Duster and Dawn and Madison all nodded.
“You said you got that picture from the Idaho historical society about a year ago. Right?” Jesse asked her.
Kelli nodded, not having any clue as how to make sense of what Bonnie said.
“And that picture is a digital copy or a paper copy?”
“Both,” Kelli said, looking at Jesse. “On the paper copy I have the copyright information on the back, when I obtained it, and so on. Then I scanned all pictures in to take with me for reference if needed.”
Jesse pointed to a wide silver metal bracelet on his wrist. “I have been wearing this since I bought it from an artist outside of Cascade, Idaho, just six months ago.”
Kelli nodded.
“I am wearing it in the photo,” Jesse said.
Kelli could feel a cloud of confusion crossing over her mind. How in the hell could that be possible?
Then Jesse turned to the rest of the table. “I know, for some reason, you want Doctor Rae here to understand, to help her with her research. But I’ve been friends with you all for years. I think as a friend I’m owed a clear explanation. Don’t you?”
All four nodded.
“We did not doctor any photos,” Bonnie said. “That photo, if it says it was taken in 1908, and you have it authenticated, was taken in 1908 in Roosevelt, Idaho.”
“Now you’re starting to make me mad,” Jesse said, sitting back.
Duster looked at Kelli. “Doctor Rae, you read the information we sent you? Jesse knows us all, but you need to be up to speed with who we are.”
“I read it,” Kelli said. “And did a little more digging on my own.” She kept her voice low and even because she was getting just as angry as Jesse.
“We are both theoretical mathematicians,” Duster said indicating himself and Bonnie. “We specialize in the theory of alternate timelines. And how matter and energy and time are all wrapped in together.”
Kelli nodded for Duster to go on.
“In our theories, we suggest, and have proven, that there is a physical hub where all alternate universes express themselves in a physical form.”
“You are losing me quickly,” Kelli said.
“Think of it this way,” Bonnie said. “If Jesse had decided to just wait in his car for you to finish dinner in Whale Cove instead of going inside, and you would have never seen him, we all would not be sitting here right now. That’s an alternate universe from the one we are in.”
“Every decision we make, big or small, creates another alternate universe,” Duster said. “Sometimes those alternate universes just blend back into each other since the results make no long-term difference.”
“So if I order steak versus a chicken here at dinner two alternate universes are created?” Kelli said. “That’s silly.”
“Not silly,” Bonnie said. “Mathematically proven. Imagine if the chicken was tainted and you got sick because of the choice and missed an important clue in your research. But if you had the steak, you didn’t get sick, wrote the book, and changed things. Every decision we make has repercussions off into the future. Most decisions change nothing, but your decision to come here when you could have just driven off is a decision.”
“That’s billions of timelines,” Kelli said, not even able to grasp that much.
“Far, far more than that,” Duster said.
“So what does all this have to do with the picture?” Jesse asked.
“You said the four of us are in the picture,” Duster asked, indicating her and Jesse and Madison and himself.
Kelli nodded.
“In another alternate timeline, the four of us went back into the past, into this timeline to Roosevelt in 1908,” Duster said, “more than likely to help you research your book, and without our knowing it, some photographer got our picture.”
Kelli just looked at Bonnie and Duster. “You can travel back in time?”
“Back in the past of other timelines, yes,” Bonnie said, “as crazy as that sounds.”
“We go back to do research all the time,” Dawn said. “Since almost all timelines are nearly identical to the one we are in. We have spent a lot of time in Roosevelt before the flood buried it, actually. We would love to help you research the Season Medals.”
“You could even meet John Bushnell if you wanted,” Madison said. “Actually find out why he was after the Season Medals in the first place.”
Kelli sat back, more stunned than she wanted to admit as the waiter started to bring their food. If she wasn’t sitting with two of the most respected historians in the world, and the two most acclaimed mathematicians of all time, she would be headed out the door.
And she most certainly would if she had any other explanation for that photograph.
Actually, photographs. She knew without a doubt that she was sitting across the table from one of the great Marshals of the Old West. And Bonnie Kendal was known as the Angel of San Francisco for her good deeds there.
How in the hell was this possible?
Could they really be telling the truth?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
July 14th, 2016
Portland, Oregon
JESSE JUST SAT there staring at four people he wasn’t sure he knew any more. They had just come up with the craziest story he had ever heard. And yet damned if he could think of another explanation for that photo. Or why Kelli Rae would have it.
The steak in front of him, a nice top sirloin cut, smelled wonderful. The plate had a baker on it with garnishments left on the side as he had asked. And beside his plate was a dish of steamed asparagus that looked crisp and green.
It was going on four hours since he had eaten that piece of banana cream pie, so he was hungry. He just wasn’t sure, with the discussion, if he had an appetite or not.
He dug into the steak, let the wonderful, warm juicy flavor of the first bite almost melt in his mouth, and decided to just eat.
“We have no doubt,” Duster said after the waiter had left, “that you both think all four of us have lost our minds.”
