“Oh yes, your mother makes sure I’m well iced, and heated. And she’s been keeping my glass of wine topped up this afternoon.” His flushed cheeks attested to that.
“Do you have time for a glass? This is the first bottle from last summer’s bottling. I think you’ll like it.”
“If we start now, we may have to stay overnight… we’ll be drinking wine at Maggie’s place too.” Harriet and Joe seldom drank more than a glass or two.
“Sure, no problem, the bed’s all made up in Harriet’s old room.” Bill missed his daughter already. He’d enjoy the extra few hours with her.
“Oh, what is she cooking, dear?” Harriet’s mom knew Maggie avoided the kitchen.
“They plan on surprising us. They graduated yesterday from their three-week cooking course at the college and they promised us a meal.”
“Isn’t that nice? You mean she’s learning to cook? That boy has been a good influence on her. And isn’t it sweet that he joined her in the classes?”
“It was the other way around. He was the one who wanted to learn. She tagged along. I doubt if she’ll ever love cooking.”
“Well, I think that’s wonderful. Good for both of them. It’s lovely they’re so taken with each other.” Mary was so incredibly old-fashioned… she was a pushover for a new romance.
Harriet often wondered how a woman of the twentieth century could have been so sheltered, and naïve. She was bad enough… Her mom had kept her sheltered, and her dad never intervened. But, even though she was considered nerdy and often taunted in public school, she really didn’t care, as long as Joe was nearby. He loved his nerdy friend and wasn’t much more worldly than her.
“Martin and Mugs are serious. They’re talking marriage and going back to the next century together. Maggie’s in love with this guy.”
“What about her mother, Harri? She’s getting on,” Bill pointed out.
“They figured that out. They’re telling her that Martin has a job in the Outback in Australia, and she’s going with him. Her mom doesn’t use a computer or cell phones, so she’ll write letters and pass them on to me. I’ll send them off to Maggie.”
Mary frowned, “How will you get them to her in the future?”
“We’re working that out now. We’ll let you know when our plans are in place.” Harriet was thinking on the fly. She and Maggie hadn’t discussed this at all. But she figured the idea would solve a problem for her, and she planned to suggest it to her tonight.
“Will they get married here before they go?” Bill couldn’t imagine they’d have the time for a proper wedding.
“I don’t know… I suspect we might find that out tonight. And speaking of that, the phone should ring soon. They said they’d call when dinner’s almost ready.”
Harriet had no sooner spoken when they heard the phone in the house ring.
Joe picked up the retro handset from the gold colored wall phone, a leftover that came with the house. Mary loved it. “It was them. Finish your wine, they’re ready for us.”
“If you’re still up when we get back, we’ll fill you in.”
“Oh, I doubt we will be, dear, you know your dad likes to be in bed by eleven-thirty after the news. So, goodnight, we’ll see you in the morning.” She hugged each of them before showing them to the door.
Joe had already told his father-in-law he’d be going into work with him in the morning and would leave their car for Harriet.
They walked over to Maggie’s house where Martin greeted them. “Hi, guys, how was your visit?”
“Short and sweet, but we’re staying there overnight to let the wine wear off. I’ll go to work with Bill, and Harriet can drive you back into town whenever you’re ready—unless you have other plans with Mugs.”
“Can I let you know tomorrow?” Martin still had some things to work out with Maggie.
“Sure, I’ll be around.” Harriet planned on hanging out with her mom for a while.
Maggie had resigned her job already, so she had no place to be. She was enjoying the time with her mom and preparing their spare room for her aunt Helen who would come to live with them in two weeks. Marion McEwan was excited about seeing her sister again and getting her out of that dangerous country.
Fighting between opposing political factions was getting worse by the day in the US. Every evening they watched news of shootings in every state. Gunning down people in malls, not so long ago, was an infrequent headline. Now it was happening daily. Thousands were dying, and the situation was accelerating. Joe and Harriet could understand their friend’s relief at getting her aunt out of there.
Martin led Joe and Harriet to the living room. “I’ll be right back… sit… get comfortable,” he ordered, then disappeared into the kitchen.
The role of ‘houseguests’ was new to them here, but they followed his directions. It made Harriet laugh—under normal circumstances she would find Maggie and hang out with her. This was strange having her play hostess.
Martin soon returned, balancing a tray of hors d’oeuvres. “I made them myself.”
“They look delicious… mmm,” Harriet said.
Just then, Maggie came out with a tray of wine.
“So, what do you think of our newest chef?” Maggie said, beaming at Martin.
“If this is what we can expect after your cooking classes, all I can say is, wow!” Joe was enjoying himself.
“I’ll second that,” Harriet chimed in as she reached for one of the hors d’oeuvres.
“Dinner smells heavenly. What’re we having?” Harriet had to ask.
“It’ll taste better if you don’t know.” Maggie was enjoying her game.
“Martin,” she smiled at him, “I’ll holler when you’re needed in the kitchen. I better get back in there before something is ruined.”
Maggie disappeared and soon called out, “Martin, I need your help—it’ll be ready in ten minutes, guys.” Martin grinned and hurried out to help.
