“Here we are.” He led the way up a final wooden stairway to double-fronted glass doors with WAKE-UP-JAKE’S lettered on them. Logan held the door open for her and, still in a daze, Hannah walked in.
The smell of frying bacon and the welcome aroma of hot coffee were at least familiar. The large dining room had a long table down the center with numerous smaller tables scattered here and there. Here, too, the customers were all male, and when Hannah entered, every head in the place turned her way.
She did her best to ignore them, walking past without making eye contact, focusing her attention on her mother and Elvira, but horribly conscious now of her tight-fitting jeans.
They were seated in front of a window at the far end of the room. As Hannah drew closer, she saw that they had heaping plates in front of them, but they didn’t seem to be eating. They, too, were attracting a great deal of attention from the men in the room.
When they were close, Hannah realized that Daisy was on the verge of tears. Elvira looked stern behind her glasses, but when she turned to gaze up at Hannah, her chin wobbled.
"Good morning, Miss Elvira, Miss Daisy." Logan removed his hat and gave them each a polite bow as he drew out a chair and held it for Hannah.
“Good morning, Logan. You will stay and have breakfast with us?” There was a note of desperation in Elvira's tone.
"We insist. We'd like to repay you for your hospitality." Daisy gestured to a chair, and her hand was trembling.
Hannah silently willed him to refuse. In light of what she now knew, she and Daisy and Elvira had urgent things to talk over.
Logan hesitated, but after a glance around the room, he sat down. “That’s most kind of you. I've eaten, but I'd enjoy a cup of coffee."
There was a rustling and an audible sigh from the nearby tables of men, and it dawned on Hannah that Logan was acting as a sort of bodyguard, buffering them from any unwanted attention from the other men in the room.
He waved a hand at the young male waiter. “There’s not a lot of choice as far as the menu goes, I’m afraid,” he apologized to Hannah. "Breakfast here is porridge, bacon, beans, toast, and coffee."
"Just some toast and coffee,” Hannah told the waiter. She wasn't hungry at all. Her stomach felt as if she’d been punched.
The moment the young man moved away, Daisy reached out and gripped Hannah’s hand hard. “I’m so glad you’re finally here, Hannah." The words tumbled out in a panicked flood, and Daisy’s face crumpled as tears began trickling down her cheeks. "I don’t understand what’s going on and neither does Elvira, but something’s not right about this. All these men, staring and staring at us—” She indicated the other patrons with a surreptitious little wave of her hand. "They began coming over to our table the moment we sat down, one after another, asking us the most personal questions, about whether we’re married, and what our plans are. Hannah, one even proposed to me, if you can believe it, not five minutes ago. I’d never laid eyes on him in my life, and I really think he meant it.”
Daisy sniffled and Elvira handed her a tissue.
"And outside ... it's so primitive. Did you see all those horses? And men spitting everywhere." Panic was beginning to make her voice quaver. "And there’s no telephone. I asked the waiter, but he didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. And Elvira insisted I leave Klaus with that boy, Angus, because of all the horses, and now I'm worried about that, too. What if he steals Klaus?" Her face crumpled and she mopped at it with the tissue.
Daisy’s tears were a reminder to Hannah that her mother wasn't going to be very much help in this mess, and she felt a familiar surge of annoyance. "Klaus is the least of our worries, Mom. I’m sure he’s absolutely safe with Angus."
Logan nodded. "You have my word on that. The boy's wonderful with animals."
Daisy was reassured. She blew her nose and took a sip of her coffee.
Hannah summoned up strength she wasn’t sure was going to be adequate for the situation. “I think we’ve somehow gone through a time warp,” she announced. “We’ve ended up in Barkerville, during the gold rush."
Preposterous as her theory was, just stating it aloud made Hannah feel a little better, although she was terribly conscious of Logan sitting at her side, listening and undoubtedly thinking she was nuts.
