*Author's Note*

Thank you for the read, faves, favorites, and reviews.

Keep an eye on Sully, he's like the Perry Cline of the Hatfield family. He's got an agenda and might not be entirely truthful about his time traveling escapades. Sully's a bit of an interesting character I came up with, mysterious and all that.

Two Families, Two Offers

Alma POV:

Me and Mr. Sullivan, who insisted that I call him Sully, had been walking for hours until we spotted a large two-story cabin in a valley surrounded by mountains off the main road. Curiously I looked at Mr. Sully while asking, "Whose house is this?"

"Devil Anse and Levicy's." He simply told me, just as if he was telling me that the weatherman said it was gonna be a sunny day.

My sapphire eyes bulged out of my head as I shrieked, "What, and you brought me here?"

"They're my cousins." Sully reminded me with a tilt of his graying light brown hair. With a slight huff of his breath he told me, "Besides, once I tell them how I found you as the lone survivor of that wagon train accident she'll want to help you." I just shot him a skeptical look, causing him to quickly say in a self-assured tone, "'Specially when hearin' how you watched your best friend get carried down river in a current, assuming her missing or dead."

"I did read the unit you know. It said that Devil Anse was a cold and callous man." I remarked in a scoff. With worry in my blue eyes I asked, "Are you sure a man described like that'll help me?"

"He's not heartless. The history books only remember the bad, not the good. He's kindhearted to neighbors, friends, and kin. He's a pillar in the community."

"Okay, if you say so…"

"How old are you?" He asked, looking me up at down, before muttering under his breath, "Not close to Johnse's age I hope."

"I'll be 16 next month in December, why?" I answered, giving Sully an odd look, as we walked down the dirt road, heading closer to the house in the valley.

"Oh, Allie, you're gonna be 15 for much longer than a month." Sully chuckled, causing me to give him a lost look. Once he was done laughing at me, he seriously said, "We're in June of 1878, not November 2018 anymore."

"Oh…" I sighed as it dawned on me that I'd be stuck at the age of15 for a little bit longer.

"You're almost a year younger then Will. He just turned 16 in February, while Johnse turned 18 in January." Sully babbled, assuming that I gave a shit, as we trudged side by side down the road. Hell, after hours of walking I missed cars.

"Will, do you mean Cap?" I asked since I remembered that Cap's name was William. Sicne Will's a form of the name I assumed he meant Cap, but wanted to confirm it.

"Yea, but right now he's still Will. His accident hasn't happened yet."

"Oh…" I sighed, wondering exactly when the accident would happen. I mean I read he lost his left eye in 1878 and it's that year now so…

"You're lucky you're closer in age to him then Johnse."

"Why, cause Johnse's a sweet-talking man-whore?" I sarcastically asked, a slight scoff caught in the back of my throat.

"Yea, that's why." Sully deadpanned, giving me a look that read he wasn't too amused with me at the moment, "He doesn't like girls too much younger then him, hell he tends to like 'em his age or a couple years older."

"Explains why he hooks up with Roseanna and then rat-head Nancy." Tumbled off of my tongue before I could think better of it. Yea, I had a bit of a problem with bluntness and word vomit…

"He loved Roseanna and Nancy was just a rebound gone bad, but with us here we can influence who he gets with."

"How? I read his ass dumped Roseanna after getting her pregnant cause his family didn't like her." I told my teacher, well former teacher since we weren't in 2018 anymore, with a slight snap laced into my words.

"Yes, but with me here I can whisper in Anse's ear how by not letting them be together bigger problems could arise, like vengeance on the family for abandoning a young dishonored girl." Sully said slicky as a michevious smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"Okay." I nodded. His plan made sense for his part, but I was some outsider here. "But how can I help influence it?" I curiously asked since I wanted to know the rest of his so-called plan.

