A Yellowstone Promise: Yellowstone Romance Series Novella

by Peggy L Henderson

  “Osprey Falls,” Aimee said, looking at Daniel. “This is called Osprey Falls in my time, and the river is the Gardner River. And yes, this is Sheepeater Canyon.” She glanced upward. “Looks like we have a climb ahead of us to get to the top.”

  Daniel shook his head and pointed in the direction the river flowed. “If we follow the river north through the canyon, we come to the area where the mountains are covered in white rock.”

  Aimee shot her husband an indulgent smile. She patted his chest. “Mammoth Hot Springs, Daniel. Remember? I told you that name when you brought me there years ago? Just in case you need to know the name while we’re here.”

  “Yes, and you told me there was a settlement.”

  Chase tuned out his in-laws, and faced Sarah. Daniel would be scowling at Aimee at this point, his look fiercer than that of a predator, while she would ignore his attempt to intimidate her and carry on without a care. It seemed to be a game between them that Aimee usually won. Chase smiled at Sarah. It was something he had in common with his father-in-law. The Osborne women had the uncanny knack of wrapping their men completely around their little fingers.

  “You all right?” Chase asked, his brows raised. “The dizziness’ll go away in a minute. Can I take Emmy?”

  Sarah shook her head. “I’ve got her. Once she wakes, you can carry her for a while.”

  Chase stepped closer and brushed his fingers across Sarah’s cheek. “Emmy’s gonna get the surgery she needs, and she’ll be as healthy as any other baby.”

  “I love you, Chase,” Sarah whispered, leaning into his touch.

  “I promised to always protect my family, remember? No matter what it takes.” Chase leaned forward and brushed his lips across hers. He pulled back, and smiled reassuringly. Sarah looked uncharacteristically nervous, and he couldn’t blame her. She was worried about their daughter, and apprehensive about time traveling. Under any other circumstances he would have never considered bringing her to the future.

  “I think heading to Mammoth is our best option, Chase,” Aimee said loudly, pulling him out of his thoughts. Chase turned to face her. “They have a medical clinic,” she continued. “Or they did in my time. I think that might be the best place to get Emily checked out and the ball rolling on her care. We can just say she isn’t feeling well and would like her examined.” She paused, and frowned. “Our immediate problem is money and identification.” She glanced down at her doeskin shirt and britches, then at Daniel. “And how to blend in better.”

  Chase shook his head dismissively. “That’s not a problem. I had a little money in the bank. I bet I can still access my account. It’s only been a year. I should still be in the system. I doubt I’ve been declared dead yet, only missing.” The idea of money seemed almost ridiculous. For nearly a year, his currency had been furs, gunpowder, and food. Most everything he needed to survive he could find in the woods.

  “That’s assuming this is 200 years from when you time traveled,” Aimee said. “And, you don’t have any ID.” She had a point about what year they were in, but there was no use worrying about that now. They had to get out of this canyon first. Chase smiled.

  “ID cards went out of style around 2020. If we’re in 2036, it’ll all be biometrics. I just need these.” He pointed at his eyes.

  Aimee shook her head. “Retinal scans? I wonder what else is different than from my time,” she mumbled.

  “I’d say it’s probably best if we stay away from the main road for now, until we get to Mammoth. From there, we can check out the clinic and maybe find some modern clothes.” Chase glanced at Daniel. The mental image of Daniel Osborne wearing anything but his buckskins and homespun brought a grin to his face. Then he shot a quick glance at Sarah. She, on the other hand. . .

  Daniel suddenly raised his hand in a way to cut off Chase’s train of thought. “Someone’s coming,” he said, his voice lowered. “Many people.”

  Chase’s head turned toward the steep incline that led from the river to the top of the canyon. Between the many lodgepole trunks, a group of people moved slowly down the steep trail.

  “Time to blend in,” Chase muttered. “We’re just a family of hikers, admiring the falls.” Dressed like nineteenth century mountain men. He reached for Sarah’s hand, and grinned broadly for assurance, even as his heart rate accelerated. He shrugged off his unease. What was there to feel nervous about? This wasn’t a hostile group of Blackfoot who were about to blast them with arrows.

