Time Camp Episode 1: Family Time (11 page)

Chapter 28: Dallas, 1963

The family moved from Wardrobe 12 with their suitcases in hand and purses for the ladies. They had sufficient cash to address their needs and knew that they could signal for more if the situation demanded it. They knew which business to avoid and which to choose from, and they were briefed on the news of the day, including fads, music, culture and politics. They also had a full library of historical information documenting the lead-up and follow-up of the event. The boys got a lesson in hair cream, and the ladies’ hair was done up in a puffy beehive style, popular for that age, except for Jenna, who got a bob hairdo. Andy got a real chuckle seeing his sisters and mom in bouffant dresses and tall hair.

As they entered the departures area, they began to feel very nervous. Approaching a desk, they were interrupted by Jake and Clay Johnson, in casual clothing.

“Hey Watsons! Off on your first trip?” asked Clay.

“Yes we are,” said Laura. “We’re a bit nervous, but we’re ready!”

Jake chimed in, “It’s an incredible experience, you’ll see. Good luck, and stay out of the red!”

“Thanks,” said Jenna, as they reached the desk. The Johnson boys continued across the great hall.

Tom cleared his throat and said, “Hello Rachel. Please set us up for Dallas Timestation 3, November 21st, 1963, 1100 local.”

Rachel responded, “Dallas TimeStation 3, it will have to be 1115. There’s a lot of time traffic that day, and we need the separation. Please use booth 81. Return in +1?”

Tom confirmed, “Booth 81, return in +1. Have a Good Day.”

Booth 81 was quite close to the departures desk, and within a minute they were inside, the blue indicators showing their target Placetime. Then the opposite door opened to an inner office with a secretary who looked up and said, “Hello Watsons, we’ve been expecting you.”

They exchanged pleasantries with Mary, the operator in Dallas 3. She reviewed their itinerary and summoned a cab for them. *Keep your communication up whenever you can. You can contact us here if an emergency arises*, sent Mary to the entire family. *The other operatives will be muted, and you should be on family privacy at all times. Good Luck!*

*Thank You,* replied Liz and the rest of the Watsons, as they headed to the outer office.

Leaving the office building, they were refreshed by a warm breeze and a bright Texas morning. A cabbie jumped to the curb and lifted the ladies’ suitcases into the open trunk.

“Kinda strange you coming out of that office with suitcases and all,” said the cabbie. Tom smiled and said, “I’m here on business, and my family came with me from the airport. The hotel said the room wouldn’t be ready until noon.”

“Makes sense to me I guess. Where to, Mac?”

“Sheraton Dallas, my usual,” said Tom.

*Piling it on a bit thick, aren’t we dear?* sent Liz, with a smile.

*I’m supposed to be a confident and successful businessman. Got to act the part!*

The boys sat in front, and the ladies enjoyed the spacious back seat. The cab ride was maybe ten minutes, during which time the Watsons were glued to the windows.

Laura sent, *Look at these old cars! It’s amazing how huge they are!*

Jenna followed up, *Yeah, but look at the ‘groooovy’ skirts those ladies have. This is the edge of the fashion era. Pretty soon everyone will be in miniskirts and paisley prints.*

Andy said, ‘I can’t believe how plain and simple things look. No neon, no graffiti, no huge billboards or video displays. And I can’t stand these itchy suits!*

Liz sent, *Get used to them, bub. The sixties weren’t invented for your comfort.*

The cabbie rattled on about the president’s upcoming visit, and Tom made small talk as the kids and Liz observed and thought to each other. Tom had to remind them to talk occasionally, to keep the cabbie from thinking that they were up to something.

So Laura asked her mom, “Do you think Jackie will be wearing wool or linen tomorrow?”

Liz said, “With this warm weather, I expect it will be a cooler fabric than wool. Tom, what do you think?”

Tom caught on and replied, “Well, linen is preferable to wool in warmer climates. Mrs. Kennedy has been known to wear Chanel suits, you may know.”

