Duster tucked the binoculars into his bag and then looked at both Jesse and Kelli. Kelli was stunned at how intense he looked right at that moment.
And Bonnie looked the same way.
“You have promised,” Duster said, “to not tell anyone about any of this you are about to see.”
Kelli nodded. “I respect my sources confidentiality.”
“And you know me,” Jesse said. “Nothing will get beyond me.”
Both Duster and Bonnie nodded. Then he glanced at Madison and Dawn who were still scanning the hills around them. “Clear?”
“Clear,” Madison said.
He and Dawn both went back to their bags and picked them up.
Duster took out a key from his pocket. It looked like an ancient skeleton key. He twisted the head once and suddenly Kelli got very, very worried.
Right beside the collapsed mine shaft what looked to be a very large rock slid back silently, and behind it a large metal door opened.
Dawn, Madison, and Bonnie stepped into the exposed chamber and the rock slid closed.
“Wow, that’s impressive way up here,” Jesse said.
“I’ll explain how it’s all powered later,” Duster said. “Grab your stuff and lets get inside.”
Kelli, still just staring at what appeared to be a massive rock, picked up her bag and stepped over next to Jesse. Duster took one more look around and then twisted the key again and the rock, silently, slid back.
“That’s just stunning,” Kelli said.
“That it is,” Jesse said as they stepped inside with Duster and the rock slid closed, plunging them into complete blackness for a two count before a door to Kelli’s right opened.
“Delay so no light escapes,” Jesse said, nodding. “Nice!”
Kelli did not much like at all where she now found herself. It was clearly the old mine tunnel in the hill behind where the entrance had collapsed, with rotting old timbers and the rails for the ore car running up the middle.
Wires ran along one wall with light bulbs that let off a faintly orange glow strung every ten paces. It gave the entire thing a golden tint.
Bonnie and Madison and Dawn were nowhere to be seen, but from what she could tell, the mine turned to the right about forty paces into the hill. More than likely they were around that way.
“Nice,” Jesse said, moving out into the mine tunnel and studying the beams. “All redone to be safe.”
“A major earthquake wouldn’t bring this tunnel down,” Duster said, heading off down the tunnel.
Jesse glanced back at Kelli. “Ever been in an old mine before?” he asked.
“Not real excited about being in one now,” Kelli said. And she wasn’t. In fact, every voice in her body was telling her to turn and run before the old beams collapsed on all of them.
But with the rock and door now closed behind her, there was no place to run.
Jesse pointed up into the shadows above one beam. “It’s been poured concrete and reinforced. The old look is to scare people and keep them out.”
“It’s working,” Kelli said.
Jesse smiled and offered his hand. “Let’s go see this great mystery.”
She took his hand and felt instantly better.
Together, they headed up the mine until Duster didn’t make the corner in the mine, but instead just walked through a side wall of the tunnel and vanished.
Both Kellie and Jesse just stopped in their tracks.
“That’s just damn mean,” Bonnie said as Duster chuckled like a ghost, his laugh echoing down the tunnel.
Kelli was getting damn tired of thinking people were ghosts. First Jesse, now the rest of them.
Suddenly Bonnie appeared from out of the wall.
“One of the many security features,” she said. “Hologram.”
She stuck her hand back into the wall.
She indicated that they should come with her.
“Close your eyes and just step forward,” Bonnie said after they got right next to the wall.
Kelli didn’t want to let go of Jesse’s hand, but she did so she could put her hand out in front of her as she closed her eyes and stepped toward what looked like a solid wall of rock.
She felt nothing and after a few steps opened her eyes and looked back.
She could see the tunnel, but not where the hologram was.
“That’s impressive,” Jesse said, glancing back. “I think I’m saying that a lot.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Bonnie said, indicating they should head for the end of the mine. There was no sign of Duster.
“Let me guess,” Kelli said, doing her best to keep her nerves under some sort of control. “Another hologram?”
“Got it in one,” Bonnie said, laughing.
Jesse and Kelli both followed Bonnie through the second fake wall and into a huge cavern full of racks and racks of period clothing and shelves full of various supplies. Lights hung from the high rock ceiling filled the place with clear light.
Madison and Dawn were standing at one table, working on unpacking their bags.
Duster was at another table seemingly doing the same thing.
Kelli looked over as Jesse stopped beside her.
“I’m starting to think they were telling us the truth,” she whispered, her voice lost in the big cavern.
All Jesse could do was nod. Clearly he was feeling the same way.
And that scared her more than she wanted to admit.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
July 15th, 2016
Above the ghost town of Silver City, Idaho
JESSE WAS FLAT impressed with all the security features to get into the big supply cavern at the end of an old gold mine. Something was here and clearly they were all prepared, with all the period costumes and period supplies to go back into time, as they had claimed.
He wasn’t convinced that was going to happen, but clearly the four of them believed it. And the fact that they did, and he respected all of them, worried him more than he was going to let himself admit at this point.
Bonnie had him and Kelli pack their modern underwear and supplies in hidden compartments of saddlebags.
