by Bess McBride
He checked in at the ticket office, and was disappointed to discover that a train station in Whitefish did not exist, at least not in his time.
“No, Sir, nothing like that. Are you trying to get over to Belton?” the ticket agent asked.
“Belton? No, I do not think so. I was trying to get transportation to Whitefish.”
The agent, an older man with a large handlebar mustache, removed his cap and scratched his head. “Well, I don’t know why you would want to go up to Whitefish, other than to go fishing. Seems like everyone is going to Belton these days. You can catch the coach to Lake McDonald from there.
“Lake McDonald?” Stephen stiffened. “Where is this Belton?”
“Well, it’s little more than a train stop a few miles east of Lake McDonald. It is a forest preserve now with some mining and homesteading. There’s a leaflet on the wall there about the homesteading.” The ticket agent pointed to a wooden board containing various notices. “Some folks say they are going to create some sort of national park there.”
Stephen turned to read the leaflet, a notice from a land office company regarding homesteading and property for sale.
“May I have this copy?”
The ticket agent shrugged. “They will be by to put another one up in its place. Go ahead.”
Stephen pocketed the flyer. “Two tickets to Belton for tomorrow morning!” He knew the place. Dani had called it the West Glacier train station. In her time, there had been a small hotel just across from the entrance to the National Park. He took the tickets and turned to smile at Susan, tucking her arm in his as they left the depot to hire a carriage.
“You will enjoy this,” Stephen said. “I was able to see this wonderful park with Dani, and she made me promise to bring you back here. Of course, we will not be able to see as much of it as I could in Dani’s time, but they will build a road through it, and I will bring you, your husband and your children here...as Dani requested.”
“What a great adventure we are on,” Susan said with color in her cheeks.
They spent the night in a nearby hotel and settled in for the night, arising early the next morning to take the train to Belton. On arrival, Stephen and Susan followed the ticket agent’s instructions to hire a carriage to Lake McDonald.
“It is so ironic. I have not seen this place in my time, but in the future. A hotel in the style of a Swiss chalet will be built there.” He pointed to a spot across from the simple train depot. “It is as if I am the time traveler now.”
“I wish I could have seen it with you and Dani. Do you think Dani will know we have come here? We cannot very well leave notes for her all about the wilderness, can we?”
Stephen laughed and shook his head. “I think we must dispense with the notes for now.” He sobered. “Yes, Dani will know we have come. I promised her, and you know I always keep my promises.”
Susan nodded.
The carriage ride up a bumpy road, unlike the smooth black surface upon which Dani had driven, led them toward the serenely beautiful Lake McDonald.
Stephen felt quite at home in the preserve, as if Dani’s essence was somewhere nearby. Her love for the park had shone in the sparkle of her eyes as she spoke, and he had determined then and there to purchase a summer home nearby. He fingered the flyer tucked safely in his pocket. It seemed as if some force guided him, given that the ticket agent had most conveniently mentioned the flyer. He vowed to contact the land agent as soon as possible.
Stephen looked at his sister who stared at the snow-capped mountains with rounded eyes and pink cheeks. She already looked better away from the smoke of Seattle. He imagined her bringing her children to the park for summer holidays.
****
Dani drove straight through back to Montana, arriving at her mother’s house about ten hours after she left Seattle, close to midnight. Ten glorious hours of knowing she would see Stephen again no matter what. History had shown she would marry him, and she would have his children. The conversation with her mother would be painful, but she knew without a doubt that she and Stephen would be together.
A few lights in the living room were still on when Dani arrived, and she unlocked the front door with her keys and tiptoed in.
Her mother lay on the sofa in the living room, the television on but apparently muted. Dani peeped over the edge of the sofa to see her mother sleeping. She turned away to head for the kitchen for a glass of water, but her mother’s voice stayed her.
“Dani? Is that you? Where have you been?”
“Yes, it’s me.” She came around to the front of the sofa and sat down on the large ottoman which served as a coffee table. Her mother, in a pink cotton robe, lay on her side, a bandage showing above the edge of her nightgown.
Dani took her mother’s hand in her own.
“How are you feeling?”
“Sore,” her mother grimaced, “but I’ll live. The doctor says they got all of the tumor, and that everything looks promising. Just have to go through the chemotherapy.”
Her mother tried to raise herself on one elbow but slumped back down. “Ouch!”
“Ohhhh, I’m sorry,” Dani winced. “Where are Sarah and Jean?”
“Sarah is upstairs sleeping. Jean went home. She’ll be back tomorrow. I couldn’t sleep so I came downstairs to watch TV.”
“I’m so sorry I had to leave, Mom—” Dani began.
“Where is Stephen?”
“Well, that’s just the thing. He had to go home.” Dani noticed she no longer felt the exquisite pain at the thought of Stephen’s return to his own time. She knew she would see him again.
“Are you saying he...?” Words failed her.
Dani nodded, smiling. “Traveled back in time.”
“I didn’t know he could come and go as he pleased.”
Dani shook her head. “He can’t. I’m the only one who can travel back and forth apparently, so far.”
