by Diane Darcy
She walked away from them all, went to the edge of the field, and screamed her freaking lungs out.
* * *
Richard turned to see the old man staring at Melissa in wide-eyed amazement. He noted the kids weren’t even paying attention to the shrill screaming. They were used to their mother.
He glanced around once more and, feeling queasy, blew out a harsh breath. Yes, he accepted they were in the past, but it still felt unreal and unsettling. He needed to come to terms with what was happening; needed to be an anchor for the family. If he lost control, they all would. He glimpsed Jeremy’s face, shining with excitement, and smiled. Well, the girls would anyway.
Melissa’s screaming tapered off and she sank dramatically to her knees, bent over at the waist and clutched her stomach. Richard smiled. After fourteen years of marriage, she still amused him.
The old man turned to Richard. “What’s wrong with your woman? She get hurt or anything?”
Richard shook his head. “No, she’s just complicated. Excitable.”
The old man looked relieved, and he squinted and grinned slyly. “Had a horse like that once. Had to put her down.”
Richard laughed at the unexpected joke, glad to note he was feeling more settled, more like himself again. “I’ve considered that, but I don’t want to upset the kids.”
The old man snorted, and Richard couldn’t help the excitement gathering inside him. His great-great-great-great grandfather, Andrew Sullivan. In person. The very grandfather who’d served with the California Volunteers in the Civil War. A hero. Wow.
Jeremy walked over to join them as the old man continued to watch Melissa. She’d started moaning.
Jeremy followed his gaze and grinned. “Don’t worry about Mom. She’s okay. She’s just having jet lag or something. So did you have a blue moon here last night?”
The old man turned his gaze onto Jeremy. “No.”
“Oh.” Jeremy was obviously disappointed. “I thought you would have. Wait a minute. How do you know about blue moons?”
The old man grinned. “I’m seventy-one years old. You learn a lot in that amount of time. What’s jet lag?”
Jeremy’s mouth opened, closed, then he shrugged and turned away.
Jessica stepped forward. “What’s your name?”
The old man bowed slightly. “Andrew Sullivan at your service. You can call me Sully.”
Richard grinned at the confirmation.
Jessica’s eyes widened and Richard wondered if she’d realized who he was. She probably did if her grandmother had managed to sink their genealogy information into her brain as she’d done to him.
Sully leaned down. “And you are?”
Jessica eyes widened and she looked at Richard.
It was a loaded question. They couldn’t tell him the entire truth, but they could certainly introduce themselves. He stepped forward. “Richard Kendal. And this is Jessica, Jeremy, and my wife Melissa.”
Sully’s eyes squinted at Jessica. “Should I know you people?”
Richard shook his head. “We’re just down on our luck and passing through. We have no money, and no place to stay, so we slept in your field.”
The old man continued to stare at Jessica. “I’ve not met many people with eyes the color of sapphires. My son’s are, though.”
Richard nodded, excited at the information.
Sully glanced around. “Where’s your gear?”
“We don’t have anything.”
“Robbed, were ya? I figured as much when your lady had no clothes and your daughter was wearing her brother’s things.” He glanced at Jessica’s jeans. “Too bad about you’re clothes being torn up like that, but at least you weren’t hurt.”
Jessica glanced down at her torn black jeans but didn’t say anything.
Sully motioned with his gun. “Well, come on then, and I’ll get ya some vittles in your stomachs. You can bunk down at my place for a few days ‘til you get back on your feet. I’ll be glad of the company.” Sully started up the hill.
Jeremy gave Richard a startled look, then ran to the top of the hill and stared. “This is too cool!”
Jessica ran to join him. “Look, Dad! Look at that!”
Excitement pulsed through Richard, but he resisted the impulse to sprint to the top. He started up the hill then stopped and turned. “Are you coming, Melissa?”
Without looking up she shook her head.
“Honey?”
“Just leave me alone, will you?”
Richard hesitated, then, excitement building, decided to leave her for a while. He’d come back for her when she’d had time to calm down. He quickly caught up to Sully and, heart pounding, topped the hill.
