Sister Ruth and Kid Cole hadn't been in Denver long, but there was a pounding on the door. It was late. Ruth had already changed into her night clothes. She wrapped a shawl around her while Kid went to the door.

"This is Sister Ruth's room?" Apparently word was already out that they were there. He looked past Kid to Ruth. "I need you to come help my wife." There was a sense of urgency, desperation in his voice and it must have been an emergency if he couldn't wait for a decent hour.

"Of course. Just let me get changed first."

Kid shut the door back while the man waited in the hall. "I don't know if I like you going off with a strange man in the middle of the night."

"He looks harmless to me even if a little ragged. The poor man don't look like he's gotten much sleep, but if you're worried, I'm sure he wouldn't mind you coming along."

Kid did just that.

"What's wrong with her?" Ruth asked as they walked a moonlit path to the man's house.

"Nothing."

Kid and Ruth both froze in their tracks at that answer. Was something sinister going on after all? Was the man leading them into some sort of trap?

The man hurried to explain. "There's nothing really physically wrong with her. It's her mind. Her heart. I'm afraid I'll lose her just the same as if she had some serious disease. The doctors can't do anything for her. I thought maybe a religious woman like yourself could."

Compassion replaced her momentary fear. "I'll do my best, brother."

The house was small and the inside of it looked neglected. The man lead her to his wife's bedside and then he and Kid left them alone.

"Hi, I'm Sister Ruth. I don't know if your husband told you he was getting me or not."

There was silence. The woman didn't even turn to face her. So Ruth continued. "He's worried about you. How you feeling?"

"Poorly." Though she answered, Ruth still only saw was the woman's messy, dark blonde braid.

"I don't know what you're going through, but the Lord's only a prayer away. Would you like to pray with me now?"

The woman turned this time. She didn't look sick, but she did look as if she were experiencing an inner struggle. And in some ways a sickness of the spirit could be much worse than any ailment of the body.

"Tell me, Sister Ruth, do you think a Christian is allowed to have melancholia or does it mean that I don't really know God?"

March 25th, 1838

Kid and Ruth had been wintering in St. Louis, Missouri. Further south would've been better for Kid, but he'd stubbornly refused to go any further when he'd found out Ruth was expecting their second child.

St. Louis didn't get much snow though as a rule and it didn't get extremely cold, so there were worst places to hunker down. Thankfully, the climate didn't seem to be aggravating any of his symptoms. There was access to good medical care as St. Louis had continued to grow tremendously since their first visit and now had a population of close to 15,000 and many more shops.

They were letting an empty parsonage that their friend John Meachum had arranged for them. The church was pastored, but as the wife was well-to-do and they had a growing family, they'd moved into a bigger home, but it suited the Coles perfectly for the time being.

Ruth sat in a lovely needlepoint chair with Mercy on her lap, though there wasn't as much of her lap as there used to be. Mercy didn't seem to mind; she sat astride, facing her mother.

"We shall not, we shall not be moved
We shall not, we shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's standing by the water
We shall not be moved."

Mercy warbled along with Ruth, The third line sounded sort of like gibberish, but the basic melody was there. She wasn't singing perfectly on key, of course, but Ruth and Kid both thought it was pretty impressive for a 21 month old. Kid was extra tickled because his daughter matched her mother's Appalachian accent word for word as she sang, sounding darling.

It was nearing Mercy's bedtime. Kid scooped her up. "Where's your nose?"

"Nose," Mercy repeated, putting her finger there.

"Your ear?"

"Ear," she echoed, pointing to the right spot.

"And your mouth?" Kid asked.

She was right again.

"You are so smart," he praised. "Can I have a kiss?"

Mercy puckered and put a kiss on his cheek.

"How about one for your Momma?" he asked, bringing her down to Ruth's cheek where she complied.

"Love you, baby," Ruth said.

"Love you, Momma," Mercy said, returning the sweet words.

Kid put her to bed in the trundle bed that had been left behind and returned to Ruth not long after. "She's out like a light. I've never seen a kid fall asleep so fast."

But Ruth wasn't smiling. She was wincing. "It looks like Mercy will be getting her little sister or brother sooner rather than later."