Once in a Blue Moon (6 page)

Melissa jumped up. “Then where is our house?” She gestured
wildly. “
Where are the
neighbors
?” She shrieked the words at
him.

Richard tried to think
of a rational explanation, but couldn’t. “I don’t know.” Could
someone be playing some kind of elaborate joke on them? For what
purpose?

Melissa stilled,
looking so lost and forlorn that Richard reached out and put his
arm around her.

She pushed him
away.

His lips tightened, but
he didn’t say anything.

Jeremy stood and looked
around. “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”

Everyone stared at
him.

Jeremy grinned. “This
is so cool! Don’t you get it? We’ve been sucked into the past, just
like that guy on TV!”

Jessica started to
cry.

Richard knelt to put an
arm around Jessica, but his attention stayed on Jeremy. “What are
you talking about? What guy?”

“Some guy was on the
news last night and said the blue moon sucked him back in time. Mom
saw it too.”

Richard’s brows drew together as irritation flared. “Jeremy,
you’re
not
helping.”

Jeremy’s eyes widened.
“It’s true! Tell him, Mom.”

Richard turned to look
at Melissa. She was holding her head in her hands, pulling her
hair.

“Lissa?”

She shook her head.
“No. No. No. This isn’t happening. I’ve been under so much stress
lately. That’s it, isn’t it? I’ve finally cracked. I’m going to
check myself into a clinic today. After I finish the designs for
that movie star. Oh, what is her name? The blonde one.”

She
laughed maniacally. “Oh yes! They’re all blonde! Oh, why can’t I
think of her name? I’ve got to get those designs done. If that
backstabbing boss of mine thinks I’ll let him take that account
from me then he is
out of his
mind
.”

Richard left Jessica to
walk toward Melissa. He pulled her into his arms and this time she
didn’t resist, but clung to him. “Melissa. It’s all right. We’re
going to figure out what’s going on here and it’s going to be
okay.” As he spoke, his eyes landed on their tree again and goose
bumps broke out on the back of his neck. Even when he’d been a kid
the tree hadn’t been anywhere near that small.

He
gazed into the distance where the neighbor’s house had always
stood. The landscape was the same, but the house wasn’t there.
Nothing was there. But this
was
their property; he was sure of it. The slope of
the hill, the flat area at the bottom, the rise off to the right,
the tree, even small, in the correct spot.

Melissa looked up at
him. “Someone is putting us on, right? It’s a joke, we’re being
punk’d or something, right?” She stared up at him hopefully, then
looked around as if searching for the camera crew.

Apparently she found
nothing suspicious and broke away to circle wildly. She stopped to
looked up at the sky. “Take me back! I don’t belong here! I don’t
want to live with Indians!”

Richard wondered if he
should slap her. He swallowed and concentrated on her hysteria so
he wouldn’t give in to his own.

Suddenly Melissa
screamed. Loudly.

Wincing, his gaze
followed the direction of her pointing finger.

At the top of the hill
stood an old man, his craggy face deeply lined, his eyes squinting
against the sun. He sported a full red beard, threaded liberally
with gray. He was shaggy, dirty and wore a battered, greasy-looking
cowboy hat. But what caught Richard’s eye was the Winchester rifle
in his hands.

He cocked it and
everyone froze.

The old guy took a few
steps down the hill, and Richard moved to place himself in front of
his family, waving them behind him.

“Who are you people,”
the man drawled, his voice slow and low. “And what are ya doing
jabbering away on my property?”

Melissa gripped the
waistband of Richard’s jeans and laughed hysterically, Jessica
whimpered, and Jeremy breathed out an awed, “Cool!” as Richard
closed his eyes against the impossible. This was unbelievable. He
opened his eyes to focus on the old man once more.

He’d moved a few steps
down the hill. Closer.

Richard recognized
him.

Or rather, remembered
him from an old, old photo in the family scrapbook. As blood rushed
from his head, he let out a shaky sigh and accepted the
unacceptable. He nodded at the old man. “Hello, Grandpa.”

Hysteria bubbled just
below the surface, and Melissa tried to swallow it down. Gun or no
gun, she needed to know the date. Needed to know if she were
delusional. Surely this couldn’t be what it seemed. Time travel was
impossible; everyone knew that.

