Secrets of Time

by Zoe Matthews

  Megan soon curled up in the bed, hoping that she would fall asleep quickly. It had been a big day for her. She didn’t want to think more about Keegan and whether she really wanted a chance to get to know him better or not.

  The last thought as she drifted to sleep was remembering the first moment she saw Keegan. She was so shocked that he looked just like the man in her dreams, she fainted dead away, although she figured traveling through time had a hand in her fainting. But the moment she saw him she had a distinct impression that her life was going to change. Her heart knew him, recognized him. But she also knew that when she returned to her time, he would be staying in his. She wished she knew why there was such a connection between the two of them.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning, Megan was glad to find it was relatively warm outside. She had expected more of a chill since they were in the mountains, but as the sun rose higher, she found it to be a pleasant day. After a night full of dreams about Keegan, she had woken to the smell of breakfast and went to the kitchen to see if she could help. They had eaten a delicious breakfast of hashbrowns, sausage, and green peppers from the garden outside, along with a huge stack of pancakes. She helped everyone clean up, then went outside to try to find a way back to the future. She wandered around the same area she had arrived at yesterday, hoping to magically see the silver flash of light again, with no luck. She had her backpack and kept Apollo right next to her in case she did stumble across it accidentally.

  While she wandered, she thought about her dreams she’d had the night before. Normally, she and the man, which she now knew as Keegan, would interact with each other and do something fun like go on a hike, watch a movie, or cook together. In this dream, however, she kept trying to talk to him, and he would say nothing. Instead, he would turn to walk away. She would try to call him back, but he would keep walking as if he couldn’t hear her.

  She rolled the dream around in her head, trying to understand what had made it change. Maybe he was no longer interested in her now that he had met her. Or, could it be that her subconscious was telling her she cared more about him than she was willing to admit herself?

  The sun started to get how, so she sat down in the shade of a nearby tree. She shouldn’t be so worried about some guy she barely knew, even if she had dreamed about him. She should be more focused on finding a way home. The last thing she wanted to do was worry her mother.

  She heard boots crunching in the dirt and looked up to see who was coming. Her heart caught in her throat. It was Keegan, somehow looking even more handsome than he had yesterday. He had a worn cowboy hat on and his dark brown hair curled under the rim. It was long enough that it looked like it needed a cut, but Megan found she liked the length. While she had walked around the ranch, she was very aware that he was working in the garden, harvesting some of his herbs, but she made sure she stayed a safe distance away from him. Apollo ran to him in greeting, and she watched out of the corner of her eye as Keegan roughly petted his head. Her heart skipped a beat as Apollo stayed near him for a few minutes, and she could tell Keegan enjoyed dogs. She found it surprising that this impressed her more than anything else about him since she had arrived.

  As he approached her, he removed his cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his hair. She forced any feelings she had for him deep inside, but she couldn’t help but admit her attraction to him. Maybe it was the way his hair looked wind blown after harvesting herbs, or the way the sun reflected off his sky-blue eyes. Maybe it was because he had been the first person she had seen when she woke up from her fainting spell. She forced herself to smile at him in greeting, then look away. She couldn’t be this attracted to a man from a different time period. There was no way they could make it work, so there was no point in getting to know him better, even if he had been in her dreams, which seemed to somehow make him a part of her.

  “Any luck?” he asked cautiously, as if somehow knowing what she was thinking about.

  “Not a bit. I’m almost positive I appeared right there, but no amount of standing, sitting or wishing will make a bit of a difference.” She couldn’t help but let her frustration show. She had been walking around for over an hour now, and instead of finding any solutions to her problem, she had only made herself more confused.

  “It sounds like you need a break. Why don’t you let me show you around the ranch?” Keegan offered, reaching out his hand to help her off the ground.

  “Okay,” she found herself agreeing before she could remind herself that spending time with him would only make things worse. She stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before placing her own in his. She instantly felt a series of tingles travel up her arm. She heard Keegan’s breath catch as well and wondered if that meant he had felt it too. As soon as she was standing, she pulled her hand away gently from his, not wanting to be rude, but knowing that skin contact wouldn’t make things any easier for them after she left, or at least easier for her.

  “Let’s start with the horses. Shaun and Patrick are about to take some of them out to stretch their legs and check the fences around our land.” Keegan turned and led the way to the barn which was a short walk from where they had been standing.

  “Okay,” she said again.

  Why was it that she chattered around anyone else when she was uncomfortable, but found it so difficult to talk to him? They walked into the barn, and she saw four horses in their stalls, and two more that Patrick was saddling. Keegan went to one of the horses in its stall and patted his nose. “This is Mischief. He was a bit of a wild foal but has calmed down now that he is getting older.”

  “Is he yours?” Megan asked as she reached out to pat the horse’s neck. He was a plain dark brown horse, but she could tell he was very friendly because he nickered in greeting when she touched him.

