by Zoe Matthews
****
Rocky Mountains, June, 1893
The sun started to come up over the mountains that surrounded the ranch, showing all the world that it was time to start the day. Shaun was already hard at work and had been for a few hours. He had risen early that morning, not able to sleep. After a few hours of tossing and turning, he finally had thrown his blanket off and had decided to do some training with the new horse he had just purchased.
He guided the horse on a rope in a large circle, being careful to keep the rope tight. Every few steps the horse kicked out his back legs, but, after a few turns, he settled down and seemed to enjoy the controlled run. Shaun was very pleased that this horse was doing so well. He hadn’t named him yet, and Colleen was pestering him to be allowed to help decide what to call the horse. However, Shaun firmly believed not to officially name a horse, until he knew its personality, and if he decided to keep the horse after training it or sell it. Colleen didn’t understand his reasoning, saying a horse needed a name, so it knew it was loved.
Shaun smiled to himself, as he thought of his young daughter. She added so much joy to his life. Bridget had helped quite a bit, when Colleen was a baby, and she now helped by teaching Colleen her schooling, how to cook, sew, and care for a garden. When Colleen’s daily chores were done, she always spent the rest of the day with Shaun. She loved horses as much as he did and had a gift with them. It seemed she could talk with them; she always knew what they were thinking. Shaun figured she got that gift from her Indian family.
Since Nicky had showed up, Colleen had been spending more of her time with her. Shaun didn’t really mind, although he missed the company, but he hoped she wouldn’t grow too close to Nicky, since she would be leaving at the beginning of August.
He didn’t know what to think about Nicky coming. He enjoyed writing letters to her, but he didn’t really think he would ever see her again once she had left. Kimberly had chosen to stay in his time and marry Patrick, but he didn’t think Nicky would choose to do that. Judging from her letters, she enjoyed her teaching job and her life. She had a brother and a nephew, and her parents were still alive. Shaun had kept the tone of his letters formal, not even hinting that he might want something more with Nicky. He knew he wouldn’t want to follow Nicky to the future, especially with Colleen. He didn’t want Nicky to feel she had to choose the same thing Kimberly had.
Shaun pulled the rope hard, and the horse stopped. He walked up to the horse and patted his neck, whispering softly. The horse nickered and shook his head, as Shaun saw a shadow leaning against the fence. He turned and saw that it was Nicky, and he wondered how long she had been there.
“Hi,” Nicky called to him, when she realized he had seen her. He waved his arm in acknowledgment and removed the rope from the horse’s bridle.
“He’s a handsome horse,” Nicky commented, as Shaun walked towards her. “What are you training him for?”
“This horse is a gelding. I bought him to be a cattle horse. We need another one to help move cattle around, since one of our other horses grew lame, but I don’t think he’s up to the job.”
“Why not?” Nicky asked curiously.
“He doesn’t react as quickly as I’d like him to. I’ll probably train him for riding and sell him.”
“Oh, it’s a shame if you have to sell him.”
“Do you know how to ride?” Shaun asked her.
Nicky scrunched up her nose, and Shaun’s heart jumped. She was sure cute when she did that.
“I rode a horse once when I was about 12. I had badgered my mom to let me ride one, so she finally arranged for me to ride a horse a neighbor owned. I remember we rode on a trail in the mountains. The horse just followed the other horse in front of him. If it walked, he walked. If it stopped, he stopped. I realize now that my mother didn’t want me to ride a horse that could possibly buck me off,” Nicky smiled at him softly. “She chose well. That horse barely moved.”
“If you want, I can teach you to ride while you are here,” Shaun found himself volunteering.
Nicky smiled even wider. “Will you promise I get a horse that has a bit of spirit?”
“Yes,” Shaun agreed, thinking of the horse Kimberly had learned to ride on. “I think I have one that will work.”
“I’ll take you up on your offer then.” Nicky sighed and looked at the mountains in the east. “It is beautiful here. It’s almost like you live in your own world.”
“You live in Denver in… in the future. Don’t you see the same mountains?”
“Sure, they are the same, but they are also different. Many people have built homes in them. There are more roads and dams.”
Shaun wanted to ask for more information but decided to change the subject.
“Kimberly is glad you came.”
“I’ve missed her,” Nicky said simply. “When can we start my lessons?”
Shaun grinned. “Now if you’d like.”
Nicky glanced down at her dress. “What should I wear?”
“Kimberly has some boy’s britches I’m sure you could wear. Why don’t you go change, while I saddle a few horses?”
Nicky smiled at him, and his heart cracked open a bit. He watched, as she walked away, her skirt blowing in the morning breeze. He knew he could fall for her, if he let himself, and he forced his gaze away from her. He had to remind himself that she was from a different time. She wasn’t going to want to stick around once Kimberly’s baby was born, and she knew everything was okay.
