Back In Time: A Historic Western Time Travel Romance (An Oregon Trail Time Travel Romance Book 3)
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Back in Time
Susan Leigh Carlton
Susan Leigh Carlton
Tomball, Texas
Copyright © 2016 by Susan Leigh Carlton.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Susan Leigh Carlton Street Address
Tomball, TX
www. Susanleighcarlton.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Back in Time/ Susan Leigh Carlton. -- 1st ed.
Contents
Description
Scientists on Time Travel
Prologue
Alexandra and Barry Thornton
Angie
Did You See This?
Genealogy
Proof
A Trip West
DNA
Another Meeting
Sophie’s Journal
The Museum
Time to Go
MIT Research
Wormhole
Goodbye and Godspeed
Momma
Life Saving
I’m a Farmer
Back in Time
Back to the Future
Epilogue
Loomings
The Carpet Bag
Author’s Notes
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
"We have been traveling among the hills and the monotony has been relieved by the ever varying beauty of the scenery and the pleasantness of the weather. Today we traveled till noon, and then stopped to get a fourth of July dinner and to celebrate our nation's birthday. While making the preparation, and reflecting at the same time of what the people of Morton and Peoria were doing, and contrasting my situation with what it was this day last year, a storm arose, blew over all the tents but two, capsized our stove with it delicious viands, set one wagon on fire, and for a while produced not a little confusion in the camp. No serious injury, however, was done." –
From the diary of Elizabeth Wood, July 4, 1851
Description
The Thornton car was washed down a creek during a flash flood near Independence, Missouri. Their only child, a seventeen year old daughter was still clinging to the top of the car when they last saw her. After an air, land, and water search for four days without a trace, the search was abandoned.
Allie and Barry Thornton learn their missing daughter was transported back in time one hundred and fifty years to 1866.
A research team at the most prestigious university in the country, offered them the opportunity to join her and her family. Do they dare take the risk?
Can Barry survive what appears to be an impending heart attack or stroke?
Is their sense of family strong enough for them to risk their lives?
Would you?
Time Travel
From the Author
Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing to be able to go into the past and correct all of your mistakes? What if you could read the newspaper and see the winning lottery numbers, and then go back a few days in time and purchase a ticket with these winning numbers? How many times have you needed a snappy comeback or retort and ten minutes later, think “I should have said thus and so?” Such is the fabric of dreams. It is also in the minds of writers. That is why we write about time travel.
* * *
In researching for Back in Time, I learned quite a bit about DNA, as well as the administering of tPA or Activase. I have kept the story true to the facts in this area. The genealogical information and sources are based on my experiences in tracing my family roots.
Some scientists believe time travel is possible, since no one has proven it impossible. Others believe it has already happened.
One way to achieve time travel into the future would be travelling at the speed of light in space, as first theorized by Albert Einstein.
The accepted theory is that one would have to build a space ship that can travel at the speed of light, and head out into space.
Theoretical physicist and string theorist Brian Greene, of Columbia University, said: “You can build a spaceship, go out into space [and travel] near the speed of light, turn around and come back.
“Imagine you go out for six months and then you turn around and come back for six months.”
While you are travelling at the speed of light, time stays slow relative to the people who are standing still back on Earth.
As a result, you would be going fast while your clock would still be going slow.
Prof Greene: “When you step out of your ship, you’re one year older, but Earth has gone through many, many years.
“It can have gone through 10,000, 100,000 or a million years, depending on how close to the speed of light you traveled.”
However, the only problem is that a machine travelling at such speed would require an “unimaginable” amount of energy, while the stress from the centrifugal force on the body would likely prove fatal.
But there is another feasible way to travel through time, and once again it involves going into outer space.
Einstein also theorized that if you were to situate yourself on the edge of a black hole, time would pass more slowly.
Prof Greene explains in his Big Think video: “You hang out [next to a black hole] for a while, you come back, get out of your ship and it will be any number of years into the future, whatever you want all depending on how close you got to the edge of the black hole and how long you hung out there. That is time travel to the future.”
But time travel has already happened.
Serial ISS resident Sergei Krikalev holds the record for the longest amount of time spent in space with 803 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes under his belt.
The ISS travels at around 7.66 km/s [Author’s note: 17,150 miles per hour] when orbiting around Earth, and due to the high speed and length of time which he spent in space, the cosmonaut actually arrived back in Earth 0.02 seconds in the future thanks to a process known as time dilation
The time would run a fraction of a millisecond faster when on board the ISS at that speed away from Earth.
