Her eyes went to the door of the cabin, then drifted to the hearth. Daniel had removed the undamaged snakehead from the fire minutes ago and taken it outside without a word. He’d never acted unsure about anything, but his hesitation about destroying the time travel device was rather unsettling. Apparently he still didn’t quite believe that she’d made her choice to stay with him.
Aside from her father, Daniel was the most self-assured man she’d ever met. He didn’t do anything without clear purpose or knowing exactly what to do. This time travel device definitely had him as shaken up as she was about it. The quicker they were rid of it, the better.
“Time to remove all doubt from both our minds,” she mumbled. “We’ll never move forward with that device around.”
Aimee slipped the dress over her head, tying it at the shoulders. Daniel would have to teach her how to make a pair of pants. The dress was nice, but she’d never been one for wearing dresses on a regular basis. Pants, or rather, britches, would be much more comfortable for daily wear. She smiled. He’d never objected to her modern hiking pants before. Hopefully, wanting to wear leather ones wasn’t going to be a problem for him.
She reached into the trunk again for the moccasins and slipped into them as well. They hugged her feet perfectly. The rabbit fur that lined the insides caressed her toes and soles, bringing instant warmth. A different kind of warmth wrapped around her heart. Daniel had made the moccasins for her after her arrival in primitive Yellowstone, when her sprained foot wouldn’t fit into her hiking boot.
Her initial appearance in the nineteenth century seemed like a lifetime ago, when Zach had promised her three months of experiencing Yellowstone in its raw and natural state. She nearly laughed out loud. Daniel had been so suspicious of her and how she’d suddenly appeared in his wilderness for the adventure of a lifetime. Her face sobered. Now the adventure was her permanent life.
Aimee reached for her nurse’s scrubs, the clothes she’d been wearing when Daniel had come back for her. Adrenaline rushed through her. She was here to stay. It was the right decision, no matter what she was giving up.
The only thing of meaning you’re giving up is your best friend. And Jana understands.
Her eyes darted to the journal that lay on the table. Two photographs - one of her parents, the other of her and Jana - were tucked between the pages. Other than these items, she hadn’t brought anything modern with her. None of the everyday conveniences she’d chosen to give up mattered in exchange for living her life two hundred years in the past, with the man she loved more than anything.
For years, especially after her parents’ deaths, she’d felt out of place in the time in which she was born. Something inexplicable had called her to Yellowstone year after year, and now to this time. It was as obvious as breathing. Her destiny was here, in the nineteenth century, with Daniel.
Aimee clutched her clothes in her hands, staring at them for several seconds. She inhaled a deep breath, then tossed them onto the low-burning fire in the hearth. Flames instantly licked at the material, eager to consume this new fuel. Her nurse’s shoes followed. They’d burn slower than the clothes, but there was no other way to get rid of them.
She stared at her old life as it went up in flames. Her heart rate increased as the material turned into an unrecognizable charred heap, not out of fear or remorse for what she’d done, but in anticipation of truly starting her new life. She caressed the soft doeskin she wore, gladly exchanging the new material for the old. She straightened, inhaled a deep breath, then opened the door of the cabin and stepped outside.
Daniel stood by the chopping block, his back to her. He swung his ax over his head, then brought it down on something on the old block of wood that had once been a large tree. His back obstructed her view, but he clearly stared at whatever was in front of him. He swung the ax a second time. It came down onto the chopping block with a dull thud.
Aimee wrapped her arms around her middle. A cold breeze swept over the valley, sending a rush through the tops of some of the nearby lodgepoles, along with a shiver down her spine. The sound of the Firehole River joined the wind as it tumbled out of the Firehole Canyon into the valley. These sounds had become as familiar as cars speeding down a busy road, or the beeping of medical instruments and overworked nurses rushing down the halls of the ER.
Emergency and trauma medicine had fed her need for excitement and her constant search for adventure, as had the annual backpacking trips into the wilderness. Aimee smiled. Her mother would be proud of her. Kayla Donovan had always encouraged her to follow her passions. She stared at Daniel’s broad back.
“I think you’d be proud of me, Mom. And I think you and Dad would approve of the man I found to spend my life with.”
She sniffed and wiped her hand under her nose, and blinked several times. A soft laugh escaped her lips. “Not sure about what you would think about my choice of century to live in, but something tells me you would have given the okay.” Somehow it seemed as if her parents had prepared her for just such a life for as long as she could remember.
Daniel turned to look at her at that moment. Clearly, his sharp hearing had honed in on her whispered words to her mom. To the casual observer, the expression on his face hadn’t changed, but there was a clear gleam of appreciation in his eyes as they traveled over her, lingering on the dress and the moccasins.
Aimee joined him by the chopping block. She raised her head to meet his stare. Daniel had no problem holding her captive with those dark eyes. His hand reached for her cheek, his rough and calloused fingers gentle against her skin.
“What of your other clothes?”
Aimee shook her head, still drowning in the depths of his gaze. “I burned them,” she whispered.
Daniel’s deep stare intensified with her words. She swayed toward him, her hand covering his heart.
