by Zoe Matthews
Kimberly watched as Bridget looked off into the distance, as if she was remembering her father telling the story. “Pa helped dig them up. They left their little village in the middle of the night and were able to sell the dishes for enough money to send them to America. They settled in Boston. Grandfather spent the rest of his life here in America working two jobs just to get by, but they were able to educate our dad. When he was old enough, he took advantage of the Homesteading Act. And here we are. It meant a lot to our dad to be able to own his own land, so he could grow whatever he wanted and to raise whatever animals he wished, to live where he wished. Patrick has made our father’s dream into his own.”
“You have a wonderful family history,” Kimberly commented softly. She thought about her own family and how her parents were killed by a drunk driver when she was 15. She didn’t have any grandparents or other family members to take her in after their deaths. She thought it was wonderful Patrick had such strong family ties.
“We’re proud of it,” Bridget told her with a smile. “And now Patrick is ready to settle down. That’s why he brought you here.”
“I haven’t been here very long, but I love the ranch. I love the mountains.”
“Do you think you could really live here in the mountains, on this ranch, when it’s so far away from a city? After all, you grew up in one.”
“Yes,” Kimberly was able to tell Bridget her answer firmly and decisively. “I have never liked the city. I have a lot to learn, but I will have no trouble living here.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure how this was going to work out. After all, how strange is it to bring a woman here, someone Patrick had never met before? But I have been watching and I think you are perfect for him.”
“Thank you,” Kimberly told her. Now, if only Patrick could feel the same.
Chapter 25
Kimberly left her small cabin dressed in her split riding pants. The entire family was going to Denver on this trip, which was a rare occurrence. She was glad Patrick had given her some riding lessons over the last few days since she would be required to ride a horse for at least four hours to get to Denver.
She was worried about how things were going to turn out in Denver. Patrick hadn’t been exactly avoiding her, but he hadn’t been seeking her out either. She wished she could insist on talking with him about her being from the future, but in the end she decided it would be best to let him take the lead. It was obvious he needed time to think about things. She hoped when they arrived in Denver, he would be willing to talk to Mrs. Hilton about how the keys worked. He hadn’t even asked to see the key she had. Part of her was tempted to get the key out of its hiding place from the bottom of the trunk in her cabin and show him how it worked, just like Mrs. Hilton had done with her, but something stopped her from that plan. What if something went terribly wrong? What if she wasn’t able to return to her time? What if she wasn’t able to return back to Patrick’s time? No, it would be best if she waited until they arrived in Denver to help him understand.
She sat on the back of Honey, the horse she had been learning to ride on the ranch, and listened to the chatter of Colleen to her father, Shaun. The child was so excited she was going to get to go to Denver. The family was planning on spending at least a few days there. Patrick had asked an Indian friend, who was also Colleen’s uncle, to take care of the ranch while they were gone.
“Let’s go,” Patrick hollered. Kimberly watched as he and his two younger brothers, Shaun and Keegan, mounted their own horses. Shaun took the lead with Keegan, Colleen, and Bridget following. Kimberly waited until Patrick moved his horse next to her own before instructing Honey to move. She hoped she would be able to handle the four hour ride to Denver. Even though Patrick had given her lessons, she wasn’t sure how the trip was going to go. She remembered how difficult the trip to the ranch was for her, almost 30 days ago.
She noticed that Patrick let the others get quite a bit ahead of them, as if he wanted them out of hearing range. She hoped he would be willing to talk while they rode.
Patrick finally did start to talk. “I want you to know that I still don’t know how I feel about what you told me. I just can’t imagine how you could really be from the future. Keegan told me that he found a book with drawings in it, in your cabin.”
“Yes, he saw my sketch book. I like to draw things that are around me. Would you like to see it? I have drawings from my time that I could show you.” She had brought all her belongings with her, just in case she wouldn’t be returning to the ranch, although she hadn’t let Patrick know that. Her heart fell when he shook his head.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for that. To be honest with you, I am having a very hard time with this. I sent away for a bride with the idea that it was going to work, that I would be married in 30 days. I am wondering if I can really trust you or Mrs. Hilton.”
“I understand.” Her heart dropped at his words. This was what she was afraid of, that he wouldn’t be willing to give her a chance to prove her story. But at the same time, she knew that if he didn’t want to believe her, she didn’t want to marry him. The only way she would marry him was if he accepted her the way she was, including the fact that she was from the future.
“Tell me about your family,” Patrick invited.
Kimberly turned in her saddle and faced him. She realized he hadn’t asked her very many personal questions over the last 30 days. Was it because she was always vague with her answers? She was glad he asked. Now she could tell him without being afraid to use terminology that was from the future. She didn’t have to hide any more.