There it stood. The cabin. It was newer, certainly, but still recognizable. He’d know it anywhere. A one-story structure with a window in front and a stone fireplace on one side, the exterior walls constructed of hand-hewn cottonwood logs, the chinks packed with mud. The new logs, butternut in color, gleamed white where the sun hit and the sod roof didn’t sag at all. It was amazing. Tears actually came to his eyes and he finally remembered to breathe. He cleared his throat.
Jeremy strode toward Sully. “Can I hold your gun?”
“No.”
Richard laughed and, thankfully, his emotions ebbed. He looked around, a feeling of euphoria buoying him. Granted, they shouldn’t even be here. Granted, he needed to figure this whole thing out and get his family home where they belonged. And granted, Melissa was going to freak when she realized they would have to stay in the cabin for a while. But if they had to be here anyway, he was planning to enjoy the experience. He started down the hill, anxious to see the inside of the cabin he’d been restoring.
* * *
Hunger pangs twisted Melissa’s stomach, but that was okay. She’d lay there and starve to death and no one would care; certainly not her family. They’d proved that by deserting her.
If hunger didn’t kill her off, maybe a wild animal would come by and eat her. Or perhaps Indians would scalp and murder her. What did it matter? Her life was over anyway.
Abject misery tightened her chest and crumpled her face as she lay curled over her knees. She wasn’t meant to be there; couldn’t handle this. Her legs tingled, making her aware of the lack of blood flow to the lower extremities. But why should she move? Her life was over. She would just lay there and die.
She stretched her arms out in front, over her head, palms on the ground, and wondered how she’d ended up in this situation. It was probably all Richard’s fault.
His western ways had no doubt provided the lure, and fate had sucked them back in time.
Or perhaps it was Jeremy’s fault. Hadn’t he tricked her into looking at the moon?
Or what about Jessica? She’d goaded Melissa into joining the family on the lawn. If she’d stayed on the porch, only her family would have gotten sucked back in time. She’d have been fine. She stifled any guilt she had about the thought. They would enjoy it here; she wouldn’t.
1887. She shuddered. There was no fashion industry worth anything. No Hollywood. No career. Nothing of any worth here at all. Tears flooded her eyes and she gave in to self- pity. She wanted to go home, but how could she get back? She didn’t even know how she’d arrived there in the first place.
As she lay there thinking about the moon and how it had pulled at her, fear skittered through her and she shivered, but forced herself to face facts. It was just like the bizarre guy on TV had said; the moon had pulled at her, called to her. Melissa gasped, bolted upright and tried to scramble to her feet. She fell hard, bruising her backside, her legs unable to support her. The weird guy on television had made it back home. Breathing heavily, her heart drummed and hope rushed through her. How had he gotten home? She couldn’t remember.
She straightened her legs and gritted her teeth against the pain as blood rushed back into her limbs. She needed to buck up and figure this out. They had to get home. If she left it up to Richard, they might live here forever.
What she needed was more information about how the strange man had returned. Why couldn’t she remember? She needed to talk to Jeremy, fast.
Melissa started up the hill. The long grass kept her high heels from sinking too deeply into the soft earth, but the uphill walk was still no picnic and she was fuming by the time she reached the top. Breathing heavily, she stopped to view the cabin and her lips tightened. Cabin? It was more like a hovel with its grass and dirt roof.
A thin line of smoke emerged from the stone chimney. She swallowed and tried to push back the sudden feeling of dread. It looked every bit as bad now as it had in the future when Richard had coerced her into viewing the dwelling. No doubt he was ecstatic and thought they were actually going to stay in the disgusting dump.
Staring down at the offensive structure, she vowed she wouldn’t stay the night; she’d get home today. All she had to do was find out from Jeremy how the strange man on television had returned home, then they’d do the same. Immediately. Richard wouldn’t want to go, of course, but if he chose to stay for a few days, that was fine by her.
