Chapter 10

The riders made their way back to the station house as Noah arrived from his run and handed off the pouch to Buck who was up next. Sam watched on as the handoff occurred. It was much like a relay race in her mind as the horses were moving as the pouch was handed off in a dramatic fashion. As she looked on she spoke to herself, "Boy could they ever use a mail truck."

Noah soon slid off the horse as he returned. He gathered the reins though tired himself. His white trousers were dirty from the ride. He wore a brown vest over a white shirt that was also in need of washing. His dark brown eyes settled on the new face. He assumed, "Teaspoon hired another rider?"

Rachel Dunn was on hand for his return. She explained, "That there is Doctor Sam McLeod. Lou's cousin. Sam will be doing some doctoring for us."

Noah looked Sam over and asked, "You a doctor?" To Noah the new doctor seemed small and a bit young.

Sam nodded, "I am."

"How old are you?" he wondered.

"Negative one hundred and sixty-one." she stated flatly.

He stood a bit befuddled by the reply.

Rachel gave him a slight nudge, "It's Lou's cousin. Don't you see how similar they are?" She referred to Sam being female.

Noah looked at the face and concluded, "I don't see it. Kind of looks a bit like Kid to be honest."

Rachel rolled her eyes for Noah didn't seem to get her hint. "Get your horse settled. I'll have supper on soon." She walked back towards the house. She called as she reached the door, "Sam! Come inside and we can set up a room for you to do your doctoring in and set up that microscope you got in town."

Sam gathered the box, "Okay." She followed Rachel into the house.

Moments Later

In short time Noah had returned to the bunkhouse to settle down for a rest as he waited for supper time. He walked through the door and found the riders were also waiting for Rachel to bring them something to eat. He made his way to his bunk and simply collapsed on top of the covers. He laid back and rested his eyes. He listened to the conversation the riders were engaged in.

Kid spoke up, "No offense Lou but your cousin is…" he paused trying to find a word to describe the situation, "a strange one."

Lou sat crossed leg on her bunk and looked up from the bible she was reading. She cocked an eyebrow, "How so, Kid?"

"Well," he gathered his thoughts, "half the time I have no idea what he's talking about. He says things that make no sense."

For Lou spending time in the future gave her reference to the slang and technology associated with Sam's world. She understood what Sam meant and found some of the commentary entertaining. To Lou, Sam had a sense of humor. For Kid, Sam was just odd.

She replied, "Where Sam comes from everyone is kind of different like that and Sam is actually more normal."

Kid shook his head, "I'm from Virginia. Those from Boston are not nearly as strange as Sam. I met a few in my life. That's not it."

Lou sighed, "Everyone is a little different." She closed her bible and thought out loud, "Just wish you were with me the last three weeks."

A confused expression graced his face. "What? You've been right here, Lou."

She didn't reply and just sat thinking of her experience.

The bunkhouse fell silent as Kid approached her. "Lou, you never mentioned having a cousin who is a doctor before. You come back from your run and Sam is with you. What is it that you are not telling us?"

She shook her head, "You won't believe me."

He gently touched her hand, "Try me."

She looked around the room at her friends. "If I tell your boys you all have to promise not to tell anyone."

The riders came to attention. Whatever Lou experienced it was significant.

Jimmy spoke, "Tell us what, Lou?"

"I was on my run and something strange happened. I was nearly back, it was the end of it and I was tired and I couldn't wait to get back just to get some rest. I was just outside of town when this bolt of lightning hit me and my horse. But this lightning wasn't lightning. It was something else and the next thing I knew the trail was gone and there was this very large gray road with yellow and white lines painted on it right before me. I stopped and just could not figure out where that big road came from. Then I saw this very large thing come towards me over that road. It was bigger than anything I ever saw before. It was kind of square in shape, like a wagon but there was no horses pulling it. It was bigger than a locomotive. As it went by me it blew a loud horn and spooked my horse. I was thrown and ended up on flat on my back. I laid there; I was just so stunned. Then Sam came over to me to see if I was okay. Sam was behind the huge wagon that spooked my horse in a car. It wasn't like the carriages we have. It didn't need a horse to move. Same with the big wagon. That was called a 'truck.' Sam saw me get thrown and stopped this horseless carriage to see if I was okay and I was. But I wasn't here. I was just outside of Rock Creek but I wasn't here. I was in another time. I went to the future and I was there for three weeks and Sam was helping me." She looked at the faces expecting to be accused of lying.

The silence echoed through the bunkhouse. No one knew what to say to the claim. Noah sat up and asked, "If you went to another time then what was the year you went to, Lou?"

