Time-Travel Duo

by James Paddock

  “I was the queen of bookworms. Still am. I’m in withdrawal. It takes all the willpower I can muster to not stop when I see a bookstore. The library in Columbia Falls is like a constant magnetic pull. I’ve only been in there once and the only reason I didn’t leave with an armload of books is that I didn’t have a library card and seeing as I’m not a resident, I can’t get one.”

  “You could use mine.”

  “Please don’t tempt me. I’m on vacation, determined to only do things I’ve never done before, to get away from everything Boston and the institute.” And Tony, she thought. That’s the real reason I’m here, but that part isn’t working, is it? You can take the girl out of Boston but you can’t take Tony out of the girl.

  The traffic at the Weeping Wall was crazy. Patrick slowed so Annie could get a picture of the water cascading down the mountain side onto the road. From there they continued on to The Loop for a shot hike. They chatted comfortably, comparing life at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to that at the University of Montana. Not all that much different, Annie was surprised to learn.

  They stopped four times more—once to gaze south across the valley from where they came, once to play on a ten-foot high snow bank along side of the road, twice to stand in awe in the mist of raging waterfalls—before arriving at Logan Pass. “I want to hike out to Hidden Lake,” Annie said as they got out of the Blazer. She reached into the back for her backpack.

  “You already know about Hidden Lake?” Patrick asked.

  “I was here when I was twelve.”

  “Oh, yes. I remember you telling me that. How much of the visit do you remember?”

  “I remember everything, but it was from the eyes of a child. Now I’m seeing it from the eyes of an adult.”

  “Has anything changed in seven years?”

  “Eight years. It was a week after my birthday that dad brought me out here, late July. The snow was all gone then, except what you could see way up in the glaciers. Other than that, it is just as awesome as I remember.”

  “For someone who is an academic, why do you like this? Where are your books? Where is your computer?”

  She remembered to lock her door, finally getting used to the fact that his Blazer did not have a remote. She couldn’t understand how he could live with such an inconvenience. “I’m in withdrawal from books, but I can’t give up my computer. That’s impossible. It’s right here, in my pack.”

  “What are you possibly going to need a computer for out here?”

  “Record impressions as they happen.”

  “Why not just a handwritten notebook or journal, or a handheld recorder?”

  “I can type faster than I can write, and it’s more legible. I’ve thought about a recorder, just haven’t tried it.”

  “They’re not very expensive.”

  “I don’t care about expensive.”

  “That’s right; I forgot. How rich are you?”

  They suddenly had to split apart to make way for a half dozen people speaking oriental. When they came back together at the base of the walkway leading up to the tourist center Annie said, “That’s a personal question, isn’t it? Suppose I ask you how rich you are?”

  “Give me a break! I work at Wal-Mart and make just enough to stay out of the red. I own my Blazer outright, though.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “I’ll bet you don’t even have a student loan.”

  “You’d win the bet.”

  “And you probably own your 2007 something outright.”

  “2006.”

  “Really!”

  “I’m waiting for the oh eights.”

  “Really?”

  She looked over at him. “No. I really don’t much care what I drive anymore.” She spotted an empty bench and went over and sat down. He joined her.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hit a sensitive area.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time, seemingly content to watch people coming and going. Finally she broke the silence. “Right after Tony and I graduated—we weren’t married yet—we had gone out looking at cars; no particular reason, just something to do on a Saturday afternoon. He fell in love with a Lexis. We were both students—at least I thought he was a student—and in his mind a new vehicle of any kind was out of the question. He knew I was wealthy, but he was determined that he would support me when we married; he had such a chauvinist attitude. He didn’t have a job, and even if he did how was he going to work and attend graduate school? I decided then and there that I’d surprise him with a new Lexis for Christmas.”

  Annie pulled off her hat, wrapped her hair up into a ball, and put the hat back on. “It was only a few weeks after that that he broke the news to me that he was not returning to school, that he was joining . . . no! He was enlisting in the Marines.”

