Escape from Helmira: The Great Civil War Prison Escape (Dyna-Tyme Genetics Time Travel Series Book 2)

by Fred Holmes

  Dee and Bunny could hear them say their goodbyes as he walked across the yard, feet crunching on the frozen grass. An early start to another long workday. He likely worked for another farmer, maybe a sawmill, or some other local industry.

  Bunny looked up at Dee. “What are we going to do?”

  “I’ll bet she uses the outhouse soon, and when she enters the privy, I’ll make a run for the house and find some clothes. You dash up and hide around the corner of the house. When she comes back from the privy, you neutralize her. We’ll get her back into the house and tie her up while you get dressed. Then we’ll get ready for Rummy and the others.”

  “What are we gonna do with them?’

  “I don’t know, yet. Keep your eyes wide open and scan through the house. Pay attention. Something will come up. Just be ready. Now go!”

  Bunny headed for the corner of the house, and then Dee raced to the front door and entered. They had no more positioned themselves when the woman left the privy and walked back to the farmhouse. Bunny jumped in front of her, grabbed a handful of hair, and twisted it, turning the woman around. Once she spun the woman, she grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back while applying pressure. She whispered in her ear. “Be quiet, and I won’t hurt you. Nod your head if you understand. Do you understand?” Bunny increased the pressure slightly, and the woman nodded. “Now walk into the house.

  “Dee, open the door.”

  He opened the door, and a chair was ready for their captive. They tied her up quickly and gagged her. Dee had already donned some rough farmer’s clothes and left other clothes lying on the table for Bunny. She pulled on a cotton dress, then slipped into a wool sweater that felt good after the cold night air.

  Dee pulled a chair up in front of the woman. “Now Ma’am, we’re not going to hurt you. Have you heard of the prison break? Nod your head for yes.”

  She did.

  “We’re Yankees out to catch some of the escaped Rebels. Are you a Yankee?” She nodded. “Will you help us?” She nodded again.

  “Untie her, Bunny.”

  The woman observed them carefully. “You don’t sound like a Yankee. And, where are your clothes?”

  “They were stolen. I’m an Indian, and she’s from New Jersey, so don’t judge us by our voices. We don’t have much time. They’ll be here about sunup, maybe an hour, eh?”

  “Maybe a little less.”

  “What’s your name?” Dee paused. “Do you have any guns?”

  “Ruby’s the name. We got one shotgun. It’s loaded, too.”

  “Do you know how to shoot it?”

  “You bet! Dan showed me how to load it and shoot it. Mostly, I shoot rabbits and squirrels, but I’ve got buckshot I keep loaded in case there’s any trouble.”

  “In a few more minutes the escapees are going to arrive. You let them in the house, and I’ll hold the gun on them. You and Bunny tie up the two younger fellows. Then, I’m going to take the older one outside for questioning while you watch the others. Do you both understand? Bunny, as soon as I get Rummy to take the capsule, you use your capsule, and I’ll do the same.”

  Ruby eyed them nervously. “What’re y’all talking about?”

  “Don’t worry, Ruby, Dee has a plan.”

  There was a noise outside. Voices became clearer and louder as the three men approached.

  A voice called out. “Hallo, Hallo in there. Anybody home?”

  Dee whispered to Ruby.“Open the door and let them in.” He and Bunny backed up next to the door so they’d be hidden behind it when it swung open.

  The soldier that Dee recognized as the leader of the tunnelers stepped in first, followed by Rummy and another soldier. Dee figured that if the journal was accurate, the two soldiers were Washington Traweek himself and James Crawford.

  “Say, that heat sure—”

  Dee pushed the door closed with his foot and yelled at the men, gesturing with his gun. “You two sit in the chairs, and Dixon, you come with me! Bunny, Ruby, tie them up.”

  Bunny took the rope and tied up Traweek. Ruby was having trouble with the other soldier.

  Dee ordered Ruby to take the gun and Bunny to tie up the other one. “Rummy, you come outside with me.”

  “Dang, now you ain’t no Yankee soldier,” Traweek said. “You’re that Indian that does those spells. And you, girl, you must be an Indian, too. You don’t look like one, though.”

