by Zoe Matthews
Victoria quickly made a decision. She hesitantly took Collins’ hand into her own. “If you are willing to have a marriage based on friendship, then yes, Collins, I will marry you.”
Collins breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. He looked intently at her. “This will be a real marriage.”
Victoria knew what he was referring to. They would share a room and her bed. “Of course.”
He brought his hand to her cheek, touching her very gently. He then bent over and gave her a kiss. It was a gentle, short kiss, but somehow still full of emotion. It stirred something in her heart, something she had not felt for years. As he leaned back, she felt a mixture of relief and guilt at the kiss. She did still love Charles, but, maybe, there was a chance she could love again.
“I would like to have the ceremony be performed as soon as possible,” Collins announced.
“It will take a few weeks to…” Victoria started to say, but he interrupted her.
“No. We know Golin wants those keys, and the note said he would be back in two days. From the state of the rooms upstairs, he will likely be willing to do whatever he needs to, to get them. I don’t want you alone any longer than necessary. I want the marriage to be performed tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Victoria squeaked.
“Yes, tomorrow, if the reverend is willing. We can spend the night here and take the keys to the ranch the next day. I would feel better, if we leave as soon as possible.”
Victoria took a moment to think about his suggestion and then slowly nodded her head in agreement. She knew Collins was very worried about the entire situation and marrying as soon as possible was his way of removing her from any harm that might come to her. “Tomorrow then.”
“I will sleep here on this sofa tonight,” Collins told her firmly. Victoria knew that if any of her neighbors knew he would be sleeping in her house that night, it would cause quite a bit of gossip. But she agreed to his demands. After all, they were now engaged to be married.
“I’ll need to get up early to clean up the mess upstairs,” Victoria commented. “I don’t want the staff to see it.”
“Let’s clean up your room right now and I will help you with the other rooms in the morning,” Collins suggested.
Over the next few hours, between the two of them her bedroom was soon put to rights. Collins left her to spend the night on the sofa in the parlor, and Victoria gratefully slid into her own bed, preparing to sleep alone for the last time. As she lay in bed, she found she was looking forward to having a companion next to her throughout the day. She must have been lonelier than she had realized. A peace spread through her as she fell asleep.
Chapter 6
The last few days at the ranch had been very busy. Shaun and his brothers had decided it was a good time to build another small cabin, one that Patrick and Kimberly would use. It would be located next door to the small cabin Patrick and Kimberly were temporarily using. The new cabin would be larger, almost twice the size of the smaller cabin they were using, large enough to grow with a family.
Most of the major work had been already done for the summer. Patrick and Shaun had cut quite a few logs last summer with the idea they would use them to build another barn after the logs had seasoned over the winter, but with Patrick’s marriage to Kimberly, it was decided another cabin was needed more than another barn.
In just a few days, the new cabin was almost half finished. The men worked from sunup to sundown, eating meals on the go. Kimberly did her best to help Bridget with simple and filling meals. She also made sure fresh water was readily available for the men to drink. The days had become very hot in the July sun, and she didn’t want them to get dehydrated.
In her time, Kimberly explained to them, she would have insisted they cover themselves with sunscreen and insect repellant, but such things were not available in the 1890’s, and Shaun didn’t even know what they were anyway. Kimberly tried to explain their use before giving up. Why would someone want to put lotion on themselves to block the sunlight? He couldn’t imagine that spraying some type of liquid would keep ticks and mosquitoes off of you. Insects were part of life in the mountains. They were something you just learned to live with.
Patrick let Kimberly help design the cabin. They soon agreed that the cabin would have a small living room with a fireplace, two bedrooms, and a kitchen big enough to hold a table and four chairs, a cooking stove (although they would need to purchase one from Denver on the next trip), counters to work at, and cupboards to hold dishes and pans.
They were still planning to share their meals with the rest of the family in the large cabin, but she would have her own kitchen, if she wanted to prepare some meals on her own.
Late afternoon on the third day of building the cabin, Keegan shouted out that he could see two people coming towards them on horseback. Everyone went to meet the visitors, and Kimberly was pleased to see Victoria and Collins riding towards them.
“Hello,” Patrick hollered, when they were close enough to hear him. “What brings you out our way?”
“We have news to tell you,” Collins replied with a grin. He swung off of his horse and then helped Victoria down off of hers.
“Keegan, take care of their horses,” Patrick ordered. Kimberly quickly gave Victoria a hug.
“What a pleasant surprise!” Kimberly smiled with welcome.
“Much has happened since you came to Denver,” Victoria replied.
“Really?” Kimberly asked curiously. She watched as Collins tucked Victoria’s arm into his own.
