by Zoe Matthews
Justin turned back, only to find Patrick and Shaun running out the door, dragging Golin on the ground behind him. The man wasn’t moving and his right leg stuck out to the side of his body at an unnatural angle.
Everyone kept trying to put the fire out, but it had grown far too large.
“Just let it burn itself out,” Patrick finally said with a groan as he bent over and coughed hard.
Michelle and Kimberly bent over Golin, who still hadn’t moved since he had been dragged out of the barn.
“I don’t think he made it,” Michelle whispered to Kimberly who checked his pulse and then nodded her agreement.
“He’s dead,” she confirmed and turned to Colleen. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”
The girl didn’t react in any way, the blank stare on her face never changing.
“She seems to be okay, although I think she is in shock. She hasn’t said a word,” Nicky said, as she held the child close to her chest.
“She’s been through an ordeal, that’s for sure,” Bridget commented. “But she doesn’t look like she’s hurt.”
“He’s dead?” Collins asked as he walked over and lightly kicked one of Golin’s booted feet.
The women nodded.
“Well, that’s that, I guess. We’ll need to bury him, but first, let’s find his key.”
Patrick started to search Golin. He found multiple knives and the gun with a bullet missing, but he couldn’t find the key. Shaun bent down to help. Still no key.
“I wonder if he tried to use it when the fire started,” Patrick commented with a sigh. “When I found him, he looked like he was trying to find something on the barn floor with his hands before he…. stopped moving.”
Shaun looked at the burning barn. “I guess we’ll have to find his key after the fire is out.”
“As soon as we find it, I want it taken to the cave,” Patrick said in a firm voice, the one no one ever argued with.
“We’ll take all three keys back to our house in Denver and give them to the Irish man as soon as he shows up,” Victoria assured everyone. “We won’t ever have to worry about them again.”
Bridget knew they had been planning on staying a few weeks, but she also understood that it was more important to get the keys to the Irish man where they were safe from people like Golin.
“But what about my family?” Nicky questioned. “We’ve got to use the keys at least one more time.”
Soon everyone was talking, voicing their opinion and not listening to each other.
Suddenly a loud whistle went through the air, and everyone quieted, looking at the culprit in shock. Collins, who always has been so formal, had whistled to get everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat.
“Let’s bury Golin. It’s too bad we don’t know exactly what time period he was from. There isn’t any way to get word of his demise to his relatives.”
“He doesn’t have any family,” Colleen said for the first time since she had been pulled out of the burning barn. Everyone looked at her.
“How do you know?” Nicky asked gently.
“He told me. While he was waiting for Pa and Uncle Patrick to get the keys, he told me what he was going to do and why he wanted the keys. He wasn’t married and didn’t have any kids. He told me. He wanted the keys to force a woman he loves, but who married someone else, to marry him instead. He was going to go back in time and make her marry him.”
“Hmm,” Collins nodded. “Makes sense. Use the keys to make others do what you want.”
“Let’s get the grave dug, and then we will discuss getting Nicky’s family back to their time,” Shaun suggested.
There were two shovels that luckily hadn’t been stored in the barn since Patrick had been using them to fix some fence posts. Some of the men started to dig a grave near a cluster of trees. The women gathered the children and went inside the large cabin, trying to get away from the awful scene of the burial and burnt down barn.
Chapter 15
The next morning, everyone gathered together in the kitchen for breakfast. The burial of Golin had taken longer than expected the night before. The men took turns digging and working on putting out small fires of what was left of the barn. By the time the fire was completely out and Golin had been buried, it was almost midnight.
After a few hours of discussion, it was finally decided that Nicky’s family would stay a few extra days than originally planned. They wanted to help with the cleanup, and since the threat of Golin was gone, returning the keys to the Irish man immediately didn’t seem as much of a priority.
Patrick and Shaun had been working on preparing logs all summer long in order to build another small cabin for Shaun and Nicky. These logs were immediately planned to be put to use in building a new barn instead. It was more important to get a barn built than another cabin. The new cabin would need to wait. The animals that were housed in the barn were fine in the fields for the time being, since it was summer. However, they would need the protection of a barn during the winter months.
Doug and Justin wanted to help build the barn and Michelle wanted to spend more time with Nicky, Kimberly, and her grandchildren. She also wanted to help with the garden and bottling the vegetables for the coming winter. Victoria and Collins also made plans to stay longer to help.
Everyone pitched in to go through the burnt barn remains to see if anything was salvageable and to find Golin’s key. It took two days to go through everything. Some of the farm equipment had been salvageable, which seemed to relieve the men greatly. However, as they searched through the rubble and the ground where Golin had last laid, they didn’t find the key. They kept looking for it as the area was cleared for the new barn to be built, but finally gave up. It had somehow disappeared. No one could explain what could have happened to it.
