After working for three days, I decided I wanted to buy, or rent, a house. It would ultimately be cheaper than boarding, though I really did like Mrs. Pennington. My only day off was Sunday, as that was the only day the Emporium was closed... except for cooking for the boarders in the upstairs portion, which he had rented out. Mr. Handson, the owner of the Emporium, was an astute businessman. He knew what he wanted.
My hours were from three in the afternoon until closing. The crowd never got that rowdy before the evening hours anyway. I also started eating my evening meals at the Emporium as they had a restaurant and a fine cook there.
I tried to get Mr. Handson to provide a room as well, but he wanted to deduct the price from my pay if I did that. He made a killing on his rooms, apparently. He kept a few rooms open for the seamier side of life, and had a few girls working for him. As I said, Mr. Handson was a very astute businessman.
I found a single story house, close to the center of the town, which was perfect for what I wanted. The house was selling for three hundred and fifty dollars, and came with a cooking stove, and a potbelly stove for warming the front parlor. It had a bedroom, a kitchen, a pantry, an outhouse in the backyard, a sitting room or living room, and a room I could use for storage. Small and tight, perfect for a bachelor.
Still, I would have to come up with the money. The owner wanted it sold, and would not take payments. His agent was the owner of the mercantile I had bought my clothing from. Now I had to get back to my own time, to procure the money I would need to buy the house. It had been on the market for sometime, so I was not worried about it being sold from under me.
I arranged an absence from work with my boss. He was not pleased. I told him I was going to buy a place in town, and I needed to go and get the money. He understood that, and gave me a week off. He told me that any longer than a week, and I could look for a new job. A week was not really time enough to get anywhere. Denver was the closest big city and it took about that long just to get there!
I informed Mrs. Pennington that I would be leaving the next day, and that I would not need the room for the foreseeable future. I did ask her if I could leave my valise with her, and pick it up when I returned. She was kind enough to agree. I packed all my clothing in it, and left it with her.
I got a ride out towards my 'home'. Or rather, what would be my home, in the future. The guy was turning off at a small junction and would be taking a different road, which left me about a two-mile walk in the cold, to the cave. I set a brisk pace, and before long, I had arrived.
If you have not tried to buy old coins or old paper money of the 1800's, it isn't as easy as you might think. Oh, you can buy some easily enough from dealers, but they charge far more than what it's worth.
Still, you can get what you want if you look hard enough, or get an agent to help. While the person I hired was looking into getting me my purchase of money that would be acceptable in late 1877, I started thinking of some of the peculiarities involved with time travel.
First, it seemed to be a one to one ratio. ie: one day there was one day here. It was just a totally different time. If it were October here, it was October there as well. Also, I had yet to understand the reason I had a doorway into the past in my little cave. I doubted I would ever understand.
I knew I could get any number of scientists to work on the problem for me, but I also knew as soon as the government found out about this little doorway into the past, I would be kicked off my property in a heartbeat, and the government would move in and clamp a security lid on it tighter than the Manhattan Project.
I finally converted a little over two thousand dollars in today's currency into three different types of money of the past. First I had three hundred dollars in paper money. Then I had one hundred and eighty dollars in gold double eagles, finally, I had twenty dollars in silver dollar coins.
Unfortunately, it took me eight days to get all of this gathered together at a reasonable cost to me. I could have done it faster, but it would have cost me an arm and a leg. Considering that I had laid out over thirty thousand dollars to fix up my farmhouse, and another seventy thousand to buy the ten acres plus the house and buildings, I was leery about spending more than I had too. My portfolio had taken a beating during the purchase and renovation processes.
I bought a money belt and placed all of my paper currency, and all but a few of my coins in it. I was ready to head back to the 1800's. It was a nice relaxing time in which to be, really. Things were done at a much slower pace. There was none of this 'hurry up and do it right now' attitude.
I also placed several slightly altered pill bottles into my pockets, as I had forgotten to take anything with me, last time. This time I would be a little more prepared. I took my Vicodin, some aspirin, and some vitamins.
I considered making a list of items to take back to the past with me, but first I wanted to establish a base of operations, so to speak. Still, medications were a top priority, as they did not really have much in the way of effective medications back then.
I also started thinking of things I could bring back with me, to make myself more comfortable in the past. Better lanterns for one. Wolf Creek did not have electricity or gas yet, so lighting was what I considered to be poor. I could bring better lamps back that ran on kerosene and provide myself with better lighting.