She made her way down the hill and instantly had to dodge what looked to be some kind of animal feces. She wrinkled her nose. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
The kids ran out of the cabin and Melissa lifted a hand. “Jeremy, wait!”
“Hi, Mom.” Jeremy barely spared her a glance as he waved and ran off with Jessica in the opposite direction.
“Wait! I need to talk to you!”
Ignoring her, the twins raced to the corral on the far side of the property, jumped up on the fence, and started to pet a mangey-looking horse.
Incredulous that they would touch an unknown animal, Melissa started to rush forward to get them away from the beast, but was blocked by a goat moving into her path. A goat with horns. It bleated and cocked its head to one side, studying her, and she backed up a few paces. The kids continued to touch the filthy horse.
“Children! Stop touching that animal! Don’t touch anything!” She motioned at the goat with her hand. “Go on, leave.” The goat didn’t budge. She waggled her fingers. “Be gone.”
Keeping her gaze on the goat, she walked around it only to have a goose honk at her. She jumped away from the goose and realized she’d landed in the middle of a group of chickens. They scattered noisily, the goose chasing after them. Strangely enough, it appeared to be herding them.
From the cabin door, a huge black dog started barking at her. Overwhelmed, she shook her head. She’d thought this place was bad in the future? It was a total zoo now. When she’d almost reached the kids, they jumped off the fence and ran toward the line of trees.
Exasperated, she stopped. “Jeremy!”
He didn’t so much as turn.
“Jeremy!” She stomped a foot, and her heel sunk into muck. As she watched the kids disappear into the trees, the horse blew noisily in her direction and she flinched, almost fell, and her foot came out of her shoe and landed in mud. After she caught her balance, she wiped her foot on a tuft of grass and threaded it back into her shoe. Tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t deal with this. She really could not deal with this.
She scanned the trees, but couldn’t see the kids. She pulled her heel free and walked to a drier patch of land and stood undecided. Should she go after them? The goat ambled toward her and Melissa immediately headed for the cabin. She’d find Richard. They’d have one of those family meetings he was so fond of calling, handle this quickly, and get out of there!
Melissa walked toward the cabin’s open door. Even with the dog’s racket, she could hear male voices coming from inside. At the doorway, she hesitated, somehow feeling that if she crossed the threshold she’d get sucked in permanently.
The dog’s barking turned to growling and Melissa finally walked into the cabin, controlling the urge to kick the beast as she passed. Just let him try to bite her.
Immediately, the small room seemed to close in on her, the smell of greasy food and dirt making her dizzy. She glanced around, her eyes adjusting to the darkened interior. A small, unmade bed sat in a corner of the one room cabin next to a bookshelf packed with books. The guy could read?
There was a stove, a ladder leading to a loft, a table--obviously homemade--with a chair and a barrel pushed underneath at opposite sides. A small fire crackled in the fireplace and the floor was dirt. Of course it was.
Richard and the old man stood examining one of the interior walls. Richard was bent over, poking at the cracks and discussing...the perfect consistency for mud, of all things. How appropriate. “Richard?” He didn’t appear to hear her or even notice her presence. “Richard? If I might have a moment of your time?”
He straightened and smiled. “Hi, you doing okay?”
The old man shot her an embarrassed glance then looked away. “You look, uh, tuckered out. Are you recovered? Would you like to lie down? Maybe cover yourself with a blanket?” He gestured toward the corner.
She looked at the bed which was unmade, the sheets dirty and greasy, much like the old man himself. She shuddered. “Thank you, but no.”
“You hungry?”
Again Melissa glanced around. There seemed to be a rough- looking loaf of bread on the table, but she didn’t see any real food. Not a protein shake in sight. “I’m fine, thank you.”
The old man gazed at the table. “I’m kind of hungry myself. It’s been a long time since I had me some female cooking.”
Melissa stared. Surely the man wasn’t suggesting that she cook? She’d disabuse him of that notion in a hurry. “I don’t cook.” She shrugged. “I don’t even know how.”
