Chapter 2
Charles could not remember such a heightened state of nervousness as he felt at this moment. Laura was sitting on the grass watching the water flow by; she was too quiet for his liking. Charles had not encountered Laura Brown's temper as of yet, but he had a feeling he was about to.
He paces back and forth by her side in vain; the words he wants to say to her are not coming to him. Finally, with a huff and a gesture of his hands, he gives up and sits down facing her. Charles grimaces, realizing he is close enough for her to hit him if she feels the need. I probably deserve it he thinks.
"There comes a moment in a man's life when he hopes for the right words to come out of his mouth, because he is so desperate to have something that is within his reach. I am that man right now. I have spent all my waking hours the last few days trying to get back to you that I failed to think of what I would say when I reached you. This oversight has left me sounding like a babbling idiot as I try to keep you within my grasp. The one thing I do not want to do is scare you or hurt you. I never wanted to do that Laura." Unshed tears threaten to run down Charles' face and he angrily wipes them away. She does not need tears right now.
Laura glances his way. It is a sign that she is willing to listen for now.
Charles takes a breath and puts his hand in his pocket to retrieve some items.
"I wondered when I grabbed these things earlier why I chose them. I thought some of them were pretty silly or possibly not appropriate, but they are what matter most to me." He hands Laura a picture.
"That is my wife and I when we were first married. Her name is Kris. We met in college and had a lot in common. I thought we were on the same path in life - graduate, get really good jobs that paid well, and then start a family. I guess we never really know what life will bring our way. At some point in the last few years, wanting a family became really important to me. Kris went the opposite way. She began to work more and move up in her company. I pleaded with her to move to the country because I hoped it would help change her mind about working so much. It seemed to have the opposite effect though. She worked even longer hours. I got the feeling sometimes that she felt she was missing out on things because she was not in the city. We stopped really talking to each other. Life became monotonous. Every day I went to work on the train, came home on the train, and dreamed of having another life where I was actually happy with my marriage and job. I thought it was important that you see what she looked like. She is a great woman and we had some good years in our marriage. I do not think either of us was totally at fault. I really think we just grew apart and wanted different things."
Laura's bewildered look does not shock Charles. She knows she is looking at a picture, but it is unlike any she has ever seen. His hope is to ease her into the knowledge that he is from the future, but at any moment he can lose her. He takes a deep breath, reminding himself that pace is of utmost importance right now.
"Kris and I have been married for fifteen years. We were married the same year I began working at my job. I work in an advertising firm where I draw ads for products. Soap, detergent, face wash…you name it and I have drawn it. Yet I was not happy with it. It paid the bills, but it left me feeling empty. Until one day when I became inspired to draw something different. I was essentially playing around, but at some point a vision came to me. This is that drawing." Charles unfolds a piece of drawing paper and hands it to Laura.
Laura's hand covers her mouth. The black and white drawing is of her. It is unlike anything she has ever seen. Somehow Charles captured a sparkle in her eyes that made her look mysterious and knowing; as if she had all the answers to every question he had. Her eyes flutter up to his.
"I drew that picture of you before I ever met you. That is why I could not stop looking at you the first time we met. You were my vision…my dream woman. I never thought you would be real." He smiles sheepishly.
Laura nods in understanding. The portrait leaves no imagination to his feelings for her. It is the first time she realizes how well he communicates in his drawings.
"It's lovely Charles" is the only thing she can think of to say. The constriction in her throat will not permit her to say what she desperately wants to express.
"It is easy to make you look lovely Laura. I just have to draw what I see and it is right there." His penetrating eyes stir the air around them. She feels that familiar warmth rush to her extremities. She shyly averts her eyes; wanting to gaze longingly at him, but not give in just yet. Something is about to happen. Something she will not be able to explain. She can feel it all around her.
"Now comes the hard part. The weekend before we met I found a store that sold antique watches. I bought a gold watch from this nice gentleman – a pocket watch that had a ball release on the casing. I carried it with me wherever I went. The following Monday something strange happened when I was on the train. One minute there were buildings and cars outside the train window…and the next minute there was a dirt road and horses. The whole town changed. I began to panic when the nice gentleman who sold me the watch came by asking if I would like to get off the train in Somerville." Charles pauses to take a breath. She nods for him to continue.