“I just can’t wrap my head around this, Dani.”
Dani rubbed her mother’s hand soothingly.
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
“So, Stephen is gone? How do you feel about that? I thought the two of you were...” Her mother adjusted herself to raise her head and gaze at her daughter. “I thought you were in love with him. He certainly looked smitten with you.”
Dani grinned widely.
“I am in love with him. And that’s what I need to talk to you about.”
“I think I know what’s coming.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Dani smiled. “The historical records show that Stephen and I get married.”
Her mother stared at her in stunned silence, so long that Dani’s smile drooped.
“Mom? Are you all right? I know this is an awful time with the surgery and all, but I thought you should know.”
“When?”
“When?”
“What year do you get married?”
“I didn’t wait to find out,” Dani said. “I heard the information and then I hotfooted it over here.”
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
“I am, Mom. I’m going to try to go back. He needs to stay there for now because of Susan.”
Her mother pushed herself to an upright position.
“When are you going?”
“I’ll wait until you’ve recovered from your surgery and chemotherapy. That will be in about six months, right?”
“That’s what the doctor says.”
“That’s when I’ll go, if you’re in remission. That will give me some time to convert my money into something I can use in 1901, take a weekend to clear out my apartment, and let them know at work that I won’t be back.”
“So, you’re willing to wait six months to see Stephen? Six months is a long time, honey. A lot can happen.”
“I know,” Dani said. “I know, but I don’t think I can leave while you’re still undergoing treatment. It would break my heart to leave you so soon.”
“But you’ll be back, won’t you? At this poi
nt, I’m thinking about Stephen. As far as he knows, he’s never going to see you again, right? And he can’t come to you?”
Dani regarded her mother with love and a new respect. “No, when we parted, it was with the understanding that I wouldn’t return.”
“Because of me?”
Dani looked away. “Well, not really...”
“It is because of me, isn’t it?”
Dani didn’t respond.
“Do you honestly think, Dani, that I would have let anyone come between your father and me except for death? Even you?”
Dani stiffened.
“I love you dearly, Dani, but I loved your father just as much. Luckily, I never had to make that decision. I’m telling you though, no matter what the records show, you need to return to Stephen because if he’s suffering the way I did when your dad passed away, it’s agony. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. You’ve got the upper hand. You’re the one who can travel, and you’re the one who has seen some evidence of your marriage. He’s got nothing but despair.”
A tear slid down Dani’s face. She knew Stephen probably suffered, but to hear her mother say the words so harshly made it seem so immediate.
“Mom, how can I leave?” She held her hands out in a supplicating gesture.
“By getting on the train.” Her mother sighed. “Look, I know I put some pressure on you to stay the other day, but the fact that you can control how you travel...” she paused at Dani’s shaking head, “the fact that you seem to be able to control when you travel, give or take, makes me feel much better. I know I’ll see you again.”
“Oh, Mom,” Dani leaned forward to kiss her mother’s cheek. She dared not embrace her given her recent surgery.
“I’ve given it a lot of thought over the past few days. Who knows? Maybe I’ll pop into the past with you for a quick visit of the grandkids!”
Dani chuckled, and her mother joined her with a few choice words regarding the pain when she laughed. Dani laid her head on her mother’s lap, and her mother stroked her hair.
“Go back tomorrow, honey. You probably won’t need the money. Stephen sounds pretty affluent. Leave a message at work that you won’t return. And Sarah and Jean can clean out your apartment, sell the furniture and bring the rest of your stuff here. It will be here when you come back to visit. It’s no different than living in Seattle and visiting here twice a year.”
“What if I manage to get there but can’t get back, Mom? There are all kinds of what ifs. What if the train route changes? What if I can’t sleep when I’m supposed to? What if I travel to another year?”
“I know it’s not failsafe, Dani, but you have to try. Your future lies in the past. I don’t know if it’s possible to change the past, but I’d rather not find out. If the records show you marry Stephen, then you must go back. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Dani agreed. “I’ll return as soon as I can.”
The following morning, Dani drove out to Glacier National Park, feeling closer to Stephen there than anywhere else. The air was brisk, the leaves bright orange and gold. New snow capped the mountains. She had packed a picnic lunch and returned to the spot at the edge of Lake McDonald where she and Stephen had eaten. The still lake mirrored the mountains and trees surrounding it.
She munched her sandwich and studied the few houses and cabins on the other side of the lake, wondering about the lucky people were who had owned land around the lake before Glacier had been made a park. For those fortunate few homesteaders or landowners, the homes remained theirs unless they sold them. Then the park had first rights to buy.
Stephen’s words echoed in her ears. In the eventuality that the worst comes to pass, I am, however, willing to come back here, as you suggest, perhaps with Susan and her children, to watch the park develop as you wish.
Dani smiled, feeling almost as serene as the lake. She would accompany Stephen back to the park, she was sure of it. After all, they were to be married.
Dani returned to her mother’s house and spent the rest of the day with her.
Although Sarah suspected something was up, she didn’t ask, and Dani was grateful. Her mother would probably fill Sarah in soon enough, but Dani didn’t think she could take one more What? You traveled through time? revelation. As far as Sarah knew, Dani was returning to Seattle to go back to work.