“We were married just yesterday afternoon,” Victoria said happily.
“Oh, that is great news,” Kimberly said, as she hugged the older woman again. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Congratulations,” Patrick said, shaking Collins’ hand. “You are both welcome to stay as long as you wish.”
“We don’t want to intrude,” Victoria started to say, but Patrick interrupted her.
“We don’t get many visitors. We’d love it if you stayed.”
“We have some other things to talk to you about,” Collins said to him. “After we talk, we can decide how long we will stay.”
“What is it? Is something wrong?” Bridget asked with concern.
“Will I still get to come stay with you while I go to school?” Keegan had just returned from taking the horses to the barn and had overheard Bridget’s question. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to need to give up his plans for school now that they were married.
“Of course,” Victoria said with a smile, as Collins nodded his head. “We still would love to have you stay with us.”
Kimberly heard Keegan breathe a sigh of relief.
“I’ll help as much as I can,” he promised them.
Patrick clapped a hand on Collins’ shoulder. “Let’s go into the large cabin, and you can tell us what is going on.”
Soon the entire family, along with Victoria and Collins, were seated in the living room. Shaun sent Colleen outside to watch over some kittens that were just born a few days before in a corner of the barn. He wanted to know what was going on before letting Colleen know about it. He wondered if what they had to tell them had something to do with Nicky.
He thought of the two letters he had written, along with the picture of her pony Colleen had drawn with Kimberly’s colored pencils. Kimberly had also written a letter, and all of them were ready to take the trip to Nicky’s time. He wondered if Collins would be willing to take them to her while they were visiting.
“We had someone break into Victoria’s home a few days ago,” Collins said, starting the conversation. Quickly he told everyone what had happened and how they had discovered a man named Golin was after the keys. “He promised to return in two days, which is today, to take the keys. That is partly why Victoria and I felt it was best to marry quickly. We also wanted to be away from the home today, if he does choose to come back.”
Victoria seemed visibly shaken through the entire conversation.
“That must have been scary for you,” Bridget said to Victoria. “I hope he doesn’t return, even if he said he was going to.”
“We feel we should find a new owner for the keys,” Victoria told everyone. “In fact, we had discussed that very thing the morning before he broke in. Now that this has happened, we know a new owner is necessary. We would like to give the keys to you, Patrick and Kimberly.”
Shaun frowned at Victoria’s words. Would the keys really be safe here? It sounded to him that this man, Golin, was willing to go to any length to acquire the keys. Would having the keys at the ranch put them all in danger?
Patrick shook his head. “I’m not sure I want to have the responsibility. They are definitely powerful. What if they put us in harm’s way?”
Kimberly laid a hand on his shoulder. “We could make sure they are hidden well,” she suggested. “There are many places around the ranch where they could be hidden.”
“We feel the keys would be safer here than in Denver,” Collins commented. “Golin doesn’t know about your family, or where you live. He shouldn’t be able to track the keys here.”
“So you don’t want to use them to travel anymore?” Kimberly questioned.
Victoria shook her head. “I have traveled enough. And for some reason the last few trips I have taken, I have come back exhausted. It takes me a few days to recover. And the same thing happened to Collins, when he took Nicky back. We wonder if, because we are older, time travel is harder on us. When I first found the keys, traveling didn’t affect me like it does now. I have no desire to use them again.”
“I don’t remember being tired after I used the key,” Kimberly commented. “Although it could have been because I was excited and nervous to meet Patrick.” She smiled at her husband. “Now that I am thinking of it, I was rather exhausted that night, so I can see how it would be tiring, if you were older.”
“I am willing to make one more trip,” Collins announced. He turned to Shaun. “Have you written any letters to Nicky?”
Shaun hesitated and then nodded his head. He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea for Collins to take the keys to Nicky if time travel was affecting his health.
“I will take your letters to Nicky and pick up any she has written. But after this last trip, you are on your own.” Collins smiled at Shaun, as he spoke.
Shaun knew he should volunteer to go himself, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He wasn’t ready to see Nicky again. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to experience time travel.
“Won’t that be too much for you?” Kimberly questioned. “I could go instead.”
Patrick grasped her arm firmly. “No, you aren’t going,” he told her firmly.
Collins shook his head. “I will be fine making one last trip. I think we will take you up on your offer though, Patrick, and stay here a few days, so I can recover before heading back to Denver.”
“You are both welcome to stay as long as you wish,” Patrick told them sincerely. “You can stay in the room I used to use just down the hall.”
“Thank you very much,” Victoria said warmly.
“I’ll get the letters for you.” Shaun stood and left the room. He ran into Colleen who was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, her legs tucked under her dress, her eyes wide with interest. It was obvious she had been listening to the conversation rather than going to the barn as instructed.
