Shadows Through Time

by Madeline Baker

  Drawing her into his arms, he said, “I can’t make that decision for you, sweetheart.”

  “I know.” If only he would beg her to stay, tell her he couldn’t live without her, but that wouldn’t be fair. This was something she had to decide for herself. She knew how he felt about her, he knew how she felt about him.

  The decision would have to be hers. But he wasn’t above pressing his case, she thought, as he lifted her into his arms and carried her to their lodge where his every kiss and every caress was a silent plea for her to forget the world she had left behind and stay in his world, with him.

  * * * * *

  The days flew by on winged feet and, all too soon, it was time for Kelsey, Reese and Papa Joe to begin the journey back to Grant’s Crossing.

  It was a tearful farewell.

  Angelina clung to Kelsey. “I’ll never see you again, will I?”

  Fighting back tears of her own, Kelsey said, “Probably not. Be happy, Angie. Take good care of Hehaka Luta. He loves you very much.”

  “Promise me you’ll come and see us if you ever…” Angie sniffed back her tears. “If you ever come here again.”

  “I will, you know I will.”

  Angie hugged Reese and Papa Joe, then retreated to her husband’s arms while Hantaywee said her goodbyes.

  “It was so nice to see you again,” Kelsey said, giving the old woman a hug. “Thank you for everything.”

  Hantaywee patted Kelsey’s arm. “Thank you for bringing Tashunka Kangi home. Because of you, old hurts have faded, though new ones may come to take their place.”

  Kelsey nodded. Reese’s heartache at Chumani’s loss seemed to have healed. She didn’t have to ask who would be the cause of any new grief in his life. Though he hadn’t said so in words, she knew he would grieve for her when she returned home.

  Hantaywee drew Reese into her arms and held him tenderly. “She is meant to be yours,” she murmured, for his ears alone. “In this time or another, you are meant to be together.”

  Stepping back, the old woman smiled at each of them. “I will pray that Wakan Tanka will bless you with a safe journey.”

  There was nothing more to say. Reese lifted Kelsey onto the back of her horse, then swung into the saddle of his own mount and rode out of the village.

  It surprised him that he was sorry to leave. Even though he was still considered an outcast, the Lakota were his people, the land itself was a part of him. The scent and smells and sounds of the village were in his blood.

  He would take Kelsey back to Grant’s Crossing and then he would come back here. When Chumani died, he had turned his back on who and what he was and sought solace among strangers. He would not make that mistake again. If Kelsey returned to her own time, he would return to the land of the Black Hills and the red-tailed hawk.

  Back where he belonged.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Kelsey couldn’t shake off her sadness as they left the Lakota village behind. She had grown to love Angelina and she knew she would miss the girl in the days to come and that she would think of Angie often when she was back home where she belonged. She was anxious to see her parents and her brothers and sisters and all their kids, anxious to see Nana Mary’s face when Nana was reunited with Papa Joe.

  Kelsey smiled inwardly, thinking of the fun it would be to recount her adventures in the Old West, to tease Nana Mary for keeping Papa Joe’s trips to the past a secret. He wouldn’t have to keep it a secret now. No one in the family would think he was losing his mind, not when he had Kelsey to back up his story. Maybe one day they could all take a trip back in time, just for the day. She realized now that the reason she had never found the portal was that she had stepped through it only moments before it closed for the duration.

  She was going home. Back to her job, if she still had one, and the excitement and satisfaction of closing a multimillion dollar deal. Back to hurried lunches and quick shopping trips. Back to her cell phone and her microwave. Back to movies and television and spending a quiet evening curled up in her favorite chair, listening to country music on her iPod. Back to shopping malls and all-night grocery stores. Back to her new car and her Jacuzzi. Back to high gas prices and crowded freeways, air pollution and wars in the Middle East, property tax and income tax.

  She shook her head. You had to take the bad with the good. And as much as she had enjoyed being here, in the past, she missed the life she knew.

  “You all right?” Reese asked, riding up beside her.

