About ten minutes later, I was locked up in the cell. The deputy gave me his apologies and went out the door for the doctor. "What a piece of fatal desease." I muttered.
"I was rooting for ya." The boy said. I looked at him. He sat up, pulling his hat off. My eyes glittered for a moment, taken aback by his eyes. He had ruffled dirty blonde hair, than almost covered his sharp, piercing blue eyes. I could have sworn the they were glowing. They were the most brilliant blue that starred intensely. But I caught myself and frowned.
"I'm sure you were." I spat.
"So where exactly ARE you from?" the boy asked. "I mean, I've never seen a girl wear pants before." I looked at him, surprised. I thought he lied, but I saw no spark of lie in his eye.
"Not from here." I said. "I live far from here." Was it possible, that I had somehow traveled through time? When I told myself, no. Somehow I didn't believe it. But it wasn't possible. If it wasn't possible, then why did I believe it? It was really odd, believing in something you knew wasn't possible. I slumped down in the cot. Ok… so I was in 1876, and in jail. The doctor was coming this way. I had to get out of here. How? No clue. Just then the deputy came in. I snapped upright. No one followed him. No doctor. He walked over to my cell.
"Sorry." He said, "The doctor is busy until tomorrow morning." He shut the door separating his office from the prison cells. I slumped down again. I had to get out of here.
"So…" the boy stated.
"Look, just shut your trap, alright? I've been through enough today, and I don't need anything else." The boy looked at me startled.
"Oh." He said. "Alright." I looked at him. He had leaned back on the cot again, eyes closed. He seemed like a nice boy… but he had killed someone. "But I just gotta say, that was a nice act in front of the deputy. Never seen a woman slip a tongue on front of the law." The way he said it… made me smile. It was the first smile that made me happy I was here. I laughed to myself, and continued to think. So if this really was the west, then I was out of place. My clothes especially. I had to get out of here, find another town, get some work, then money. After that I would figure out my next move. But for night now, I needed to be on secure ground. And no money and in jail was not secure.
"Where's the closest town from here?" I asked.
"That'd be… wait.. you talking major town… or minor?"
"Um… major." I said.
"Well, that'd be Albuquerque. About three days ride from here." The boy said. I nodded. Of coarse. That would me I was in New Mexico. Holy… I traveled time and states all in one night. I looked at the boy. He coulnd't have been to older then me. Yet he killed someone.
"How old are you?" I asked. The boy turned his head, his blue eyes gazing at my green ones.
"Why?" he asked. I shrugged. "Seventeen." He said, turning back to relaxing. "And don't say nothing bout it." I rolled my eyes, and thought. Three days ride. Was that fast riding? Or slow riding? I tried to remember the map I had pulled up on my computer when I was looking up towns for a school report. New Mexico. Albuquerque was… about one and a half day's hard ride. Ok. So I had that figure out. I also knew that town was Northwest from here, and I knew where the sun set and rose. So I could easily find my way… especially if there was a road. But the horse. Would the horse be able to take it? Coarse. It was the west. Horses were used to that. Good thing the deputy had left the rest of the food in my cell. I stood up, and stuffed it all in the center of the handkerchief underneath, and tied it.
"Plan on going somewhere?' the boy asked, without looking up.
"Out." I said. The boy jerked, and looked at me with a wide smile, "You're kidding. You're just gonna up and leave?" I tied the knapsack to my belt loop, and nodded. "Oh… oh ok. Well…" He pointed at the bars, 'You let me know how that goes."
"Easy." I said. This was a typical lock. I pulled from my shoe. I always had wires in my shoes. And bobby pins. Mostly because my brother would lock my room and his so I couldn't get in. So I had practice. I stuck the bobby pin in the lock, while the boy watched, his eyes catching every move, I moved the pin around. The inside of the lock was unfamiliar to me, but I soon figured where to stick the pin. I turned hard, and it snapped out. I grinded my teeth and tried again. On the side of my eye, I could tell the boy was watching with growing curiosity. I hoped he wouldn't ask me to let him out too. He killed someone… I didn't. I finally found the hole again, and turned the pin, a bit more delicately this time. The lock clicked, and I smiled. I opened the gate, and went out. I shut the gate behind me, and stuck the bobby pin back in my shoe. Without a glance at the boy, I peeked through the door separated us from the office. The deputy was sitting there. Eyes closed. Was he asleep? I watched his breathing… it was fast but steady. He wasn't completely asleep yet. I looked around, there was a window, but even that was barred. I thought. Ok, with my knowledge of the twenty first century, and I couldn't even get out of an unlocked room without crossing the deputy. Come on THINK! Ok… my report. My A plus school essay. Yeah. I had a whole page on jails. What did I write? I mentally read through my essay, looking for anything helpful. How they were built might be. Let's see. They were built out of wood, and nails, sometimes concrete. I looked around. The floor and walls were all wood except the back walls of the cells… they were cement. Ok. Think more. The walls were made up of planks of wood, nailed together by thick nails. If one tried to pull a nail out, it would squeak and give me away. But the corner piece. The corner piece was special. That's what they would first build, is the bottom corners… to set the foundation. The corners were set carefully and with the utmost care. If the corner was even the slightest messed up, the rest of the building wouldn't fit go together correctly. I looked at the corners. They both looked pretty well done. But one had a small plank of wood, just the slightest bit tipped, or angled. My eyes caught it imedietly. I walked over, one more glance at the deputy. He now had lit a cigar, and huffed away. I crouched down, my fingers running over the crooked plank. Here, the