Prisoner in Time (Time travel) (14 page)

Geoff heard the distant threat and glanced over his shoulder as he ran. He felt a momentary sense of relief as he watched the farmer heading back toward the farmhouse. Concentrating now on David, he pumped his arms and legs wildly, trying to close the distance. Fifty feet up ahead, David focused on the treeline that lay a hundred yards in front of him. He scanned the forest, looking for the least dense location to enter. Off to his left, he noted a small clearing in the trees and angled his path to intercept it.

From behind the two, angry shouts between husband and wife could be heard.

“Ester, my musket… fetch my musket!” he shouted to his wife, now standing at the edge of the farmhouse porch.

Instantly, she hurried into the house. Both men glanced over their shoulder at the sound of the exchange. Dread filled their bodies as they ran.

“Oh no!” David huffed under his breath. “Geoff, hurry!” he shouted over his shoulder, his voice now filled with worry.

With greater intensity, they increased their pace and sweat now beaded up on their brows.

Suddenly, the morning air was shattered by the roar of a discharging rifle. As both men flinched, lead ricocheted off the stonewall to their right. Instinctively, they looked over their shoulders and watched momentarily as the farmer began to pour black powder into the muzzle of his rifle.

“Geoff, hurry! He’s reloading,” David shouted frantically.

Pumping his arms wildly, Geoff drove his feet into the ground with intense purpose and closed the distance on David’s heels.

Up ahead, David stared at the clearing now less than a hundred feet in front of him. The distance felt longer and time seemed to slow. Looking over his shoulder once more, he watched in horror as the farmer leveled his weapon and took careful aim. Fear raced through him as he waited for the sound of the next shot.

Over the rush of wind that passed by their ears, the loud “crack” of the gun roared across the field. Again, both men flinched and instinctively ducked as another ball imbedded in the stone wall just in front of them.

“He’s going to kill us!” Geoff shouted loudly. “Maybe we should surrender.”

“If we surrender, we die!” David retorted over his shoulder, then added, “Just keep running.”

With seconds ticking by, the bark on the trees became more distinct as they neared the forest. Refuge was only yards ahead. Geoff looked back again and caught the movement of the farmer working the ramrod into the barrel.

“He’s getting ready to fire!” he shouted frantically.

“Keep running!” David cried out, his eyes now transfixed on his destination.

Thirty feet…

Thirty-five feet…

Twenty feet…

The two neared safety.

“He’s aiming!” Geoff shrieked.

Fifteen feet…

Ten feet…

Five feet…

The frighten pair raced to save their lives.

Mere feet from the trees, David shouted, “Jump!”

Instantly, he dove for the ground in a last act of desperation.

From behind, the loud roar of the rifle discharged for a third time. Geoff fell forward and crumpled to the ground, his body rolling to a stop just behind David.

“Geoff! My God, Geoff, are you hit?” David shouted frantically.

Quickly, he rolled over the top of the teen and shook his body.

“Geoff! Oh God No!” his yelled, voice filled with torment.

Through the rough shaking, David heard a faint voice:

“Get off me you asshole. We’re wasting time,” Geoff responded, angrily.

“I thought you were dead,” David responded in relief.

“I will be if we don’t get out of here. He’s reloading.”

He rolled to a kneeling position, then stood up and looked across the field. Looking back at David, he noticed a bullet scar in the bark of the tree just ahead of him.

“Wow, that was really close.”

“It’s not over yet!” David replied, now shoving the teen toward the woods.

Ignoring the rough treatment, Geoff immediately sped off into the forest with David in close pursuit. Moments later, the sound of the rifle echoed across the field, the lead ball stopping at the first row of trees near the clearing.

Inside the safety of the forest, the two stopped to catch their breath and take notice of their situation. Staring through the trees, David watched in shock as the reality of their plight had only just begun.

“Oh Shit! He’s chasing us,” he shouted, his voice turned frantic once more.

Through large gasps of air, Geoff watched in frustration as the farmer was indeed, chasing after them.

“What’s the dude’s problem, man?” he asked, more rhetorically than a direct question.

“The
dude’s
problem is he thinks we’re stealing from him,” David shot back, sarcastically.

“So, what if we were? It’s not worth killing someone over.”

“In modern times, it wouldn’t be, but we’re now living in the eighteen-hundreds. As I told you before; they kill people for less,” David explained.

“Man, that sucks. Can’t we just talk to him… try to reason with him?” Geoff responded, still out of breath.

“In this era, an angry man wielding a gun will only reason with you after you’re dead,” he replied bluntly.

David looked around. As the early morning light shined down into the forest, he detected a path through the woods. With a quick nod, he signaled to the teen to follow him.