A look of wide-eyed shock crossed the weatherbeaten face and he forgot to avoid looking at her. “I never heard of a female that don’t cook. You sure?”
“Positive,” Melissa took delight in informing him.
The old man scratched his head. “A women that don’t cook might be considered pretty useless.”
Melissa gave him a superior look. As if she cared what this dirty individual thought.
From the doorway, the dog started barking at her again, growling and showing his teeth.
Melissa’s jaw tightened and she closed her eyes, sucked air through her nose, then leaned down and looked the dog in its eyes. “Do not take that tone with me, or I will kick your teeth down your throat and then I will find every bone buried in this horrible place and I will grind them into nothing and then I will do the same to you!”
The dog backed down and hung his head. He let out a whimper.
“Huh.” Amazement colored the old man’s tone. “Never seen Zeke do that before.”
Melissa turned to face him. “I have a way with animals.” She stared at him pointedly, a warning.
Unexpectedly, the old man laughed, and even more unexpectedly, Melissa had to resist an answering smile. So the guy had a decent sense of humor. What of it?
“Well, I got something for you.” He walked over to a chest, opened it, pulled out a wad of material, shook it out and presented her with...the ugliest dress she’d ever seen in her life.
The designer obviously hadn’t a morsel of pride or a bit of fashion sense. Faded, patched calico that had probably started out bright red, but had faded to a washed-out burnt-orange. Mismatched buttons in the back hung on limp threads. The skirt was gathered unevenly onto the frumpy bodice. Gathers! Whoever invented them must’ve had hips the size of San Diego. Melissa shuddered.
“It should fit. My wife was tall and thin and you’re about the same size.”
Melissa gaped at him. She’d go naked first.
He laid the dress on the table, then dug back inside the trunk. “And here’s some material. Can you sew?” He sounded doubtful.
She straightened her shoulders. “Yes.”
The old man continued to look doubtful, but he nodded. “Good, you should be able to make a dress for your girl with this. If you need any help with the pattern, you could probably hire someone in town.”
Richard laughed, then quickly muffl
ed the sound with his hand.
Melissa glared at him. “Yes, Richard. This entire situation is very humourous. Why didn’t I see that myself?”
The kids ran into the cabin. Jessica’s eyes were shining. “Dad, you’ve got to see this!”
Richard grinned and winked at Melissa. “That’s my cue to leave.”
“Wait. Jeremy. I need to talk to you.” She grabbed his arm and held tight. After a moment he stopped squirming. “Richard. Family meeting. Outside, right now.”
Everyone started out the door, including the old man, and Melissa slanted him a narrow-eyed stare. “Family only.”
Richard smiled. “Well technically--”
Melissa glared.
“Um...” Richard turned to the old man. “Will you excuse us for a moment?”
The family trooped outside, and Melissa led them to a spot by the barn. They sat on a log and she stood in front of them. She brushed off her skirt, then straightened. “Okay. I believe that last night the blue moon sucked us back in time. Does anyone have a better theory?”
After a moment, everyone shook their heads.
Melissa swallowed, realizing she’d hoped they would laugh, shoot her theory down, tell her she was crazy, and come up with a reasonable alternative.
She took a deep breath. “When Jeremy and I were watching TV last night, we saw a strange man claiming to have traveled to the past. He returned home somehow. Jeremy, do you remember how?”
Jeremy shrugged. “He just said something about another blue moon bringing him back again.”
Melissa felt sick, no longer sure she wanted to ask the next question. The old man came out and joined them, fiddling with the nearby corral fence, standing close enough to listen. She didn’t care anymore. She needed answers. “How often do blue moons occur?”
Jeremy’s brows pulled together. “I already told you that last night. Weren’t you listening?”
“I don’t remember.”
Jeremy eyed her accusingly. “You never listen to me.”
Melissa ground her teeth. She didn’t need this right now.
“Jeremy, just tell me about blue moons.”
Jeremy crossed his arms and didn’t say a word.