A Chance In Time (2 page)

The chase seemed so real. The further
the soft voice drifted, the deeper he fell back into his mind and
before long, he lost consciousness.

***

Penelope checked her food supply in
the underground cellar. She could probably make it another two
months before she needed to go to town for more. At that time, the
man she’d brought home would either be well enough to travel with
her or dead. She sighed as she gathered some potatoes into her
arms. She hoped he’d make it. She didn’t ever want to watch another
man die. Once was bad enough.

She walked up the steps and shut the
door, making sure it was secure. Her husband had built everything,
but working with his hands wasn’t his gift. Still, she felt a smile
tug at her lips as she recalled how proud he’d been to make the
buildings on their property. He was a good man. Sometimes she
missed him. A part of her would always love him. She glanced up at
the clear sky wondering if he could look down at her. What he must
think of her bringing a stranger home!

She shrugged off the thought and
turned to the cabin. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she saw
that the stranger had finally woken up. He tried to sit up but fell
back onto the thin mattress which squeaked in protest. Quickly
putting the potatoes on the table, she rushed over to
him.

“
You mustn’t get up before
you’re ready,” she softly warned him.

She picked up the towel on the
dresser. and dipped it into the bowl of water and pressed it to his
forehead. Sitting beside him on the bed, she pressed her hand
against his cheek. Good. His skin felt cool. When she realized he
was studying her, she grinned. Naturally, he was wondering where he
was.

“
You’ve been unconscious
for four days,” she informed him.

“
Four days?” He gasped and
tried to sit up but groaned and laid back down.

She wished he wouldn’t press himself
so hard. He wasn’t ready to get up yet. She forced aside the
admonition and said, “I found you in the fields up north that way.”
She pointed out the small window. “I feared you wouldn’t
survive.”

“
Four days?” he asked,
looking bewildered. Then his eyes drifted down the length of his
naked body. “Where are my pants? Where’s my…?” He hesitated.
“Where’s the thing I had in my pocket?”

“
Everything you had is in
the dresser drawer.” She wanted to ask him what that odd silver
thing was but refrained. Maybe she didn’t want to know. Maybe he
was an outlaw or something. Maybe the less she knew, the better.
She cleared her throat and continued to smile at him. “You have no
need to worry. I had a husband. I know what a man looks like when
he doesn’t have clothes on.”

“
You
had
a husband?”

“
He passed away a year ago.
We came out here to build a home and to farm, but he got sick our
first winter here.” It had been a long time since she said those
words aloud. The last time she said them, it was to the preacher
who buried him. She shoved the memory back into the corner of her
mind where it belonged. “It wasn’t meant to be, I
guess.”

“
Then what are you doing
here? Don’t you have relatives to go to?”

“
No. I didn’t have any
family. I was a mail-order bride, and he lived out here, far from
anywhere.”

“
So how have you managed
all by yourself?”

“
I learned to grow a
good-sized garden. I make it to town a couple times a year and I
have a cellar to keep foods from rotting. It’s nothing fancy, mind
you, but it works.”

“
You came from back
east?”

“
Rhode Island.”

“
That’s a lot different
from here.”

She laughed. Was it ever! But in a
way, being out here made her self-sufficient, and she liked that.
“It’s another world out there.”

His gaze fell to his body. Raising an
eyebrow, he asked, “Do you make it a habit of taking men into your
home and undressing them?”

She found his humor appealing. Things
had a tendency to be too serious with no one to talk to. “Believe
it or not, you’re the first person I’ve come across in eight
months. I found you lying face down in the fields.”

“
And you carried me
here?”

Still grinning, she shook her head.
“You are an odd man. How do you think I’d manage a feat like that
when you’re a foot taller than me? I put you on my steed and
brought you here. I was on my way to town. I’ll make another
attempt when you’re well enough.”

He finally smiled. A gorgeous smile.
“You still haven’t explained why I’m naked.”

“
That’s simple. You had a
fever, so I had to keep you cool. Your fever broke last night. I
hoped it meant you would wake up today.” She removed the cloth from
his forehead. His color had returned. Yes, he looked much better.
Now she could stop worrying that she’d have to arrange for his
funeral. Turning her attention to more practical matters, she
asked, “Do you need to use the privy?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “The
what?”

“
Do you need to urinate? If
you are too ill, you may use this container.” She picked up an
empty jug by the bed.

“
No. I can go
outside.”

She nodded and stood up to help him,
but he shooed her away and eased himself up from the bed. When he
stumbled forward, she dropped the empty jug and caught him. Placing
his arm around her shoulders, she said, “I can help you. I might be
a woman, but I’m not useless.”

He glanced at her. “Of that, I have no
doubt.”

He meant that, and she appreciated the
compliment. Back in Rhode Island, she’d been a helpless creature.
Out here, such was not the case, and it was nice to have that
acknowledged by someone who didn’t know her past. She helped him to
the front door and out of the house.

She pointed to the small wood barn,
the well, and the cellar. If he was going to stay here to heal,
then he’d need to know where everything was. The cabin itself was
self-explanatory. A couple of chairs, a table, a cook stove, a bed
and a dresser. It didn’t get any fancier than that. She hoped he
wouldn’t mind the meager accommodations. If he was used to what she
had in Rhode Island, he was bound to be eager to return to
civilization. But he didn’t show any outward signs of disgust or
dismay, so that was a good sign.