  “What? Oh, yes, I’m fine,” she said, fighting the urge to cry.

  “I guess you’re anxious to go back home.”

  She nodded, unable to speak past the lump in her throat.

  “We had some good times.”

  “Yes.”

  He blew out a sigh, thinking he had best change the subject. It would take them a few days to get back to Grant’s Crossing. Plenty of time for goodbyes when the time came.

  “Should you be going back to Grant’s Crossing with us?” Kelsey asked. “I mean, you’re a wanted man there.”

  “Don’t worry, once I see you safely to town, I’ll be moving on.” The thought of her going back to her own time was like a knife in his gut, a knife that twisted a little deeper every time he thought about it.

  “Oh. Where will you go?”

  “Back to my people. Hantaywee is growing old, she needs someone to look after her.”

  Kelsey nodded. The thought that he would be with his own people, with someone who loved him, made her feel a little better.

  Several times on the long ride back to Grant’s Crossing, Reese thought about asking Kelsey to stay, but she didn’t belong here, would never be happy here, trapped in the past. Her life was in the future. She had family there, friends, a home.

  What if he went with her to the future? He had considered it before but always dismissed it as a foolish notion. What would he do in the future? Her world was as alien to him as his was to her.

  He grunted softly. She had managed to get along in his world. Surely he could get used to living in hers. He had no ties to keep him here, no family, no friends to speak of, no one, save Hantaywee, who would miss him when he was gone.

  He thought about it all that day and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that it was the right thing, the only thing, to do.

  Later that night, with Papa Joe snoring softly a short distance away, Reese drew Kelsey into his arms. She snuggled against him, her face buried in the hollow of his shoulder.

  She had grown quieter and more withdrawn with each passing day. Now, he felt the warmth of her tears on his shirt, felt her body tremble with the force of her sobs.

  “Hey,” he said, stroking her back, “don’t cry.”

  “I can’t help it. I don’t want to leave you.”

  “What would you think about me going to the future with you?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes filled with hope. “Would you? Oh, Reese, that would be wonderful!” Laughing and crying, she hugged him tight. “I can’t wait to show you my world. You’ll love it, I know you will. We could move out to the suburbs, get a big house, have some horses. Oh, I love you!"

  He crushed her close, thinking that giving up his life here was a small price to pay for the happiness shining in her eyes. He laughed softly. One thing about going to the future, he wouldn’t have to keep looking over his shoulder, worrying about the last Crenshaw boy creeping up on him to exact vengeance for the deaths of his brothers.

  Overcome with happiness and the relief that they would stay together, Kelsey rained kisses over Reese’s cheeks, his nose, his chin, his lips. One kiss led to another. One caress led to another and soon they were entwined in each other’s arms, trying to undress one another under the blankets, trying to keep their lovemaking quiet so they wouldn’t disturb Papa Joe. At any other time, Kelsey would have been reluctant to make love when her grandfather was so close by but not now. On this night, she needed to be in Reese’s arms, needed to show him how m
uch she loved him, how grateful she was that he had decided to go with her into the future.

  She surrendered to him with a soft sigh, relieved that she wouldn’t be leaving her heart behind when she returned to the world she knew.

  * * * * *

  It was late on a cold and windy night when they reached Grant’s Crossing. Skirting the town, they went to the house to spend the night. As near as Papa Joe could figure, the portal would be open the following day.

  “Assuming I haven’t made a mistake in keeping track of the days,” Papa Joe said.

  “I’ll bet Mary’s worried sick. I’ve never been gone this long before and she’s probably worried to death about you, too.”

  “She’ll forgive you,” Kelsey said, yawning.

  Papa Joe chuckled. “Yeah, but she’ll be madder than a wet hen for a week or two. I missed her birthday and our anniversary, you know. She won’t like that.”

  “No, she won’t,” Kelsey agreed. Nana Mary was a tiny thing, barely five feet tall, but she had a temper big enough for a lumberjack. Kelsey yawned again. “I don’t know about you two, but I’m going to bed.”

