I started writing this a long time ago and never completed it. It's still not done but I think there is enough to finally post some of it. A big thanks to Ashleyder1 for all of her help!
The night was dark, not a star to be seen and the moon such a small sliver that it was barely there. The young girl quickly slipped into shadows behind the electronics store. After checking to be sure she was alone, she picked the lock on the back door, disarmed the alarm and hurried inside. She quickly stuffed as many disposable cell phones and tablets as she could into her bags, then left as stealthily as she arrived.
Once back at her house, True catalogued her treasure and smiled. She was going to make a good amount on these! She took several of the gadgets and put them into a cabinet under her television for later use. Yes, tonight was a wonderful success! Sure she could have purchased these items many times over, but there was something about the exhilaration of the crime that she couldn't resist.
As she showered and got ready for bed, she looked at the pictures on her dresser. A small twinge of guilt nibbled at her brain when the thought of the reaction of Vin or Chris if they were alive to witness her activities over the last century. She would be feeling a twinge of a different sort in a region way south of her brain! With a sigh she got into bed, fond memories of her loved ones playing through her mind as she drifted off. She was so deeply asleep she never noticed the flash of light in the trees behind her house or heard her back door quietly open and close.
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True woke to the delicious odor of fresh brewed coffee. She rolled over and snuggled further into covers as she wondered where the smell was coming from as she hadn't set the timer last night. Her eyes flew open as her sleep addled brain caught up with her thoughts. She hopped out of bed, grabbed her knife from the bedside drawer and quietly slipped down the stairs. As she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she froze and the knife fell from her hand.
"Mornin'." The man said as he turned around.
"Chris?!" True gasped and promptly fainted.
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"True honey, come on open those pretty blue eyes." Chris said as he tapped True lightly on the cheek.
True groggily opened her eyes and shot up in her seat, scooting as far away from the man as possible. "Chris? It can't be! You're dead!"
"I was. I'm here now."
"I don't believe you! How do I know you aren't just an imposter?"
"Well, would an imposter know that you are not from this world and had a birth ring in your belly button. Would he know that when you lived in Four Corners you broke a boys arm in a fight."
"He might." True replied though she was starting to believe him.
"Would he also know that I used to call you baby blue eyes when we were alone?"
True sat forward and carefully touched his cheek. "You feel real enough." Without thought she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, surprised that he even smelled the same. A few tears slid down her cheeks as he pulled her onto his lap and held her close. It had been so long since she'd been held like this that she sank into his embrace.
"I know this is all hard to take in. Hell I'm struggling myself! But I'm here and that is all that really matters."
"But why? Why are you here? I've been alone for a incredibly long time and you just show up NOW?"
"I couldn't control that. Vin and I were on the spirit plane. Namêšeme came to us and said you were heading for real trouble and that one of us were to be sent back to you looking as we did then and having all of our memories. He let us choose who went. Vin wanted to come but he knew I was the better choice. We all know you behaved better for me than you did for him."
True blushed. "You were more of a father figure than Vin. I figured you felt like one and thats why you were a lot harder on me. Besides you scared the hell out of me when you were angry!"
"That is why I returned and not Vin. I am here to bring you under control and give you the guidance you've been needing for a while."
"But why now? Why not 75 years ago? I could have used some help then too! I was ALL ALONE! Everyone was GONE!"
"I know and if I could have I would have been there for you." He hugged her tight, trying to make up for something he had no control over. "Sweetie, all that I know is that you are heading down a path that has dire consequences. What those are, though, I have no idea."
"Im not surprised since grandfather is involved. He's the king of cryptic confusion!" She looked at the coffee mug on the counter and giggled. "You actually figured out how to use the coffee maker?"
"Found the instructions." He replied, not ready to let on that he was prepped on what he would find when he was sent back. He knew how to use the modern appliances, bathroom facilities and what a television was, but he didn't have a clue about some of the other things he'd seen in the house. He planned to have True show him.
