Chapter Thirteen

B rad hated eavesdropping . In his mind it was the same as lying or cheating. Anyone caught should be punished. In this case, though, it was necessary. He needed to know more about this woman. Where they came from. How they happened to be on the road between his place and Caleb's.

After leaving Libby's room, Brad waited outside the door. He purposely left the door open to hear what was said between her and Charlie, hoping to gain some information to answer his questions. He suppressed a laugh when Charlie suggested Brad was afraid of babies and was pleased to hear Charlie knew he liked him. He shook his head in amusement when Charlie went into one of his rapid-fire descriptions of his day.

While Libby had been sleeping the past two days, Brad had taken the liberty of putting Charlie to bed at night and was the object of Charlie's daily reports. They never ceased to amaze him. His heart contracted when Charlie started yelling how he hated it here and what was wrong. Brad knew he would feel even worse if he understood what Charlie was going on about.

Libby's pain was obvious in her voice as she told her son about his father, and her frustration when she tried to explain she didn't know where they were, how they got here, and how they would get home. If his suspicions about them were true, Libby would think he was crazy. He hadn't even shared his thoughts with Caleb or Colleen. His brother and sister-in-law were open-minded about many things, but he was afraid they wouldn't go along with this idea. They would have him committed.

Finally, their voices were quiet. He peeked through the crack in the door. Libby held Charlie in her arms, and from their slow breathing they were asleep. He entered the room, walked quietly to the window and glanced out. Caleb and Colleen were walking down a path toward the creek, their children in tow. Caleb carried a blanket and Colleen had some towels tossed over her shoulder.

Must be going for a swim to wash the kids off. He glanced back at the bed. With Libby asleep, it was a good opportunity to go through her things. Brad went over to the trunks piled next to the fireplace by Charlie's room. Since having them brought up yesterday, he'd been anxious to go through them. To Brad, snooping through people's belongings was as distasteful as eavesdropping, but the clues to the mystery of who Libby was were locked inside those trunks. With Cora and Colleen's fussing and constantly in and out of the room, he hadn't had a chance to go through them until now. He wanted to have them put in his room, but he knew it would raise a few eyebrows.

Something Libby had said about it being 2024 kept running across his mind. At the time he dismissed it as the ramblings of a hysterical woman but combined with the strange comments made by her and Charlie, there was probably something to her comment after all. Yesterday he watched Charlie draw a picture in the dirt with a stick. When asked, Charlie said it was a car. A bigger version was called a truck. Of course, the drawings of a three-year-old couldn't be considered very accurate, but they were clear enough for Brad to know he'd never seen anything like them.

He kneeled in front of the largest of the three trunks. Since his back was to the bed, he pulled off his mask to be cooler. Beside them on the floor lay a fabric bag. He decided to check it first. Opening it proved easy enough since there were only two large hoops to pull apart. He dumped the contents on his lap. The first few items held no interest—just a comb and brush and some pieces of paper. He picked up what he thought looked like a small pocketbook. Shaking it produced a clinking noise, not unlike the coins he carried in his pocket. A metal clasp drew his interest. By pulling it one way, nothing happened, but when the pulled it the other, it opened. The dark interior reminded him of an open mouth lined with teeth.

Just as he thought—money. He picked up the largest coin. So small. Ridges along the edges. George Washington on one side, a building on the other. Brad studied the coin more closely. 2020. He looked again. Yep. 2020. Goosebumps rose along the back of his neck and up his arms. He placed the coin on the floor and picked up two more. One was copper and the other ridged like the larger one. He didn't recognize the faces on either one, but both had 2023 engraved on them. A quick check of the remaining coins showed dates from 1985 to 2023.

In a side pocket, he found a small card with Libby's picture on it, wrapped in something hard. The picture was in color and revealed how pretty she was when smiling. On one side of the card were the words Operator's License and on the other, Wisconsin.

