Portals of Time

by Vicky McCracken

  “Carolyn, maybe you better go back home in case she does come back. Missy, you can go stay with her.”

  Missy smiled. “Good, just give me time to dress.”

  Missy and Jessie dressed in record time. Mr. Brown and Jessie helped the two women onto the buckboard. Jessie kissed Missy good-bye and told the two women to be careful. They waved as they drove off. Mr. Brown and Jessie were soon riding off across Jessie’s ranch looking for Grace. They met some of the other ranchers who were also looking for Grace, but no one had seen the little girl.

  The men looked everywhere, calling her name, but with no answer. After a lot of hours of searching, they all began to get hungry. One of the men had some jerky and one of the others had some cold bread. Mr. Brown had a bottle of whiskey. As the end of the day came, they had still not found Grace. Jessie told Mr. Brown they would keep looking even when most of the other men had to go home. By daylight, they still hadn’t found the little girl and Mr. Brown was upset.

  Missy and Carolyn Brown spent the whole day cooking and baking for the men and Grace for when they returned. Missy mostly wanted Carolyn to keep busy so she wouldn’t worry about her husband and daughter. Missy reassured her that her family would be okay. By the next morning though, Missy was worried herself and when the chores were finished on both ranches, they still had not seen Mr. Brown or Jessie and they had been gone over twenty four hours.

  Missy checked the time. It was going on noon. Jessie should have been back. Missy told Carolyn Brown she needed to go help look for Grace.

  “Missy, Jessie wanted you to stay here with me.”

  “I know, but I can help. You have to think like a child. If I were a child, where would I go?”

  “You’re right Missy, you go, and if they come back I’ll tell them you went to find her.”

  “Thanks Carolyn.” Missy went to the barn and saddled a horse. She rode out of the ranch worried about Jessie but wondering where a scared little girl would go when she was lost. Missy rode slowly out across the Brown’s ranch, she called for Grace and Jessie for hours. Finally she was ready to give up and go back when she thought she heard a noise. It was faint and Missy called out for Grace. Once again she heard the noise.

  “Grace, is that you,” Missy called.

  “Please, I’m over here,” a child’s voice answered.

  “It’s okay, keep talking to me, I’m coming to get you.” Missy followed the child’s voice until she saw Grace sitting behind a tree crying, holding a doll her mother had made for her.

  “Missy climbed off her horse and tied him to the tree.

  “Are you alright Grace,” she asked. She hugged the child. “Don’t be afraid. I must rest a spell and then we will head home.”

  The little girl nodded as Missy sat down beside her and after only a few minutes Missy realized it was going to be dark soon. She stood up and suddenly had a sharp pain in her belly.

  “Oh,” she doubled over in pain.

  “What’s wrong,” Grace asked in a scared little voice.

  Missy didn’t reply for a few seconds as her pain moved away.

  “I’m alright. Come on, give me your hand.” Missy had climbed onto the horse and reached out her hand. Grace was in the saddle in front of her and they trotted off across the ranch. Even while they were riding, Missy had pains off and on in her belly. By the time dusk was coming, Missy thought they were riding in a circle. With the sun going down the air was chilly, and she was getting cold and she knew Grace was also. She climbed off the horse just before another pain ripped through her belly again. She helped Grace off the horse realizing they were back at the same tree where she had first found Grace. She pulled the blanket from under the saddle and wrapped it around Grace and herself. She tried to calm down so maybe the pains would stop but she was afraid. She didn’t want to lose the baby. What if no one found them? What if she had the baby now? It was too soon for the baby to be born.

  * * * * * * * *

  Just a few hours before dark, Mr. Brown and Jessie were still searching for Grace when Jessie stopped his horse. Something was wrong. Something was wrong with Missy, somehow he knew it.

  “What’s wrong Jessie,” Mr. Brown pulled his horse up to Jessie’s.

  “We have to go back to your ranch,” Jessie told the other man. “Something’s wrong with Missy.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I feel it. Something’s wrong. I’m going back. I have to make sure Missy’s alright.”