Once they’d given up, Patrick and Shaun decided it would be a good idea to go to the cave and retrieve the other two keys. Since Golin was no longer a threat, they thought it would be okay to bring the keys back to the ranch. Once Nicky’s family went back to their time, Victoria and Collins would be able to take the keys back to their house in Denver and turn them over to the Irish man. Since the cave was near the Indian village, Shaun wanted to ask some of Colleen’s uncles to help rebuild the barn in return for some of Bridget’s canned fruits and vegetables.
A few mornings after the fire, Patrick and Shaun left early and headed to the cave. Everyone else spent the day working, but also spending time together. Colleen seemed to have recovered from her kidnapping, although she refused to go anywhere by herself, including the outhouse. When she wasn’t doing assigned chores, she followed Garrett around. Bridget was pleased to see the friendship that developed between the two children.
Bridget hadn’t talked to Justin since their walk to the fishing hole. He was polite to her and talked to her when he needed to, but it also seemed to Bridget that he was avoiding her. She eventually realized that it was the only thing that he could do. Their mutual attraction was obvious, but a relationship between them wasn’t meant to be.
Bridget was still determined to go to Denver after Justin left. In fact, she was considering the idea of traveling back to the city with Victoria and Collins. She hadn’t told any of her family her decision yet. She figured it would be better to wait to give out that information after Justin was gone. Regret seeped into her heart, but also a peace that things were going to work out the way they were supposed to.
****
“Where are the keys?” Patrick demanded angrily. “Bridget promised that she buried them right where she found them. Where are they?”
Shaun continued to move rocks, but felt convinced that it was futile. There was a panic in his gut. Who could have taken the keys, and what did that mean for their family? After the confrontation at the barn with Colleen, he was nervous that something else would happen to the people he loved most.
They had both gotten up very early that morning to retrieve the keys. They had made good time with their horses to the
cave. After that, they hadn’t wasted any time climbing the mountain and scooting into the cave. Patrick wanted to get those keys in his saddlebag as soon as possible. They still needed to travel to the Indian village to find Colleen’s uncle to ask for some help with their barn. Patrick wanted to be back to their ranch by lunchtime, but Shaun wondered if that was going to happen.
“I wonder if some of the Indians saw Bridget and Nicky’s family leave the cave and decided to investigate,” Patrick said.
“It’s strange that the pile of rocks didn’t even look like they were removed at all,” Shaun pointed out. “I don’t think the Indians did this. If they’d found the keys, they would have left the rocks on the cave floor, not piled against the cave wall. Besides, they hate to be in enclosed areas. I would be very surprised if they found them.”
“Well, someone did, and I don’t like it,” Patrick retorted. “Those keys have been nothing but trouble.”
Shaun stopped moving rocks and turned to look at his brother silently.
Patrick sighed. “I really don’t mean that. We wouldn’t have Kimberly or Nicky in our lives if not for them.”
Shaun still didn’t say anything.
“I am just very concerned. I’ve tried all I can do to keep our families safe. It’s hard to fight a power I can’t understand.”
“I know what you mean, but remember, they are my family, too. You don’t have to take everything on your shoulders by yourself.”
“I know,” Patrick sighed again. He used his feet to move some smaller rocks away from the cave floor. “I just hope whoever found them leaves us alone. I’d just like to go back to our boring lives of raising cattle and horses and raising our families.”
“We’d better get home as soon as possible,” Shaun said, feeling concerned about their families they left behind. “Let’s head to the village, then hurry home.”
Shaun wondered how Nicky’s family was going to get back to their time now. What were they going to say when they find out that they might be stuck in 1894, forever?
Chapter 16
Victoria pulled a bucket of water from the well and gave it to Colleen so she could carry it to give the chickens water. Garrett gave her an empty bucket and Victoria sent it down the well to fill. After giving it to Garrett, he ran after Colleen, the bucket bouncing against his legs. Some of the water spilled onto the ground and Victoria knew by the time Garrett made it to the chicken coop, half the water would be gone.
She pulled a fancy embroidered handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped her forehead. The sunny June day was becoming very hot. Looking towards the path that she knew led to the cave, she hoped Patrick and Shaun returned soon. They had been gone long enough. She wanted those keys brought safely back to the ranch. She felt responsible for everything that had happened. Colleen could have been killed in the barn fire. Golin’s death had happened so quickly, it hurt her heart to think Colleen had come that close to death as well. Even though Kimberly and Nicky had told her they were glad the keys were around or they wouldn’t have met Patrick or Shaun, Victoria wondered if the bad was going to override the good of the keys’ power. She wished the Irish man who wanted the keys would just show up. She knew he would be able to help and to answer the questions they had. He wasn’t a bad man like Golin was. He wanted the keys to be only used in the proper way.
