Way Station by Clifford D Simak (1963) Del Rey Books (7/3)

A soldier comes home from the Civil War to farm with his father.  When the horse runs away with his father and causes his death, the man calmly buries his father, then goes out to the field where the horse is still in its braces and kills the animal. Later a traveler comes by and asks for a drink of water, then recruits the soldier to be the attendant of an inter-galactic way station in his home.

Over time the man meets many different types of people coming through the way station.  He never seems to age because time is suspended in the station.  After 150 years, people have noticed there’s something different about him, but the local culture is to keep to yourself and not mess in other people’s business.  He takes walks into the local woods to watch the sunset or just to look in the sky.  There is a girl, considered by most to be retarded and a witch, since she is able to heal broken things.  Her father is afraid of her and beats her mercilessly.  One day she comes to the station and lets the soldier see her back.  He takes her into the station to apply first aid.  While there she manages to turn on a trinket left by one of the travelers, one the soldier was never able to work.

The soldier’s recruiter visits and reveals a political upheaval in the galaxy due to a missing spiritual token.  It may mean the end of the station.