  “Wash, you’re right,” said Crawford. “He’s that Injun that does those spells. Ma’am,” Crawford addressed Ruby, “don’t let them take us. They’re witches. They’ll take our souls.”

  “You’re that Indian, but you’re no witch,” said Rummy. “You were sent here to bring me back. I told you that I’m not going back until I’m sure these boys are safe.”

  “They’re safe now, Rummy. They’re safe. They’ll make it just fine.”

  “You found them,” said Rummy. “So could the Yankees. No! I’m not going till they’re safe in their homes. And they have a long way to go.”

  “Your whole company is at stake,” Dee said, begging him. “If you don’t come home, the Chinese or Nigerians will get it and control the world.”

  “I don’t care! Outside of the prison, I like it here. I can start a new life. I don’t have to be a big executive. With what I know, maybe I can help Lee win the war.”

  “The war is already lost. It’s October 1864. The South is outnumbered five to one.”

  Ruby barely held the shotgun in her shaky hands. “I sure don’t want to make a witch mad.”

  Bunny reached for the shotgun just as Ruby continued, “But I ain’t no Damn Yankee. I’m from Texas.”

  As Bunny grabbed the barrel and pulled, Ruby’s finger jerked the shotgun trigger. The hammer fell forward and hit the primer that in turn ignited the powder in the shell and caused the eight double-ought pellets to exit the barrel at a velocity of eleven hundred feet per second. The buckshot entered Bunny’s chest, tore through her ribs and lung, and crushed her heart. Her heart made a couple of feeble attempts to beat and pump the life-giving blood, but failed. Bunny Grimaldi was dead when she hit the floor.

  No one said a word as the report echoed against the wall. Then silence.

  “No! ” Dee screamed. “Not Bunny!” He ran to her side and took her pulse, but he knew it was all in vain.

  By this time, Crawford had untied them both and picked up some food from Ruby. As shaken as she was, they only got general directions. Mainly, to follow the Chemung ‘til it hit the Susquehanna and continue south.

  Traweek yelled, “Come on, Rummy, or we’re going without you.”

  “I’ve got to take her back, Rummy,” Dee cried.

  “I’ve got to! Maybe they can save her.”

  “No, no, no,” said Rummy. “You’ve got to go back and do a reset, which will have a better chance of working. It’s your only chance. Lida will know how. Just leave the girl here and squeeze your capsule. When you return to your present time, do an immediate reset. I have to leave now. Good luck.” Rummy and his two partners took off running, leaving Dee bent over the still form.

  Ruby was crying. “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t mean it.”

  Dee sat down next to Bunny and held her lifeless head in his arms. She was so beautiful, even in death.

  He thought of what Rummy said, ‘Do a reset. Lida will know how.’ My only chance. But who is he to— duh, he’s the guy who discovered time travel! He bent over and kissed Bunny gently on the lips, reached under his arm, and squeezed the capsule.

  DeWayne Sixkiller shimmered and disappeared. Ruby stared in shock. “Dang. Another witch.”

  Chapter 14

  THE TABLE shimmered, and Dee appeared. “Where are the rest?” Lida immediately asked. “Where’s Rummy? Bunny? Where are they?”

  “We’ve got a huge problemv… huge!” Dee shouted.

  “Stop your pacing, and put on this robe. Cover yourself up. Sit down.”

  “Bunny’s dead. She’s dead. You have
to do something, Lida. Rummy said you could do a reset. How does that work? Will it save her? Will it?”

  “Calm down, Dee. Tell me what happened.”

  He recounted the event as it happened, finishing with, “And the shotgun blew a hole in her as big as a softball. She’s dead. I checked her pulse. Dead.”

  Erik interrupted. “Reset. I think I know what reset means. It was in the system notes. Correct me if I’m wrong, Lida, but if a time traveler, like Dee, makes some changes in the past that prove to be disastrous, he can go back to a time previous to the changes. When he arrives at the same place, earlier in time, history will reset. Anything changed in other time travel trips will revert to the way it was originally, without interference from time travel. I think it’s a feature of time that prevents multiple timelines. Otherwise, you could go back and kill yourself.”