Daisy didn’t scream or faint, as Hannah thought she might. It was Elvira who grew agitated, her face reddening. "That's simply not possible,” she said, emphasizing the words by banging on the table with her hand. "We drove through Quesnel, the modern town, not half an hour before we went off that bridge. If it was there yesterday, it must be there today. And the van—it's certainly not going anywhere, stuck down in that river. We just need to go back to that bridge, that’s all. There must be police in this town. We can ask them to help.”
Hannah understood how Elvira felt, and what she was proposing was pretty logical. If the van and the town of Quesnel had existed yesterday afternoon, then surely they must still be there today.
The waiter brought thick slices of burned toast and set them in front of her, along with a large earthenware mug filled with coffee, and Hannah took a grateful sip. It was hot, strong, and every bit as good as the coffee she brewed herself. It was reassuring to find even one small familiar thing here, and a faint ray of hope began to blossom as she took another sip and thought over Elvira’s suggestion.
It made sense. If they’d come through some kind of time gate yesterday, surely they could go back through it today. And Elvira was right about reporting their predicament to the police. At least it was a place to start.
"Where is the police station, Logan?" She turned to find him studying her, an unreadable expression in his deep blue eyes.
"Barkerville has no police, barracks. Despite the occasional theft of gold such as you witnessed yesterday, there's not a lot of crime here. There is a jail, down the street a ways. The postmaster here in Barkerville, John Bowran, is also the constable, but I doubt he could be much help to you. It’s Judge Baillie Begbie who is in charge of law and order in the Cariboo."
"Well, then, we'll pay him a visit as soon as we’re finished here." Feeling better for having made the decision, Hannah realized she was hungry after all. She took a bite of the toast, trying to find portions that weren’t charred.
"Judge Begbie is a circuit judge," Logan explained in a patient tone that Hannah found annoying. He sounded as if he were humoring them. "He has a residence in Richfield, but he’s off dispensing justice somewhere else at the moment. He’s not expected back until August."
Hannah shoved the toast away. "Well, then, we'll just have to find some way to get back to that bridge on our own. C'mon, Mom, Elvira. Let’s go."
"Wait just a moment, Hannah." Logan put a restraining hand on her arm. "You arrived late last night, and you’re determined to travel back along the Cariboo Road today?”
“Absolutely." She gave him a challenging look. “What sort of transportation is there between here and Quesnel?"
"The stagecoach makes the journey once a week, but you’ve missed it. It left yesterday morning."
“So what else is there?" A sense of desperation was growing in her. "Can’t we hire something?"
He gave her a considering look. "I’ll arrange for a buggy if you'll explain to me exactly why you need to make this journey today. I'm not certain I understand."
She looked directly into his eyes, and her tone conveyed her anxiety as she searched for words. “Something happened to us on the road from Quesnel last night. We’re from a different time, a time far in the future—2014. We have to get back there, Logan. It’s just not possible for us to stay here. We were driving along the road in my van—"
She saw the puzzled look on his face and struggled to find a word that he'd understand. "My ... vehicle. The ... the ... thing we were riding in to get here. I was driving. We came to a wooden bridge, and it was foggy." She shivered, remembering the thick mist, the way the horse had balked at going through it. Now she wished they'd paid atten
tion to the poor animal’s reaction and headed back the way they’d come.
"It was scary. Anyhow, right in the middle of this long bridge, I ran into Billy Renton’s wagon. His horse, actually. My ... vehicle went off the bridge into the water." It was the best she could do at explaining. She leaned forward and put a hand on his arm, squeezing it to emphasize her urgency.
"Logan, we need to go back to that place, right away. We have to find a way back to where we belong. I'm certain the location wasn’t more than ten miles from here. Do you understand?”
She could see that he didn’t, but then, neither did she, not really.
He considered for a long moment, studying her face, and at last seemed to come to some conclusion. "I’m trying to understand, although it’s a far-fetched tale at best. The only bridge I know of is little more than a few logs across William’s Creek.”
“That must be it."
All three women nodded emphatically.
