Time Rebound

by Cathy Peper

  Now, however, he wished he knew where they had gone. He wanted to hurt Rivers and there might be something in it for him as well. After he finished his ale, he would go ask around at the tent city.

  Chapter 18

  Ari awoke on the morning of February 6th with a feeling of dread. She left the tiny pop up tent and took care of business. Pink tinged the sky and it looked no different than the last few mornings. There was no sign of impending doom. There was no sign of Bryce either. He had probably gone hunting to supplement their dwindling supply of ready-made food.

  Ari sighed. They had traveled as fast as possible, clearing a way for the ATV, taking few breaks and moving from the moment the sun came up until it dropped below the horizon, but they had not caught up with the Fury. Or perhaps they had passed her. Two days ago, Bryce had hitched a ride across the river and checked in at New Madrid. The bartender confirmed that Tori and Sebastien had come in to eat a few days prior, but they were no longer in port.

  The news cheered Ari but frustrated her as well. To be so close, yet unable to warn them of trouble drove her crazy. She and Bryce were either a couple days behind Sebastien or had slipped past them on land while the Fury got caught on a log or sandbar. Either way, the chance of locating her friend and brother before dark was slim. The third earthquake would strike tonight, or technically, tomorrow, around quarter to four in the morning.

  They had taken the road yesterday and would again today. They covered much more ground, but were also farther from the river, increasing the risk of overshooting their target. Ari shook Hannah awake. “Time to get going, pumpkin.”

  “No, Mommy, tired.” Hannah curled into a ball, resisting Ari’s nudges. They were all tired, but their hectic pace took the greatest toll on Hannah. Occasionally she fell asleep in the ATV, though Ari couldn’t fathom how she slept through the jolting. Ari decided to let her sleep while she warmed coffee on the coals of last night’s fire.

  Bryce returned with a rabbit, which they stashed for dinner. Breakfast consisted of the coffee and the last of the energy bars. For safety, they had camped away from the road, so they followed the path they had cleared the night before and set out on the relatively open track. Little more than a packed trail, sometimes bolstered by planking, it wasn’t anything a twenty-first-century person would consider a road, but they were able to drive the ATV without constant stops to clear the way.

  The miles disappeared under their wheels and Ari’s spirits rose. She was about to suggest they pull over to rest and allow Bryce to reconnoiter the river when a rider came around the bend in front of them and gawked down at them.

  “What the devil are you riding? How does it move without a horse?”

  “Just a little invention of mine,” Bryce said, easing off the gas pedal so they lumbered down the road at a fraction of the speed of a horse. “Steam-powered.”

  “You don’t say.” The man removed his hat and scratched his head. “Heard of steamboats, but never heard of no steam carriage.”

  “We’re testing the idea, seeing if it’s even feasible.” Bryce glanced back at the rifle.

  Ari shook her head. She wanted to avoid killing anyone and the man seemed to believe them, ludicrous as their story was. Bryce compressed his lips, but he didn’t reach for the gun.

  “It’s a prototype. We’d appreciate it if you kept this to yourself,” Ari said, using the charm she had learned from years of working as a tour guide.

  The man fingered the brim of his hat before stuffing it back on his head. “I reckon I could keep my mouth shut. Don’t know who all would believe me anyway. Steam carriage.” He laughed, but it sounded forced to Ari’s ears and she noticed the way he stared at them.

  “Thank you, sir. We really appreciate it.” Ari gave him her widest smile. “Have you been by the river? Notice any traffic there?”

  “No, could’ve taken a boat, but chose to go by land just in case there’s another big shake. You don’t happen to have any food, do ya? Hunting’s been poor. Got me worried.”

  Ari hesitated, then reached into their supplies. There wasn’t much left, but she found a single serving packet of Hannah’s favorite crackers. She hopped out of the ATV and approached the man. “Here,” she said, handing him the goldfish. “These are popular out East.”

  The man stared at the plastic package. “What’s this?”

  Ari showed him how to open it.

