by Zoe Matthews
“I am telling you the truth,” Justin protested. “I had a hard time believing it myself, but I’ve seen the keys, felt their magic, and watched them disappear into thin air when Nicky was sending letters back to Kimberly. I also saw both Nicky and Shaun leave. It sounds like a fictional story, and it shouldn’t be true, but it is.”
“If this is true, why did you let Nicky leave?” his father asked. “I would think Nicky would be happier in our time. There is a vast difference between our time and the pioneer era. She has always been attached at the hip to her phone, has always loved the entertainment and comforts technology provides. She wouldn’t have any of that in…what year was it?”
“It is now 1893,” Justin answered.
“This is crazy,” his father retorted angrily, running his hands through his thinning hair, just like Justin did sometimes.
Justin threw his hands up in the air in frustration. Although he wasn’t upset with his parents, he was upset with the entire situation. “Would you like me to continue telling you what has happened?”
Neither of his parents said anything.
“Listen. I’m sorry that we haven’t said anything to you about what has been going on. Part of the reason is because we weren’t allowed to tell anyone about the keys. They are supposed to be kept a secret. Nicky wasn’t even allowed to tell me until last winter. And I am going to ask that this conversation not be repeated to anyone else.”
His parents continued to look at him in silence. Tears ran down his mother’s face and Justin’s heart broke. He wished things could have been handled differently, but he didn’t know how he could have done any better.
“I’m going to take Garrett and leave. You two can talk about it and then let me know if you want more information.” He stood and started to leave the room.
“If what you have told us is really true, will we ever see Nicky or Kimberly again?” his mother asked.
Justin stopped short. This was the very thing he was struggling with himself. He couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing Nicky again. He didn’t trust his voice so he just shrugged his shoulders, then left the room.
He quickly gathered Garrett and within a short time they were back at their townhouse. After putting Garrett to bed for the night, he sat in his living room, staring off into the distance. Suddenly he felt very angry; angry with Kimberly for starting this whole mess, angry with Nicky for leaving him to pick up the pieces with their parents, angry with Victoria for placing the ad, angry at the entire situation. A small orange foam ball of Garrett’s sat on a nearby table, and he threw it at a wall in his anger.
The question his mother had was a valid one. Where they ever going to see Nicky or Kimberly again? How was he supposed to get his parents to understand what had happened when he barely understood it himself?
Chapter 4
Fall, 1893
A few weeks after Shaun and Nicky married, everyone was back at the ranch, except Keegan who stayed in Denver to attend school. Very quickly a routine was established between the three women and Bridget found she worked very well with both Kimberly and Nicky.
Since Nicky loved to cook, she took over that job, making sure all the meals were served on time. She made bread and made sure there was always something sweet to eat since her brothers loved cakes and cookies. Since it was fall, Nicky helped Bridget preserve quite a large part of their garden vegetables for the winter. This in itself was a full-time job, but the company helped pass the time pleasurably. Bridget had a hard time bonding with Kimberly, likely because they were both quiet women. Nicky was different, however, and chatted about anything and everything. Bridget had grown very fond of Nicky over the vegetables and chopping boards. Kimberly’s main responsibility was her two babies, which made it hard for her to help with the canning, but she somehow found time to keep the main rooms in the large cabin cleaned.
Although Kimberly and Patrick shared a small cabin that was built soon after their marriage, and Shaun and Nicky shared another small cabin that Bridget’s father had built when he first arrived in the Rocky Mountains years before, the entire family spent most their time together during the day in the large cabin. Bridget slept in one of the four bedrooms in the large cabin, and Colleen used another room.
Shaun wanted to build another cabin for Nicky so when he and Patrick had any spare time, they worked on cutting down more logs so they could be used in the spring.
Despite the loneliness Bridget was feeling, she couldn’t help but feel her spirit lift with the change of weather. Fall was her favorite season of the year. She loved watching the leaves change color. She enjoyed preserving all the food they had grown all year in preparation for winter, knowing that she was doing her part in feeding her family.
But as the days passed, she watched her brothers with their wives, and she knew something was missing in her life. She wanted a family, but she also wanted adventure. She started to realize she wanted more than living on a ranch in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Despite her growing relationship with Nicky, she still felt like the odd person out. She loved everyone dearly, but understood there was a smaller family dynamic of which she was not a part of.
One evening, as the whole family sat on the porch of the large cabin watching a very colorful sunset, Nicky mentioned that she had written letters to her brother and her parents. She wanted to make a trip to the cave to use the keys to deliver them.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Patrick told her. “I really think we need to leave those keys alone. It seems to me that the more they are used, the more danger we are going to be in.”