  Out of habit from a year’s training of being prepared to defend his life at all times, Chase’s free hand slid to his belt. It was definitely lighter than he was accustomed to. There was no tomahawk or knife strapped to his hip this time. Daniel didn’t carry his flintlock or weapons in his belt, either. Aimee had insisted that all weapons remained at the cabins, that they wouldn’t need them in the future and would only draw attention. Chase rubbed his left calf against his right. The knife he’d tied to his ankle was still there. He’d bet an entire winter’s worth of firewood that Daniel carried at least one concealed weapon as well.

  “Do you think they’re friendly?” Sarah whispered.

  Chase chuckled. “Let’s go find out.” He led her away from the river, glancing quickly over his shoulder to meet Aimee’s gaze. She nodded and smiled, her own hand firmly gripping Daniel’s.

  Climbing the short, but steep, incline to reach the narrow beginning of a well-worn trail that would most likely lead up to the top of the canyon and the main road, Chase stopped to allow the group of hikers to pass. They stopped as well. A guy in a ranger’s uniform led the way, carrying on a lively conversation with the people closest behind him. He pointed across the river, turning his head to his eager audience. He paid no attention to the newcomers.

  “If you look beyond the river, you can see those columnar rock formations we talked about at the beginning of the hike. Those are made of basalt columns, formed from lava, which was deposited about 500,000 years ago during one of the basaltic flows from the Yellowstone Caldera, and later exposed by the Gardner River.”

  Several members of the group murmured in awe. Almost everyone pointed a handheld toward the cliffs.

  “We’re now in the heart of Sheepeater Canyon, named for the Indians who lived in this area for thousands of years.”

  “Why were they called Sheepeaters?” a young boy called out.

  The ranger smiled, as if he’d been expecting the question. “Because their primary source of food was the bighorn sheep. They were a small sub-group of Shoshone Indians, and were also known as Snake Indians.”

  “Why were they called Snake Indians?” the same boy wanted to know.

  The ranger made a horizontal waving motion with his hand. “Because that was the sign for their tribe. The early trappers thought it meant snake.” He smiled at the boy.

  Behind Chase, Daniel scoffed. Sarah glanced up at Chase, a puzzled look in her eyes and shaking her head. Chase squeezed her hand, and winked.

  “That’s actually a common misconception,” he said loud enough to be heard above the noise of the waterfall a short distance away.

  “Chase,” Aimee hissed in a warning tone behind him.

  The ranger looked at him, his eyes widening as if he’d just noticed the four other people. His gaze roamed over him, then fell to Sarah and Aimee before lingering on Daniel. His forehead wrinkled for a moment, and he shook his head.

  “How so?” he asked, still studying Daniel as if he was puzzled about something.

  Chase grinned broadly, then chuckled. “Calling the Shoshone ‘snakes’ became popular among the trappers after some white guy made a joke to his companions while staying in one of their villages. The people had just hung their day’s catch of fish from trees to dry. Man, those fish smelled something awful.” He shuddered for dramatic effect. “But when the fish started to dry out in the sun, all shriveled up, they started looking like snakes.”

  The ranger frowned. “I’ve never heard that story before.”

  “Neither ha
ve I,” Aimee whispered, glaring at him.

  Chase shrugged. He leaned to the side and whispered in her ear. “I was there. I’m the one who made the remark.”

  He turned back to the ranger, and made the same wavy motion with his hand. “This, by the way, doesn’t mean ‘snake’, but ‘grass’. Shoshone comes from the word sonipe, which is a tall growing grass, and the Shoshone people, the Newe as they called themselves, were referred to as Grass House People by other plains tribes, because they built grass huts.”

  All eyes from the members of this hiking group were now on Chase. The ranger gawked. His cheeks reddened, and he cleared his throat. “You folks must be part of that mountain man rendezvous that’s going on outside the park.”

  Chase’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, we are,” he said quickly.

