Practical Demonkeeping

hair pinned up under a hat, which was the style in those days. She looked genuinely frightened of me. I guess I was wearing my own fright on my face.
    “‘Are you all right? Shall I call the conductor?’ she asked.
    “I thanked her but told her that I just needed to rest a moment. She was looking at the strange way I was dressed, trying to be polite, but obviously perplexed. I looked up and noticed that everyone in the car was staring at me. Could they know about what I’d done? I wondered. Then I realized why they were staring. There was a war on and I was obviously the right age for the Army, yet I was dressed in civilian clothes. ‘I’m a seminary student,’ I blurted out to them, causing a breeze of incredulous whispers. The girl blushed.
    “‘I’m sorry,’ I said to her. ‘I’ll move on.’ I started to rise, but she put her hand on my shoulder to push me back into my seat and I winced when she touched my injured shoulder.
    “‘No,’ she said, ‘I’m traveling alone. I’ve just been saving this seat to ward off the soldiers. You know how they can be sometimes, Father.’
    “‘I’m not a priest yet,’ I said.
    “‘I don’t know what to call you, then,’ she said.
    “‘Call me Travis,’ I said.
    “‘I’m Amanda,’ she said. She smiled, and for a moment I completely forgot why I was running. She was an attractive girl, but when she smiled, she was absolutely stunning. It was my turn to blush.
    “‘I’m going to
New York
to stay with my fiancé’s family. He’s in Europe,’ she said.
    “‘So this train is going east?’ I asked.
    “She was surprised. ‘You don’t even know where the train is going?’ she asked.
    “‘I’ve had a bad night,’ I said. Then I started to laugh—I don’t know why. It seemed so unreal. The idea of trying to explain it to her seemed silly.
    “She looked away and started digging in her purse. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, ‘I didn’t mean to offend you.’
    ‘You didn’t offend me. I need to have my ticket ready for the conductor.’
    “I’d completely forgotten about not having a ticket. I looked up and saw the conductor coming down the aisle. I jumped up and a wave of fatigue hit me. I almost fell into her lap.
    “‘Is something wrong?’ she asked.
    “‘Amanda,’ I said, ‘you have been very kind, but I should find another seat and let you travel in peace.’
    “‘You don’t have a ticket, do you?’ she said.
    “I shook my head. ‘I’ve been in seminary. I’d forgotten. We don’t have any need for money there and…’
    “‘I have some traveling money,’ she said.
    “‘I couldn’t ask you to do that,’ I said. Then I remembered the candlesticks. ‘Look, you can have these. They’re worth a lot of money. Hold them and I’ll send you the money for the ticket when I get home,’ I said.
    “I unrolled the blanket and dropped the candlesticks in her lap.
    “‘That’s not necessary,’ she said. “I’ll loan you the money.’
    “‘No, I insist you take them,’ I said, trying to be gallant. I must have looked ridiculous standing there in my overalls and tattered suit jacket.
    “‘If you insist,’ she said. ‘I understand. My fiancé is a proud man, too.’
    “She gave me the money I needed and I bought a ticket all the way to Clarion, which was only about ten miles from my parent’s farm.
    “The train broke down somewhere in
Indiana
and we were forced to wait in the station while they changed engines. It was midsummer and terribly hot. Without thinking, I took off my jacket and Amanda gasped when she saw my back. She insisted that I see a doctor, but I refused, knowing that I would only have to borrow more money from her to pay for it. We sat on a bench in the station while she cleaned my back with damp napkins from the dining car.
    “In those days the sight of a woman bathing a half-naked man in a train station would have been scandalous, but most of the passengers were soldiers and were much more concerned with being AWOL or with their ultimate destination, Europe, so we were ignored for the most part.
    “Amanda disappeared for a while and returned just before our train was ready to leave. ‘I’ve reserved a berth in the sleeping car for us,’ she said.
    “I was shocked. I started to protest, but she stopped me. She said, ‘You are going to sleep and I am going to watch over you. You are a priest and I’m engaged, so there is nothing wrong with it. Besides, you are in no shape to spend the