A WAY BACK
by Augustina Van Hoven
“If she needed to get a hold of me she was supposed to take out an ad in the paper. The Idaho Statesman was publishing back then and I could look it up in their archives.”
“And have you looked?”
The man slammed down his glass and some of the whisky sloshed over the side. “Well of course I’ve looked. Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Jack shot him a glance that told him exactly that.
“I’ve checked every paper from 1870 to 1880 for a message. There is nothing in there.” He rubbed his eyes again.
“Well, assuming that she is stuck in the past and has tried to contact you than Occam’s razor would dictate that simplest solution is she either arrived before 1870 after 1880 and that is why you haven’t found anything in the papers. Tomorrow morning we are going to check the years from when the paper was founded until 1870 and if we still can’t find a message from her then we’ll start looking after 1880.” He stopped in the middle of the floor and looked at the old man. For the first time since he had arrived, Edmund had a sparkle in his eye. The look of hope on his face made Jack’s stomach clench. The flip side of Occam’s razor was the most likely explanation for the lack of communication or the fact that Sarah hadn’t returned was that she was dead.
Edmund got out of his chair. “I’ll put a note on the door that I won’t open the store tomorrow until 1:00. That will give us all morning in the archives.” He smiled. “Thank you, Jack. I have been so frightened that I had lost her. I think with your help we’ll find her.” He nodded his head and put his hands in his pockets. “Yes, we will find her.” He looked up. “Are you thirsty? Would you like a beer, or soda, or some whisky?
“I’ll take a beer, thanks.” He sat down on the couch while Edmund went to the fridge. Something still didn’t feel right about all this. He snorted. The whole thing was insane and he was upset about the details? That was like having a roaring lion in your living room and being worried about it shedding on the carpet.
Edmund came back in and handed him a cold bottle. “The archive section of the paper opens at 9:00. We can meet somewhere for breakfast and get there when it opens.”
“Sure, that sounds fine.” He twisted the top off and took a pull. The cold liquid felt good going down his throat. “Edmund, I’d like to see the notes your thief sent you on time travel. If your guesses, based on the coins and the other factors is correct then she should have arrived during that ten year time span. If she didn’t there has to be a reason for the variance. I’m hoping something in the notes will give us a clue. Also I want to know everything she took with her down to the smallest detail. If something went wrong we need to find out what and why.” He took another pull from the bottle. “The slightest thing could make a difference.”
“I’ll go get them. I kept them locked in my safe. You can take them with you and study them tonight. Hopefully, you’ll have figured out something by morning. I’ve looked at them so many times I can’t see straight anymore. I know I’m overlooking something.” He left the room.
Jack kept sipping the beer. She wanted to buy us a house, of all the stupid things to do for money. They could make it work even if they lived in a travel trailer. As long as they were together things would work out. He had to get off the road and work in the corporate office. Separation hadn’t done their relationship any good and if he got her back he’d never let her out of his sight again.
****
They’d spent hours going through the documents. Some copies of the paper were in digital format and some on microfiche, all of them were in very small print. Luckily Edmund had the forethought to bring a pair of magnifying glasses. He was sure he’d have gone blind without them.
He nearly missed it. After over two hours of viewing, he nearly glanced right over the top of it, a small ad in the private message section.
Happy New Year, Uncle Edmund. 1866 promises to be a special year. I had a little difficulty but hope to head home as soon as I have enough money for the journey. I’m not sure when I’m coming home. I miss you. Love TSA
They’d found her. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She was so far away but at least she was alive.
“Edmund, how much money was she carrying?”
The old man wiped his glasses on his shirt. “Two hundred and fifty dollars, a mix of twenty dollar gold pieces, silver dollars and smaller coins. Why?’
“She says here that she’s coming home as soon as she can earn enough for the journey. Do you think she was robbed?” He frowned. Was she hurt?
Edmund smacked his forehead. “It’s the date on the coins. We thought she’d end up somewhere between 1870 and 1880. Most of the coins she’s carrying are dated after 1865. She has plenty of money to buy a horse or pay someone to take her from Boise to the anomaly, she just can’t use it.”
He nodded his head. “Well, now comes the hard part. We have to figure out why she’s gone back to that year.” He wasn’t going to let her stay there until she’d earned enough to make the trip home. Too many bad things could happen to a woman in that time. He had to be able to duplicate the exact thing that had sent her to 1866 because he was going back there to get her and bring her home.
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When Sarah Anderson found out that time travel was possible, she put together a plan to go back in time. With the help of her uncle Edmund and his knowledge of antiques, she makes the trip only to end up stuck in the wrong year.
When Edmund confesses that Sarah is lost in the past, Jack Sinclair plans to go back and rescue her. Unfortunately, even the best laid plans have problems and his plan is far from perfect.
Will he be able to figure out what went wrong and how to find her or will she be lost forever in the past?
Will he be able to figure out what went wrong and how to find her or will she be lost forever in the past?
1 comments:
Sounds very interesting! Thank you for sharing with us today, Augustina!
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