  Patrick put his hand on hers. “Annie. You don’t have to talk about it.”

  “Damn it, Patrick! Why do you guys do that? My best friend’s boyfriend . . . her fiancée, just announced that he’s joining. What is so God damned important that you have to go off and kill people, and get killed? Isn’t your life right here enough? Tony had his degree from MIT and his entire life ahead of him, and he was about to have a wife. Why did he have to throw all of it, and me, away?”

  “Can’t answer that, Annie. The only reason I joined was for something to do that made a few bucks. It wasn’t out of patriotism. Don’t get me wrong. I’m as patriot as the next guy, but it wasn’t the reason I joined. I was broke, and with only a high school education I could only find minimum wage, suck ass jobs. At least after the military I got help with college, and I saved quite a bit of money while I was in.” He caught her looking at him. He took her hand. “If I’d had someone like you, I would have had all the reason in the world not to join.”

  She pulled her hand away. “Because I’m rich?”

  “No. Because you’re beautiful. Because you’re intelligent.”

  Annie blushed and turned her attention to her backpack. “I need to call my dad. Promised myself I’d do that today since I haven’t talked to him since the day I arrived.” She pulled out the satphone and turned it on.

  “You’re not going to get a signal up here.”

  “Really!” she said and watched the readout as the phone searched for satellites. When the signal strength was reached she dialed her father’s cell phone. He picked up on the second ring. She said, “Hi, Dad,” and grinned at Patrick.

  Chapter 24

  June 9, 2007

  Robert Hair stared at the colorful artwork over the door into the lab. It wasn’t there the night before, which meant that Charles had painted it that morning. He looked at it a little closer and then touched it. It was a decal. He smiled. Personally, Robert didn’t have a problem with the art, though he had to agree that running it 40 feet down both sides of the trailer would have been a bit too much. This was okay. There hadn’t been any more discussion about it after Charles had originally brought up the idea. He just took it upon himself to do it. Robert wasn’t sure he liked that because this was a team and all decisions were discussed and voted upon. Having a maverick make a decision on his own was not good, no matter how trivial it seemed. He was, after all, an outsider, not one of the originating cofounders.

  Robert would have a talk with him on the trip out to Montana, or while waiting for Howard and Thomas to arrive with the lab. It had been decided to purchase the RV right off, and that Howard and Thomas would drive it. Charles would fly in with Robert and assist him in picking out an SUV in Kalispell. And the timetable had changed.

  Robert looked at his watch. George and Brenda Smoot, the husband and wife team who Robert had hooked up with right off, were to arrive in their rig in forty-five minutes. Howard and Thomas, in the RV, were due any minute.

  Once they had made the decision everything started falling into place. If all continued to go as planned, George and Brenda would be the other side of Minneapolis before Monday morning rush hour. Howard an
d Thomas liked that a lot, not to mention George and Brenda. Robert and Charles were scheduled to fly out Sunday morning. The only problem was they’d have only one day, Monday, to find a place to park the trailer before it arrived Tuesday morning. Fortunately George and Brenda had agreed to hang around as long as it took. They were being paid well. Why wouldn’t they?

  Robert was in the lab double-checking that everything was secure when he heard Howard’s voice.

  “That big fat son-of-a-bitch!”

  Robert walked to the door and looked at Howard and Thomas, who were staring up at the artwork. Thomas shrugged and shook his head at Robert.

  “We ought to rip it off,” Howard said, reaching up and picking at an edge.

  “Just let it go, Howard,” Robert said. “It’s not going to draw any more attention than any other slogan we see around us.”

  “I don’t like the fact that he went ahead and did it without our consent,” Thomas said. “Even if it’s not a voting matter, there is nothing we don’t keep each other informed about.”

  “This was a voting matter and he knew that it wasn’t going to pass vote, so he took it upon himself,” Howard said. “He may be my student, and he may be damned smart, but sometimes he’s . . .”

  “A kid,” Robert finished for him.