"It was two thousand and twenty." she winced fearing no one would believe her.

"One hundred and sixty-one years from now." he concluded. He recalled Sam stating she was negative one hundred and sixty-one.

Billy asked, "And what was this future like, Lou?" He knew Lou wouldn't make up such a tale but wondered if perhaps it was a dream she had.

She kicked herself, "You don't believe me. I never should have said anything."

Billy assured her, "Maybe you dreamed it, Lou. You ain't never been one to fib."

Jimmy agreed, "Tell us what you saw."

She gave a sigh, "The station house is a museum. The town has one hundred times more folks and Sam works in a local hospital. Sam really is a doctor. A full fledged doctor. A surgeon! They have these big roads with yellow and white lines painted on the surface. The roads go for miles and all over. No one rides horses. Everyone has one of them horseless carriages they call a 'car'. Sam's house was just like I said with running hot and cold water and something called 'electricity'. You don't need oil lamps and candles for light. You just flip a switch and the light comes on. They have this big black box called a 'television'. It's like nothing you have seen. It's like watching a play but it's all in this flat box that can hang on a wall like a portrait." She looked to Jimmy, "The ice box was called a 'refrigerator' and it didn't need ice to keep cold. It could freeze things in one half of the box and keep things cold in the other. It was like a cabinet and the doors swung open. In the door was this small square pocket that would shoot out ice and water. The water was clean and it came right out of a faucet sitting over a sink. There was this other box called a 'microwave oven'. You could put a cup of water in it and press a button and water would be boiling in a minute with no fire."

Kid squinted, "Boil water with no fire?" He admitted, "That sounds impossible, Lou."

"I know it does but I could take a cup of cold coffee and heat it in the microwave in a minute using the very cup I was drinking from. I did it myself. I used it." she told him. "Sam took me to a shopping mall. It was ten times the size of main street. I went to this place called Walmart. It was a general store that was huge and it had everything in it. They didn't use money like we do. They use these cards to pay for everything. They have this thing called a radio that plays music. It wasn't very good music but they seemed to really like it." she winced.

Jimmy asked, "So how did you get back?"

"Same way. Sam was with me and we got my horse and Sam borrowed a horse from a friend who was boarding mine. We took a slow ride on parts of the tail. I didn't think I would ever get back and I didn't know that Sam went back with me at first. The lightning struck and I was back." she explained.

Jimmy wondered, "Is Sam your cousin?"

"No," Lou confessed wagging her head.

"Just made that part up?" he wondered.

Lou held up a hand, "No! We are kin. Sam was going though old photos and found a picture of me." She wasn't sure if they would believe her or not and omitted just how they were related.

"And how are you kin?" he pressed.

Lou paused with a wince debating if she should tell them.

Kid pressed, "I'm wondering that too. How is Sam related to you through a picture?"

"I'm Sam's forth great grandmother." Lou told him waiting for him to ask who the grandfather would be.

Kid glanced at Jimmy unsure what to make of the claim. It sounded so bizarre and yet, Lou never would have been so reckless to spin such a tale if it wasn't true. He looked back at Lou, "Maybe it was just a dream, Lou. Maybe you hit your head when you got thrown."

"It wasn't a dream!" she insisted. "Go ask Sam. She can tell ya what happened."

The boys all traded glances as Lou let Sam's secret slip.

Jimmy asked, "Did you bring any of these things you saw back with you, Lou?"

She recalled, "Sam did!"

Noah sat up and stated, "I don't know what is going on but it's getting interesting."

In short time Sam walked back into the bunkhouse carrying a tray full of fresh made biscuits for Rachel who was right behind her with the table setting.

Sam asked, "Where do you want these, Rachel?"

"The center will be fine, Doc." she instructed as she placed the stack of plates down. She noticed the room fell quiet upon their entry. "You boys up to something?" she asked suspicious.

Jimmy smirked at her and then looked to Sam. "No." he simply replied.

Sam also noticed the uneasy looks coming from the boys and then she found Lou sitting with her head down as she felt horrible. She asked Lou, "You okay?"

She gave a long face, "I told them where I was for the last 3 weeks."

Sam grinned, "Did they believe ya?"

"I don't think so." she miffed.

Rachel stood a bit bewildered, "Lou has been here for most of the last three weeks. She only had a few runs."

"Nope," Sam shook her head. She asked eager, "So what did you tell them?"

She shook her head, "I wish I hadn't."

Kid was upset because Lou was upset. He confronted Sam, "Lou told us she went to the future and met you there. Is that true?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "She tell ya anything else?" she asked grinning.

