Yankton

Chapter 33

Chapter 33 A Real Kick in the Head

Spring was still hanging on when I returned briefly to 2014 to gather up anything I had ordered, and grab Melinda who said she was up to "camping out," her term for "roughing it" in 1877. In looking over her efforts, my sister appeared to be getting the "hang," of things, ordering whatever anyone had wanted from the twenty-first century, along with becoming "auction savvy" getting me the best prices on the artifacts I was bringing home. Melinda's "outing," was roughly two weeks, I didn't see a whole lot of her during that time, partly because of dealing with Craig, and Mr. Underwood. O'Rourke sent word as well, asking that Mark and I stop by to discuss the resumption of gold deliveries. This time however, he begged off, insisting he had many important medical subjects to cover with Melonie. We had discussed this very matter when Mr. O'Rourke hired us to haul gold. Mark had made it very clear; he wasn't comfortable with this line of work, stating that his duty to teach Melonie would always come first.

I valued his friendship too much to let his conditions bother me, so I readily agreed. Colin offered to go in Mark's place, so it would be just the two of us this time. He and Mr. O'Rourke hit it off right from the start, so all we had to do was wait for the late flooding, in some of the more remote locations to settle down, before our trip down to Fort Laramie would begin. Mr. O'Rourke told me that he had been talking to the commanding officer at the post over potential gold deliveries to that location, rather than Sidney, or Cheyenne. The previous commander had been interested, in accepting gold deliveries, but had never remained in command to do anything about it. O'Rourke told me that officers appointed to post commander often lasted less than a month. The current commander, Major Wallace Evans might not even be around that long, as he wanted to retire.

Back at Purgatory, I checked in with Montana who absolutely insisted on a little "afternoon delight" in her bedroom. Always eager to "please," we wiled away the rest of the afternoon leaving both of us contented.

"Going back home?" asked Montana, as she nibbled my ear.

"Yep, gotta run Melinda back…Why? Wanna come?"

"Umm, I've been thinking about it, but not right now."

"Suit yourself."

"I usually do."

As much as I hated to, we had to part, I was almost finished rounding my stuff up, when Melinda appeared, with a rather handsome young man in tow. She introduced him as Jacob Howland, one of the Howland boys whose father we contracted with for firewood, and lumber.

"Sir, I'd like to talk to you about something," said Jacob, hesitation in his voice.

"First of all Jake, don't call me "sir" I work for a living, and I suppose this is about going with my sister?"

"It is. I've developed a fondness for your sister Melinda, as she has for me," he explained.

"She's told me some hard to believe stories about living in another time. Now normally, I would tend to dismiss such tall tales, but I've been hearing too many rumors and whispers "bout you and Mr. Sedgwick…Thing is Mr. Yankton, I'd like to see for myself."

I studied him for a moment as Melinda yammered on about letting him come with her.

"Problem is Jake, I've got a contract job on the burner, I'm just dumping Melinda off and coming right back, I can't stick around to give you the $1.98 tour. I'm afraid I can't leave you on your own buddy, there's just too much that can kill you, Melinda and I were born into the twentieth century, and live in the twenty-first, we know our way around. It's different when we come back here to 1877; we can read a million history books telling us what things are like. You on the other hand don't have the foggiest conception of what awaits you. Look, Jake, you seem like a decent sort, I promise I'll take you with me, if that's what you really want to do but just not right now, do yourself a favor, talk to Melonie some more, get her take on things, but I'm telling you, when you do come, your going to be immersed in a world absolutely unlike anything you could ever possibly imagine, If it doesn't scare the crap out of you I'm going to be mighty surprised."

Jacob wasn't sure he liked the sound of this, but stuck to his guns,

"You and your sister have obviously survived, why couldn't I?"

"I'm not saying you couldn't Jake," I replied, it's more a matter of mental overload, too much coming at you too fast. And there's another thing, something Mark, my sister and I find rather refreshing coming back to this time…No drivers licenses, social security cards, pretty much no ID of any kind. Suppose you did go back with us, and say we went into modern Deadwood, and for some reason you got lost, and did something you were totally unawares of, and the law stopped you, the first thing they're gonna want to see is some form of identification, like a driver's license or a social security card. When you can't produce any identification, they are going to start getting very suspicious. Everybody's got some form of ID, and when you can't produce one they're going to start thinking you're either in the country illegally or on the run from the law, getting out of jail is going to be near impossible."

Jake could not believe what he was hearing,

"This is mighty hard to believe, people simply won't accept what you tell them?"

Shaking my head, I replied, "Sorry Jake we're talking a hundred thirty seven odd years into the future, things have changed. And it get's even worse than that, but I don't want to really scare you, so we'll leave it at that. Now, if you still want to see the future, after what I've told you then fine, I'll take you, just not this time."

Jacob agreed to wait, so then it was over the clinic where Mark was teaching Melonie and Colin was sleeping.

"Well gang, Melinda and I are off the great "beyond", I'll be back shortly, say Mel, can I bring you anything, a coke, a Mountain Dew, some women's "gee jaws" just say the word."

She thought for a moment, then replied, "Melinda ordered me some clothing, but it hadn't arrived before she had to leave for here."

With Mark promising to feed the horses, Melinda and I rode back to our cabin where I immediately got fires built in the cook stove, as well as the old "pot belly."