“My parents both died when I was 16 years old,” Kimberly started to say.
“Wow, both of them at the same time? What happened?” Patrick asked with sympathy.
“They were killed in a car crash by a drunk driver.”
Patrick looked at her with confusion. “You keep using words that don’t make sense. What is a car crash and a drunk driver?”
“Cars are something that we use to get around in my time to different places. The best way to explain it is it’s like a large buggy that runs by itself instead of with horses. It runs on a liquid called gasoline. It can go very fast. In fact, if we were riding in one now, from your ranch to Denver, it would only take about an hour to get there.” She could see the astonishment on his face and she wondered what he would say if she described planes to him.
“You either have a great imagination or…”
“Or I am telling you the truth.” Kimberly finished for him. “Sometimes, people will drink a lot of alcohol and then drive their car. Alcohol in my time does the same thing to people in your time. It makes them so they can’t make wise decisions if they drink too much. A man who had been drinking heavily drove his car straight into my parent’s car. My mom was killed instantly. My dad died about a day later.” She stopped talking, thinking back to that awful day when a social worker and policeman had come to her school with the news.
“Even though what you are saying doesn’t make sense to me, I’m sorry you lost your parents that way,” Patrick told her. “What happened to you after your parents died?”
“I don’t have any living relatives, so I was put into the foster care system.”
“And a foster care system is..?”
“Sort of like an orphanage, I guess. I went to live in other people’s homes. They were paid by the government to care for me.”
“How long were you in this foster care?”
“I was actually in three different homes before I was sent to Nicky’s home, my best friend. I have told you about her. I was able to stay there until I graduated from high school,” Kimberly explained. She was starting to see that she was going to need to explain quite a bit to Patrick if he ever decided to believe her and she stayed in his time.
“What do you mean, you graduated from high school? Is that where you learned how to be a nurse?” Patrick asked. Kimberly could tell that Patrick was really wanting to know and wasn’t just asking the questions out of politenes
s.
“No. In my time, kids go to school until they are 18. Then they graduate. I went to college to become a nurse.”
“Didn’t you tell me once that Nicky’s family became like your own?”
“Yes. In a lot of ways, they did. They try to include me in their family get-togethers. Nicky has an older brother, Justin, who is like a brother to me. That’s why Nicky has been so worried because I just disappeared. I left a note, but that wasn’t good enough for her.”
“So that’s why Collins came to our ranch. He was delivering a letter from your friend because you couldn’t mail her a letter? Our ranch is too far away?”
“Mailing her a letter wouldn’t have done any good,” Kimberly reminded him.
“That’s right. Because you are from the future. Don’t you have some type of mail service that goes between time periods?”
Kimberly could tell Patrick was being sarcastic. “So you still don’t believe me?”
Patrick stopped his horse and looked at her. Honey obediently stopped beside him. “I’m not sure, Kimberly. What you are saying doesn’t make sense to me. But I am starting to want to believe.”
“You do?” For the first time since she had told him about her secret, Kimberly felt some hope. Was Patrick going to give her another chance? One of the things she had discovered in the last month was that she loved living in Patrick’s time period: 1892. As much as she missed Nicky and Justin, she had no desire to return to her time.
Patrick moved his horse close to hers and reached his hand out. She placed her hand in his. “I want to believe, Kimberly. When I met with Mrs. Hilton and started the process for a mail-order bride, she said something strange, something that I just ignored because I didn’t understand what she meant. But I think I do now.”
“What did she tell you?” Kimberly asked curiously.
“She said to me, ‘I hope that you can give Kimberly a chance. She will be a bit different from what you might be expecting. But remember that she is sincere and is willing to travel a great distance to see if a marriage with you will work.’ She must have meant you traveling from the future.”
“Yes, she did,” Kimberly agreed. She was glad Mrs. Hilton had said what she did to Patrick. It planted a seed.
Patrick continued. “I have enjoyed getting to know you, both through our letters to each other, and the time we have spent together since you arrived at my ranch. You get along with my family. I know Bridget enjoys having another woman around. You saved Keegan’s life. I made the decision to send for a mail-order bride with the idea that we marry. That was the ultimate goal- is the ultimate goal.” He looked at her very intently. “Is marriage still possible? Can a person from the future marry someone from the past? Won’t it change history?”
“I guess we can ask Victoria or Collins about that. I am sure we can marry, as long as we both still want to,” Kimberly replied. “I still want to, as long as you are able to accept me for who I am.”
Patrick started to say something, but then noticed the rest of his family had disappeared around a bend and they couldn’t see them anymore. “We need to catch up to everyone. We will talk more about this later.” He clicked his tongue at his horse and Patrick took off down the trail, Kimberly’s horse following close behind.