"By getting Will to not hate Roseanna." Huh? What kind of plan is that? Sully rolled his eyes at me, no doubt reading the unsold look on my face, before explaining, "If he can tolerate her, he'll push his brother to do the right thing, marrying and claiming the baby." Really, he thinks it's that simple? I raised a skeptical brow at him, looking at him like he was nuts. Well, considering he transported us from 2018 to 1878 maybe he was a bit nutty… Sully shook his head at me before letting out a long sigh and explaining, "Cap's close to Cotton and saw how damaging being a bastard, on top of being born slow, has been to him. He'd never father a bastard and I don't think he'd let his brother get away with it either as long as he respected the girl Johnse was with."

"What the hell? You want us to rewrite history?" I asked in a wide-eyed shriek as we got even closer to the large Hatfield house, which I noticed had a few outbuildings behind it and a loft-barn a few yards parallel to it.

"Why not?" Sully rhetorically asked before going on to say, "You're already pictured in the future books, just not named."

"Hey, I watched all the Back to the Future movies and Doc always told Marty not to mess with the timeline and stuff cause it could result in bad shit and when Marty didn't listen they always had to go back and fix shit."

"That was a movie and it's not as complicated as that." I'm not sure I believe him on that. "A few small changes can save many lives. Look, if Johnse never marries Nancy then Jim Vance will never get killed."

"Oh, so this is more about saving the life of your uncle then worrying about your cousin's love life and happiness?" I asked in a level tone that implied I already knew the answer he'd give me was yes.

"Yes and no. I'm worried about everyone." Yea, I'm not sure I believe him on that. "Look, believe me or not, that's your affair, but Jim living and Johnse never marrying Nancy will solve many problems." I just shrugged, which cause Sully to reveal in a deep sigh, "It'll keep Cap and Johnse close."

"How?" I blurted out, not even thinking about what I was asking.

"Cap watches Jim die and never really gets over it. He blames Johnse, never forgives him, and is only in the same room as him when their daddy dies in 1921."

"Okay, but how do you know that?"

"I read it."

"I didn't." I quickly countered with a raised brow.

"It wasn't in the history book. It was in another book written by an independent author."

"Oh…" I sighed, slowly nodding my head. Okay, guess he would do a bunch of reading and research on the feud considering it's his immediate family that's in it.

"Enough of this talk. We're here and it's time for you to meet my kin. Let me do most of the talking, but just use common sense to answer any questions you're asked."

As soon as the front door flung open Levicy appeared, wearing an apron tied tightly around her waist. She was a tall woman that had her toffee colored hair pulled back into a low bun. Honestly, she seemed a bit imposing from the stare she held in her brown eyes. She eyed me over before looking at Sully and asking in a honeyed tone, "Who's she?"

"Cousin, I found her on my way down here for a visit. Her wagon train headed west 'cross the Tug was destroyed in the thunder storm near dawn."

"Yea, Sully here found me and said he'd take me to his kin for help." I added in, looking straight at Mrs. Hatfield which earned me a pitiful look from her. I bet I looked like a drowned rat right about now.

Sully shot me a look that silently said I thought I told you to shut up and let me do the talking? I just stared at him in a hard squint. Yea, being quiet wasn't exactly my thing.

Levicy wrapped an arm around me before ushering me into the house while soothingly saying, "You poor thing. Well, sweetheart, don't worry, Sully was right when he said we'd help."

"Thank you, Ma'am." I smiled at her as she directed me to the table where her husband, Devil Anse, was sitting at while reading the newspaper and sipping on a mug of coffee.

"Anderson, Sully came over with this poor girl he found wanderin' 'round. Her wagon train perished in the storm early this mornin'." Levicy told her husband as she gestured for me to take a seat at the table she'd taken me to.

Devil Anse nodded, seeming to accept the answer his wife gave him. "Levicy, make sure to feed our guest and have the girls make a pallet for her tonight in their room." He told his wife, who was making her way over to the cooking area of the kitchen, as he closed his paper and set it on the table.

"Cousin, I hope it's not any trouble that I brought the girl here. She has nothin'; I didn't know what to do other then get her some help from you and Levicy." Sully remarked as he stopped near the table while Devil Anse grabbed his pipe and matchbook off the table.

