Journey to Yesterday

by Madeline Baker

  Shaye grinned. She remembered overhearing a tourist remark that having the stable next to the jail might be a right handy thing.

  She waited just inside the doorway while Alejandro went inside. She heard the sound of a scuffle; a short time later, Alejandro appeared leading two horses, both dark in color. It occurred to her that she probably should have mentioned that she hadn’t been on a horse since she was nine or ten and her mother took her horseback riding at the park. But there was no other alternative for a quick getaway. There were no stages leaving at three in the morning. A wagon would be too slow. She only hoped that riding a horse was like riding a bicycle, something that, once learned, was never forgotten.

  He secured her carpetbag behind the cantle of the larger horse, strapped her backpack behind the saddle of the second animal, then offered her the reins to the smaller of the two horses.

  “You can ride, can’t you?” he asked when she hesitated in taking them from him.

  “Well…” She shrugged. “I haven’t for a long time.” One thing that had been drummed into her head was that you didn’t ride in tennis shoes. You wore boots with heels to keep your feet from slipping through the stirrups.

  He muttered something that sounded like a curse, then picked her up and set her in the saddle. He quickly adjusted the stirrups, then handed her the reins. “Just hang on the best way you can,” he said, and swung effortlessly into the saddle.

  He reined his horse around and rode north, past Chinatown, past Mastretti’s Warehouse, toward Bodie Canyon, which led to Aurora, which was about seventeen miles away. Aurora was another boom town. She recalled reading in one of the books she had bought at the museum in Bodie that Mark Twain had lived in Aurora sometime in 1862, where he had held a major interest in the Wilde West mine.

  Seventeen miles over rough country on horseback. If only they could go to the parking lot and get her Rover. She thought longingly of the six-pack of cold Seven-Up waiting for her in the ice chest in the back seat along with the dark chocolate Milky Way awaiting her pleasure in a Tupperware container so it wouldn’t melt or get wet.

  Her mount followed Alejandro’s without any urging. She grabbed the saddle horn as the horse moved forward. Telling herself to relax, she tried to remember the riding lessons she had taken so many years ago. Hold the reins lightly. Sit down in the saddle, back straight but not stiff, arms bent, elbows close to her sides.

  She had always loved horses even though she was a little afraid of them. Every birthday, every Christmas, she had begged for a pony. Finally, her parents had given her riding lessons and after that, her mother had taken Shaye riding once a week. Her interest in horses had ended when she discovered boys.

  Leaning forward, she gave her horse a pat on the neck. This one seemed docile enough and had a smooth, steady gait.

  The sound of the stamp mill followed them for several miles until, gradually, it faded away. The night closed in around them, dark and quiet.

  “Are we going to stay in Aurora?” she asked.

  “No. That’s the first place a posse will look.”

  “Where will we go from there?”

  “Damned if I know. Hang on,” he said, and put his horse into an easy canter.

  Shaye grabbed the saddle horn as her horse bounded forward. It took only a few minutes to find the rhythm and she relaxed once again. She had forgotten how much she’d loved riding, although she wasn’t sure she cared for it in the dark.

  She took a deep breath in an effort to calm her fears. The horse seemed sure-footed enough, and Rio seemed to know where he was going. No doubt he’d been this way before. Still, she couldn’t help being apprehensive. Better riders than she had been injured when their horse went down.

  She thought about Daisy instead, and wondered if she had inadvertently been the reason for altering Daisy’s date with destiny, wondered if there hadn’t been something she might have done to prevent the girl’s death. Wondered, in the back of her mind, if this was all a dream that wouldn’t end. Maybe she was in a coma somewhere, and none of this was real…

  After a time, Alejandro slowed his horse to a walk again, and they rode side by side.

  “How long before they come after us?” Shaye asked.

  “Depends on whether Conner can work that gag out of his mouth and holler for help. If he can’t, we’ll get a good head start. O’Brien doesn’t come in to relieve him until after nine.”

  “What time do you think it is now?”

  He glanced up at the sky. “Right around five. You all right?”

  She smothered a yawn with her hand. “Yes. Just tired.”

  “We’ll rest a few hours in Aurora.”

  “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “We should be there in another four hours or so.”

  She groaned softly. They had only been riding for about three hours, and she was already feeling it in her back and legs.

  “Thanks, darlin’, for getting me out of there.”

  He smiled at her and she smiled back, more certain than ever that he was the reason she was here, that they had been destined to be together long before she was born, and that her journey into the past was Fate’s way, however bizarre, of bringing them together.

  When they reached Bodie Creek, they paused to rest for a short time. Alejandro helped Shaye dismount and she leaned into him, grateful for his nearness, his warmth, his strength.

  She looked up at him, and he kissed her, the touch of his lips chasing away every other thought. She was in his arms, where she belonged, and nothing else mattered.

  His arms went around her, holding her close. With a sigh, she snuggled against him, her hands locked behind his neck.

  “Dammit, Shaye,” he muttered.

  “What?”

  “Darlin’, you feel so good.”

  “Hmm, so do you.”

