Somewhere along the highway in Idaho,

Summer Road Trip 2019

Felicity Merriman yawned in boredom as the car continued speeding down the highway. She had thought this road trip was going to be more exciting than it was actually turning out to be. She was lonely and bored. Being stuck in the car for 10 hours each day was absolutely no fun at all. Here she thought that all her adopted family members would be jealous of her for going on the trip, but now nothing interesting was happening and they probably didn't even know or care about where she was. She didn't even know where she was. She thought they were somewhere in the Pacific Northwest but she wasn't sure. They had left Glacier in Montana and now they were on their way to Washington State. When Aunt Jackie said Washington, Felicity assumed Washington D.C. or time traveling to meet General George who won the war. Felicity was hoping for a rest stop soon, not because she had to pee but because she felt like she was suffocating and needed a chance to run. They seemed to stop every two hours or so and Felicity was convinced that any minute now she'd be free for a little while at least. Just as Felicity was beginning to doze off in a lulling nap, the car lurched to a stop. Suddenly wide awake, Felicity sat bolt upright and stared out the window. They were at a particularly ugly gas station in the middle of nowhere. Very few trucks and cars zoomed past really fast on the highway, far fewer cars than on any highway at home. Felicity thought that the land itself was extremely pretty. She wished Penny were here. Riding Penny across this land would be like flying. Well, it didn't have to be Penny although that was preferable. Any horse would do, but thanks to stupid modern inventions there wasn't a horse in sight.

Felicity touched the time machine in her pocket and grinned. Didn't some American Girl live out here in the boondocks? And she knew just who she could borrow a horse from.

Government Time Travel Agent Benjamin Davidson saw that sly grin on Felicity's face and screamed at his TV monitor. "NO! NO! NO! Lissie, nooooo!"

His partner next to him looked at him oddly as he pulled his earbud out. "What's got you so upset?"

Ben sighed. "Nothing, Frank. Go back to whatever it is you're doing and ignore me, I've got this handled."

"Hey, just because I'm not watching PFV's Most Wanted like you are doesn't mean that what I'm doing isn't important too."

"Right. Those ticket booths at the time travel train station are so riveting."

Frank shrugged. "Keeps the 9 to 5 peaceful at least. What's the Merriman girl up to these days? Can we arrest her yet? How did you get that job anyway?"

"Just got lucky I guess." Ben glanced down at his desk. It was far from luck. He fought tooth and nail to get this position. As if watching Felicity on a screen was better than seeing her in person, as if this was the closest he would ever come to seeing her again. He should just declare his love for her, but rejection was real and he was her friend. He couldn't possibly appear in her life again could he? Not after the Princess and the Pauper fiasco, not after Charles's wedding, and especially not after the disaster in Argentina. Would she even want to see him? Why did this have to be so hard and painful? Was it Felicity, or him? Who was he kidding, it would never work between them. Besides, he was too much of a coward to ever confess his love. Even though this job was slowly killing him. All he wanted in life was to be hers and if that could never happen then at least-

"Earth to Agent Davidson," Frank interrupted. "I think your client needs attention."

The alarms on Ben's desk were flashing red. Ben quickly silenced them after Frank turned away. He was supposed to arrest her now. But he wasn't going to, and he was going to wipe the record clean instead. Felicity couldn't possibly destroy so much that she deserved to rot in time travel jail for the next 100 years, right?

"Lissie, what are you doing?" Ben whispered. Part of him wished he could join her out there on the prairie and help her steal that horse himself, but for now he'd have to settle for covering her butt.

Felicity let out a deep breath as the highway disappeared and in its place was a pack of wild horses running completely free. Felicity set the time machine to 1774, her year, thinking that would be far back enough. Appaloosas, she could see from their spotted behinds. Oooo, Felicity thought in wild anticipation, we don't have any appaloosas at home. Yet. Felicity needed a companion on this road trip or else she'd die of loneliness. And what better companion than a horse that she could ride through places like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon?

Felicity zeroed in at one black spotted horse in particular. It looked strangely familiar, but that was impossible wasn't it? She had definitely seen that horse somewhere, but she couldn't place it. Whatever. Maybe it would come to her after she stole it.

Felicity started running alongside the black horse. Since she couldn't keep up in her colonial skirts, she used magic to cheat and sit atop her. The horse reared and neighed in protest, but Felicity wasn't letting go. The horse ran faster yet Felicity dug her heels in and clung to her mane. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not!" Felicity shouted.

As Felicity started to fumble with her time machine, a screaming Indian girl came out of nowhere. The girl looked familiar too. Then Felicity gasped. "KAYA?!"

The girl suddenly stopped and stared at her in surprise. Then she quickly recovered and reached for the horse.

"This horse is mine now!" Felicity screamed as Kaya tried to wrestle Felicity off the horse. Kaya climbed aboard behind Felicity despite how Felicity kicked and thrashed at her. The Indian had come out of nowhere and Felicity wondered how many other Indians were waiting in the bushes getting ready to scalp her. Getting scalped by Indians wasn't part of the plan, but it sure would impress Glogan. She had to get out of here, but not without the horse. "Get off my horse!" Felicity yelled. She reached for the time machine which was falling in slow motion out of her pocket hoop. "No!" She saw Kaya's hand reach for it too and in a blast of light the horse, Kaya, and Felicity disappeared.

A few seconds later, Felicity blinked and she was back at the gas station. Where did the horse go? Oh well, Felicity thought as she settled back into her seat in the car, I'm sure it's fine. Maybe I'll bring home an elk or something instead.