River of Time

by Zoe Matthews

During a lull of contractions, Nicky located the first-aid kit and was pleased with what she found. There were some strong painkillers that Kimberly must have had access to when she worked at the hospital, some nylon thread, and a needle for stitches, as well as some other items Kimberly had also brought herself. She would do her best to use only what she needed, but she was glad she had access to the kit. Bridget helped when she was needed, but she was content to let Nicky take charge.

  At one point Nicky sent Bridget to the barn to fetch Patrick, and Bridget did, although Nicky could tell she didn’t approve. She could tell that there were so many things that were different in both, time periods. She wondered how it was that Kimberly and Patrick got along so well together with so many differences between them. But she also knew they loved each other very much, and maybe that love was what made the difference.

  Patrick did come and stay with Kimberly for a few minutes, but then he disappeared again when he could see his wife start with another contraction. At that point, Kimberly didn’t seem to care that her husband had left, so Nicky kept quiet on the subject.

  “I need to push,” Kimberly told Nicky breathlessly a short time later. Once more, Nicky checked to make sure all was well with the baby and then told Kimberly to push with the next contraction.

  Twenty minutes later, the baby finally slipped out. Nicky quickly laid the baby on a towel and started to rub it vigorously. She breathed a sigh of relief when the baby took its first breath and started to cry. The hard part was over, and the baby looked great.

  Kimberly laughed with delight, tears running down her face. “What is it?”

  Nicky laughed at herself and had to unwrap the towel to look. She had been so concerned about the baby taking its first breath, she hadn’t noticed.

  “You have a sweet, little girl,” Nicky said, as she cut the umbilical cord and handed the small bundle to the new mother.

  Kimberly smiled and continued to cry silently. She held her new daughter, touching her face, as if marveling the new little miracle. Bridget came to Kimberly’s side and glanced at her new niece.

  “She’s beautiful,” Bridget told her.

  Nicky allowed Kimberly to hold the baby, until she could see Kimberly’s face scrunch up.

  “You are probably delivering the placenta,” Nicky told her. “Give the baby to Bridget. She can give her a bath while we finish up here.”

  Bridget quickly took the baby, as Kimberly let out a yell. Nicky felt confused that Kimberly was in pain again. From what she understood, delivering the placenta wasn’t supposed to be very painful. She looked and suddenly could see another little head.

  “Oh, my gosh,” Nicky breathed in disbelief. “There’s another baby in there!”

  Kimberly just grunted and pushed. Another little body slid into Nicky’s hands. This time, she looked and saw it was a boy. But something was wrong. This baby looked blue, not pink like his sister had been. She grabbed another towel and started to rub him like she had done to his sister, but the baby didn’t move.

  “No, no, please God, let this baby live,” she whispered. Then she remembered a book she had read long ago of a woman who gave birth and the doctor hanging the baby by its ankles and slapping it on its buttocks. She decided to try that, and the baby let out a big yell. Sighing in relief, she smiled at Kimberly.

  “You had two in there, and they both seem to be fine.” She handed Kimberly the second baby after she wrapped him. The placentas were delivered soon after.

  “I suspected I was carrying two,” Kimberly said softly, as she held her son. “But I didn’t want to say anything. I know twin births sometimes don’t go well. I didn’t want to alarm anyone if I wasn’t right.”

  Nicky opened her mouth to give Kimberly a lecture about keeping such a suspicion quiet, but she decided to wait until later to have that conversation. Things had gone well, and right then that was all that mattered.

  She quickly cleaned up the birthing mess. Kimberly gave her instructions on how to stitch some tears closed that were caused by the births. Nicky hated that part, not wanting to hurt Kimberly, but her friend seemed to barely feel the pricks of the needle. Her focus was on her two, little ones.

  When Nicky had Kimberly cleaned up and propped up against some fresh pillows, the new mother asked Bridget to get Patrick, with firm instructions to not tell him the news that she had given birth to twins. Patrick was soon by Kimberly’s side, and Nicky slipped out of the room to give the new parents some time alone with the babies.

  She collapsed on a sofa in the living room, glad that it was all over and the births had gone well. She was so grateful the baby boy had started to breathe. She didn’t know what she would have done, if one of the babies hadn’t made it. Bridget joined her on the couch.

  “I’m so glad you were here,” Bridget said to her. “If I had been here alone, I don’t think I would have handled things as well as you did.”

  “You would have done fine,” Nicky assured her, but she was also glad she had been there.

  “Maybe so, but I’m glad you were here just the same. I can tell you and Kimberly are very close.”

  “She is like a sister to me. In fact, I consider her a sister. What has she told you about her childhood?”

  “Not much, but I haven’t asked her many questions. She tends to not be very open about her life in your time, unless someone asks her a specific question.”

  “Kimberly’s parents died when she was 15-years old. She lived with my family until she was grown. We went to college together and shared an apartment together before she married Patrick.”