  It was dark before they arrived back at the Brown’s ranch. As they tied their horses, Carolyn ran out of the house.

  “Did you find Grace?”

  They shook their heads. “Where’s Missy,” Jessie asked.

  “She went out to look for you and Grace,” Carolyn told him.

  “Can I have a fresh horse,” Jessie asked.

  “Sure and I’ll come with you.” Mr. Brown took both horses to the barn and returned a few minutes later with two freshly saddled horses.

  “She rode off that way.” Carolyn pointed up behind the house.

  “Something’s wrong, let’s go,” Jessie was on his horse and headed in the direction Carolyn pointed. Mr. Brown followed Jessie off into the darkness. Each of them now had a lantern to see where they were going. The two men rode for over an hour when Jessie stopped.

  “What’s wrong,” Mr. Brown asked.

  “Missy. Something’s wrong. Don’t ask how I know, I just do.”

  “Okay, where is she?”

  “I don’t know.” Jessie began to ride again and yelled out Missy’s name. He hadn’t been calling long when he heard something.

  “Listen,” he said to Mr. Brown.

  Both men listened and they heard it; a horse.

  “Missy, Missy, are you there?”

  “Jessie, we’re here.”

  “Keep calling Missy. Are you alright?”

  “Fine, but hurry.”

  Soon the men came upon the tree where they saw Grace and Missy.

  “Oh Jessie, I knew you would find us.”

  Missy stood as another pain ran through her belly.

  “Oh God,” she said as the pain left as quickly as it had come. “I’m okay Jessie, just having a few pains.”

  “How long have you had these pains,” Jessie asked.

  “Just a few hours. I’m alright.” Missy kissed him.

  “Come on, let’s get the two of you home.” Mr. Brown picked up his little girl and sat her atop his horse.

  Jessie tied Missy’s horse to his own and helped her up behind him on his horse. He could feel her arms around him and the feeling of dread and being frightened was gone. All was right in his world again.

  The next day the doctor rode out and checked on Missy.

  “You will be fine,” he told her. “I think it was just the fright and excitement,” he turned to Jessie. “Keep her in bed for a few days and everything will be fine.”

  “I’ll do that Doc. Thanks,” Jessie walked out with the doctor and gave him some homemade jelly Missy had made. Then he walked back into the house and over to the bed where he leaned down and kissed Missy.

  “Everything’s fine Missy. Our baby is fine and I love you.”

  * * * * * * * *

  Jessie rode slowly home, it was a week following Grace Brown being lost in the woods. He had been on the other side of town helping one of the farmer’s plant his corn crop. They had worked all day and the farmer had paid Jessie well for all his hard work. Now all Jessie could think of was getting home to Missy. He worried about her since she had the pains when Grace was lost. She always insisted she was fine but Jessie thought sometimes she only told him she was okay so he would go to work and not worry for she knew how much they could use the money.

  He was coming upon the part of the trail all but covered in brush. There was only a small path to ride through. He was almost out of that part of the path when he heard a horse snort. He stopped his own horse and listened. He heard it again. Then a gun shot rang out. His horse was
spooked and almost got away from him but he managed to calm him down.

  “Easy boy, easy, it’s okay,” he spoke calmly patting and rubbing the horse’s mane.

  Once the horse had calmed down, he turned in the direction of the shot. Riding through the brush he spotted a couple of cowpokes laughing and riding off in the other direction. Another man was on the ground and Jessie hurried to the spot where the other man laid. As he came close, he could see it was a young Indian brave. He looked around to see if there were any more Indians, but if there had been, he couldn’t see them. At first he thought the young brave was dead, but once he jumped off his horse he saw that the brave was only shot in the shoulder and had been knocked out when he hit his head on a large rock when he fell. Jessie stood looking at the young brave for a minute not knowing what to do. Then he remembered his father telling him the story of Jessie James when he had helped the young boy up off the sidewalk after robbing the bank, not worrying about being caught and Jessie knew what he was going to do. He wrapped a piece of cloth around the brave’s shoulder wound to help stop the bleeding and threw him on to his horse in front of him and rode as fast as he could home hoping maybe between himself and Missy they could save the young brave so he could go back home to his village.

