Smith's Monthly #4

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  Ryan glanced around at the stable and the wind rattling the boards.

  There was no choice, he knew that, but all he could think about was an entire summer’s work would just vanish.

  And they would do it all again.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  September 23, 1900

  APRIL WAS HAVING TROUBLE containing her excitement. Ryan was coming off the summit and would be into Boise today. Then they were going to get to spend the winter together. It had been a wonderful summer of traveling all over the country with Bonnie, shopping.

  A dream summer.

  She had so much to tell him and share with him.

  But even with everything, she still missed Ryan almost every minute of every day.

  She hoped he felt the same way about her. It had been a long four months.

  Too long for them to be apart.

  The months working together on designing the lodge had made her come to realize how much she enjoyed just knowing he was there to talk with.

  And after a few nights of making love in May, she knew they were made for each other, no matter what year they were in.

  She was completely in love with him and the months they had just spent apart made that fact even clearer to her.

  Now every minute she waited for him to get back drove her crazy. She had arrived back in Boise almost a week ago and the days had gone very slowly, even though she had spent much of the time getting the arriving furniture protected in the warehouse for the winter.

  She was now working on her journal in their bedroom at the mahogany sitting desk. All summer she had done a journal of her travels and what she and Bonnie had found and where. Outside her windows, the day was a gray overcast and the air had a fall bite to it. The leaves hadn’t yet started to turn to fall colors, but she knew that wouldn’t be far off.

  She had a hunch that up on the summit it would be very cold and more than likely snowing.

  Suddenly Bonnie shouted from downstairs. “They’re here.”

  April had no idea who “they” were since everyone was here but Ryan. Janice and Steven were going to winter over in Roosevelt. She saw plans of the home they had built in there and it looked fantastic. She hoped to see it next summer.

  She made it down the slick, wooden staircase faster than she should have and joined Bonnie and Duster and Dawn and Madison as they went out the back door to greet Ryan.

  April was stunned.

  There he sat on his horse. If it was possible, he looked even more handsome than before. The outside work had given his face a deep, dark weathered look and his dark hair was four months longer, flowing out of his cowboy hat like he was a model in a fashion magazine.

  The sight of him took her breath away.

  Then he saw her coming down the back steps as he dismounted and smiled at her.

  That was it, she couldn’t contain herself.

  She just flat ran at him and he barely managed to get his feet under him before she jumped at him and into his arms, giving him the biggest kiss she had ever given anyone at any time for any reason.

  And he squeezed her and hugged her back as hard as he could, pushing into the kiss.

  When she finally let him come up for air, he eased her to the ground.

  “I missed you,” she said, breathlessly.

  “I missed you.” And he smiled at her and she wanted to jump him again, but didn’t.

  Then she looked at the other person who had dismounted and her stomach went from pure joy to pure panic.

  It was Janice.

  And she was alone.

  And that meant something had happened to Steven.

  Dawn had gone to her and was hugging her.

  “Tie off the horses,” Duster said, indicating a tree branch. “We’ll deal with them later.”

  Then he turned and headed into the house as the rest of them followed.

  Janice walked between Dawn and Bonnie.

  April kept her arm around Ryan and he didn’t let go of her either.

  “You look wonderful,” she said softly to him as Dawn led Janice inside.

  “So do you,” he said. “A dream come true.”

  “Good dreams, I hope,” she whispered, smiling up at his handsome, tanned face.

  “The best,” he whispered back and smiled.

  And she went even deeper in love than she had been before, if that was even possible.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  September 23, 1900

  APRIL HELPED RYAN off with his coat and hat and gloves on the back porch and Madison went to work on hot tea and some apple juice for everyone as Janice got out of her coat and hat as well.

  Duster sat down at the big kitchen table and Ryan and April went in on the far side of the table with their back to the window.

  “Wow, this is really some place,” Janice said, looking around at the big kitchen.

  “Tour and a hot bath in a little bit,” Bonnie said, getting Janice seated at the table near Duster. “We need to know what happened with Steven.”

  The kitchen was as silent as April had heard it as everyone waited for the answer.

  Janice took a deep breath. “He slipped on some ice coming out of the back of the store. He went down, shattered his right wrist and broke some ribs. He’s in far too much pain to ride and I doubt the wrist is going to heal.”

  “He’s in Roosevelt?” Bonnie asked.

  “He has drugs,” Janice said, nodding, “but he is in a lot of pain. I closed up the store and told people we were leaving for the winter. He’s holed up in the back of the house where no one can see him move around, what little he can move around.”

  “How long ago was this?” Duster asked.

  “Four days,” Janice said, looking worried.

  “Damn,” Madison said.

  Dawn went almost white. After hearing the story of what happened with Madison that first winter in Roosevelt, April could understand why this bothered Dawn so much.

  “We need to get him out of there,” Duster said. “Madison, you want to ride with me?”

  Duster started to stand, but Bonnie put a hand on his arm. “We need to plan this. Give us five minutes.”