“These are expensive saddlebags for 1900,” Kelli said, glancing over at Bonnie.
“We always travel as people of means,” Bonnie said.
“Makes it a ton easier, I’ll bet,” Kelli said.
“Always,” Bonnie said.
After everyone was packed, Dawn said, “Madison and I will fix us all some lunch while you show Jesse and Kelli the cavern and take them on a test run.”
With that, Dawn and Madison headed for the back of the cave where Jesse could see a modern kitchen and living area.
“Test run?” Kelli asked, glancing around.
“We’ll show you,” Bonnie said. “Slip this on.”
Jesse watched as Bonnie had Kelli slip on a period dress over her clothes. “No need to button it. It’s only in case someone sees us from a distance. We’re only going back out front.”
Jesse and Duster still wore their long coats and cowboy hats, so they would pass easily in just about any time period.
“Follow me,” Duster said.
Jesse glanced at Kelli, who was looking as worried as he felt. But they both followed Duster.
Duster went out of the main cavern into a small tunnel to a door at the back which he unlocked. Then he glanced back at them. “Do not touch the walls.”
Then he pushed the door open and went into a well-lit cavern on the other side.
Both Jesse and Kelli got about five steps before they both stopped.
It took Jesse a moment to even begin to understand a part of what he was seeing. The cavern was immense, bigger than most major football stadiums, and one part of it seemed to go off into the distance, sloping downhill.
The floor was flat and seemed to be just dirt and light gray dust. The walls were covered in quartz crystals of some sort.
They had a faint pink look and seemed to radiate power. T
hey were all sizes, from tiny ones growing in clusters to massive ones he couldn’t begin to guess size.
His mind would not accept the scale or the size. He felt like an ant.
“Never ceases to take my breath away,” Bonnie said.
Duster was standing off to one side slightly, watching Jesse and Kelli.
“Every crystal is the physical representation of a timeline,” Duster said. “When you decided to come up here with us, timelines were started off of billions of timelines. We figure this room is just the timelines closest to this timeline.”
“Where would the timeline crystals be where we did not come up here?” Kelli asked.
Jesse was impressed that she had asked an intelligent question at all. His mind was still just swirling as he looked around.
“More than likely miles and miles down in that direction somewhere,” Duster said, pointing off where the massive cavern just vanished into the distance down into the hill.
Jesse forced himself to clear his mind and look around. About twenty paces from the door, near one wall, was a wooden table with some sort of wooden box on it.
“Is that the machine that allows you to jump into the crystals?” Jesse asked, pointing to the table.
“We are in crystals now,” Duster said, nodding. “That allows us to move to another timeline from this one. Nothing more. But this timeline, this crystal we are in, is our home timeline.”
“So you are saying that the four of us are at this very moment in all these crystals?” Kelli asked.
“All having this same conversation,” Duster nodded.
He turned and headed for the table. “Come on, we’ll show you how it works. No risk at all. Just don’t touch those walls as I said.”
“Energy?” Jesse said.
Duster nodded.
Jesse and Kelli sort of followed Duster and Bonnie like two zombies, both of them doing more staring around them than paying attention to where they were walking.
When they all got near the table, Duster put on gloves, then attached a flexible clamp to one crystal on the wall that looked more like a woman’s hair band. Then he attached two wires to the band.
Then he came back over to the box and attached one wire, leaving the other wire from the crystal on the ground for the moment.
Then he adjusted a dial on the wooden box.
“How did you find this place?” Kelli asked.
“We’ll tell you all that over lunch,” Bonnie said. “For now, when we tell you, just touch the box.”
Duster picked up the wire with his gloved hand and connected it to a terminal on the side of the box. Then took his glove off.
“When I say touch, touch the box,” Duster said.
He hovered his bare hand over the wooden box and Bonnie did the same.
Jesse and Kelli did the same
“Now,” Duster said.
Jesse, at the same time as everyone else, touched the wooden box.
And not a damn thing happened.
Nothing.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
October 14th, 1878
Above Silver City, Idaho
“WHAT WENT WRONG?” Kelli asked as Bonnie and Duster stepped back and indicated that she and Jesse do the same.
She glanced around at the massive cavern full of crystals. Nothing had changed as far as she could tell. The box was still hooked up to a crystal on the wall.
“Welcome to 1878,” Duster said, turning and heading for the doorway.
“Follow him,” Bonnie said.
Kelli turned as Duster got to the big door and opened it. It had been open before. How did it get closed?
“What did he mean by 1878?” Kelli asked.
She couldn’t decide if she was just flat stunned by the huge caverns or by all the lack of information. But this was again making her slightly angry.
“Duster sat the machine for October 14th, 1878,” Bonnie said as they followed Duster down the short tunnel and back into the big supply cavern. The placed looked a little less crammed with tables and supplies than before.
And the kitchen area where Dawn and Madison had gone was dark. And looked a lot more rustic.
Duster led them back down the mine tunnel toward the entrance.