“I feel so privileged,” Joe said. “This is the dawning of a new era for all of us.”
“Yes, who’d have thought it? Our domestically-challenged friend has turned into a gourmet chef. I think she’s enjoying it. But I wonder if it’ll last, she won’t have her mom’s familiar kitchen. And it’ll be a lot tougher finding ingredients where they’re going.”
The question went unanswered, just then Martin returned to the living room. “Dinner is ready, follow me.”
The meal was a success, from the beautiful table setting to after dinner coffee. In between they enjoyed salad, roast beef, with Yorkshire pudding, and a creamy rice pudding.
The new chefs had shared in the preparation, and it was superb. Joe, couldn’t stop smiling,
“This is frickin’ unreal, how did you get your gravy and roast so perfect?”
“I agree. Mine is good, but yours is better, Mugs.” Harriet was so proud of her friend.
“I won’t tell you all my secrets,” Maggie laughed.
“If anyone wants to know, frenching green beans is a tedious labor of love.” Martin grinned, not wanting to be left out. Slicing each one with a series of angle cuts was difficult and dangerous to the fingers.
“I don’t think anyone cares,” Maggie laughed.
After dinner they talked about Maggie and Martin’s trip back to the future. They tried to come up with a story to tell Red about the kidnappers using his ski resort and decide where was the best place on the back deck to land the drones sent by Arthur 5.
Chapter 34
A Shocking Tale
So much depended on Martin when he got back to the SPA—the drone that Arthur 5 had designed to get his message to Brian was the key to their plans.
Joe and Martin decided they would build a landing pad for it, high on the wall of Joe and Harriet’s covered back porch. The craft would be out of sight until Joe retrieved it.
Also, getting Red involved as their eyes at the ski resort would be dicey. None of them could think of what to tell him about these men who might show
up on the top of the hill to use the ski lift. The resort would have no record of the men ever having arrived there. The biggest problem was their careless record keeping. It was too simple to bypass the office whether people were coming or going.
“I think the best way to tackle the problem is to meet with Red and see what we can come up with.” Joe had winged it before when talking about the future.
“I’m drawing a blank.” Martin wasn’t as confident. He’d had difficulty from the beginning trying to hide his origins.
Maggie shrugged. “I have nothing to add, I’ve only got what you three have fed me. I don’t know Red nor can I even guess how he might react.”
“This reminds me of when Harriet and I first came back and had to confront our parents, and you Mugs, maybe we should do the same with him and stick to a version of the truth.”
Harriet frowned, not sure what version of the truth they could put together. “No matter what, we have to come up with a story he can swallow.”
“The biggest difficulty will be to explain to him why these guys are showing up on his hill.” Joe pointed out the obvious, hoping it would hit one of them with inspiration.
“How about if we say we’ve been following this case, and realize that these men are using the ski hill, but we don’t know why? We think maybe the men have a rendezvous spot to meet a helicopter.” Martin was getting as frustrated as the other two, and a little desperate.
“That might work. That way we don’t have to make up a story that will need a lot of explanation.” Harriet liked this idea so far.
The next day Joe called Red and arranged to meet him the following Saturday at four, after his shift. Martin figured that Joe and Harriet should meet him alone.
***
They arrived at Bentwood five minutes early. Red was there waiting for them. He had checked out the last person ten minutes earlier, and then tidied up.
“Yur right on time, I’m done here, why don’ cha go sit in the chairs by the fireplace. I just made fresh coffee… can I getcha a cup?” He was his usual jovial self, which made Joe and Harriet uncomfortable. They knew they would lie to this man whom they both liked and respected.
“Sure, we take cream and sugar, if you’ve got it.” Joe spoke for both of them.
Red made small talk while he got the coffee ready. He brought it over to them and set it out with a plate of shortbreads.
“My favorite time a day—I do this every night, helps me ta wind down. Not so bad here in the summer, but in the winter, it gets nuts.” He picked up a cookie and took a bite. “So how can I help ya?” he asked, between chews.
“You’re aware that there’s been some strange activity here, starting with us four years ago,” Joe began.
“Ya mean when you guys disappeared for two months?” Red cocked his head, squinting at them.
“Yes, from back then, but I’m referring to the more recent string of kidnappings and the car left abandoned in your lot.” Joe wanted to focus on recent events.
“Ya mean the one the cops towed away three weeks ago?”
“Yes, that one… did you read about it in the paper, or see it on TV?”
“Ya, I read up on it. Did they catch the kidnappers yet?”
“No, but we think they’re using your ski hills to rendezvous with other people. We suspect they’re meeting a helicopter somewhere. It’s one of the highest spots in this end of the province, and no one would pay too much attention to a helicopter coming and going.” That went well. Joe figured he’d got off to a good start.
Red stared back at Joe through narrowed eyes, “I doubt that, it’s more likely they’re going back through the same portal you two used.” All traces of his odd accent had disappeared. Joe and Harriet were thunderstruck. Neither could speak.
Harriet recovered her voice first. “What do you know about this, Red, and why have you pretended to be someone you’re not?”