  “They are shaped like fish. A lot of work for a little cracker.”

  “Try one.”

  He popped one in his mouth. “They’re good. Got any more?”

  “Sorry, our supplies are running low. We’ve not had much luck with hunting either.”

  The man looked like he might press the issue at gunpoint, but the rifle and Bryce’s steely expression apparently convinced the man it wasn’t worth risking a gunfight for another package of fish-shaped crackers. He tipped his hat to her. “Good day to you, ma’am.” He rode past Bryce and the ATV, giving it one last sidelong glance. Ari didn’t know whether he would keep silent about what he’d seen, but even if he talked, most people would think it a tall tale. Exaggerated tales of prowess were common along the river.

  “The next person we run into might not be so gullible,” Bryce said as she climbed back into the ATV.

  “Maybe not, but no one is going to believe a story about ‘steam carriages’. We are not going to leave a trail of bodies in our wake unless it is absolutely necessary.”

  Bryce started the engine. “It’s safer to shoot first and ask questions later.”

  Ari cocked her head towards Hannah. “You’re setting an example.”

  “Precisely.” The vehicle shot forward and Ari grabbed for the frame. “What if someone does believe him and they decide to come after us?”

  Ari hadn’t considered he might find accomplices. Bryce had a point, but she still couldn’t bring herself to kill innocent people just because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Deadly force only if necessary,” she repeated. “I still know how to shoot.”

  Bryce didn’t argue, but he didn’t agree either. They rode in silence for a while, but Bryce eventually spoke. “Our best bet would be to head straight to Ste. Genevieve and wait for them there.” Seeing her stricken look, he added, “Assuming we don’t catch them today.”

  “Go check the river. Hannah and I could use a break.”

  They maneuvered the ATV off the road and into a secluded spot. Ari spread one blanket on the ground and used another to wrap around herself and her daughter. Hannah fell asleep as soon as she got settled.

  Bryce shook his head when he returned and they all piled back into the ATV. They saw no one else and as darkness crept closer, Ari looked for a good campsite. Usually, something far enough off the road not to attract unwelcome visitors was good enough, but tonight they needed someplace extra safe.

  “I’d recommend not being near any trees, but considering we’re in the middle of the forest, that’s going to be tough.”

  “Smaller trees. Here, this should do.” Bryce stopped the ATV in an area of straggly trees and relatively sparse vegetation.

  Ari set up the tent as Bryce made a fire and cleaned the rabbit. Soon the appetizing aroma of roasting meat wafted through the still air.

  “We were only guessing about the earthquake,” Bryce reminded her. “There are many dangers in this time.”

  “I know. We’ve done all we could.” Except go after Sebastien first. She wished now she had pushed Bryce harder. He would have given up his treasure for her brother. Wouldn’t he? But he was right. The earthquake might have nothing to do with whatever had happened to Sebastien. She held to hope.

  “Notice anything odd while you were hunting this morning?” Ari asked. “Sometimes animals sense imminent earthquakes. And that man we met earlier had little luck with his hunting.”

  “Not that I noticed, but I had a lot on my mind.”

  They both did, Ari mused. They ate the rabbit and shared a can of peaches for
dessert.

  “When are we going to see Aunt Tori and Uncle Sebastien? Camping isn’t as much fun as the kids at school said it would be.”

  “Soon,” Ari said. She wrestled with whether to tell Hannah about the earthquake. She didn’t want to scare her, but it might be good to prepare her. “You know how the earth shakes all the time around here?”

  “Yes.” Hannah didn’t seem to find it particularly interesting or worrisome. Ari had given her the juice remaining in the peaches can and Hannah swallowed it in one gulp.

  “We might get a bigger quake tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  “I just don’t want you to be scared.”

  “Why would I be scared? I think it’s kind of fun.”

  Kids. Ari smiled at Bryce over their daughter’s head. He winked. “I would have thought it was fun at your age, too.”

  “But I like the roller coaster Mama and I rode at Six Flags better.”