Although we had a generator operating off a windmill, as well as a small solar panel they basically just kept the wayback machine charged up. By now, I was used to the routine so it wasn't long before we were standing in the chamber as it glowed and hummed us back to the future. When we got back, I noticed several messages on the answering machine, a couple from mom, as well as Marks father, the last one I was very concerned about. Apparently, he was here in Deadwood staying downtown in a hotel, and was trying to see Mark. Against my better judgment, I called him.

"Could I please speak with doctor Sedgwick?"

"This is he."

"I saw your messages on the machine, uh, what is it you wanted?"

"I want to see my son, his sister has been telling my wife and I some rather bizarre stories about you and Mark, I think we have some things to discuss."

"Uhh…Um…He's not here right now."

"I would rather not discuss this matter over the phone, if you know what I mean."

"Oh absolutely," I replied, do you know where I live?"

"I do, I'll be over in a few minutes."

With that, he hung up, and I realized I had a major problem on my hands When I explained the situation to Melinda she just shrugged,

"Wendy told me she wouldn't say anything, she must have changed her mind."

I certainly didn't need this right now, but what else could I do?

Several minutes later, a loud knock at the door told me time was up.

I opened the door and invited him in, Mr. Sedgwick truly looked like the noted heart specialist Mark said he was,

"Wendy told us some wild tale about my son accompanying you back in time to the old west, something about shoot-outs, and wild women, is this true?"

"Oh no…No, nothing like that," I quickly replied, trying to get the upper hand. "In fact he's helping people," I added in desperation.

"Is he near here?"

"Couple miles actually."

"Well why can't I see him?"

"All right Mr. Sedgwick, you asked for "it," I'll take you to him, but we can't until later tomorrow, for reasons I will just have to show you, you can go back to your room, of stay here, it's your choice, but before we can leave, I have to get a few things first.

He promised to return in a couple hours while I ran to the store and bought more medical supplies, condoms, antiseptic creams, whatever I could pick up. I went to Wal-Mart, for the insulated underwear for Melonie, as well as some more ammo.

Shortly after I returned home, Melinda informed me that doctor Sedgwick had called to inform us that he was on his way over.

"So are you planning on taking Marks father back to the past?"

"Kinda looks like it, I'm not sure what Mark's going to say about it, but his dad could make real trouble if he wanted to."

I went over the things I wanted Melinda to do while I was gone as far as auctioning stuff off was concerned. When Mr. Sedgwick returned, I sat him down and got up close and personal.

"I'm going to take you to see Mark, it's quite possible he won't want to see you and blame me for bringing you, and for your sake I hope that's not the case. We'll leave in the morning."

"If he's only a few miles away why not right now?"

With an exasperated expression, I replied, "Because the machine we will travel in needs to recharge, just trust me Mr. Sedgwick, you're about to embark on a journey beyond your imagination. All I ask is that you just follow me and do as I ask, by the time we get to where Mark is your mind is going to be filled with so many questions you won't be able to think straight, you have been warned. Oh by the way, the dress code on this little adventure is jeans, cowboy boots, flannel shirts, a warm coat, a Carhartt is highly recommended, if not I'd get over the western store in town before they close if I were you."

He did as I suggested, returning an hour later with western attire even though it wouldn't blend very well, where we were going, but it was too late to return anything, so the cloths would have to do. Melinda and I had to endure the man's constant pestering and incessant questions, but I kept telling him everything would become clear once we got going. I tried to dispel whatever notions he had of what his son might be involved in, finding only marginal success. I went to bed early, getting up around six finding Mark's father already up and ready to go. I insisted on breakfast, then as Mr. Sedgwick started for the front door, thinking we were going by car, I announced, "Wrong way sir, our transportation is this way." Pointing to the security door, he already had a puzzled look on his face.

Needless to say, the trip to the wayback machine, and the subsequent trip back to 1877 was quite an "adventure" in itself. Mark's father was completely perplexed, and full of questions already.

"I warned you Mr. Sedgwick," I said, "I won't answer any questions until we get to where your son is, however I hope you can ride a horse?"

"I'm afraid the only time I've been on a horse was two years ago out in Yellowstone, on a trail ride."

"Then you're going to have a problem, we've got a four mile ride ahead of us."

"Horses? You said nothing about riding horses."

"Yeah, well there are a lot of things I haven't told you about hang on to your hat Mr. Sedgwick, the "ride" is just beginning."

When we exited the time machine Sedgwick hit me with, "Where are we?"

"Listen to me sir, and listen carefully. We are still in the same place we were when we left, only we are about one hundred and thirty-seven years in the past, welcome to 1877 Mr. Sedgwick, it's real, it's not a dream, that sir is an honest-to-God time machine, of which I'll explain more about later. From the looks of the clock it's about three in the afternoon, two days after I left, now if you'll help me, with this stuff we have to get saddled up and get going."

Indicating my bag of medical supplies and other things the doctor asked, "What's all that for?"

"Unfortunately sir, as this is 1877 Deadwood, there are a lot of people getting shot or stabbed, or getting kicked by a horse, no heart transplants as yet but that could change."

Like all of us from the twenty-first century, the smells, sights and sounds took front row in his mind, I could tell by the expression on his face things were not "computing." Somewhere between the cabin, and Purgatory, reality socked him in the face. Stopping his horse, Mr. Sedgwick had a wild look in his eyes. Gesturing his arms, he gasped,

"Oh my God! Wendy wasn't kidding me, we really did travel back in time!…But how is this possible? I've seen your machine but…but. Shaking my head, I shrugged, and replied,

"At one time not all that long ago, people didn't believe open heart surgery was possible; do you see where I'm going with this?" Apparently he did, shutting up, and resuming his riding.