  Duster looked at her for a moment, then nodded and sat back down.

  April knew that resetting the crystal room would bring Steven out easily, just as it had taken her and Ryan and Duster from the front of the mine back into the crystal room. And over the summer, Bonnie had told her a number of stories about how being pulled out had saved one or the other of them who had been injured.

  But pulling Steven and Janice out of this timeline would take all of them out as well and make them lose all their work. She looked at Ryan and he squeezed her hand. He didn’t seem worried that he was about to lose all his work this summer.

  “Ryan and I talked over the campfire last night,” Janice said. “You want to tell them what we came up with?”

  Madison handed her a cup of hot tea and then the same for Ryan.

  April let go of his hand so he could take the cup and sip it.

  “I don’t know much about this time travel obviously,” Ryan said, smiling, “since this is our first trip.”

  April leaned against him. She liked the sound of “our first trip” more than she wanted to admit.

  Ryan went on. “If you can unhook one wire only from the back of the machine, it will pull us all back.”

  Duster nodded.

  Ryan went on. “Since we’ll have arrivals coming in of furniture from all over, from all the shopping these two did this summer, we need to come back here almost at once to take care of that.”

  April nodded this time. “He’s right,” she said. “Fixtures and furniture will start arriving in about a month and continue through most of the winter.”

  “So Duster and Bonnie and April and I could come back within a day of when we are pulled back,” Ryan said, “to take care of things here this winter.”

  April loved the sound of that. She more than anything had wanted to
spend the winter here with Ryan.

  “Can it be cut that close to a previous trip?” Janice asked, looking at Duster and Bonnie.

  “Duster and I have been working on the math here all summer,” Bonnie said. “Without computers, we can only go so far, but I don’t see why not. It won’t let us come back while we are here, that’s for sure.”

  Duster nodded, but clearly wasn’t that excited about the idea.

  “So we get back here before the snow,” Ryan said “and stay the winter here in Boise. “You four come through in May and head for Roosevelt. If what Janice tells me is correct, none of our work will be gone.”

  “Exactly,” Dawn said, nodding.

  “Is that possible?” April asked, looking first at Bonnie, then at Duster. “I love shopping and all, but I’d love to get the furniture and fixtures into the place first before I have to make that shopping trip again.”

  “It’s possible,” Madison said, smiling. “We did it, with more time between, right before this trip.”

  Janice nodded.

  “If nothing else,” Duster said, “It’s going to be an interesting thing to try. Even if it doesn’t work, we have to get Steven out of there. That’s the focus. If we can save this summer’s work, so much the better.”

  Everyone nodded to that.

  “Duster,” Ryan said, “if we boarded your horse and Bonnie’s in Silver City, and I rode with you and took along Dawn’s horse and we boarded those for a few days as well, we’ll have rides coming out. And you can teach me the tricks of going back to the mine.”

  “And I’ll bring everyone else’s horses and meet you all in May,” Duster said.

  He thought for a long few seconds, then nodded and said, “That would work. Bonnie, get someone to watch the horses here for a few weeks and you all have the house shut down by tomorrow evening, lamps off and fires out and the place locked up as if no one is home. We should be ready to pull you all out by just after sunset.”

  April didn’t like the sound of Ryan suddenly leaving again. But she loved the idea of spending the winter with him here.

  Duster looked at Ryan and smiled. “Good plan, architect. You ready to ride?”

  Ryan nodded. “As soon as we get the three other horses ready. And I spend ten minutes with this wonderful woman.”

  Bonnie and Madison both stood. “We’ll get them ready,” Bonnie said. “And Janice, I’ll take care of yours as well.”

  “Thanks,” Janice said.

  “Ten minutes is all you got,” Madison said, smiling at Ryan and heading out the door.

  Ryan smiled at April.

  She leaned over and kissed Ryan, then said, “What can we do in ten minutes.”

  “Not a damn thing in this kitchen,” Duster said, winking at her as he stood to get his saddlebags and clothes for the trip.

  Janice and Dawn both laughed.

  “How about we just sit here together,” Ryan said.

  “I’d like that,” she said, smiling up at him and then leaning against his strong shoulders. “I’d like that a lot.”

  Ten minutes later she stood outside on the back porch beside Bonnie as Ryan and Duster, both wearing long coats and cowboy hats, rode out.

  Ryan was the most handsome man she had ever known. And if this worked, she was going to get to spend a wonderful winter with him right here in this house.

  If this worked.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  September 24, 1900

  RYAN WAS STUNNED how fast and far he and Duster were able to ride with a horse each in tow. Duster clearly knew the direct route from Boise to Silver City in those days and their only delay was waiting for the ferry right at dusk to cross the Snake River.

  They camped that night without tents and only some cold sandwiches that Bonnie had made them just before they left. They didn’t even start up a fire. Neither one of them could see the reason to bother.

  By first light they were on the move again.

