Portals of Time

by Vicky McCracken

  “What are they doing,” Paige whispered.

  “I’m not sure but I think they are naming the baby-celebrating his birth.”

  Then the Indian Chief spoke in broken English. “Let his name be Little Brave One or in white man speak, his name be Trace.”

  The Indians all began to dance now. Justin and Paige backed away and soon they were on their horse headed back to the fallen tree. Once they were there, Justin stopped and dismounted helping Paige down as well. They sat down on a log and remembered what they had just seen.

  “Now I know what happened to Trace. Why he changed. Did he know Jessie was his father,” Paige asked as she stretched her legs out in front of her.

  “I don’t know. He shouldn’t have felt the way he did. Both the Indians and your grandfather helped him, raised him, and took care of him.”

  “I know. I’m sorry to say now that he was ever my half- brother. Let’s get out of here Justin.”

  Justin set the watch forward, not knowing how far into the future they would go. As everything settled down around them, he realized they were still in the old west. Only now they were on a dirt road. On horseback, they rode down the road until they came to Jessie’s cabin once more. Jessie was alone at the cabin. They saw someone coming up the road. They got off the horse and hid behind the bushes.

  As the rider came near, they could see that it was indeed two riders which were Paige’s grandfather, Frank and a young boy.

  “Trace,” Paige breathed softly.

  Justin studied the child who was around eight or nine. He had the blondest hair Justin had ever seen. His skin was dark from the sun and he was so slim and skinny he looked under fed, although Justin knew he was not. Frank or Tess would never let anyone go hungry. The boy was just wiry.

  Jessie came out of the cabin and Frank and Trace dismounted and together the three of them disappeared into the cabin. “Do you want to see more,” Justin asked.

  Paige shook her head. They returned back to the tree where the portal was. Justin pushed the tiny car forward once more hoping this time they would be home. Instead they were still on The Lazy Cross; Lori’s Lazy Cross. On the horse, they rode in the direction of the ranch. Paige was amazed when she saw it.

  “Justin, is this the same ranch?”

  “Yes, this is Lori’s ranch.”

  “It’s so different. She’s done a lot with the place.”

  Justin smiled. As they came close to the house, they walked so as not to be seen. Soon they came to the back of the house. Standing behind the fence and peering through the slots, they saw Lori, Jessie, Trace, and a man they didn’t know.

  Trace was looking at Jessie and the older man. “I thought it was just us, Lori. What are they doing here?”

  “We know who you are Trace. We also know you time travel. I also know you are the one poisoning my animals. What I want to know is why?” Lori was standing in front of Trace without backing down.

  A sneer came over Trace’s face. “So you think you know who I am, do you? I don’t think so. So I time travel. That proves nothing.You don’t know who I am.”

  “I’m afraid we do,” the older man said. “You were born in 1886 to Missy and Jessie.”

  “Jessie,” Trace’s voice wandered off as he put two and two together. “How?......”

  “Sit down Trace,” Lori said. “I’ll be happy to tell you. See, somehow Jessie transported himself here from 1888. By the way Trace, Jessie is your father but I think you just figured that out. We kind of had to figure out the rest of it. We pieced it all together. When Jessie and I went back in time and saw you born, then we knew for sure, but we still don’t know why. Why are you poisoning my animals?”

  Trace was still sneering at her. “You don’t know the whole story. I was raised by the Indians until I was eight. It was then I began to realize I wasn’t like them. My skin was white and my hair was blond. I started asking questions.”

  Jessie spoke now. “You weren’t born. The Indians cut you out and took you.”

  “Whatever,” Trace pulled a gun from the back of his pants. “Since my plan didn’t pan out, I will have to take what’s mine.”

  Lori caught her breath sharply and backed up as if she had not expected a gun. The older man took control of the situation.

  “Whoa, hold up son, we don’t need a gun.”

  “Listen, old man, I have the upper hand and the three of you will do what I say. Now.” Trace was pointing the gun at all three of them. “We are going to end this where it all started. The cabin, is it still standing?”

  “No,” Lori told him. “My father and Bo tore it down when I was eight.”

  “But you know where it is, don’t you,” Trace pointed the gun at her as he spoke.

  “I do, but why?”

  “The four of us are going to ride out there. If I have to kill you, I’m not crazy enough to do it here where everyone is. Now, let’s all go to the barn and saddle us a horse,” Trace waved the gun once more.

  Jessie, Lori, and Bo led the way toward the barn with Trace following behind with the gun still in his hand

  Paige let out a deep breath as if she had been holding it for some time. “Oh my goodness, Justin. Trace turned into someone Grandfather or I never knew. He is so bitter here. We have to follow them and see what happens next.”

  “We will see when they ride out of the barn, then we can follow them. I’d like to know how this plays out myself.” Justin had sat down on the ground and now he stood so he could see when the others came from the barn.

  It only took a few minutes before the four rode from the barn and followed the road leading away to the left at the back of the house. Lori was on the lead horse and the rest followed. Justin and Paige followed quietly until they arrived at the spot where there was only a huge oak tree.

