“No, and I don’t think he’s in much danger of dying either. His wound looks far worse than it is.”
“Then it didn’t matter that I couldn’t stop earlier. I felt bad, but that’s part of my job. Billy was chomping at the bit as it was.”
“What if Bart Kelly had bled to death?”
Seth shrugged as he swung down from his horse. “We’d have buried him, I guess. Aren’t you curious where I found the horses?”
“A little.” Frankly, she couldn’t care less. Until he’d ridden up, she hadn’t even thought about them being gone.
“They were down by the Sweetwater, hung up on a big boulder. The wagon tongue got caught in a crack.”
Wagon tongue? Brianna focused on the team for the first time and blinked in surprise. What she’d thought a small vehicle was really the front wheels and tongue of Bart Kelly’s freight wagon. “How in the world did they manage to tear the wheels off the wagon?”
“I was hoping you’d tell me.”
“I don’t remember any of it,” she said truthfully. “Mr. Kelly can probably explain when he wakes up again. Can you fix the wagon?”
“I think so. The wheels and axle are fine, and it doesn’t look like anything else was broken. I guess the first thing is to unhitch the horses.”
Brianna watched Seth for several long minutes. There was something very appealing about his tousled blond hair and ready smile. He was much smaller than she had first thought, about the same height she was. It didn’t take long to realize he was hiding something. He hadn’t looked directly at her once. “Did you tell Lucas?”
“Not exactly.”
“What do you mean not exactly?”
“He was busy, and it’s not a good idea to bother him when he’s involved.” Seth’s full attention seemed to be fixed on the work he was doing as he continued to avoid looking at her.
“Wonderful. What now?”
“He’ll have to let you stay at the station until somebody comes through going to Fort Laramie. He can’t send you back till then.”
Brianna sighed. Small comfort when there was no place to go back to. “When will that be?”
“Might be any day. You never know when somebody will come along. If nothing else, Bart Kelly will be back through in a week.” He glanced up at her. “You’ll have to convince Lucas to let you stay before then.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“I don’t know. He’s been out here a long time,” Seth said. “He’s probably lonely, and you are legally married.”
Brianna stared at him. Seduce her own great-great grandfather? Not likely. “I don’t think—”
“That you, Seth?” Bart Kelly asked, trying to focus his bleary eyes on the other man.
“Sure is.”
“Would you fetch my bottle? I’m feelin’ right poorly.”
“The last thing you need with that wound is more whiskey,” Brianna said, wondering if alcohol, rather than pain, might be the reason he kept drifting off.
Bart groaned and closed his eyes as if in great pain. “She’s a hard woman, Seth. A man could die of thirst with her around.”
“It wouldn’t hurt you to sober up some,” Seth said. “What happened here, anyway? Mrs. Daniels says she doesn’t remember any of it.”
Bart opened his eyes again and looked at her in surprise. “That so? I ain’t gonna forgit as long as I live. Damnedest thing I ever saw. All of a sudden, this big ugly cloud showed up. Sounded like somebody was twisting a mountain lion’s tail...”
Gooseflesh raised along Brianna’s arms as she listened to Bart Kelly describe the same experience she and Tom had gone through right down to the weird mist. It was becoming harder and harder to convince herself it was all a dream.
“Mrs. Daniels is right, you don’t need any more whiskey,” Seth said, shaking his head. “That’s the craziest story I ever heard.”
Only because I haven’t told you mine, Brianna thought to herself. It makes Bart Kelly’s sound sane.
“I’m going to need some help putting this wagon back together,” Seth was saying. “You up to it, Bart?”
“I reckon I can try,” he said slowly then broke into a fit of feigned coughing.
Brianna eyed him with disgust. “It looks like you’re stuck with me, Seth. Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll...” she trailed off as she realized both men were staring at her as though she had suddenly grown an extra head. “What’s the matter?”
“It’s men’s work,” Bart Kelly said repressively. “Ain’t likely a woman like you could handle it.”