“I had to be sure. I know that you two were no more in Montreal than I was on the moon.” His perpetual smile gone, his demeanor was now serious, “You proved me right when you brought that guy here that I fitted for skis last winter. His face was familiar, but not from here, from the SPA. So, I put two and two together. However, I decided not to say anything until you decided to share the information.”
“Hmm, I think you need to catch us up, Red. What’s this all about? Who are you?” Harriet’s tone demanded answers.
“Before I say anymore, confirm that you went through that door.” Red demanded.
Surprised, they looked at each other realizing that the man before them knew a whole lot more than he’d ever let on.
“Yes, we did, but before we say any more, tell us who the hell you are.” Joe hadn’t expected this and the revelation surprised him as much as Harriet.
“My name is Barney Boyle—I was a maintenance tech at the SPA until 2110. We were trying to find the underground wiring connected to a problem in a control room. We stumbled on the tunnel after lifting a sewer grate and saw that the small drainpipe led to a much bigger passageway. There was no way to get to it without a ladder. But I could see that the pipe ran toward the outside wall, so it was a matter of finding it. I did that and followed it to the old door.”
“And you opened it?” Joe knew the answer but had to ask.
“Yes, just like you two must have done when you found it, I had to know. It was a bitch to open. And I don’t have a whole lot of weight behind me. Back then, I was ten pounds lighter.” He grinned at that.
“It looked strange, but after I stuck my arm through and nothing happened I figured it was something that wouldn’t hurt me, and I really wanted to know what was on the other side. It was a helluva tumble… But, I landed on my ass on that old staircase. There was no way I was going back through that door, so I figured I better find another way back to the SPA. Like you I followed the tunnel out, and damn near killed myself trying to get down that rockfall. But other than some bruises and small scrapes I made it to the bottom. It wasn’t until I got to the ski lift that I knew something was wrong. I remembered the ski hill from skiing there in the winter. But it all looked different. I knew something was way out of whack. Once I reached the bottom of the hill, I went to the office. The resort owner was there that day interviewing for maintenance people and a new office manager.”
“Did you have any idea you might be in the past?” Harriet had to ask.
“No. All I did know was something was drastically wrong, but I hadn’t put it together yet. The calendar on the wall behind the desk, said September 2010. I put two and two together then. Everyone I’d seen so far had on strange clothes. I must have looked weird to them.” He laughed remembering that day, and the odd look the guy had given him. I was wearing one of the SPA’s jumpsuits. But, it looked enough like a uniform, or work overalls that no one questioned me.”
“The owner, Warren Davis, asked me if I was there for one of the posted jobs. I had to think fast, so I said, yes. Mr. Davis asked me some questions and then explained that he had filled all but the manager’s position if I wanted it. So I asked him to tell me what the job entailed. When he explained the duties, I figured I could handle it. There was no way I was ever going through that door again, so, to survive, I took the job.” Red was frowning as he remembered that day.
“He asked a pile of questions about my education and skills. Did I have any special training with machinery, handling money, interacting with people? I lied my way through the interview the best I could. We studied this era in school and I remembered a lot of it. The decade when I arrived, was the calm before the storm in the USA, so most of us had learned a lot about the next two decades.” He laughed. “I had to think hard and fast, but I have a good memory, so I bluffed my way through, and it worked because I got the job.”
“Jeez, man, what did you do for money and clothes and transportation? This place is in the middle of nowhere. The nearest town is Debert, a whistle-stop in this century.” Red had both of them captivated by his story but it r
aised many unanswered questions.
“Thinking fast, I told him I’d hitched a ride to the ski resort praying that wouldn’t trip me up. But the guy seemed to accept the story okay. So I explained that my luck ran out when my bag and all my money and ID were stolen two days before. That was another stroke of luck, remembering that in this century, you were still using paper and coin currency. I told him the small amount of change left in my pocket fed me for two days.”
They didn’t say a word, waiting for Red to continue.
“The owner asked me if I had any place to stay and when I said no, he took me home with him. He kept me fed for the rest of the week and set me up in a small granny suite connected to their house. He said they’d never needed it after he and his wife bought the place and I was welcome to stay there. After I got my first paycheck, he said I could pay rent and look after the house for the winter when he and his wife left for Florida in November.”
“That was a damned good deal, Red, I gather you grabbed it,” Joe said.
“Yes, I didn’t figure I could do much else. The place is between here and Debert, so I walked back and forth, or came in with Mr. Davis, until I had enough money to buy a small motorbike. That was only for the summer until the snow fell. It took another winter and most of the summer to save enough before the next cold season to buy a used car and take driving lessons. Mr. Davis pays me well for the job, and I still live in the granny flat, so my expenses are low. I love my work and the people. It didn’t take me long to learn the ropes, and the owner gave me more and more responsibility over the years.”
Harriet loved Red’s story, “Don’t you miss home and the people you left behind?”
“No, I was alone in the world. My folks died in a freak accident when I was eight. They didn’t have any brothers or sisters, so I had no aunts or uncles to take me in. They didn’t leave behind an estate or any credits to speak of. So I became a ward of the state and grew up in a state-run care center. I never grew much, so I always felt out of step with everyone else. Most people towered over me, so my friends were in short supply.” He grinned at his pun.
Return From the Future Page 22