  “Yes,” Lida said. “Carleton, Dyna-Tyme’s initial traveler, experienced this problem when he saved the life of a person back in time. It was such a huge change that the whole world was affected negatively. He went back to the spot of his previous arrival and everything reset back the way it was before he made the changes.”

  Dee jumped up from the chair. “Let’s do it … do a reset.”

  “Calm down. We have to think this through. If we just do a reset, you and Bunny will appear in the brush and events will transpire in the same fashion. Bunny will still die.”

  “No, that isn’t exactly what happens,” Erik said, speaking up. “The time traveler who goes into the past, comes back to the present time, and returns again to make the reset will know all the events. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know there was a problem. Dee and Carleton had to come back to the present to have access to the point in time earlier than their first arrival, because time is passing in both instances. Time in 1864 is elapsing, and events are transpiring from when Dee left. You know that time has elapsed here because we can look at the clock.

  “That sounds correct to me,” Lida said, thinking out loud. “But we still have a problem. At least, I think we do. Bunny won’t have returned, so where will she be? Hmm.”

  “If I figure it right,” said Dee. “She’ll be in the brush with me, but she won’t have any knowledge of being shot, thank the Lord.”

  “I think that’s correct,” Erik said. “There is one other feature of this system that sets up a separate time line for each traveler. I haven’t brought this up before because it can initiate a lengthy explanation.”

  “Well,” Lida interrupted, “are you going to tell us or waste time telling us why you can’t tell us?”

  Erik smiled. “Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. It seems that the time technicans found a method to give each traveler a dedicated time zone, or time line, if you prefer. Once the RTSL is initiated, the system attaches a marker to the traveler that controls one specific job, and that is to keep each travelers time line uncorrupted. This keeps Bunny from being jerked back as a result of someone else’s time line. If this weren’t the case, a traveler in Sweden could be returned by anyone. Without this feature, time would be in chaos.” Eric paused. “So what do we do?”

  “We take her back to a spot before her arrival,” Lida seemed confident, “give her a capsule and she’ll be gone. Bunny will still have her return capsule, and we can go ahead with our plans to extract Rummy. Then, all three will come back. Dee will still need another return capsule to come back. How are we going to get Rummy to take the capsule if he doesn’t want to return?”

  “I’ll just have to force it down his throat,” said Dee.

  “What about Traweek and Crawford?”

  “I’ll make up some story. Traweek and Crawford are afraid of me. They both think I’m a witch.”

  “Warlock.”

  “Whatever! I’ll just send them on their way and make Rummy take the capsule. I don’t think they’ll want to mess with me. Aha! I have an idea. I’ll take the shotgun from Ruby, tie up the escapees, and then go outside with Bunny and Rummy. She can help me subdue him, if we have to. Maybe the shotgun will do the trick. I’ll tell him that he’s coming back here, dead or alive. If we have to jam the capsule down his throat, we will. I’m getting tired of this whole mess.”

  “You want to save Bunny, don’t you?” said Lida.

  “Of course!”

  “Get something to eat, and let me make up the capsules. I hope this will work.”

  * * * * *

  Mike sat at his desk, pulled out the papers from his pocket, and laid them across his deskpad. He fiddled with them in jigsaw fashion but soon gave up. Nina Rains didn’t need a shredder. With so many torn pieces, he couldn’t make heads or tails of the messages. In an hour, he managed to put together three letters. Boy, how he wished for the Bureau personnel. They’d put a task force and those big Crays on this and have answers in thirty minutes. They’d solve it like one big puzzle.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through the photos that he had made of everyone. Finally, he came to the miniature heart with the cursive “ℒ” in the middle of the heart. He skipped past it, although something about the heart nagged him.

  Mike was a master at finding clues. His technique was quite simple. He just went over and over the data, photos, and suspicious material until something popped at him. There was something in the photos that he was missing. He made a habit of taking photos of key employees on a regular basis. He did it in a friendly manner with a comment like “just updating your security file. Needed a current photo.” He rarely had a problem, and it did keep the files up to date. The personnel files at Dyna-Tyme had old photos, and he was in the process of taking new ones. There was nothing more frustrating than trying to find someone with a ten-year-old photograph as a guide.