Shaun echoed his brother’s opinion, even though Bridget knew he understood Nicky’s desire to stay in contact with her family. “We have no idea what that man, Golin, is going to do. We sent him back to his time, but he could easily return.”
“We’ve hidden the keys well,” Kimberly protested. “Unless he somehow can spy on us, he will have no idea that we hid the keys in that cave.”
“Yes, but he could come back and cause problems,” Patrick argued.
Nicky sighed, and Bridget could tell she was doing her best to not let tears fall. Nicky turned to Shaun. “I won’t go to the cave if you don’t think I should, but I really would like to keep in touch with my family, if I can.”
“I know it’s hard to be so far from your family. You need to remember that even if you do send some letters to them, there is no guarantee the correspondence will continue indefinitely,” Shaun reminded her empathetically.
Nicky nodded. “I know. I just would like to try.”
“I’ll go with you to the cave,” Bridget announced and everyone looked at her in amazement. She knew everyone was surprised she offered because in the past she had never left the ranch unless she absolutely had to.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Kimberly quickly replied before Patrick or Shaun said something to discourage Bridget’s offer.
Everyone was silent for a few minutes, waiting for Patrick to say something. He was the head of the family. When a big decision needed to be made that included all of them, everyone was able to voice their opinion, but in the end, Patrick always had the final say. For the first time, Bridget wanted to speak up and announce she was going to the cave with Nicky’s letters anyway, no matter what her brother thought. She bit her lip to keep herself from voicing her thoughts.
Finally, Patrick nodded and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. “I can understand why Nicky wants to keep in touch with her family, but I want everyone to promise me something. When we have those keys in our possession, I don’t want them to ever leave the cave, ever. They are to stay where we hid them. And if there is ever even a hint of danger, any contact with the future needs to stop immediately.”
Everyone agreed with Patrick’s stipulations. Richie started to fuss and soon Patrick and Kimberly left to retire to their cabin for the night with their babies. Shaun suggested to Nicky that they take a walk and, just like that, Bridget was sitting alone
on the porch. Colleen even abandoned her, wanting to say goodnight to her horse, Spirit.
“This is the way it’s always going to be for me,” Bridget whispered to herself. “I love my family, but I’m always going to be alone unless I do something about it.”
As she thought of things she could do to change her situation, her heart sank. Winter would soon be on its way. Even if she wanted to move to Denver, it was soon going to be hard to get there. Besides, she didn’t want to go to Denver without making arrangements with Victoria to stay at her house and finding a job. She didn’t want to just show up out of the blue. She would have to wait until spring.
Suddenly, Bridget had an idea. She was going to write her own letter to Nicky’s brother, Justin. She didn’t know how he would react to getting a letter from someone who lived in 1893 and she was sure absolutely nothing would come of it. But it would keep her mind busy for the winter, and then in the spring she would follow through with her plans to move to Denver.
She went inside to her room and gathered some paper, pen and ink. Then she wrote her first letter to a man, a stranger, who lived in the future.
****
The next morning after breakfast, Nicky prepared to leave for the cave. Bridget quickly packed some food for them to eat since the trip was about a two-hour ride on horseback. If they’d walked, it would have taken about three hours. At the last minute, Shaun also decided to come.
Bridget would have preferred to walk, but she knew going on horseback would be faster. She had never enjoyed riding horses like her brothers did. Even Nicky could control a horse better than she could. But she was determined to enjoy the ride. Nicky wore her usual britches, but Bridget rode in a full skirt. She had always hated the thought of wearing men’s pants.
As they rode, Bridget was careful to watch exactly how to get to the cave. Nicky and Shaun rode ahead of her, and she could hear them talking softly to each other. She hadn’t told either of them that she had written a letter, and hoped when the time came to tell them, they wouldn’t protest.
When they reached the bottom of a large mountain, Nicky pointed to a small opening that was located about halfway up and Bridget had to admit it was a perfect place to hide the keys. Unless someone was actually looking for the cave, it could be barely seen because of trees and shrubs that grew around its entrance.
Shaun made sure the horses were secured to some nearby trees and then the three of them climbed the mountain. The opening was small and they had to crawl through the entrance, but once inside, Bridget could stand upright. She could see piles of small rocks all over the cave floor and watched as Shaun went to the wall and started to remove some of the rocks. Once they were moved away, he pulled a small wooden box that had been wedged in a crevice of the wall.
Shaun gave the box to Nicky who opened it and quickly unwrapped the two keys that were snuggled together in a soft cloth. Nicky set one key on the cave floor and placed her letters on top of it. She started to set the second key on top of the letters. Bridget knew she needed to speak up.
“I have a letter I want to send,” she said as she pulled it out of her dress pocket.
Both Nicky and Shaun looked at her in surprise.