“I live here now, not in the future.” She blinked in an effort to break the magnetic eye contact. “But I would like a new pair of britches, made from elk hide.”
The corners of Daniel’s eyes twitched. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then he nodded. The hard line of his lips eased into a faint smile. “I’ve always liked you better in britches.” He pulled her into his arms and the deep stare was back. Something other than her clothing was on his mind.
“The device cannot be destroyed,” he finally said.
Aimee’s forehead furrowed. She leaned away from him and shook her head.
“It has to be destroyed, Daniel. We agreed we can’t keep it. It’s going to –”
“It’s going to dull my ax blade,” Daniel interrupted, holding a finger to her lips to quiet her.
Aimee’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?” Her voice was muffled against his finger still keeping her lips closed. She brushed his hand aside, then repeated the question.
Daniel eased away from her, nudging with his chin at the dark snakehead-shaped object sitting on the chopping block. The eyes seemed to gleam triumphantly in the sunlight.
“The blade of my ax won’t go through the wood, or whatever material this thing is made of. I’ve tried several times.”
“It didn’t burn, and you can’t break it, either?” Aimee’s eyes darted from him to the device. A renewed shiver raced down her spine. “How else are we going to destroy it?”
“Perhaps it can’t be destroyed. My father told me he kept it buried for many years.”
Aimee gripped his arm. She shook her head. “That’s too risky. The temptation to use it again would be too great. That’s exactly what happened to Zach, remember?”
Daniel stared off into the distance for a moment. “He used it to seek treatment for an illness.”
Aimee reached her hand up to touch her husband’s cheek. She leaned closer to bring his attention back to her. “Yes, but if I do the same thing every time I need some modern medicine or tool, I won’t really be living in this time, will I?”
Daniel pulled her back into his embrace, smiling. “You are Dosa Haiwi, a p
owerful puhagand among the Sheepeaters. Word has already spread to other clans that you possess powerful healing medicine.”
Aimee frowned. Her lips tightened in a firm line. Without her medical kit that she’d brought to the past the first time, she couldn’t heal anyone. “I never asked for that title. I did what I knew to do to save Elk Runner and that little boy, but I had modern tools and medicine at the time.”
Daniel leaned forward until only inches separated their faces. His palm cradled her cheek, tilting her head so she had to look at him. “You have knowledge of medicine and skills that no one else in this time has. I watched you breathe life back into a young boy who crossed into the spirit world, and you had none of your modern medicine at the time.”
His thumb stroked slowly across her lips. “You will learn how to do all the other things without the medicine from the future. I believe you would have saved Elk Runner’s life as well, simply with your knowledge of what to do, not because you had tools from the future at your disposal.”
Daniel lowered his head and kissed her. Aimee melted against him. His words sounded so sure and convincing. Could she really continue using her medical training to help the people in this time, even without her modern instruments?
“You are not only a gift sent to me, gediki, but you are also a gift to the people in this time,” Daniel whispered against her cheek. His warm breath along her neck sent a tingle of delight through her. She leaned away from him, smiling up into his serious face.
“You think I should use my modern knowledge to treat sick people in this time?”
Daniel’s arm instantly tightened around her waist, drawing her fully up against him. “A puhagand is obligated to help others, but I share you with no one. I will allow you to use your healing knowledge, but that’s as far as I’m willing to let you go.”
Aimee’s arms wrapped around his neck. Her face brightened in a grin.
“Watch it, Daniel. A modern girl might misunderstand your words.”
Daniel’s words could have been misinterpreted as overbearing and controlling. She’d made that mistake before, thinking he’d been trying to dictate to her what she could and couldn’t do.
Communicating had been a challenge between them at the start. No doubt there would be more hurdles to leap until the gap between her modern language and his archaic-sounding phrases disappeared, but they understood each other despite the two-hundred-year rift in their choice of words and phrases.
Aimee leaned up to kiss his lips. “I love you, too, Daniel,” she murmured to let him know she’d understood the meaning of his words.
She drew away, then glanced at the time travel device that sat on the chopping block, its red stones gleaming even brighter, as if it was watching and listening. She shook off the strange feeling.
“There are lots of plants that have medicinal properties. Combined with some modern techniques and procedures I’m familiar with, I can still help people,” she rambled. “But, I think it would have severe consequences if I brought things from the future. That’s why we have to figure out how to destroy that device. It was bad enough that I used modern medicine on Elk Runner’s injury.”
Daniel chuckled. “The day you saved my brother’s life convinced him beyond a doubt that you had been sent by the Sky People. You will not be able to convince anyone of the clan otherwise. Like me, they’ve seen you bring a young boy back from death, and you saved Elk Runner from an agonizing death, as well.”
Aimee sighed. “If the Sheepeaters or anyone else want to believe that I was blessed by the spirits, then I’ll just have to go along with it.”
Her face brightened in a smile. “Maybe I can talk to the medicine man and ask him about his knowledge with healing plants. You might be right about not needing modern tools to treat people in this time. Some things I can make from material found here. Obsidian for instance. There’s an abundance of it here, right? It’s so sharp, it’s better than modern surgical blades. And suture material. I can make that, too.”