“We both thought they were crazy,” Dawn said, nodding, “the first time they told us what they were doing.”
“Only way to believe it is to see the nexus,” Madison said.
“The nexus?” Kelli asked, slightly before Jesse could because he was chewing on a piece of wonderful steak.
“We theorized,” Bonnie said, “that all time and matter and energy come together in a physical form. We accidently found the place.”
“That’s the offer we wanted to make to you, Doctor Rae,” Duster said. “We wanted to offer you access to the nexus for your research in your projects. No strings attached.”
Kelli said nothing, looking stunned.
Jesse thought back over the people that Bonnie and Duster had had him research over the years. “How many people know about this place?”
“Fourteen,” Bonnie said, “counting the six of us at this table.”
“So that’s why you’ve had me research historians and the two mathematicians that work for you,” Jesse said. “But why the architect and interior designer?”
“You won’t believe this anymore than anything else,” Bonnie said, laughing.
“Try me,” Kelli said.
“For the first number of years going back into time,” Duster said, “we had always heard about a huge lodge built on Monumental Summit above the town of Roosevelt. But we could never find evidence it was there.”
“Of course it’s there,” Jesse said. “I’ve even spent a few nights in it.”
“As have I,” Kelli said.
“That’s because we went back, six of us, including the architect and a historical designer you vetted,” Duster said to Jesse, “and we built the lodge.”
“And at the same time,” Bonnie said, “the same group of us from another timeline came to our timeline and built the lodge here.”
“So the six of us all remember the lodge not being there and the lodge always being there,” Madison said, shaking his head.<
br />
“It’s why we hired two more mathematicians to help us figure out how that was possible,” Bonnie said.
“It’s the same way those pictures happened,” Duster said. “It’s us, but from other timelines going into the past of this timeline.”
Jesse just shook his head and stared at his half-eaten steak.
Duster put down his fork and looked directly at Jesse, then at Kelli. “Here is what I would like to do, if you are willing to trust us, give us a little rope to our crazy story, give us a chance to show you one of the great wonders of the world.”
“You want to show us the nexus thingie?” Kelli asked.
“It’s more like a place,” Duster said, smiling. “And it’s not dangerous in any fashion. Let us fly you in tomorrow morning and show you. Then, after you have seen it, you can both walk away or use it as you please for research and investigation. Our only condition is that you never tell anyone about it or write about it in any fashion.”
Jesse sat back and looked at Kelli.
She seemed to be lost in thought.
Jesse knew he wanted to see it. He had been working far too long around Bonnie and Duster to not want to understand what they were really doing.
“Doctor Rae?” Bonnie asked.
“You know you are all nuts,” she said.
All four of them nodded.
“If I didn’t respect your work so much,” she said to Dawn and Madison, “I would be long out the door.”
“Can’t say for an instant that we would blame you,” Dawn said.
Kelli looked at Bonnie and Duster. “And I respect the work you two have done as well, even though I don’t understand it. But since you are respected in your field, that helps.”
Both Bonnie and Duster nodded.
“And I flat don’t understand, Marshal, how you could be sitting here,” Kelli said.
Jesse almost laughed as Duster jerked slightly.
“And Bonnie,” Kelli said, “I know of you in history as The Angel of San Francisco. And yet here you sit as well.”
“The what?” Duster asked, glancing at Bonnie.
Bonnie waved him silent.
“I have a perfect memory for faces and details,” Kelli said, “and I have seen hundreds of authenticated pictures of both of you from many, many photographers. So I want to see this place as well.”
Bonnie and Duster looked relieved and Dawn and Madison were smiling.
“But I have two conditions,” Kelli said.
Duster and Bonnie nodded.
“First that Jesse agrees to come along.”
She looked at him with those intense dark eyes.
“I wouldn’t miss this for anything,” Jesse said, nodding. He had no idea what he was getting himself in for, but he really wanted to keep trusting Bonnie and Duster. And it seemed that for him to do that, he was going to need to trust them just a tad bit farther.
Kelli smiled, then turned back to the other four. “My second condition is simple.”
“We’ll do what we can,” Duster said.
“Call me Kelli,” she said.
Jesse watched for a moment as the shock seemed to hit the other four, then they all laughed.
“We can do that, Kelli,” Bonnie said, smiling. “We can do that.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
July 15th, 2016
Portland, Oregon
KELLI COULDN’T BELIEVE how early Duster had wanted them up. He had gotten them all suites at a suite hotel across the parking lot from the restaurant. Kelli had kind of hoped to get to know Jesse a little better, spend some time just talking with him, but after dinner she had decided to just let that wait until they got past whatever they were going to see in the morning.
She had gone to her suite, taken a long, hot bath, and then did more research on Bonnie and Duster and Dawn and Madison.
She couldn’t find a thing that made her question them in the slightest. But how could she not question such a crazy story?
Then she had looked at dozens of pictures from the past of both of them. There was no doubt it was the same two people. Sometimes they were a little older, but otherwise no difference.
She had finally drifted off after midnight.
