A Window in Time

by Carolyn Lampman

  She gave a short laugh. “You’re asking me? Come on, Lucas. What little I know about electricity, you taught me, and I don’t understand all of that.”

  “Damn, if I could see it once...”

  “Small chance of that.” She stared bleakly into the fire. “I haven’t caught a glimpse of it since November.”

  “You really want to go back, don’t you?” he asked softly.

  Brianna looked at him in surprise. “Of course, I do. As you’ve pointed out since the day I arrived, I don’t exactly belong here.”

  “Do you realize there may be no way home, that you’re stuck here forever?”

  Brianna hunched her shoulders under the blanket. “The thought has occurred to me, but I refuse to consider it.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want to be trapped in this time period forever.”

  “Isn’t there anything you like about it?”

  The corner of her mouth quirked a little. “Mmm, well there are a couple of things. The horses are absolutely fantastic. Of course, somebody has to practically die before I’m allowed to ride them.”

  “And?”

  “And watching the Pony Express in action was almost worth the trip.”

  “Nothing else?”

  She knew exactly what he wanted to hear, but she couldn’t very well tell him the truth. Or could she? He loved her fully as much as she loved him. Maybe he had the right to know.

  “You haven’t thought it all through, Lucas. Anna was on the way here when we switched.”

  “So?”

  She sighed. This was going to be harder than she had anticipated. “I’m not just her great-great granddaughter. She was married to my great-great grandfather.”

  “That is the way it usually works.”

  “His name was Lucas Daniels.”

  “Lucas Dan...” suddenly he began to grin. “That’s why you’ve kept me at arm’s length all this time. You think we’re related.”

  “Given the facts, it’s a pretty logical assumption.”

  “And do you believe it?”

  “No,” she said truthfully. “I haven’t for a long time, but there are some things I can’t ignore. My uncle has your watch, for one thing.” She gave him a little smile. “You can’t believe how many stories we made up about Marie. We thought she must have died.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why you’ve kept me away.”

  “Oh, come on, Lucas, be serious.”

  “I am. Even if you were my great-great granddaughter, we wouldn’t be any more closely related than third cousins. Marriages between third cousins happen all the time; my parents, for example. So, it wouldn’t matter even if we were related, which we’re not.”

  “We’re not? How do you know?”

  “I’ve seen your feet.” His grin widened. “More importantly, you’ve seen mine.”

  She gave him a bewildered look. “What are you talking about?”

  “Haven’t you ever noticed my toe?”

  Brianna thought about it for a moment. He did have a rather oddly twisted little toe. “You mean the one you broke?”

  “It isn’t broken, I was born that way. Have you ever seen another like it?”

  “No.”

  “Ha!” he said triumphantly. “I knew it. That toe is fondly known as the Daniels curse. Almost everybody in my family, including some very distant relatives, have it. If you were truly my descendant you would have recognized it immediately, even if you were one of the few who didn’t have it.”

  “The Daniel’s curse,” she said in amazement. “In my time, it’s red hair.”

  “I don’t think anybody in my family has red hair.”

  They stared at each other for a long moment. “Ian?” Lucas said at last.

  “I don’t know. It’s possible, I guess.”

  “I’d say it’s more than possible,” Lucas said. “The man was half in love with you. If you’d given him the least encouragement...Anyway, he’d have been there for Anna. I’m sure of it. On the other hand, Anna and I wouldn’t have suited at all.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Don’t I? You forget I read her letters. She’d have never stood up to me the way you do.”

  Brianna smiled. “Gee, and I could have sworn you didn’t like that.”

  “Very perceptive of you,” he said. “Anyway, I’d have probably sent her on her way the first day.”

  “Except you obviously didn’t,” she pointed out. “Which brings us back to Ian. I’ve thought this out a hundred times, but I keep coming up with the same question. If he and Anna did wind up together, why isn’t my name MacTavish?”

  They looked at each other again. Finally, Lucas shrugged. “I guess we’ll never know. Maybe it doesn’t matter. The question is what do we do now?”

  “Wait.”

  “For how long? Are you willing to spend the rest of your life here waiting for something that may never happen?”

  “I...I don’t know.”

  Lucas watched her stare into the fire. He wouldn’t soon forget the horrible burning anger that had ripped through him when he thought she had come to study him like some kind of scientific specimen. The truth was much more palatable, but what if knowing he wasn’t her grandfather didn’t change anything? What if she still didn’t want him? Brianna said she hadn’t believed it anyway. In that moment he knew himself for a coward. He couldn’t face the possibility of another rejection. “What is this thing anyway?” he asked, picking up the contraption on his lap.

  Brianna glanced up. Unbelievably, she grinned. “An evil spirit.”

  “What?”

  She scooted over and flipped a switch to produce a high-pitched whine. “I was lucky enough to have this out when the Indians came that day. It saved my life.”

  He raised his brows. “They were scared of a mad mosquito? It’s not a particularly pleasant sound but—”

  “Just wait.” Brianna smiled mysteriously. The whine stopped and a small light came on. She pointed to a button. “All right it’s ready. Push that.”