So, she is from Wisconsin, but what did she operate? Is she a lady doctor or something? Not possible. Birth: 03/17/2000. Brad thought for a bit. Ah! March 17, 1800? Which would make her seventy years old. He looked again at the picture on the card. Not hardly. But if this were 2024 or even 1870, she is... Hell, how old would she be? His head throbbed thinking about it. Could this really be possible? Could she have somehow travelled back to 1870?

Brad thought about some of the stories he had read by people who, at the time, he believed had quite overactive imaginations. Someone traveling through time and visiting other places made him laugh. Later, in a more reflective mood, he wondered whether it was possible.

If one believed in God, and he did, one would believe God's hand was in everything. Was this an act of God? If so, why bring Libby to this place, at this time? He didn't remember the Bible giving any reference to acts of time-travel, but then it always amazed him how people could live so long in the Old Testament. The minister in his church always said God worked in mysterious ways.

Brad shook his head as he placed the card on the floor. He pulled out his pocket watch. It seemed like hours since he'd started snooping, but it had only been ten minutes. It wasn't time for dinner yet, and he should be able to go through a few more thing before Cora ambled up with Libby's dinner.

He flipped up the latch on the smallest trunk, carefully lifted the lid, and nearly fell in when a voice called out to him. Damn! Caught! He grabbed his mask and yanked it over his face.

****

A faint rustling sound woke Libby from her nap. She expected to see Cora bustling around the room on some errand or other. Usually something for Lucy, so she was surprised to see a man kneeling on the floor. He had his back to her. His hair, waving to his collar with a slight flip at the ends, reminded Libby of the color of chestnuts. A perfect color for hair. Not only was it wavy, but seemed thick enough to lose your fingers in. She tried to get a better look at his face, but even though he was examining something, he kept his face forward. Then she understood what he was doing.

"Do you always snoop through other people's things?" Anger surged through her. "Are you looking for anything in particular or are you simply being nosy?" Shock went through her when the man grabbed a mask and yanked it over his head. "Brad. How dare you! Couldn't you have asked to go through my things?"

"I'm truly sorry, Miss Libby. I can assure you I don't usually do something like this, but I needed some answers about you."

"First of all, will you quit with the Miss Libby thing?" Her voice rose. She needed to calm down so she didn't wake the children. "Second, you could have asked me before digging through my things."

"I have wanted to ask you many questions since the day you wondered where you were, but you fell ill. Your comments made no sense, but when I combined them with some of the things Charlie has said, I began to realize you were from a different place and time. I needed to find out if my suspicions were true."

Heat rose to her face. "What do you mean? What are you trying to tell me?" Libby wasn't at all sure she could trust Brad with her secret.

"I found this in one of your bags." He handed her the card. "Are you really from 2024?"

Libby glanced down at her driver's license. It was hard to read through the tears welling in her eyes. "Yes," she whispered. "Is it really 1870?"

"Yes," he whispered back.

"Oh, God. How did this happen?" Libby looked at Brad searching for an answer. "What are you going to do with us?"

"I don't know how this happened," Brad answered. "I was hoping you could tell me. As for what I am going to do with you. Well..." He walked to the window and peered out, thinking of an answer.

Libby held her breath waiting for his reply. Brad seemed rather calm, but how would others react if they knew? Would they arrest her, or commit her to some kind of asylum for the insane? Would they be sold to a circus as freaks or sent off to fend for themselves? How would she earn a living? It seemed an eternity before Brad finally turned back to her.

"I think for now you should rest and get better. I also think we should keep this to ourselves. Others may react poorly and we may find ourselves with greater problems on our hands." He walked to the side of the bed and reached for her license. "I will take this for now and put it back with your things. I think it best I remove your trunks to the attic so no one else goes through them."

Libby was at a loss for words. "I... I don't know how to thank you. I was so afraid you would think I was crazy or something."

"No more so than my thinking I was crazy. I think I hear Cora coming upstairs. Let me put these things away before she gets here. If it would be all right with you, I would like to come back later and discuss this further, although finding another time when no one else is around will be a problem."

Libby smiled at him in relief. "That's fine with me. Whenever you can come back. As long as you don't ship me off to the circus!"

Without another word, he tipped his head at her and left the room.