Chapter 9
Shit, shit! SHIT!
It had been two weeks since I was attacked, and I still could not connect to the 'between' or move myself through time. I thought back to the care I had been given in those first days, by Arthur and his wife, Beth. They had taken good care of me, but they kind of smothered me, too. No wonder their kids were forever trying to get away from them! You just never know about people until you live with them. Still, they were good decent people, and I was grateful.
I was pleased, however, when I was well enough to move back to my tent. I now had three guards, full time. The one I had hired was recovering, and would be back on the job soon. Plus, two new ones were constantly on the look out. They rotated all day and all night, making sure I was covered at all times... or my tent was, if I was inside. If I went out, one stayed at camp, and one escorted me.
The local council had made sure word got out. First, I was not working while I was wounded; and second, that I was not going to treat knife fights any longer. There was grumbling, but it was explained. They were told that while I would treat accidents, a multiple stab wound to the chest and stomach in a fight, was not an accident. Everyone was on their own, in that case.
As soon as I could head back to my own time, I was going to do it. I would put my tent, fully erected if need be, into the 'between'. Then I would make the trip back. I was scared and unsure of myself. I really did not want to live in the early 1900's. I wanted to go home to my own time, desperately!
Well, at least I had supplies of food on hand. Plus I had what remained in the temporary warehouse that Arthur was letting me use. Meat might get scarce, but I had cornmeal, flour, sugar, coffee, salt, pepper, a few other spices, and something that made a good 'porridge' or 'oatmeal'. I had access to lots of vegetables. All in all, I was set up much better than most people here. I could last out the winter in fairly good condition, and still have supplies enough to hike out, if need be.
I had several thousand dollars worth of gold on hand, at least, probably more. That would be more than enough to set me up in a comfortable home, somewhere down in 'the states'. There was no way I was going to settle in Alaska, if it came to that. Perhaps I would set up in New York City, or Boston. I knew enough history to know what investments would make money. I would not have to really work for it.
It was depressing me, though. I lay on my cot. I only moved to build the fire if I got cold, or to answer nature's call. I would eat just once, occasionally twice a day, which soon caused me to lose weight.
My guards noticed, as well as Arthur and Beth. I could tell they were worried. It was only with the threat of physically removing me from my tent and back into their home that caused me to get motivated enough to start eating better.
It was the strangest thing that pulled me out of my depression.
Doctors had treated women with certain maladies in this time in a very strange way. One of the woman, married to a miner, came to me seeking a treatment. After some hesitation on her part, and great deal of embarrassment, she explained she wanted me to masturbate her!
I was stunned! She had heard I had gone to medical school. She was sure I knew of this treatment. Oh, she didn't ask me to masturbate her with those words, but she did ask about manipulating her privates as a doctor had done in her hometown, previously. I explained to her that while I knew of this treatment, I really didn't practice it. I thought the patients could handle this aspect of the treatment very well, themselves.
After she was gone, I laughed and laughed until I was almost sick. My sides were splitting, and one of my guards rushed in to see if I was all right. I waved him off, and sat there laughing.
After a short time, I recovered my composure, and cooked myself a large meal. I realized I was feeling very hungry indeed! I thought about her request. It had actually been a valid treatment in this time. Frustrated woman were treated this way by doctors everywhere. I think it was one of the reasons nurses were required to be with patients in my time zone.
Still chuckling off and on, I cooked and ate my meal. Despite a low-grade headache, I went seeking Arthur's company. He was very surprised to see me walk into his office during business hours, and asked if something was wrong. I grinned and told him everything was fine. I said that I was just out getting some air, and decided to stop in and chat, and maybe have some coffee.
He quickly put a fresh pot on, and we set up the checkerboard.
"Now, Arthur, don't go out of your way just to humor me. I can come back later if you're busy. Besides, I know your wife usually has a pot on back in the living section, and I could always impose on her. She said so, after all," I said with a grin.
He grinned back, saying, "You seem to be in good humor, already. What brought on this change?"
"A prospective patient. It was a most unusual case, but I could not help this person. I was able to dispense advice, though," I replied a bit mysteriously.
The days rolled by into weeks, which then rolled into first one month, then two. Every time I tried to access the 'between' or bring something through, or go back to my own time, I was unable to make any connection. I did manage to produce a hell of a headache, though.
I sat and thought about it, right after my latest effort. I had been trying every few days, since I had been attacked. Maybe I just needed to let my brain recover. After all, cause and effect. I tried to use this ability, and the only thing it produced was a damned headache!
So I vowed to let at least two weeks go by without trying anything. I was hoping against hope that the part of my brain that controlled this ability was still recovering, or was stunned in some way. It seemed a logical conclusion to me anyway.
So I waited. It was the most difficult two weeks I had ever spent in my life. Anticipation was driving me to distraction.
I utilized my time by making myself busy. I did inventory on my stock at the temporary warehouse, frequently. It was slowly becoming depleted. I sold for a couple of hours a day, and then locked up. I tired easily, for some reason. I decided I also had to rest more frequently.
During the last part of that two weeks, Arthur received a large shipment of food and supplies. I was again invited over for a nice big home cooked meal, which I enjoyed. With this influx of fresh supplies for his miners, the warehouse was busy. We had to watch for pilfering. I understood why it happened. Desperate people in desperate conditions did what they thought they needed to do, to survive. But it was always on the backs of others. I turned a blind eye when I could, but several people were expelled from the camp, right away. The people had enough to worry about, without thieves.