"I was so confused that first day Laura. I did not understand what was happening to me. I felt like I was dreaming, but I felt actual fear that all my surroundings changed. Later I would realize how afraid I was to change things. That is what kept me in my marriage to Kris. I wanted change, but I was too scared to take that step to change things in my life. That fear kept me on that train that day and the next when the same thing happened. I told Kris, but she said I was having a m id-life crisis. She thought I should see a doctor and I did. He told me there was nothing wrong with me and my fears were unfounded. The next day I got on the train, and Somerville appeared out of nowhere on my way to St. Louis once again. This time though, I really paid attention to what this gentleman said to me."
"What did he say to you?" Laura asks breathlessly.
"He told me a man can't know what he wants till he knows what there is, and the only way to know is to take a look, try something on, and see if it fits. I knew right then that I had to get off that train. I had to get over my fear. So I did. The first person that talked to me was Mary and she led me to you."
"That would be my Mary. She can talk to anyone."
"Yes she certainly can. I spent that glorious day with you, got back on the train, and went home. I went to work the next day and I drew this." Charles unfolds another drawing and hands it to Laura.
"Oh! That's Mary isn't it?" Laura asks as she lovingly rubs her finger over the image of her daughter.
"Yes. I drew it from memory of you and Mary playing in the field." Charles face falls as he realizes he cannot wait any longer to tell Laura the truth.
"That night, I was looking through some books I borrowed from the library - books on Somerville to learn about the town. I found a picture of you in one of the books Laura." He waits patiently for the news to sink in. Seconds later Laura lifts her head from his drawing.
"I don't understand?" She replies.
Charles wryly laughs.
"Yah. I know. It's only going to get more confusing from this point on." Charles rubs his hands through his hair to alleviate the pressure building in his head. With his hands grasping his neck he looks at her roughly.
"You won't understand anything I say from this point on unless I say this Laura. I was born in 1963. When I left for that train the first time I saw you, the year was 2000. When I got off the train, the year was 1896."
Laura closes her eyes and opens them. The bewilderment is palpable. She opens her mouth but nothing will come out. She wants to believe him. Oh how she wants to, but it is too sensational, too fantastical to even think of believing. Does he think I am that gullible?
Charles put his hands up to ward off the anger he can see rising in her.
"Laura, look I know it sounds crazy. I know. Please just bear with me a little while longer. It will make sense. I need you to stay calm and rational right now, because I need you to think back. Remember the first time you saw me. Do you remember what I was wearing?"
She closes her eyes and breathes once, twice, and opens her eyes clearly.
"Yes I remember."
"Good. Now, do you ever recall seeing any man or woman wearing clothes like that? Do you recall seeing those types of materials or shoes?"
"Well…I've never seen them, but I have never been to St. Louis. How would I know how they dress there?" She counters. Charles grumbles.
"Yah. That is a good point. I can tell you they don't dress like that Laura, because my clothes, the very clothes I am wearing right now have not been invented. The money I pulled out of my pocket? I couldn't show it to Mary because it was money from my time. Think about it Laura. Why do I dress funny and have crazy ideas that men and women are equal and should work together? I mean didn't you wonder about that at all? Why I seem to not know the rules and protocols of life and relationships in this time?" He flails his arms wildly.
Laura looks anywhere but directly at him. She has wondered. She has wondered a lot about why he is so different. She has never been able to pinpoint what it is though. Not this. It cannot be this.
Charles grabs her face with his hands.
"Look at me Laura!" He demands. She acquiesces with a timid cry.
"I don't know how men and women act because I'm not from this time Laura. I'm from a future where these rules do not exist. Where men and women work together, where couples live together and make love before marriage, where people get divorced and find love again and don't get ostracized for it. That's why I seem so strange Laura. I'm from 100 years in your future!"
