Portals of Time

by Vicky McCracken

  “I have the watch Grandpa. I have went back in time. Once, Aunt Helen was with me.”

  “I realize now I was wrong not to include Helen in my findings. She is much stronger than I thought.’

  “We met Missy and Jessie in the old west and we also visited Jessie and Lori today. Then somehow I went back by accident in my apartment. It must be a portal. I met Missy’s daughter Paige.”

  “Justin, Missy’s daughter’s name was Mary. Are you sure it’s the same person?”

  “I wasn’t sure until she told me her brother Trace was killed in a gun fight.”

  “You may need to check it out Justin,” Mason told him.

  Suddenly Justin was wide awake. What a strange dream. Grandpa had told him Missy’s daughter was named Mary. Maybe it wasn’t the same girl. He got out of bed and went to the computer. He searched once more through the family tree of Missy. He could see where Missy had a daughter named Mary, then suddenly he saw it for the first time. Justin sat staring at the computer screen. Her name was Mary Paige. She was Missy’s daughter; he knew now without a doubt. His mind went back to her face. He could see it so plainly in his mind. Suddenly he felt the need to see her again. He shook his head trying to get all this out of his mind. He took the watch and opened it up. It was keeping good time. Finding a magnifying glass, he began to study the cars once more and wondered who had first made the watch. Whoever it was had to be a time traveler. How else would they have known about Texas Motor Speedway, its races, and the shape of the track itself. Then he began to wonder why the person had made the watch. They must have been pretty smart. He wondered if his grandfather had ever met who ever made the watch. He yawned and laid the watch down. Then he made his way back to the bedroom.

  It didn’t take him long to go back to sleep. When he awoke, the sun was streaming through the window warming his face. He hadn’t dreamed anymore. He had slept well the rest of the night.

  After breakfast, he took his grandfather’s journals and began to read:

  Last week I went back in time and met Missy’s father and her daughter Mary who had come to visit Jessie and Lori a few years ago. Missy’s father told us that back in his time someone was trying to buy his saloon and was trying to hurt his business. I wanted to go back and help him out but he knew me and I didn’t want him to know I jumped also.

  Justin stopped reading. This was interesting and he knew he was going back in time to find out what was going on. He went shopping for shirts and jeans like they would wear in the old west.

  After arriving back home, he called Helen again. He explained what he was going to do and of course she wanted to go with him. He convinced her he needed her here to take care of any problem such as his mother and father. Once he explained, she agreed.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Justin told her as he hung up. He packed his clothes in the old cloth bag he found in the closet and knotted it together. Then going to the same chair he was in when he jumped before, he placed the bag on his lap and moved the car on the watch backward a little.

  In only about five minutes, he was standing with his bag in his hand. He walked around to the front and entered the saloon. He stood looking around. It seemed early in the day and there were only a few men in the place. The girls he had seen the last time were nowhere to be seen either. They probably worked at night and slept in the day.

  There was no one playing poker today. Maybe it was too early. The two men at the bar left and nodded to Justin as they passed. Both men gave off a strong odor and Justin moved away quickly. He walked up to the bar and had Missy’s father pour him a drink.

  As he sat there nursing his drink, a young man entered the saloon and walked up to the bar. The older man said. “Jason, you aren’t welcome here. I told you already to tell your father the saloon isn’t for sale.”

  Jason leaned over the bar and grabbed Missy’s father by the collar. “Daddy said to tell you that you will sell or you won’t have anything. He will take everything from you one thing at a time and I’ll have the pretty little filly working in the kitchen for myself.”

  It took Justin a minute to figure out it was not a horse working in the kitchen but Paige that he was talking about. Almost as on cue Paige walked out of the kitchen and yelled, “You let go of my grandfather.” She came over and kicked the young man in the back of the leg.

  “Oww,” he turned to grab her but Justin was faster so when the young man turned he came face to face with Justin.

  “You best be on your way,” Justin told him looking him in the eye.