Victoria felt a presence behind her and turned to find Michelle standing a few feet away. Victoria gave a slight sigh. She had thought Michelle might confront her since she had received the definite impression that Michelle had some strong feelings against her. She knew Michelle saw her as the one who started this, and she was right.
“Can I help you?” Victoria asked Michelle formally when the woman didn’t say anything.
“I wanted to hate you,” Michelle blurted out. “I was so angry when I found out about the time travel and that I might not ever see my daughters again.”
Victoria smiled gently at her. “Let’s get out of this hot sun. We can talk over there.” She gestured to some wooden chairs that had been placed under a large shade tree near the large family cabin. Michelle nodded her head once and both women soon were settled in the cool shade.
Victoria started the conversation that she knew they both needed to have. “I feel I need to apologize to you as a mother. Now, I was not blessed to have my own children, but the keys brought me a family, your family. Part of me wishes I had never picked up that first key so many years ago.”
She looked out over the mountains in the distance, remembering that first day when she held the key, felt its power, its destiny. “But part of me is glad I did. That first key took me all over the world; to my childhood home in England, to the final years before my maternal grandmother died. That’s where I found the second key. She had it in a small shop she owned, although she didn’t know what it was.”
Victoria turned and smiled softly at Michelle. She hoped she would be able to convey her thoughts to this woman of the future she barely knew, but whom she had a bond with through her children. “After my late husband died, I was at loose ends and decided to start a mail-order bride business. It’s been very successful. By then Collins knew about the keys. It was his idea to use them to help women in the future. The keys gave me a family with all the Callaghan’s. The four of them have become my children, and their children, my grandchildren. The keys brought Patrick and Kimberly together, Shaun and Nicky together, Collins and I together.” She looked directly at Michelle. “And Bridget and Justin. The keys have bounded our families together.”
“Justin isn’t going to marry Bridget,” Michelle said firmly. “He promised me we would return to our time, all of us, so unless Bridget comes back with us, they won’t be marrying. Justin always keeps his promises.”
Victoria didn’t argue with her. Somehow she knew Justin and Bridget would end up together. The keys brought them together. But Michelle needed to find that out on her own.
“I can’t say I understand what it’s like to suddenly find out that I might not ever see some of my children again,” Victoria continued. “I apologize for any suffering you have had.”
Michelle sighed. “I just don’t understand any of this. It took me a long time to believe that time travel is even real.” Michelle reached out and squeezed Victoria’s hand, and her voice grew thick with emotion. “To be honest, I don’t know if I will be able to force myself to leave, to go back to my time. I can barely stand the thought of never seeing Nicky, Kimberly, or the babies again.”
Victoria noticed that Patrick and Shaun had finally returned, guiding their horses to a field where they were keeping all the horses until the barn was rebuilt.
“They are back,” she said with a sigh of relief. “For some reason, I’ve been very worried about them.”
“So have I,” Michelle admitted. “Like I said, I wanted to hate you. Because of you, my daughters disappeared. But I don’t hate you. I understand what you are saying. After we leave, I’m glad that they will have you and Collins nearby.”
Tears formed in Michelle’s eyes and Victoria wanted to somehow assure her that there had to be some way for everyone to keep in touch, but she knew she couldn’t promise that.
“Where is everyone?” Patrick asked as he strode towards them.
“Everyone is doing different things around the ranch,” Victoria told him. “Did you get the keys?”
“We need to have a family meeting,” Patrick’s mouth was set in a grim line.
Victoria noticed he hadn’t answered her question. She stood and went to find everyone. Obviously, whatever Patrick had to tell them wasn’t good.
****
After everyone had settled under the shade of the tree where Victoria and Michelle had been sitting, Patrick broke the news. “We didn’t find the two keys in the cave.”
Justin’s jaw dropped in shock. He quickly closed it and scowled with concern. Bridget quickly assured her brothers that she’d returned the keys to their rightful place in the cave, and Justin corro
borated her assurances.
Everyone started to talk at the same time, each speculating the reason why they might be gone.
“Golin must have had someone working for him who figured out where the keys were,” Kimberly suggested.
“Maybe a mountain man or one of the Indians from the village found them,” Nicky added.
“Are you sure you looked in the right spot?” Doug asked.
Again, Collins stopped the talking with a short loud whistle. Justin smiled to himself when everyone quieted and looked at him in amazement. Obviously, it was out of Collins’ character to do such a thing.
Patrick smiled at Collins. “Thanks, Collins. We need to decide what we are going to do.” He turned to Justin and his parents. “Obviously, with the keys gone, you cannot return to the future as we had planned.”