Mr. Hatfield placed his pipe in his mouth, struck a match and lit it, and then took a long puff of it. "No trouble, Sully. It's best you brought her here rather then to town. A girl with no family nor money can get into desperate situations." Oh my god, Devil Anse was alluding to being a hooker. Well in a nice way, but he still meant hooking. I might be from the future, but I could figure out old lingo. Pulling his pipe from his mouth he pointed at his cousin while ordering, "Sully, go get Will from the barn. It's almost time for him to go call on that damned preacher's daughter."

"Anderson…" Levicy scolded her husband from her place at the stove as she scooped something out of a pot into a bowl.

Preacher's daughter? From what I read about him in my history book, Cap didn't seem like the type to be with a good girl preacher's daughter. My history book was vague about Cap's love life, other then he married before his older brother did. I mean the only one whose love life was detailed in the history book was Johnse, who was a major man-whore that couldn't keep it in his pants to save his life. Johnse and Nancy married in early 1883, so that means Cap married anytime prior to that. Wonder if he's close to proposing to this preacher girl. I mean people married young in the 1800s so…

Sully must've been thinking the same thing or at least something similar as me cause he gave Devil Anse a strange look while asking, "What's that boy doin' messin' around with Leonna Garrett?"

"Courtin' her. They've been together month or so now." Devil Anse spat, a disapproving look in his icy eyes, while Levicy just sighed and shook her head at him.

"Ah, I see…" Sully nodded his head slowly, the look in his eye suggesting that he was a bit disappointed by what he heard. "I'll go tell him he needs to get goin'." Sully assured his cousin, who I still thought favored Kevin Costner, before walking away from the table and out the front door.

"So, miss what's your name?" Devil Anse asked me, leaning an elbow on the table after removing his pipe from the corner of his mouth.

"Alma Freeland, but I go by Allie." I truthfully answered the man, who's dark golden bronze hair was slightly greying at the temples, as his wife placed a bowl of luke-warm oatmeal and fruit along with a mug of black coffee in front of me.

"And Allie, were there any survivors other than yourself in the wagon accident?" He asked me as his wife patted his shoulder and took a seat next to him, which made her directly sitting across from me since Devil Anse was at the head of the table.

"At first it was me and my best friend, Jessa, but the current drug her down river. She's a weak swimmer, actually she can't really swim at all, so she prolly drowned." I answered in between eating scoops of my fruit covered oatmeal.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Levicy told me in her honeyed voice, a sympathetic look on her face, as she watched me eat a spoonful of the food she'd given me.

"Yea, me too." I blurted out before I could think better of it. Oh shit, my unfiltered mouth was getting the best of me.

"You can stay with us as long as you help out Levicy with the chil'ren. She expectin' come winter, the help'll be appreciated." Not what I expected to hear from the stone-face man, who had a full bushy beard that'd make hipsters jealous. The history book made him sound like a hard and war hungry man, but it seems that Sully was right, the devil wasn't really that and had a nice side to him.

"Okay, I'll do that." I agreed to Devil Anse's offer. "Thank you." I politely told him since I didn't want him to think I didn't have any manners. I know that things were different in this time so I figured that manners must be a be thing and all.

"You'll want for nothin' and be treated as family. Even when the time comes that you leave the house to take up with a man, you'll still be family." Devil Anse told me before popping his pipe back into the corner of his mouth.

The sound of the door opening and closing was heard before Sully's voice rang out with, "What did I miss? Why's Miss Allie family?"

"She's to stay with us to help me with the chil'ren." Levicy informed her cousin by marriage as he walked over to the table and took a seat next to me.

"Ah, well welcome to the family then." Sully smirked as Levicy rose from the table and went over to get him a cup of coffee.

"When you're done ettin', I'd like to go thru some old dress trunks with you in order t'find somethings to suit ya."

"Thank you." I simply told the woman, who was much kinder then she looked, as I grabbed my mug and took a sip of the coffee that was in it.

Okay, seems like I'm going to be stuck with the Hatfields and living thru a historical and deadly blood feud. Lucky me… At least they're taking me in as one of the family so I'll be safe when all the bad stuff happens. Maybe Sully's right and some of the devastation can be avoided.

