The four time travellers had retreated to a local diner, where they looked after the shaken Mary Ann. "This is Beekman's Diner," Mary Ann said as she looked around. "I used to... I mean, I will frequent this place with my friends, when I'm a teenager."
"Mary Ann, are you all right?" Nyssa asked. "What happened back there."
"I... It was seeing my parents," Mary Ann said. "They were killed in a car accident in 1947, this year."
"Oh my God, what happened?" Tegan asked.
"We were coming back from an outing, when one of the tires blew. The car hit a tree head on," Mary Ann said, tears forming in her eyes. "My parents, they didn't make it."
"Mary Ann..." Gilligan began.
"No, Gilligan, let me continue," Mary Ann said. "I myself was knocked out. Some people, I never did find out who they were, came by and pulled me out of the car. They stayed with me until the ambulance came and took me to the hospital. When I got out of the hospital, I went to live with my Uncle George and Aunt Martha, on their farm, which is about twenty miles outside of Winfield."
"These were close relatives of yours?" Nyssa asked.
"Yes, Uncle George was my father's brother," Mary Ann replied. "They already had three children, but they took me in and raised me like I was their fourth. Over time, I came to see them as parents, and my cousins as siblings."
Ar that point, a waitress came over. "Hi, my name's Maggie. Can I get you four anything?"
"Four coffees please," Tegan said.
"Right," Maggie said and went off to place the orders.
"I know that waitress," Mary Ann said. "Her daughter, Cindy, will become my best friend in high school. In fact, Cindy will work here as a waitress herself at that time."
"I'm not surprised," Tegan said, knowing that, in 1947, being a waitress was one of the few jobs a woman could get.
Meanwhile, Gilligan had picked up a newspaper that another diner had left behind and was reading the funny pages.
Mary Ann looked at the date on the newspaper and another chill went through her. If the date on the paper was correct, today was July 3rd. Tomorrow, July 4th, would be the day of the car accident that would changer her life forever.