Yankton

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Truth or Dare

"Well ladies," I announced, "Prepare to be astounded." Opening a Coors I took a sip, and began. Looking at Montana I said, " The man you knew as Marsh was actually Doctor and professor Marshall Wainwright who taught advanced physics and calculus at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, which is where I was born." Montana chuckled, "Nice try Mr. Yankton but I seem to recall that the town of Laramie wasn't built until the railroad went through there, I believe that was 1865 or '66 sometime around then, that would make you only ten years old or thereabouts." I grinned at her, and replied, Oh I was born in Laramie all right Miss Montana, I just didn't tell you what year. January 30th, 1987, I come from the year 2013, I'm 26 years old, recently of the United States Marine Corps where I served in Afghanistan as a sergeant in a Marine Recon unit as a sniper. When I told Swearingen I could kill him without his ever knowing what hit him, I wasn't kidding. I pulled two tours of duty in the corps, now I'm out, and looking for something to do with my life."

Pointing with my thumb towards the tunnel, I said, "Down that tunnel, there is a time machine, built by professor Wainwright," turning to Montana, I said, "He was the first, where do you think he was getting all those medications and drugs, certainly not from 1876, I have a whole bag of that s**t back in the time machine chamber, pointing to the computer, I rhetorically asked, "Anybody know what that is?" Then pointing to the camera, "Or that?" Both women just stared dumbly at the devices, and shook their heads. Reaching over and opening up the screen on the computer and turning it on I said, "It's called a computer, it aint magic, it aint witchcraft, it's technology, technology from the twenty first century, just as the steam locomotive, the telephone and the telegraph are technology from the 19th century. All I can say ladies is that we've been busy. Here, let me show you something else." I picked up the camera, turned it on then quickly snapped each woman's picture, then took the card out of the camera and stuck it into the laptop when the images came up on the screen both women gasped. "That ladies, is a modern camera, no grainy tin types or daguerreotypes anymore, in fact another thirty years and they'll be gone, this is modern technology, it's what I live with every day, and this is only the tip of the "iceberg," here,, I've got some pictures on the computer here, take a look at these."

I started with pictures of me taken in Afghanistan with my buddies, all of us holding various weapons, pictures of the local citizenry, which created much interest, but it wasn't until they saw a couple of pictures of a couple of female marines that really drew their interest. Pointing to one, I said, "That is Lieutenant Mary Welch, she was our intelligence officer the other one is Lance Corporal Abbie Watson, I told you I knew a couple of "Abbie's" Montana, she's one of 'em." "Women in the military, how can that be?" gasped Melonie. "Well in the twenty-first century it can be miss Bishop, and while I don't exactly approve of it entirely there it is, right now they want to put women in frontline combat units, I definitely DO NOT approve of that, it's one of the reasons I got out, but the fact remains that they are there." I showed them pictures I took during bike week, "These next pictures ore what modern Deadwood looks like." Montana just shook her head and said, "Amazing, I don't recognize anything." "Well they had a bad fire in town around the time I was born, destroyed pretty much the whole main street area burned down, they rebuilt most of it but it's all changed," I replied. I then showed her a picture I took of saloon number ten but the people that were in the picture was the thing that caught their eye.

I also played around on the computer, showing them what it could do, "Everybody has one of these things," I said. I attempted to explain the internet, as a huge library that contained anything you wanted to know, as well as a whole lot of things you didn't. Montana and Melonie tried to understand, but ended up throwing their hands in the air at concepts far too advanced for their understanding.

"Those women are barely dressed!" squeaked Melonie, "What is going on there?" "I agree," added Montana, "In fact all those people seemed to be underdressed, and the cloths they are wearing, how strange!" "Well ladies," I explained, "That's what people are wearing in my time, clothing has become more casual as well as colorful, but it's taken one hundred and thirty some odd years to get there. No more dark and somber dresses women are stuffed into, or uncomfortable underclothing for that matter, most women wear very little any more under their outer clothing, here, take a look at these two ladies." I then brought up pictures of Kelly and Kathy. Kelly was wearing a tank top with a very plunging neckline, Kathy was wearing a bikini top, both wore short cut off jeans and flip flops. Both women gasped in horror, Melonie covered he eyes and for a moment, I thought would pass out.

"Calm down ladies, I'm sorry, but that's the way it is, is society on the downslide…Perhaps, but there it is, that's part of what I'm talking about, things have changed so much, there's no comparing everyday lives anymore, that's why I need you two to help me navigate through this present society, Oh I know all about life back here in 1876, from the history books, but to come here and actually try and live is something totally different, I will need your help." "Why did you come here Mr. Yankton, if life's so wonderful in the future, why torment us?" Ignoring her sarcastic comment, I replied, "I'm a big history buff, especially western history, I came here to see this country before it's completely overtaken by civilization, in another twenty five years all this will be gone, the wide open spaces, the Indians, the buffalo, the open ranges, oh they'll still exist on reservations and state and national parks, but you saw the pictures of modern Deadwood, that was barely a fraction of what this whole area as well as the west has become. You saw those things I told you were cars and trucks, if I left Deadwood, and pushed it I could be in San Francisco in two days maybe less if I was with somebody else who could drive. We have machines called airplanes that make it possible to get from New York to San Francisco in three hours, or New York to London in less than eight. The world has shrunk I want to see for myself what it was all like before any of that happened. And who knows, meet some famous people as well, I guess I'm too late to meet Hickok, Dr. Marshall told me he watched him get gunned down, but hell! There's still Calamity Jane and Potato Creek Johnnie, Dr. Marshall told me Charlie Utter was someone I should meet as well."

