A DISTANT ECHO, PART FIVE: WESTERN TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE

by Bobby Hutchinson

  “You’d have to have permission before Jackson or I would let you even try, Eli.”

  “Shit!” The expletive was explosive. “No matter what I want to do, there’s some reason why I can’t do it. I feel just like a prisoner, like I’m in jail or somethin’.”

  “Your family cares about you.” Tom’s voice was sharp. “You should be glad they take an interest in what you do with your life.”

  “Yeah, well, Zelda doesn’t seem to realize it is my life.”

  Tom didn’t reply. There didn’t seem to be anything he could say to Eli that would ease his frustration, and he’d given the boy his word that he wouldn’t tell Zelda.

  Talking to Zelda about her brother didn’t solve a damned thing anyway. Each time the subject arose, it seemed to precipitate a quarrel between them, and the last thing he wanted was to quarrel with her. He was all too aware that the time they had left to spend together was growing shorter with each passing day.

  Maybe he’d have a talk with Jackson about Eli. Jackson cared about the kid. Maybe together they could figure out a way to keep him out of trouble.

  CHAPTER FIVE.

  “Tom, old buddy, long time no see.”

  A week after the fishing trip, Jackson was waiting when Tom came out of the washhouse. He’d just worked the night shift at the mine, and he blinked like an owl in the brilliant sunlight.

  “You wanna grab some breakfast over at the hotel? I need to talk.”

  “Sounds good. I’ve got some things I want to hash over with you, too.”

  The table Jackson chose was in a private corner, reserved for hotel staff. Tom cradled the steaming mug of coffee between his palms, squinting at this friend. The bone-deep tiredness that came after working a ten-hour shift underground was creeping over him.

  He’d listen to what Jackson had to say first, he decided. That would give him a chance to eat and maybe wake up a little. Then he’d bring up the subject of Eli.

  “So what’s shakin’, partner? Leona’s okay?”

  Jackson grinned and gave him a mock salute with his cup. “Damn, it’s good to hear you use new-fashioned slang. If we ever get back home, I’m gonna have to take a crash course. Leona’s in the best of health, gettin’ a nice round belly on her. She sends her regards.” He waited until their heaping plates were in front of them and the waiter had moved away.

  Tom turned his attention to the flapjacks and bacon and eggs on his plate, pouring syrup over everything and attacking it with honest hunger.

  “I want you to refresh my memory on that gold shipment, Tom.”

  “Gold shipment?” Tom frowned, his tired brain unable to make the connection.

  “That damned gold shipment that landed us here in the first place. The Klondike gold that was stolen and buried somewhere here.” Jackson sounded impatient. “Fill me in on all the details again, okay?”

  Tom chewed a mouthful and swallowed, washing it down with coffee. “It was the last of the large gold shipments out of the Klondike,” he recalled. “It arrived in Vancouver in mid-April, 1903.” He shook his head and gave Jackson a wry grin. “Two weeks from now,” he amended. “It’ll be fired into gold bars, and secretly shipped via Canadian Pacific Railway across the country to be deposited in the Eastern banks.” It was strange to think that the events hadn’t happened yet.

  “The research I did showed that three men ambush the train in a narrow canyon just west of here.” Tom took another hefty swig from his cup. It was confusing, trying to tell the story in the present tense. He decided to tell it the way he remembered it best, as if it had already happened.

  “One of the guards recognized the leader of the gang, identifying him as our friend, Bill Miner. The other man was Lewis Schraeger, and the third remained unidentified. As you know, Bill, better known as the Grey Fox, because of his ability to slip away from the law, was wanted on both sides of the border for similar robberies. The police discovered later that Miner had lived quietly right here in Frank for some time, using the alias of George Edwards, working as a land surveyor.”