Finally, Stephen Hawking said, “Nothing is flat or solid. If you look closely enough at anything you'll find holes and wrinkles in it. It's a basic physical principle, and it even applies to time. Even something as smooth as a pool ball has tiny crevices, wrinkles and voids. Now it's easy to show that this is true in the first three dimensions. But trust me, it's also true of the fourth dimension. There are tiny crevices, wrinkles and voids in time. Down at the smallest of scales, smaller even than molecules, smaller than atoms, we get to a place called the quantum foam. This is where wormholes exist. Tiny tunnels or shortcuts through space and time constantly form, disappear, and reform within this quantum world. And they actually link two separate places and two different times. Unfortunately, these real-life time tunnels are just a billion-trillion-trillionths
of a centimeter across. Way too small for a human to pass through - but here's where the notion of wormhole time machines is leading. Some scientists think it may be possible to capture a wormhole and enlarge it many trillions of times to make it big enough for a human or even a spaceship to enter.
Given enough power and advanced technology, perhaps a giant wormhole could even be constructed in space. I'm not saying it can be done, but if it could be, it would be a truly remarkable device. One end could be here near Earth, and the other far, far away, near some distant planet.
Theoretically, a time tunnel or wormhole could do even more than take us to other planets. If both ends were in the same place, and separated by time instead of distance, a ship could fly in and come out still near Earth, but in the distant past. Maybe dinosaurs would witness the ship coming in for a landing.
Stephen Hawking…How to Build a Time Machine
Using my imagination and author’s privilege, I allowed the creation of wormholes large enough for people to enter and exit. Has it happened? No… Not yet anyway. Maybe someday.
Prologue
KNHF Evening News, Breaking News…
“The mystery of the grave found at a construction site in Haynes Falls deepened today when it was learned the iPhone found in the unmarked grave on the site for the new Meriwether Lewis High School was registered in December, 2014 to a Miss Angela Thornton of Brevard, Missouri. Miss Thornton and her family were thought to have died in a flash flood when one of the Missouri River tributaries swept the family car away in 2015. The bodies of the parents were recovered, but their daughter’s body was never discovered. A source in the Examiner’s Office revealed their investigation had determined the ground around the grave had not been disturbed in decades and the casket had not been opened prior to being pierced by the excavator.
“The source said a plea for relief from the City was granted, and construction can proceed, provided the remains are buried in the original location and the site preserved and protected.”
* * *
Major Clint Adams Wagon Train…
The water from the wet neckerchief on her forehead ran down her face, leaving tracks in the dust on her face. Her eyes fluttered open. “What happened?” she asked.
“You passed out,” Hannah Scoggins said. “You must have been hit on the head. How do you feel now?”
“I don’t know. Nothing hurts. I’ve never fainted in my life. I don’t understand any of this.”
“You lie down in the back of our wagon. I’ll bring you some stew in a little while. Keep that cloth on your head. We don’t have a doctor in the company. Miz Parnell helps look after anyone that gets sick. She might be able to give you a potion. I sent Jeremy for her after he got back from looking for the Lewis boy.”
“Don’t do that. I’ll be okay in a little while.”
“He’s already gone. She’ll be here in a minute.”
Later…
“I’m Ada Parnell. What’s your name, dear?”
“Angela Thornton.”
“You never had the vapors before?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I don’t think so.”
“Vapors is being dizzy or fainting,” Mrs. Parnell said.
“No, I’ve never done that.”
“You don’t know how you come to be in that tree?”
“I told them, we were washed away in a flash flood. Both my parents were carried away. I wish I had been too, instead of getting caught up by that limb.”
“Child, there ain’t been no rain hereabouts in a long time.”
“Then why were my shoes wet?”
“You peed on them.”
“I most certainly did not,” Angela said, indignantly.
“Ain’t no cause to git riled. I’m just trying to hep you.”
“No cause? My parents are gone, I don’t know where I am and no one believes anything I say. Why wouldn’t I be upset? Please, just leave me alone.”
Mrs. Parnell climbed out of the wagon. Angela heard her tell the wagon master, “I think she’s just addled, Major. Too much sun, maybe.”
Angie heard Mrs. Parnell walk away, so she called out, “Mr. Adams, if you’re still there, may I talk to you for a minute, please?”
He came to the back of the wagon. “I sent Jed Lewis and Clem looking for your parents. You wanted to talk to me?”
