Cha'Nara's Gift

Chapter 17

Chapter 17 Interlude

Deak Continues

While Emily and Rachel were gone, I checked out all manor of gold buying sites, gun and antique auction sites I found a couple overseas firms that bought gold dust and nuggets but it would all have to be assayed first. The antique auction sites were easier, I had to get started on an inventory first, this was certainly going to be a busy Christmas season, on top of that, Pip was showing signs of boredom, I'd have to get her involved with this somehow, otherwise she might start getting ideas of leaving for home too soon.

One thing I did was to have her pull up a chair and watch me, I explained the "net" and the things you could find on it, and although I couldn't understand her, she could understand me, so she was able to operate the computer herself, eventually getting good enough to "surf" the "net" especially all the porn sites, of which I caught her looking at whenever I came back from doing something else. In another couple days I had contacted a couple gold buyers detailing what I had and began to make arrangements for sale and transfer. Checking the antiques, I separated the guns (they would go to Gun Broker) I had a fair amount of clothing, both Indian and cowboy, personal effects included, as an afterthought I threw the Indian saddle in with the Indian stuff intending to claim it was found all together (which it was, in a way) With Christmas coming up, I decided to get rid of the antiques first, I got in contact with people in Denver, and made arrangements for a visit, to go over what I had.

Before we did anything else, Emily, Cha'Nara and I finished the second converter. It had been delivered while we were gone but needed to be charged with the Hydrogen and Argon gas plus a couple components added. This took pretty much all day, trial and error, and not wanting any mistakes, very slow going. We didn't finish until almost supper time, I hooked up the new generator, and ran a quick check, it seemed to be working OK, which made us very happy and relieved, I couldn't help thinking that there was something we could have added to make the thing charge even better. I really admired Pip. Although it was only in the low '30's all day, she soldiered on like a trooper, bundled up with just her eyes showing, heavy boots and gloves, she stayed with Emily and I all day, she ran mathematical conversions and load tests on her "unit's" computer and performed other tasks as well, Emily and I were constantly praising her which we hoped would make her feel more involved in the project.

Back in the house for supper we found Rachel sitting at the kitchen table talking with Emily's parents, I noticed an alarmed look on Emily's face but her folks were listening to every word Rachel was saying. Her mother looked up at us as we came in, "We've been listening to what Rachel here has been telling us about 1878, and what things were like back then, simply fascinating. I only knew a few little things my mother told me about her mother, who grew up in Fort Collins, but it was her mother that was alive when Rachel here was alive, isn't that just fascinating?" Indeed it was, the link was so tenuous as to be meaningless, but still Mrs. Carter thought it interesting. I saw Rachel give Emily a wink, a signal of some kind, I'd have to find out about that later. Cha'Nara finally finished peeling all her layers off and making herself some hot tea, Mrs. Carter started to get supper on the table as we discussed the effort with the new converter.

We discussed all manor of things at the dinner table, more western history with Rachel, the weather , amazing Rachel with the news that it was now possible to forecast the weather with amazing accuracy. (I showed her weather maps on the computer later that evening) what was going on in Colorado, and farm prices. After supper, everybody moved to the living room, Pip insisted on watching some horrible program on HBO Emily made a gallant effort to explain TV to Rachel, but in the end only got Rachel to accept the fact that it worked, it was amazing, almost magical, and there it was.

Emily Picks Up the Story

Rachel let me know that mom asked her what she did, and that, "I work for her" got her off the hook, I told Rachel I would tell her the truth later but just not right now. While Cha'nara watched some stupid thing on TV, I attempted to explain to Rachel how it worked, comparing a lot of it to radio and invisible signals in the air, I lost her completely when it came to Satellites in space receiving and bouncing signals back to earth. In the end, it became another case of, "I don't understand it, but there it is, it's amazing, even magical it's part of your world not mine." Deak announced that a trip to Denver was in the offing, Cha'Nara was in, did Rachel want to go? Rachel thought about it then said, "Your world terrifies me in many ways, however I've been thinking about what God's purpose is in letting me see the future like this, I will come." This would be great, I couldn't wait to "dress" Rachel in the 21st century, "Denver, here we come!"