  “He actually does work as a surveyor, y’know. He’s good at it too,” Jackson commented. “Says some dude in San Quentin taught him the trade. Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

  “No problem.” Tom took up the story again. “The night they took the gold, Turtle Mountain did its thing, and the authorities concluded that Miner and the unidentified third man must have died in the avalanche, because they were never seen or heard from again. Lewis Schraeger was eventually arrested in Montana for cattle rustling and charged with the murder of a rancher. He was sentenced to twenty years in San Quentin, questioned numerous times about the train robbery, and offered a lesser sentence if he told what he knew. But although he admitted knowing Bill Miner, he refused to talk about the robbery or the location of the hidden gold. He had TB, Dr. Lawrence attended him, and the minute Schraeger was cold, Lawrence left the prison service and came here to Frank.”

  “But Lawrence never located the stuff?”

  Tom shook his head. “I’d hoped those diaries Evelyn Lawrence had would shed some light on the whole thing, but…” He glanced around and shrugged. “You know the rest. We ended up here, doing field research instead.”

  Jackson rested his elbows on the table, his face animated. “I’ve figgered out why Lawrence never found the damned gold, Tom.”

  “Lay it on me then.” Tom yawned and signaled the waiter for another coffee refill. “But you better make it quick. I’m going home to bed in another five minutes. I’m beat.” He nodded his thanks to the waiter and sipped the strong brew.

  Jackson waited impatiently until they were alone again. “Lawrence couldn’t find it because the gold was gone.” He paused, his voice filled with excitement. “Don’t you get it? We knew where it was, and we either dug it up the minute we got back to our own time, or we took it with us here and used it as a grubstake to finance a new business for ourselves. But my money’s on us gettin’ back to the future and diggin’ it up.”

  Tom shook his head. “You’ve lost me. How could we do either?”

  “Easy. It makes perfect sense. It came to me when I was havin’ a game of cards with Miner last night after the saloon closed. Leona asked me if she could tell him about us, about the robbery and the Slide and all, and I couldn’t see any harm in it. I was there when she did, but the peculiar thing was that Bill didn’t seem to know diddly about that Klondike shipment. Never heard of it until Leona told him, insisted he doesn’t have any contacts anymore on the railway. He’s been fixin’ to retire, plannin’ on takin’ a boat to Europe next summer. Leona was gonna go with him till I came along. He even talked Schraeger into takin’ a job on some ranch out in the valley. That’s why we haven’t seen him around. Leona says Schraeger’s dumb as a stump. Bill has all he can do to keep him out of trouble.”

  “So what?” Tom was weary. All he could think of was getting back to the house and collapsing into a bed for a few hours. “Bill probably heard about the shipment at the last minute and changed his mind about retiring. Who knows how it happened? It did, which is all that matters.”

  “I know. Just calm yourself a minute and I’ll explain. Like I said, we got talkin’ about it last night, him and me. I get along real good with old Bill. He’s a true gentleman. Anyhow, he asked all sorts of things about this robbery he was supposed to have pulled off, the exact time and place, the way he stopped the train. You know any of the exact details, Tom?”

  “Quite a few, I guess. I found copies of the reports the guards made of the robbery, and there were references to it in other material I had.”

  “You’d be able to write them out, maybe, if Bill needed them?”

  “I expect so.”

  “Because he’s gonna do it, Tom. He’s one of the few guys around who absolutely believes me when I tell him about the Slide and all, and how we got here. He’s horrified at the idea of the mountain burying half the town, but like he says, apart from trying to warn folks, there’s not a w
hole hell of a lot we can do to prevent it. So we might as well take advantage of it and do the robbery. Nobody got killed or anything during that heist, did they?”

  Tom shook his head. “Not that I read about, but you’ve got to remember, a lot of the details were pretty sketchy. There wasn’t exactly video coverage of the whole thing.” He frowned as the import of Jackson’s words sank in. “What do you mean, we might as well take advantage?”

  Jackson met Tom’s eyes, his gaze deceptively mild. “That’s what I’ve been tryin’ to tell you, Tom. I’m goin’ along with him. Bill Miner, me, and Schraeger. We’re gonna rob the damned train and split the take. When I bury my share, we’ll know exactly where to look, you and I, either back in our own time, or if worse comes to worst and we’re stuck here… Well, hell, in the confusion after the Slide, we can just leave town, all of us, you and Zelda, me and Leona. We’ll use our share to break free from this damned place, Tommy.”