  One more time through the photos, and pop and then another pop. Both of them were on Nina Rains. As usual, once he saw it, he couldn’t understand how he had been missing it.

  “Oh well,” he said out loud. “What do I do with it? Who do I trust?” Finally, he decided that Ralph Bailey was the only one he could show these photographs.

  * * * * *

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes, Lida,” said Dee. “But I don’t feel right about this, somehow.”

  “It’ll be okay, Dee, just go back and get Rummy and Bunny so we can wrap this up. Let’s see, I’m going to make a couple of extra capsules for your return in case something or somebody messes up.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  Lida prepared the capsules, re-sewed the pouch and gave Dee his return shot.

  He shimmered and disappeared.

  * * * * *

  Dee was hiding near the Farmhouse in 1864. He stood by the familiar brush and waited for Bunny to appear. He listened for the crackle and crunch of the brush that would announce her arrival. There was no sound. He waited a few more minutes. No Bunny. He had a sinking feeling as he made his way across the field and waited to see events transpire.

  Sure enough, the man went to the privy and then left for work. Soon, the woman made her own privy visits and he slipped up to the house. Dee sneaked inside, and found the clothes in the same place as before. He pulled them on quickly, headed into the main room, prepared the chair, and hid next to the door. In a few minutes, the woman opened the door. He forced her into the chair, tied her up, and gagged her.

  “Ruby?” Dee said. “It’s Ruby, isn’t it?” She nodded her head.

  “Have you seen a young woman with black hair, short?” He put his hand out at about five feet, indicating Bunny’s height. “So tall?”

  She nodded her head.

  “I’m a Yankee in charge of capturing these escaped Rebel prisoners. They’re dangerous, and I need your help. Are you a Yankee?” She nodded. “Will you help me?” She nodded again.

  “I’m going to take the gag out, okay?” She nodded a third time. He removed the gag.

  She coughed. “Thank you, mister. You don’t sound like a Yankee.”

  “I’m from New Jersey.”
<
br />   “I never heard anybody except New Yorkers.” He shrugged. “Okay, tell me about the girl. What happened?”

  “Well, you know what happened. You were here at least until you pulled one of them spells. Then you disappeared just after I pulled the trigger, and I thought I shot the girl.”

  “You did shoot her. Where is she now? Where is her body?”

  “I was confused. I thought I shot her but I must have missed.” She smiled. “You know what happened? It was one of your spells. I hit her right in the side, blew a hole bigger than your fist. You started screaming, and then you disappeared, and she was standing there, without a mark on her. That other guy, Nummy, said to do a reset. ‘Reset. You need to do a reset. Go back and reset.’ What does that mean? What happened?”

  “His name is Rummy. When did he say reset?”

  “I don’t know mister, but it was before you did your spell.”

  Exasperated, Dee asked where Bunny was, where Rummy was, and where everyone else went.

  “I don’t know, Mister. All four of them just up and took the shotgun, grabbed some food, and left. I told them to follow the railroad tracks south. The H&B. Those two scrawny fellers sure weren’t happy. And that girl made me get her a pair of my work pants. Had to roll up …”

  “What is the H&B?”

  “The Harrisburg and Pennsylvania Railroad.”

  “Okay, okay. Who had the shotgun?”

  “She did. Remember, her hand grasped the barrel. That’s why I can’t figure how I missed.”

  “Okay. Did they follow your instructions?”

  “I guess so. All four left here running like the devil. They headed toward the mountains. Probably gonna follow the railroad tracks that run along the base of the mountains. Least that’s what I’d do if I wanted to get away from the Yankees.”

  “Ma’am, I’m going to try and track them down. Sorry for all the bother. I’m going to need these clothes.”

  He grabbed a chunk of bread and exited out the door. As he trotted across the lawn, Ruby hollered, “I ain’t no Damn Yankee, either! I’m from Texas.”