She brushed past
Richard. “What is today’s date?”

The man’s eyes widened
as he looked at her then turned away, an embarrassed expression on
his face as he lowered the gun.

When he didn’t answer,
her brows rose. She swallowed again, trying to hold it together.
Was the guy an imbecile? “The date? Please tell me the date!”

The old man looked past
Melissa to Richard, ignoring her completely. “You look familiar to
me. Do I know you?”

Richard was staring at
the old man. “Uh, no, we’ve never met.”

She couldn’t believe
this. Melissa stepped between the two of them. “Sir--”

The old man took a step
back up the hill and looked over her head at Richard. “You sure?
Because--”

Melissa lost it. Just lost it. She shrieked, stomped a foot,
and got her high heel stuck in the ground, which enraged her even
more. “You tell me what the date is today or I’ll take that gun
and
shove it up your
--”

Richard grabbed her
elbow. “Melissa!” He looked up. “Uh, sorry, she’s just a little
upset.”

The old man nodded.
“About the robbery?”

She wrenched her heel
free and glared. “The date!”

He still didn’t look at
her. “It’s the first day of

August.”

Melissa dug her nails
into her palms and turned to glare at Richard.

He took the hint. “The
year?”

The old man spit
tobacco onto the ground. “You some kind of dummy? It’s 1887.”

With a moan, Melissa
sank to her knees. “1887?” She started to laugh, softly at first,
then harder, her stomach aching, until finally the laughter ran out
and she looked up at Richard, who still stared at the old man,
ignoring her completely.

She stood and faced her
husband. “Now what? Now what do I do? Do you realize I’m supposed
to meet an important client tomorrow? That I could lose the client
if I’m not there for my appointment? Does it even matter to you
that Xavier will steal her right out from under me the minute I
don’t show? Do you think I have time for this?”

Jeremy laughed. “Mom,
Xavier isn’t even born yet.”

Melissa turned to
Jeremy and pointed a finger. “And you. You and your science
presentation. You did this on purpose. You wanted this to
happen!”

Richard lifted a hand.
“Now, Melissa--”

Jessica sighed loudly.
“Mom, would you just chill? We don’t need this right now.”

She shot Jessica a
scathing look and staggered over to the old man. When he refused to
look at her again, her lips tightened. “Look at me.”

He didn’t.

“
Look at me when I’m talking to
you
!”

The old man gulped,
then finally met her gaze. “Where’s your clothes, missy?”

Melissa looked down
quickly. Above the knee, off-white skirt, sleeveless white
blouse--slightly stained--and white, strappy, high-heeled sandals.
Everything in place. “Clothes?”

The old man swallowed
again. “What ya doing in your unmentionables? Someone steal your
clothes?”

Melissa’s mouth parted and she froze. The history of fashion
flashed through her brain in fast forward then slowed down and
stopped in 1887. Horror gripped her and she shook her head.
No.
This couldn’t be
happening.

She closed her eyes for
a moment, then opened them and did the only thing she could do.

She
walked away from them all, went to the edge of the field,
and
screamed her freaking lungs
out
.

* * *

Richard turned to see
the old man staring at Melissa in wide-eyed amazement. He noted the
kids weren’t even paying attention to the shrill screaming. They
were used to their mother.

He glanced around once
more and, feeling queasy, blew out a harsh breath. Yes, he accepted
they were in the past, but it still felt unreal and unsettling. He
needed to come to terms with what was happening; needed to be an
anchor for the family. If he lost control, they all would. He
glimpsed Jeremy’s face, shining with excitement, and smiled. Well,
the girls would anyway.

Melissa’s screaming
tapered off and she sank dramatically to her knees, bent over at
the waist and clutched her stomach. Richard smiled. After fourteen
years of marriage, she still amused him.

The old man turned to
Richard. “What’s wrong with your woman? She get hurt or
anything?”

Richard shook his head.
“No, she’s just complicated. Excitable.”

The old man looked
relieved, and he squinted and grinned slyly. “Had a horse like that
once. Had to put her down.”