  “Yes, I got him about five years ago. Most of my family received horses when they were young, but I always had my nose stuck in a book. I was more excited about learning how to heal people than riding around getting dirty,” Keegan chuckled to himself. “I got him as a practicality, so I could travel to Denver and back myself, and I got a chance to understand why some people, like my brothers, can barely stand to get off their horse.” He directed the last comment towards the other end of the barn where Patrick was saddling his horse.

  “It took you long enough to learn your wild side, but it’s still mild even compared to Nicky. Now, there is someone who doesn’t want to get off her horse.”

  Patrick’s teasing made Megan wistful that she had never had a sibling. It had only been her and her mother all her life, and while that made the two of them very close, she did often wonder what it would have been like to have a brother or sister to goof around and tease with.

  “At least I have never been bucked off a horse before. I can safely say I’ll survive at least the next ten years of my life. You, on the other hand…” Keegan grinned at Patrick, who was grinning back as he swung onto his horse.

  “Me? I’ll die doing something I love. But only when I’m good and ready. You can’t get rid of me so easily.” He grinned down at Keegan, then clicked his tongue, and his horse started forward, while the other followed obediently behind.

  Megan watched Keegan as he patted his horse a little longer, the smile that lit up his face still lingering even though his brother was gone. He glanced over at her, and Megan blushed when she realized he had caught her staring.

  “Do you ride? I can tell you are comfortable around them.”

  “I have ridden before, but it has been a while,” Megan admitted.

  “We have a fairly gentle horse you could ride if you'd like to give it a try sometime,” Keegan offered.

  “Yeah, that would be nice,” Megan agreed again without thinking. She then realized she should be trying to get back home, not riding around with some handsome doctor. “But, maybe later? I would like to see what else we can do about this time travel stuff.”

  Keegan’s face fell. “You’re right. I’m sure you are anxious to
get back.”

  “I’m more concerned about my mother. When I don’t show up for work today…” She drifted off as she realized it was Saturday today. They were only open on the weekdays, so her mother wouldn’t be expecting her today anyway. Megan knew that her mother would have preferred to be open on Saturdays, but the majority of the businesses around them were closed during the weekends, so they didn’t have many customers. “I guess I forgot what day it is. My mom won’t be expecting me to go into the shop today because it’s Saturday. We could take a ride as long as we don’t stay too long. I really would love to see your ranch.”

  Megan wasn’t sure it was the best plan, but seeing the happiness on his face at least let her know they would both enjoy the ride. For the first time, she wondered if he also dreamed about her.

  “Let’s get these horses saddled.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they were riding next to each other. Her horse, Spirit, was Colleen’s. Keegan said the horse was getting older and didn’t like going as fast as she used to. Since Colleen had left, she hadn’t gotten much exercise. Megan could feel the horse's muscles quiver with excitement as they neared the river. She smiled and patted the horse. The longer they rode the horses, the more she felt the knots in her shoulders loosen.

  She and Keegan started an easy conversation, and she found herself talking normally, as if they had known each other for years already. Although, she did tend to confuse him when she talked about the things she enjoyed doing in her time. She had to keep reminding herself that he didn’t know much about the future.

  “Let’s cross the river here,” Keegan suggested.

  The river was quite bit deeper than it was in her time, but the horses had no problem wading through it. Keegan led the way a little further to a small clearing of wildflowers surrounded by pine trees.

  “My family doesn’t know about this spot. It has always been my refuge when things got crazy back at the ranch,” Keegan told her as he easily swung off his horse and tied him to a branch.

  “It’s beautiful,” Megan said honestly, staying on her horse. There was just enough sun shining through the trees that it wasn’t cold, but it still somehow felt as if they were hidden and tucked away from the world.

  Keegan cleared his throat, startling her. She hadn’t realized he had come to stand next to her horse. “Do you need help down?”

  She blinked twice, surprised as she felt uncertainty course through her. She didn’t remember how to get down and would probably look like a fool if she tried. She blushed and nodded, “Yeah, I guess I do.”

  He let her swing one leg over before he put his hands on her hips and helped her land softly on the ground in front of him.

  “There, that wasn’t so bad,” he spoke quieter than normal, with his hand lingering on her waist. She saw his gaze lower to her lips, which she licked before she could stop herself. Mischief leaned over to nip at Keegan’s hair, breaking the moment.

  Keegan laughed at the horse’s antics. “Are you looking for something?” He walked to his saddle bag and pulled out a bag of apples. He gave one to each horse and brought the other two over to the spread of flowers that covered the ground. Megan followed, and soon they were eating apples and some goat cheese that Nicky had made herself.

  “This cheese is amazing,” Megan said around a mouthful.

  Keegan grinned at her, then took another bite of his apple.

  “It’s so much better than the cheese I can get back at home. It’s amazing how different things are between your time and mine. I can tell the river is the same, but it is wider and swifter than it is in my time. Your forest is denser than it is in my time. Of course, we use the mountains for recreation, not to live in, so that might make a difference.”

  Keegan glanced around and then looked at her. “What about the ranch?”