  “Just who do you think you are,” Jason asked.

  “I could be someone you don’t want to mess with,” Justin made sure his eyes never strayed from the young man’s face.

  “He’s a boxer,” Paige said.

  Young Jason began to back away. “This isn’t the end, my papa will come see you.” He turned and almost ran out the door.

  Justin was amazed. “He’s afraid of boxers,” he asked.

  “His older brother was in a fight with a boxer once when Jason was a little boy. The boxer hit his brother in the head and he ain’t been right since. His family says the boxer beat him senseless. But Doc says he has a brain tumor and would have been like that anyway,” Paige answered.

  Justin laughed. “Well, I’m glad you are in my corner.”

  For the first time, Missy’s father looked at Justin and held out his hand. “Thank you for helping us out young man. I’m Frank and you are?”

  Justin took the older man’s hand. “I’m glad to help you out sir. My name is Justin.”

  Paige interrupted, “I came to ask you if you could help me Grandpa but Justin here can peel potatoes, can’t you?”

  “I can and will if you will tell me why that young man was wanting to buy your grandfather’s saloon.”

  “Come on. I’ll tell you while you work. I’m glad you came back this way. I have the recipes you wanted for your aunt.”

  Justin had forgotten all about the bread. He followed Paige into the other room and then into a small kitchen. Paige handed him a knife. He washed his hands and began to cut the potatoes and carrots she pointed to. She said she was making a stew. As they cut the vegetables, she told him of Mr. Harley Sexton and his son Jason who owned a lot of the land in town and had a big ranch just outside of town.

  “Grandfather has never liked Mr. Harley because he gets by with things no one else can. Grandpa says he paid off the sheriff. One day he came in here and told Grandfather he wanted to buy his saloon. Of course Grandfather told him no, but Mr. Harley wouldn’t take no for an answer. He kept offering money thinking Grandfather would take him up on his offers. One day Grandfather told me he would not sell no matter how much money Mr. Harley offered him.

  After that, some little things began to happen. We knew it was Mr. Harley and his son but we couldn’t prove it. He has the sheriff in his back pocket. The good thing is that the sheriff has taken a job in another town for more money. As of tomorrow, we will have no sheriff and Mr. Harley will really get mean,” Paige stopped.

  “What do you have to do to be sheriff here?”

  “Just be sworn in. Are you interested,” Paige stopped working on the stew and looked at him.

  “I think I could do it. I know I won’t let anyone buy me. I can promise you that,” Justin answered.

  “Let’s go tell Grandfather. We will go with you down to see the sheriff to swear you in.”

  Together they walked out of the kitchen back to the bar.

  “Grandfather,” Paige said, “Justin here wants to be sheriff. Will you take him to the sheriff’s office?”

  “I hope you are better than the last one. Mr. Harley had him in his back pocket.”

  “Let me assure you sir, I will uphold the law and be in nobody’s pocket. I will only get paid from whoever sends me my pay.”

  “Good man,” Frank said. “Let’s go.”

  The older man and Justin walked out of the bar and down the wooden sidewalk. Justin cou
ld see the sheriff’s office just ahead. The small wooden building had only one window and the door was open. As the two walked inside, an older man looked up from where he was seated at a small wooden table.

  “Hello Ely,” Frank said.

  “Hey Frank, how are you? Who you got with you?”

  “This is Justin. He’s interested in the sheriff’s job.”

  “Really,” Ely said with his eye brows raised. “A bit wet behind the ears yet, ain’t he?”

  “Maybe what we need around here Ely.”

  “I been around some mister,” Justin was trying to talk like they were.

  “Alright, as long as I don’t have to sit here waiting for some drunk to start shooting up the town. If you’re ready son, I’ll swear you in.”

  Within five minutes Justin had a shiny badge on his shirt. Ely gave him the scoop on what to do. On Saturdays, the town had a hard time with the men drinking at the saloon and shooting up the town.