  “That awful thing,” Ari said, but she was teasing. She had liked the roller coaster, too, even if it was made for kids. One day she had hoped to take Hannah on the adult coasters. Maybe she still would, although the world of the twenty-first century appeared more distant with every day they spent in the past. “Time for bed. We have another big day tomorrow.”

  Hannah grumbled a little, but not much, and they all squeezed into the tent. With their backpacks and a few of the more valuable supplies, there was little extra room, but at least they easily shared body heat.

  Ari lay awake, staring at the roof of the tent. The faint outline of shadows showed through the nylon, cast by the faint light of the waning moon. Her muscles ached and she worried about Sebastien, Tori, and the upcoming quake. She and Bryce had done what they could to prepare, pitching their tent away from big trees, but Reelfoot Lake would be created within a few hours. The Mississippi River would run backward.

  She kept still, but Bryce must have sensed her restlessness, for he reached across Hannah and rubbed her shoulder.

  “Go to sleep, Ari. It will be all right.”

  Ari patted his hand, grateful for the support, but unable to take his advice. However, eventually exhaustion won out and she slipped into slumber.

  * * *

  Exhausted by her pregnancy and life on the river, Tori slept through the initial rocking of the boat as the third major earthquake struck, not waking until Sebastien sprung from their bed. The cabin was pitch dark, but a roar like a freight train filled the air. The boat bounced beneath her, almost throwing her from the bed.

  “The third quake,” Sebastien said, confirming what she had already surmised. He threw on some clothes and yanked on his boots. “Stay here.”

  Tori nodded, realizing only after he had left, that he couldn’t see her in the dark. She eased off the cot and pulled on her own clothes, including her warm, futuristic coat. It might be safest in the cabin, but really there was no way to know. If the boat sank, she wanted to be on the deck where she had a chance to swim to shore.

  She struggled to maintain her balance as she made her way on to the deck. A sliver of moon shone faintly in the sky, the meager light it provided further dimmed by the particles in the air. She gagged at the sulfurous stench and placed a hand on her belly to quell her rising nausea.

  They had already cut loose from the shore and men ran to and fro on the deck, grabbing poles and following Sebastien’s instructions. He would try to keep them to the center of the river to lessen the danger from collapsing banks.

  In the gloom, she could just make out the shapes of trees flailing about on land. Although she had ridden out many aftershocks on the Fury, this was her first time on the water during a major quake. The other times she had been on land and she could clearly remember the terror of each. Flung about the house in New Madrid, she had feared it might come crashing down on her head. The second time, the resurgence of the necklace’s power had scared her even more than the shaking, the lightning strikes and the opening of a chasm mere feet from where she struggled with Bob. Returning to her own time, once her ultimate goal, would have separated her from Sebastien, so she had fought with all her strength to break free of its pull, succeeding mere seconds before Rivers vanished before her eyes, presumably into the future.

  The boat rocked wildly and the water appeared to boil. A loud blast, like the sound of cannon fire, shook the air. A tree shot from the bottom of the river and crashed upon the shore. A second explosion sounded, followed by a rending shriek as another tree burst forth from the depths and struck the Fury. The boat shuddered and Tori fell to the deck. The tree tore through the wooden hull and impaled a crewman’s leg. He screamed, nearly drowning out another man who yelled, “We’ve been hit! We’re taking on water.”

  Sebastien ran to the injured man, pulling him free of the downed tree. Blood poured from the man’s wound. Victoria’s nausea returned ten-fold and she barely managed to bring herself to her knees. She crawled over to where Sebastien stood over the man.

  “Can you help?” he yelled.

  “I’ll try.” Tori had learned a bit more than basic first aid from her mother, who had been a nurse, but she wasn’t formally trained in medicine. Still, she knew more than the average nineteenth-century woman.

  With the help of another boatman, Sebastien carried the man to the room at the back of the cabins where a fire burned in the stove, day and night. They placed him on the table.

