As Rhett entered the shack, he was gobsmacked again.
Outside, it was a shabby shack tacked on the back side of a run-down tavern on the rough side of town.
But inside...inside, the shack looked like a parlor in a well kept house. Comfortable padded horsehair chairs, complete with antimacassars, faced a massive mahogany desk heavily carved with exuberant Victorian curves, swirls and flowers.
There were several large book cases with what looked like a large and expensive collection worthy of a small library. A lovely Persian rug covered golden oak floorboards, only a few feet away from the filthy slum alley outside.
"Do sit down.", said the mysterious lady.
"Don't mind if I do." replied Rhett. His mind was reeling, but strangely numb. Perhaps one's brain simply ran out of ways to react when there's been too much to deal with, he thought taking another look at his unlikely surroundings.
"Excuse me for not introducing myself earlier", the lady continued. My name is Lisa Treadwell.
"Miss Treadwell", Rhett nodded his head slightly. "A pleasure. Although..." Rhett paused. He didn't even know where to start with his questions on the bizarre turn the night had taken. He could not recall ever meeting her, either. How did she know him? Lisa was an unusual name, it sounded Italian.
"If you wonder who I am, how I know you", she helpfully interjected, "I am going to have to take up 30 minutes of your time."
She pulled Rhett's watch out of her small purse and handed it to him. "It's almost midnight now. Give me until twelve thirty to answer all of your questions, and I promise, you won't regret it."
Rhett looked quietly at his watch, then at the stranger who may of saved his life. He realized he was trembling slightly, and sternly told himself to get a grip.
"Miss Treadwell, I already am already very happy to of made your acquaintance, but I am curious as to just what went on back there. Either I am hallucinating, or you preformed a miracle, or two."
Miss Treadwell had an odd expression, bemused, yet serious. She laughed gently, shook her head. "Captain Butler, have you ever heard the notion that advanced science seems like magic to more primitive people?"
"That was science?" Rhett smiled slightly, "That's certainly no science I've ever heard of or seen. Also, did you just call me primitive?"
"Ahem! Yes, well..."
For the first time, Miss Treadwell seemed slightly flustered. "Look, I am here to help you, Captain Butler. I'm here to help you and, and a lot of other people. First, though, I'm going to have to tell you some strange and fantastic things which you very likely will not believe, even though I will show you evidence of my words."
"Please proceed, Miss Treadwell. I will stay until our time is up. Although I'm not sure how much more of the strange and fantastic I can take."
"Well then", said Miss Treadwell, "I will proceed."
"I'm going to have to start with the big picture. The really big picture. Have you ever heard of Darwin's Theory of Evolution?"
Rhett opened his mouth, and closed it. This was such a strange, random question, but he decided to roll with it and see where it led.
"Yes", he replied, "I knew a man in my squad, he read Darwin. I was the only person he discussed it with since he and I were like-minded concerning the supernatural. That certainly is a very controversial book."
"So, as I understand it, you are open to other ways of looking at the world. Ways besides what you are taught as a child."
"I tend to form my opinions based on fact, not fantasy. That is, until tonight." Rhett gestured for her to continue.
"Believe me, this is fact, Captain, not fantasy". She took a deep breath, "Anyway, you need to understand right off, the world as you know it is an inaccurate view of a much larger world. The fact is, there will be inventions, knowledge, and science in the future which will make possible things like instant healing and freezing people in place temporarily. I am from that future."
"More accurately, I'm from between that future and this past. I was born 100 years after the Civil War. One night in 1994, I was outside in my back yard. A man appeared next to me. I was very startled, just like you were tonight. He explained he was from the future, and I was one of the people in a very special bloodline who had to make sure certain people lived to produce children in both the past and future."
"Naturally, I thought I was loosing my mind, and didn't believe him at first, but it really became apparent he was not lying, and the world as I knew it had to be re-evaluated. I traveled with him into the future, and was given assignments to ensure the timeline was not disrupted in the past."
Rhett..." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and continued, "Bonnie was not supposed to die. She was supposed to live, and be my great, great grandmother."