A Ranger's Time

by Edward Gates

  “Well, you have to.”

  “Why? What’s happening, Charlie?” Russell sat up and had a concerned look on his face.

  “Abe’s selling his cows today. That means this place will soon be crawling with hungry, tired, thirsty and rich cowboys. None of that is good. We gotta get you out of here.”

  “Where am I going?” Russell asked. “Am I going back home?”

  “Not yet,” Charlie answered. “But we got to let them cowboys keep thinking you’re dead.”

  Russell had a puzzled look on his face.

  “If anybody finds out you’re still alive, word will get back to Mac and he’ll come here to finish you. I can protect you better at my place.” Charlie handed him his old hat and his jacket. “I need you to get cleaned up and dressed. Take your time. I don’t want you bustin’ that wound open. Then just stay in here and I’ll be back later today for you. Right now I gotta keep an eye on some cowboys.”

  “Why does he want to kill me?”

  “He’d worry that you’d testify at a trial against him. If there’s no witnesses, no trial,” Charlie explained.

  “I never saw his face,” Russell protested. “I wouldn’t know Mac Sherman if he came up and stood right next to me.”

  Charlie sighed and put his hand on Russell’s shoulder.

  “Mac doesn’t know that. Furthermore, he don’t care. He wouldn’t believe you, anyway. As far as he’s concerned, you stand between freedom and the gallows for him. If he finds you, there won’t be any talkin’ with him. You won’t have the time.”

  Russell sat on the edge of the bed holding the jacket and hat. He looked away from Charlie and began to turn a little pale.

  “Like I said, you’ll be safer at my cabin. Now get yourself ready.” Charlie opened the door, stopped in the open doorway and turned around to look at Russell. He could see the fear in the young boy’s eyes. “Everything is going to be fine. Don’t worry,” Charlie said reassuringly. “Tomorrow you’ll be back home where you belong. I promise you.”

  It was mid-afternoon when Mac Sherman and Chaney returned to the campsite from Tascosa. Everyone was gone except for the cook and his two helpers.

  “Abe took the herd to town. He’s doin’ business,” the cook said. “You’d better lie low for a spell. The law was out here yesterday looking for you.”

  “I got to get to town. I need to get my pay!” Chaney said to Mac.

  “You’ll stay here,” Mac said. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your pay. After the cows are sold, everyone will be back here to bust camp. Then you’ll all go in to see Abe together.”

  “So we wait?”

  “Yup. We just wait,” Mac said. “Finish packing your gear.”

  It took all afternoon to round up and pen Abe Walker’s cattle, and it was late in the day before the crew of cowboys got back to their campsite. They were all glad to see Mac. As tired as they were, they hurriedly finished their packing and, along with the wagons and the leads, headed back into town as one group.

  Charlie sat on a wooden chair on the sidewalk outside the hotel entrance with his Winchester across his lap, waiting for the parade of cowboys to come and get their pay. He wanted to make sure they saw him as they entered and left the hotel. As the caravan of cowboys and wagons came down Polk Street and filled the area around the hotel, Marshal Cook walked over and joined Charlie. The cowboys and crew all went in as one group to meet Abe and collect their pay. They acknowledged the two lawmen as they passed them on their way in and on their way out.

  In the controlled area of his hotel room, Walker paid each cowboy and then offered each a bonus if they would stay and help settle things with the marshal and the ranger. The regular ranch employees didn’t want any part of Abe’s feud with the lawmen, but they felt they didn’t have a choice if they wanted to keep their job. They took their pay and their bonus and went downstairs to the saloon to wait further instructions. The transient cowboys, hired just for the drive, declined the bonus offering and just collected their pay and left town right away. They knew there was going to be trouble and they wanted to get as far away from it as they could. The bonus was a nice tempting incentive, but it wouldn’t be any good if they weren’t around to spend it. They didn’t want to get caught up in any of Walker’s personal feuds. The two lawmen that they had encountered had already proved they would be plenty of trouble.