At 5:30 a.m., Kelli found herself, with an overnight bag stuffed with some extra underwear and sleep items, standing outside of a private hanger in the Portland Airport. The rest of her stuff she had left locked in her car. The damned sun wasn’t even up yet and the air had a bite to it that made her wish she had worn a light jacket. They had all been told to dress in simple hiking clothes, so she had on her jeans, a regular blouse with a sports bra under it, and her favorite tennis shoes.
The morning air was sending goose bumps up and down her arms.
They had left their cars parked in a protected area for a slight fee at the suite hotel and would come back for them in a day or so.
Duster and Bonnie were already on board the jet that sat with its lights on in front of her. It was a fairly large private jet, bigger than anything she had had the chance to fly in before. She stood on the tarmac outside the hanger, trying to get her balance. She never got up this early in the morning.
Ever.
Even a quick bite of a dried Danish and cup of horrid coffee in the hotel breakfast area hadn’t even begun to dent how she felt.
“What a horrid time of the morning,” Jesse said, coming out of the building behind her. He walked alongside Madison and Dawn who both carried cups of coffee.
“Duster likes to get things started early,” Madison said, shaking his head.
Kelli was glad the other three looked almost as bad as she felt, even though early in the morning Jesse was still the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had on his long duster coat and cowboy hat, but he wore tennis shoes instead of cowboy boots this morning.
“We can stretch out and nap on the plane,” Dawn said. “But it’s a pretty short flight to Boise, so it will be a short nap.”
“Anything at the moment will help,” Kelli said.
All three nodded as they headed across the concrete toward the jet, carrying their day bags. Clearly Duster and Bonnie had a lot of money to afford a plane like this. Far more than she would have thought mathematicians should have.
Duster was up front talking with the pilots and Bonnie was already seated, her chair kicked back, a sleep mask on her forehead. It seemed it was too early for her as well. She had on jeans, a dark cotton blouse, and had kicked off her tennis shoes.
“Duster sits there,” Bonnie said, pointing to the seat across from her. “Take any of the other seats. Sleep masks in the side pockets of each seat.”
Kelli moved to one of the two seats in the back and took the one on her right. Jesse took the one on the left.
She eased the big leather chair back until it felt more like a bed than anything else and then grabbed the sleep mask.
Beside her Jesse had done the same thing after shedding his coat and hat. She was surprised that she felt so comfortable with him, was so attracted to him. It felt right for him to be beside her like this.
He glanced over and smiled at her. “Night.”
With that he put on the sleep mask and crossed his hands over his chest.
She watched him for a moment, then did the same.
And the next thing she realized, he was waking her gently.
She pushed the sleep mask back, blinked at the light, and looked up into his smiling, handsome face.
“Now this is a nice way to wake up,” she said. She wanted to reach up and pull his head down and just kiss him, but she didn’t.
He laughed. “We’ve landed. Almost ready for stage two, whatever that is.”
“Oh, joy,” she said. “More mystery.”
“Just one right after another,” he said, smiling.
Damn she loved that smile.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
July 15th, 2016
Above Silver City, Idaho
JESSE WAS SURPRISED when they left the big privat
e jet and walked with their day bags about a hundred paces to a large, waiting helicopter. He had never had the chance to fly in a helicopter, so this would be interesting.
“Ever been in one of these?” he asked Kelli.
“Nope,” she said. “A fun part of the adventure.”
He made no comment to that.
Inside two pilots sat up front. They were all given helmets with microphones so they could talk with one another. He and Kelli and Dawn climbed into the third seat. He sat against the pilot’s side window, Kelli tucked in beside him, and Dawn on the other side of her.
He liked being this close to Kelli. It felt right.
All three of them helped each other get buckled into the harness belts.
Duster and Bonnie and Madison got into the seat in front of them and after a moment the doors were closed.
Except for his own breathing, the helmet kept most of the sounds out.
“Where are we heading?” Kelli asked, her voice clear in his ears.
“Silver City area,” Duster said.
“The ghost town?” Jesse asked.
Duster turned and indicated that no one should say a word, tapping his helmet and then indicating the pilots.
Jesse and Kelli both nodded. Clearly the pilots didn’t know anything about the reason for this trip.
“We thought it would be fun to do a little exploring up in an old mining region,” Bonnie said, “since all of you like history so much.”
“Sounds wonderful,” Dawn said, playing along.
Jesse glanced at Kelli who was smiling. Clearly she liked the game they were playing as well.
A minute later, the helicopter lifted off after getting clearance from the tower that he could hear through his helmet.
Kelli seemed startled at that, as the helicopter banked and headed to the east from the airport, gaining speed and altitude quickly.
She reached over and put her hand on his leg, as if it was a natural comforting movement.
He covered her hand and they stayed that way as the helicopter sped toward some blue mountains in the distance.
He knew those mountains as the Owyhee Mountains. They filled the southwest corner of the state and he had never had the chance to even get close to them, let alone go up to the state’s most famous ghost town, Silver City.
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