  “Exactly. His generation is going to hell. They don’t give a damn about anything except themselves. No damned respect. They think everything has to be fun. If I’d had any kids I’d probably have killed them all by now.”

  Robert placed his hand on Howard’s shoulder. “It’ll be all right, Howard.”

  “Next thing you know this entire damned thing will probably be covered with graffiti like the side a damned train car.”

  “It’s not going to go beyond this. He’s proud of what we’ve done, of his part in it and is probably a bit frustrated that he can’t brag to his friends about it. This is his way of announcing it without really announcing it. Don’t you sometimes wish you could tell someone?”

  “No. I’ve no one to tell.”

  “If you did, wouldn’t you want to tell her?”

  Howard offered a crooked smile. “Yeah. I guess I would.”

  “We’ve got a two hour layover in Salt Lake tomorrow. I’ll use that as an opportunity to a talk with him. Now, how about we go over our lists and make sure we haven’t forgotten anything.”

  Chapter 25

  June 9, 2007

  “This is the first day, Dad,” Annie said into her satphone. “It just opened this morning.”

  “Have you made any friends, yet?” Steven asked. “You’re not by yourself, are you?”

  “No. I’m here with . . .” she looked over at Patrick who was looking down at his cell phone, “a friend.”

  “That’s good. How’s the weather?”

  “It’s great. There was snow on the ground the morning after I arrived, but it melted quickly. There’s still snow up here in the park. How’s the weather there?”

  “It’s been very nice. Had some rain in the middle of the week but that’s been it since you left. What have you been doing to stay busy?”

  “Made some friends at Grizzly Ranch, Mary and Richard. They’re old like Grandfather Hair. I’ve been hanging out with them. Went boating on Flathead Lake. That was really nice.”

  “You mentioned them in the one and only email you sent.”

  “Sorry, Dad. Internet is a little spotty out here.”

  “And you’ve been busy having a good time.”

  She laughed. “You caught me. What can I say?”

  “It sounds like you have been having a good time. It’s good to hear you laugh. Do you still want me to come out next month?”

  “Of course. I can’t wait. It’ll be the perfect birthday present.”

  “Well good then. I can’t wait either. By-the-way, have you heard from Professor Grae?”

  Annie said, “No,” a bit too sharply after too much delay. “Should I have?”

  “I ran into him at the library last week. He didn’t know you were gone. Was rather upset when I told him. What exactly does he want you for?”

  “I really don’t know, Dad. I turned them down, remember?”

  “Them?”

  “Ah . . . him. Anyway, Patrick is anxious to get going so I’ll . . .”

  “Patrick?”

  “My friend, Dad. Friend. I’m not ready for anything else so just leave it at that.”

  “Sure. I look forward to meeting your friend.”

  “Right, Dad. And pigs fly.”

  “Ha ha. I’ll get the flight booked and let you know. You will check your email, won’t you?”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  When Annie got off the phone and looked up, Patrick was on his feet holding his cell phone up in the air, staring at the screen. “You’re not going to get anything, zero bars,” she said, and then was suddenly aware of someone else hovering over her. She turned to find Mary and Richard looking down at her. “Mary!” She jumped up and hugged her, and then pulled back when she realized that Mary’s returned hug felt stiff.

  “I thought you wanted to discover Glacier alone today.”

  “I did, but Patrick showed up and well . . . you remember Patrick don’t you Mary? He waited on us at Wal-Mart. Patrick, you remember Mary?”

  Mary’s face lit up as she turned to the young man. “Patrick!” Whatever stiffness she demonstrated at first, melted away. “It is so nice to see you again.”

  Patrick’s eyes opened wide. He took her hand and dropped into his thickest Irish Brogue. “You didn’t say to me, Annie, that your sister was British.”

  “You didn’t say to me, my dear, that Patrick had such a slick Irish tongue,” Mary countered.

  “I’m Richard,” Richard said, his hand outstretched to Patrick. “I’m the bloke who bodyguards this beautiful lady. I might say that I may have to become jealous and challenge you to a duel, or something, young chap.”