  Abe paid the cook and the cook’s helpers, and sent them and the wagons on their way back to the Pecos ranch. When all were paid he took the remaining cash and put it back in the money bag and stuffed the bag into his saddlebags. He had some pay left over. Out of the twenty cowboys that made the drive, one transient cowboy and one regular ranch employee were dead, and another ranch employee was wounded and in jail.

  He instructed Crabtree to go and wait downstairs in the saloon with the rest of his crew. He would wait in the room for Mac. Four regular ranch hands, including Crabtree Bonnam, were in the bar sipping liquid courage and waiting for Mac to join them. They appeared a little nervous about their upcoming assignment.

  Once the wagons were gone and the transient cowboys scattered, Charlie and Cook went back to the marshal’s office. Deputy Johnson decided it was a good time to take a break and get something to eat before he started his evening rounds. Paydays for cattlemen were always trouble for Johnson. He hated dealing with drunken, rowdy cowboys. Usually, the just-paid cowboys would bathe, eat, and start spreading their money around town. By evening’s end there was always a lot of trouble.

  As this evening began to unfold, something was already different. Johnson watched the majority of the cowboys get their pay and quickly ride out of town. Yet some of Abe’s ranch hands were simply hanging around inside the hotel. Usually by this time they would be out and about town. Something wasn’t right.

  22

  Night Moves

  At dusk, Charlie told Marshal Cook he had some errands to run and left his office. He picked up his laundry and then walked back to the livery and borrowed a buckboard from Tuck, promising to return it later that evening. Charlie knew that Gus didn’t like being harnessed to a wagon, but he didn’t have much choice. Charlie left his saddle and tack at the livery, set his bundles in the back of the buckboard, and drove the wagon to the side entrance of the hotel along the side street that crossed Polk.

  Charlie tied Gus to the hitch rail and went inside the side door and up the back stairs to the second floor. He slipped past Walker’s room and lightly knocked on Russell’s door.

  “Who’s there?” Russell asked.

  Charlie opened the door and quickly stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Russell sat on the bed wearing the white shirt that Hanna gave him, those old ill-fitting boots, Charlie’s jacket and his old hat. He still had on the blood-stained pants and suspenders, but the jacket covered most of the stains.

  “How you doing?” Charlie asked.

  “Not bad. I think I can move around okay. But I can’t move very quickly.”

  Charlie pulled the heavy blanket off of the bed and roughly bunched it up in his arms. “We’re going down the back stairs and out onto the side street. We have to walk past Walker’s room so try not to make any noise. I got a wagon downstairs. You get in the back and I’ll wrap this blanket around you. You ready?”

  “Do I have a choice?” Russell asked.

  Charlie smiled. “I s’pose not.”

  Russell stood and took a few seconds to get his balance. Charlie opened the door and peeked out to make sure the hallway was empty.

  “It’s clear, let’s go.” He held the door open for Russell and then helped him along the hallway to the narrow stairway. The stairs proved to be a slow and painful experience for Russell. He had to step down with a straightened right leg and pull the left leg down to join it, one step at a time. There were no handrails along the back stairs so he had to lean on Charlie for support.

  When they reached the bottom landing, Charlie looked through the glass of the side door. It was getting darker by the
minute. No one was around the immediate vicinity so Charlie opened the door and helped Russell to the buckboard. He unfolded the blanket and laid it across the bed of the wagon and helped Russell lie down. The blanket provided little relief from the hard surface, but it was better than nothing. Russell grimaced as he shuffled his body to a somewhat comfortable position.

  “You all right?” Charlie asked.

  “No, but I’ll make it,” Russell answered.

  Charlie took the wrapped laundry bundles and placed one under Russell’s head and loosely packed the other bundles around Russell’s side to help cushion the ride.

  “These ain’t the most comfortable things to travel in. The road’s pretty rough, so just hold on.” Then, as an afterthought, “It’ll still be better for you than riding atop Gus.”

