Chapter 2:Revelations

Once downstairs, Josh turned the lights on so they could actually see something. In doing so he seemed to startle his newfound guests.

"How did you do that?"

It was the reddish haired lady that seemed to be with blondy?

"Do what?"

"Light all those lanterns on the ceiling at once. I mean you didn't even touch them!"

Lanterns? What in the world was she talking about?

"I didn't light any lanterns, I just turned the lights on."

"But how?"

"By flipping the switch."

"I could see that, but how did you get them all on at once just by flipping some old switch?"

"Haven't you ever heard of a little thing called electricity?"

"No."

"How do you think everything is powered?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean where do you think all your appliances get their power?"

"Appliances?"

"Things like your fridge, microwave..."

"I've never even heard of any of those things!"

Was this lady trying to play mind games with him? I mean come on, what idiot hasn't ever heard of electricity or doesn't know what modern appliances are? Maybe that was it, she might be partially retarded. He'd met people before that were mentally retarded and some of them didn't know what certain things were or had their own name for them. He finally understood.

"Never mind, I don't think thats the important thing now."

He was tired and he didn't feel like letting that conversation go on any further.

"The table is in the dinning room, this way."

He pointed in the direction of the table. Once they were all at the table he grabbed a few extra chairs so everyone could be seated. After they all were was sitting (They all looked like a group gathered at a pajama party.), Josh started off the talking. They needed to get some things figured out. He directed his attention to the dark haired man.

"Before we even discuss anything, I think we should get properly acquainted. I'm Josh Matherson."

The dark haired man nodded and shook his hand. The man had a strong grip.

"I'm Charles Ingalls and this is my wife Caroline, my daughter Laura and my son-in-law Almanzo Wilder."

He exchanged hellos and was reluctant at first but shook Almanzo's hand.

"My son Albert, my daughter Carrie and my youngest daughter Grace."

There was something about their names that he just couldn't put his finger on. Something very familiar about them. No matter, he just hoped all the tension between them was relieved. Blondy, I mean Almanzo, hurled everyone back into reality.

"Now that we all know each other, how are we going to find out what happened and what are we going to do?"

"Well..."

The girl named Carrie rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Ma, I'm tired!"

"Me to!"

That came from little Grace. He wasn't surprised that they were tired, after all it was the middle of the night and they were just kids. Heck, he was tired himself.

"There's bedrooms upstairs. You're welcome to them if you'd like them to get some sleep?

Charles's wife Caroline looked over at her husband. He gave an approving nod and she walked over to the stairs with the two little ones.

"They're the two rooms at the far end of the hallway."

She glanced at him and smiled.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

After that they headed upstairs.

"Albert, you'd better get up there to."

"Please Pa, I'm not tired at all!"

"Albert..."

"But Pa I got something important to say about what happened."

"What is it?"

"Well, I went to bed normal just like I always do. I woke up later because of how loud the storm was getting. It was even louder than Laura's snoring."

Laura glared at him. Almanzo let out a little chuckle.

"Anyways, I got out of bed so I could see what it was like outside. Thats when I saw something."

"What was it?"

"I'm not exactly sure, it was like a flicker of light that just came out of nowhere."

"You sure it wasn't just lightning?"

"No Pa, it wasn't, It was bright white and shaped kind of like a diamond."

Diamond! Thats what the light looked like when they first appeared.

"The light I saw when you all came was in the shape of a diamond to."

"Thats not all though, something else happened. The light just disappeared out of nowhere. A little while later when I went back to my bed, everything began to shake. I fell down and wasn't able to keep my balance long enough to get up. I felt really tired and I ended up falling asleep. The last thing I remember was seeing that diamond light again. It was really bright this time and it covered the whole room."

Josh looked over at Almanzo.

"Hear any similarities?"

Charles was still focused on Albert.

"Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I don't know, I didn't remember. It sorta came back to me just know."

Caroline came back downstairs.

"The girls are asleep."

"At least someone is." Almanzo added.

Josh walked over to the window. It was a white out outside. He could barely see a few feet out the window. He knew that it had to be bad out there. He looked around at all the people at the table. They all looked tired and worn out. He felt exactly the same way as they looked. His eyes were heavy and he had a hard time concentrating. That was probably due to his long week. He looked back outside. There is no way they are going anywhere anytime soon when the weather was this crappy.

"I don't think we're going to get much accomplished tonight. I don't know about any of you but I'm downright beat and I could use some extra sleep. No one is going to be able to go anywhere anytime soon in this kind of weather, so I think we should all get some sleep. A good nights rest will do us all some good and it'll give us a chance to clear our heads."

Charles looked around at his family, then at Josh.

"I think you're right. A little rest won't hurt and we can figure everything out tomorrow."

Everyone seemed to be in agreement.

"Alright then as I said before I have the two extra bedrooms upstairs and I have a pull out couch in the living room. There's also another couch down in the basement someone can use. It will probably be easier to put you and Mrs. Ingalls in the upstairs room and the Wilders in the living room. That way the couples are together."

They all nodded.

"I'll come and help you set up that couch."

"What about me?"

It was the boy, Albert.

"You'll have the couch downstairs all to yourself."

He pulled the boy aside.

"You're the lucky one you know. That couch has to be the most comfortable thing I've ever slept on!"

He smiled.

"Is it quiet down there?"

"Quiet as can be."

His smile grew.

"That's great to hear!"

"Plus if you can't sleep I have a big screen down there that you're free to watch."

"Whats s big screen?"

"You know a big TV."

"A TV?"

Not this again.

"You don't know what a TV is?"

He shook his head. He couldn't believe that there was anyone alive today that didn't know what a TV was. He was joking either because his face held a very serious look. He had to find something out. He caught Charles just as he was heading up the stairs.

"Are all of you Amish?"

He was probably a little bold in saying that but he just had to know.

"Whats Amish?"

"Its when you choose not to involve yourself with technology of the times and lead very simple lives."

"I suppose you could call my life simple but I don't separate myself from technology."

"Then how does your son not know what a TV is then?"

"A what?"

"You got to be kidding me. What person from the 21st century doesn't know what a television is?"

All the movement in the room stopped. All eyes were on him.

"What century did you say?"

"The 21st..."

"What do you mean the 21st century, its only the 19th century."

That came from Laura. Was she crazy?

"Its the 21st century. What kind of education have you had?"

"The best and thats why I'm sure its the 19th century. I am a teacher you know."

A teacher! She couldn't be. She was... Something just occurred to him. It was as if the gears in his head had turned on since the first time they came. It was a revelation in sorts. Ingalls, Wilder and Laura.

He knew he had heard those names before but he couldn't place where from until know. Laura Ingalls Wilder. She was the author of the Little House on the Prairie books. It was a well known book series about the life of a girl in the late eighteen hundreds. He had encountered those books many times before in his teaching career.

This had to be some kind of joke. He looked back at all of them. They did look like something you would see a hundred years ago. Come to think of it he had never seen modern sleepwear that looked quite like those.

This was absurd. The only way that could really be them is if they had somehow traveled through time. That was impossible though. They were probably just a bunch of people dressed up having some fun with him.

If that was the case though then how did that explain the light and them just appearing out of nowhere. It didn't, thats why he had to check something.

"I'll be right back." he announced and he ran upstairs to his bedroom. He quickly logged onto his computer and accessed the Internet. Once he was online he searched for pictures of the Ingalls and Wilder families taken back in the 1800's. He came across one. His eyes widened and his hands began to sweat. His heart was racing and he just stood still. He couldn't believe it. It was them.