“Are you saying we are in another timeline now?” Jesse asked. “Or in our own past?”
“We are in another timeline,” Bonnie said. “But one so close to our own as to be indistinguishable. So it basically is our own past, yes.”
Kelli had no idea what to think of that, so she just said nothing, trying to control the anger she was feeling. Somehow she knew she was being duped. She just didn’t understand why or how.
They went the rest of the way down the mine tunnel in silence. Kelli decided she liked the big caverns much more than this narrow mine tunnel, even if Duster and Jesse said it was safe.
At the end, Duster showed them how to look through a big scope to see if anyone was close by.
When Kelli did, what she mostly saw was white. Which made no sense at all to her.
Duster showed them the large button on the wall on the inside that opened the big metal door and slid the rock back. Then he hit it.
The blast of cold air that smashed into Kelli damn near rocked her off her feet. Light blowing snow flew past the opening and a couple inches of snow covered the top of the mine tailings.
When they had come in here, the day was promising to be hot. This wasn’t possible.
“I think I’ll just go pull the wire,” Bonnie said. “Too damn cold for all of us out there for too long.
Duster nodded.
Bonnie stepped back as Duster and Jesse and Kelli moved out into the light blowing snow and the rock slid closed behind them silently.
The intense cold cut through Kelli instantly. She forced herself to look around as much as possible. The old cabin looked brand new and it still had windows and a stove chimney sticking out of the roof.
Duster moved carefully over toward the edge and pointed down.
Jesse took Kelli’s hand and they followed Duster.
Kelli felt strength coming from Jesse, even though he had to be feeling the same emotions she was.
When they reached the edge of the mine tailings, down through the light blowing snow they could see the town of Silver City. Only it clearly wasn’t a ghost town anymore. There were hundreds of buildings and many of them had lights on and smoke coming from the chimneys.
“Silver City is at its first peak right now,” Duster said. “A very rowdy, bustling mining town.”
Kelli knew that. And what she was looking at looked exactly like the pictures of Silver City in its prime. Only covered in inches of snow.
“So we are really in 1878?” Jesse asked.
“Yes,” Duster said. “I’ll explain how my family got this mine and how we built all those security features in this time over lunch.”
Kelli looked around, trying not to shiver so hard she would lose her grip on Jesse’s hand. Through the light snow she could see dozens of other mines and some of the shacks on the tops of the tailings had lights in them.
“We’re going to need to get inside,” Jesse said.
“We will,” Duster said. “When Bonnie pulls a wire off the machine, the connection to this timeline will be broken and we’ll return to the cavern in our own timeline.”
Kelli was about to say, “Soon, I hope.” But the words never got out of her mouth.
She found herself standing next to Bonnie and Jesse and Duster touching the wooden box on the table. Around her the massive cavern covered in crystals glowed.
But she was still shivering and colder than she could remember being in a very long time. And she had only been out there for a very short period of time.
Duster and Bonnie both stepped back and turned and headed for the open door.
“Come on,” Bonnie said, smiling at Jesse and Kelli. “Dawn and Madison will have some hot chocolate waiting.”
“Damn I hope so,” Kelli muttered as,
shivering, she followed them.
She wasn’t completely sure if the shivering was from the cold or the shock of just having traveled in time.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
July 15th, 2016
Above the ghost town of Silver City, Idaho
JESSE FELT LIKE he sort of stumbled from the crystal cavern and into the storage area and then to the modern kitchen in a back corner. He had his coat on and still felt chilled. He couldn’t imagine how Kelli was feeling.
The kitchen looked like it had been transplanted from a modern home and stuck in a back corner of a cave. A wood-like flooring, tan granite counters, wood-stained cabinets, a modern metallic stove and fridge.
The center of the area had a large wooden table with eight padded chairs around it that matched the décor. On the other side of the table from the kitchen counters was a living room like area with two large couches and a number of overstuff chairs with reading lamps.
Bathroom’s in the back,” Dawn said, pointing to a small tunnel that led off the kitchen area.
She had hot chocolate on three spots on the table and pointed to two chairs on the living room side of the table.
“Sandwiches and a salad will be ready shortly.”
Jesse really wanted to ask how they got all this into the cavern without being seen, but his mind wasn’t really working. So he just sat down where Dawn pointed, leaving on his coat, and wrapped his hands around the ceramic mug of hot chocolate.
The smell was wonderful and helped bring him back to his mind, even though it was far too warm to drink.
Bonnie tossed a bag of mini-marshmallows in front of Duster, then took her cup of hot chocolate and sat down next to him on the kitchen side.
“Did that really just happen?” Kelli asked.
Jesse was impressed. A far more logical question than he could form at the moment.
“It did,” Duster said, nodding as he put marshmallows in his mug. “We took you back into a snowstorm to not only make it clear about what happened, but to show you the town below.”
“So the picture wasn’t fake,” Jesse said, trying to grasp what had happened. “All four of us end up, at some point in the future, standing in Roosevelt in 1908.”
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