  “Boil water, tear some clean cloth for bandages and grab the cosmetic bag from my cabin. It’s the pink one,” Tori said.

  “Do as she says,” Sebastien told the boatman. “I need to get the Fury to shore.”

  Her stomach rolled as she examined the man’s wound. She did her best to control her nausea and ignore the headache gripping her temples. Gradually, the din from the earthquake ceased. The air still stank and the boat lurched, either from the water’s continued agitation or the men’s efforts to bring it to the river-bank. The Fury’s luck had run its course and wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.

  The wound was deep and tore through muscle, but Tori didn’t think the bone was broken. By the time the pot of water on the stove reached a boil, the man was back with the bandages. Tori sterilized her knife in the water. “Hold him down,” she told the other man. He did his best, but the wounded man thrashed and shrieked when she probed with the knife. Splinters of wood needed to be removed before she could stitch up the wound. If he had nicked an artery, she couldn’t fix it and he would probably bleed to death. She would do everything she could to prevent infection, but she had no antibiotics to treat it if it should set in.

  “You’ll need someone else to help you hold him. I have to get the splinters out of there.”

  The man assisting her, who had grown pale and looked sick, nodded and went to grab a couple buddies. With three strong men holding down the wounded man, Tori was able to clean the wound with a pair of tweezers she had bought in New Orleans. She tried to ignore his screams, but her hands shook and she was sure she would have failed had this been a medical exam. She was the man’s best chance for now, but if amputation became necessary, they would have to find a doctor.

  She picked out every last shred of wood she could find but worried about the extent of the bleeding. She still had some of the balm she had used on Sebastien’s wounds and she applied it to the man’s leg before bandaging him. “Take him to Roger’s cabin.” The first mate would be willing to give up his space for the man.

  All she wanted to do was return to her bed and pull the blankets over her head, but she settled for washing her hands, collapsing onto a chair and taking deep breaths. Eventually, her heart rate returned to normal. Sebastien joined her a few minutes later, took one look at her face, set a new pot of water on to boil.

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you all right?”

  “I think so.” Tori kept quiet about the slight cramping in her abdomen. She didn’t know for sure if the baby was in danger and she didn’t want to worry Sebastien more than he already was. />
  “What about Ferguson?”

  “He lost a lot of blood, but he might make it if his wound doesn’t get infected.”

  Sebastien poured cups of tea for both of them and took the chair opposite hers. For the first time since she had known him, he looked defeated.

  “How bad is the damage to the boat?”

  “Bad enough, but fixable. I will have to go in search of supplies and a trained carpenter. The rip is more than I can repair on my own.”

  Sebastien had told her it was his idea to expand the family business into selling furs as well as trapping them. He and his father had started with inexpensive flatboats, gradually saving enough money to purchase the Fury. The boat was not only his home for much of the year but a symbol of his success. The time they would lose waiting for repairs, and the cost of those repairs, would be a hardship, but more than money was at stake for Sebastien. “It will be as good as new. Better, even, after we make the improvements at St. Louis.”

  “Of course,” he said, forcing a smile. “But the setback might make it necessary for me to go trapping next year. Now I understand why you didn’t want me to go.”

  The baby complicated the situation but wasn’t the only reason why she didn’t want to be left alone in a city where she knew no one and wasn’t even familiar with the customs. “If it comes to that, I will be okay,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she could bear it. She might have to come with him if he would allow it in her condition. She gnashed her teeth. In her time, women didn’t need permission to do as they pleased. But she had made her choices, all for this man. And if she had to do it all over again, she would make the same decision. She could face anything as long as they were together.

  Chapter 19

  Although Bryce promised Ari she would grow accustomed enough to the tremors that she would learn to sleep through them, that hadn’t happened yet. She awoke at the first sign of shaking. She lay there, dazed and disoriented until a low-pitched roaring, like the howls of a caged beast, assaulted her ears. She lurched to a sitting position, thinking that bears or wolves had found their campsite. “Bryce!”