  Paige touched Justin’s arm and whispered. “Look Justin. It’s the oak tree we saw Jessie and Missy plant. He told her it would live as long as their love did. That means their love is still alive even though she’s dead.”

  Justin hadn’t thought of it like that but now he guessed it was true. He hoped he could have a love like that one day. The four ahead of them stopped at the oak tree and Justin stopped his horse behind a clump of bushes not far away.

  “Is this it,” Trace was asking.

  “Yes,” Lori said. “This is the tree Jessie and your mother planted when they first moved here.”

  “How do I know you are telling the truth?”

  “Because our names are carved in it, there,” Jessie pointed.

  Trace rode his horse close to the tree and seeing the carving he said. “Okay, get down. He climbed off his horse as he spoke being careful to keep the gun pointed on the three ahead.

  Once they were all on the ground, Trace spoke again.

  “Now, tell me what you know about this.”

  “Alright,” Lori said. “Jessie and I time traveled back to the day you were born. I told you this part. Your mother died in child birth and it broke Jessie’s heart.” She reached out and took Jessie’s hand. “He left to go get the doctor and by the time the doctor got there the Indians had already taken you. You see, Jessie couldn’t go back into the house because he knew Missy was already dead. The doctor saw how upset he was. He didn’t tell him about the Indians taking you. Jessie never knew anything about all this until we went back and saw it happen. He thought you were dead too. The Indians watched till Jessie left, then they came in and cut you out and took you back to their village.”

  “I had no way of knowing the Indians had you or that you were alive. If I had, I would have taken you and raised you. After all, you are mine and Missy’s son and I loved her with all my heart,” Jessie told him.

  None of this seemed to matter to Trace. “Yeah, yeah, let me finish my side. The Indians were good to me and treated me like I was one of them until, as I said before, I began to ask questions. Then they told me my mother died and my father had left me to die. I found out who you were when I went to live with m
y Grandfather, my mother’s father. In fact, the Indian’s helped me find him and took me to his house. He was a nice man. He took me in and raised me. I don’t guess you know this but Grandfather was a smart man. You see, Grandfather was an inventor. He took the watch before my mother gave it to you and made another one. He had always wanted to time travel and I helped him make it happen. Grandfather made a total of two more watches. He taught me to time travel and we used to go everywhere. That’s how I found out about this place. I was about ten when I first saw this ranch, in this time. So I started devising a plan then.

  “How was I to know Lori’s old man would get a DNA test. You see, by rights, it should be mine. After all, I am your son.” Trace stopped and looked at Jessie before he spoke again. “Let me ask you Dad, why did you leave me really?”

  “You know the answer to that already, Trace. I thought you were dead. When Missy died and because you were inside her, I thought you were dead too. I had no idea you were alive,” Jessie said waving his arms.

  “Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. When I saw the ranch as it is now, I knew I had to have it. When I talked to Grandfather about it, he told me to forget it. He didn’t understand,” Trace said.

  “You keep saying Grandfather in past tense. Is he dead?” Jessie asked.

  “Don’t know.”

  “Where is he,” Jessie asked, concerned for the older man.

  “He could be anywhere or nowhere. You see, we had a fight and I trapped him in time. I don’t know where he is now. I’ve tried to find him but I haven’t yet. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to bring him back. I just don’t want him to stop what I’m doing. I know he would try if he were here so I need to make sure he doesn’t come back.”

  “Trace, how could you do that to someone who took you in and loved and raised you all those years,” Lori asked.

  “You people talk a lot about love don’t you? For me, it’s been all about survival. It’s all I’ve known all my life.”

  “I’m sorry you’ve felt you’ve never known love but don’t you think your Grandfather loved you,” Bo asked.

  “I thought he did, then he told me to let go of all this. I realized he didn’t love me. If he did, he would help me get what is rightfully mine. So I trapped him in time. You see, this is my ranch and I will have it one way or another. It doesn’t matter to me if you all are dead or alive. This ranch should have been mine and it shall be mine. It’s worth a lot more money now than it ever was then and all I have to do is sit back and let it happen.”

  “It’s not that easy Trace. You have to put money into it also. I have to buy new, young animals the entire time and raise them, feed them, and care for them. I sell the older ones to have money to buy the young ones with. Then there’s food, paying the work hands, and all the other bills. It takes a long time to build up a ranch like this and make money on it,” Lori told him.

  “See, I’m smart. This ranch is already making money on itself,” Trace said.

  “But,” Bo spoke up, “If you don’t know what you are doing, you can lose everything. Lori was trained, from the time she was old enough, to run a ranch like this. I believe she was going on twelve when her father asked me to help her. He wanted her to know this life but he also wanted her to go to college and make a life for herself.”

  Trace pointed the gun at Lori. “It’s your fault. You shouldn’t have been so nosy and now it’s time for you to die. I don’t see no other way,” Trace held the gun steady and squeezed the trigger.

