Daria on the Trail:
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch Part One
DISCLAIMER:
I did not create A Song of Ice and Fire. Nor did I create Daria. Rights belong to their respective authors/creators. I own neither franchise.
This work of fiction is written for my personal amusement and ego gratification, not for profit.
Now what do you suppose that the Morgendorffers are doing while their eldest daughter is still missing?
Daria on the Trail*Daria on the Trail*Daria on the Trail
Lawndale, Maryland 2006
Helen stared at the message on her cell phone in consternation. Signal Lost. She swore at the cell phone company, then shouted "G_d d_n it, Daria! Why the HELL didn't you call me first?!"
"Aunt Helen?" said Rikka. She'd obviously come downstairs while she was distracted.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie," said Helen. "I just had a very upsetting phone call from Daria."
"You heard from Daria?" said Rikka. "What did she say? If she called you, that must mean she's still alive, doesn't it?"
"Yes, Sweetie, she's alive," Helen said. "But I only got a little of it before we got disconnected. She said that she'd been shifted to another world, that it was 1860 where she was, and that she was at someplace called Fort Caspar. I think she tried to say that she loves and misses everybody, then the signal broke up."
"That's bad but that's good, isn't it?" said Rikka. "That means that she's still alive wherever she is."
"She says she was shifted to another world and that she can't come home," Helen said angrily. "Who the Hell gets shifted from another world? And she doesn't call me first, she called Amy!"
"Aunt Helen, I was shifted from another world," said Rikka.
"But that's different!" Helen said angrily.
"How so?" said Rikka. Rikka had learned that arguing with Aunt Helen was difficult. Her Aunt was highly intelligent and highly organized. You really had to work at it to win or just break even if you were trying to prove your point.
Rikka braced herself for Aunt Helen's reply but instead of shouting at her, Helen looked like she was facing something she really, really didn't like.
"I don't know, Sweetie," she said. "I'm sorry."
The two of them hugged.
"I do know one thing, though," said Helen. "I want to talk to Amy."
She went to her master bedroom. Despite the risk, Rikka followed her. She watched as Aunt Helen, portable phone in hand, went to her desk and opened the drawer where she kept her address book. She then started punching in the numbers. Rikka saw the expression on her face and could almost hear Uncle Jake saying "Helen is on the war path!".
Rikka knew the moment when Aunt Helen reached Aunt Amy.
"AMY!' she shouted. "Did Daria just call you? WHY THE HELL DIDN'T SHE CALL ME FIRST?!"
"OH, SHE DID, DID SHE?" said Aunt Helen.
"DID SHE SAY WHY?" said Aunt Helen.
"She called YOU first, then said I'd OVERREACT?" Aunt Helen shouted.
"I AM NOT OVERREACTING!" shouted Aunt Helen. "I AM CONCERNED!" Rikka decided that this was a good time to stay out of the conversation.
"You're going to WHAT?" said Aunt Helen. Aunt Amy must have hung up the phone because Aunt Helen was glaring at it.
Rikka stared open-mouthed as Aunt Helen started counting to twenty, then started counting again, this time to sixty. Aunt Helen's expression changed from anger to something like fear and sorrow. An uncomfortable memory bobbed up from her subconscious: her own mother's expression when the Goldcloaks arrived at their village just before they were all transported away to Mountain Home.
Aunt Helen picked up the mobile phone and called Aunt Amy.
"Yeah, all right," said Aunt Helen.
"So she called you first," she said. "And she said that she she'd been transported to another world. Did she say where?"
"Casper, Wyoming," Aunt Helen repeated.
"She said something about 1860." said Helen.
"So she said she'd not only been shifted in place but also in time and that it's July 1860 over there," said Aunt Helen. "Did she say what she was doing?"
"Going west on a wagon train?" Aunt Helen said incredulously. "Why the hell didn't she decide to go east?"
"So she said she was scared of disease and didn't want to get caught up in the Civil War?"
"She says she met Grand Bethany Ann? And they didn't get along?" Helen made a half-smile and shook her head. "Did she try anyone else?"
"She sent photos?" she said incredulously.
"Yes, I do want to see those," she said. "Please send them to me."
"Jake is at work, Quinn is with friends, so it's just me and Rikka," said Helen.
"Please do, Amy, we'd both be thrilled to see them," she said.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you."
"Yes, I'll tell Jake. And thanks."
She ended the phone call.
-(((O-O)))-
The photos arrived in Helen's e-mail several minutes later. Helen downloaded them and then sent them to PRINT.
The first photo showed Daria in what must be a borrowed dress standing next to a couple and their little girl. The man was dressed in what looked like a Civil War-era Army uniform while the woman was dressed in what was clearly something mid-19th century.
"Well, what do you think, Rikka?" said Helen.
"I don't know who the man and the woman are, but that's definitely Daria," said Rikka.
Helen went back to Aunt Amy's e-mail. Amy said that it had been forwarded from Daria's phone and that her e-mail caption was that these were supposedly the Ashfields. Helen told herself that she was going to talk to Mother and then to that friend of hers who was an Ashfield descendant to compare notes.
The second photo showed a pioneer family standing in front of a covered wagon. Daria's brief caption said that these were the Trouts, and that they had taken her in. Their clothing was very 19th century, but there was something off about the men's shirts and the older woman's dress. Amy said that Daria's message was that these were the Trouts.
"Do you see anything familiar, Rikka?" said Helen.
"Not really," Rikka replied. "Those guys look Wild West to me, although maybe the guy's shirt and the woman's dress might be Westerosi. But if they are, I don't think they're from the Crownlands."
"What did Daria say their name was?" she asked.
"The Trouts," Helen replied.
Rikka giggled.
"What's so funny?" said Helen.
"The name," said Rikka. "It's a sort of fish."
The last picture showed a line of covered wagons crossing a stream on a long wooden bridge. The wagons were pulled by oxen. Helen had no idea just where the bridge was, but Daria wouldn't have sent it if it wasn't important.
"Any thoughts?" said Helen.
"Out West somewhere," said Rikka. "I think those mountains could be the Rockies, but it wasn't anyplace I've ever been. Somebody might know but I don't."
Helen nodded. Ben and Rikka had met in Cibola and moved around the Southwest a little, ultimately ending up in Las Vegas before Ben got sick and they came east.
Amy's e-mail said that Daria's message said that the bridge was called the Platte River Bridge. Helen resolved to find out if what Amy said was true.