Poor Cha'Nara had to cram in behind the seat again but she didn't seem to mind, we put a couple blankets back there, and she curled up in a sort of "cocoon" with just her face peering out, offering commentary from time to time to Rachel and I as we headed for Denver. Another reason we had Pip back there was to hide all the antiques Deak was going to take to auction.

Deak Picks Up the Story

As we drove to Denver Emily and I kept fielding questions from Rachel usually over things she saw out the window. Since we were on the interstate, oncoming vehicles didn't bother her so much, the higher speed did though, but Emily had her take a Dramamine tablet before we left so she wasn't quite so bad with that problem. We saw more airlines coming into Denver as we neared the airport, Rachel simply couldn't comprehend that an object the size of a jetliner could fly through the air, Emily had given her a camera to take pictures of whatever struck her fancy, she took a couple out the front window, for all those would be worth. "Well Rachel, did you ever visit Denver before coming to Deakstown?' I asked, "Y-Y-Yes, but the place I was going to work at was so filthy I left without staying, I had no money, I traded favors to a man who took me to Georgetown, then from there to your place Emily." "Well anyway, take a look at it now," I remarked. Rachel just stared in disbelief; all she could do was shake her head. Rachel remained silent for awhile, then out of the blue, she said, "A body could certainly be very comfortable riding in one of these machines, nice and warm, protected from the weather." I looked at her and smiled, "Care to take the wheel Rachel? It's not hard you've already driven it." She gave me a horrified look, "Oh I could never operate one of these machines!" "Oh sure you could," said Emily, "You would be like any teenager, taking drivers education, kids learn, you could too, it's just like being taught a job you've never done before, looks hard and intimidating before you learn it, afterwards, you wonder why you thought it was so hard. The real test is the skill, like everything else; you get better at it the more you do it." Emily chuckled, "Did you know we had to have Ben hitch up his team to the wagon and even drive it, we certainly didn't know how." Rachel laughed, "I could probably handle a buggy, but not a large wagon with more than one horse." "Well at least you've got a working knowledge of how to do it, which is more than we had," I replied.

I hit a couple places that claimed they bought antiques but they weren't prepared to offer me what I wanted, I had also brought a little dust and a couple nuggets with me but the two places I stopped were confused by them. Coins, rings jewelry stuff like that was what they dealt with I pretty much knew that, but gave it a shot anyway. I stopped a the last place on my list, an auction house, that finally took me seriously, they gave a professional appearance apparently knew what they were doing, and were genuinely interested in what I had to offer, the Indian stuff really caught their eye, the saddle especially, I arranged for the Indian stuff to be sold as one lot the cowboy stuff another. They kept asking me where I got all this stuff, all I would say is that it was all found in a beat-up chest in a house we were tearing down and I was not at liberty to reveal the location. I was told that I'd be notified as to the results of the auction in a few days. It was getting late so we decided to head home, Pip had fallen asleep in the back while Rachel was starting to feel a little more at ease. Emily and I started talking about where we could stop to eat when she had an idea, "Why don't we try the "Front Range Bar and Grill" it's not too far from here, it's down near Littleton, I'll check the address on my phone here, yeah, it's right on Broadway."

Emily smiled at Rachel, "It's not the "Bad Girls Saloon" but you'll get a chance to see how saloons have evolved in a hundred years, they've got great Mexican, and super drinks." "How do you know about this place?" I inquired. "I used to come here with a couple girlfriends before I went in the Marines," "How's that possible? You couldn't have been 21 yet." I said, Emily sniggered, "I looked old for my age." We found the place without too much trouble, there were already a lot of cars here, and we'd probably have to wait, "Wake up back there Pip supper time!" Emily checked Cha'Nara over carefully making sure skin make-up was still intact, and nothing was showing that might give her away, "What's Mexican?" asked Rachel.

