Chapter 5

Lou found herself on horseback once more after more than 3 weeks of living in the future. She had gone to the local mall and to a rock concert with Sam prior. She found the mall to be an over abundance of clothing and to Lou bigger than Rock Creek in her time. The future seems large and over the top in abundance of goods, people and technology. She welcomed getting back in the saddle and riding once more.

Sam had themselves and the horses dropped off the next town over so she and Lou could ride the Pony Express trail. She wore tan trousers with a red button shirt and the tan overcoat with a floppy style tan hat. Lou was dressed the same way she was when she last rode in her clothing from the 1800's. It was supposed to be a simple ride from one town to the other ending at the Pony Express museum. Sam brought her doctor's bag, camping equipment and food for the trip while Lou held the Pony Express pouch that she was entrusted with. They took a slow walk on the trail.

Lou asked, "What are you looking for?" She noticed that Sam was always looking close at the surroundings.

"I have no idea." she admitted. "Some sort of clue to figure out how you got here. Anything…"

"All I saw was a flash of light." Lou reminded her.

Sam recalled, "You said it was like a lightning bolt."

"It was!" she nodded. "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know. Some kind of weather anomaly with a time dilation affect. Time travel is science fiction. All I can do is read theories. There are some good theories but none are solid theories. Theoretically, you can go forward in time if you travel at the speed of light. My best guess is that you were abducted by aliens who took your aboard a ship and brought you back to earth. You traveled at the speed of light so it was no time for you but decades on earth."

Lou gave her a look. "You are one of the smartest people I know but that theory is the dumbest I ever heard. I think I would know if I was abducted by aliens."

Sam countered, "Not if they altered your memories."

"Where did get that idea from?" she huffed knowing the answer.

"T.V." she admitted. "A movie called Flight of the Navigator."

Lou insisted, "I was not abducted by aliens and I did not travel at the speed of light in outer space. That's crazy!"

She shrugged, "Best theory I got for how your traveled 161 years into the future."

"Well, it's dumb." Lou insisted.

Sam sighed, "You were hit by the time bolt…"

"Time bolt?" Lou interrupted.

"That's what I call it. A 'time bolt'." she explained. "You were hit by the time bolt just on the edge of the granite field and near water. Oddly enough, when looking at missing person's cases many disappear near granite and near water. You fill both those prerequisites."

Lou rebutted, "I didn't disappear. I'm right here."

"But from the eyes of someone in the past you would have disappeared right off the face of the Earth." Sam countered.

She paused in thought, "I suppose I never looked at it that way."

Sam stated, "Stay alert! We're entering the granite field soon."

"Right!" Lou agreed.

Few hours later

The pair made their way through the granite field with not much issue. Everything seemed to be going well and they were nearing the area that Lou encountered the bolt in previously. Sam noticed the wildlife suddenly went very quiet. The birds stopped signing, not a buzz from a bee or a chirp from a cricket. She found it odd as she felt the air become filled with static energy. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She was about to speak to Lou when a bright flash erupted all around them. It only took a second and the flash was gone. She felt ringing and pressure in her ears. "Lou!" she called out holding her ears. She looked up ahead as Lou and her horse took off in a run. Sam nudged the horse to go to a gallop to catch up. She followed Lou on the horse at a dead run a long distance on the trail. She didn't see any signs of the road. She soon spied the station house and a rider on a horse seemingly in wait.

Lou knew she was back home when the flash of lightning hit. She ran as fast as she could to get back to the station house before the anomaly could take her away again. She didn't know that Sam was caught up with her in the anomaly. She assumed it would only affect her. She saw the horse and rider ahead and rode to make the handoff. It was Noah, the black man that Teaspoon recently hired. She hollered, "Noah." she tossed him the pouch.

Noah took off on his ride as Lou came to a halt. She grinned happy to be back home.

Kid stood in wait. He approached her, "You fall asleep in the saddle, Lou?" He asked for she was a bit late.

She slid down from her horse and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you." she confessed.

It was unusual for Lou to hug him after returning from a run. He was pleased she was back but wondered what happened. "Is everything all right?" he wondered.

She grinned, "It is now!" She then heard a voice and galloping hooves.

"Lou!" Sam screamed out.

Lou's smile melted, "Can't be." She turned and found Sam was right behind her. She closed her eyes for a moment as she realized the anomaly not only brought her back home but also affected Sam.

"Lou!" Sam called as she came up to the pair. She brought the horse to a halt. "Don't just take off like that." she scolded. She looked at Kid and then at the other riders who had emerged from the bunkhouse. "Um…" she winced.

Lou stated, "I got back."

"Yeah, and I'm with you." she told her.

Rachel Dunn stepped out of the station house wearing a blue dress with a white apron. She looked upon the new rider that had arrived with Lou. She made her way to see what was going on.

"I see that." Lou winced. "Sorry…" she made a wrinkled face unsure what to do.

Rachel called out, "Lou!" she got closer, "who is your friend?"

"This is Sam." Lou stated unsure what else to say.

Sam waved her hand, "Hi!"

"I'm Rachel Dunn." she formally introduced herself. She noted how Sam looked a bit like Kid and assumed she was a relative of his. She looked to Kid to tell her more information but he did not.

Sam went with the cover she and Lou used. "I'm Lou's cousin. I'm…a visiting…I hope…"

Lou told her, "You maybe here for a while. You will need a job."

Kid figured, "Teaspoon will give you a job, Sam. Lou's cousin, huh."

"Yeah…" she strained her words.

Rachel noticed Lou was clean and well rested. She didn't look like she rode hard for miles. The horses didn't seem that worn either. She also noticed a rucksack and bags that were on Sam's horse and that Sam's clothing was different somehow.

Rachel suggested, "Settle your horses and then you can get something to eat. You both look clean enough for supper. Teaspoon will be back in a few hours. You can talk to him then about riding for the Pony Express, Sam."

Stunned at her situation Sam simply replied, "Thank you."

Lou found the roles were reversed. Instead of Sam showing her the future, Lou had to show Sam the past. She took the reigns for both horses, "Get down, Sam. I'll show you the stables and introduce you to the boys."

Sam got off the horse and let Lou lead the way. She spoke to Rachel and Kid as they walked, "Pleasure meeting you both."

Rachel stood back beside Kid and watched as Lou led the horses and Sam to the stables. She mentioned, "At first I thought Sam was your cousin."

"Mine?" he asked. "I never met him before in my life."

She knew that Sam was not a boy. She didn't tell Kid though. "Has the same nose as you."

He rubbed his nose, "Really."

"Hmm," she nodded. "I got some supper to tend too." She turned wondering where on earth Sam came from and why Lou looked so clean and refreshed.