I would also need a large duffel bag of the period, to haul my equipment. I had to make sure whatever I brought to the past with me, was easily carried.
While this was going on, my mother called me, and wanted to know where I had been, as I had not answered her previous calls. I told her I had been out of town visiting people I knew, and that I was going to do some more traveling for a while.
I also used a day to learn to saddle, bridle and care for a horse. It was just something I had never done before. If I was going to spend time in the 1800's, it was a skill I had to learn. That problem was easily solved by a neighbor of mine. He was glad to teach me that skill. All I needed was practice, and I would be perfect.
I again paid the farmer at my future "home" a dollar for a ride into town. Again my ass was sore as hell by the time we arrived, but my coat pockets were bulging with little items I had brought back from the future, as well as my money belt.
My first stop was the mercantile to buy the little house. Transactions in the 1800's were much simpler than in my own time. Not as much paper work for one thing. None of that made up closing cost the government invented for the lining of their pockets. I did have to pay eight dollars and thirty-two cents in taxes for the house, though. That went to the state. I paid that to the sheriff. He was the local agent for state revenue, as that was part of his job. He would turn the money over to the county sheriff who eventually got it to the state.
An hour later I had the keys to my new house, and was already making a mental list of what I needed to buy. A broom, a mop, and a bucket were at the top of this list. It was a bit dusty in there.
More blankets and a comforter were also on my list, as well as food supplies. I would need everything. I also needed to pay someone to deliver firewood for my two stoves: the kitchen cook stove, and the living room potbelly stove. I was told the living room stove could use coal. But coal was rare in Wolf Creek, and very expensive by comparison to wood.
The first couple of days I spent cleaning the place thoroughly. It had been closed for months and needed a good cleaning and airing. I also made arrangements for delivery of several cords of wood along with a cord of kindling. That would last me until I could chop the rest of the wood myself. I stacked the wood under the overhang at the back of the house.
I had a very large backyard, and decided it would be perfect to use as a garden. I would grow a few things, but that would not be 'till later. I laid in a supply of food, making sure to buy enough to last a good long while. I filled the pantry, and also bought extra and stored it in the spare room. I made sure to keep everything off the floor, though. I didn't want rodents or bugs.
I had, of course, lost my job at the Emporium. While I was sad to see it go, I was not too worried. I knew I could always find another job, even if it did not pay as much. Fifty dollars a month was a very good wage for the time. Not too many jobs were available that paid as well.
Another thing I had not considered, was water. My house had no well to draw from, and there was no town waterworks as of yet. You could go to the town well and draw all the water you wanted, or you could have it delivered by a guy who made water deliveries.
That explained the large empty barrel I had in the kitchen. It had a lid that fit tightly on top of it. The lid was to prevent evaporation and protect my water from bugs, rodents and dust and dirt. I hired the guy to deliver water, and he and his two sons carried bucket after bucket of water to my barrel and filled it. He promised to come by in about five days to see if I needed more water.
While I now had water, I still needed to learn to cook with a wood-burning stove. While I knew how to cook with an electric or gas range, wood was another thing entirely. I would need advice. Who better than Mrs. Pennington?
I wound up paying her a dollar for cooking lessons with a wood cook stove. Of course, I paid for food, too. I also paid her for the meals I ate, at a nickel a meal. That was not very expensive at all if you ask me.
Temperature control was the key to cooking on or in a wood stove. Cooking and baking was a long chore in the 1800's as I found out. I also discovered first hand how easy it was to ruin a perfectly good meal if you didn't pay the proper amount of attention to the details.
Still, after a week, I felt confident I would be able to survive my own cooking. Mrs. Pennington gave me a lot of recipes and she was a good teacher. She told me what to do, and I did everything. I had even baked bread and made a couple different cakes.
"Young man, I want to ask you something," Mrs. Pennington said.
"Yes, ma'am?" I responded politely.
"You must have had some previous cooking experience. You have picked this up much more quickly than anyone I have ever seen," she said.
"Well... yes, ma'am. But it was a long time ago," I hedged and fibbed a bit.
She nodded as if satisfied. I guess the quickness with which I had learned cooking on this type of stove was a bit unusual.
Cooking on top of the stove was not that hard, it was the baking that had really thrown me. As for cooking on top the stove, it was just a matter of not letting the skillet get to hot, usually. Other foods didn't matter, particularly if you were cooking with water.
Just baking, and cooking things like eggs, or bacon needed controlled heat. Too hot a skillet usually burned those items.
Edited by TeNderLoin
Volentrin