Emily pick's up the story

The place was packed, so we had about a twenty minute wait. I was handed one of those things that buzz when you're table is ready. Rachel kept asking questions about it but for some reason understanding it's purpose a lot sooner than other things, mostly she just stared at the other people waiting for tables. Cha'Nara seemed unusually nervous and jumpy; I finally took her aside to find out what was wrong. "I'm not liking all these people, not used to this, fear," "Are you frightened Cha'Nara?" she had a nervous look in her face, "Yes," "Well, just try to settle down, we should be getting "buzzed" any time now." Five minutes later, we were being shown our table, we got a booth, Cha'Nara scooted in first next to the wall, I could see her become visibly more relaxed, Rachel sat next to her trying to sooth her nerves, we couldn't understand what had her so spooked. "This is indeed different," remarked Rachel, "I do not see any body playing cards, do they have "girls" here?" Deak burst out laughing at this, a look of surprise appeared on Rachel's face. Before he could explain his reason for laughing, a very attractive waitress arrived to take our drink orders.

"Coors light!" said Deak, "Wait, bring a pitcher and glasses." "Two margarita's one for me one for her" I said, "What about her?" asked the girl, pointing to Cha'Nara. "Just bring her a glass, she's old enough" said Deak with a wave of his hand. The waitress stared at Cha'Nara for a moment then said, "I'll have your drinks up in a moment" then turned and left. Deak smiled at Cha'Nara and said, " Jakka Pip, just don't drink it all up, save some for me." Cha'Nara's eyes brightened, "I love Jakka, thank you Deak!"

Rachel had been staring at the waitress all the time she stood there taking our drink order, a fact that seemed to make the waitress nervous, probably why she didn't ask Cha'Nara for her ID. "Does that girl take clients upstairs?" asked Rachel. Deak burst out laughing again, alarming and upsetting Rachel, "It's not you fault Rachel, I'm not laughing at you, it would take too long to explain," chuckled Deak, "No, she doesn't take clients upstairs, probably has a boyfriend she'll service. The things you ladies do at "Bad Girls" are not legal anymore, standing at the bar is also not permitted either, believe me there's a whole lot of things Emily can get away with in 1878 she'd get arrested for here in 2012." Rachel accepted Deak's explanation and apology then asked me what a margarita was, "It's a Mexican mixed drink made with Tequila, It'll put you on you're ass if you don't watch out, they're very addictive I tend to do all sorts of crazy things if I drink too many."

The waitress returned with our order, and placed all the drinks on the table, "Do you guys still have that Fiesta party platter?" I asked, "Yes we do ma'am" said the waitress. "Good, just bring the large one and substitute the meat burritos for the bean ones OK?" After the waitress left I explained the platter had everything, a sort of Mexican "sampler" with tacos, burritos re-fried beans, Chimichanga's and Quesadilla's." Rachel gave me a quizzical look, "Give it a try Rachel, stuff's pretty good," I ordered bean burrito's for Cha'Nara since she doesn't eat meat. Speaking of which, Cha'Nara had already poured herself a glass of beer and already had half of it drunk. Rachel gave her a look, "Go easy there Cha'Nara, you will get sick." "Actually she won't Rachel, she told us about something the kids on her planet drink called "Jakka." She says beer tastes a lot like it, alcohol doesn't seem to affect her," Cha'Nara paid no attention, she was too busy polishing off her first glass of beer. Rachel sipped at the margarita, finding it very tasty, "This is very good, maybe we could serve them at the "Bad Girls" I smiled, "Wouldn't work Rachel, they're too hard to make you need a lot of other things we don't have and couldn't get, plus crushed ice, I could just see all those miners and trail bums drinking margarita's," I laughed at that thought.

Before long our food arrived, I made sure Cha'Nara got the burrito's, Rachel was unsure at first, but soon dug in remarking on how good everything was, all the while working hard on that margarita.