by Zoe Matthews
As she moved on, she saw the grand entrance was still just as beautiful, even if everything seemed a little faded. She touched the intricate design of the stair railing, as she walked past it.
Nicky noted that even though the house definitely was empty, there was a distinct impression that it was used frequently. She walked into the room that Collins had led Kimberly and her to that first day they had come to see if Mrs. Victoria Hilton was a real person. It was Victoria’s office. She looked around, noticing everything looked exactly the same as what she remembered. Then something caught her eye. On the oak desk was a small stack of envelopes, with a golden key on top.
“That’s strange,” Nicky muttered to herself. “That key looks like the one Collins used to travel between his time and mine.”
She picked it up and felt a slight vibration, as she held it. It was warm, warmer than it should have been sitting in a cold house. She set the key aside and picked up the letters. She could see one was from Kimberly, because she recognized her neat handwriting. Were the others from Shaun? She hardly dared hope and quickly opened the top letter. It was from Shaun.
She started to open the letter, when she saw another key had been under the envelopes. That’s strange, she thought again. How could both keys be here, when Collins and Victoria are nowhere to be found? How did they get home? She set the first key on top of the other and jumped when it sparked. She quickly picked the key back up and sat and thought for a moment. The only explanation she could come up with was that both keys, working together, had transported the letters that had been placed between them, and had traveled through time. She picked up the second key and could feel the same vibration she had felt, when she had held the first one.
“These keys must be really powerful,” she whispered to herself. She sat down in Victoria’s chair behind the desk and looked carefully at each key. They were completely identical, except for the fact that one showed more age than the other. They had a long handle, with an intricate design on the end that seemed to keep on going, twisting, and curving over itself. The other end was simple, but equally stunning, with three notches that would normally turn a lock.
She glanced down at the letter she had opened from Shaun, but she decided she would wait and read the letters when she returned home. Part of her wanted to use one of the keys to go back in time and visit Kimberly, but she didn’t dare. She didn’t have any idea how the keys worked, only that they did. The last thing she wanted to do was end up in a time or place she didn’t want to be.
She remembered the letters she had written and pulled them out of her pocket. She wondered what would happen if she placed the letters she had written between the two, gold keys. Would they travel back to 1892? Would they arrive where Kimberly and Shaun were? It was obvious to her that that was what had happened with their letters to her. Somehow, the keys knew where to deliver them. Nicky carefully placed one of the keys down on the desk, put the letters she had written on top and then placed the second key on top of the letters. She waited impatiently for a few minutes, but nothing happened.
Disappointed, she reached to pick up the key that sat on top of the letters, but then noticed something strange. The key started to vibrate. Soon the stack of letters vibrated with the key and then…. the keys and the letters disappeared, right before her eyes.
She got up and quickly searched the house room by room to make sure they hadn’t moved to another part of the house, but she didn’t see them. She did discover a locked room on the second story of the house and wondered why it was locked while all the other bedroom doors stood wide open.
Nicky decided she better leave and left the house through the same door she came in with her sack of food and her cherished letters. She would drive home and spend the evening reading any news from Kimberly and see what Shaun had written. She was extremely happy that she now knew that it was possible to have contact with Kimberly and she had a way to get to know Shaun better, even if it was through time.
Chapter 8
Eight Months Later, Early June of 2006
It was now summer, and Nicky closed the door to her classroom for the last time. It was the last day of school, and she had the entire summer to relax. She had been asked to teach summer school again, but she turned down the job. This summer, she didn’t want to have any responsibilities.
She had been writing to Kimberly, Shaun, and his daughter, Colleen, all winter. Every few weeks she would take the letters she had written and go to Victoria’s home. There were always a few letters sitting on her oak desk between the two keys. She would replace the letter with her own that she had written, wait until they disappeared, and then she would devour the letters she had received.
She hadn’t had a good, school year. The principal had given her a few kids that had had severe behavioral problems, and it had taken most of her energy to just get through each day. She was very relieved that school was now over. She loved to teach, but she didn’t ever want to have a class like her most recent one again.
Things still weren’t going well with Justin, either. He came over every so often, mainly so his son, Garrett, could spend time with her. Sometimes Justin would ask her to keep an eye on him and leave them together, saying he had errands to run. She started to wonder if he was dating someone, but he wouldn’t admit to that.
In one of her letters, she had asked permission to tell Justin, and Victoria had reluctantly agreed, telling her she should only tell Justin and her parents, no one else. She mentioned the danger they could be in, as there was a man who had broken into and torn apart her home looking for the keys. Nicky felt confident that there wouldn’t be any way for the man to connect Nicky and her family to Victoria and decided not to worry about it. But the way Justin had been acting, she wasn’t inclined to tell him anything. And would he believe her anyway? She knew her parents suspected something was going on, but they did their best to not ask too many questions, although she knew they were concerned. They wondered where Kimberly really was and why she hadn’t been coming to any family gatherings.