"Ah. Well good thing you did. I forgot to set the timer and I sooo need a cup." She hopped up and poured some into her favorite mug. "You want me awake, I gotta have my cuppa joe!"
Chris almost told her she couldn't have any, but remained quiet. There would be plenty of time to get to the rules. Right now, he just wanted to enjoy their reunion. He ran his hand lovingly down her hair. "I can't believe you cut it. " he said referencing her now shoulder length hair.
"Yeah. It was getting in my way when I was, um, playing and stuff."
Before Chris could comment the back door opened and middle aged women hurried through, placing several grocery bags on the counter. "We'll hello there." She greeted and took Trues cup of coffee from her hand without missing a beat. "We had a deal. You cut back on the caffeine and I keep you rolling in brownies."
"Ah Emma! Just one cup?" She said and batted her eye lashes.
"That doesn't work on me anymore." She said as she dumped half of the coffee into the sink. "Here. That's it or no brownies." True smiled and took a huge gulp. "So who's your friend?"
"Emma, this is Chris Larabee. He's gonna be staying here a while."
"Pleased to meet you ma'am."
"Chris this is Emma Jenson. She takes care of my house and keeps me fed. She also pretends to be my guardian to keep the Children's Protection Agency away."
"True why don't you go take a shower and I'll get your breakfast ready. Oh and I washed your favorite jeans. They are in your dresser drawer."
"Thanks Emma." She turned to Chris. "I'll be right back. After we eat I'll show the house."
Chris nodded and sipped his coffee. "So, how long have you been with True?"
"A while now. She's a good kid, just a little misguided. Of course you are here to get her back on track, aren't you?" She said as she gather the items she needed to make pancakes.
Chris almost choked on his coffee. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me. I've seen the picture in True's room every time I go in there to clean up or put laundry away. You look too much like the man in the photo to not be him. True talks about a Chris and a Vin all of the time." She turned to the stove and poured the batter into the pan. "I just know things Mr. Larabee. I don't know how or why, but you are here now and I suspect it's to get her on the straight and narrow."
"What does that mean?"
"That, Mr. Larabee, is something you will need to find out yourself. I am paid very, very well to not ask questions or comment on things I've seen. I'm not about to lose my job." She slipped the pancakes onto platter. "You're a smart man. You'll figure it out." She wiped her hands and went to the bottom of the stairs. "True! If you want a hot breakfast you better get a move on!"
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"So this is the room you will be staying in." True said as she opened a door to what could only be described as a suite. The room was huge with its own bathroom and sitting area. "We will need to go out and get you some clothes and stuff."
"How do you pay for all of this and Emma's salary?"
"I'll show you." True knew Chris was going to ask that so she moved onto another closed room, this one with a key pad on the door. True punched in her code and pushed open door. "This is my office. These here are my babies." She patted her computers. "I am a day trader. I invest my money into different companies and sell when it's a good time. Remember I am mathematically gifted and I've discovered that I am good with computers. I do VERY well. Plus I have the ranch."
"Ranch?"
"Didn't you look outside when you got here?" True rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. "C'mon I'll show you." She led him down the stairs and out to the porch. "This is all mine. 1000 acres give or take. I have to stay under the radar so all of my places are on as much land as I could buy. Less chances people will see me and realize I'm not really getting older." She walked him over to the barn. "Hey Evan!" She greeted the man mucking out stalls. "Where's Quinn?"
"Tack room. Quinn!" Evan wiped his hands on the rag he had hanging from his back pocket. Another man approached from the room at the far end of the barn.
"Mornin' shorty!" He greeted True and put his arm around her. "Who's this?" It wasn't uncommon to see various people pop in and out of the house, but something about this man made him wary.
"This is my Uncle, Chris Larabee. He's gonna be staying here for a while." She turned to Chris. "This is Evan Daniels and Quinn McKay. They run the ranch. There are a few more people that help them, but these two are the only ones that live here. Makes it easier." She explained at Chris's questioning look. She was definitely not going to tell him that they were both ex-cons trying to turn their life around. THAT wouldn't go over well at all. "Chris is a good horseman so feel free to ask him questions or for his opinion. He won't steer you wrong."