  All of a sudden Tom was wide awake. “God Almighty! Have you lost your mind? Train robberies are a criminal offense. You could end up in San Quentin right along with Schraeger. Or get yourself shot. That shipment is under armed guard.”

  “Wake up and smell the gold, partner.” Jackson gave him a withering look. “You know that didn’t happen. You just told me the exact way the whole robbery went down. Smooth as cream, nobody hurt, good guys get away with the loot, bad guys get to talk to the Feds, the whole shipment insured, everybody’s satisfied. It’s not as if you and I haven’t operated outside the law before, Tommy, m’boy. Remember those undercover jobs for the good old U.S. of A.? They weren’t exactly what I’d call Boy Scouting. We knew damned well if we got caught, we’d probably do jail time in some stinkin’ foreign prison, and our own government wouldn’t lift a finger to defend us, because what we were doing was highly illegal. If you ask me, this is one whole hell of a lot cleaner than that stuff was.”

  Tom couldn’t disagree, but neither could he approve of what Jackson was planning. “Does Leona know about this, that you’re planning on going along on a robbery?”

  “Not yet,” Jackson smile was grim. “But, believe me, there’s not a whole lot she’s gonna be able to say about it.” He rested his forearms on the table and leaned forward. “Tom, don’t get all moral on me here. This is our one big chance to break free, whatever goes down the night of the Slide. If we get to travel back, then hot dog, we know where the gold is. If we stay on this ass end of the century, we clear out of this burg, travel the world again, watching out for opportunity, just the way we did before.”

  Jackson slumped back in his chair. “I’m sick to death of slingin’ booze, and you can’t tell me you really want to spend your life workin’ your guts out with a pick and shovel in a coal mine, either.” He raised his hands, palms up. “Far as I can figger, this is our one chance at somethin’ better. You’re the man who always said money’s what really matters when the chips are down. Don’t you remember your theme song, ‘I’ve been rich, and I’ve been poor, and rich is better?”

  He grinned, the exuberant, wicked grin that made him look both charming and dangerous. “You write down every single detail you can remember about the robbery and the gold shipment, and after we study it, I’ll go play cops and robbers with Bill the Gentleman Bandit.” He winked. “Technically, how the devil could I rob a train in 1903 when I wasn’t even born till near the end of the ceontury? Way I figger it, if we get back the way we plan, we’re gonna make a mint on movie rights for this whole caper.”

  “You can’t even ride a horse.” Tom knew it was a ridiculous objection, but none of the rational ones had worked on Jackson.

  “I’m about to learn. Bill’s got a couple of extra saddle horses. He’s gonna teach me. And he’s got a nice little side arm I can borrow as well. I may not be able to ride, but I’m one hell of a good shot, you got to admit.”

  “You’ve lost your mind. This is the screwiest idea I’ve ever heard.”

  “You got a better one that’ll get us some dough?”

  Tom didn’t. Ever since they’d arrived, both he and Jackson had racked their brains to find a grubstake. But the old adage was as true now as it had been in his time. It took money to make money. All the same, this idea was insane.

  “Finding lost treasure is one thing. Deliberately stealing it is another. Forget it, Jackson. If we get back, we’ve got enough assets without the damned gold.”

  “And if we don’t---which you’ve got to admit is pretty likely---then what, Einstein? We’ll have missed our only shot at living the rest of our natural lives in any sort of comfort.” Jackson’s jaw was set, and the usual easy humor in his voice was missing. “I’m set on this, Tom, so stop tryin’ to change my mind for me.”

  Tom lost his temper. “No chance of that! You’re so damned stubborn you’d never listen to reason, anyhow.” He got to his feet and slapped money down to cover his breakfast. “I’m going home to bed.” He walked out of the hotel, acutely aware that for the first time in all their years together, he and Jackson had just had a serious quarrel.

  And he’d never even gotten around to mentioning the problem of Eli, either.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Zelda’s whole body was trembling, her hands most of all. Tears of fury and impotent frustration trickled down her cheeks as she lifted the mug of cold tea, spilling some on the tablecloth before she got it as far as her mouth.