“Yes sir. Thank you for sending someone to look. Mr. Adams, I heard what that lady told you. I am not crazy. I do not know what caused all of this, but I told you the truth. My shoes were wet when Jeremy found me. I have just finished high school and I was a good student. I was born January 27, 1998 in Brevard, Missouri. My parents and I had been to Lincoln, Nebraska to see if I might want to go to college there. It was June 10, 2015. We were returning home when the storm came up. I was in the back seat when Dad lost control of the car and we skidded into the water.
“Why are you looking at me so funny?”
“I think Mrs. Parnell might be right. You said you were born in 1998. Miss Thornton, today is June 10, 1866.”
“Mr. Adams, have you ever seen any clothes like mine?”
“No, and I have only seen two or three ladies wearing men’s clothes.”
“These aren’t men’s clothes, these are girl’s jeans. Look at my shoes. You’ve never seen anything like them, have you?”
“No.” He had a puzzled look on his face. “Can’t say as I have.”
“That’s because they haven’t been invented yet. Wait. I just thought of something. I have something I had in my hands when we went in the water. I put it in my pocket before I climbed out of the car. Do you promise not to tell anyone if I show it to you?”
His face reddened. “Now I don’t know that I can do that.”
“Then I won’t show you.”
“What is this thing?” he asked.
“It was my Christmas present last year. It is called an iPhone and I promise you’ve never seen the likes of it, and never will in your lifetime.”
“All right, I give you my word. I’ll hold it to myself.”
She stood as straight as she could within the confines of the wagon, and took her iPhone from her pocket. “This is it. Back home, I could listen to music, take pictures, and talk to any other phone in the whole world if I have their number. That part won’t work now, but the rest of it will.
“It works off battery power, so I have to be careful with it so I don’t run it down. If I did, I might not be able to recharge it if my solar charger was damaged. She touched the Photo icon and pictures displayed. She touched one and it enlarged. These are my parents. You can see our car in the background. This was taken when we were at the college.”
She held it up in front of her and touched another icon. There was a click and a flash. The wagon master jumped back. Angie laughed. “It’s all right. Look at this.”
She held the camera up where he could see it. “I just took this picture of you. What do you think?”
He was stunned. “I saw cameras before, but they put their head under a hood or something and held a little tray above their head. You didn’t see the pictures for several days either.”
* * *
When Angie passed, her daughters, Sophie and Martha arranged the funeral. When they sorted through her possessions, they found the small pink, rectangular object they had seen their mother holding many times. Neither knew what the object was, and when they asked about it, their mother would tell them it had been a Christmas gift from her father.
The two girls decided to put it in the coffin with her. She was buried in the Lewis family cemetery.
In 1937, portions of the original farm were taken by the eminent domain process to be used by the city for the construction of a school site. Almost all of the graves in the family cemetery were relocated to another part of the farm...
However, one was missed.
Chapter one
Alexandra and Barry Thornton
When Alexandra Thornton was swept from the top of the
red Lexus by an overhanging limb, her husband Barry was dragged with her. Her life flashed in front of her in the next few seconds.
The raging torrent carried them with it as it rushed to join with the Missouri River. Uprooted trees and debris snagged against a bend in the waterway with Alexandra and Barry on the inside of the snag. The makeshift dam created a pool of calmer water. Barry managed to reach solid ground, dragging the dead weight of his unconscious wife.
When he made it to the bank, a cursory exam showed a big knot on her head, likely caused by some object floating in the water.
Her eyes opened and she looked wildly around. “Where’s Angela? Barry, my little girl, where is she?”
“I never saw her after we went in the water. She was still on the roof of the car when we were washed away,” Barry said.
She struggled to get up. “We have to look for her.”
“Calm down, honey. You probably have a concussion from whatever hit you. Right now, we’re surrounded by water. There’s nothing we can do. I’ll look for her when the water goes down a little. It won’t be long.”
“Stop sounding like a lawyer and find my daughter,” Allie railed in a voice filled with hurt and anger. “She’s out there somewhere alone. Maybe hurt. Oh dear God, we don’t even know whether she’s alive or not.”
“Look, the current is slowing already. Maybe we should look upstream since she was behind us.
“My phone doesn’t work, does yours?” Barry asked.
“No, I guess the water ruined it.”
“We’ll just have to walk,” he said.
An hour later, they reached the highway without seeing any sign of their daughter. They flagged down Missouri State Trooper Don Earnhart.
“Our daughter is missing,” Barry told the trooper. “We had gotten out and were on top of the car. My wife and I were knocked off the car by an overhanging limb. Angela was still there when we went in the water. I don’t know what happened to her.”