“Is Collins going to take my picture to Nicky?” she asked, jumping up from the floor.
Shaun wanted to scold her for eavesdropping but decided to address the problem later. “Yes.”
Colleen nodded her head vigorously, her black braids bouncing. “Good. When is she going to come visit? Will she use the keys? Do we really get to keep them?”
Shaun placed a hand on a shoulder to quiet her. “You cannot tell anyone what you just heard, is that understood?”
“Yes, Pa,” Colleen replied dutifully. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Shaun collected his letters and returned to the living room, giving them to Collins’ safekeeping. He discovered that in the short time he was gone, Patrick had agreed to take ownership of the keys. Shaun felt glad his older brother agreed. He would have offered, if his brother hadn’t.
Victoria was holding the box that held the keys, and she opened it to show a curious Colleen. Shaun was amazed at Colleen’s instant belief and acceptance about how the keys worked and what they did. He heard Kimberly give the child strict instructions to never touch them, because they were so powerful, and Colleen promised she wouldn’t by crossing her heart solemnly. He was glad she didn’t spit in the air like she had a few days before, when she had made a promise to him.
Bridget announced that dinner was almost done, and so the entire family, along with Victoria and Collins, moved into the kitchen. Victoria left the keys out together with Shaun’s letters sitting on an end table. No one saw the letters and the two keys disappear out of thin air.
Chapter 7
Nicky returned home after her last day of teaching summer school. She had a few weeks’ break, before she would be starting the new school year teaching fifth graders. She set her large, colorful bag that she carried everywhere down on a kitchen table and went to get a cold drink. As she poured lemonade over ice, she saw the two letters she had already written Shaun sitting on her counter.
It had been over a month, since Collins had brought her back from his time. She finally decided that Collins was never going to return and that writing letters to some man who lived in 1892 wasn’t going to work. Maybe something had happened to the keys, and they no longer worked. Or maybe Shaun had decided to not write at all. There were many scenarios that had run through Nicky’s mind over the last few weeks. The one scenario she wouldn’t allow herself to think about was that something had happened to Kimberly or her new family.
She admitted to herself that she was lonely. Oh, she had some friends from work at the school, and she had her family, but she missed Kimberly desperately. Last week she had written her friend a letter, hoping to give it to Collins, when, or if, he arrived to pick up the ones she had written to Shaun.
She hadn’t seen Justin for awhile. He had come over a few weeks ago, demanding again to know what was going on. He suspected she hadn’t been totally honest with him, when she had disappeared for a few days. Nicky still didn’t know how much information she should tell him, but he had made her angry the way he had demanded she tell him, so she had refused to talk about it with him. This made Justin even angrier, and he hadn’t been around since. He would text her every few days to make sure she was doing all right, but Nicky felt he was just doing his “brotherly duty” and really didn’t want to know how she was doing, so she would answer the texts with as few words as possible.
She wished Justin would realize that, even though she might have a secret, she wasn’t involved in anything bad or illegal, and she wasn’t in danger. She had a secret that she couldn’t share. Couldn’t he just trust her that she would tell him when the time was right? But in his defense, she also knew that, if the situation was reversed, she would be the one demanding to know what was going on.
Nicky opened her fridge to see what she had in the way of food to make dinner, but she didn’t see anything that looked appetizing. She had always shared dinner with Kimberly, and eating alone wasn’t any fun. She decided she would pick up a hamburger and fries at her favorite, fast-food restaurant and then drive out to Victoria’s home, taking the letters to Shaun and Kimberly with her. Maybe if she was there, they would somehow know, and show up. That was what seemed to happen when Kimberly had gone to the old, Victorian home, when she was writing Patrick.
She quickly changed out of her work clothes and into some shorts and a t-shirt. She scooped up the letters and headed out the door. After picking up the food, she drove out to the house. She parked on the street and walked towards the back of the house, hoping a door would be open.
Sure enough, one was unlocked. She slowly opened the door, the sack of food in he
r hand along with the letters, and peered inside. It looked dusty and empty, but she went into the house and shut the door, hoping that the neighbors weren’t watching what she was doing. She set the food down on a wooden, kitchen table, stuffed the letters into the back pocket of her shorts, and started to explore the house. The house was similar to how it was set up when she went back in time for Kimberly’s wedding. She walked through the kitchen and into the formal dining room. There was the great table they had dined at after Kimberly’s ceremony. It easily fit all nine of them, with plenty of room to spare. She felt a pang at the memory. She hoped desperately she could get a letter from Kimberly. She missed hearing from her friend.