“Let’s just hope we’re in better shape than he is,” he said as he brushed past the teen.

Without another word, the two headed deeper into the woods.

Dodging trees and jumping logs in their path, the two moved swiftly through the forest. Every few minutes, they stopped and listened. Although they heard only quiet, they continued on. A half hour later, after reaching the top of a hill, the pair stopped once more to catch their breath. Breathing heavily, David scanned the area from his elevated position. Except for the sound of light breezes and the songs from nearby birds, the forest seemed quiet. For a moment, he felt relief.

“I think we lost him,” he said, still scanning.

“I hope so. I don’t know if I can keep going.”

As Geoff took a seat on the ground, David eyed the teen with concern.

“Geoff, are you active in sports at all in your school?”

“Uh uh… I hate sports. Why?” he asked, suspiciously.

David searched his mind for the right wording.

“Now don’t get all offended, but I’m just a little surprised you’re this winded as a teen. This is a very physical time period. You really have to be in shape to withstand the rigors of a manual world.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can hold my own,” he responded, mildly insulted.

“I’m sure you can, Geoff, but just the same, if you start to run out of gas, you need to let me know before it happens so we can plan ahead, ok?”

Geoff stiffened in defiance, then gave a subtle nod.

David looked out over the forest once more, then took a seat on an old log that crossed the faint path they had followed through the woods. As he sat, he took deep breaths to help clear his mind. Sweat dripped off his forehead and down his face and he wiped it away with his bare arm. Although the sun had risen over a half hour before, the morning air was still cold and began to chill the sweat that now gathered on his skin.

“Darn it, I’m getting cold again. I sure hope the sun heats up the morning sooner than later,” he said, now trying to make small talk.

“Mmm,” Geoff murmured, passively protesting David’s attempt to communicate.

“I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a nap. I don’t think I slept at all last night,” he continued.

“Mmm,” Geoff continued his quiet protest.

“I’m hungry too. I could sure go for some pizza,” David added.

Geoff thought about the statement. As his own stomach rumbled, fear of escape was now supplanted by his need for food.

“So what
are
we going to do for food?” he asked, now willing to communicate slightly.

David felt a slight sense of relief the teen was now responding.

“We’re going to have to ask for handouts at first until we figure things out,” he replied.

“Well that sucks. We should’ve asked the farmer for food last night, before all this happened.”

“I thought about that, but we arrived on the scene way too late last night. I was afraid he’d greet us at the door at the end of a gun barrel,” David replied.

“Hmm… guess you weren’t too far off,” Geoff acknowledged as he looked around the forest once more, avoiding eye contact.

“What would’ve been ideal, would’ve been for us to have snuck out of the henhouse, waited in the woods for a couple of hours, then pretended like we were travelers just passing by. I’m sure we would’ve been received much differently,” he guessed.

“Still at the end of a gun barrel?” Geoff asked, still focusing on the forest.

“Probably, but almost certainly not shot at,” he answered with conviction.

“Hmm,” Geoff replied, his response seemingly uninterested.

“I’m guessing that after we figure out what year it is, we’ll probably have to find jobs to pay for our food and lodging,” David continued, hoping to keep the angry teen engaged.

“Uh huh,” Geoff responded simply.

“The way I see it, I can hang out a shingle and practice medicine. Unfortunately for you, because you don’t have any skills developed for this time period, you’ll probably have to work as a stable boy or something along those lines.”

“Hmm,” Geoff replied, still staring out across the forest.

“I know shoveling horse crap stinks but in order for you to fit in, you’re going to have to work a job that’s customary for a kid your age,” David explained.

“Mmm,” he murmured, barely showing any attention to the conversation.

“I still haven’t figured out how we’re going to get past the military dilemma. Somehow, we need to keep a low profile, especially for you. If they see you, they’ll draft you on the spot,” David said bluntly.

No response.

“Geoff, are you even listening to me?”

The teen’s eyes squinted slightly and his face became drawn. David’s words no longer registered in his mind. He was in another world.

“GET DOWN!” Geoff shouted loudly.

He lunged at David, throwing his chest into the body of the other, knocking David off the log and onto his back. Suddenly, a loud roar of a rifle echoed through the forest. In an instant, tree bark exploded from a cluster of trees just beyond their position.

Shoving Geoff off him, David rolled onto his knees and stared out over the forest. Far out at the edge of his sight, he saw movement. He squinted hard and picked up the target. Moving in beside him, Geoff pointed out a figure now running through the woods.

“That’s him… that stupid farmer. What the hell’s his freakin’ problem, man? He’s like some kind of crazed lunatic or something,” he spat angrily.