  Russell pulled the blanket across him and Charlie climbed in and drove the buckboard behind the buildings until he got north of town where he finally got onto the trail that led to his cabin. Even though Charlie was driving Gus at a slow walk, he couldn’t make the ride smooth. With every bump or stone they encountered the buckboard jostled up or sideways drawing a groan from Russell.

  Charlie talked back over his shoulder and asked Russell how he was doing. There was no answer. He looked in the bed and saw Russell staring up at him. “You all right? Something bothering you, boy?”

  “I just got some second thoughts, that’s all,” Russell answered. “I mean, what if I stayed here with you?”

  “That’s impossible. You can’t stay here. Too much of the future rides on you getting back to your right time.”

  “But why? What difference would it make?” Russell argued.

  “I don’t have an answer for you. I wish I did,” Charlie said. “All I can tell you is you have to go back and continue your work. You’ll see later on that I’m right.”

  “Well, explain to me how someone like you can come here from the future and stay and someone like me can’t,” Russell protested.

  “I can’t,” Charlie said. “I don’t exactly know why. But, what I do know is that for some reason I don’t have a future timeline after my age of twenty one. I know that because I checked on it. It was like I died or ceased to exist back then. It just proves to me that I never left here. But, you do have a timeline, and it’s an important one. Maybe someday you’ll be able to figure it all out and explain it to me.”

  Charlie pulled Tuck’s buckboard up to his cabin. By this time it was dark. Charlie climbed off and helped Russell out of the wagon and into the cabin.

  “I think I would have been better off riding up front with you,” Russell said, holding onto his side. “That was a horrible way to travel.”

  “Just take it easy. We don’t want you to start bleeding.” Charlie helped Russell sit down on the bed. Charlie lit the lantern and told Russell to lie down and relax. He started a fire in the stove and then walked to the trunk by his bed.

  Charlie retrieved the canvas bag from his trunk. He pulled the chair close to Russell and in his hands he held the time belt that brought him to the nineteenth century.

  “You hurting?” Charlie asked.

  “It hurts like hell,” Russell replied. “You ever been shot?”

  “Twice. I didn’t like either one.” Charlie smiled. “But I do believe yours is worse than either of mine.”

  “That’s comforting,” Russell said sarcastically, still holding on to his side.

  Charlie held the belt for Russell to see. “This is the time belt I talked to you about. It’s going to take you home, Russell. But you have to pay attention. This is very important. You hear me?”

  “Yeah, I’m listening.” Russell sat up and studied the gold and silver cylinders alternately attached around the belt in Charlie’s hand.

  “I need to know precisely where you came from, and exactly what time it was when you jumped here,” Charlie said.

  “It was one of the labs in a complex where I work. I work at the National Lab in Upton, New York. They set the switch at nine thirty on the evening of June 27, 2220.”

  “Upton, huh.” Charlie recognized the name.

  “You know it?” Russell asked.

  “My father was lead physicist there for a number of years. Of course he brought me there with him. You were gone by the time we got there.”

  “You didn’t like it, I suppose.”

  “I didn’t like being moved around. Especially if it was associated with my father,” Charlie answered. “Looking back, though, I was a spoiled, stupid kid.”

  Charlie put on the time belt, turned on the switch and placed his finger on the small screen. Immediately a blue-green transparent cocoon engulfed Charlie. Russell scooted back away from the glow, apparently surprised by the sudden light. He watched while Charlie punched settings into the virtual display in front of his face. Then, Charlie turned the switch off on the belt and the hypnotic glow vanished. Russell sat on the bed, leaning against the wall with his mouth gaping open.

  “You’ve seen this light before?” Charlie asked.

  “Not like that,” Russell said. “When they sent me here, I stood in-between two large metal disks, one was silver and one was gold. When they turned it on, there was a bright flash of bluish light that filled the entire room.”