  He had to have her, he thought, and soon, or he’d go crazy. Even now, knowing there was no time to waste, certain Conner would come after him as soon as he was able, he was tempted to spread his saddle blanket on the ground and make love to her there and then. But she deserved better than a quick roll in the sagebrush. He wanted their first time together to be something she would never forget.

  He rested his chin on the top of her head and grinned. On sagebrush or satin sheets, she was never going to forget it, he would see to that.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It was a little after ten in the morning when they rode into Aurora. Shaye fell into Alejandro’s arms when he lifted her from the back of her horse. Her legs felt like rubber, her back ached, her shoulders ached, and she was tired. So tired she had almost fallen off her horse a time or two.

  He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him while he told the man at the livery stable to take good care of their horses and have them saddled and ready to go by five. Grabbing her valise and pack in one hand, he took her hand and they headed down Main Street.

  They stopped at the first hotel they came to. Alejandro paid for a room, asked for a tub of hot water to be sent up no later than four and then, unmindful of the young clerk’s startled gaze, swung Shaye into his arms and carried her up the narrow stairway to their room.

  After locking the door, he undressed her as if she were a child, settled her into bed, then undressed and climbed in beside her. He massaged her back and shoulders, his big hands gentle, and then he drew her into his arms.

  His kiss on the back of her neck was the last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her, and the first thing she felt as she came awake some time later.

  “What time is it?” she asked, smothering a yawn.

  “Almost four. We need to get a move on.”

  “So soon?” She rolled over, wishing his face would always be the first thing she saw when she woke up.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’, but we can’t stay any longer.”

  She sighed, knowing he was right. There could be a posse after them even now.

  The thought of Alejandro
being taken back to jail brought her fully awake. It occurred to her that if they were caught, she would probably be arrested, too. Maybe hanged alongside Alejandro. The thought made her mouth go dry. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.

  “That must be the water I asked for,” Alejandro remarked. Sliding out of bed, he went to the door and opened it. An older man and a young boy stood there, each carrying two buckets of steaming water. He stood back so they could enter the room.

  Shaye sat up, the covers pulled up to her chin. She hadn’t paid any attention to the room’s furnishings that morning. Now she saw that there was a round tub in a corner of the room. There was a pretty crockery pitcher and bowl and a couple of towels on top of the rough-hewn dresser across from the bed, a rocking chair near the room’s single window.

  The man and the boy emptied the buckets into the tub, nodded at Shaye, and left the room.

  Feeling suddenly shy, Shaye looked at Alejandro. They had kissed and come close to making love, but she wasn’t sure she was up to bathing in front of him.

  Alejandro plucked a bar of soap out of the bowl. “Want me to wash your back?”

  She glanced at the tub, a rush heat climbing up her neck and into her cheeks as she imagined his big hands spreading lather over her back and shoulders and…

  He grinned at her as he tossed the soap onto the bed. “I’ll wait for you downstairs,” he said, and left the room.

  She watched him go with mingled relief and regret; then, knowing it was important for them to be on their way, she picked up the soap and threw the covers aside. Feeling like she was doing a scene from Little House on the Prairie, she stepped into the tub and sat down, her knees practically under her chin. She didn’t know how Alejandro would fit in the tub, small as it was. The water barely came to her waist. She washed and dressed quickly, ran a brush through her hair, pulled on her shoes, and went in search of Alejandro.

  She found him in the lobby, reading a copy of the Aurora Tribune.

  Alejandro looked up and smiled when he saw Shaye coming down the stairs. Damn, he thought, but she was a pretty woman. Laying the paper aside, he stood up and walked toward her.

  “Feeling better?” he asked.

  “Much. Better hurry, before the water gets cold.”

  He nodded. Why don’t you go order us something to eat?”

  “All right.” She ran a hand over the rough bristles on his jaw.

  “Guess I need a shave.”

  She cocked her head to one side. “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of like you this way.”

  “Good, cause I left my razor in Bodie.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead.

  “What do you want to eat?”

  “Steak.”

  “Of course,” she said with a grin. “Rare.”

  “I won’t be long,” he said.

  Shaye went into the hotel dining room. It was small and crowded. She stood in the doorway, waiting, while her mind followed Alejandro upstairs. In her mind’s eye, she could see him taking off his shirt, exposing his broad shoulders and chest. Her palms tingled with the desire to touch him, to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.

  Her longing for him continued to amaze her. Never before had she felt such a strong desire for a man. She couldn’t help wondering if part of the reason her marriage to Josh had failed was due to her lack of desire for him. She had enjoyed their lovemaking, but she had never longed for it, or for him, the way she longed for Alejandro. If his kisses made her feel like this, what would it be like to make love to him?

  Warmth engulfed her at the mere idea. With a shake of her head, she hurried across the room to an empty table. She gave their order to the waitress, then sat back in her chair, her thoughts again turning to Alejandro, always Alejandro. He had moved into her mind and her heart and she was content to have him there, had been obsessed with him ever since the first time she had seen him in the jail. Had she known, even then, that they would meet? Perhaps it been her own intense longing that had propelled her into the past?

