Yankton

Chapter 53

Chapter 53 Great Faces, Great Places

The next morning, as we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, Montana commented on our Jacuzzi experience, causing Melonie to blush. From the side comments made by Mark, they must have enjoyed a similar experience, although Mel was still suffering from pangs of self-consciousness. In a private moment, Mark told me,

"Don't worry about Mel, she's having a wonderful time, she won't admit it, but she couldn't get enough of our Jacuzzi, I think I've ruined her."

After we checked out of the hotel, I took everyone on a sight-seeing tour down to Mount Rushmore, then over to the Crazy Horse memorial. Although it was early fall, there were still quite a number of tourists visiting the monument. Montana and Melonie were simply astounded by the four presidential faces carved on the mountain. Melonie likened it to the carvings of ancient Egypt or Greece.

As we stood viewing the four presidents, I asked the women,

"Well you know who the first three presidents are, but who is that guy with the mustache tucked back in there?" I thought I knew the outcome of my question but Mel turned the tables on me.

"That's Theodore Roosevelt; I think he was the twenty-sixth president."

"Well it looks like someone has been doing a little reading," I replied.

"Well, I thought that's what you wanted us to do," she shot back, "However I'm not sure when he was actually president."

"1901 to 1909," I replied, "Twenty four years from 1877, I think he was born in 1858, just a few years after you two so that means he's around nineteen in 1877." Montana then said,

"Perhaps we should send him an invitation to visit us in Purgatory, do you suppose he would come?" I chuckled,

"Actually we will come to the Dakota's only it will be North Dakota where he will try the ranching life, getting away from bad memories due to the death of his wife. Our own sheriff Bullock will eventually become one of his best friends, I even hinted as much to Bullock when we recently rode with him." Both women became quite intrigued by the way history often times entwined itself in our daily lives; as a result, they spent considerable time studying the exhibits in the museum. After taking their pictures standing beneath the faces, it was time for souvenirs. We all selected numerous postcards, with Montana and Melonie preferring a couple reproductions of early black and white cards dating back to the 40's just after the monuments completion; obviously they were more comfortable in a "black and white" world. Since tee-shirts would not have gone well with the dress standards of 1877 each of the women selected "hoodies." Montana selected a black one with "Deadwood, South Dakota. Black Hills Territory." Melonie selected a pink one with a picture of the "heads" on the front with "South Dakota, It's nice to see familiar faces."

The Crazy Horse monument didn't go over quite as well, due to the fact that both women took a rather dim view of Indians, and the carving was far from finished, both did agree it would rival anything the ancient Greeks created.

Although it was getting dark by the time we arrived back in Deadwood, I had one more stop in mind. Driving north on 14A I turned off towards an open area scattered with several homes.

"Anybody recognize where we are?" Mark snickered, but it took Mel and Montana a moment to realize where they were. Both gasped when it suddenly dawned on them that we were parked roughly on the former site of Purgatory.

"I recognize the hills and those peaks over there," said Montana,

"As do I," added Melonie. We all stepped out of my truck and walked around.

"It looks like the creek dried up at some point," observed Mark.

"I wonder what happened to all the buildings asked Melonie.

"Probably the same thing that happened to Fort Laramie," I replied,

"When Mark and I were down there recently all the buildings were intact and in good repair.

If we were to go there now, you would find ruins. To be sure, there are officer's quarters, the commanders house and sutlers store, but they were all restored by the government. All the other buildings including the hospital are mere shells or don't exist at all. Over the years, people helped themselves to the wood and even moved many of the smaller buildings, same thing here."

"It seems so sad," observed Melonie, "Here we are building our dream, filled with excitement and hope, all our friends living there, helping those in need. Now look at it, as lonely and forlorn as the plains of Troy."

"Well unfortunately, that's the march of time for you, judging from that cleft in the hills over there," I said, "The boarding house was just over there, and the saloon was about there. Mark and I then went to our photo albums on our phones and studied the pictures we'd taken of Purgatory. Walking several feet to the left, Mark stood and announced,

"If I'm not mistaken, the clinic stood about here." Melonie then walked over to him and frowned,

"It just seems so sad, that's all."

"Well ladies," I replied, "Nothing lasts for ever, in some ways I'm glad it didn't, we are building Purgatory using construction techniques not yet being used, along with modern nails and insulation methods. I'm sure that if the buildings were torn down for the materials, or moved, nobody got curious about the nails or other modern hardware we used. There is a museum in town, but I'm a little hesitant to talk to them but maybe we should, you ladies haven't been there, so maybe we should pay them a visit."

Before returning home, I stopped at the local video store and picked up "Gone with the wind," and "American Sniper." Upon arriving home we found Craig and Annie browsing the internet, while my sister and Jake were watching some stupid show on TV. After describing our evening out, I took Melinda aside, and asked her how their evening went.

