A Window in Time

by Carolyn Lampman

  CHAPTER 22

  (Present day)

  “Oh, hi.” Scott stepped aside so Tom and Anna could enter the front door of his house.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Tom said. “How’s it going?”

  “I have nearly all my data retrieved. I lost some when the fuses blew, but I think I can figure it out.”

  “Good.” Tom handed him the hairbrush Anna had found. “This is Brianna’s. Will it give you enough DNA?”

  “It’s better than I hoped for! There’s more than enough here, and it will be easy to get the same from Anna.”

  Anna’s eyes widened in consternation.

  “It’s all right,” Tom said comfortingly. “He only needs a lock of your hair.”

  “Oh.”

  They followed Scott into a large airy room off the living room. Every available space was covered with equipment. A laptop, a desktop computer and three monitors sat in the center of it all.

  Scott carefully put the brush down next to a microscope before making his way through the jumble to the computers. “Dad made me promise I wouldn’t take his computer out of the family room again, so I decided to move everything in here,” he explained tinkering with the back of the monitors. “Besides, it won’t all fit in my bedroom. There, now all I have to do is turn it on, and...,”

  All three screens flickered to life. Scott watched for a few moments before nodding with satisfaction and returning to Brianna’s hairbrush.

  “How long do you think it will be before we can transfer them?” Tom asked.

  “Boy, I don’t know, but I wouldn’t think we’d even be ready to try it before tomorrow afternoon. How much computer experience do you have?”

  “About average. Mostly word processing, social media and some gaming.”

  Scott beamed. “Perfect. I reinstalled the software on Dad’s computer and have his spreadsheets set up with all the formulas again.” He handed Tom a stack of pages. “Since Dad printed these out the day before everything got deleted, I just need you to type the information back in for me. While you’re doing that, I can concentrate on putting the time warp together.”

  Tom sat down at the computer. “Just show me what to do.”

  The job was a simple one and sharing it with Anna kept it from being tedious. By nine o’clock that evening Scott had successfully isolated Brianna’s DNA, and Tom had processed about three quarters of the records.

  Anna sighed and moved her neck to ease the strain of sitting so long.

  “Tired?” Tom asked, reaching over and massaging her shoulders.

  “A little. Mmmm, that feels wonderful.”

  “They don’t call me Magic Fingers for nothing.”

  “Magic fingers?”

  Tom grinned. “Never mind. Hey, Scott, what do you say we knock off for the night?

  “Hmm?” Scott blinked a couple of times as though he’d forgotten they were there, then gave a mighty stretch and scooted back from the laptop. “Yeah, I’m getting kind of hungry. Mom said she’d leave some TV dinners in the freezer.”

  “TV dinners?” Anna glanced at the television on their way through the living room. “It cooks too?”

  Tom laughed. “No, TV dinners are ready-made meals. I think they were invented for people who like to eat in front of the TV.”

  “Why would they want to do that?”

  “I have no idea. My mother never let us.”

  “Sounds just like my mom,” Scott said opening the cardboard boxes. “She says meals are the only time our family has to talk to each other. These are what she keeps on hand for when she’s gone, and we have to fend for ourselves.”

  Anna took one bite of her dinner and set down her fork. “Scott, first thing tomorrow morning I want you to teach me how to use the stove,” she said decisively.

  “There’s lots of food in the freezer that we can cook in the microwave” Scott said.

  “I don’t mean to be rude,” she said, “But I don’t think you have any idea what you’ve given up for convenience. This isn’t fit to feed the pigs.”

  “You don’t need to cook for us,” Tom protested.

  “I want to. You and Scott are making huge sacrifices for me. The least I can do is make sure you’re decently fed!”

  Scott and Tom exchanged a look, then Scott shrugged. “All right, if that’s what you want.”

  “It is!” Satisfied, she picked up her fork and began eating again.

  “I still don’t understand how you’re going to make this work,” Tom was saying as he finished his meal. “It seems impossible to me.”

  “Actually, it’s not all that complicated. Here, I’ll show you.” Scott picked up a pair of scissors and cut a half-inch wide strip off a piece of paper. He gave it a single twist then taped the ends together. “Have you ever played with a Mobius strip?”

  “I vaguely remember something about it from high school math.”

  “It only has one side,” Scott said, laying it on the table. With a pen he began to draw a line down the middle of the strip. “See, I can draw a line clear around the thing without ever lifting my pen.” When the line came back to the starting point, he put down the pen and untaped the strip of paper. Sure enough, the line was on both sides of the paper.

  “What’s that got to do with time travel?”

  “Time exists in a straight line. Events happen one after another, and you can’t ever go back.” Scott gave the paper a deft twist and held the ends together with his thumb and forefinger. “Unless, of course, going back is actually going ahead and vice versa. Beautifully simple isn’t it?”

  Tom and Anna exchanged a bewildered look. “What happened to Brianna and me?” Anna wanted to know.

  “I think you were on opposite ends of the strip when it twisted to form the time warp.” Scott stared pensively at the Mobius strip in his hand. “I’m not sure why you traded places, if that really is what happened.”

  Tom’s brows drew together. “What do you mean if?”