  The morning was bitterly cold, but the sky looked like it might remain clear, which was a lucky break for them. Ryan felt like his body was taking a pounding, but all the work this summer up on the lodge allowed him to keep up with Duster, who seemed to just flat be driven and have the energy of a teenager. When they first came back, Ryan never would have been able to maintain the pace they were at for even an hour.

  They reached Silver City and paid the smith there to board the horses for two weeks. Duster gave the man a little extra with a promise for more if he took good care of them.

  There was the sign of the first snow on the ground in the shadows of a few buildings. Nothing at all like what was blowing up on the top of Monumental Summit.

  The town of Silver City had clearly seen better days, and this late in the year, there weren’t many people out at all. Ryan could hear the faint sound of one piano from a saloon and some picks pounding into rock in the distance and that was it.

  Most of the buildings looked empty and they all needed work. Very few of them had any smoke coming from chimneys.

  Silver City was already well on its way to being a ghost town.

  On the hill above them, Ryan couldn’t tell which mine tailings was the one they were headed for. There were so many scattered over the mountains like white scars on tanned skin.

  Carrying their saddlebags and April’s and Bonnie’s saddlebags as well, they climbed up along the main street, moving on the board sidewalks where possible. They left their saddles with the smith to repair where needed and then leather polish.

  They checked into the Silver City Hotel, a two-story building that seemed to dominate one corner of the center of town. The outside looked just dirty, like dust had been blowing against the white painted board siding all summer and no one had bothered to take the time to wash it off. From the outside the windows looked clean, but that was about it.

  Inside, the hotel also had seen better days. It needed paint badly and the carpet in places was worn and torn. Mostly the entire hotel just looked tired.

  The air smelled of wet wood smoke combined with a wonderful odor of cooking meat and bread. Ryan’s stomach rumbled at that. There was clearly a kitchen nearby.

  The man with white hair behind the counter was happy to see them come in, especially when they booked two rooms for two weeks and Duster paid in cash for the rooms.

  Ryan just watched what Duster was doing, making mental notes to ask him some questions later. He understood most of the reasons for doing what he was doing, but he would make sure later.

  “Francine still around and cooking tonight?” Duster asked the front desk clerk.

  “She is,” the man nodded as he handed them keys. “Dinner starts at five.”

  The old grandfather clock against the wall looked like it was still beating right along and showed that it was a little before five in the afternoon. Wow, had they made good time from the other side of Boise.

  Duster nodded thanks to the desk clerk and then Ryan followed him up the stairs.

  Duster took the first room on the left and pointed for Ryan to take the next one down the hall.

  “Wash up and we’ll get some food,” he said. “Ten minutes.”

  Ryan used the old key to get into his room. The high-ceilinged room was as tired as the rest of the hotel. About the size of a large modern closet, a worn and faded quilt covered a regular-sized bed on a metal frame. An old and scarred chest of drawers was against one wall with most of the handles missing. A cracked white-china bowl and water pot and a tinted-brown towel were on a stand next to the bed.

  One overstuffed plaid chair filled the remaining corner of the small room and in a number of places the crosshatched wallpaper was coming loose showing boards under them.

  Ryan tossed the saddlebags on the bed and his long coat and hat on top of them and poured some of the cold water into the bowl. He then washed off his face and hands and using the towel, wet it and wiped the dirt off the back of his neck and up his arms under his shirt.

  Surprisingly, it made
him feel a lot better.

  He had just put his hat and coat back on when Duster knocked on the door.

  Duster wasn’t wearing his hat or coat, just the jeans and plaid shirt he had on under that, held up by suspenders. His sleeves on the shirt were rolled up to his elbows.

  Ryan nodded and tossed his hat and coat back on the bed, then locked up as they went out.

  Dinner was in a small dining room off the hotel lobby that at one point in time had pretended to be formal, but now just felt more like a diner with faded curtains.

  The waitress, a heavy-set woman with dark, thin hair and a stained apron, recognized Duster and showed him to a table in the back corner just far enough away from the big metal stove to not overheat them, but keep them comfortable at the same time. Ryan soon found out her name was Francine, the one Duster had asked about, and she was also the cook.

  There was no one else in the dining room, but the woman didn’t talk much and Duster didn’t either, so Ryan just focused on the great food as well.

  Venison steak, cooked perfectly, with golden potatoes and some slices of fresh apples and warm bread. After the two days of hard riding he had had from Roosevelt Summit to Boise and then the push to get here, every bite tasted like heaven. This was his first real meal in all that time.

  Finally, when Francine asked after serving them both a slice of fresh apple pie, why Duster was in town, he said, “Got some family that want me to take a look at an old mine up on War Eagle. Thought I’d do it before the snow flies.”

  “Nothing up there worth looking at,” she said, shaking her head.

  “Told them that myself,” Duster said. “But they’re paying, so we’re looking.”

  She shrugged and moved off.

  Ryan knew exactly what Duster was doing. The mine with the crystal cave was up on Florida Mountain. If anyone went looking for them, they would look on War Eagle now. And if he and Duster vanished and didn’t come back for the horses, everyone would assume it was more than likely that a cave-in got them.