He had enjoyed the letters they had exchanged all winter and had gotten to know her through them, but he realized now that the letters were never very personal. She would tell him about her teaching job and would write about some of her students. Every so often, she would mention that she had visited her parents. She never talked about another man, but Shaun knew that didn’t mean she wasn’t seeing someone seriously.
Shaun released the horse he was working with into a nearby field and hung the rope he had been using on a fence post. He went into the barn and started to saddle his favorite horse, Blazer, for himself and Honey for Kimberly. While he was saddling them, Colleen came into the barn.
“Tiger had kittens last night, Pa,” she announced, with a big grin. “Uncle Patrick said I could look at them, if I can find them, as long as I don’t touch them.”
Shaun could hear soft meows and pointed to a pile of hay in one corner of the barn. Colleen smiled with delight and walked quietly over to the hay.
“Ohhh,” she breathed and sat down in the hay to watch the new mother and her kittens. After a few minutes, she glanced up and noticed Shaun saddling Blazer.
“Are you going for a ride, Pa? Can I come?” Losing interest in the kittens, she jumped up and ran to his side.
“Nope,” he said, as he tightened the cinch. “I’m going to give a riding lesson to Nicky.”
“Really?” Colleen asked excitedly. “Can I help?”
“I guess you can,” Shaun responded. “Why don’t you go watch for her? She went to change into some britches.”
She ran out of the barn at full speed towards the large cabin, her black braids bouncing against her back as she ran. Shaun chuckled at his daughter’s exuberance. She was almost always happy and a joy to have around. He couldn’t imagine his life without her.
****
Nicky entered the cabin to look for Kimberly. She found her friend sitting in her usual chair, looking very tired.
“Are you feeling okay?” she asked Kimberly and tried not to laugh, when her friend glared at her.
“I wish everyone would quit asking me that,” she mumbled with a frown. “If anything starts to happen, I’ll say something.”
“Okay. Well, Shaun offered to teach me to ride a horse,” Nicky informed her, hoping to get her mind off her pregnancy.
Kimberly smiled slightly. “That’s nice.”
Nicky waited for questions, but Kimberly stayed silent, and she knew her friend really wasn’t herself. “He suggested I borrow a pair of y
our boy pants, unless you think it would be okay to wear a pair of jeans I brought.”
Kimberly’s smile grew wider. “No. Don’t wear anything you brought. Go ahead and…”
The door burst open, and Colleen ran into the room. “I get to help teach you how to ride a horse!”
Nicky laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be a great teacher.”
“Colleen, can you take Nicky to my cabin and find her a pair of the pants I used to wear when I rode Honey?”
“Sure, I can do that,” Colleen nodded her head. She turned to Nicky. “Kimberly doesn’t like to wear dresses. She wears man pants around on the ranch. The only time she wears dresses is when she goes to the city.”
“Except a few months ago, I decided dresses are more comfortable than pants,” Kimberly smiled wryly and patted her bulging tummy.
Colleen continued to nod her head. “Yeah, now she wears dresses all the time.” She turned to Kimberly. “After your baby comes, are you going to wear pants all the time again?”
“Probably,” Kimberly tried to arch her back and placed a hand on the small of her back.
“Are you….” Nicky started to ask, but she stopped when Kimberly raised her other hand to halt her question. She narrowed her eyes at her friend, wondering if it would be wise to leave her, but she knew Bridget was close by, and she was sure Patrick was around.
“Let’s go, Colleen.” Nicky followed the child out the door, after waving goodbye to Kimberly.
Kimberly’s cabin wasn’t very far away, and she was soon standing in the living room. It was a two-bedroom cabin, with the living room and kitchen in the front, and a small couch a little further back. She saw two doors against the far wall that she knew must lead to the bedrooms.
Colleen ran right into the bedroom on the right and came running back with a pair of riding pants, handing them to Nicky.
"Thank you, sweetie. Now, give me a moment, and I'll change into these pants, so we can go riding!"
****
Nicky sat comfortably in the saddle, having taken to Honey quickly. She was a good horse to learn how to ride on, although Nicky looked forward to riding a horse that was more of a challenge.
Colleen was chatting away, as she had been doing for most of the ride, telling stories of her own experiences riding and why you had to follow certain rules in order to stay safe. She had to give it to the child; she followed rules well, which was rare for her age.
Shaun stopped his horse in front of the river they had been walking beside, letting him get a drink while he got off to stretch his legs. Nicky hopped off her horse as well and led her up next to Shaun.
"How are you feeling?" Shaun inquired. He glanced over at Nicky before turning back to his horse to tighten a few straps.
"Great! It’s so exciting to be able to finally ride a good horse, down a real trail. This is beautiful land your family owns."