Rachel stood in shock, "What?"

Sam explained, "You see that is the glory of time travel. If one can travel through time they can return to the time they left and it will be like they never went anywhere. That's what happened to Lou. She went forward to the future, spent three weeks there and then came back to when she left. So, she was never gone and it was like she never left."

Rachel shifted her weight and asked, "Just what kind of joke are you pulling here, Doc?"

"I'm not behind it." she explained. "Lou and I both got caught up in it. I have yet to figure out how it happened but I bet some government agency is behind it. Those guys are always fucking around with top secret shit." she rebutted.

Rachel gave a look of surprise as the curses rolled off Sam's tongue.

Kid stated, "Lou said you can prove it."

Sam looked to Lou. "They won't understand my first aid kit, Lou."

"How about your cell phone." she suggested.

She snapped her fingers, "That might convince them." She went to her bunk and found her bag. "I turned it off to save the battery." She retrieved the phone and turned the device on. She stood before the boys and Rachel holding the device. "This is called a cell phone. It can make calls, get on the internet…" she then realized, "You guys have no idea what I am talking about."

Lou instructed, "Show them the camera."

"Good idea." she agreed. She held up the phone, "It has a camera in it."

Kid huffed, "That's ain't no camera. Cameras are a lot bigger than that little thing." He wasn't sure what he was looking at. He watched as Sam swiped the screen and tapped the face of the device. He saw a bright flash that got him in the eyes. He blinked irritated. When the spots in his eyes cleared he found the face of the phone pointed towards him with a picture of him and the others on the screen. It was in color. "How did you do that?" he gasped and pointed.

Sam was still grinning as she then flipped the phone and played a recording. Kid watched himself on the screen as he was blinking and then heard his own voice come from the little device, "How did you do that?"

Jimmy reached over and took the phone out of Sam's hand. He looked it over, "How does this thing work?"

Billy added, "I ain't ever seen a camera like that before."

Sam stated, "That's because it hasn't been invented yet." She then looked on as Jimmy started playing with the screen. She took the phone back, "You are gonna lock me out the way you are going. She swiped the phone once more and the screen went black.

Jimmy asked, "How did that little…thing…do that?"

"Technology comes a long way in one hundred and sixty years." she told them. "When I found Lou she was thrown from her horse. At first I thought she had a head injury because when I asked her simply questions the answers were all wrong. I took her to the museum and her picture was on display with all of yours. Apparently, a photographer does come here at some point and take your photograph as a group. That's when I realized she was telling the truth and somehow she traveled through time. I was afraid that if we went to the authorities something bad could happen to her so I let her stay with me and I researched as much as a I could. There is some kind of weather anomaly associated with it but I can't explain it. When we were retracing Lou's ride right before the bolt hit everything got real quiet. Not a cricket, not a bird and I could feel energy in the air. It was static! We were going at a slow walk so I could sense it. Lou was at a dead run when it happened to her the first time. She didn't notice the energy in the air. Whatever it is, it's energy based."

Kid admitted, "Lou ain't one to tell fibs and I ain't seen anything like that…camera." He looked to his friends, "Maybe it really happened?"

Rachel slowly began to figure, "Sam is from the future and Lou went there?"

Lou nodded, "I did! Sam is!" she admitted.

Jimmy asked, "You are a real doctor, Sam?"

"I finished med school." she nodded with a smirk. "I moved back home to work in the local hospital. I could have worked anywhere and for a lot more money. But I wanted to give back to my home town. I'm from Rock Creek. This is where I grew up. My family went back generations here. I got a trunk full of old photos and my family tree and Lou and I went through it. She even knew my forth great grandparents on my father's side. My last name is not McCloud. It's Cain! I'm Doctor Samantha Cain and I was named after my grandfather who named after his grandfather, Congressman Samuel Cain. He was a sheriff that Lou said you guys all knew from Sweet Water."

Lou smiled, "Sam and Emma are Sam's forth great grandparents."

Sam asked her, "Did you tell them who you are to me?"

She nodded, "I did."

"I'm a direct descendant of Lou. She's my forth great maternal grandmother. I'm not sure if this time anomaly is also genetic or if there is some kind of genetic component. I found it interesting that I was right there, right after Lou came through. I don't think it's coincidence." she announced.

Kid could not help but ask, "If Lou is your great, great, great grandmother than who is your grandfather?"

"You are missing a 'great' and boy oh boy, what can I say…" she shook her head at him.

He squinted annoyed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'll let you figure that one out on your own." she told him.