nails would be smaller, for more precise locations. It looked like the corner plank had been messed up slightly, and the builders tried to work around it. So… if I could pull out the odd corner plank, then I could find the week spot, and build a hole from there, with no noise. Now the question was… was this jail built like that? I mean, I didn't know when they started to build them like that, or stop. So if they had bigger nails, or smaller ones… I couldn't figure it out by starring. Only one way to find out. I gripped the corner plank, and tugged. It only budged loose, some dust trickling to the floor. I pulled again, this time harder, and I felt the plank give way. No noise. The dirt around the plank fell, and I squinted to keep it from getting in my eyes. Now I had a small hole about the size of a envelope, in front of me. I peeked out. Good. The hole was face another side of a building. It was empty with the exception of a few crates and brown woven bags, packed into a wagon. I stood up, and stood back. Ok… now to find the weak spot. If the corner plank was weak here, that means they had to adjust the planks above and below it. They would also have to adjust the planks in the top corner of it, and bottom corner of it. I looked at the planks in the weak spots I guessed. They would be big enough that if pulled out, I could fit through. I did so quickly, and without a sound. More dirt fell to the floor. As I pulled the last plank out, I remember the boy was watching. He wasn't talking, or saying anything to me. Why? I don't know. But I wasn't going to turn around and ask. I slipped through the hole, and straightened. Free. They would chase after me. After all, all they needed was my word from the shooting… and I'm sure plenty of people saw it. Plus I was required to leave. I went down the ally, and peeked out into the once again busy street. My horse, was tied up in front of the deputy's office, still saddled and packed. I pressed my back to the wall, and looked up. The sun was coming off the building in front of me, so I had to go the opposite way. Perfect. I had to cross the window of the deputy. I took a deep breathe and walked out like I owned the town. My shoulders back, chin up, and my stride powerful and strong. I unwrapped the tie to my horse, like I was just going on a Sunday ride. I mounted up, and turned the horse, without looking at the window. I rode out of town quietly, with no one noticing. Ok. The town I wanted was one and a half day's hard ride from here. I looked at the horse. These creatures may be strong in this time, but we had just finished a long ride, and I wasn't about to push it hard. I put it into a soft trot. I figured if the river I had seen eailer ran straight, we would cross it, and settle down there. as I bounced lightly, I thought some more. It was hard to believe I was in a completely different town… a different state and a whole different time. But no matter how hard I tried to deny it, I knew it was true. But HOW? How did I travel time in one night? And why now? Why the old west? Why, why, why? I wanted to scream. But I kept myself under control. Mom and Dad weren't here. No one was going to protect me, feed me, take care of me. I was going to have to do it by myself. I was sixteen, and I knew I had to try to live. I had to get money, blend in, and try to find a way back home. I took slow steady breaths, trying to grip what had happened. No one here would believe I had traveled from the future, computicated instantly to friends across the state on a computer, put dishes in a machine and they got washed, or even put food in a microwave and it got heated up! Well, no one back home would believe I witnessed a real shoot out, a real murder, or rode the dusty trails, or escaped the town jail, or ate food with a deputy, or even shot at a real man. I was stunned at my last thought. Shot at a real man. I really did shoot a man, didn't I? Why did I do that! WAS I MAD! I could have killed him! How could I be so sure of myself! Yes, I wasn't that far away, but to actually SHOOT at a man? What was I thinking? I started to panic. What if changing times, changed me? What if every time I needed to, I shot at people… and killed them? What if the time warp made me some kind of killer? What had exactly changed in me? What if something else had changed me me other then I'm suddenly shooting at people! I gripped the reigns, and grinded my teeth. Oh… slow down… clam down… take a deep breath. Just don't think. Every time you think, you get more depressed, so don't. Don't think? But THINKING got me out of that house of the kidnappers, THINKING got me out of jai, THINKING, allowed me to know my next step. My next step. Yeah, think about that. Always know your next step. Ok, I would get into town, and lie low for a while. Just skimming around, looking for places that needed workers, and if anyone would ever come after me from my escape. I couldn't lie low long though. I needed food and a roof over my head. I needed money. Money could get me food and a room to stay in. Ok. So a job came first. I get a job. I was smart… good at a lot of stuff. Then what? What would I do after that? I could feel my heart starting to pump faster with more panic. I took a deep breath, and told my self to slow down. It was to overwhelming. Ok, just get a job, get a hotel room, and blend in. Then plan your next move. Like I said… I needed stable ground. A solid backstage. Ok. A plan. It wasn't much… but it was something. I looked through the saddle back again, to see if there was anything that would help. Nothing. But as I jumbled through, something caught my sharp eye, that hadn't before. I very welll hidden pocket on the side. I stuck my hand through it and pulled out it's papery contents. My eyes widened as I recognized what it was. Money. Around fifteen dollars. No where near enough for a hotel room, but maybe a cowboy hat. Clothes was another thing I needed to blend in. I knew how these people dressed, and I wasn't one of them at the moment. So I needed clothes too.. stop. Stop thinking. You have a plan now stop adding to it. It'll just get more chaotic. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. I focused on the horses steps, and the movment of my body as it bounced. It was a lot better when I had first started riding.