  Lucas did as he was told. “Jesus Christ!” he yelped as a brilliant white light shot out of the box in his hand. He dropped it as though he’d been burned.

  Brianna laughed as she caught it. “That’s exactly what the Indians thought, too. Especially since I hit one of them with my knife right after it flashed.”

  “What is it?”

  “A camera. The strobe makes it possible to take pictures in low light.”

  “I’ll be damned.” He took it back and examined it more closely. Now that he knew what it was, he could see a vague resemblance to the cameras of his day. “And I thought the ones we have now were wonderful inventions. Where is the film?”

  “It’s digital. Cameras haven’t needed film for a while now. Here, let me show you.” She turned the camera over and pressed another button. She smiled down at a small square of glass, then leaned against him so he could see it. “Nice selfie, Lucas.” It was a picture of his face, wide-eyed and startled.

  “It took that when the light went off?”

  “Yes, and these are from when the Indians visited.” Other pictures showed on the glass as she pushed the button. The first was of three men running for the door dragging a bloodied fourth one between them. The next showed the top of a man’s head, and wide frightened eyes peering over the edge of the table.

  “I’m fairly certain this is one who tried to grab me at Three Crossings,” Brianna said, pointing to a particular man in each of the next three pictures. “I think he recognized me and yelled a warning to the others.”

  “Which is why they fled,” Lucas said in wonder.

  “I think so, yes.” Brianna passed the camera to Lucas. “After that, I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it. It saved my life twice.”

  Lucas smiled slightly. “No wonder they called you a fire demon. What powers it?”

  “A battery. It’s sort of amazing it still has a charge. Tom must have downloaded his
pictures just before the balloon rally. It’s too bad, too. I would love to show you my world,” she said wistfully. “It would be so much fun.”

  “I think I’d like to see it.” He put the camera aside and picked up a small flat object. “Now what’s this?”

  “That’s a solar calculator. We use it to do math problems. I’ll have to show you tomorrow. It runs on light.”

  They went through the contents of the backpack item by item. Lucas was fascinated by all he saw. His fingers fairly itched to take things apart and find out what made them work, but Brianna wouldn’t let him. He was more than a little irritated, but her explanation went a long way toward soothing his wounded pride. It was pretty hard to feel abused when he realized how brilliant she thought he was. He didn’t bother telling her she’d over-estimated his abilities.

  “What do you have there?” he asked when he saw her stuff something back in the bag.

  “It’s...uh...just a magazine.”

  Lucas might have left it at that if she hadn’t blushed. His curiosity thoroughly aroused he held out his hand. “Let’s see it.” He wiggled his fingers. “Come on.”

  “Oh, all right,” she said, handing it over reluctantly. “But I want you to know I don’t buy this sort of stuff myself.”

  It took about half a second to see why. It was full of women wearing very little more than a smile. “Good Lord!” Lucas hardly even noticed the sleek machines they were standing by as he flipped through the glossy pages. “Is this the way women dress in your time?”

  “Only when they go swimming.”

  His eyes widened in astonishment. “Swimming? Are you telling me you’ve actually let people see you like this?”

  “My suit isn’t quite so revealing, though I don’t suppose you’d approve.”

  He turned the magazine sideways to better view a picture that covered two pages. “It depends on where you wore it. If I was the only one to see it, I wouldn’t mind. You’d look a lot better than these women. They’re all so blasted thin! Isn’t there enough to eat in the future?”

  “It’s in style,” Brianna said, absurdly pleased by the compliment. “Lucas, about tonight—”

  “Brianna—”

  “No let me finish. I’m sorry I ran. I...I was scared.”

  “I hurt you.”

  “No, you didn’t. Well, maybe a little,” she admitted when he gave her a disbelieving look. “But it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be.”

  “You were a virgin.”

  “I never found a man I loved enough to take a chance with,” she paused, “until now.”

  Lucas hardly dared to breathe. “You love me?”

  “Almost since the beginning. Can you imagine what it’s like thinking you’ve fallen for your own great-great grandfather?”

  “You said you didn’t believe it.”

  “I didn’t want to, but I was afraid it was wishful thinking. I wish you’d told me about your stupid toe earlier. Do you realize how much time we’ve wasted?”

  “Too damn much. We’re going to start making up for that right now.” Lucas pulled out his watch and handed it to her.

  She looked at him blankly. “What’s this for?”

  “I don’t need it anymore,” he said, unfolding the space blanket and spreading it out. “I found a woman I can trust.”

  Her smile was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. “In spite of everything I’ve told you?”

  “You told me the truth even when you didn’t think I’d like it.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Do these space blankets really keep you warm?” He whispered when they finally came up for air.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Because,” he said, lying down and pulling it up over them both. “You and I have some very important business to finish, and I don’t want to go clear back to the cabin first.”

  Brianna snuggled down next to him happily. “You know, I sort of forgot the first part. Can we just start over again from the beginning?”