  “See you in the morning,” Papa Joe said.

  Nodding, Kelsey kissed her grandfather on the cheek, then left the room.

  Reese’s gaze followed Kelsey. “I reckon I’ll turn in, too.”

  Papa Joe grinned a knowing grin as Reese left the room.

  * * * * *

  Kelsey rose early after a restless night. She had slept little and when she did, her dreams were dark and troubled, though she couldn’t remember them now.

  Turning on her side, she saw that Reese was awake and watching her. They had made love last night. Reese had been tender, gentle, almost as if he was afraid she might shatter beneath him. She had felt a peculiar tenderness herself, almost as if they were making love for the last time. But that was silly. He was going back with her.

  He brushed a lock of hair from her brow, then wiped his thumb across her cheek. “You were talking in your sleep,” he said.

  “What did I say?”

  “I’m not sure. You were crying.”

  “Crying?” She lifted a hand to her face. Her cheek was still damp. “I don’t remember what I was dreaming about,” she murmured, “only that you were in it.”

  He drew her into his arms, one hand stroking her back. “Am I the one who made you cry?”

  “I don’t know.” She usually remembered her dreams, it was odd that she couldn’t remember this one.

  There was a knock at the door. “Hey, you two awake in there?”

  Kelsey lifted her brows in a gesture of resignation at the sound of her grandfather’s voice. Rising, she wrapped a blanket around her nudity and padded to the door. “We’re up.”

  “There’s nothing to eat in here,” Papa Joe said. “I’m going over to the hotel to get some breakfast. Want me to bring you something?”

  “I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Kelsey said. She glanced over her shoulder at Reese. “Do you want anything?”

  “Steak and eggs and black coffee.”

  Kelsey repeated Reese’s order, then returned to the bed. “I hope we’ve got the date right,” she remarked. “It’s dangerous for you to be here.”

  He kissed her bare shoulder. “Stop worrying.”

  “I can’t help it, it’s what I do best.”

  After breakfast, Kelsey made the beds while Papa Joe returned the dishes to the hotel.

  “What are you gonna do with this place?” Reese asked while they waited for Papa Joe to return.

  “I told Angelina it was hers to do with as she pleased, unless you wanted it, but now you’re going with me, so…”

  Reese nodded. “She might have need of it one day.”

  “Maybe, or she can just sell it. I’m sorry our coffee shop never really got going. I think it would have been a success.”

  “I think anything you turn your hand to will be a success.”

  “Flatterer.”

  “Who, me?”

  “Yes, you.”

  Papa Joe arrived a few minutes later. “Town’s real quiet,” he said.

  Kelsey stared at the food Papa Joe had brought her. It looked wonderful, but she was too nervous to eat. After a few bites, she pushed her plate away, waited impatiently for Reese and Papa Joe to finish theirs.

  Kelsey shivered when they left the house. Standing in the backyard while Reese and Papa Joe saddled the horses, she felt a strange ripple in the air. She glanced at Reese and her grandfather, but neither man seemed to notice it. She was sure the horses did, though. They shook their heads and stamped their feet and seemed reluctant to leave the yard. She wondered if it had something to do with the portal opening.

  They rode out of the yard in single-file, with Papa Joe in the lead.

  Kelsey’s emotions were in turmoil. She was thrilled at the prospect of going home, yet oddly reluctant to leave the Old West behind. She would miss Angie and Hantaywee and even Pete, the bartender.

  The air felt oppressive as Papa Joe led them into the alleyway between the bank and the newspaper office.

  “Well, here we are,” Papa Joe said, dismounting. “What’ll we do with the horses?”

  “Unsaddle ‘em and turn ‘em loose,” Reese said. “Somebody will pick ‘em up. Kelsey…”

  “T. K. Reese, throw down your iron and get those hands up where I can see ‘em! a voice hollered. “This is the law.”

  Reese swore a vile oath. His first instinct was to run, but there was nowhere to go.

  Papa Joe stood in front of him, Kelsey’s horse blocked the only way out.