  Justin informed him the men would check their guns at the door of the saloon. They would get them back only if they could walk a straight line as they came out. The other problem Justin already knew about was Harley Sexton and his son thinking they owned everything and everyone in town. Ely told him he should expect a visit from Harley soon as the man got wind of a new sheriff and that would be within a few hours.

  Frank shook hands again with Justin as he got ready to leave.

  “Paige and I will make a sign about the guns and post it outside the door of the saloon.”

  “Thanks, that will help a lot,” Justin told him.

  Ely also shook his hand before he left. Just before Frank walked back to the saloon, both men saw Ely riding off like the wind out of town as if his horse’s tail was on fire.

  “There he goes out to Harley’s place first thing.”

  “At least I’ve got a heads up.” Justin knew there would be some who would put up a fight about a new sheriff and also the guns. But Justin knew some towns in the old west did this and it worked.

  He sighed and settled into the old hard wooden chair behind the table and went through the papers in the drawer. He was glad there were no prisoners now. He found some clean paper and began to make some notes of his own. He was lost in what he was doing, not realizing what time it was until Paige came in with a basket of food.

  “Are you hungry,” she asked. “You have been working here all evening. It’s close to six o’clock.”

  “I’m figuring out a few things. I lost track of time,” Justin smiled at her.

  “Once you find your own way of doing things, you’ll be fine. Has Mr. Harley paid you a visit yet?”

  “No, I haven’t seen anyone. What do you have in there? It sure smells good.”

  “I brought you a bowl of the stew I made and a little pone of corn bread,” Paige said as she set the things out on the table in front of him.

  Justin ate the stew. It tasted alright but it wasn’t anything like Aunt Helen’s. He hadn’t a clue what kind of meat was in it and he wasn’t about to ask. The bread was good and he wished he had another piece of it. He poured a cup of coffee from the stove in the corner. It was strong and hot. He had finished eating and was packing the dishes up for Paige to take back when a tall, bearded man entered the building.

  “May I help you, sir,” Justin asked.

  The man held out his hand. “My name is Harley Sexton. young man, I hear you are our new sheriff. I hope you like our little town. If you need anything, let me know. I see Miss Paige has kindly brought your supper tonight.”

  Justin stood and held out his hand. “Yes, sir, thank you. Good to meet you. I hope I can do a good job for you as well as everyone else.”

  “I just came to welcome you to town and invite you to supper tomorrow night. Bring Miss Paige here along to help you find it,” the older man smiled at Paige.

  “Thank you Mr. Harley. I would love to come to supper and show Justin where you live,” Paige smiled back at him.

  “I’ll make sure the boy is off somewhere. I don’t want him to cause any more trouble.”

  “Sounds good,” Justin said. “We will see you tomorrow.”

  “Good, come around six or so,” the older man said as he turned and left the building.

  Paige sat down on the table and began to laugh. “He is so bad.”

  “What do you mean Paige,” Justin asked. “He seemed nice to me.”

  “Yeah, that’s a front. He will make you a proposal tomorrow night at supper. If you take it, he will always treat you this way. But if you don’t, then we will be running for our lives, so to speak.”

  “So, he’s trying to bribe me with food and kindness.”

  “ More or less,”

  “I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow.”

  “Me either. By the way, you will need a deputy. Have anyone in mind?”

  “I only know you and Frank,” Justin said.

  Paige smiled at him. “Grandfather might do it for you. It will make Mr. Harley mad.”

  “Maybe then he will see whose side I’m on from the start.”

  “Anyway, we are in for an interesting evening.”

  “What time will we need to leave?”

  “I’ll bring the buckboard by ‘round four.”

  “By the way, do you have an extra room over the saloon?” Justin had forgotten about not having a place to stay.

  “I can do you one better than that. You can come stay with me and Grandfather. Since Trace is gone, his room is empty. I know Grandfather won’t care. We’ll come by for you when I close up the kitchen.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t want to put you out.”