Right before Christmas, she had received a letter that Kimberly was expecting her first child, which was due in July. Nicky desperately wanted to be there when she had her baby. From what she could gather in Kimberly’s letters, she would be having the baby at the ranch, with only Bridget’s help. Nicky knew that back in the 1890’s, women didn’t regularly go to hospitals just to have a baby. They might send for a doctor, but generally they had their babies at home with the help of a few women. Even though she knew this was the norm in the time period Kimberly was now living in, she was concerned, and she wanted to be there. She had already attended a seminar about home births, how to ease the pain, what problems a woman might expect, and how to solve the problems naturally. She had also ordered a few books about natural birth from an online bookstore. Most evenings were spent reading the books and taking notes about what she learned. She didn’t know if she would ever use the skills she was learning about, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared.
She had learned a few things about the keys over the last few months. They definitely seemed to work together. Whenever she put letters in between them, they would travel directly to the ranch. At Christmas time, she had packed a small box with gifts. Placing the box between the two keys, it had disappeared just like the letters did. Kimberly had sent a few drawings she had created the same way. Nicky had also learned how she could travel with the keys. All she would need to do was think about exactly where she wanted to go, and the keys would magically take her there.
Nicky had also learned that Victoria and Collins had gotten married. Soon after their marriage, they had given the two keys to Kimberly and Patrick. Time travel had become physically hard on Victoria and Collins, and they had felt it was time to transfer ownership of the keys to someone else, and they had picked Kimberly and Patrick. Nicky knew that the keys were always at the ranch, if they weren’t with her in 2006.
She had also greatly enjoyed the letters from
Shaun. At first, his letters were short. He just wrote about what he was doing every day. But, as they continued to write each other, he became more open about his life. She knew he didn’t expect to ever see her again, but she also knew he enjoyed her letters. He allowed Colleen to write to her, for which Kimberly was grateful. She felt a closeness to Colleen and wanted to do what she could to help her be happy.
After closing up her classroom for the school year, she drove home. She suddenly knew what she wanted to do that summer and where she wanted to go. She wanted to use the keys and travel to Kimberly. She wanted to be there when her friend had her baby. Maybe, she could even help, especially with all the knowledge she had been learning over the last few months. She also admitted to herself that she wanted to see Shaun again. She knew it was time to tell Justin about the keys. But even if he didn’t believe her, she was going to spend her summer in 1893, at a ranch deep in the Rocky Mountains. Right now, Shaun had the keys, since she had just sent a letter to them a week ago. But when she had those keys back in her possession again, she was going to take a trip.
****
Shaun let the horse loose that he had been working with all morning in a field and leaned against the fence watching it run towards the other horses in a far corner. It was hot for the beginning of June, and the horses liked to stand under some trees that were located in the corner. He let his mind drift and started thinking about the events of the past winter.
It had been a hard one. The snowfall had been heavier than usual, and the family had been housebound for more than just a few days. Keegan had spent the winter with Victoria and Collins, going to school, and working for Victoria in her gardens and yard in exchange for room and board. They expected him to return in a few weeks. Shaun’s family had become close to Victoria and Collins, and they had started to become like family. At Christmas time, Patrick and Kimberly had announced that they were expecting a child which excited the entire family, especially Colleen.
Shaun had written Nicky all winter. He remembered the day when Victoria and Collins had come to visit right after their wedding. The keys had been left with letters he had written Nicky in the living room while the family ate a meal together. When Victoria had returned to get the keys and find a safe place for them, she discovered that the keys and the letters were missing. At first, they wondered if Golin had somehow figured out where the keys were, had time traveled from his time to theirs, and had taken the keys while they were all in the kitchen. Victoria was very distraught and had lamented over and over how she shouldn’t have left them just sitting in plain sight. But, if Golin had taken the keys, wouldn’t he have left the letters behind?
He remembered feeling very disappointed that he had probably lost his chance to write Nicky. He had been surprised at how disappointed he was. But a few weeks later the keys miraculously appeared on the same table, with new letters tucked between them. Everyone was relieved to know the keys were indeed safe, and Kimberly was overjoyed to see that the letters were from Nicky. The family quickly learned that, when the keys worked together, whatever was between them would be transported to the time period they were meant for. Shaun had enjoyed writing Nicky all winter, especially when they were snowbound. He enjoyed learning about her life in the future. He could tell she enjoyed teaching, despite the difficult children in her class. She had hinted that her brother somehow knew something was different about her trip to see Kimberly get married, and he felt bad that they weren’t as close as they used to be. In fact, in his last letter, he encouraged her to tell Justin about the keys. He didn’t feel that the keys should separate families.