Seth nodded his head. “He’s right, Mrs. Daniels. We’ll take care of it. Why don’t you wait over there in the shade until we’re done?”
Brianna looked back and forth between the two men. They honestly thought they’d do better without her in spite of Seth’s youth and Bart Kelly’s injury. “Oh, for pity’s sake,” she said at last. “Do it yourselves, then. See if I care.” With a toss of her head, she retrieved Tom Shaffer’s backpack and went over to a shady spot beside the rock.
She ignored them as they struggled to right the wagon and reattach the wheels. Knowing it was probably futile, Brianna took out her cell phone and dialed her friend Linda’s number. She wasn’t even surprised when the words: “No service” appeared on the screen. With a deep sigh, she set the phone aside and picked up the backpack. It was time to take stock of what she had. Besides the first aid kit, she knew there were over-the-counter drugs for just about every malady known to man, but she hadn’t really looked at what else the nylon bag contained.
Even Bart Kelly’s curses, some of which she’d never heard before, failed to distract her as she dug through Tom’s survival kit. A waterproof packet of matches, a huge bag of high energy trail mix, a box of sugar cubes, some granola bars, several packages of dried food, and a bottle of hot sauce to make them edible, another cell phone, a space blanket, an expensive camera with a built-in strobe, a notebook, several pens and pencils, a calculator, and some cash had been stowed inside.
She smiled when she reached the bottom. Wrapped in a T-shirt, she found socks, a pair of boxers, and a plastic sack with a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, and a bottle of sunscreen. Leave it to a redhead she thought gratefully as she rubbed the lotion into her skin.
Underneath a towel and washcloth, she found a package of balloons and a small bottle of helium wrapped in a magazine. What in the world? Flipping through the pages of the magazine, she raised an eyebrow at the scantily clad models standing next to gorgeous sports cars. Tom had been prepared for every emergency, even boredom.
By the time Brianna had hidden the backpack at the bottom of Anna’s trunk, the wagon was once again sitting solidly on all four wheels. It took the better part of an hour to reload all the supplies and hitch the horses back to the wagon.
At last they were ready to go, and Brianna helped Bart get settled in a makeshift bed in the back of the wagon. The freighter was feeling very sorry for himself, but she suspected it was as much from the case of smashed whiskey bottles they’d found as from his wound.
Brianna had a moment of consternation when she realized she didn’t have the faintest idea how to climb up to the wagon seat. She was still trying to decide exactly how it was done when Seth grasped her around the waist and gave her a boost.
“How far from Split Rock Station are we?” she asked when he joined her on the wagon seat.
“A couple of miles. It won’t take us very long.”
“Good, I’ll be glad to get there.”
“It’s a long trip.”
Brianna couldn’t help noticing how he kept glancing at her from the corner of his eye as he drove down the road. “Is something wrong?” she asked finally.
“Your face.”
Brianna raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Excuse me?”
“No, I didn’t mean it that way,” Seth said, turning bright red. “It’s just that you look different.”
“Different how?”
; He studied her intently for a few seconds then shook his head. “I don’t know quite what it is, but you’ve changed in the last couple of days.”
Brianna forced herself to laugh as though the idea were ridiculous. “Maybe you just forgot.”
“Maybe.” But he continued to watch her uncertainly for the rest of the trip.
Brianna was still wondering what Anna Daniels looked like as Split Rock Station came into view. Except for a pole corral full of horses, the place might have been deserted. Even when they drove into the yard, there was no sign of life.
“Lucas must be working,” Seth said uneasily, as he climbed down from the wagon and helped her alight. “I better go see if I can find him. He was right in the middle of something when I left.”
“And we certainly wouldn’t want to disturb him, would we?” Brianna muttered to herself as Seth disappeared into the cabin.
“Not if you have a lick of sense,” Bart Kelly said from the back of the wagon.
“Why, what will he do? Bite my head off?”
“It’s a distinct possibility,” said a deep voice behind her.
