a tease you can wrap him around your finger."
Sarah stared blankly out the window.
"And everything was going along perfectly like some spicy affair from a dime-store novel until last night. The rain began to pour on the ride back to Eagle Creek. You, and Pete, happily took shelter beneath a tarp.
You were in so much lip-locked ecstasy that when the wagon arrived at the park that you didn't notice Tommy Grossman standing right in front of you."
Sarah mumbled, "You heard about that too?"
"Naturally. That night you discovered in about two seconds that Tommy cares more for you than you do for him. He jerked Pete off the wagon and threw him to the ground.
Ross Watson jumped down and got in between the boys who at this point were shoving each other.
Think for a minute how that untoward display of testosterone looked to the younger girls on the trip!"
Sarah mumbled, "Mrs. Watson asked them to turn away."
"Good for her."
Crystal continued, "They pushed each other some more before Mr. Buchanan got in between them.
The older men talked to the boys for a minute under a street lamp just out of earshot. This allowed enough time for the parents to pick up their children. Shawna Noel or Ginger McPherson's mothers probably talked on the way home about how you were behaving very, very foolishly and they should never follow your example."
Sarah looked down.
"And, after a couple of minutes, you saw the boys shake hands?"
Sarah nodded.
"Tommy slapped Pete on the back and the two friends walked away smiling and as they passed you they said those magical, male-bonding words, 'forget it, she's just a girl.'"
Sarah's placed her head on the table. She whispered, "I have no business going on a church trip."
"I wouldn't be chastising you if I thought that were true. You are the perfect girl for this trip precisely because you are an imperfect girl."
Sarah shook her head.
"I wouldn't take Emily because she couldn't keep a straight face about the matter. I wouldn't take Lynn Watson because…" she shifted her eyes. "Never mind. I don't want to impugn someone's character especially when they are not here to defend themselves. The point is there's no such thing as a perfect girl and that's why God created preacher's wives and gave us the ability to read minds."
Sarah slightly chuckled.
"Good. Now don't be so distracted from all of this…." Crystal squinted in discomfort.
"Ma'am? Mrs. Hines, the next stop is River City. They've got a store right at the depot. Do you want me to get you something?"
She shook her head. "Nah, this elixir should do the trick." She took another swig.
Crystal wagged her finger. "I won't discuss this matter with you anymore because I won't have to, will I?"
Sarah nodded. "You won't have to, ma'am."
"Good."
She looked beyond Sarah. "Yes, I know, the dinning car is closed. We're leaving."
They got up and returned to their seats.
As the trip continued, Crystal fell asleep. The empty elixir bottle fell on the floor. She became so disoriented that she laid her head on Sarah's lap.
Sarah looked out the window as the trip continued. A violent thunderstorm made the journey cumbersome. The train was an hour late getting to its lunch stop in Miles City.
Sarah nudged her. "Mrs. Hines? Mrs. Hines? We're stopping for lunch."
Crystal struggled to open her eyes. "Did I fall asleep on your lap?"
Sarah chuckled, "I don't mind. It's was kind of sweet."
When she sat up, Crystal gritted her teeth and held her side.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
Crystal nodded.
The porter came walking through the passenger car.
"May I have your attention please? We're having a bit of trouble with this engine. We're going to have to take it to the roundhouse just outside of Miles City and get a new one. That will delay our departure by an hour. So, you'll have two hours to get a relaxing meal, if of course you want to walk up the muddy hill to downtown. I'm sorry about this folks but it can't be helped.
Because some of you might miss your connection we're going to meet up with another train. We're going to transfer the luggage for the connecting trip to Yellowstone to another train. Give your ticket and schedule to the porter in Miles City and he'll have everything straightened out for you."
The train began to lumber to a halt. With every jerk Crystal whimpered and held on to her side. She looked white as a sheet.
"Mrs. Hines are you sure you're…?" 
"Do me a favor. Carry my notes on the speech and walk with me in the station."
Sarah nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
When the train stopped, they deboarded.
Sarah asked, "Do you want to go get something to eat?"
Crystal shook her head. "No. Let's find an apothecary, get more elixir."
They both despised walking out into the cold, heavy rain but they had no choice. Downtown Miles City was a couple of hundred yards up hill from the depot. It took several minutes. When they arrived near the shops they were both soaked. Sarah saw a sign for an apothecary. Sarah had the empty bottle in her purse.
