Chapter 2

Lou watched on as a pickup truck with a livestock trailer hauled the horse away. She kept the pouch in her grasp trying to figure out how she would get back to the station house for she still wasn't sure just had happened to her or where she was. She let Sam do a quick neurological assessment of her in the field by shining a small pen light in her eyes and seeing if she could track the movement of her fingers. After passing the assessment with flying colors the doctor concluded that Lou did not likely have a concussion after all. Sam walked around to the driver's door of the car and looked over at Lou standing by the other side. She instructed, "Get in! I'll take you to the museum."

Lou looked at the door before her. "How do you get in?" she wondered.

Sam walked back to the passenger's side of the car, grabbed the handle and swung the door open. She waited for Lou.

"Oh," she concluded the handle needed to be lifted. She looked inside the vehicle. "You have a chair in here?"

"It's called a seat." she told her. "Now, get in."

Lou quickly figured she needed to swing her leg inside the cabin of the car. She soon found herself in the sitting position on the seat. She placed the pouch on her lap and simply sat still afraid to touch anything for it all seemed so foreign to her. She then found Sam leaning over her and placing and belt across her and buckling it on the other side of the seat. Then Sam closed the door and walked back around to the other side of the car as Lou examined the seatbelt.

Lou observed as Sam opened the door and slid down in a seat located behind a wheel that stuck out of the panel before her. She paid close attention as Sam turned the key, starting the engine. She watched as Sam buckled her seatbelt and then checked the mirrors. Lou turned slightly and found she could see out the rear window of the car. Soon she felt the vehicle move. She quickly grabbed the dashboard before her.

Sam started to drive down the highway as Lou sat in the passenger's seat with her nails dug into the dashboard. She glanced over at her, "You can let go now. You are safe in your seat."

Slowly Lou caught her breath and let go of the dashboard. She asked, "How fast are we going?" She noticed the trees seemed to be a blur as they passed.

"Sixty miles per hour." she reported her speed.

Lou gasped, "That's fast." She looked straight ahead, "It doesn't seem like we're going that fast but that's fast."

"The road is built to drive the car on." she replied. She wondered aloud, "Maybe you really are from eighteen fifty-nine."

Lou gulped, "Maybe I really am in two thousand and twenty." She started to breath heavy and hyperventilate.

Sam coached her, "Slow your breathing, Lou. In through the nose and out through the mouth."

Lou tried to calm herself with the technique. She managed to bring her breathing back under control.

"We will figure this out." Sam assured her. "You are safe. You are not in any danger. No one is going to hurt you."

Lou slowly nodded feeling overwhelmed. Tears streamed down her face as she realized she was in another world and she had no idea how to get back home.

Sam continued to calm her. "It's okay. We will figure this thing out. If you did travel through time, we will figure it out." Then she pondered, "I wonder if the CIA or military is behind this? Maybe they did some dip shit experiment and you got caught in it? Better not tell them about this though…"

"What?" Lou asked unsure what she ever speaking of.

"If you are a time traveler they might disappear you. You know how trustworthy those guys are. I don't want Men in Black showing up." she drew on her knowledge of movies as a reason for caution.

"Just get me to the station house." Lou requested. She figured once she got to the station she would find everything back to normal and this nightmare would end.

"Up ahead," Sam motioned.

Lou looked out the window and spied the station. Everything looked perfect. The fence was painted white, the house had fresh paint and even the bunkhouse looked better than normal. She didn't see anyone she knew or any horses. She looked on as Sam drove down the driveway to the visitor parking.

"This is it." Sam cheered. She opened her door and looked over at Lou who seemed desperately confused. She then reached over, "This is the handle." She pulled the handle and pushed on the door so Lou could get out. She then climbed out and made her way to Lou who had managed to get to her feet while clutching the pouch.

Lou started, "This is it but…" she looked about.

"But what?" she asked.

"Everything looks nice and fresh paint and all. Where are the horses and the other riders? Where is Rachel and Kid?" she asked.

Sam stated, "It's open to the public. This place doesn't have any horses. It's a museum. You wanna look?"

Lou nodded, "Yes."

Sam stated, "The house has a bunch of stuff in it." She motioned towards the entrance.

Lou stepped inside the house and found an elegant area. Ropes crossed certain areas to keep the public out of the displays. She found the walls were adorned with picture frames the contained newspaper articles about the Pony Express. She then recognized a picture of James Butler Hickok. "Jimmy!" she gasped.