  Patrick accepted the hand. “You don’t happen to claim ownership of both of these ladies, do you?”

  “I am a proper English gentleman. I own only one. The other is quite pleasing to the eye as well, I might say. If you should fancy her, by all means, help yourself.”

  “Thank you so much, old chap. I can see that you are in fact a fine English gentleman. If there were a pub nearby I’d be proud to buy you a pint.”

  “Or a spot of tea.”

  “Knock it off already,” Mary cut in. “I’m thinking I’d rather you two got into a fight.”

  “We’ll duel later,” Richard said.

  “Duel!” Patrick responded. “It only proper we go at it with bare knuckles.”

  Mary grabbed Annie’s hand. “Let’s go up to the gift shop; let these two guys battle it out.”

  Annie pushed the phone into a mesh pocket on the side of her pack. “Sounds like a great idea.” She smirked at Patrick and then fell in next to Mary.

  Once out of earshot of the men, who gave the women some distance before following, Mary said, “So, tell me what happened.”

  “He just showed up; wanted to know if he’d done something wrong.”

  “What did you tell him?”

  “The truth.”

  “That he looked like Tony?”

  “Yes. It was hard, but I got through it.”

  “And now you’re having a good time.”

  “Yes and no.”

  Mary stopped, pulled Annie up short and turned her around. “What happened?” Annie opened her mouth and then closed it as Richard and Patrick caught up. Mary said, “Why don’t you guys go on ahead. We’ll catch up in a minute.”

  “Sure,” Richard said, and the two of them continued on.

  Mary put her eyes back on Annie. “So, what happened?”

  “He kissed me.” Annie expected a comment, wanted a comment, but when she didn’t get one she continued. “It was wonderful because . . .”

  “Because?”

  “I was kissing Tony.” Her own words sent her head spin
ning again. She looked around for a place to sit, but only spotted a bench with two kids playing on it. She started toward it anyway, but got only two steps before Mary grabbed her arm and guided her the rest of the way.

  “Let us have this bench, please,” Mary said to the kids. Without argument they took off toward the gift shop area. The women sat. “Tell me everything.”

  Annie did and by the time she had finished her recounting of the foot massage she was feeling better. “I’m being punished.”

  “Punished for what?”

  “For fighting with Tony the last time I saw him; for saying things that no two people who are supposed to be in love should ever say to each other. He died because of me and now he has come back to make me pay.”

  “That’s nonsense,” Mary said. “War killed him. You’re feeling guilty, yes, and because of that your own mind won’t let you enjoy another relationship.”

  “Either Tony is punishing me or I’m punishing myself,” Annie said. “It amounts to the same thing, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, I guess it does. It has been only four months. Patrick may be nice and all, but even the perfect guy isn’t perfect enough if you haven’t had time to fully put the past behind you. Tony may be gone from your life, but he is far from gone from your heart. It’s going to take time.”

  Annie shook her head. “I don’t think time is going to do it. My words are going to haunt me for the rest of my life.”

  Mary sat silent for a time before speaking. “You’ve told me that you said some very regrettable words, but you’ve never told me what they were. What did you say to him?”

  Annie opened her mouth but nothing came out. She had never told anyone; not her father; not Beth; not the counselors who her father made her go see. She couldn’t even stand repeating them in the safety of her own head. She closed her mouth and stood, lifted the pack over her head and then let the straps slide down her arms and the pack to drop comfortably onto her back. “I feel better now. You want to hike out to Hidden Lake with us?”

  Slouched in his chair, Steven looked out at the bright, spring morning, thinking about the phone call. Joining Annie for her birthday was a great idea, but . . . he sat straight up and clicked on his computer calendar. As soon as it filled the screen he advanced to July; his heart dropped. He had to be in Baltimore for a symposium. It was a five-day event in which he was one of the featured speakers, and Annie’s birthday fell right in the middle.