  As he rode into the yard he saw Missy going inside with fire wood in her arms.

  “Missy, help me get this man into the cabin,” Jessie called.

  Missy dropped the firewood on the ground and ran toward him as he stopped his horse and together they carried the young brave into the house. Once they had laid him on the bed, Missy suddenly saw that he was an Indian.

  “Jessie, are you sure about this?”

  “He is a man and he needs our help. I don’t care if his skin is red, black, or white. Do you,” Jessie asked as he poured water into a pitcher. “He needs our help.”

  Missy leaned over and kissed Jessie on the cheek.

  “Things like this are why I love you. Now, let’s get the bullet out of his shoulder and get him better so he can go home. Bring me the water off the stove.”

  They worked for an hour and finally Missy had taken out the bullet and cleaned the wound. She sat by the young Indian’s side and applied a clean wet towel to his forehead to keep down the fever. After a few more hours, the young brave began to wake up.

  At first he was frightened but Missy’s soft voice reassured him that he was safe.

  “Someone shot you and left you for dead. If my husband had not found you and brought you here, you would have died from blood loss.”

  He calmed down and stopped trying to get up. Missy left the room and returned later with fresh water and towels.

  “What’s your name,” she asked him as she cleaned and redressed his shoulder.

  “My name is Little Bear. When I was seven, I was bitten by a bear. Our chief then changed my name to Little Bear.”

  “I like it,” Missy finished the dressing and covered Little Bear up to the chin. He fell back to sleep but when he awoke next, he ate two bowls of chicken soup.

  The young brave stayed with them for almost two weeks in which time he grew stronger and stronger. Sometimes he would help Jessie with the chores and fetching firewood and water from the creek for Missy. Finally it was time for the young brave to leave. Jessie gave him a horse, and he thanked them for helping him. Just before he climbed onto the horse, he touched Missy’s swollen belly and told her softly. “He is a boy. Be careful with this child.”

  “A boy, I’m having a boy,” Missy asked.

  The brave Little Bear nodded. “A boy,” he smiled as he raised his hand and rode away.

  * * * * * * * *

  Jessie awoke cold and alone. He reached his hand across the bed before he remembered Missy wasn’t there. He pulled the quilt she had made closer around him shivering a little but not yet ready to get up and build a fire. He could feel tears burn his eyes as he remembered how Missy had died. She had a few problems carrying the child and as time grew near, it became worse.

  A few months before the baby was due to be born, the towns-people had begun to see a few Indians around just outside of town. There had been no Indians seen around here for a few years and no one seemed to know why they were back now. The sheriff had told them to do nothing unless the Indians did something first, but as Missy’s time came near, it seemed to bring more Indians.

  Jessie came from his thoughts and he was getting pretty chilly under the covers. He got up shivering as he built a fire. Sitting and waiting for it to warm up, he looked at his pocket watch. It had been a Christmas present from Missy on their first Christmas together. She had told him her great grandmother had bought it for her great grandfather on their first Christmas and it had been passed down every Christmas and now Missy was giving it to Jessie. She told him she didn’t know where her great grandmother had bought it but it was a tradition to pass it down. Jessie loved the watch and missed Missy every time he looked at it. He knew he would always remember her by having the watch. It had a strange picture on the outside of it and Jessie ran his fingers lovingly over it. The picture was of something Jessie had never seen before. It was some kind of circle only it wasn’t a circle. There were small horseless wagons one behind the other, sort of like a wagon train only different. Jessie had never seen whatever it was. He shook his head and put it back in his pocket.

  He added more wood to the fire. He put coffee in the coffee pot and placed it on top of the stove then decided to go milk the cow. Opening the door he saw it had snowed about an inch last night. In the barn, he picked up the milk pail and as he did his fingers touched the sack covering the cradle he had made for the baby. Pulling off the sack, he touched the wood and it rocked a little. He smiled, remembering the day he had shown it to Missy.

