Touched by Time

by Zoe Matthews

“I should let you know that Kimberly has told me she is from the future. I think she said from 2005.” Patrick decided to just jump into the conversation.

  “Did she now?” Collins asked him with a slight smile on his face. “What do you think of that?”

  “I’m not sure what to think. She just told me a few days ago. I did think there was something strange about her. She would sometimes use words that didn’t make sense, words I had never heard before. The week she arrived Keegan was gravely injured. Kimberly used her nursing skills and some items from a box to help him. I think she saved his life.”

  “She brought something with her from her time?” Collins usual formal face looked a little disapproving.

  Patrick nodded. “Evidently, she brought some type of drawing book with her, too.”

  Collins didn’t say anything, but Patrick could tell he wasn’t pleased to hear this.

  “To be honest, I’m glad she had the medical things she needed to help Keegan. If Kimberly hadn’t been around, we would have needed to take him into Denver. I don’t know if he would have survived the trip.”

  “I’m glad she was able to help then.” Collins said to him.

  “I need to ask, is what Kimberly telling me- that she is from so many years in the future- is this true?”

  Collins didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He stood up and started to pace the room as if thinking, his hands clasped behind his back. Even though Patrick wanted his question answered, he kept quiet.

  “What do you think?” the man finally asked. “Do you think she is telling you the truth?”

  Patrick was surprised at the man’s questions. Why couldn’t he just answer him? But then, if Collins said, yes, that Kimberly really was from the future, would he immediately believe him?

  “I don’t know what to think,” Patrick admitted.

  “Forget about the time travel for a moment,” Collins advised. “How do you feel about Kimberly?”

  “I asked for a mail-order bride for a reason. I want to marry and start a family. My ranch is so far away from other people, I knew it would be hard to court a woman properly. I figured this was the best option for me. I trusted Victoria to find the woman who would be best for me.”

  “And do you feel Kimberly is the best one for you?”

  Patrick nodded. “Before she started to talk about being from the future, I did feel she was who I wanted to marry. I have fallen in love with her. She is a wonderful woman. She has done her best to learn how to live on the ranch. She has tried hard to learn how to cook. She loves working in the garden. I gave her one of my puppies and she fell in love with her.” He caught himself smiling fondly while talking about her.

  “So I will ask again, if she wasn’t from the future, you would want to marry her?”

  “Yes,” Patrick said firmly. “She says she wants to stay. She wants to marry me.”

  Collins nodded his head. “She was told that she could only tell you about her time travel under one circumstance; if she decided to stay with you.”

  “The crazy thing is, I am starting to believe her.”

  “Why is that so crazy? There are many things in life, in our world, that aren’t always what they seem.”

  “I need to tell you, my brother Keegan saw you when you came to visit Kimberly. He saw you disappear.”

  Collins looked at him in surprise, and then shook his head. “And I was so careful. I guess I wasn’t careful enough.”

  Patrick smiled at the man. “You should have just stayed and had a good visit with us. We don’t get many visitors. We would have been happy to see you.”

  Collins stood and walked to Victoria’s large desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out a small wooden box. He carried this box over to where Patrick was sitting and handed him the box.

  “Open it.” Collins instructed him.

  Patrick looked at the man questionably, but did as he was asked. Inside was nestled a beautiful gold key. It was clearly old and well used; the gold was worn in places. The handle of the key was extremely intricate. On the other end, the notch had a simple but beautiful design as well. He picked it up and immediately could feel a vibration run through his hand into his body. He dropped it in surprise.

  Collins looked at him as if with satisfaction. “Victoria has two keys that are used for time travel. Kimberly has the other one right now. You felt its power. Not many do.”

  “I felt…something,” Patrick said, not sure what to say.

  “This key, and the key Kimberly has in her possession, can take a person back in time, forward into the future, or somewhere else in our time. I would demonstrate for you, but time travel is tiring and I don’t want to be out of sorts for the rest of the day.”

  Patrick set the key back into the box. Something strange had happened when he was holding the key while Collins explained how it worked. Collins had started to fade away. It was if the key was ready to take him to another place. The last thing he wanted was to test the key. He wanted to stay right where he was, in his time.

  “When Kimberly and I marry, what will happen to her key?” Patrick asked him, not realizing how he had worded his question. He had said when, not if.

  But Collins picked up on it. “Kimberly will not keep it. She is to give the key back to Victoria. By giving it back, she is making a commitment to you -and to Victoria- that she will stay here in 1892.”

  “And what if she changes her mind?” Patrick voiced what he was really worried about. What if, as time went on, she wished she could go back to her time?

  “That is something you will need to talk to her about,” Collins told him.

  “You need to find out what her wishes are. Before you marry her."