"True! You have a call coming in!" Emma yelled from the house. True reflexively reached into her pocket before realizing her phone was in the house, hence the reason Emma was yelling for her. "I'll be right back."
"So you're the Uncle thats been overseas?" Quinn asked.
Chris nodded, trying to work out what just happened and what story she concocted about him. He assumed she stayed close to the real story to keep things simple. At least he hoped thats what she did! "Yep. Just got in today."
"Well, its good to finally meet you. We've been running the ranch for a while now and were starting to wonder if you were even real. It's a good time for you to come."
Chris's curiosity peaked. "Why's that?"
Quinn hadn't meant to say what he did. He knew the girl was a math genius living off of family money and that Emma was her caretaker. He also knew and that she dabbled with the markets, but he wasn't stupid. He was sure all the goings on around the ranch recently had some illegal element to it. Still, he had a good gig here and knew he couldn't get anything like it anywhere else. He decided to just keep his mouth shut. "Mr. Larabee, we are paid very well to do our jobs. Its not our place to ask questions or make comments."
He raised an eyebrow when he received a similar reply to Emma's with that same look in his eye like he wanted to say more but wouldn't. "So how are things going around here? Things running smoothly? Any issues with the stock?"
Chris and Quinn spent the next couple minutes discussing the ranch before Quinn excused himself and Evan. "Well we need to get back to work. You ever want to give us a hand more than welcome."
True returned just as they walked away. "So we gotta go get you some clothes. C'mon, let's get that done while its still early." They headed for a pick up truck parked next to the house.
"Um, what is this?"
She opened the passenger door. "This is how we get places now a days. Hop in. Emma'll be out in a sec to drive us. "
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The trip to the mall went off without a hitch. In fact, It turned out to be one of the best shopping trips she'd ever been on. True giggled and had to bite her lip to keep from out and out laughing, again. She was way too close to Chris to do that! Yep, BEST TRIP EVER!
Once Emma found Chris's size, she went all out and bought him enough stuff to fill his entire walk in closet and the shoe rack. Chris was embarrassed to no end when she went about explaining the different kinds of underwear available, finally settling on boxer briefs after she decided Chris would probably not want his 'boys smushed'.
That wasn't the best part though. The best part was Chris's reaction when he saw the way women dressed. He was like a kid in a candy store having to hold a dentists hand. Every time Emma caught him staring she quietly scold him about appropriate behavior, causing him to blush. The final straw that broke Trues ability to remain quiet was when Emma threatened to take a spoon to his backside if he took one more look at any woman! True laughed so hard she had to run to the bathroom lest she pee herself! Every ounce of her wanted to make some comments about the ordeal but Chris would kick her ass into next week of she did. So she settled for giggles.
Chris glared at True, not at all happy she was laughing at his expense. Truth be told, he tried to stop looking at the women around him but just when he thought he'd seen it all, another would walk by in even LESS. He just couldn't help but look, he was a healthy male and is had been a LONG time since he'd had any intimacy. Another giggle interrupted his thoughts. "Enough True."he growled.
"I'm sorry Chris." She said, though her tone said she wasn't the least bit sorry.
"Your gonna be if you don't quit it." He replied, a glint of amusement in his eyes. As much as the ordeal embarrassed him, he was grateful he got to hear her laughter again.
True managed to stay quiet until they pulled up next to the house. "Hey Emma! Next time remind me to take some blinders else you gonna end up making good on your promise!" Emma didn't get a chance to reply before hearing a high pitched squeal and True raced past her, Chris hot on her heels.
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(2 weeks later)
Chris sat on the couch flipping through the television channels and trying to make sense out of some of the things he was seeing. Even after all he'd seen over the past 2 weeks, the fact that something like this even existed amazed him.
True was up in her office working so he was left to his own devices. He vaguely remembered True showing him something called a dvd and thought maybe one of those would manage to catch his interest as nothing he was seeing was doing it. With a sigh he stood up and went to the cabinet under the TV, hoping that was where she kept them. He was surprised when he found several boxes of two different gadgets. He thought one was called a smartphone but he wasn't so sure about the other.