  The table was littered with the congealed remains of the breakfast she’d cooked. No one had eaten the eggs or oatmeal or bacon; Tom still hadn’t come home after his night shift and she and her brother had fought bitterly while the food grew cold.

  The kitchen was empty now, but it still seemed to echo with the angry words she and Eli had just hurled at one another. There was no sound from her father’s room upstairs. He’d come down during the worst of the quarrel, and when Eli had slammed out of the house, he’d made his way back up to his bedroom, coughing all the way.

  “Morning, Zel.” The kitchen door opened and Tom came in, hanging his coat on a peg and setting his lunch pail on the counter. “Sorry about breakfast. I had some with Jackson at the hotel.”

  She set her cup down and folded her hands in her lap to stop their trembling.

  Be calm, she warned herself. Don’t accuse. Be reasonable. Ask. It might just be Eli, making it sound as if Tom had betrayed her trust.

  “I suppose the two of you are making plans, now that April’s almost here.” Despite her good intentions, it came out sounding accusatory.

  “Yeah, something like that.” Tom found a mug and poured tea into it, adding cream and sugar and slumping into a chair across the table from her as he stirred it. “Time’s getting on, all right.”

  “Did Eli happen to mention that he’s planning on going with you?” She cleared her throat. “The night of the Slide?” She did her best to control her voice, but it trembled. “He wants to try and go along with you, he says.”

  “Yeah, as a matter of fact, he did tell me that.” Tom lifted the mug and drank. “I’d have said something to you about it, but he asked me not to.”

  So he had known, just as Eli said. Hurt and anger knotted into an ugly ball in her middle, and she pressed her hands against her abdomen. “Were you and Jackson planning to leave me a note perhaps?” Pain made her sarcasm vicious. “Thanks for everything, Zelda, and oh, yes, before I forget, I’ve taken your brother with me?”

  “You know I wouldn’t do that.” He sounded exasperated.

  “I don’t know anything of the kind.” She glared across at him, choosing to ignore the weariness on his face, the dejected slump of his shoulders. “I do know that from the very beginning, you and Jackson have filled my brother’s head with---with these preposterous stories about this wonderful place you come from. All along, you’ve lured him into wanting to visit this---this utopia.” Her anger was getting the better of her, and her voice was rising. “How could any boy Eli’s age resist the temptation to go along with you when you spin such tales and enco
urage him to be irresponsible about his schooling?”

  Tom set his cup down with a bang. “Let’s get one thing straight here, Zelda. Neither Jackson nor I have ever tried to talk Eli into coming with us. And I told him he’d have to have permission from you and your father before I’d even consider such a thing.”

  “And I suppose you’ve never encouraged him either in this foolishness about running off to become a bugler at some forsaken Mounted Police post?”

  “He mentioned that to me, too. Actually, I didn’t think it was such a bad idea.”

  “Not a bad idea?” Zelda felt impotent rage building inside her at his callous attitude. “Eli’s a sixteen-year-old child, Tom. He has the opportunity to make something of himself if he’d only buckle down and finish his education. You knew that he’d quit school, too, didn’t you?”

  He met her eyes, and he didn’t have to say a word. She read the answer in his expression.

  “How could you not tell me?” Her voice was steady, but it felt as if something were breaking apart in her chest. “How could you know such a thing and not do something about it?”

  Tom shook his head, rubbing his hand through his hair. “He told me in confidence, Zel. I’ve been racking my brain to figure out what to do about it.”

  “Well, you needn’t trouble yourself any longer. He won’t be pestering you to join your little party at the end of April, either. Dad signed the consent form this morning so Eli could go and work at the Mounted Police barracks as a stable boy.”

  She set the cup she was still holding down with such force that it broke. Tea spilled across the cloth and dripped to the floor, and she ignored it, clutching her hands to steady their trembling.

  “So after all the dreams I had for him, my brother’s going to end up an ignorant, uneducated, bumptious lawman.”

  He gave her a long, steady look. “There are worse things for a young man, Zel. The North West Mounted will become one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the world during the next decade. If Eli wants to join them, he’ll end up having an exciting career.”