Jessa POV:

I blinked my eyes, coming to while lying on a bed in a somewhat cluttered room. A woman, maybe in her mid-40's, was sitting on the edge of my bed running a cool rag down my arms. "Oh, sweetheart, you're awake." Pushing my dark hair away from my face she softly told me, "My boy, Tolbert, brought ya home in bad shape. Says ya were involved in a wagon accident 'cross the Tug." Oh, so she was Sally McCoy. She looked less burdened then she did in the pictures from my history book. Not one worry line was on her face yet. Her dark auburn hair, pulled back into a messy bun, was just starting to show strands of grey in it. Clearly, I'd arrived before the feud really took off from how at ease the woman looked.

Nodding, I weakly answered Sally honestly with, "Yea. I was swept down river. I think my friend made it, but I'm not sure."

"Well, sweetheart, don't dwell on it. You're safe here." She smiled, patting me on the hand. "You're fortunate that Tolbert found ya while searchin' for our missin' pig. If not, I'm 'fraid of what'd happen to ya." Missing pig, so that means the pig trial will be starting soon. I'm not sure how long the pig was missing for since Allie read that part and not me, but I suppose it wasn't missing for too long.

"I'll make sure to thank him next time I see him." I assured her, which just earned me a slightly warm smile from her.

"He's 'round doin' chores, ya can thank him once he gets back inside." Sally told me before going on to say, "I tended to your feet. Ya got some deep gashes an' had some splinters in 'em, but I put a salve on an' bandaged 'em up."

"Thank you, Mrs. McCoy."

"You're welcome, dear. You may call me Sally, if ya wish." I just nodded my head at her, smiling. Sally seemed nice, it was such a shame that she ends up loosing her mind and locked up in a mental institution before the feud ends. "I'll go get'cha some broth, then let ya get some more rest. My older girls, Roseanna and Alifair, are out pickin' some berries, but once they get back an' done helpin' me make deserts I'll send 'em up to keep ya company."

Lying around in bed without Netflix to watch on an electronic device was boring. Time ticked by slowly, so slowly that I didn't even know how much time lapsed, as I rested in bed in the small room. I quickly figured out that my room was actually a spare one that doubled as a storage room. A few crates and trunks were stacked up in the corner while some items like a cradle, high chair, and other things were up against the wall. Straight ahead from my bed was a door, leading to the upstairs hall, and next to me was a small table, old and crude.

The empty bowl of broth along with a half-drunk cup of tea was set on the table next to me as I just stared, bored to death, at the door while resting in bed with a pillow propped up behind my back. I heard heavy footsteps and the creaking of the stairs so I knew that somebody was coming up to visit me. When the door to my guestroom opened up, I saw Tolbert in the doorway. He walked inside the room, closing the door behind him by slamming it shut with his palm before inching closer to me. While just standin' feet away from me he remarked in his smooth accent, "Mama said ya wanted t'see me."

"Yea." I nodded before quickly adding in with a weak smile, "To thank you for helping me."

"Well, it was either let'cha lay passed out an' hurt or ignore ya an' follow the trail of Poppy's lost pig. In hindsight I should've left ya 'lone, found the pig, then got'cha to mama after findin' the pig."

"What?"

"I lost the trail on the pig cause of ya an' Poppy's pissed." Tolbert grumbled, giving me a hard stare with his stormy blue eyes. "If it weren't for Jim tellin' Poppy he'll help me search 'gain 'morrow I'd been struck down wit' his belt for loosin' food from our table."

"Oh…I'm sorry…" I trailed off, feeling bad that I got him in trouble for not being able to find the lost pig.

"Ya should be." Tolbert grumbled under his breath before letting out a frustrated huff and marching over to the side of my bed. With a thunk he sat down on the edge of the bed, near my feet, and made the mattress bounce slightly. "Mama patched ya up tho, right?" He asked, looking between my face and my blanket covered feet, with concern in his eyes.

"Yea. I had some splinters and gashes on my feet, but Sally put medicine on them and wrapped them up." I answered Tolbert, explaining in length what his mom had kindly done for me.

"Yea, cut up feet happen when ya don't got no shoes an' go walkin' in the woods." Tolbert deadpanned, clearly mocking me for being barefoot.