"Put me down on this bench outside."
Sarah set her down on the bench.
She went inside to the apothecary. She gave the pharmacist the bottle and asked for another one.
The pharmacist looked at it. "When did you buy this?"
"I didn't. My friend bought it in Eagle Creek this morning. Why?"
"The dosage is one tablespoon per hour."
Sarah's eyes bulged. "Oops." She scrambled outside.
Crystal was laying flat on a bench.
A policeman was hovering over her. "Wake up, wake up or I'll send you to the clink for public drunkenness."
"Sir, please, she's sick." Sarah tried to lift her up. "Give me a hand."
The policeman spoke in an apologetic tone. "I'm sorry I misjudged the situation."
The pharmacist ran across the street. He turned around and yelled to the policeman, "Ike? I'm getting Doc Ferguson."
The policeman made the ok sign and nodded to him. He took the empty bottle out of Sarah's purse: Friedrich Bayer & Co. (Germany), Glyco-Heroin. He said, "She's been drinking this?"
Sarah was getting upset. "Her side hurts."
The policeman felt her forehead. "My goodness, she's on fire. Here, child, let's lay her flat."
The laid Crystal flat on the bench, by now a small crowd had gathered.
"Out of the way, comin' through, here she is doctor."
A kindly faced old gentleman with a medical bag knelt down next to Crystal. He checked her pulse and then felt her temperature.
Sarah said, "Her side is aching."
"Right side?"
"Yes, sir."
He gently probed around. "Appendicitis."
He broke a smelling capsule in front of her nose. She woke up.
"Aaaah!"
"What's her name?"
"Crystal Hines."
"Mrs. Hines, my name is Doctor Ferguson. You're appendix is about to burst we'll have to operate immediately."
Crystal growled, "Semper Fi!"
The doctor looked at the policeman.
"I'm on it, Doc." He took off running down the street.
Sarah handed Doctor Ferguson the elixir. "She drank a bottle of this on the way here."
He looked at the bottle and sighed. He handed it to the pharmacist. "Why do you sell this junk?"
Sarah spoke up, "She bought it in Eagle Creek this morning."
Crystal continued to moan.
A couple of men came running with a gurney.
"I'm going to give you an injection to begin the…."
"No wait!"
He backed off.
Crystal struggled to speak to Sarah. "Where's my speech?"
Sarah picked it up.
"You're going to give it tonight."
"But ma'am I can't…."
"Sarah!" she angrily shouted. "Don't argue with me! You are going to Billings and you will read my speech. You came in third at that rhetoric competition at Jennings. You can probably do a better job than I!"
Some men picked her up and placed her on a gurney. Sarah walked along side of it. She was crying: "Oh Mrs. Hines, oh Mrs. Hines."
"I'll be alright. Sam will come see me."
Doc Ferguson said, "If all goes well she'll be home by Thursday. Anything else you want to say Mrs. Hines?"
They stopped in the doctor's office. He tore open the sleeve on her upper arm and gave her an injection. "Five seconds until it's lights out."
"I believe in you, Sarah. You are a dear, sweet Christian young lady. Don't miss that train! You'll do fine."
Sarah wiped away a tear. "Thank you, ma'am."
Crystal closed her eyes.
The men hauled her into the doctor's office. A nurse stopped Sarah from following.
"Does she have any allergies?"
Sarah sat down and shrugged. "I don't… I don't think so."
"Does she drink whiskey?"
Sarah made a strange face. "She's a preacher's wife."
The nurse slightly chuckled, "I'll assume the answer's no."
The nurse went on asking questions.
The policeman called Sam and suggested he make arrangements to come to town.
When he came over to tell Sarah, he asked if Crystal had said anything unusual after she'd drunk the bottle of elixir. Sarah said she hadn't.
Sarah sat in the doctor's office and prayed hard. She missed lunch.
After an hour and fifteen minutes the doctor came to the door.
"Piece of cake. She'll be awake sometime tomorrow around noon."
Sarah nodded. She heard the train whistle and looked towards the depot.
The doctor said, "Make her proud, young lady."
"I will, sir, I will."
She briskly walked towards the station.