Startled, Brianna turned and nearly crashed into the man standing there. Where the devil had he come from?
“Lucas?” she asked uncertainly, wondering if he could hear how hard her heart was pounding.
His gaze raked her from head to toe. “You have the advantage of me I’m afraid, Miss....”
“Daniels, Brianna Daniels.”
One black eyebrow rose. “Daniels? Are we supposed to be related?”
“Hold on just a cotton pickin’ minute,” Bart Kelly said. “I thought you two was married.”
“What?”
Brianna winced as the single explosive word hung in the air between them.
“Lucas...” Seth called, hurrying out to join them. “I can explain.”
“Explain what?” Lucas glanced at Brianna then back at Seth with a look of dawning comprehension. “Oh, Lord. What have you and Billy done this time?”
“I-I think I better tell you in private.”
Lucas closed his eyes for a moment then gave a resigned sigh before walking to the corral with Seth.
As the two men talked, Brianna studied Lucas Daniels. He wasn’t at all what she expected. The combination of coal black hair and light gray eyes was stunning even from this distance, but where was the red hair he was so proud of? Nor was he tall and slender like the other men in her family. Though he wasn’t short, he was an inch or so shy of six feet, and on the stocky side. In fact, if she hadn’t known better she’d think he spent hours in a gym pumping iron.
There was no way her imagination had created this version of Lucas Daniels. She’d never seen anyone who looked less like a computer nerd in her life. Come to think of it, he didn’t look much like a grandfather either.
CHAPTER 4
(Present Day)
“What the hell?” Tom Shaffer watched in horror as his passenger began to glow with weird blue light. At first, he thought it was electrical energy of some sort; balloons often attracted lightning. Suddenly, Brianna gave a terrified scream and started to waver before his eyes. For an instant he stood frozen as the smell of burnt electrical wiring and a high frequency screech filled the air. Right in front of his incredulous gaze she became translucent and began to fade from sight.
“Brianna!” Tom grabbed for her, but his hands seemed to pass right through her as the balloon lurched, and he was thrown to the floor of the gondola. A bright light flashed, and a sudden weight pressed down on him as he lost consciousness.
Tom could feel her breath rasping uneasily across his face as he came to. “Brianna, are you all right?” There was no response. “Damn,” he said, trying to twist around to look at her.
It was nearly impossible to move in the cramped confines of the gondola with her weight on top of him. After a full minute of concentrated effort, he managed to struggle into a more-or-less upright position and transfer her into his arms.
“Ohhhh...”
She opened her eyes, and Tom’s own widened in shock. Her eyes had changed from blue to brown. He’d heard concussions sometimes caused eye color to change, but he’d never actually seen it before. It made her whole face look different. Her hair even looked a slightly darker shade of blond. “Are you all right?” he asked trying to keep his voice steady.
“I hurt all over.” She blinked up at him. “Who are you?”
“Tom Shaffer, don’t you remember?”
“Where’s Mr. Kelly?”
“Who?”
“Mr. Kelly, the driver.”
Tom’s eyebrows came together. “Do you feel ok, Brianna?”
“How do you know my name?”
“You told me. Brianna Daniels.”
“I said that?” She was clearly startled. “But I’ve never told anyone—Good heavens. What’s that?”
Tom peered up at the bright blue and pink nylon stretched above them. “Just my balloon.”
“B-balloon?”
“I still don’t know what hap—” the rest of his statement was lost as the balloon suddenly lurched, and Tom struggled to his feet. They were going down fast even though he fought to control their descent.
“If I don’t put her down pretty quick, we could be in serious trouble. Grab the extra helmet and…Good grief what are you wearing?”
Anna glanced down at her clothes in surprise. “My best dress.”
As Tom transferred his stunned gaze from the long dress to her oddly different face it suddenly all came together in his mind. “You’re not Brianna,” he uttered in a shocked voice.
“I-I usually go by Anna.”
“How did you get into my balloon and where’s Brianna?”