I was ready to try again. Two full weeks without trying to use my abilities in any way. To say I was nervous and scared was the proverbial understatement. What if it didn't work? Come what may, when the weather cleared, and the pass was in better condition; I was going to pack up, and get out of here.
I concentrated... Nothing.
I thought harder, envisioning what I was trying to see. Something? YES! I could see the shadowy bands of time. However, no matter what I did, I could not affect them or myself.
HELL, YES!
Ok, so I was unable to move through time, and my headache was back with a vengeance... but... I had at least managed to see into time, again.
Oh, not as well as I used to, to be sure. It was more shadowy and tenuous, but it was a connection! I was healing!
I sat there with tears of joy streaming down my face. I am not sure how long I sat there crying like a little kid, but these were tears of happiness! I got up with new energy. I was happier than I had been in a long, long time.
Oh, sure. I had not been able to move in time yet, but I now had more hope than I'd had in the last couple of months.
It took several hours for my headache to fade. I decided to wait a few days before I did any more experiments in that direction. Perhaps a slow buildup would work better? Such as when I was learning how to control my abilities, back in the eighth grade and high school?
Yes. 'Slow but sure' was the way to go.
And so it was. I went to work at the warehouse everyday for a couple hours. I made sales and watched my stock continue to dwindle. Well, it wasn't like I could do anything about it. Arthur had a lot of items stored in here, and the warehouse was a busy place indeed.
More time passed, and I was starting to regain some of my abilities. I could access the 'between', almost four months after my attack. It should have been a simple matter to get through it to my own time, except I could not "see" my time, yet.
I needed to have a firm destination in mind before I tried to travel to it. I could not "see" it, as yet. I sighed.
Well, one must crawl before one could walk, as the saying goes. I could wait this out.
Two months, and three serious snowstorms later, I had finally managed to see my own time! My headaches were not coming as hard, nor as frequently as they used to do. I was pretty sure I was getting back to normal.
I practiced moving, by going through the 'between', and into the 'almost', in several local locations. I had taken the liberty of marking them with my mind and with little objects. No problems. I was happier, but still leery of trying to make the big jump back to my own time.
I really did have to know, though. So, one cold morning, I gathered my courage. I concentrated on my home, and my own time. I could see it clearly. I stepped forward into the right time, into my own time's bedroom.
I sighed with relief. I had it back! I still couldn't see as far as I used to, past-wards. But I had gone a little over a hundred years forward, to my own time. It was a success! I wept more tears of joy. I could again move back and forth with no problems. Well, fine, but I was still going to pack up my camp. I would leave at the earliest opportunity.
My opportunity arrived just a few days later, in the form of good weather. I hired my guards to help me pack my tent up. When it was in it's stowed configuration, I set it aside for the trip. I wanted people with us, in case we were attacked along the way. I would take the trail to the railhead, where a nice little town had sprung up. I would put everything back into the 'between', from there. The mule I would send back with my guards (who were going to stay), so they could give it to Arthur. Then, I was out of there!
I told Arthur my plan. He shook my hand, saying to look him up if ever I was anyplace where he was. We both knew that it was politeness speaking. Beth hugged me and cried when I said I was leaving. Even her kids looked a bit sad. Well, this family had become like my own. They had cared for me in my time of need. I was a bit sad, too.
The very next day I had broken down my camp. I had not planned on advertising that I was leaving, but people wondered over to my site anyway. They said goodbye or tried to convince me to stay. Not good. People knew I had gold on me. While most of those here were honest, there were rotten apples, everywhere.
Finally, everything was packed: the tents we would use for the trip, enough food for three people for fourteen days... I was not going to make a return trip, so they would split my food on the way back. Two guards decided to head back to the gold camp, while the third was headed home. He'd had enough of the gold hunter's life.
We made pretty good time the first day, but not really as fast as if there had been no snow on the ground. I grumbled to myself at the ridiculousness of making the trip the old fashioned way, but I was using this time to recover. I didn't want a mystery on people's hands. I didn't need to be 'a legend in the making.'
Day after day we traveled. We took turns cooking, packing up the mule, and moving along.
Day seven still saw us a full day's travel from the railhead, but I had expected that. The trail was not at its best after all. Still, it was a pleasant time and we did finally arrive at the railhead town.
It had grown quite a lot since I last I had seen it. As a matter of fact, it was still there in my own time. The gold camp it serviced dried up and disappeared, along with the gold, but the railhead survived. I had told Arthur he should convince his company to invest elsewhere. I think he was going to do it, too.
After I had unloaded my equipment, I turned the mule over to the two who were headed back. The other man was taking the next train out. He said he was in a hurry to get the smell of gold mining off of himself. I could understand his feelings. After all, I had thought for a while that I was going to be a resident of this time, for the rest of my natural life!
I had my stuff carried to an out of the way place in a warehouse. I waited until no one was looking, and then popped everything into the 'between'. I then transported myself back to my own time, and into my house again.
I sighed as I arrived, and asked the computer if anything interesting had happened while I was gone.
"The question is moot, since you have arrived within a five second span of the time from whence you departed," my computer responded.
I patted it's casing. It was good to be home.
Edited by TeNderLoin