  Chapter 29

  Kimberly enjoyed shopping with Bridget and Victoria. She could tell Victoria was well liked and well known. Many people greeted her and stopped to talk to her. She would introduce Kimberly as part of Patrick’s family, and she could tell that some people were aware of Patrick’s ranch deep in the mountains. What would these people think about her if she was able to stay and marry him?

  In the store, she noticed that there was one young woman, whom Bridget introduced as Lucy, who looked at her in suspicion. Right after the introductions, she rudely turned her back and started to whisper to an older woman who was behind the counter.

  “Don’t worry about Lucy,” Bridget said softly to Kimberly as they walked towards the clothing. “She has always wanted to marry Patrick and my brother was never interested in her.”

  Kimberly felt a gladness in her heart that Patrick had chosen her, but why would he? There were so many beautiful women in Denver, including Lucy. Why would he choose to send away for a bride?

  Bridget started to look at some ready-made dresses, but Kimberly went to the shelf that held riding britches. She was still wearing her riding pants that she had worn for the trip to Denver. They were much more comfortable than the long skirts. She could walk more freely and they didn’t get tangled up around her legs like skirts did. She immediately made the decision to buy a few more, like Patrick had suggested. She was going to wear these riding pants from now on, when she could.

  After choosing two pair in her size, she walked around the store, looking at what was available. There were clothing for men, woman and children, as well as fabric for those who wanted to sew their own clothes. She walked a little farther, and browsed the bookshelf she had seen on her first trip to this store. She had helped Bridget pick out some new books for Keegan. She kept browsing until she reached the back of the store.

  There was a simple collection of jewelry. She could tell none of it would be too expensive. Nonetheless, she blushed when she saw the rings, thinking about how close she was to her own marriage. She quickly walked back to the front of the store to find Bridget.

  “So, you are visiting Patrick’s family,” she heard a voice and turned around. It was Lucy with a haughty expression on her face. “If you think you are going to marry him, you better think again.”
>
  “Why would you say that?” Kimberly asked. She couldn’t believe how rude this woman was.

  “Everyone knows he’s going to marry me, it’s just a matter of time,” Lucy said with her nose in the air. “Where did Bridget say you were from?”

  “I don’t think I did,” Bridget said, walking up to them. “We are ready to purchase our items.” She looked at Kimberly who felt relief that Bridget rescued her.

  Kimberly followed Bridget to the front counter. The woman who Lucy had whispered to was behind it, writing down on a piece of paper all the things they were buying. In addition to the two pairs of riding pants Kimberly was purchasing, Colleen had added a few books and her own pair of riding pants. Bridget was buying a few more books for Keegan.

  After the woman told Bridget the amount owed and everything was paid for, she spoke.

  “How long will your family be in town this time?”

  “Only for a few days, Mrs. MacKay,” Bridget said politely.

  “We will be having a nice gathering at our house this evening,” the woman continued. “I will send an invitation to the hotel for your family.”

  Bridget shook her head. “We won’t be able to attend, but thank you for inviting us.” She quickly walked away, but the woman wasn’t done.

  “You shouldn’t be answering for your brothers. I will send the invitation and they can decide for themselves.”

  Bridget looked back at the woman and nodded her head once, then they left the store. Kimberly noticed that Bridget didn’t bother to explain that they weren’t staying at the hotel.

  “Wow,” Kimberly breathed, slightly amused. “I guess your brothers are quite popular around here.”

  Bridget grinned. “Lucy has been after Patrick since she first moved to Denver five years ago. I think if Patrick was at all interested in her, he would have done something about it before now.”

  I guess there are “Lucy’s” in all time periods, Kimberly thought to herself. She remembered a woman she went to college with named Carlee. She would brag about her test scores, even though Kimberly generally scored better than she did. Once Carlee had realized that, she had made it a point to interrupt Kimberly if she was answering a question the teacher had asked, and she always had to sit in front of Kimberly during class. It had always astounded Kimberly how some people still acted like they were teenagers, even when they were adults.

  “Don’t worry about Lucy, dear,” Victoria told her with a squeeze on her arm. “I can tell Patrick is quite taken with you.”

  Kimberly wasn’t worried. She knew Victoria was right. If Patrick was at all interested in Lucy, or any other woman in Denver, he wouldn’t have sent away for a bride. He wouldn't have ever met her.

  The women went into a few more shops, but they did more window shopping than anything else, just enjoying the time together. Kimberly remembered that this was one of Nicky’s favorite past-times. She remembered the letter Victoria had given her, and she suddenly missed her friend very much.