"Oh pretty well, we started off up in Sturgis at the Knuckle bar, then back down here to Deadwood where we had supper. Poor Annie though…"

"What's the matter with her?" I asked

"Oh she got talking with a couple guys who I think had their eye on her, I also think she had her eye on them as well. I warned her this wasn't 1877 and she'd better not try what I think she had in mind. Then they started talking "trash" but asking her about music which she knew nothing about. Then they asked her something about flying, and again the poor girl didn't know what they were talking about, they started laughing at her before they left. She's having Craig show her stuff on the internet, but she's still pretty upset."

While Mark was making the popcorn, I sat down next to Annie,

"I heard you were having "man" troubles?" Annie frowned,

"They kept telling me how dumb I was, I didn't know nothing about these aeroplanes or that horrible music who's this damn Cold Play?"

"Well Annie," I began, "You've got a lot to learn about the twenty-first century, but just take your time, you've got a hundred and thirty-eight years to catch up on. It will come, but again I must warn you that this isn't Purgatory, those guys Melinda tells me you were talking to could have been undercover cops, but even if they weren't prostitution is illegal, you will be arrested, and when they can't find any identification on you, they're going to start asking an awful lot of questions probably bringing them here." Annie then became defensive,

"I know what you told me, and despite what your sister says, I wasn't going to offer them a poke."

"If you want to spend more time here in the future Annie, you have to make an effort to understand a few things," I explained.

"Don't shut out Melinda, she IS the modern woman, times change, Annie, the promiscuous life you, Kitty, and Maggie lead in 1877 is more or less accepted nowadays. Respectable women now engage in behavior that would have classed them as members of the "Demimonde." Shocking…Yes, but there it is, virtue isn't cherished as it once was, in fact young girls try to outdo their friends in seeing how fast they can loose their virginity, but if you want to know more, ask my sister, oh, and do read some of those history books over there in the bookcase."

Annie became even more puzzled by my remarks but promised me she would make no more attempts to practice her "trade" here in 2014. By this time the popcorn was done and everybody had found a seat to watch Gone with the Wind. I gave Annie a super quick history of motion pictures before setting down next to Montana on the couch, with Mark and Melonie sitting next to us. Melinda and Jake crowded into the leather Lazy-Boy, while Annie settled for a chair. Before I started the DVD player, I made sure there were a couple boxes of Kleenex nearby. It took a couple re-starts of the film before the women finally understood what it was that they were watching, but once they caught on, you couldn't pry them away from that screen with a crowbar. Mel was mildly intrigued with Olivia de Havilland in her role as Melonie Hamilton crying when she died near the end of the film. In fact, the "floodgates" really opened up more or less as I expected, especially after the Butler's little girl died in the riding accident.

I was rather surprised that my sister got into the story as she did, but she cried along with the others. Jake told of a cousin who had been on Sherman's march and made it through the war in one piece. Both Melonie and Annie wished that they could see the film again apparently confusing it with a one time only thing like a play.

"No problem ladies," I replied. Holding up the DVD, I added,

"Because it is recorded on this little disc, you can see it as many times as you like, but since I would really like Narcissa and Klara to see it, I'll figure out how to show it back in Purgatory." Montana wasn't sure it would be a good idea for Narcissa to see it however.

"Although we have seen this…photo play, and somewhat understand how it can be, I'm afraid Narcissa will not, and even if you are able to explain it to her, she will no doubt take great offence at it." One thing all agreed on though, was that Scarlet was a spoiled egotistical dilettante, both Montana and Annie added "b***h" to the description, but they only said it once.

The next day, Melinda took Jake and Annie to get their teeth cleaned and checked, I ordered numerous items on the internet consisting mostly of clothing, and supplies. I ordered myself a black tee-shirt with the marine emblem over the heart, with words on the front that said,

"Stay Calm, and Return Fire." Mark thought it was great; Montana and Melonie just rolled their eyes. While looking at the tee-shirt company's other offerings, I checked to see what they had in the way of Black Hills, and South Dakota merchandise. It wasn't long before I came across sweat shirts and "hoodies" with "The Gem Theatre, Dakota Territory 1876.

"The Bella Union, Dakota Territory, 1876, and best of all, "What Would Swearingen Do?"

I called Montana and Melonie over, and showed them what I'd found.

"Should I order these? I like the Swearingen one."

"Your feeble humor falls on deaf ears," replied Montana, her voice filled with disgust, Mel glared at me as well.

"Well it was just an idea, that's all," I replied. Both knew I was only teasing them but Craig suggested the same design but with Purgatory instead of The Gem, or the Bella Union. As things turned out, it could be done, but the cost was more than I wanted to pay at the moment.