Logan looked into Hannah’s eyes. “I'll take you there. I’ll go now and arrange for a buggy. Sam can keep an eye on the saloon for me."
Hannah stood up. Instantly she felt the barrage of dozens of pairs of eyes, focused on her in a way that was unnerving.
Elvira and Daisy also got to their feet. Obviously feeling better now that they had a plan, Elvira glared at the nearest table of men. “I’ll pay the bill,” she announced, marching across the room to the cash register.
Daisy put one hand on Logan’s arm and the other on Hannah’s as they made their way towards the door.
In spite of herself, Hannah was relieved to have Logan there. The sheer number of men and their avid interest was somehow threatening. Logan responded to a chorus of eager greetings, calling numerous men by name, courteous but not pausing to make introductions. Again there was a subtle but definite indication that they were under his protection. He held the door open for Daisy and Hannah and they hurried through, relieved to be outside.
“Mornin’, Logan.” A black man wearing a gray suit tipped his bowler hat, smiled a friendly greeting at them all, and stood waiting expectantly.
Hannah noted that he didn’t so much as glance at her jeans.
"Morning.’’ Logan smiled a greeting this time. "Moses, I’d like you to meet Mrs. Daisy Gilmore and her daughter, Miss Hannah. Ladies, may I present Wellington Moses, who has the barbershop just down the street."
"Pleased to make your acquaintance." Moses swept his hat off and gave them a courtly bow. "And where are you ladies from, if I may ask?”
Hannah and Daisy looked at one another. The question wasn’t easy to answer.
“Victoria," Hannah finally said, and she noticed that Logan looked relieved at her simple answer. He probably didn’t want people to think he’d befriended lunatics, Hannah concluded.
“Victoria? Why, I came from there myself. Pleasant town, Victoria. Well, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The dapper little man strolled off down the street.
"I'll just make certain Elvira is managing all right." Logan turned back into the restaurant, and through the glass in the door, Hannah saw Elvira obviously having an argument with the heavyset man behind the till. As Hannah watched, Logan reached in his pocket and handed the man a small canvas sack. He shook something into a scale as a scarlet-faced Elvira came bursting out the door.
"That—that just takes the cake,” Elvira sputtered. She was clutching a twenty-dollar bill in her fist, and she waved it at Daisy and Hannah, her nostrils flaring, brown eyes flashing fire.
“That—that imbecile in there wouldn’t accept my money. He insisted it wasn’t proper currency."
"May I see that?" Logan was beside her, and he reached out and took the bill from Elvira, smoothing it out and studying it. He handed it back without comment, but his eyes caught and held Hannah’s, and she saw puzzlement and a sort of wariness there.
By this time, Hannah didn’t need any further reminders of where they were or what horrendous complications their time travel could cause. She hadn’t given any thought to the fact that money would certainly be different in 1868, but it made sense when she thought about it, as much sense as anything was making this morning.
So now they were marooned in another century without a usable penny to their names, and it was a foregone conclusion that no one took Visa. They couldn’t expect Logan to feed them as well as give them lodging. And she’d planned to pay him for taking them back to the bridge.
She frowned, looking up and down the street, and a sign caught her eye. PAINLESS TOOTH EXTRACTION, it read, OFFICE FEE $5.00, or EQUIVALENT IN GOLD.
She suddenly remembered reaching out a hand the night before at Logan’s urging, and having the man called Dutch Charlie place what seemed to be heavy pebbles in her palm. She’d dumped them in her purse without a second glance, believing the whole situation to be some sort of hoax, but now she dug in the bottom of her bag. Her fingers closed over several heavy shapes and she pulled them out.
They were warm and living, and they glinted in the sunlight.
Gold—the very reason for this town’s existence. In spite of everything that had happened, Hannah felt a powerful thrill shoot through her. For the first time in her life, she was holding nuggets of gold. It was an intoxicating feeling.
She looked around, at the miners milling about, at the crude buildings, and again she felt the excitement in the air, the sense of aliveness that she'd felt hovering over this town the night before. She was actually here, at the time of the Cariboo Gold Rush.