As soon as they reached the outhouse,
she waited by the door while he did his business. It felt strange
to do something this familiar with someone she hardly knew. And
what did she know about him? Nothing really. Though she suspected
she could trust him. Something in his expression told her that deep
down, he had a good heart.

The door to the outhouse opened. “Can
I get dressed?” he asked.

“
Of course. I’ll help you
back to the house and then you can get your clothes. Then I’ll make
you some soup.”

“
Will you take me to town?
I need to get on a train to Fargo.”

Oh. So he had some place to go. Well,
of course, he had some place to go. He wasn’t seeking her house out
as he walked across the prairie. “I’ll take you but I need you to
rest up first. You’re in no shape to travel for two
days.”

“
Two days?”

“
That’s how long it takes
me to get to town. That’s why I don’t make the trip very
often.”

He sighed, looking
disappointed.

She didn’t know what else to say, so
she let him wrap his arm around her shoulders and helped him back
to the house where he got dressed. He spent the rest of the day in
bed and let his body heal.

Chapter Three

Cole watched Penelope as she cut up
potatoes for the soup. He wondered what she thought of the time
travel device. She saw it. That was the only explanation for it
ending up in the drawer. He had slipped it into his pocket while he
dressed. Thankfully, she allowed him privacy to do that. But she
had returned before he had a chance to check the location of the
missing chip. Without it, he was stuck back in this
time.

“
Is there anything I can do
to help?” he asked.

She glanced over her shoulder. Stray
strands of her blond hair fell over her blue eyes.

He had the urge to go up to her and
brush them away but didn’t dare.

“
You need to rest. You’re
still not well,” she said in a soft voice that he likened to an
angel. “You’ll need your strength before you’re up to doing
anything.”

She was right, of course, but he
didn’t like feeling helpless. He wanted to contribute something. “I
think I’ll walk around for a bit. I need to stretch my
legs.”

Even as he said the words,
he wondered if his body was up for the task. As it was, he was
doing good to stand. But he couldn’t rest until he checked that
location of the chip. Was it still in Fargo? If he didn’t get the
chip, he’d never get back to the 21
^st
century where he
belonged.

“
Alright,” she replied,
“but I’m going to get you something first.” She put her knife down
and went out the door.

He wondered what she had in mind.
Considering the fact that she saved him from an early grave, he
knew she wouldn’t do him any harm. His gaze drifted to the open
window and he saw her enter the barn. That meant he just bought
some time. Well, he wasn’t about to waste this opportunity. He
quickly dug the time machine out of his pocket and flipped it open.
The energy signature revealed that the chip was still in Fargo.
Breathing a sigh of relief, he closed it. Good. It hadn’t budged.
That had to mean that no one else had it. If someone was in
possession of it, then it would be changing locations.

His body felt weak as he limped
forward. He sat in one of the two kitchen chairs and wiped his
forehead. He couldn’t believe the simple walk across the room made
him break into a sweat. Yes, he was bad off.

She returned a minute later with a
tall branch that reached up to her nose. “This might help you. If
you get weak, you can lean on this.”

His heart warmed at her
thoughtfulness. “I’ve decided you’re right. I’m not up for it
yet.”

She nodded and placed it next to the
table. “If you need it, it’s here.”

He considered his next
words with great care. He didn’t wish to upset her, but he wanted
to know why a lone woman out in the middle of nowhere would dare
nurse a stranger back to health. For all she knew, he could be a
cold blooded killer.
But are you that much
better? You are a thief. The time machine isn’t yours.
He shoved the self-accusation aside. He’d deal
with his sin later.

“
May I ask why you brought
me here?” he finally asked.

She didn’t make eye contact as she
returned to the small table by the cook stove and resumed her work
on the potatoes. “I saw you and knew that you’d die if I didn’t
help. There’s nothing close by, and I couldn’t risk the journey to
town.”

What could he say to that? She didn’t
know his past. Here she was, a good Samaritan, someone who saw
someone in need and didn’t hesitate to help. He decided against
telling her that she would have been better off leaving him for
dead. Instead, he said, “Thank you.”

She smiled in his direction, and he
sensed that, in some way, she was actually glad he was there. “My
name is Penelope.”

“
Cole.”

He couldn’t help but be struck by her
beauty. Women in his day didn’t usually pull their hair back into
buns like she did, but even so, she was much more pleasing to look
at. He looked away from her, ashamed that such thoughts would come
to him. Surely, she’d be better off with a more respectable man,
one who didn’t lie and steal to get what he wanted.

“
So,” he began, wishing to
break the awkward silence that hung between them, “you’ve lived
here all by yourself for how long?”

“
About a year
now.”

“
You mentioned that you had
a husband. What happened to him?”

“
He got sick. It was a hard
winter, and neither of us were prepared for it.”

But she’d survived and carried on in
this place. “It must get lonely out here.”

She simply nodded as she stirred the
potatoes in the pot.

“
Are you able to keep track
of the days?”

“
I have a calendar. At the
end of each day, I make a mark on the day.”

“
What is today?”

“
June 2.”

He slowly exhaled. It had been April
23 when he went back into the past, and he was no closer to
returning to the future than when he started searching for that
missing chip. Time. Time wasted running from Blake, time wasted
arguing with lawyers over alimony checks, time wasted with a woman
who made him miserable, time wasted in believing that tomorrow
would be better than today. He shook of his mental check through
his past. Or his future...depending on how one decided to look at
it.

“
Do you make it to town
often?” he asked, recalling that she mentioned it being a two day
journey.