Shaun nodded his head. "It’s prettiest in the fall, when the leaves change color." He paused for a moment for looking at her with what seemed like admiration in his eyes. "Most first timers get stiff in the saddle quickly."
"I'm starting to feel it a little, but it’s worth it. This is the most relaxing thing I've done in a long time." She glanced up at him with a smile and was surprised to see him looking fondly at her. Up until that moment, she wasn't sure he felt anything for her at all. The look disappeared as Colleen started chattering again about the importance of making sure your horse had water. She smiled to herself. Maybe there was more between Shaun and her than she had thought.
Chapter 12
A few weeks later, Nicky woke to a pounding on her door. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was only five o’clock in the morning. She was too groggy to make sense of what was happening and almost rolled over to go back to sleep.
“Nicky, Kimberly wants you. She is in labor.” She recognized Shaun’s voice calling to her through the door and instantly sat up, the quilt she slept under falling to the floor.
“I’ll be right there,” she called back. She grabbed one of the dresses Bridget had given her, but she changed her mind. If she was going to help Kimberly properly, she needed to wear clothes she was comfortable in. She quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and tee-shirt, promising herself she would change back after the baby was born.
Slipping on her tennis shoes and grabbing the small bag of supplies she had packed in preparation for the birth, she ran to Kimberly’s cabin. The door was slightly open, so she let herself inside. She found Kimberly in a room lying on a bed. Bridget was already by her side, her eyes widening when she saw Nicky in her jeans.
“How is she doing?” Nicky asked, as she quickly took in the scene before her. Kimberly didn’t look like she was in much pain yet. She was propped up against some pillows and smiled when she saw Nicky. She noticed that Patrick wasn’t with her.
“I’m fine,” Kimberly told her. “I do think this is the real thing. The contractions seem to be about 3-4 minutes apart.”
“Good,” Nicky smiled at her. “Where’s Patrick?”
Kimberly frowned. “In the barn. He left the moment he realized I was in labor.”
“Do you want him here?” Nicky asked, ready to go drag Patrick back if she needed to.
“Maybe later. He seemed a bit…” Kimberly hesitated and clutched her stomach, grimacing in pain.
“Kimberly has told me that, in your time, the fathers are part of the birth, but, in our time, we send the men away. This is women’s work,” Bridget explained.
Nicky kept silent until she could see Kimberly relaxing, then she turned to Bridget. “I know things are done differently in both, time periods, but, if Kimberly wants Patrick here, and he wants to be here, it should be allowed.”
“Don’t worry about it right now,” Kimberly told her. “He about fainted, when I had my first contraction that actually hurt.”
Nicky laughed. “And how many times has he helped a calf or colt be born?”
“There’s a difference when it’s your wife,” Bridget replied.
“I probably should check you to see how things are progressing. Are you okay with me doing that?” she asked Kimberly. When her friend nodded, she turned to Bridget. “Maybe you could get some water boiling and gather all the towels you can.”
Bridget nodded. “I have some towels all ready for her, but I can get the water boiling.”
After Bridget left, Nicky helped Kimberly lie down and proceed to check the progression of labor, trying her best to remember all she had read and studied. She breathed a sigh of relief, when she could tell the baby was in a good position. The last thing she wanted to deal with was a breach birth.
“Things look good,” she told Kimberly who sighed with relief. “But you probably have a few hours. Why don’t we get you up out of that bed and walk around? I read that it can speed up labor.”
Kimberly agreed and allowed Nicky to help her to her feet. She then noticed Nicky’s pants. “You’re going to make the men faint,” she teased.
“Hasn’t Patrick seen you in jeans?” Nicky pressed, as she guided Kimberly into the next room.
“No. I didn’t bring any jeans. Victoria gave me a dress to wear from this time period. I wasn’t allowed to bring anything from our time, but I did sneak a few things.”
“Like what?” Nicky asked curiously.
“My colored pencils and sketch pad. I also brought a first-aid kit.”
“You did? Well, I should look to see what’s in it. We might need to use some of it with this birth.”
Kimberly nodded her head in agreement. “It’s in the trunk in the bedroom. But please don’t use anything you don’t have to. I don’t want to deplete the kit in case we need anything in the future.”
“I won’t, but remember, I can send a new, first-aid kit to you when I return to our time.”
Kimberly nodded and stopped walking, as she clutched her stomach again. Nicky waited until Kimberly relaxed.
“That one hurt. I am wishing I had access to an epid
ural right about now.”
Nicky grinned. “Well, women have been giving birth naturally for thousands of years. If all those women can do it, you can.”
Over the next few hours Nicky stayed by Kimberly’s side, as she walked, only stopping when she had a contraction. Soon, Kimberly confessed she was tired, and Nicky helped her back to bed. She checked the progression again and knew it wouldn’t be much longer.