  “And we have to get going now, or we’ll miss it.” Aimee stepped forward, shot a friendly smile at the ranger, then another warning glare at Chase. She led the way past the group, who watched her walk by with keen interest. Daniel followed. To anyone else, it would appear as if he was ignoring the people, but Daniel didn’t ignore anyone. By now he would have taken the measure of every person in that hiking group.

  “Nice talking to you. Enjoy the falls.” Chase nodded to the ranger, held up his hand in a farewell gesture, then pulled Sarah along behind him.

  Chapter Six

  Chase led Sarah, Aimee, and Daniel toward the two-lane highway they had to cross to reach Mammoth Hot Springs. Once they left the banks of the Gardner River and climbed the sagebrush-covered slopes to get to the road, the old Fort Yellowstone, the Mammoth Hotel, and a bunch of other buildings came into view. Sarah gasped loudly at the first car that she saw speeding along the road.

  “Just like the bedtime stories your mother told you, huh?” Chase asked, squeezing her hand. Wide-eyed, Sarah stared after the cars, then glanced at her mother and father.

  “How do they move so fast?” she asked incredulously.

  “They’re a lot quieter than I remember,” Aimee remarked.

  “They all run on electricity these days. Very few gasoline-powered cars left.” Chase shrugged.

  “Electric cars were just emerging when I left, but mostly as hybrids. How do you go on a long road trip with an electrical car?”

  Chase pointed at the road. “Most of the roads aren’t paved with asphalt anymore. The major highways and big city roads have been fitted with solar panels. There’s an endless supply of electricity.”

  “Amazing,” Aimee said in awe. “What a difference a few decades makes in technological advances.” She smiled at Daniel. “I feel rather primitive now.”

  Daniel frowned. “The future only seems to get more complicated.”

  Aimee glanced up at the sky. “I hope the clinic is still open. We made good time to get here, but it’s got to be late afternoon. I’d like to get Emily seen today, but we also need to figure out where we’re going to spend the night.”

  “There was a good place to camp an hour behind us,” Daniel said. “We will return to that spot once we visit the doctor, and then decide what to do in the morning.”

  “As long as we don’t get caught by a ranger for camping illegally. We don’t have a permit to camp in the backcountry, and even so, we’re not staying at a designated camp spot. That means no fires, either.” Chase said, meeting Daniel’s eyes. They had no choice but to camp out in the open somewhere, but they had to avoid getting caught. “And you definitely can’t kill any game in the park, or we’ll get arrested for sure.”

  Daniel shook his head and frowned. “A man cannot bed down for the night where he chooses? And how is he supposed to provide for his family?”

  Chase chuckled. “I’ll see about rustling up some burgers or hot dogs while we’re here.”

  “Hot dogs?” Sarah asked. “Are they difficult to catch?”

  Chase laughed, and Aimee quickly joined him.

  “No, Angel, they shouldn’t be hard to catch at all.” He wrapped his arm around her and leaned down for a kiss, careful not to disturb Emmy, who had just fallen asleep again before they reached the highway.

  He stared down into Sarah’s blue eyes. Boy, were the tables turned now. He’d stood in her shoes a year ago, and knew exactly how she must feel in this foreign world. He hadn’t known a marmot from a badger, or a Crow Indian from a Sheepeater. Catching and preparing a meal had been as incomprehensible to him as ordering a cheeseburger and fries would be to Sarah. She hadn’t laughed at his incompetence then, and her innocent question brought a rush of warmth to his chest.

  “Just like you taught me to hunt whistle dogs, I’ll show you how to take down a hot dog. By the time we leave the twenty-first century, you’ll be an expert at it, I promise.” He winked, a wide grin on his face. Sarah’s eyes narrowed. She knew him too well by now to know when not to take him seriously.

  “The clinic should be right behind the visitor center,” Aimee said, putting an end to his teasing.

  Once they crossed the highway, Aimee led the way through a grassy field toward several rows of brick buildings. Countless cars were parked in every available spot, and tourists walked from building to building. One large two-story stone structure stood out from the others, and dozens of people walked up and down the steps leading to the entrance. A sign in front identified it as the visitor center.

  An odd feeling swept through him. It just seemed weird, being among people and things that had been so familiar to him all his life.