“It’s almost time, Mom. I’ve got a little over an hour before the train leaves. I wanted to talk to you privately before I go,” Dani said on entering her mother’s room. Her mother lay propped up in bed reading a magazine. Sarah and Jean were downstairs washing dinner dishes with the intent of joining her mother in her bedroom later for a game of cards.
“I know,” her mother said quietly. Dani settled herself on the bed next to her mother.
“It’s not too late, Mom. I can stay.” As much as Dani longed to see Stephen, she would have stayed. “You and I have talked about this like I’m just going back to Seattle, but I’m traveling back over a hundred years. It’s a little bit different.”
“Don’t I know it!” her mother said with a hint of a smile. “I’m counting on the fact that you’ll be able to travel back. Besides, you’re taking me for a visit, remember? The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Dead serious. Besides, if I have grandchildren, I want to get to know them, but I don’t want their molecules getting all screwed up in the process of time traveling, so I’ll come back and see them.”
Dani laughed. “Oh, Mom!” She sobered. “How will we coordinate that?”
“Well, I’ll have to wait for you to come get me, so you’ll be the one making contact. Didn’t you say Stephen left you notes? You could do the same thing.”
Dani thought quickly. “What isn’t going to change in the last century? Everything is going to change. Everything. Notes would get lost. Why don’t I just arrange to come back at the same time twice a year? You can leave my car here.”
“Sounds good. And bring Stephen. I kind of liked him. Good choice.”
Dani leaned in to hug her mother carefully. “Thanks, Mom. I do too.”
“Now, tell me everything. I don’t feel like we’ve had a single uninterrupted moment. I’m ready to listen.”
For the next hour, Dani told her mother about life in 1901 as much as she understood, about Susan and Stephen, Ellie and Robert, and Edwina and Edward Richardson. She even described her encounters with Lucinda Davies and Rory O’Rourke.
Dani said a tearful goodbye to her mother and drove down to the train station and parked her car. She preferred to go alone, and she asked Sarah and Jean to pick up her car up at the terminal the following day. Dani packed a small bag with the clothes from Ellie, as she had no intention of showing up in 1901 again in jeans.
After purchasing her tickets, Dani boarded the train at the observation car. She was taken aback to find her favorite seat was taken by a young couple who cuddled, seemingly in a world of their own. Hoping they would soon leave, perhaps to get a late dinner, she sat near them. She picked up her afghan square and stared at it. The small piece of acrylic fiber had been through centuries of travel, still intact. Wherever she had gone, the small square had gone with her. She hadn’t thought to ask Stephen or Ellie if yarn was readily available but assumed it was.
The train pulled out of the station a little before 9 p.m. and wasn’t due to arrive in Wenatchee until 5:35 a.m. Dani thought about the last time she had taken the train only days before when she had let go of Stephen. Now, she was heading back to him, secure in the knowledge that they would be together.
Over the next few hours, Dani eyed the young couple intermittently, waiting for them to budge so she could nip into the seat she wanted. Not only did they not move, in fact, they seemed inclined to sleep in the seats as they dozed on each other’s shoulders.
Dani suspected the seats weren’t all that important to the traveling equation, but being naturally superstitious, she really wanted her seat. She
looked at the fire alarm on the wall but thought better of it.
Midnight came and went, and Dani’s eyes drooped. Tired, and desperate for sleep, she again willed the couple to rise, but they stayed put. What could she do short of asking them to move?
****
“Seattle, twenty minutes.”
Dani opened her eyes to the sound of the conductor’s voice as he passed, her head bent at an awkward angle over the chair next to her. Sunlight streamed in through the observation windows. The observation car had filled with travelers.
Dani stiffened and jerked upright. She still hung onto her bag, and still wore her jeans—as did several of the other people in the gleaming observation car with its modern blue and gray interior.
She hadn’t traveled! She hadn’t traveled! Dani’s eyes flew to the seats where the young couple had sat. It was the seats! It wasn’t just the train, or Wenatchee, or her... It was the seats! And the young couple still sat in them.
She jumped up from her seat, clutched her bag and pushed her way past several people to approach the couple. She hurried around to the front of the seats and positioned herself between the young couple and the observation windows.
The blonde woman and tousled-haired man looked at her in surprise.
“Do you know what you’ve done?” Dani just about shrieked. “Do you know? I should have asked you to move last night, but I was too polite. Oh, polite Dani, always trying to do the right thing. I should have just tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to move. That’s my seat. In fact, they’re both my seats. They mean everything in the world to me. Don’t you get it?”
“Now, just a minute,” the young man began, but Dani planted a hand on his chest and pushed him back into his seat. By now, she had an audience staring at her, but she didn’t care.
“I’m a time traveler, you know? A time traveler? And I have to get back to 1901. Stephen is waiting for me. Well, no, he’s not expecting me, but in a way I know he’s waiting for me. You see, he would never believe that I would leave him forever. How could he? I can’t. I love him so much.”
