Inside, things are bad. Okay, they are really bad. William is on his way out. He takes a deep, wheezy breath as the Bullocks look on in shocked grief. Then he takes another one. Then...he doesn't take any more at all.
Down at the Chez Amie, Doc is preparing to operate on Mose, but his mind is elsewhere, with William Bullock. "The hoof hits just one inch to the right," he says, "the boy's pain is gone...we don't have to watch him suffer...I doubt he's omniscient. I know he's myopic..." Jane interrupts his rambling, yelling at him to stay focused on "the fuckin' task at hand." Doc looks up, incredulous, but snaps back into action for Mose's procedure. Joanie is assisting like Deadwood's own Nurse Houlihan. They all squint and flinch when Doc digs in, saying they may not be able to find the bullet in all the fat, and if so, may not be able to remove it. "I guess we'll give it a fuckin' whirl," he says, and goes to it.
A new guest stops in to the Grand Central and introduces himself. His name is Cramed, and he's heard about the accident. E.B. says this Cramed guy looks familiar. Well, he should -- first-season devotees will remember Andy Cramed. He came to camp last year to hustle dice over at the Bella Union, but contracted smallpox. Cy had him dragged off into the woods and left there to die. Jane found him days later, not dead, and brought him back to the sick tents, where he recovered. Since we last saw him, Andy's cleaned up good. He's a preacher now. "How's the new racket pay?" E.B. cracks. Preacher Man doesn't find that funny. "Knowing this camp's without a minister," he says, "I come to be on call for the family." But...where did he come from, right? And how did he hear about William? Who knows?
Anyway, he wrings it out of E.B. where to find the family and the boy, and E.B. informs him of the room rates at the hotel. Apparently, clergy get fifty cents off. "Six dollars extra if they set up for dice in the room," E.B. says, because he just can't help getting his digs in. As Cramed leaves, E.B. shouts a warning after him should he run across Richardson in prayer. "Avoid looking left as you exit, if idolatry offends you." Heeeee.
Cramed goes out and heads down toward Doc's. We see Mrs. Garret, watching and fretting from the window. Down at the hardware store, Ellsworth, who has been keeping the shop, extinguishes the light and steps out, looking sadly in the direction of Doc's cabin.
Mrs. G decides she can stand it no longer, goes to her door, and heads out. She surprises Richardson, who quickly hides his antlers. She tells him good evening, and that she plans to go out and take the air. "I've left my door ajar, indicating my trust for you," she tells Richardson, "which you've well earned in days past escorting me so reliably." She asks him to stand in the hallway, should Sophia wake up and want her, so that he can tell the child, "Your mother is just away, Sophia, very, very soon to return and all is well." He says yes ma'am, and she further suggests that perhaps he could accomplish all of this without actually going into Sophia's room. Good idea, Mrs. G. Richardson again says yes, and Mrs. G leaves. Even E.B. is too saddened by the camp's tragedy to make an oily remark.