  “I have always wanted a sister. I love my brothers dearly, but...” Bridget hesitated, as if wondering if she said something, it would sound critical.

  “I have a brother, too, whom I love dearly, but he doesn't seem to understand things the way Kimberly does. I’m grateful that Kimberly is in my life. And she now has another sister; you,” Nicky said, letting Bridget know she understood.

  “I was so happy when Patrick married Kimberly. She is a sweet girl, and she has done surprisingly well adjusting to our time.”

  “You must have become close friends since their marriage. I bet it’s nice to have another woman on this ranch,” Nicky commented.

  “It is nice to have Kimberly around, but we haven’t gotten very close.”

  Nicky had noticed that the two of them rarely talked, except when something needed to be said. They were polite to each other, but there wasn’t a closeness there that Nicky would have expected to see. “Do you know why?”

  “It’s mainly my fault,” Bridget confessed. “I’ve been so afraid that something will happen, and she will be sent back to your time. I have a very hard time getting close to people.”

  Nicky reached out her hand to touch Bridget’s. “I don’t think Kimberly will ever go back to our time. I know she loves Patrick, and now she has two babies to think about. I have noticed that she will not even touch the keys. She wants to stay here.”

  “You’re right. She doesn’t touch the keys. When she had a letter to send you, she would ask Shaun to do it for her.”

  Nicky’s heart skipped a beat at Shaun’s name, and, at that moment, the man himself burst into the cabin. Colleen and Keegan were right behind him.

  “Is the baby here?” Colleen asked, running up to Bridget. “What did she have? Can I see it?”

  Bridget exchanged a glance with Nicky and smiled.

  “Yes. I’ll let Kimberly tell you the news.”

  “What news? Did everything go okay? Is Kimberly alright?” Shaun asked Bridget, but he then looked at Nicky.

  Bridget stood and knocked on the closed bedroom door. She opened it, when Kimberly called out to her, saying, “You have some visitors.”

  Colleen immediately ran into the room, and her eyes opened in awe at what she saw.

  “Two of them? You had two babies?” she screeched.

  Kimberly nodded, her head lying against the pillows. Nicky could tell she was very tired.
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  “I guess God couldn’t decide what to give us, a boy or a girl, so he gave us one of each,” Patrick told Colleen, as he laughed.

  “Congratulations, brother,” Shaun said, as he slapped a hand across Patrick’s back.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with it,” Patrick said jovially. “Kimberly did all the work.”

  “Well, you did have something to do with it,” Kimberly teased tiredly.

  “What are their names?” Colleen asked excitedly.

  “We have decided on Katherine after my mother, and Richard after Kimberly’s father,” Patrick announced.

  After a few minutes, Nicky decided Kimberly had had enough visitors and needed to rest and feed the babies, so she shooed everyone out of the cabin, with promises to Colleen that she could see the babies again before she went to bed.

  She helped Kimberly nurse the babies for the first time and then took Bridget up on her offer of getting some rest. She left the cabin with the intention of going to her own to lie down, but she then realized she wasn’t tired. In fact, she felt like she had so much energy she could help some other woman give birth. She chuckled to herself at this thought and decided to take a walk around the ranch. She went to her cabin to change back into a dress.

  Once she was changed, she stepped out of her cabin and looked around, trying to decide which way to go. She remembered how Shaun had taken her to a river when they rode the horses, so she decided to head in that direction. For a while, she thought of nothing but the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds singing overhead. It was so calming to be somewhere that allowed all your worries to fade.

  She came to the river and remembered from Kimberly’s letters that the family followed this river when they went to Denver. She found a flat rock by the water and sat on it, contemplating all that had happened over the last few days. She could see why Kimberly was happy in Patrick’s time period. Life was so much slower. Everyone in the family stayed busy, but Nicky never felt the fast-paced rush that she experienced in her time, and she found that she liked this difference.

  Nicky moved closer to the river and ran her hand through the water, jerking it back when she felt that it was ice cold. Very likely, the water from the river came from a lake deep in the mountains which fed off of an underground spring. She stretched her hand out to touch the water again, when she heard movement behind her.

  Startled, she turned around and saw Shaun standing a few feet away from her. “Oh, hi. I didn’t hear you.”

  Shaun smiled. “I know. Colleen’s uncle taught me how to walk quietly in the forest.”

  “Colleen’s uncle?” Nicky asked, wondering if Shaun would tell her about Colleen. She knew from Kimberly’s letters that Colleen was half Indian, but she didn’t know more than that.

  “Yes, Running Deer. He is Colleen’s mother’s brother.” Shaun walked until he stood next to Nicky. “May I join you?”

  “Of course,” Nicky agreed. Shaun sat next to her, his arm brushing hers lightly, as he settled himself.

  “I want to thank you for being here to help Kimberly. I know Patrick will be finding you, once he can bring himself to leave Kimberly and the babies.”