Men were coming here from the ends of the earth to find this precious metal. For the first time, the enormity of what had occurred overwhelmed her, and instead of being terrifying, it was exciting.
She held her palm out to Logan. "We can’t have you paying our expenses. I don’t have a clue how this gold thing works, but will this cover our breakfast?”
“It was my pleasure,” he said. "I don’t want to be repaid."
"But I insist." Hannah kept her hand extended. “We’re not your responsibility, and you must let me pay for our food at least. Is this enough?"
He glanced down and for the first time she heard him laugh aloud. "Gold is selling at twenty dollars an ounce. You have enough there to pay for three meals a day for at least a month, even at the inflated prices here in Barkerville.”
Astounded, she stared down at the nuggets. "I do?”
"Absolutely. I take gold in payment in the saloon. Everyone uses it here as currency. I believe Dutch Charlie gave you several thousand dollars' worth of nuggets last night."
Hannah's mouth dropped open. For heaven’s sake! She hadn't been here twenty-four hours, and already she was well on the way to getting rich. For just one mad instant, she wondered if maybe they ought to stick around instead of rushing back.
Yesterday’s Gold: Chapter Eight
“Did you come to Barkerville to find gold, Logan?”
They were bouncing through town in a buggy that felt as though it had no springs, and Hannah's bottom was bruised before they’d even left the town behind.
"No, I didn't." The answer was abrupt, and he didn’t elaborate.
Hannah stared at the horse’s rump and wondered what to say next. Logan wasn’t being very talkative. The buggy had a small back seat and barely enough room up front for the driver and a passenger. Daisy and Elvira had climbed in the back with Klaus and all the luggage, and Hannah had found herself seated directly behind the horse, very close to Logan.
Hannah slid a glance at him. At close range, his profile was rugged, his nose a bit crooked, as if it had been broken at some point. His hair was tied back at the nape with a leather thong, and his mustache emphasized his square jaw. He didn’t resemble the hard-bitten miners in Barkerville. He was just as strong, just as tanned and brawny, but there was something different about him, something dark and faintly dangerous. She was curious about him.
"Where are you from, Logan? Where did you grow up?"
“California. A town called San Jose.” Agai
n the answer was curt.
"San Jose? I've heard of it, of course, although I've never been there," Hannah said. "One of my friends at the hospital has a sister who lives near there. She flies down all the time to see her. Isn’t San Jose the center of Silicon Valley?”
Logan turned and gave her one of the narrow-eyed looks she’d come to recognize. Once again, she realized she’d said something that didn't fit in the century she was in. Damn, conversation here was like navigating through a verbal minefield.
Fortunately, Daisy and Elvira started asking questions just then about gold mining, and Logan became an excellent tour guide. He pointed out spots all along the creek where men had staked gold claims and were working them.
“What are those noisy waterwheels for?" Elvira leaned forward and pointed as they passed one.
“They're called Cornish wheels. I'm told they date back to the Roman occupation of Britain,” he explained. "They power pumps that drain underground shafts, and they power winches that raise buckets of gravel to the surface."
As they left the sounds of the town behind, the hills echoed with the thud of axes and the cracking and crashing of falling trees. Miners were building mine shafts and cabins, and now and then they could be heard shouting to one another down the shafts as they lowered buckets to workers below.
"There are different types of mining taking place all over the region," Logan explained as the buggy navigated the narrow trail Hannah remembered from the night before. "Some men are digging tunnels into the hills above us because they think that the gold originally found in William's Creek might have washed down from there."
The buggy rounded a comer, and now there was a clear view of the creek below them and some of the activity going on. "Those men are sluicing," Logan said, pointing out a long wooden trough where workers at one end were throwing in sand and gravel they'd dug from the nearby hillside. “They're using a stream of water from the hillside. It runs down the sluice to wash gold from the dirt."
Now and Forever: Time Travel Romance Superbundle Page 45