  “You aren’t,” Paige picked up the basket and headed out the door. “See you later.”

  Justin went back to work at the table making notes for a little while. Then he went out and walked around town, making a few notes on some things as he looked over the town. He noticed Frank had already placed a sign on the saloon about the guns.

  The towns people were friendly for the most part. Some looked at him strangely. Once he had made his rounds, he walked back toward the sheriff’s office. As he neared it, a young man came running up out of breath. “Come quick sheriff, old man Jim is drunk and talking out of his head again.”

  Justin walked with the young man to where the man was. He was only about fifty and smelled of sweet liquor.

  The young man said. “Mr. Jim, the sheriff is here. He will take you and let you sleep it off until morning.”

  The older man turned to look at Justin, staggering as he did so.

  “Come with me,” Justin said. He figured he would have a hard time but the man came peacefully. The young man tagged along behind.

  “I’m Joe Ross. I used to help the other sheriff as a deputy when he needed me. I’ll be happy to help you out as well.”

  “Thank you but I was going to ask Frank.”

  “He won’t do it but you can ask him. Either way you will need someone to be here tonight to stay with Mr. Jim.”

  “Okay, you can stay tonight. When I ask Frank if he will help out, I’ll let you know what he says. Come by the office tomorrow just in case and you can stay with Mr. Jim here tonight.”

  “Okay,” said Joe.

  Justin locked Mr. Jim up in the only cell in the office. He was glad the boy, Joe, had said he would stay tonight.

  Mr. Jim was already asleep on the cot in the cell. Justin began to write himself more notes. He was afraid he would forget to do what he wanted and all this was so new to him. Finally, he realized it was beginning to get dark and a little cool. He lit one of the oil lamps in the room and put some of the wood from the corner into the potbellied stove.

  Soon after, Paige and Frank pulled up in their buggy. Paige was holding a lantern to see where they were going. Justin smiled as Frank came inside. “You will need someone to stay tonight.” Frank told him.

  “I know. Joe is coming to stay for me.”

  “He is already sworn in. The other sheriff us
ed him a lot.” Frank said.

  “So he said but can he be trusted not to sell out to Mr. Harley?”

  “I think so, yes.”

  As on cue, Joe came through the door. “I’m here. You go on home with Mr. Frank. I’ll be sure and do good for you, sir.”

  “I have no doubt you will,” Justin told him.

  Soon they were on their way out of town. Justin thought they rode forever before finally coming to a large farm house. Frank drove the buggy into the darkened barn. Paige jumped down and hung the lantern she carried on a large nail.

  Frank was unhitching the horses from the buggy. “You two go on to the house. I’ll be there directly.”

  “Okay,” Paige said. “This way Justin.”

  As they came near the house, Justin could smell the fresh baked bread and pies coming from inside the house. He could also smell brown beans and greens. Upon entering the house, the smells were stronger.

  Paige hung up her wrap and the coat they had given Justin so he wouldn’t be cold on the ride to the house. “Grandma,” she called. “We have company.”

  An older woman entered the room. Her hair was up in a bun. It was white and several strands of hair hung around her face. She looked to be about sixty or so. Justin thought maybe she had lived a rough life.

  The woman smiled. “Welcome son. You may call me Tess. What is your name?

  Justin held out his hand. “I’m Justin, ma’am. It’s so nice to meet you.”

  “Well, come on over and wash up for supper. We will eat as soon as Frank gets finished with the horses,” she turned and walked back through the doorway.

  “Paige led the way behind her into a large kitchen. Justin could feel the heat from the large wood stove. It was hot in the room. In the left hand corner was a wash basin already filled with fresh water. Justin motioned Paige to go first. He then realized they were all going to wash in the same water. By the time he had finished washing his hands and face, Frank was coming in the back door.

  “Good evening dear wife,” he said as he kissed Tess on the cheek. Then he headed for the wash basin.

  “Oh, go on ol’ man,” Tess said but she smiled and Justin knew she liked it when he did that.