“Say mister, do you think the Cowboys will do any better this year?” asked Andy to the cab driver. That was just what the cabbie needed to start his rant about the poorly performing four-year-old professional football team, and Andy and Tom followed the discussion with interest, having downloaded the Cowboy’s team history before leaving. Of course, the driver didn’t know that within three years, his maligned Cowboys would take over the NFL east and be ranked #1 or #2 for nearly all of the next 20 years.

Soon, the cab pulled up at the imposing Sheraton Dallas Hotel, and a bellman rushed out to take their bags to the desk. “Good afternoon, Mr. Watson. Glad to see you again. And with your family this time!” said the bellman.

Liz sent, *Now how in the blue blazes did you pull THAT off?*

Tom shrugged and sent, *Uh, I guess I come back after this is done and show up early a few times. Remind me to do that, OK?*

*Well, since it obviously happened, you must have done well.* replied Liz. She sent to the kids, who caught on to the later/earlier trick.

Tom paid and tipped the cabbie, and walked to the desk with Liz at his side to register.

The Sheraton Dallas Hotel was a large, imposing structure just off of Pearl Street. Constructed of concrete and glass, it was a grand place for 1963.

Check-in was uneventful, and they were assigned a suite on the 25
^th
floor of the 28-story building, at the time, the tallest west of the Mississippi. The bellman chatted with them about their plans and highlighted various amenities available at the hotel.

The room itself was grand. With three bedrooms and an impressive view of the city, the kids were in awe of the view and the luxury of the place. “We have never stayed at a place like this up north,” said Andy.

“Well, enjoy it while you can, because we check out in two days, and they may be quite busy days, indeed. Shall we freshen up and take in a bit of shopping?” asked Tom.

“Yes!” shouted Laura and Jenna. Andy just rolled his eyes. He was already bored, and shopping would not help the matter.

They left the hotel and used their downloaded city maps to plot a walking path that would take them past many of the city’s finest stores. They knew they could take very little back with them, but a couple more items of clothing or jewelry would be added to Wardrobe 12 on their return.

Their stroll took them down Main Street, straight into a large Nieman-Marcus department store. There they shopped for items very similar to the styles they were wearing. Liz chose a plaid skirt and blazer, while Jenna and Laura both opted for lighter summer dresses with large buttons and belts. Andy and Tom settled for a new tie each, and a new cap for Andy. “Great, just what I wanted,” griped Andy.

After a light lunch in a bright streetside café, the family continued their shopping, and made small talk out loud as they sent private observations to each other.

Continuing their walk, they passed a magazine stand. “Hey Dad, can I buy a Sports Illustrated?” asked Andy.

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” said Tom. Andy chose his magazine and his dad paid in change. Andy was a happy young man!

Returning to the hotel in the late afternoon, they were walking through the lobby toward the elevators when their Timeline alert flashed bright orange. Immediately they stopped and turned and headed for the couches in the waiting area. *What can that be?* sent Jenna to the family.

*I don’t know, just stay low. Laura, pick up that magazine,* sent Tom. Out of the corner of his eye, amid the blinking yellow of the Timeline alert, he recognized one of the photographers that would take historic images tomorrow at the fateful event. *It’s Marie Muchmore! What would she be doing in this hotel? She lives right here in Dallas! Oh, she has a receipt, I think she delivered a dress to someone here. Geez, that was close!*

As Marie left the hotel, their Timeline alerts all went back to green, and after a moment to gather their wits, they took the elevator up to their room to drop their packages. Then, they headed up to the top floor where they had a quiet dinner at the exclusive Chaparral Club.

Later, the kids were restless after dinner. Laura, browsing through the hotel’s notebook, said, “Hey, there’s a kid’s recreation room on level 2. Can we go down?”

Liz and Tom thought for a moment, and Tom said, “Sure, as long as you are careful with your Timeline alerts. Come back up at 10PM please, or we’ll have to send to you.”

“OK, Dad!” said the kids as they raced for the door. Finally, some time with other kids!