  Megan shrugged. “It’s no longer there. All of this land is now Federal property.”

  Keegan frowned at Megan’s words, clearly not liking the idea that his family’s ranch was no longer around in her time. “I don’t understand how our ranch is no longer in operation.”

  Megan started to feel uncomfortable. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to tell him what she knew about this area in her time. “A lot of things could have happened. Maybe one of your family members had needed to sell the land for some reason. Or the government purchased the property from your family when they wanted to make this entire area Federal land.”

  “I hate the idea that this land is lost from my family, no matter how it happened. My father worked so hard to ensure its existence.”

  “How did your family come to own this land?” Megan asked curiously.

  Keegan moved his body until he was leaning up against a large tree. He glanced at the horses to make sure they were okay, then started to talk after taking a bite of his apple. “My father’s parents lived in Ireland during the Potato Famine.”

  Megan’s eyes lit up with recognition. “I know about that. I learned about it in school. It sounded like a horrible thing to live through.”

  He chuckled. “It would be interesting to read more about it. I have only heard Pa’s stories. Anyway, they lost a few children because of starvation and only my father was left. My mother had some china that had been given to her by her mother. She buried them in her garden to keep them out of the hands of the landowner who would have taken them if he knew about them. My parents decided to dig the china up that had been carefully preserved in a wooden box and sold them. They used the money to immigrate to America.

  “Once they arrived in the United States, my grandfather worked two or three jobs at a time to make ends meet. When my father was old enough, my grandfather was able to send him to college to learn business and accounting, so that he could have a better life than my grandfather had. After my father went to college, he decided he wanted to own his own land instead of working behind a desk. He took advantage of the Homesteading Act and traveled West looking for the perfect place. He found these mountains. We’ve been here ever since.”

  “What a wonderful legacy,” Megan breathed. She loved listening to Keegan talk about events his family had lived through, events that she had only heard about in school. She wished she could have assured him that his ranch was still there in her time. Her enthusiasm faded as she thought of home and her mother. “I hope my mom is doing alright. Will you have time to help me look for the time travel spot again?”

  Keegan nodded. “Yes. Once we get back and take care of the horses, we can look around again. If that doesn’t work, we may need to talk to Kimberly and Nicky about what else we could do to get you back home.”

  “That’s a good idea. I hope it doesn’t take too much longer.” Megan started picking at a loose thread at the end of her jacket.

  Keegan paused for a minute, thinking. “Knowing their schedules, I don’t think Kimberly or Nicky will have time to really talk about this until tonight after dinner. You will most likely be staying another night. Why not enjoy your experience here while you can?”

  Megan looked up at him, not knowing if she was scared or excited about the idea of staying longer. He was watching her intently, hope written clearly all over his face. “Yeah, you’re right. I still want to spend plenty of time trying to figure out this time travel thing, but I don’t see any harm with experiencing the past. After all, this is probably the only chance I’ll get.”

  Keegan grinned at her. “It’s settled then. We may have to ask Kimberly or Nicky if they have an extra dress you could borrow, though. If anyone comes to visit, they are going to start asking questions about your clothes.”

  Megan looked down at her clothes, surprised, then laughed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I can ask them how they feel about that tonight when we talk about how to get me home.”

  She felt a thrill of excitement at the thought of being able to spend extra time with Keegan. Riding next to him today had given her the chance to see what a good man he was, and she would love to have the opportunity to see more of that
side of him.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to stay one or two more days, she thought as she watched him stand and start packing up their lunch, his muscles shifting beneath his shirt. She blushed and smiled to herself. Not too bad at all.

  Chapter 8

  Megan’s day off and the day she disappeared, Friday, October 2015

  “Thank you and have a nice day,” Barbara said to her final customer of the day.

  She walked the customer to the door and locked it behind her. It had been a fairly busy day, but she had been able to handle things just fine without Megan, although she missed her daughter’s company. The mother in her wanted to call Megan just to touch base, but she forced herself to leave her cell phone in her pocket. She tried hard not to be a hovering mother and to give Megan her space. Megan had been wonderful about not complaining when Barbara had needed most of the day before off for her dentist appointment.

  She felt very blessed that Megan was in her life. Megan was her world. She had become pregnant with her at the age of 17 while living in her parents’ home in Texas. Those were dark days for her that she tried not to think about. Barbara had been dating the star football player of her high school, Greg.

  She had been very flattered when he had started paying attention to her. He had started to ask her out to eat hamburgers and shakes at the local diner. He took her to a few functions that both of their parents attended at a club they were members of. Barbara hadn’t been one of the popular girls, but because they had been on a few dates, she didn’t think twice when he asked her to the Christmas dance their senior year.

  She remembered how thrilled she was that Greg had asked her to the dance. It had been her first dance and she had chosen her dress with care. That date had turned into a nightmare. Greg had asked her to the dance for one thing only. He had learned she was a virgin and had been challenged by his friends to change that. And he had, without her consent. After the deed had been done, he left her on the side of a dirt road to find her own way home.