Before long, Melonie was involved with a test Mark was giving her, and Craig was on the phone talking with his folks. Montana decided to accompany me for my afternoon appointment with Walt Spears, helping me to load up the guns I was taking to him. Since his wife wasn't with him, Montana went off to find a card game while Walt and I traded, and talked guns. True to his word, he had the 1890 Winchester I had asked about. This particular model was made in 1921 so it would fire .22 long rifle cartridges. He bought three of the better condition Winchester 1873's along with two boxes of original ammunition. I also sold him five 1873 Colt single actions along with an 1874 Sharps 44/70 cal. With a repaired stock. Spears gave me a better than average price for the Sharps, as well as the other guns. We also concluded terms on the sale of several gold coins I had, Spears even going so far as to forward full payment to my account before receiving the coins. When I asked him why he trusted me so much, he replied,

"Because at some point you're going to tell me where you're getting these remarkable weapons."

I just smiled,

"Maybe…But not right now. However I will tell you that while I was in the marines, I connected with the right people, we stay in touch, so let's just let it go at that for now."

This seemed to satisfy him for now, but as we parted, he said,

"My wife asked me if your lady friend might be interested in another game, sometime? She was rather impressed with her style of play."

"Well we can ask her," I replied, "She's probably found a game by now, let's go see."

After packing everything back up, and hauling everything out to our vehicles, we went looking for Montana.

She had found a game, and judging from the chips in front of her, wasn't doing too bad. Spears and I watched for another hour, until Montana called one of the other player's bluff, and he folded. The magic was back, she cleaned up almost a thousand dollars putting a big smile on her face, until she had to declare her winnings. Both Walt and I stepped in, explaining to her the facts of life in regards to the internal revenue service. Montana was about to say something, but I quickly shut her up. Walt was puzzled that she didn't seem to know who or what the IRS was, although I had mentioned them to her when she first started playing here in the twenty-first century.

He then asked her I she might be interested in another game with my wife,

"Possibly," she replied, "but only if I deal." Spears wasn't sure if his wife would go for that, but possibly a small game with only three or four players might be in order.

"I would consider it," replied Montana.

"Well I'll have her inform you as to date and time." On the way home I asked Montana,

"It certainly looks as though the card game worked out."

"Since that last game I played with Mrs. Spears, I've been giving much thought as to what I did wrong. In other words, I was over estimating the players in this time, and I shouldn't have done that. I also waited too long for other players to act. Again, a major mistake, tonight however, I simply paid closer attention, and didn't hesitate."

"Well your strategy obviously worked," I replied.

Basically, all we were doing now was sticking around, waiting for everything Melinda and I ordered to arrive. As per our agreement, we watched American sniper. Much of what was in the film the women simply couldn't absorb, or understand, but I knew that going in. I was never involved in the intense situation and duel with another sniper that Kyle was, but the film drove home the stark reality of the war in the middle east, and just how deadly modern warfare was. Needles to say the film achieved what I had hoped it wood, leaving the women utterly shocked by what they saw. Even my own sister admitted to me that she had had no idea things were so desperate over there. When the film was over, I stated,

"Now after seeing that, do you ladies finally understand why these yahoo's who try and steal our gold shipments just don't stand a chance?"

That night as we lay in bed, Montana pulled me close and quietly said,

"I had no idea. I am however beginning to see a certain horror to this "future" of yours…It frightens me." I knew the film was still bothering her but I didn't know what to say that would comfort her.

"War is what it is Montana. Many here in the future simply can't understand how men could march across a battlefield and allow themselves to be shot down like ten pins, or charge open fields without one bit of cover, but men in your time just accepted it…Go figure."

There was one last trip to Home Depot, as well as a feed store to pick up horse chow and oats for Caleb's horse, and materials for the Hoosier cabinets Jake wanted to build before we returned to 1877. The shipment Mark had been eagerly waiting for finally arrived as well; it consisted on not just certain pain meds, but a recently developed solution for gunshot wounds. Xstat consisted of tiny non absorbable and expandable hemostatic sponges injected into wounds that temporarily stopped bleeding. Xgauze was a large folded dressing embedded with the same tiny expanding sponges that also stopped hemorrhaging and excessive bleeding until the patient could be stabilized. These were items Mark had been looking forward to ever since he first read about them. Since Melinda was coming, and the fact that we were bringing considerably more with us, I was forced to do two "back to back" jumps. It took a total of two days, allowing for the "wayback" machine to fully recharge. Once again, I kept a very close eye on the computer, and temporal displacement unit, and once again I gave a silent prayer to god and the professor for getting us here in one piece.