Kimberly sighed. She felt a little better about the situation, and the conversation she just had with Patrick went well. But she still wasn’t sure if her future was going to include him in her life.
Chapter 26
Nicky used her key to open her front door. Today had been the first day of her summer school and she was exhausted. She loved to teach, but when she had days like today, she wished she could have a longer break instead of just a few hours in the evening before the next school day.
Justin was coming over for dinner, so she quickly threw in a few frozen pizzas into the oven since she knew his son, Garrett, would enjoy them. She went into her room, shed her clothes, and took a quick shower, hoping she’d be done before her brother showed up.
When she stepped out of the shower, she could hear the TV blaring. She knew that Justin had let himself in and he and Garrett had made themselves at home. She quickly dressed and went out to the living room.
“Hi, Justin. Hi, Garrett,” she greeted them both. Garrett grunted his answer. He was busy trying to beat some aliens on the game he was playing.
Justin stood and gave her a hug. “Hi, sis. How was work today?”
“Exhausting,” she told him with a grin. She could smell that the pizza was done. “How about we eat? Are you guy’s hungry?”
“We sure are, aren’t we Garrett?” The boy grunted again but ended the game when Justin insisted. They soon were sitting around the table eating their dinner.
“Where’s Kimberly?” Garrett asked between bites of pizza. “I miss her. When is she coming home?”
Nicky looked at her brother. She knew that Justin hadn’t told Garrett that Kimberly might not be coming back.
“I’ll let you know when I know, how’s that, bud?” she asked him with a ruffle of his hair.
“Sure, I guess,” Garrett said as he put another piece of pizza on his plate. “Can I take this piece into the living room, dad? I really want to beat that level. At summer school, Mike bragged today that he beat it two weeks ago.”
Justin laughed. “Sure. You only have 30 minutes of game playing left today, though.”
Nicky knew that even though Justin wrote video games for a living, he did his best to keep Garrett grounded in the real world, and only let him play video games an hour a day.
After Garret left the kitchen, Nicky set her pizza down on her plate. She wasn’t hungry anymore and she stood up to clear the table, but sat back down when Justin pulled on her arm.
“Any news from Kimberly?” Justin asked her.
“Yes, in fact I have received a letter from her. I went over to Victoria’s home again last Saturday. Collins was there. He told me that Kimberly was happy and safe. He told me I could write a letter to her, which I did. Yesterday, he came again, this time to my apartment. He gave me a letter from Kimberly.”
“Well that’s good, I guess. I’m glad you have heard from her. I just don’t understand why you aren’t able to at least call her.”
Nicky shook her head. “I don’t understand either. But at least I know she is okay.”
“Yes, I’m glad she is okay. Did she say when she was going to be back?”
Nicky hesitated. “I’m not sure she will be back. She loves Patrick. I think she is going to marry him.”
“So soon? Doesn’t she want to spend more time getting to know him, first?”
Nicky had nothing to say to that, especially since she agreed with her brother.
“Well, I wish her luck.” Justin said as he finished the last of his pizza. “Do you want to go see a movie tonight? It would have to be a kid’s show, of course, since Garrett would be with us.”
Nicky considered his offer for a moment, and then shook her head. “No. I have to work tomorrow, and I’m tired.”
“All right,” Justin said, accepting her decision. “I think we’ll go now.” He stood up to get Garrett, but then turned back. “You okay?”
“Sure, I’m okay,” Nicky smiled to reassure her brother. “I’m relieved that I finally heard from Kimberly. I guess I just miss her.”
“She’s been a big part of our lives for a long time. Let me know if you hear from her again, okay?”
****
Victoria picked up the last envelope that had arrived with the afternoon mail. Her mail-order bride business was picking up nicely. She received many applications weekly from men and women around the western states.
She started to slice open the envelope when she realized that it looked different. She quickly read the address and realized that the envelope was from the future. Why would she still be getting letters? She thought she had stopped the ad. She and Collins had made the decision to not accept any more applications from the future. Kimberly had be
en the first one. Soon after, they both realized that they needed to find a solution so the woman’s family and friends didn’t worry about her. Kimberly’s best friend, Nicky, had started to do some drastic things in order to try to find out where Kimberly was.
Victoria opened the letter and quickly read it. Suprisingly, it was from Nicky. Evidently, she also wanted to be considered as a mail-order bride, like Kimberly had, and she was writing for more information.
“Collins,” she called out, knowing that her butler was close by. Sure enough, the tall distinguished man came into her office a few second later.
“Yes, ma’am,” Collins said in his usual formal voice.
“Look what I just received,” Victoria said as she handed him the letter. She watched as Collins quickly read the letter. She noticed that he didn’t look surprised that Nicky had written.
