Part 32 (1/2)
”Dina is visiting her family.”
Caleb grinned. ”At the rectory at St. Martins? That's more like it. Come on, hop in. I'll just tell the housekeeper where we're going.”
Well, at least that explained who the woman was. Phillip looked down at the car. It was a small four-door car. Compared to most of the American cars he'd seen, a very small car. He slid in and sat down. It was very different from the buses he had traveled in before. To his left he could see the steering wheel, the device by which the vehicle was steered. But other than the speedometer, that was all he recognized. He looked in the back. There was a bench seat that could take two or three people, and that was about all there was to it. A moment later Caleb returned and climbed into the driver's seat.
”Right. Shut your door and we'll be off.”
Phillip copied Caleb's action of grabbing the handle on the door and pulling it closed. Then he sat still while Caleb did something under the steering wheel. There was a whirring noise, then the gentle rumble of an internal combustion engine. Caleb did something with the lever to his right and the car started moving.
Phillip sat back to enjoy the trip. He'd been on the Grantville buses often enough that the car's speed didn't bother him. But he was curious to know how fast they were going, so he leaned over a bit to read the speedometer. ”Twenty-five miles per hour? It seems faster than that.”
Caleb darted a look at Phillip before turning his eyes back to the road ahead. ”You ever traveled in a car before?”
”No.” Phillip shook his head. ”Just the bus.”
”That explains it. It's a perception thing. The closer you are to the ground, the faster you think you're going. If you were in something really low like Trent Haygood's buggy, you'd really think you were motoring.”
Phillip tried to visualize what Caleb was talking about. He couldn't. ”Could you explain how this 'perception' works?”
Caleb shook his head. ”No, it's just something I know.”
”Well, if you ever find an explanation, I'm sure we can schedule a seminar.”
”Maybe you'd be better off getting someone else. I wouldn't know where to start.”
Phillip enjoyed the run out to the rectory. He felt very important being driven in a private car, and waved to anybody who stopped to stare. ”Caleb, how is it that you can run a car? I thought there wasn't enough fuel.”
”You're thinking of gasoline. This car's a diesel. That means we can run it on just about anything that'll burn. If your nose is sensitive enough you'll be able to smell the rape seed oil. It's not cheap, but if we keep the speed down we should average over fifty miles to the gallon.”
”Speed?” Phillip gave the car another look. ”How fast can this car go?”
”The book on it says ninety-two and a bit miles per hour, but I've never had the old girl up to more than eighty-five.”
”Eighty-five miles per hour?” Phillip had thought he was traveling fast at twenty-five. What would that kind of speed be like? Was it even safe? ”You're kidding. Surely traveling that fast can't be safe.”
Caleb grinned. ”It's not the speed that kills you, Phillip. It's the coming to a sudden stop.”
Phillip checked his watch. The car trip had been exciting. It had also brought him back to the rectory well ahead of schedule. But for Caleb's kindness, he'd still be waiting for his bus. Phillip dropped his watch back into its pocket and entered the rectory.
He could hear voices coming from the kitchen. It sounded as if Dina was sharing confidences with her step mother. That pleased him. He set off for the kitchen.
”. . . said I was pregnant.”
Phillip froze at the door. That was Dina talking. Did that mean she was with child? Phillip took a deep breath. It was, after all, a perfectly normal thing for a married woman to have a child. A couple of the older women he employed inJena were married with children. Only, he'd never thought of being a father.
But now that the possibility existed, he quite liked the idea. He could almost picture a pretty little girl who would take after her mother, or a boy to share his interests in alchemy. A broad smile on his face, he pushed open the kitchen door.
”Phillip!” Dina flew into his arms. ”Such news. Dr. s.h.i.+pley says I'm with child.”
Phillip wrapped his arms around her. ”That's marvelous, Dina. We must see about reducing your work load back home.”
Dina pushed her way out of Phillip's arms. ”I'm not ill, Phillip. I'm pregnant. It's a perfectly natural condition.”
Phillip glanced hopefully at Dina's step mother. The self-satisfied look on her face told him there would be no support coming from that quarter. He struggled to think. What would Jonathan tell him to do? Then he smiled. When women start to gang up on you, there is only one way to survive. Abject surrender.
”Yes, dear.” He reached out to Dina. She smiled and burrowed into his chest.
Salome snorted and left them alone in the kitchen.
The Higgins Hotel, Grantville Phillip sat on the bed beside Dina. She lay there with her hands on her belly and her head in his lap.
Phillip gently caressed her neck and shoulders.
”Phillip, Mama suggests I should have the baby in Grantville to take advantage of the medical services.”
”Of course, Dina.”
”With the train service, I can stay at home until almost the last minute, and still have our baby at the Grantville hospital.”
Phillip stilled. He didn't have much experience of children, and even less experience of babies. But he was pretty sure of one thing. ”Dina, I don't think even your baby will decide to come to fit the train schedule. It'd be much better if you moved in with your family, or we rented an apartment as you near your time.”
”What? Leave home for a couple of weeks? But who will teach the children?”
”I'm sorry, Dina. But if you want to have the baby in Grantville, then you'll have to move here before you're due. Hans and your brothers can take your cla.s.ses while you're away.”
Dina grabbed Phillip's hand. ”No. You're just trying to cut back my work load.”
”No I'm not.”
”Prove it.”
”Be reasonable, Dina. You can't rely on the train service to get you to the hospital in time. What you need is a personal ambulance . . .”
Suddenly, Phillip scrambled to his feet. ”Don't go away. I have to make a telephone call.”
”A phone call?”
He dipped down and kissed Dina on the tip of the nose. ”Yes. I want to call a man about an ambulance.”
”Call a man about an ambulance?” Surely that wasn't possible. Dina shook her head. If anybody could solve the problem of getting her fromJena to Grantville when the time came, it was Phillip.