The indulgent smile on Daniel’s face was enough to curb her sudden excitement. He clearly didn’t understand her words, but showed his quiet support for her enthusiasm.
She eyed the snakehead. “As far as getting rid of that device for good, I think I may have an idea.”
Chapter Four
Droplets of mud splashed her face, but she ran on. Aimee’s breath swirled in front of her and the cold October wind sliced like tiny knife blades into the skin on her cheeks. She shot a hasty look over her shoulder, then redoubled her efforts. Gritting her teeth, she ran faster, stumbling up a steep incline. She clawed at the low-hanging branches of several evergreens to keep from falling and to pull herself up the slope. Loose soil, moist and heavy from the recent rainstorm, impeded her efforts even more.
“Good thing for improvised britches,” she huffed, breathing hard.
Her hand went to the thick belt encircling her waist and tugged the britches she wore further up. Running through dense forest and thick grassland would have been impossible in the one and only dress she currently owned. She’d cut off an old pair of Zach’s britches to fit her small stature, and held them up with a wide piece of leather tied around her waist. It would have to do for now, but there was no time to think about clothes at the moment. Right now, adrenaline was the only thing that kept her going. She must have covered five miles at this point.
Months ago, she’d mentioned to Daniel that she ran for fun back in the twenty-first century. He’d been completely confused at the time. The idea of running to keep fit had been too much for him to comprehend. In this time, a person ran for survival, a fact which was becoming clearer with each agonizing step she took. It also became clear that lack of exercise after her return to the future was taking its toll on her now.
Breathing hard, she scrambled to the top of the rise, stumbling once over a protruding tree root. Cursing under her breath, Aimee pushed her palms against the damp earth and dug into her final reserves to make it to the top of the hill. If she wasn’t mistaken, she’d reach a narrow channel of water that flowed into the Gibbon River just beyond the rise where the forest opened up. Or was it further to the west?
Once she reached the top of the steep incline, Aimee slowed her strides to get her bearings. The late afternoon sun blinded her momentarily, and she held her hand to her forehead to shade her eyes. Her mouth was dry from exertion, and her chest heaved. Her heart pounded furiously. How far was she from the Madison Valley?
She glanced over her shoulder one more time. All seemed quiet behind her. Aimee broke a twig from one of the trees to her left to confuse her pursuer, inhaled a deep breath, then took off running down the slope heading to the right and through the tree line toward the meadow that stretched out before her. In the distance to the east, a tall mountain rose into the sky, towering over the others. Aimee smiled. Mount Holmes had come to her aid before when she’d been lost.
A thin ribbon of water shimmered a brilliant white several hundred yards ahead, reflecting the light from the sun. Plumes of steam rose between tall lodgepoles in the distance.
Monument Geyser Basin
Aimee veered toward the water. The geysers weren’t her destination. She hesitated. Heading toward the geyser basin might be the less obvious course, but it would also be risky to navigate her way over the brittle ground. Following the creek was a more direct way to get to the river. She continued toward the creek.
“I could sure use my sunglasses right about now,” she mumbled while heading toward the water. She shook her head. It was simply another minor item of convenience from the twenty-first century that she’d have to get used to living without.
Heavy rains last night had transformed the meadow into a swampland, just as it had done on the other side of the rise. Running through the wet marsh would conceal her course better than if she remained in the trees and on the slope. Even her untrained eye could have followed the tracks she’d left behind while scrambling up the hill. Her situation at the moment was h
opeless.
She splashed through the creek, leapt up the bank on the other side, then came to a stop. Slowly, she backed up, careful to step into the footprints she’d made, until she reached the water again. She nearly laughed out loud at her desperate attempt to conceal her footprints.
“There’s no way this will fool anyone, but it might buy me some time.”
She stepped back into the water, then pushed forward through the stream for at least fifty yards before scrambling back onto the damp ground along the creek’s bank. The frigid water had soaked through her moccasins, making her toes numb.
Sinking in the deep marsh, Aimee trudged forward. All she had to do was follow the creek and she’d reach the wider Gibbon River. From there, she’d find her way back to the Madison Valley and the safety of the cabin.
An overwhelming sense of déjà vu hit her. She’d covered this route before. Only this time, she wasn’t going to get caught hanging from a ledge after surprising a grizzly at its kill. Following the creek out of the meadow and into the trees, she slowed her pace.
Her moccasins were heavy with water and mud, as were the britches she wore. It was time to make some decent clothing that fit better . . . if she made it back to the cabin in one piece.
Aimee slowed to a walk once she reached the trees. She ducked behind a dense grouping of young lodgepoles and stopped to catch her breath. Leaning forward, she rested her hands against her thighs.
“I have to get back in shape,” she gasped, swiping at the perspiration on her forehead.
Swallowing in an effort to ease the burning sensation in her throat, she straightened. She had to keep moving. Pushing strands of hair out of her face, she peered around her hiding place to scan the trees. It was either head back toward the meadow and the creek, or go through the trees, where the likelihood of being seen wasn’t as great. It also meant she could easily lose her way.
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