"James Butler Hickok." Sam nodded. "I guess he stayed here. You knew him?" she asked suspiciously.

"He doesn't have the mustache." Lou nodded. She then spied another famous face, "That's Billy!"

"Buffalo Bill Cody!" Sam agreed.

"Buffalo?" Lou asked bewildered.

"His name?" she shrugged. "Our little town claim to fame is Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok were both here when they worked for the Pony Express."

Lou breathed heavy, "I know them."

"If you say so…" Sam sighed. She then noticed a black and white group photo of the riders on the wall. She squinted hard and looked at the young faces. She then spied Lou in the picture. She did a double take. She looked at Lou and then the picture and then back to Lou. "Um…" she pointed towards the picture.

Lou looked at the photo, "Hey! That me and the boys." She took a step closer. "I don't remember that being taken."

Sam repeated, "That's you!"

"That's me, Jimmy, Billy, Kid, Ike, Buck, Noah, Rachel and Teaspoon." she pointed each rider out.

"Shit…you really are from the Pony Express." Sam concluded.

Lou scolded her, "No lady speaks like that."

Sam stood shocked. She looked at Lou and then at the photos. "Fuck…" she tailed off.

"Nor speaks like that." she scolded again.

"What in that pouch?" she asked her.

"Mail." she repeated.

"Can I see?" she asked. She saw a preserved letter and envelope framed on the wall.

Lou opened it and took out a few letters. "See!"

Sam snatched the envelope and compared it to the framed letter on the wall. The stamp, the format all matched for the style. She handed it back to Lou. She stood wide-eyed, "We cannot tell anyone about this. I don't know how but you traveled through time and you are in the future. We will figure it out but we can't tell anyone…especially the government."

"Because I will disappear?" Lou recalled the remarks in the car.

Sam nodded hard, "Yes!"

"Then what do I do?" Lou wondered. "No one is even here."

"You can stay with me and I will do some research. We will figure it all out. Okay?" she suggested.

"Well," Lou looked about. "I can't stay here. Okay." she agreed.

Sam's House

Lou kept the pouch with her and went back to the car with Sam. She had figured out how to use the door and seatbelt on her own as Sam drove back to her home.

Lou found a neighborhood with green lawns and houses all in a row. The homes all looked the same and very close together. She saw more vehicles on the road and some cars sitting in driveways as she passed. Sam pulled up to a small ranch style home on a street in a line with other small ranch style homes. Lou noticed men and women riding small machines that roamed over the green laws. She also noticed that few women worse dresses but did sport what looked like shortened undergarments for clothing. She wondered, "Why is everyone half naked?"

Sam laughed, "It's summer. They are wearing shorts and t-shirts."

"Look like they are wearing underclothes to me." she sounded. "What is that thing they are riding?"

"That's a lawnmower. They are cutting the grass." Sam explained.

"Goats work too." Lou told her.

"Come on," Sam motioned for Lou to follow.

Lou walked through the front door to a cozy living room. She stopped in the hallway and took in the sight. She noticed a couch and chair with a coffee table and a large black box hung on the wall. She pointed, "What is that thing?"

"TV," Sam replied. "Television!" she tried to clarify. "It um…" she walked into the room and grabbed the remote from the table. "I'll show you." She turned the contraption on and soon found the local news channel. "See, it's kind of like a photograph but is in color, the image moves and it has sounds."

The news anchor spoke of an unusual storm that was spotted just outside of town. Sam listened, "Hey, that's near the area I found you, Lou. Odd…" she tucked the information into the back of her mind.

"I've never seen anything like it." Lou told her as she looked at the TV.

Sam placed the remote down and stated, "I'll show you around." She led Lou to the kitchen and gave her a run down of the appliances. "Stove, microwave, refrigerator. Ice and water are in the door." She noticed Lou's befuddled expression. She took a glass from the nearby cupboard and went to the refrigerator and demonstrated how to get a glass of water. She then gave it to Lou.

"It has ice in it," Lou noted taking the glass. She gave a sniff and then took a sip. It fresh, clean water. She gave a nod and the finished the glass for she was thirsty.

Curious Sam asked, "When was the last time you ate?"

"Last night." Lou told her.

"You hungry?" she figured.

"Famished." she agreed.

Sam picked up her phone, "Pizza?"

"Pee what?" Lou asked unsure.

"Trust me." Sam grinned.