  Sheriff McCain and his deputy, Matt Stover, stepped out of a recessed doorway in the building across the way, their guns drawn.

  Moving slowly, his hands over his head, Reese swung his right leg over the saddlehorn and slid to the ground.

  “Your gun,” McCain said curtly. “Ease it out of your holster nice and slow and kick it over here, toward me.”

  Still mounted on her horse, Kelsey held her breath as Reese slid his gun from the holster, placed it on the ground and kicked it toward the sheriff.

  “I had a hunch you were somewhere close by when I saw old man St. James leaving the hotel this morning,” McCain said. “Turns out I was right.”

  Kelsey looked past Reese to her grandfather, who was ever so slowly circling around behind the two lawmen. With their attention focused on Reese, neither McCain or Stover seemed to notice.

  McCain pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket and tossed them to his deputy.

  “Cuff him.”

  “What about the girl and the old man?”

  “We’ve got nothing on them.”

  “You know they helped him escape last time!” Matt Stover exclaimed.

  “We don’t have any proof of that.”

  “But…”

  “I can’t arrest them for something they might have done.” McCain gestured at Reese with his gun barrel. “Cuff him and let’s go.”

  Reese looked up at Kelsey. She knew, in that moment, that he was going to make a break for it. She shook her head, silently beseeching him not to try it. But it was too late.

  After holstering his gun, Stover moved purposefully toward Reese.

  Reese dove under the belly of Kelsey’s horse, rolled to his feet and darted toward the head of the alley.

  McCain fired two quick shots. The first one went wide. The second one caught Reese in the back. He staggered forward a few steps, then slumped against the side of the building, one hand pressed against the wound.

  Papa Joe grabbed a rock and brought it crashing down on McCain’s head before the sheriff could fire another shot.

  Fumbling to get his gun clear, the deputy hollered, “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

  Kelsey slammed her heels into her mount’s flanks. Startled, the horse leaped forward, slamming into the deputy and knocking him off balance before he could fire at Reese.

  Papa Joe ran forward, rock in hand, and rende
red Stover unconscious while Kelsey scrambled out of the saddle and ran toward Reese.

  She slipped her arm around his waist, her nostrils filling with the scent of blood. “How bad are you hurt?”

  “I’ll be all right. Bullet went through. I think it cracked a rib.”

  She offered a quick, silent prayer of thanks that it wasn’t worse. “Hurry,” she said, “we can get through the portal before they regain consciousness.”

  With Kelsey supporting Reese, they followed Papa Joe to the portal. The door, which she hadn’t noticed in all the excitement, shimmered with a ghostly silver light.

  “Hurry!” Papa Joe said. He put his hand on the door and it swung inward. Beyond the threshold, Kelsey could see the inside of the house. It looked exactly as she had left it.

  Smiling, she walked toward the doorway, her arm around Reese’s waist.

  Almost there, she thought exultantly. Another few steps and she would be home again.

  Papa Joe hurried inside, holding the door open for her and Reese. Kelsey had to release her hold on Reese in order to step across the threshold. She frowned when Reese didn’t follow.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, turning around.

  “I can’t get in.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a step forward, his hand reaching for hers, but some invisible force kept him from entering the house.

  It was just as she had feared, she thought dully. You couldn’t cross from the past to the future, only from the future to the past.

  “Come on, Kelsey,” Papa Joe said. “The door won’t stay open much longer.”

  She glanced at her grandfather and the room beyond. The house represented her whole life, her family and everything that was familiar. How could she leave it all behind?

  Reese didn’t have to see her face to know what she was thinking, feeling. Ever since he had seen her that first night, all she had wanted to do was go back home and now she was where she belonged, where she wanted to be.

  “Go on, sweetheart,” he said quietly. “I’ll be all right. I’m not hurt that bad.”

  She stared at him, at the blood on his hand, the love in his eyes and knew she couldn’t leave him. He might be all right without her, she thought, blinking back her tears, but she would never be all right without him.