  Her heartbeat increased and she felt a familiar sense of excitement uncurl in her belly when she saw Alejandro walking toward her. Tall and broad-shouldered and sexy as all get out. No wonder every feminine eye in the place tracked his progress across the room. Toward her.

  He pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing, why?”

  “You look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”

  “I feel like one, too,” she replied tartly.

  He frowned at her. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Not really,” she said, laughing.

  “Shaye.”

  She shrugged. “I guess I’m gloating because every woman in the room would like to be where I am right now.”

  “On the run?” he asked wryly.

  “No, silly, with you.”

  He made a sound of disbelief.

  “It’s true, and you know it. Lily, Addy Mae, Lottie, all the girls at the saloon…”

  “Lottie,” he exclaimed. “Darlin’, you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

  “No, I’m not. They’re all crazy about you. Even Madam Sophie.”

  “Sophie! She’s old enough to be my mother.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Alejandro laughed. “You look mighty pretty when you’re jealous, darlin’.”

  “Good,” she retorted, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, “‘cause that’s most of the time.”

  He leaned across the table, his dark gaze intent as he took her hand in his and kissed it. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous of, Shaye.”

  It was a good thing their dinner came then, she thought, because if he’d kept looking at her like that, she would have been melted from the heat of his gaze.

  After dinner, they stopped at the mercantile where Alejandro picked out a couple of bedrolls, two canteens, a coffee pot, and a sack of coffee, as well as some other supplies. Shaye paid the bill, and then they went back to the room to collect their things. There was a moment when his gaze met hers, hot and filled with yearning, that she thought they might put off leaving for an hour or two. But then, from somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed the hour as if to remind them they had no time to waste. Alejandro swore under his breath as he grabbed her valise and their supplies and headed for the door.

  Shaye grinned as she picked up her backpack and followed him out the door. “I know just how you feel,” she muttered.

  Their horses were ready and waiting when they reached the livery. Alejandro stowed their supplies in the saddlebags, lashed their bedrolls in place, draped her back pack over one saddlehorn and her valise over the other.

  “Ready?” he asked, and when she nodded, he helped her mount, then swung effortlessly aboard his own horse.

  Shaye settled her skirts around her, then leaned forward and patted her horse’s neck. It was a pretty little thing, bay in color, with a small star on its forehead and one white sock. Alejandro’s horse was as black as the ace of spades.

  A short time later, they were riding out of town.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “There’s an outlaw hideout not far from here. I think we’ll hole up there for a day or two, then head for Frisco. We can catch a train in Carson City.”

  “Outlaw hideout!” Shaye exclaimed. “Are you kidding?”

  Alejandro grinned at her. “I know the fella who runs the place. He’ll put us up, no questions asked.”

  “But outlaws?” She was sorely afraid that real outlaws were not as humorous or easy going as the ones portrayed in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

  “It’ll be all right, darlin’, don’t worry. Calder still owes me one for saving his life a few years back.”

  Apparently she didn’t look convinced because he reached over and gave her arm a squeeze. “Trust me, darlin’, everything will be all right.”

  They rode for several hours, then stopped
to rest the horses. Alejandro loosened the saddle cinch on his horse and then Shaye’s while Shaye pulled some bread and cheese from the valise and they picnicked in the shade of a scrawny tree while the horses grazed on a patch of sparse yellow grass.

  “What else have you got in there?” Alejandro asked when she delved into the valise again.

  “Oh, some apples and candy. Some canned stuff. I’m going to have an apple. You want one?”

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  She tossed him one, took one for herself. As soon as she took a bite, her horse wandered over, snuffling softly. “Want some?” Shaye asked, then laughed as the horse plucked the apple from her hand.

  “Guess he wanted the whole thing,” Alejandro remarked.

  “Humph! I guess so.” Shaye pulled another apple from the bag. “Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, jerking her hand away as her horse lowered its head. “Go on, get! You had yours.”

  Alejandro fed his apple core to his horse, then stood up and tightened the saddle girths on both horses. Offering Shaye his hand, he pulled her to her feet, grinned when she gave her apple core to her horse.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She groaned softly. “I guess so. How much further is this place?”

  “We should get there sometime tomorrow night.” He lifted her onto the gelding’s back and handed her the reins.

  Alejandro glanced at Shaye. She was a beautiful woman, and spunky as hell, he thought admirably. He grinned at the memory of her showing up at the jail in the middle of the night, armed with that useless derringer. Were all twentieth-century women as gutsy as she was? Hard as it was to believe, he no longer doubted she had come to him from the future. How and why didn’t matter. She was here now, and she’d saved him from more than hanging. Foolish as it sounded, she had saved him from the loneliness he had felt as far back as he could remember. He had always been an outcast, an outsider, never quite fitting in anywhere, never having a place, or a woman, to call his own. Shaye had teased him about all the women in his life, and there had been a few, but nowhere near as many as she seemed to think. And yet, in spite of all the women he had known, he had never loved any of them enough to settle down. Until now.