  “I assume Brianna is in 1860, but I can’t be certain.”

  “In other words, there’s a possibility we’ll be sending Anna into oblivion instead of back where she belongs.”

  “Well I—”

  “Damn it, Scott, this isn’t a game we’re playing. We’re talking about Anna’s life here. You can’t just—”

  Tom,” Anna said, laying her hand on his arm, “We’re talking about two lives, not one. I’m willing to take the chance, and I’m sure Brianna would be too. Scott did it once, after all. I think he can do it again.” She smiled at both men. “Why don’t we go to bed and worry about all this in the morning?”

  “That’s a good idea.” Scott jumped to his feet. “Anna, you can sleep in my sister’s room, and you can have the guest room, Tom.”

  It wasn’t long before they were all settled in their rooms, and the house quieted for the night. Anna dutifully closed her eyes, but sleep eluded her. Memories of the night before were strong. A decent woman would have been scandalized when Tom came into her bedroom half naked, and she certainly wouldn’t have allowed herself to be drawn into his embrace.

  Still, it wasn’t shame that kept her awake, it was longing. The feel of his warmth surrounding her, and her cheek pressed against his chest had been wonderful, like nothing she had ever experienced before. Tonight, all she could think of was how much she’d like to do it again. Was Aunt Grace right about her having no moral character, or was Tom something special? Anna didn’t know which idea frightened her more.

  Rising at first light the next morning, Scott gave Anna a quick lesson with the stove. His explanation about his father replacing the electric range with something called propane because of Scott’s tendency to blow fuses at the most inconvenient times, made no sense to her, but she was pleased to see Tom found it humorous.

  By the time the two men came in from doing chores, all constraint from the night before had disappeared, and they seemed on the best of terms again.

  “What’s on the agenda for today, Scott?
” Tom asked.

  “First, a trip to Jeffery City.”

  Tom looked surprised. “Jeffery City? Isn’t that the little town we drove by yesterday?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It looked deserted.”

  “It is pretty much since the uranium mines closed down. I need a few things to make the time warp more stable, and I’m pretty sure I can find them at one of the mines outside of town.”

  “You’re going to steal them?”

  “My dad is good friends with the owner.”

  Tom gave him a skeptical look. “And he gave you permission?”

  “Not exactly, but he’s always let me have what I needed before. Don’t worry. Jim’s the one who always tells my dad to let me do my experiments. This will make the time warp more stable. It will be safer for Anna and Brianna.”

  “I don’t suppose we have any choice then. Let’s go.”

  It took a little over half an hour in Scott’s beat-up pick up to reach the abandoned mine. A padlocked gate in the eight-foot high chain-link fence hardly even slowed Scott down.

  “I wonder if there’s anything this kid can’t do,” Tom said as the fifteen-year-old easily picked the lock and waved them through the open gate. “Heaven help the world if he decides to turn to crime.”

  Scott climbed in on the passenger’s side of the pickup and pointed to a steel building across the yard. “The warehouse is over there. That’s where he keeps all his electrical equipment.”

  Within a few minutes they were inside, and Scott was digging through a large wooden storage box. “There must be a rheostat here somewhere. Hey, great, a couple of breaker boxes. That will protect the fuses...”

  When Scott finally reached the bottom of the box, an amazing amount of electrical equipment had found its way to the back of the pickup. “Think you have enough?” Tom asked facetiously.

  “Actually, I was hoping to find another microwave antennae,” Scott said with a sigh. “Oh, well, I do know where one is. This will get us by at least. Let’s go.”

  Tom drove back to the ranch while Scott worked on one of the breaker boxes. “I hope this will handle that heavy cable I found. I need it to carry enough amps to run...”

  Anna exchanged an amused glance with Tom as Scott rambled on and on about things she had no understanding of. His voice became an easily ignored background noise as she studied Tom’s hands on the steering wheel. They were surprisingly attractive even with the light sprinkling of freckles that continued down his bare forearms. Her errant thoughts envisioned those long fingers winding through her hair and tracing the curve of her neck as he kissed her.

  Embarrassed by her improper thoughts, Anna tried to concentrate on something else, but she was vitally aware of the length of Tom’s thigh pressed against her own on the crowded seat.

  “Hey, a telephone repair truck,” Scott said suddenly. “That gives me an idea. Pull in at that house down the road there, Tom.”

  “What’s he doing now?” Anna asked as she and Tom watched Scott knock on the door then disappear inside with the lady who answered.

  “I haven’t got the slightest idea. There’s no way I can follow the workings of his mind, but then he’s probably the next Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein.”

  “Who?”

  “Two of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Here he comes.”

  “We’ve got half an hour or so before the telephone repair truck gets to my house,” Scott said, as he got back in.

  Tom raised an eyebrow as he restarted the pickup and backed out. “I didn’t know the phone was out of order.”

  “It isn’t yet. That’s why we have to get there first.”

  “Scott, what are you doing?”

  He gave Tom a speculative look. “It’s probably better you don’t know. You can carry out your part more convincingly if you don’t know what’s going on.”