Richard laughed at the
unexpected joke, glad to note he was feeling more settled, more
like himself again. “I’ve considered that, but I don’t want to
upset the kids.”

The old man snorted,
and Richard couldn’t help the excitement gathering inside him. His
great-great-great-great grandfather, Andrew Sullivan. In person.
The very grandfather who’d served with the California Volunteers in
the Civil War. A hero. Wow.

Jeremy walked over to
join them as the old man continued to watch Melissa. She’d started
moaning.

Jeremy followed his
gaze and grinned. “Don’t worry about Mom. She’s okay. She’s just
having jet lag or something. So did you have a blue moon here last
night?”

The old man turned his
gaze onto Jeremy. “No.”

“Oh.” Jeremy was
obviously disappointed. “I thought you would have. Wait a minute.
How do you know about blue moons?”

The old man grinned.
“I’m seventy-one years old. You learn a lot in that amount of time.
What’s jet lag?”

Jeremy’s mouth opened,
closed, then he shrugged and turned away.

Jessica stepped
forward. “What’s your name?”

The old man bowed
slightly. “Andrew Sullivan at your service. You can call me
Sully.”

Richard grinned at the
confirmation.

Jessica’s eyes widened
and Richard wondered if she’d realized who he was. She probably did
if her grandmother had managed to sink their genealogy information
into her brain as she’d done to him.

Sully leaned down. “And
you are?”

Jessica eyes widened
and she looked at Richard.

It was a loaded
question. They couldn’t tell him the entire truth, but they could
certainly introduce themselves. He stepped forward. “Richard
Kendal. And this is Jessica, Jeremy, and my wife Melissa.”

Sully’s eyes squinted
at Jessica. “Should I know you people?”

Richard shook his head.
“We’re just down on our luck and passing through. We have no money,
and no place to stay, so we slept in your field.”

The old man continued
to stare at Jessica. “I’ve not met many people with eyes the color
of sapphires. My son’s are, though.”

Richard nodded, excited
at the information.

Sully glanced around.
“Where’s your gear?”

“We don’t have
anything.”

“Robbed, were ya? I
figured as much when your lady had no clothes and your daughter was
wearing her brother’s things.” He glanced at Jessica’s jeans. “Too
bad about you’re clothes being torn up like that, but at least you
weren’t hurt.”

Jessica glanced down at
her torn black jeans but didn’t say anything.

Sully motioned with his
gun. “Well, come on then, and I’ll get ya some vittles in your
stomachs. You can bunk down at my place for a few days ‘til you get
back on your feet. I’ll be glad of the company.” Sully started up
the hill.

Jeremy gave Richard a
startled look, then ran to the top of the hill and stared. “This is
too cool!”

Jessica ran to join
him. “Look, Dad! Look at that!”

Excitement pulsed
through Richard, but he resisted the impulse to sprint to the top.
He started up the hill then stopped and turned. “Are you coming,
Melissa?”

Without looking up she
shook her head.

“Honey?”

“Just leave me alone,
will you?”

Richard hesitated,
then, excitement building, decided to leave her for a while. He’d
come back for her when she’d had time to calm down. He quickly
caught up to Sully and, heart pounding, topped the hill.

There
it stood.
The cabin
. It was newer, certainly, but still recognizable. He’d know
it anywhere. A one-story structure with a window in front and a
stone fireplace on one side, the exterior walls constructed of
hand-hewn cottonwood logs, the chinks packed with mud. The new
logs, butternut in color, gleamed white where the sun hit and the
sod roof didn’t sag at all. It was amazing. Tears actually came to
his eyes and he finally remembered to breathe. He cleared his
throat.

Jeremy strode toward
Sully. “Can I hold your gun?”

“No.”

Richard laughed and, thankfully, his emotions ebbed. He
looked around, a feeling of euphoria buoying him. Granted, they
shouldn’t even be here. Granted, he needed to figure this whole
thing out and get his family home where they belonged. And granted,
Melissa was going to freak when she realized they would have to
stay in
the cabin
for a while. But if they had to be here anyway, he was
planning to enjoy the experience. He started down the hill, anxious
to see the inside of the cabin he’d been restoring.