  Bo, seeing Trace was squeezing the trigger on the gun, yelled. “No.” He jumped forward to take the gun or Trace down but Trace fired the gun. Jessie also reacted. He ran quickly toward Trace, knocking the gun from his hand and they both hit the ground hard. Before anything else could happen, Trace had the gun again.The two fought on the ground, each trying to gain possession of the gun. It was hard to see who had the gun at all. Finally, Jessie had the gun in his hands. Trace was trying to get it away from him when suddenly the gun went off. The noise was deafening, even though Justin had placed his hands over his ears when it had all first started. Trace, who had been on the bottom of the two, now lay still as Jessie was still for a few seconds and then fell over Trace.

  He could see blood but couldn’t tell whose it was. Lori was sitting beside the tree crying softly and Bo, the older man, was nowhere to be seen. He heard sniffing and remembered Paige. Looking over at her, he saw that she was crying. She came to him and he pulled her close.

  “I love you Justin,” Paige whispered.

  “Before he realized what he was saying, he replied, “I love you too, Paige.”

  Suddenly he heard a noise. Trying to listen to where it was coming from, he heard it again. It sounded sort of like a bell. Then, he realized it was his cell phone. How would there be any reception in this time? Who would be calling him anyway?

  Justin came awake almost at once. His phone was ringing loudly. He sat up. “Where was he now? He was home on his bed. It was just beginning to get light out. How did he get back here? Where was Paige?” He picked up the phone to see who was calling. It had stopped ringing now. He rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. Then he realized he had been asleep. Had this all been a dream? He had been asleep. He must have been dreaming.

  CHAPTER 9

  Justin sat on the edge of the bed. All the memories of his long dream were flooding his mind. He felt a sudden strangeness at the thought that Paige had been a part of this dream. His mind kept going over every part of his dream. His mother and father had been together and his mom had still been alive even though she had been dead for a couple of years now.

  His phone began to ring once more, bringing him out of his thoughts. He shook his head to clear it. It was Aunt Helen again. He hit the answer button and spoke sleepily. “Hello.”

  “Justin, where have you been. I’ve called and called.”

  “Sorry. I was asleep and didn’t hear the phone.”

  “Well, at least I got hold of you now. Your Grandpa wants to know if you are coming out for his birthday.”

  “Are you having a party?”

  “Yes, but I’m not sure if Dad knows we are having him one. He just wants to make sure you will be here.”

  “Of course I will. In fact, I’ll fly out this evening.”

  “Oh good, Justin. Please come early. Your grandpa would love to spend some time with you before all those people come to the party.”

  “I should be there by morning, Aunt Helen.” Justin said into the phone.

  “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

  “Alright. Bye.”

  “Bye, Justin. We love you.”

  Justin hung up the phone. He remembered now having gotten a plane ticket to Texas last week. Just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, he checked his wallet. They were round trip tickets to Texas and back. It was still hard for him to believe everything that had just happened was nothing more than a dream. As near as he could figure, he must have slept for a long time.

  In his dream, his grandfather had been dead. He was glad that part had been a dream. But the time travel and the watch- how could he have dreamed that? He remembered his grandfather having a pocket watch and he knew he had The Clock Shop.

  What was really hard for him to understand was the part about Paige. It was real; at least it felt as if it were. If it were all a dream, why were these feelings he was having so real. He could see her as clearly as if she were here and he had been about to kiss her when Aunt Helen had called and woke him up.

  He took a shower and began to feel better. Then he packed a bag with everything he would need for a few days in Texas, which reminded him of the watch. He knew his grandfather had a pocket watch and he was pretty sure it was the one he had used to time travel with.

  Had Grandpa been time traveling all this time and hadn’t told him? He would find out when he got there. Within a few hours, he was at the airport waiting for his flight to be called.

  Once he was on the plane, he sat ba
ck in his seat to wait. He hadn’t been sitting long but as he waited he closed his eyes. He wanted to think about his dream. Why would he dream about the old west? He wasn’t much into westerns at all. Then he remembered his father’s dude ranch in Australia. That had to have been it because just the other day his father had called him wanting to know when he was coming to visit.

  The voice of the stewardess brought him out of his thoughts. “This is your seat.”

  Justin opened his eyes to see Paige, at least a beautiful woman who looked like Paige. The stewardess was showing her to the seat beside him and as she looked over and smiled, his heart skipped a beat. She was wearing jeans and a light pink blouse which set off her dark hair that she had pulled back into a pony tail. Her skin was tanned, probably from a tanning bed he guessed.

  After she was all settled into her seat, she smiled at him once more.

  “Hello, I’m Caitlin Archer. I’m just going out to Texas. Trying to get away from work for a few days. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. What about you?”

  My name is Justin Walton. I’m also going to Texas to see my grandfather. My Aunt Helen is having him a birthday party. He will be eighty.”

  “That’s wonderful. It’s nice to meet you Justin Walton. At least I have someone nice to talk to on the way to Texas.”

  Justin nodded. He was glad too. Most of the time when he traveled, he sat in a seat alone. This girl looked so much like Paige that they could easily pass for twins. Even their voice was the same, low and sweet. Justin was going to find out all he could about her.

  He discovered she had lived in Tennessee all her life and had been married once but with no children. Her husband had been on drugs and Caitlin hadn’t known about it until after they were married. It had taken her over two years to leave.

  “At first I was afraid of him but then I met some ladies who had been through the same thing. They helped me a lot along with my family.”