  “It’s why I came,” Nicky told him. “I wanted to do what I could to help her, just in case…”

  She didn’t finish her sentence, but Shaun did. “In case something went wrong. If something had gone terribly wrong, would you have known what to do?”

  Nicky shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve been studying about natural births all winter. There are some things I could have helped with, if things had gone wrong, but I still would have been limited.”

  “Bridget told me how Richard wasn’t breathing when he was born and that you knew what to do to help him.”

  Nicky shrugged again. “Actually, I didn’t know. I just remembered reading something, tried it, and it worked.”

  “Well, thanks again.”

  Shaun moved as if he was going to get up, but Nicky stopped him. She didn’t want him to leave yet. “Can you tell me about Colleen?”

  Shaun narrowed his eyes at her. “What about her?”

  “I know it probably isn’t any of my business, but I’m curious.” Nicky looked away. “Never mind. I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “No, it’s alright. I’m not used to questions about her, I guess. What has Kimberly told you about her?”

  “Very little.”

  “There is a group of Indians that live in these mountains. They live about five miles from us. They stay there in the summer and travel south in the winter. My family has always been friendly with them. They taught us how to grow vegetables and how to use plants that grow around here for healing.

  “I kind of grew up with one of the Indian families. They had two boys and a girl the same ages as Patrick, Bridget, and I. About ten years ago, a mountain man found his way to their camp. Colleen’s mother, Lily, fell in love with him. He got her pregnant and then left. She died giving birth to Colleen.

  “Lily’s grandmother decided, since Colleen was half white, that it would be best if she was raised in a white home. So after Lily died, Running Deer brought her to us. For some reason, they gave her to me, to be my daughter.”

  Nicky tried not to be shocked that this Indian family would give up a child. “Why didn’t they want to keep her? I don’t understand.”

  “She wouldn’t have been treated well in their tribe.”

  “Won’t she have the same problem with you?” Nicky questioned, knowing that people who were mixed blood in the 1800’s were known as ‘half-breeds’ and sometimes weren’t treated well either. “How is she treated when you make trips to Denver?”

  “There are times when people aren’t kind to her, but our family is well known, so, for the most part, she is accepted.”

  “I guess things are easier for her, because she is growing up on this ranch, away from a large city,” Nicky commented.

  Shaun nodded. “Bridget helps her with her schooling. I’m sure there will be more issues to deal with as she grows older, but, for now, she has a good life here.”

  “I admire you for taking her in,” Nicky told him.

  “She’s my daughter in every sense of the word.”

  “Does she ever see her…Indian family?” Nicky stammered, not sure how to word her question.

  Shaun nodded. “Yes. I take her to see them a few times every summer. I was going to take her tomorrow.” He turned to look at her, a question in his eyes. “Would you like to come with us?”

  Nicky wanted desperately to accept but wasn’t sure if she should. “Kimberly just had two babies. I probably should stay here.”

  Shaun got to his feet and held his hand out to her, helping her up. “Bridget will be around. Why don’t you ask her if she can handle things for the day?”

  Nicky hesitated and then nodded in agreement. She did want to go with Shaun. She wanted to see and experience everything she could before it was time to go back in August. “I’ll ask her.”

  Nicky started to move away, but Shaun kept her hand in his. He seemed to be contemplating something. Nicky only had to wait a moment, before he pulled her to him and wrapped one arm around her waist, and the other he brought up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. Her heart was pounding, as he paused a moment longer, as if waiting for her to say no. When she didn't, he leaned down and kissed her softly. It was a short kiss, but it sent a shock all the way to her toes. When he pulled away, she smiled at him and then held onto his hand, as they started walking back to the ranch.

  Chapter 13

  Medieval Times, 1570

  Golin spent the next few days making plans to get the two keys. He purchased a bag and filled it with enough food to get him by for a few days and a change of clothing. He was going to stay in 1893 until he found the keys, no matter how long it was going to take.

  He took a bath in a nearby stream, even though he hated taking baths. One thing he had learned in his time travels to the future was that people tended to keep t
hemselves cleaner than he was used to. He generally only took baths when he absolutely had to, but he didn’t want to stand out, because he didn’t have clean hair or he smelled. He also washed his clothes.

  When he was finally ready, he used his key and transported himself to Victoria’s backyard. Once arriving, he quickly hid behind some tall bushes of a house nearby, positioning himself so that he could watch Victoria’s home. He was going to wait until he knew she was alone in the home, and then he was going to kidnap her and hold her for ransom until he got the keys.

  But, after watching the house for over a day, he realized no one was even home, except a few people who worked for her. He contemplated breaking in again to look for the keys, but he knew that he very likely wouldn’t be able to find them. He decided his plan of taking Victoria for ransom wasn’t going to work. Hiding his bag that held a change of clothes well behind the bushes, he went to the front door and knocked. Maybe he would be able to bribe whoever answered the door to tell him where Victoria was. An older, white-haired woman answered the door on his first knock.