Heading to the second floor, they found the recreation room. Accustomed to video arcades and sophisticated home video equipment, they were a bit disappointed with the single black and white television and a couple of game tables, but they brightened as they saw a half dozen other kids their age scattered throughout the room.

Laura, the most outgoing of the three, but still shy around boys, approached another young lady about her age. “Hello, I’m Laura,” she said to the young dark-haired girl wearing a plum colored dress.

“Hello, I’m Susan. Where are you from?”

“We’re from Erie, Pennsylvania. Those are my brother and sister. We’re here with my Dad and Mom. My dad’s a salesman, and he’s here this week so we came to see the President.”

Susan brightened, and said, “That’s neat! I’m here with my Dad and Mom too. We come here a lot, and we are thinking of going over to the parade route tomorrow.”

Laura’s TimeLine sense flashed yellow. She thought and said, “You should try for the start of the route. I hear it’s less crowded there.”

Susan said, “That makes sense. I’ll tell Daddy when I go back up.” Laura’s alert faded to green.

“So, who do you like better, Roy Orbison or Frankie Valley?” asked Susan, moving closer to Laura.

“Well, I’m more of a Beach Boys girl myself,” said Laura, and they launched into a great girl discussion about the handsome male entertainers of the year.

At the table games, Andy and Jenna sat at a table with a couple of boys. “Hi, I’m Tom and this is Dave,” said the smaller of the boys. “We’re both staying here, but we’re not brothers or anything.” Dave smiled but didn’t say much.

Andy replied, “I’m Andy and this is my twin sister Jenna.”

Tom said, “You are twins? You don’t look the same.”

Jenna said, somewhat shyly, “We are fraternal twins. We were born at the same time but we aren’t identical.” Dave was smiling at her, and she smiled back.

Tom said, “Hey Andy, want to play RockEm SockEm?”

Andy smiled and said “You betcha. I have a lot of practice on this game!”

As Andy and Tom squared off with the red and blue robots, Dave quietly asked, “Jenna, do you do puzzles?”

Jenna blushed, and replied, “I love puzzles! Would you do a jigsaw with me?”

Dave smiled, and they moved off to a card table and chose a medium-sized puzzle which they proceeded to dump, sort and start to work the edges, without speaking.

As the kids played with their new friends, the time passed and the chaperone gave a 10 minute notice. The Watson kids, having made new friends, regretted needing to leave them.

David finally asked Jenna, “Um, Jenna, do you think I could, um, maybe write you sometime?”

Jenna blushed and felt warm all over. She was falling for this young man! But she thought about it. She would never get the letter. It would arrive in Erie about the time her parents were born and no one would ever respond. She liked Dave, but she knew that she would never see him again, and if they ever met in real life, he’d be 50 years older than her once she was born.

She said, “Dave, we’re moving soon and I don’t know where. Why don’t you write your address down and I’ll send you a letter when we get back to Erie?”

Dave brightened and ran off to get a pencil and paper.

As Jenna took his address and said her goodbye to Dave, Andy and Tom, as well as Laura and Sue, were saying farewell to each other. Happy as they were to be with other kids, they were sad to know that they would never see them again.

On the ride back to their suite, they were quiet and reflected on their situation as observers in time. It was hard being a kid in a time machine!

Chapter 28: A Fallen Giant

Thursday dawned clear and warmer. The Watsons took breakfast in their room, and commented about the delay from ordering to delivery. They showered, dressed and mentally rehearsed their positions for the motorcade. Tom and Andy would be on Zapruder’s side of the street, about 50 meters upstream of the famous amateur filmmaker, and 200 meters from the Texas Book Depository, where Lee Harvey Oswald would fire three deadly shots later that day. The ladies would be at the corner of Houston and Elm, with a clear view of both the president’s car and the windows of the Depository. They would be spread out but within eye contact of each other, and Laura and Jenna would be together. They would visually ID other cameras and stay clear of their field of view.