I rolled my indigo eyes while crossing my arms and huffing, "I nearly drowned in the river, loosing my shoes are the least of my worries."

"Ya got any kin or friends that can get'cha, take ya in?"

"No. I got nobody." And it was true, I was now all alone and in a strange place. Maybe Allie was fine somewhere, but I didn't know where Mr. Sullivan had taken her.

"Ya can't stay here for long. We don't got 'nough food or money for a mouth that ain't family." Tolbert told me with a startling bluntness to his velvety voice right as his father opened the door and stepped into the room.

Is it weird that I think Tolbert has a smooth as velvet voice even tho he has a strong Appalachian accent? I just assumed his voice would be deep and rough considering he lived in the woods in the mountains during the 1800s.

"Tolbert, don't scare the girl." I heard Randall order his son as he cut his eyes at him. "Go check on yer still, I wanna talk to this girl yer mother patched up." The dark-haired man suggested, his bearded jaw locked as he stared down his son with a look of authority in his stormy eyes.

Tolbert just rolled his eyes before getting up and walking out of the room. Randall had a stern look in his eyes, but it had a softness laced to it, as he walked further into the room towards me. The middle-aged man stopped right by my bedside as he announced, "I'm Randall McCoy. Sally said ya didn't give her yer name, just that ya almost drowned in the river durin' a wagon accident."

I nodded at the man before telling him, "My name's Jessamine George, but most people call me Jessa."

"I reckoned ya been orphaned cause of the wagon accident?"

"Yes, sir." I politely answered. At least that's one thing that hasn't changed despite the times, saying yes or no sir when talking to a man.

"It would be unchristianly of me to turn ya out when ya been thru hell already. Ya can stay here, but ya must work to earn yer keep."

"What kind of work?" I asked in a shaky voice, slightly afraid of what I'd get stuck doing. I really didn't want to become a maid or something, or worse get stuck going to town to work in a diner or as a seamstress.

Randall grabbed one of my hands in his and turned it over, examining my palm. Letting go of my hand he told me, "Ya got soft hands so field work's gonna be tough at first."

"Field work?"

"Yes, in order to stay here ya can help out in the fields." Okay, well that didn't sound bad. I wasn't a farmer or a rancher, but I'm sure I can help pick weeds or something. "I'll pair ya up wit' Tolbert since he found ya. Yer his responsibility in a way now."

"Okay."

"I reckon yer feet'll feel better 'nough t'morrow that ya can start workin'." I got to start working so soon? Well, I guess there's no such thing as days off in the 1800s when everybody has to farm their own food. "I'll have Sally an' Roseanna get ya some things t'wear."

"Thank you so much, Randall." I nodded gratefully at Mr. McCoy, wanting him to know that I appreciated his help. I knew that he had no obligation to help me considering that I was a stranger, but was doing so cause he was a god fearing Christian man with a good heart.

"Rest up some more, Roseanna'll be up soon t'see ya." Randall told me before walking over to the door. Grabbing the door knob he looked over his shoulder only to tell me, "Ya can join us for supper tonight an' meet my cousin, Perry Cline, since he'll be by." Perry Cline, I'm going to meet the famous McCoy lawyer. Oh wow, I wonder if he's really as sophisticated as he looks in his pictures.

Randall walked out of the room and shut the door behind him, leaving me alone with only my thoughts.

What I learned from reading my history book was Randall drank a lot, but was a devout Christian with a high moral code. Sad thing is it seems the Hatfields unleashed hell on his family, especially during New Year's 1888. Maybe, since I'm here and know some things I can help put a damper on the feud. The people, nice enough to let me stay with them as long as I help on their farm, don't deserve the fate I read about in my American History book. If they kicked me out with nothing I wouldn't care, but since they're taking me in, I suddenly feel bad for them and want to help.

AN:

Next chapter Allie will meet Will aka Cap. What do ya'll think about Will's relationship with the preacher's daughter? (Obviously it won't last, but any thoughts?) And Jessa's a field hand for the McCoys in exchange for room and board. Jessa will meet Roseanna and start a basis for a close friendship with her in the next chapter. Looks like both girls are picking sides already, oh boy...