  “Well, Dad refined it a bit,” Charlie began. “I put in the settings for just outside the Upton National Laboratory. I’m sending you back there thirty minutes before your operators send you here. It’ll be dark, so you shouldn’t have any trouble. It’s critical you stay hidden until after you jump.”

  “But …” Russell began, but Charlie interrupted him.

  “I need you to tell me the absolute truth, here, all right?” Charlie looked into Russell’s eyes. Russell nodded. “I need you to tell me if you came to 1892 on purpose or not.”

  “What do you mean … on purpose?”

  “Did you come to 1892 for a reason? Or were you really going to 1992?” Charlie repeated.

  “I swear, Charlie. I really thought I was going to 1992.”

  “Then someone back there, probably one of your operators, messed up for some reason.”

  Russell frowned. He looked at Charlie with a questioning look then shook his head. “No, that can’t be right,” Russell said. “Everything is checked and double checked.” After a pause he added, “at least I thought it was.”

  “The time system is too perfect. You’ll find out why later on,” Charlie said, “The matrix cannot make a mistake. The space/time target of the matrix is pinpoint accurate. The target has to be physically set. One of your operators had to have reset the year right before you jumped.”

  “I can’t believe it!” Russell looked away. “Why would they do that?”

  “Now I don’t know whether it was intentional or not. I guess it’s possible that it could have been reset by mistake. But if it wasn’t a mistake, then someone back there tried to get rid of you for some reason.”

  Russell stared past Charlie at the lantern on the table. It was clear to Charlie that the boy was running the memory of that night over in his head, trying to remember the slightest details. Russell held his head in his hands for a moment and then looked up at Charlie.

  “If I hadn’t met you, then I would have been stuck out in that desert forever. I’d probably be dead by now!” Russell lowered his head. “I can’t believe this. Who could have done this? Why would they do this?”

  “Russell, I need you to think. Try and remember the night you left. Was there anything different? Anything out of the ordinary?” Charlie asked.

  Russell automatically started to shake his head but then stopped. Suddenly, he looked up at Charlie.

  “There was a suit.”

  “A suit?”

  “Yeah, a guy in a suit. I remember,” Russell said, wide-eyed. “We were getting ready for the jump and I saw a man in a dark suit walk in and talk briefly to one of the operators. I didn’t pay any attention to it because I’d seen this guy in there before so I didn’t think anything of i
t. He was a corporate representative for one of our suppliers. It was a little strange because they usually come in the daytime, rarely at night.”

  “That’s your man,” Charlie said. “You need to find out who he is, and what he said to the operators. You think you can do that?”

  “Why don’t you come back with me?” Russell asked.

  “Impossible. Only one can travel at a time. We would both be destroyed if we tried to travel together,” Charlie said matter-of-factly. “You’ll have an advantage because they won’t be expecting you to ever come back. Just be careful. Stay out of sight for as long as you can.”

  Charlie slipped the time belt back into its canvas enclosure and handed it to Russell. They exchanged looks silently. Russell held it for a moment.

  “Charlie, what if I don’t want to go?” Russell said.

  “It’s not that simple. You don’t have a choice, here. You have to trust me and believe me. You have to go back.”

  “But what about you?” Russell asked.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve been here for thirty years. I figure it’s my punishment for what I caused to happen to that traveler that died on my watch. I kind of belong here now.” Charlie looked away in deep thought. “Maybe it’s why I don’t have a time line after 2275. Maybe I’m supposed to be here. Either way, it’s too late for me to go back now, anyway.”

  Russell appeared a little shaken at Charlie’s revelation. “What do I do?” Russell asked.

  “First thing you do when you get back is get that wound looked at. Tell them you fell on something; maybe a broken glass or something like that. ”

  “I mean what about now … tonight?”

  “Nothing, right now. I have to get Tuck’s wagon back to him. Then I have a few things to do in town. You’ll be fine here. You stay put. I’ll be back in a little while.”

  “But …” Russell began, but stopped when Charlie came close to him.