  ****

  That evening, after dinner had been served and cleaned up, and Colleen put to bed for the night, the rest of the family gathered in Victoria’s parlor. For a while, everyone kept to themselves. Keegan had found Victoria’s library and was busy reading a new book. Shaun was writing down something on paper, and every once in a while, he’d scribble something out and write something new. Bridget and Victoria were sewing. Kimberly had a book in her hands, but she wasn’t reading it. She wished she had brought her sketchbook down from her room. In her time on evenings like this, she would spend her time drawing. She looked at Patrick who was watching his youngest brother read the book he had.

  Kimberly wondered what he was thinking, when he turned his attention to her. He reached up and lightly touched her face, then took her hand into his own.

  “I guess it’s time to look for other options for Keegan’s education,” Patrick said quietly to her.

  Kimberly was glad he was willing for Keegan to go to school and started to say so, when Victoria looked up from her sewing.

  “I have noticed that Keegan really likes to learn,” Victoria commented. Kimberly knew she had noticed that Bridget had bought new books for him that day.

  “Yes, he seems to always have a book in his hands,” Patrick replied.

  Kimberly looked at Keegan who was still reading and seemed to not be following the conversation around him.

  “What are your plans for him?” Victoria asked as she set her sewing aside.

  “Well, I guess we will need to find a place for him to board this fall, so he can attend school here in Denver. Maybe I will look into his options while we are here.”

  “Keegan?” Victoria called to him and the young man finally lifted his eyes from his book.

  “Yes, Mrs. Hilton?” He asked politely.

  “If you were to get the schooling you want, do you have an idea what you would study?”

  “Well, ma’am, I would like to be a doctor someday,” Keegan told her almost shyly.

  “That’s a good goal to have,” the woman told him. She was quiet for a few minutes as if thinking about something else, although Kimberly noticed that she didn’t pick up her sewing again.

  “I have a proposition for you,” Victoria said, turning to Patrick. “Why don’t you allow Keegan to board here this winter? There is a school just down the street he could attend.”

  “Well, I’m not sure…” Patrick started to say, but Victoria continued talking as if she didn’t hear him.

  “One of my gardeners quit just last week. Keegan could work in the gardens for me in exchange for room and board. He could work for a few hours after school and on Saturdays. That way he could have the evenings to study.”

  “Are you sure?” Patrick asked her. “What about the winter months when it snows? Can I pay you the room and board then?"

  “Don't be ridiculous. He can shovel my walks and keep the icicles off my roof."

  "I'm sure he will do his best to help, but he is only fifteen. He might not be the employee you’re looking for.”

  Vitoria said firmly, “It is so quiet in this large house. It would be nice to have someone else around.”

  Patrick looked at Shaun and Kimberly could see that both brothers communicated something to each other. He then looked at Keegan who was looking at him hopefully.

  “What do you think, Keegan?” Patrick asked him. “Would you like to live here with Mrs. Hilton this winter and attend school?”

  Keegan nodded his head eagerly. “I would like that.” He turned to Victoria. “I promise to be a big help and work hard.”

  “I’m sure you will,” Victoria told him with a smile. “I can keep you pretty busy in the gardens, but your school work would need to come first.”

  Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they looked at Patrick. Kimberly could tell that even though everyone liked the idea, the final decision would be Patrick’s.

  “Okay, we’ll give it a go,” Patrick said and Keegan let out a whoop, raising his fist in the air with a grin. “But you have to promise you’ll do your best with school and with helping Mrs. Hilton,” Patrick told his brother.

  “I will, I promise,” Keegan said. He looked at Victoria. “Thanks, Mrs. Hilton. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Victoria smiled at him, looking pleased that she was going to have company for the winter.

  “I’ll bring him down the end of August, will that work?” Patrick asked Victoria. “I would want him to come home next spring when school is out for the summer.”

  “That’s fine,” the woman agreed.

  Patrick turned to Keegan. “You will need to plan on being here in Denver the entire school year, even during Christmas. You know that we might not be able to come visit during the winter months because of the snow. It might be months before we see you.”

  Keegan grinned at him. “I’m fine with that. I’ll miss you all, but I really want to go to school.”

  Kimberly noticed that Bridget discretely wiped
a tear away from her face. She knew Bridget was happy for Keegan but would also miss her brother.

  Chapter 30

  Kimberly spent the next day in Victoria’s home. She helped Victoria and Bridget get a room ready for Keegan. Victoria wanted Keegan in a room closer to hers, so they cleaned out a room that was smaller than the guest rooms they had been given for this trip, but it was still larger than the cabin she had been staying in. After a few hours, with Collins help, they had a room ready for Keegan when he returned in a few months. While it was a simple layout with a bed, desk, and dresser, everything was very nice, and suited Keegan well. By the end of the day, he had a grin from ear to ear that couldn't be wiped off his face.