  More than that he refused to say. When they arrived at the ranch, he disconnected a wire inside one of the wall jacks and another in one of the phones. “There, it should take him a while to track down both of those. Now, when he gets here take him to the living room phone first.”

  “Me!” Tom said in surprise. “Where are you going to be?”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just make sure you keep him busy for a while.”

  By the time the repairman arrived, Scott was nowhere to be seen. Dutifully, Tom explained the phone was dead and led the man into the living room. It took less than fifteen minutes to find both wires and fix the problem. Uncertain how much time Scott needed, Tom tried to stall but was only able to hold the repairman for a few more minutes.

  “Boy, I didn’t think he’d ever leave,” Scott said coming to the front step and watching the repair truck disappear down the road.

  “Well?” Tom asked curiously. “Were you successful?”

  “Yup,” Scott held up a long strand of white cable.

  Tom frowned. “What’s that?”

  “Fiber optics. I was hoping he’d have some in his truck.”

  “Fiber optics! Good Lord, Scott, what were you thinking?”

  “It’ll help focus the time warp,” he explained.

  Tom rolled his eyes. So much for wondering what he would do after Anna returned to her own time. The way Scott was going, they’d both be in prison for grand larceny.

  CHAPTER 23

  (September 1860)

  “Whoa.” The stage driver pulled back on the reins and brought his team to a halt. “Mornin’ Miz Daniels. What’ve you got for us today?”

  “Good morning, Jack. How does cake sound to you?”

  “Cake? I ain’t had cake in a coon’s age. Made with real eggs too, I’ll wager.”

  “Of course.” Brianna grinned. The hen and her eggs had become famous. Everyone was amazed that a chicken who must have come from a wagon train earlier in the summer had survived so long on its own. Only Brianna was aware of how much more amazing its presence was. “You have to have eggs to make cake.”

  “Miz Daniel’s you just made my day. Be sure and save me a piece. “

  “I will.”

  Brianna chuckled to herself as she turned to her other customers. Jack would probably have the same response if she said she was serving buffalo chips and snake meat.

  There were only three passengers on the stage today, so Brianna was finished long before Ian and Lucas had the teams switched. She watched them wistfully. It had been almost a week and a half since their trip to Platte River Bridge, and Lucas was still treating her like she had the plague. He barely even talked to her when they went swimming together.

  There had been one evening last week when he seemed to thaw a bit, but they’d wound up having the weirdest conversation. For some odd reason he’d thought she’d been married before. When she denied it, Lucas and Seth both looked at her funny. Since then, Lucas had been even more distant.

  “Reckon I’ll just give this to you since Lucas is busy.”

  Startled, Brianna pulled her gaze away from Lucas and focused on Jack. He set a wooden crate on the ground, then wiped his forehead. “It’s another order from Pennsylvania. Can’t figure what a man like Lucas is getting from a glassworks.”

  “It’s for his experiments.” Not that she had any idea what those were or that he’d be inclined to tell her if she asked. “I’ll get Billy to take it down to him later. Would you like some coffee with your cake?”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” He smiled. “Lucas is a lucky man.”

  I doubt that he’d agree. A sudden lump formed in her throat. How she missed the friendship she and Lucas had. If only she knew what she’d done. She glanced down at the blue dress. Maybe she should go back to wearing dresses all the time instead of just when she had to serve the stage passengers. They really didn’t go with her boots, but maybe Lucas really hated the pants. It was so hard to know.

  When the stage finally pulled out five minutes later, Lucas disappeared into the barn without even glancing her way. That cinched it. She was
going to find out what was going on even if she had to force him to talk to her.

  He didn’t much like to be disturbed when he was working in his lab, but he couldn’t be any madder at her than he was right now. Telling herself to stop being such a coward, she carried her dishes back into the station, then picked up the heavy crate and set out for the barn.

  Brianna hadn’t been in Lucas’s workshop since the first time she’d met Billy. At first glance she thought it was deserted, for the stool in front of the workbench was empty.

  “What do you want?”

  Startled, Brianna turned toward the window where Lucas was leaning against the sill and watching her with a distinctly unfriendly expression.

  “Jack left this for you,” she said, setting the crate on the floor. “It’s from a glassworks so I thought I’d better bring it down before something got broken.”

  Lucas brightened immediately. “From Pittsburgh?”

  “I think so.”

  “Talk about perfect timing!” His whole attitude changed as he crossed the small room and knelt by the crate. “Hand me that crowbar, would you please, Brianna?”

  She did as he asked and watched in amazement as he pried the slats off the top. Like a small boy at Christmas, he dug down into the packing, excitement radiating from him. His eyes fairly shone as he pulled out what looked like a small round flask. “Perfect,” he murmured.

  Curious, Brianna followed him over to his workbench where he carefully lay the flask on a piece of flannel next to an odd-looking tube.

  “I think this style will work better,” he said, using a small brush to whisk a pile of burnt material into the trash. “Heating was too rapid when the tube was open at both ends. This way I should be able to prevent combustion. Are you busy right now?”

  “I-no. I’m not busy at all.”

  “Good. Do you suppose you could give me a hand here?”

  Brianna could hardly believe her ears. He wanted her to stay. “Sure. What do you want me to do?”