  He gave a low chuckle. “I’ll be happy to refresh your memory.”

  CHAPTER 40

  (July 1861)

  “Brianna, I have to get up.” Lucas said. “There’s a telegraph message.”

  “Don’t they know it’s the middle of the night?” she grumbled as he disentangled himself and got out of bed.

  “It’s almost dawn.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it.”

  Brianna smiled with anticipation. He’d be back all right. For two months they had started and ended every day by making love, sometimes more than once. Today would be no different.

  She was aware of the intermittent tap of the telegraph key as she drifted in and out of sleep. The door opened and closed twice as he went to the outhouse and returned. There was the soft rustle of clothing dropping to the floor, the mattress dipped behind her, and a naked male body pressed against her back. Brianna smiled as a large hand closed over her breast. “Took you long enough,” she muttered.

  “Sorry,” he whispered, trailing hot kisses down her neck. “I didn’t think he’d ever leave.”

  “Mmmm, I like that,” she said as his fingers wandered down her body enticingly. “Who wouldn’t leave?”

  “Lucas.”

  “What?” Her eyes flew open, and she jerked around to find Lucas grinning down at her.

  “You rat!” she cried smacking his shoulder. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”

  “I couldn’t resist. You’re such a sleepy head this morning.”

  She rolled to her back and put her arms around his neck. “How much time do we have before the wagon train gets here?”

  “Probably an hour.”

  Brianna smiled seductively. “Just right. How about some exercise before breakfast?”

  “My God, woman,” he said in mock horror, “you’re insatiable.”

  She wiggled her hips. “I know. So are you. Do you think we’ll ever get tired of it?”

  “Maybe in thirty years or so. Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

  “Why don’t you show me?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  It was nearly eight o’clock and the wagon train was already long gone when they finally emerged from the cabin two hours later.

  “I don’t suppose you’d consider letting this one pass by?” Lucas said as they walked down to the corral.

  “Nope. You said yourself it may be the last one this year.” She patted the pouch she carried her money in. “Besides, this might be the one with an extra cow to sell.”

  “You never give up do you?”

  She grinned. “Not when we’re talking about fresh milk.”

  “Just be careful. Damn, I wish I didn’t have to stay by the telegraph. I don’t like the idea of you riding out alone.”

  “I have my gun and my knife. Besides, they aren’t even out of sight yet. I’ll be back before you know it.” She chuckled when Oz came up to the fence and nuzzled her shoulder. “See, even Oz is anxious to go.”

  “He’s anxious for the grain you give him.”

  Brianna slipped the bit into Oz’s mouth and the bridle straps up over his ears. “You know, Lucas, maybe we should consider going West to Oregon or California. Between the two of us we have enough money to buy a nice little place. We could be packed and out of here before winter hits.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes.”

  “It will end any chance you have of getting home.”

  Brianna looked up at him. “I think that chance is gone anyway. I haven’t seen the blue mist since last fall.” She reached up and caressed his cheek with her hand. “Funny thing is, I really don’t mind. My home is wherever you are.”

  He covered her hand with his own and kissed her palm. “We’ll talk about it when you get back.”

  “I love you, Lucas,” she whispered, putting her arms around his neck and pulling his head down for a kiss. It was several more minutes before she
got around to setting off after the wagon train.

  It was nearly eleven o’clock before Lucas began to worry about her. Even with her late start she should be home by now. Maybe she’d managed to talk one of the settlers out of a cow.

  At eleven-thirty he sat down at the telegraph key and tapped out a message to the relay stations on either side of him. They both expressed their concern for his missing wife and wished him luck in his search.

  He found her less than three miles from the station. Oz lay on his side, his eyes glazed in death. Lucas hardly spared a glance for the unfortunate animal. He only had eyes for the still form that lay so close to the dead horse. With his heart in his throat, he knelt at Brianna’s side and searched for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt the strong thump under his fingers.

  It only took a moment to figure out what had happened. Apparently something had startled Oz into rearing. He’d gone over backwards and broken his neck. Brianna had thrown herself clear, but had hit her head when she landed. A lump the size of a goose egg was the only injury he could find. Worry curled around the edge of his relief. Head injuries were so unpredictable. She could still die.

  Brianna was as limp as a rag doll in his arms all the way back to the cabin. He put her on the bed and covered her with a blanket, wondering desperately if any of the pills in the backpack would help.

  He was reading the information on the back of the pill bottles when he heard a strange high-pitched whine behind him. Lucas whirled around and found a cloud of blue mist revolving slowly at the foot of the bunk. He could see a strangely different image of Brianna on the other side. Even as he watched, both women began to glow with a weird blue light and started to waver before his horrified eyes.

  “NO!” His anguished cry bounced back from the walls, mocking him and his helplessness.

  CHAPTER 41

  (Present day)

  Waking up next to Anna was bittersweet. Tom propped himself up on one elbow and stared down into her sleeping face. She was so beautiful, his heart turned over in his chest. Their long night of loving showed in the dark shadows under her eyes, but she slept with a smile on her face.