Montana laughed, "Calamity is nothing but a drunken w***e, why would you want to meet her, as for Johnnie and Charlie, nothing important about them, besides, Charlie is a good friend of Swearingen, he might take offense at your beating his friend up." I shrugged, then asked Montana, "Are you familiar with Dora DuFran, and Fanny Hill?" Montana grinned, "Dora's a good friend of mine, she does a lot for her girls If I don't stick around here, Dora will welcome me. Fanny, I know her as well she's trying to start an establishment down in Lead, why, are you in need of their "services?" Shaking my head, I grinned and said, "No Montana, I've just read of them, I knew about Dora being kind to her girls but not a whole lot about Fanny Hill." Montana started to say something, but stopped and said, "Is that why you didn't kill Swearingen, because he's famous?" I nodded, "He's not on the scale of a Calamity Jane or Hickok, but he's in the history books, at least the ones dealing with the history of the Black Hills. Don't worry though Montana, he eventually looses everything and dies alone and in poverty, in Chicago I think."

Montana then gave me a sly look, "I don't suppose gold would be another reason you're here, every peckerwood in the country is coming here for gold, no reason to believe that people from the future wouldn't either." "Well that wasn't my primary reason miss Montana, however when gold is worth over thirteen hundred dollars an ounce in 2013, then yeah, I guess I'm interested . Both women about fell out of their chairs when I mentioned that, "My God!" exclaimed Montana, is there no more gold available in the future?" "Oh yeah, the United States went off the gold standard in 1933 during the depression, world market demand plus the fact that the value of the US dollar has gone to s**t makes gold that valuable, besides the price has been creeping upwards for a long time now, so nineteen dollars an ounce of gold at current market value is now worth around thirteen hundred dollars an ounce, it has dropped from sixteen hundred dollars an ounce. Speaking of gold, this gold strike in the Black Hills won't be the only one, Colorado will be the next big rush, Nevada, which I guess is still a territory now is rich in silver, then there's old Seward's folly of Alaska, big strike up there around 1898, gold is where you find it ladies, but there's just one little problem." "Yeah, what's that?" asked Montana, a suspicious tone to her voice. ""Well," I replied, "Naturally any gold I take to my time will dramatically increase in value, and I'll get a lot of money for it, but 2013 dollars won't spend very well here in 1876, catch my drift…And, any gold I bring from the future will still be worth only nineteen dollars an ounce, sooo."

"Sooo, if we want to live like kings," injected Montana, "Melonie and I have to travel with you to the future, you've got it all figured out, don't you Mr. Yankton?" Shrugging, I replied, "What can I say, another little money maker would be antiques, there are certain guns and other assorted paraphernalia to be found here in 1876 that are worth astronomical prices in my time, certain Indian artifacts are extremely rare and go for huge sums. For example, a rifle or anything really that could be proven to have been used at the Custer m******e would go for quite a princely sum, there are a lot of old trapdoor Springfield's floating around in 2013 that are claimed to have been used in the battle but none have documentation or verifiable proof, hence they aren't worth much, see where I'm going with this?" Both women were smiling, Melonie then asked, "What about furniture? My Auntie has a secretary she claims came from England by general Cornwallis during the revolution. I know someone who has a rocking chair that Benjamin Franklin owned, how about something like that?" "My mother is a big fan of Antiques Roadshow on television, I'll explain more about that later. Anyway they appraise antiques people bring in," I explained. "It's all in the documentation, and condition, there's Civil War stuff that goes for a lot of money."

"One more thing ladies," I said. "What is it each of you wants, I mean, what are your long term goals. We've agreed to form a partnership of sorts, which is great, but surely each of you is interested in something for the future, something to see you through your old age, after all, there's no social security or 401K's, in 1876."

Both women looked at me funny at my last remarks, Melonie spoke first. ""It's always been my hope of marrying a decent and honest man, raising a family and having my children around my in my old age." "I've never really thought about it," said Montana, "I've already been in one bad marriage, I'm not looking forward to another. What is there for someone like me, other than end up working in a filthy crib, drinking myself to death, or starting my own w***e house, and living off my girls, that's what Dora plans to do." I looked at each of them for a moment, then said, "Have any of you ever considered thinking "out of the box?" "What the hell are you talking about?" exclaimed Montana. "We have a saying in my time, to "think outside the box," which simply means that you think in different terms, think about options that are different from the norm. Both of you have told me what you expected to do, not having considered any other options, think for a moment and tell me what it is each of you would really like to do, money, or the fact that your idea might be closed to women. "I would have liked to have gone to college and become a doctor." stated Melonie. Montana took the longest, and finally said, "My late husband was a blacksmith, I used to watch him create things out of bits of iron, but he would never let me near his forge. I wouldn't want to be a blacksmith so much as just being able to do things men can do, you asked about Calamity, she tried to take that route but look what's happened to her. I'm sorry Mr. Yankton, I can't really answer your question right now, perhaps later." "Fair enough ladies," I replied, "I think I've got the general idea."