“You wrote a letter? But why?” Nicky asked.
Bridget did her best to act like the idea of writing a letter to someone who lived in the future wasn’t any big deal. “I thought it would be interesting to write to your brother and to… learn more about the future,” she explained, hoping they wouldn’t question her further.
Shaun frowned at her and opened his mouth to comment, but Nicky broke in. “To Justin? Really?” Nicky grinned. “Now that’s interesting.”
“I’m just trying to fill the time during winter, that’s all. I don’t expect anything to come of it,” Bridget said, wishing she didn’t feel she had to justify herself.
Nicky held out her hand for the letter and placed it on top of her own. She quickly placed the second key over it and Bridget watched in amazement as the entire stack started to vibrate, then disappear. She had seen this happen before when Shaun had been writing Nicky last winter, but she never tired of seeing something disappear right before her eyes.
“Wait…” Shaun started to say, but the letters were gone. Both women looked at him in question. He finally shrugged and looked at Bridget. “I just wanted to make sure you understood the ramifications of sending a letter to Nicky’s brother.”
“Of course I understand,” Bridget scowled at her brother. “Like I said, I’m not expecting anything to come of it.”
Nicky looked at her in sympathy, and Bridget felt comfort that her sister-in-law understood why she had wanted to write Justin.
“Well, what’s done is done,” Shaun finally said after he studied Bridget for a moment. “Let’s get out of here and eat some of that lunch you prepared.”
After they half-walked and half-slid down the mountain, they sat under some trees and enjoyed beef sandwiches and crisp apples. They drank cool water from the river that was nearby and soon were on their way back to the ranch.
As they traveled back, Bridget suddenly regretted that she had sent that letter. She realized it was very forward of her. What was Justin going to think? Nicky sent letters to Shaun, but it had been her brother’s idea to write in the beginning. But like Shaun said, what was done was done. She was going to have to live with the consequences. Most likely, Justin would ignore her letter anyway.
Once they arrived back at the ranch and had taken care of their horses, Bridget and Nicky walked to the large cabin while Shaun went to check on a new horse he had just purchased.
“I didn’t want to ask you in front of Shaun, but why did you decide to write Justin?” Nicky asked her.
Bridget hesitated. Should she explain the real reason to Nicky? Would she understand? “I just thought it would be fun to write to a man from the future. What other woman in my time has that opportunity?”
Nicky stopped and looked at her. “And?”
Bridget sighed. “To be honest, I’ve decided to leave the ranch next spring. I want what Shaun has with you and Patrick has with Kimberly. I want a family.” She stared off into the distance as Nicky reached out to squeeze her hand in sympathy. “I used to say I would never leave the ranch, that if God wanted me to marry, he’d need to bring a man right to my doorstep. Now I am starting to think that if I truly want a family, I need to do my part.”
“What does this have to do with Justin?” Nicky asked.
Bridget turned to her. “I’m not thinking Justin is going to fall in love with me, like you and Shaun did, I promise. I just… need something to think about until I can make it into town in the spring.”
“I don’t think Justin would ever leave his time. He has a son to consider, for one thing. But I don’t think it will hurt anything if you write him.”
“A son?” Bridget asked. This was information she hadn’t known about.
“Yes, his name is Garrett. He’s ten years old.”
“So he’s been married, then?”
“No. Garrett’s mother hasn’t been involved in his life since he was born. Justin has pretty much raised him on his own, although our parents helped quite a bit when Garrett was small.”
Bridget shook her head in disbelief. How could a woman choose to give up a baby like that and make the decision to be out of its life?
“To tell you the truth, I am regretting that I sent the letter. It was very forward of me,” Bridget confessed.
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I promise he won’t think you are being forward. Things are… different in the future.”
Bridget glanced at the cabin. “I better get started on dinner, if we want to eat on time.”
“I’m going to check on Kimberly, and if I have time, I’ll go help Shaun with his horses.”
“Nicky?” Bridget stopped her before she left. Nicky turned back and looked at her curiously. “Please don’t say anything to Shaun yet about my plans to leave in the spring. I want to find the r
ight time to tell him.”
“Of course, I understand.” Nicky smiled.
The two women went their separate ways and Bridget was glad to have something else to think about. She decided she wasn’t going to worry about the letter she’d just sent. Whatever happened was meant to be.
Chapter 5
About a month after Justin’s talk with his parents, he wished he could come up with something to help them understand exactly what had happened with Nicky and Kimberly. He was still feeling quite a bit of anger towards his sister, and he wondered why he had ever encouraged her to leave with Shaun. Then one day he remembered that she had told him that she might be able to exchange letters with him using the keys. She had taken him to Victoria’s house on the other side of town and showed him how they worked. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t remembered that until now.