She looked up at him with tearful brown eyes. “I don’t know,” she whispered.
None of it made sense, but Tom couldn’t spare the time to figure it out now. He pulled his extra helmet out from behind the propane tank. “Here, put this on. We may have a pretty rough landing.”
Anna took the battered helmet with a look of dismay, but after a glance at the one Tom wore, donned it without complaint.
“Hang on,” he said opening the parachute valve at the top of the balloon to control their descent. As they came down, Tom scanned the surrounding area searching for his brother’s familiar yellow pickup on the distant ribbon of highway. There was no sign of the chase crew, just empty miles of pavement stretching across the prairie. The only indication of life was a ranch house a couple of miles to the north.
In spite of his fears, their landing was relatively smooth. The minute the gondola touched down, Anna gave a heartfelt sigh of relief and started to clamber over the side of the basket.
“No, stay here,” Tom said, grabbing her arm. “Our weight holds the basket stationary. Without it the balloon will drag the gondola all over the prairie.”
“Oh. I didn’t know.” Reluctantly she settled back and watched the huge balloon drift gracefully toward earth.
Releasing her arm, Tom realized she was several inches shorter than Brianna and a bit more rounded. The differences only served to emphasize the incredible likeness between the two women. Suddenly, his eyes focused on the locket around her throat. It was identical to Brianna’s. Who was she? More importantly, where had she come from, and where was Brianna Daniels? This couldn’t be happening.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“In the middle of Wyoming somewhere north of highway 287 I think,” Tom said as the balloon collapsed in on itself and settled to the ground in a heap of brightly colored nylon.
She gave him a bewildered look as he vaulted over the side of the gondola. “Is that close to Split Rock Station?”
“I understand that’s Split Rock over there,” Tom said, pointing to the landmark before lifting Anna out of the basket.
“I wonder if Mr. Kelly went there without me.”
“Is that where you were headed?”
She nodded. “My...husband is there.
�
�Are you sure? I didn’t see any signs of life when we flew over.”
“He’s the station master.”
“Of what? All I saw was a place for tourists to stop and take pictures.”
“Lucas runs the Pony Express station there.”
“Oh.” Tom removed his helmet and replaced it with a green baseball cap. A gas station-convenience store situated out in the middle of nowhere with a name like Pony Express was bound to be pretty good size. He wondered uneasily how he’d managed to miss it. Of course, it wasn’t near as unsettling as misplacing his passenger. “Is that where you came from?”
“Not exactly. Mr. Kelly and I were on our way there when the storm came. It was horrible!”
“I agree. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years of flying.” He picked up the parachute line and squatted down to tie off the mouth of the balloon. “Did you happen to see that bolt of lightning that hit us?”
“I’m not sure. It all happened so fast. The noise spooked the horses so bad Mr. Kelly couldn’t get them stopped and then th...they just disappeared into a blue mist. I think we hit something because I heard a loud crunch and the wagon started to tip. The last thing I remember was falling and a flash of bright light. Do you suppose that was the lightning?”
Tom stopped in the process of wrapping the cord to stare at her. “You were in a horse-drawn wagon?”
“The stage wasn’t due through for another couple of days.” She blushed and looked down at her hands. “I-I didn’t want to wait any longer.”
“Stage as in stagecoach?” As Anna nodded, Tom swallowed hard. “What’s today’s date?” he asked suddenly.
“July sixteenth.”
“What year?”
“1860.”
“Where did you get your necklace?”
“It was my mother’s. I never take it off.
“What did you say your name was?”
She looked at him as though he’d lost his mind. “Anna Daniels. Why are you asking me all these questions?”
“Just checking for oxygen deprivation.” Tom hid his dismay by turning his attention to the deflated balloon. Lord, he should have known the instant he saw the long dress. Insanity. It was the only explanation. The truly frightening thing was that he really wasn’t sure which of them was crazy. Either Brianna thought she was her own great-great grandmother, or he was having one hell of a hallucination.
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