Emma was coming through the room on the way to the kitchen to start supper when she saw Chris looking at something in the cabinet. "Need help?"
Chris looked up. "What is all of this? Does True need all of these gadgets?"
Emma pursed her lips. " We'll they are quite expensive so most people only have one of each. Why she has so many is something you will need to ask her yourself." She replied and continued into the kitchen.
Chris watched her leave, confusion etched on his face. It was obvious from Emma's tone that it wasn't normal to have this many of the same thing. Still, according to True, she had a lot of money so perhaps she kept extras on hand in case one broke. No that didn't sound quite right either. He not a stupid man, so after a few moments and memories, he pieced it all together. Apparently his little thief went back to her old ways once she was away from their supervision. Now he needed to confirm his theory. He scooped the items up and carried them to his room.
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"EMMA! EMMA!"
Emma hurried into the living room. "No need to yell child! What is the matter?"
"Where is all of the stuff I had under here?! What did you do with it?!" She asked, almost panicked.
"I have no idea True."
"You're the only one that cleans around here! How can you not know?!"
"What is going on in here?" A voice sounded from behind True.
She spun around. "Nothin'. I'm just looking for something."
"Well there isn't a need to yell. What are you looking for and we can help you find it."
True eyed Chris. She didn't like the look on his face. Something was telling her to tread lightly. "Just some tablets and phones that I had in this cabinet is all. I don't need them now though. I'll look for them later."
"Oh no. You were making such a huge fuss about it I think we should take a look for them now." He moved closer and put his arm around her shoulder. "In fact why don't we take little walk to my room. You might be surprised to find they are in there."
True hung her head. Damn it all to hell! It was obvious he found what she was looking for before she did and now he wanted to discuss things. He was a smart man and it wouldn't take a genius to realize a person doesn't need so many of the same thing. "Nah, that's all right. It's gotta be close to dinner time. I'll worry about it later. "
"There is still an hour until dinner. You have plenty of time." Emma piped in.
"See, nothing to worry about." His grip lowered to her arm and he led her up to his room. Once there, he didn't waste any time. "I may not be from this time, but I am not blind. You stole those things, didn't you?"
True remained quiet. She did not like where this was going or the sinking feeling in her stomach. Damn if the man still didn't scare the shit out of her when he was angry.
"I can see the answer on your face. Did you plan to sell them?"
Chris asked, thankful that he'd watched a lot of the ID Channel and saw just what types of crimes there were these days. He may not have understood all of them, but theft had been around for long time. When True still didn't answer, he slammed his hand down on the bedside table. "Answer me!"
"Yes sir." She said quietly. She may have been on her own for long time but she still remembered what was expected of her.
"Now I haven't been around for a while but I'm sure stealing is still a crime. Just as I am sure that you will be paying a high price for that crime." He set his hand on his waist and fingered his belt. "But first I want to know why? You claim to have so much money, why in the world would you steal something you could easily buy?"
True gulped. She did not like where this was going. "No reason. Just like to keep my skills sharp." She replied smartly.
"Is that right?" He leaned into her personal space. "I guess I will need to start reminding you what is appropriate behavior then, huh? I'm sure you remember how I feel about theft."
True tried to jump up but Chris had her trapped. "C'mon Chris. You can't just come waltzing back into my life and start laying down the law. You dont have the right! Not after all of these years!"
"I've been sent back here to watch over you! Apparently I do!" He unbuckled his belt and pulled it through the loops. "It's been a while but I'm sure you know how this goes."
True tried to think of something, anything, to get out of the mess she was in. It had been a long time since she'd felt the sting of a belt and she has no desire to feel it again!
"If I have to force you, you will lose the jeans."
True's eyes widened. The last thing she wanted was to have the first whipping she's gotten in 75 years done without the protection of her pants! She stood on shaking legs, turned, and bent over the bed.