  Sarah gripped Chase’s hand tightly when they crossed the street again, and cars coming from both directions stopped and waited. People stared at them as they walked past, some pointing and whispering about the period clothing they wore. Good thing they had learned that there was a trapper re-enactment going on somewhere outside the park. It was a convenient excuse for the way they were dressed.

  Aimee led them down a side-street, past a building that said Post Office. Next to it stood a modern-looking building with large stained windows, a manicured lawn in front and a cement path on either side that led to the entrance. Large black letters identified it as the ‘Mammoth Clinic.’

  “Here goes,” Aimee said after inhaling a deep breath. She opened the door and was first to enter the bright reception area. A woman sitting behind a desk looked up, her eyes widening. Seemingly unperturbed, Aimee strode up to the counter. Thankfully there was no one else in the room. Chase was used to people gawking at him for various reasons, both in this time and in the nineteenth century, but he didn’t want to put Sarah through any more discomfort than she undoubtedly was already feeling.

  “My granddaughter seems to have caught a chest cold,” Aimee said brightly to the staring woman. “We were wondering if the doctor had time to see her.”

  The woman’s lips drew in a tight line, apparently annoyed by the question. “We normally see patients by appointment or emergency only, and since today is Friday, there is only a nurse practitioner on duty.”

  “We’ll see the NP, then,” Aimee said firmly. She turned her head and scanned the room, then back toward the receptionist. “I don’t see anyone else here. Is her appointment book filled?”

  The woman expelled a loud whoosh of air. “We were about to close. It’s nearly five o’clock.” She sighed dramatically. Her gaze drifted to Sarah and the sling she wore around her shoulder, then to Daniel. Her eyes shot up in surprise, and lingered on him. Chase rubbed at his chin to conceal the grin on his face.

  “I suppose we can fit you in,” the woman stammered, still looking toward Daniel. What the hell was up with these people? The ranger from earlier this morning had reacted in a similar manner when he first saw Daniel.

  Absently, the receptionist pointed to the retina scanner mounted on the counter. “As soon as I get your information, I’ll get you into a room.”

  “I’d better do that,” Chase called quickly. “Since I’m Emmy’s dad.” Aimee wouldn’t be in the system, which might raise flags none of them wanted raised. He led Sarah to a row of uph
olstered chairs along the windowed wall of the room.

  “Wait here, Sarah.” He shot a quick look at Daniel, who quietly took a seat next to his daughter, cool as a cucumber. He had to be aware of this woman’s reaction to him, and that of the ranger’s earlier. Chase mentally shook his head and walked up beside Aimee. Their eyes met, and she nodded.

  Chase leaned forward and looked into the scanner until a quiet beeping noise told him the scan was complete. He straightened, his heart hammering in his chest. Would his information still be current? Unless he’d been declared dead, there should be nothing in his files to raise any questions with this woman. She wouldn’t have access to his criminal record - that he’d been convicted of drug possession, and been to rehab. By going missing, he’d effectively skipped out on the community service portion that had kept him from serving jail time. If the authorities caught up to him, he could very well get arrested.

  He clenched his jaw. None of that matters right now. He couldn’t worry about it at the moment. This wasn’t relevant to getting Emily treated.

  The woman’s eyes roamed over her computer screen, then she looked up. “I need some information on the baby.”

  Chase answered the receptionist’s questions, stretching the truth at times. He’d almost given her birth year as 1836, but caught himself in time. The woman’s fingers typed furiously on the computer keyboard, then she stood and motioned for him to follow her down the hall.

  “Come on, Sarah.” Chase reached for Sarah’s arm, helping her out of the chair. “You staying here?” he asked Daniel, who made no move to get up.

  “I will wait here,” he affirmed with a slight nod of his head.

  “I’d like you to come with us,” Chase said to Aimee. She’d understand all that medical mumbo jumbo, and Sarah would no doubt appreciate her mother being at her side. The look in Sarah’s eyes disturbed him, and if he could, he would take her back home this very second. Sarah didn’t belong in the future, and strangely, he felt like a fish out of water here, too.