  “Jessie, why are you spending so much time in the barn,” Missy asked after supper one night. “Every evening you are out in the barn till half the night.”

  “Tonight you are going to see what I’ve been working on. I finished it last night. Come on, close your eyes. I will lead you.”

  Missy closed her eyes and laughed as Jessie led her to the barn. He stopped just inside the door.

  “Don’t open your eyes yet,” Jessie said.

  “Okay,” she was laughing so hard her eyes were watering.

  Jessie had pulled the cradle from under the sack where he kept it. Once he had, he came to stand beside Missy and told her to open her eyes. The look on her face showed she was overjoyed.

  “Jessie, I love it. You made it for our baby?”

  “Yes. Do you think the baby will like it,” Jessie asked.

  “Yes, Jessie. You are the most wonderful man in the world,” she kissed him again.

  The cow mooing brought him back to the present.

  “Okay,” he told the cow. “I’m going to milk you.” By the time he had milked the cow and fed the other animals, he was ready for something to eat. He walked back, shivering a little, for it was snowing again. The middle of April and it was still winter. This had been a hard winter partly because Missy wasn’t there with him. The cabin was warm now and he drank a cup of the coffee he had set on the stove before going out.

  After supper it had warmed up a little outside and Jessie decided to go out to check his traps. This time he put his heavy coat on. He saddled his horse and rode off across the acres of land he had bought. He was coming close to where one of his traps were when he heard something and pulled his horse behind a stand of trees. He was only there for a few minutes when he saw the Indians. Seeing them brought back more memories of the day he had lost Missy. He had went out that morning and seen the Indians and had hurried back home to tell Missy to stay inside. Back at the house, he found Missy in labor, and had wanted to go get a doctor or the midwife who lived on the next farm, but Missy wouldn’t let him.

  “We can do this Jessie, women have babies every day and everything is fine.”

  “But Missy, you’ve had a hard time carrying this one. Don’t you think someone should be h
ere to help in case something happens?”

  “We can do this Jessie. Together we can do anything,” she had held his hand and wouldn’t let go.

  The harder her labor became, the louder the beating of the Indians’ drums became. As Missy screamed, so did the Indians. She was afraid about the baby as well as the Indians. At last she said to Jessie,

  “Something’s wrong with the baby. It doesn’t feel right.”

  Jessie looked to see a butt, not a head, and at the same instant the door to the cabin opened and three or four Indians yelling at the top of their lungs ran in. The next time Missy screamed, Jessie didn’t know if it was from the labor or fear but the Indians stopped in their tracks upon seeing Missy in childbirth. Jessie believed it was the only thing that saved him from being killed that day.

  The Indians had left upon seeing Missy and yelled something about one of their gods. Jessie tried to help Missy but in the end it was too much for her. Before long Missy was gone and Jessie cried, at first blaming himself, then Missy, then the Indians, and finally realizing some things just happen. It was a time in his life he would never forget or get over. He had wanted to die with Missy and the baby. The images of that day were forever seared in his memory. Even though it had been over a year ago, he would still remember it as if it were yesterday.

  The sun was out now and the snow seemed to be melting away. Looking up, he could see dark clouds forming overhead and the sun moved behind the clouds and back out again. Jessie climbed off the horse to pull his coat off. It was still chilly but Jessie was getting warm. He threw his coat on the back of the horse and looked out through the trees at the Indians. They were sitting on their horses looking around and Jessie climbed back on his own horse.

  Suddenly his horse snorted loudly and the Indians saw him through the trees. Jessie kneed the horse and he was off with the Indians hot on his trail. The sun went in and out and it began to grow dark. Jessie ran his horse into a grove of trees as he heard a clap of thunder overhead.

  “Strange,” he thought. “Snow this morning and a storm now?” The Indians were closing in on him and he felt his watch as it came out of his pocket and was dangling against his leg. Afraid he would lose it, he put his hand down to get it at the same time another clap of thunder and lightning came.