He didn’t know if it was possible that someone could start to fall in love with another through letters, but he finally admitted to himself that he felt something, as he read her letters. It made him nervous. He had already fallen for a woman, who left him high and dry when she realized life wouldn’t be what she was expecting. He didn’t want to go through that again, and he doubted Nicky would want to stay with him forever. Nicky had also written to Colleen regularly, which thrilled her. Nicky’s letters would always appear on the same table in the living room, so Colleen checked the table multiple times a day, seeing if there was another letter for her.
Shaun heard the dinner bell ring, and his stomach growled in response. He started towards the house. As he walked by the small cabin Patrick shared with Kimberly, the door opened, and Kimberly waddled out. She was eight-months pregnant and was looking forward to having the baby soon.
“Hi,” Kimberly greeted him with a tired smile.
“How are you feeling?” Shaun asked her with concern. She looked more tired than usual.
“I’m doing okay,” Kimberly told him. “It’s just that Junior here decides it’s time to wake up and do somersaults every time I lie down and try to rest.”
Shaun’s ears burned with embarrassment. He knew that, in her time, women were much more open about pregnancy than he was used to, and he had never gotten used to how honest Kimberly was about the symptoms she had. It didn’t seem to bother Patrick though.
“When was the last time you received a letter from Nicky?” she asked him, changing the subject, as they slowly walked together to the large cabin.
“About a week ago,” Shaun responded. “I bet she’s relieved that her school year is about over for the summer.”
Kimberly nodded. “Nicky is an excellent teacher, but it’s been a difficult year for her.”
Shaun noticed that she now looked tired and sad. “You miss her.”
Kimberly nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. “More than you know. It’s hard to think I probably will never see her again.”
“Any regrets?”
Kimberly shook her head firmly. “I love your brother, Shaun. I am happy here. To be honest, I feel more at home here than I ever did in my own time. I just miss some of the people sometimes, especially now that…”
“Now that Junior is coming soon,” Shaun finished for her with a smile.
Kimberly nodded, as she wiped more tears away. “I’m fine, honest. Being pregnant makes me more emotional than I usually am.”
Shaun didn’t have a response to that and he was glad they had arrived at the large cabin. He could smell something delicious in the air, as they went inside. He would enjoy lunch with his family, and then maybe he and Colleen could take a horseback ride.
Chapter 9
Justin was waiting for Nicky outside of her townhouse when she arrived home that afternoon. Even though they weren’t as close as they used to be, she was happy to see him, and she greeted him with a kiss on his cheek.
“Is school out for the summer?” he asked, as he took a box she was holding while she unlocked her door.
“Yes, thank heavens,” Nicky breathed. “I’m looking forward to a break.”
Justin followed her inside, set the box down on her kitchen table, and made himself at home on her sofa. It didn’t look like he was going to leave any time soon. Nicky had been planning to drive to Victoria’s house and leave another letter she had written to Shaun the night before, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to go until Justin left.
She saw Justin’s eyes fall to the coffee table that stood in front of the sofa. Her heart skipped a beat when she knew he had seen the letter she had written to Shaun on the table, and he picked it up.
“Who is Shaun?” Justin asked with suspicion in his voice.
Nicky sighed, as she set her bag down next to the box. She wished Justin would stop acting like everything she did was wrong. But she also knew it was time to tell him about the keys. If she followed through with her plans to visit Kimberly this summer, she knew she would have to tell him where she would be. As much as her brother was exacerbating her, she loved him deeply, and she didn’t want him to worry about her, like she had done when Kimberly had disappeared.
“If I tell you something, will you promise to not say a word until I’m finished?” she asked, as she sat down next to him.
Justin looked relieved
and nodded his head. Nicky suddenly realized he had been very worried about her, more than she had understood.
“Shaun is Patrick’s brother. We have been writing to each other for almost a year.”
She waited to see if Justin was going to say anything. She could tell he wanted to, but he clamped his mouth shut, and nodded his head to continue.
“Do you remember when Kimberly answered that ad to be a mail-order bride?”
Justin nodded.
“The man she wrote to lives in 1892. It was Patrick.”
Justin’s eyes narrowed in disbelief and suspicion.
“She wrote to him for a few months, and then the woman who placed the ad gave her a key, a powerful key. This key had the power to transport her back in time. This woman also was from 1892, and she actually owned two keys that can take people to different, time periods.”
Justin’s eyes narrowed even more, but he also looked confused.
Nicky smiled to herself. Justin hadn’t said a word yet. “So Kimberly traveled back in time using the key, to 1892. She met Patrick and stayed on the ranch his family owns for about a month. They fell in love and decided to marry. Kimberly willingly gave up living in our time to live in Patrick’s time. Do you remember when I left for a few days last summer?”