Laura cries out in frustration, her hands grabbing his, but he will not let go.
"What do you want me to say?" She shrieks.
Charles closes his eyes, centering himself, remembering his ultimate goal.
"One day, I want you to say you believe me. But today is not that day." He sighs as he releases her, his hands falling to the ground.
"It isn't?" She asks in puzzlement.
"No Laura. You need some time. You need time to think back and remember what we have talked about today. I also need time. I no longer have a job or a home. If I'm going to prove myself to you that I can be a good husband and provider, then there are some things I need to do as well. I want you to keep those drawings I did. Maybe they will help you make a decision. I also have this-" He takes out a paper with a list on it and hands it to her.
"This might help you decide as well. I found some things when I was doing research on St. Louis and the town of Somerville. I was worried about you…wanted to make sure nothing would happen to you in case I could come back here" He grumbles as he gets up, putting his hands in his pockets.
Wanted to make sure nothing would happen to you in case I could come back here…Laura grasps the piece of paper in her hand as she gets to her feet.
"Charles. The book you found me in. What did it say?"
He shuffles his feet. She can see he clearly does not want to tell her the information he found.
"Originally it said your name and that you were the editor of the Somerville Gazette, which was the first newspaper in Missouri to publish a cartoon on March 6, 1896."
She smiles faintly, remembering that he told her the newspapers in St. Louis ran comics all the time.
"That was why I came back again. I was amazed that you used my cartoon. I thought you were so brave and intriguing and I couldn't stop thinking about you. Then I…well I hurt you very much and I made myself promise I would never come back. I would never hurt you that way again. I even smashed the watch that helped me get to this time, but the information in the book changed once I got back."
"What did it say Charles?" Laura pleads.
Charles wipes his eyes and levels his gaze at her.
"It had all the same information, but added you were killed in a gas line explosion at a presidential rally for McKinley" He tilts his head. "I had to come back for you Laura. I spent days fixing the watch just to get back here in time to save you. I was the one who told you to talk to McKinley. It was my fault and I had to make it right."
Laura looks to the horizon, gulping deeply at the prospect of her life possibly ending today. Charles had come back to save her, and in the process he lost everything in his life.
"I see." She quietly replies as she looks toward him. He smiles sadly as he turns and walks to Jimbo. Once he settles in the saddle he glances at Laura who is still standing near the stream.
"Will you be okay to get home Laura?" Charles asks politely.
Absentmindedly she nods, not even looking his way. Charles understands and moves Jimbo around to begin the long trek to town. She can hear him faintly say goodbye to her, but she cannot respond.
For hours or minutes she stands in that very spot watching the clouds pass her by. Too much information to process swims through her mind. A headache is forming and she brings her hands up to rub her temples. The paper crinkling in her fingers alerts her to the list she has forgotten about. Curiously she peruses the words Charles wrote.
March 25, 1896 – The Olympics begin in Athens, Greece (I wish I could take Laura to see it. When the Olympics come to St. Louis in 1904, I will take her).
May 27, 1896 – An F4 tornado will hit St. Louis killing 255 people (Make sure Laura and Mary are nowhere near St. Louis when it hits).
June 26, 1896 – 1st movie theater in US opens (Someday I will take Laura to a movie theater and sit in the very back just so I can steal kisses from her).
August 29, 1896 – Chop Suey invented in NYC (Must take Laura to NYC to try it).
November 3, 1896 – Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah elected 1st female senator (Laura will be very happy).
November 3, 1896 – President McKinley defeats Bryan (Laura will not be happy).
Keep an open mind about McKinley. Laura cries out as her hand covers her mouth. She squeezes her eyes shut to block out the knowledge in her hands. No, no, no, NO! This cannot be true!
Yet her heart tells her Charles would never lie about this. He will do as he said he would – give her time and space to find her own truth. If I'm going to prove myself to you that I can be a good husband and provider…A smile graces her face. Marriage to Charles is something she can see in her future…
Laura shakes herself. What am I saying? The man just told me he is from the future and…and…damnation!
"I believe him." Laura Brown states to no one in particular.