AATTA-13

Chapter 13

A Shocking Surprise

A fter they had finished the donuts, Roxy signed over 50 autographs for those who had witnessed her unbelievable game-winning shot. She then headed over to the Horse Show Pavilion with her knapsack. Once she arrived, she changed from her sweaty track suit into her new pink Western shirt, decorated with large, custom-embroidered white lettering that spelled out her stage name, “Wild Roping Roxy” on the back. The colour of the shirt was a perfect match with Roxy’s favourite cowboy boots and the pink trim on her white split skirt. As Roxy walked out of the Pavilion, it was immediately apparent from the crowd’s reaction that she was one of the best-dressed cowgirls around.

“Okay, Ray,” Roxy said, “let’s go find out when the rodeo starts. I don’t want to miss a single event!”

“That’s a plan,” Ray replied. “Let’s head over to the information booth and get a program. Come on, Jasper.”

As the twins and their dog approached the booth, they found it very odd that people dressed in cowboy hats, jeans, and boots weren’t staffing the booth. Instead, at the booth they saw three clean-cut soldiers. There were two brothers from the Canadian Army Service Corps, named Clarence and Edgar Lougheed, and a distinguished lieutenant colonel, named Francis Farquhar, the commanding officer of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Francis was standing next to the official banner of the regiment, affectionately known as the “Ric-A-Dam-Doo.” Princess Patricia, herself, had hand sewn the banner after she’d agreed to have the regiment named after her in the summer of 1914. In front of the soldiers was a very friendly collie dog, named Bob, who greeted Jasper and twins with his tail wagging. Bob was the first mascot of the regiment and, in June 1915, was awarded a Toronto Humane Society medal for his wartime contribution, when he accompanied the regiment to England and France.

“Excuse me,” Ray said, “could you tell us when the rodeo starts this afternoon? We’d like a couple of programs as well, please.”

The two young soldiers burst out laughing. “Haven’t you heard, boy?” the tallest one said. “The last Stampede rodeo was three years ago, back in 1912. The founder, Guy Weadick, and his wife are probably over in Europe somewhere performing in a Wild West show.”

“What?” Roxy exclaimed. “Isn’t this the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede?”

“No, ma’am,” the soldier replied. “This is the Calgary Industrial Exhibition. This year, we’re celebrating everything military. In fact, there are over 6,000 of us soldiers gathered here on the exhibition grounds, before we head off to the war in Europe.”

“Look here,” the lieutenant colonel interjected, holding up the opened program. “We have a big military tattoo starting in 15 minutes under Colonel Harwood’s direction. It includes a huge combined marching band with five military bands and one citizens’ band, coming together to perform several songs including our regiments’s official three-song medley. There are lots of regiments on parade, including the amazing 13th Mounted Rifle Unit from Fort Macleod. They wrestle and have tug-of-war battles while mounted on their horses. It’s very exciting.”

“And,” another soldier said, “after the tattoo, there’s harness racing and great entertainment, including girls from Tasmania who perform a death-defying act called the ‘Human Butterfly.’ They hang 20 feet above the ground, suspended only by their teeth while they twirl around. There’s also the Arabian Acrobats who exhibit their great strength and—”

“Thanks,” Ray interrupted, “we’ll take the program please and head over to the grandstand area. Appreciate all your help.”

The twins and Jasper walked away and soon sat down on a nearby park bench, feeling decidedly dejected.

“Ray, this sucks,” Roxy said. “I had my heart set on seeing Florence LaDue compete for another World Championship and I know you wanted to watch the cowboys.”

Then Roxy had a brilliant idea.

“Hey, why don’t we use that magical time travel dinosaur tooth and go back to the 1912 Stampede? Not only will we see Florence and the rest of the cowboys and cowgirls in action, but maybe prevent our great-great-grandmother from getting her hand crushed. We might even be able to stop the end of her relationship with the love of her life!”

“I don’t know, Roxy,” Ray said. “That’s a neat idea, but it’s two in the afternoon on a warm sunny day. We have no idea if there’s a full moon or not. Don’t you remember what the note said? If there’s a full moon right now, we’ll be sent back to the open mouth of a dinosaur, 70 million years ago, not to 1912. I sure don’t want to be a dinosaur appetizer.”

“Don’t fret, brother,” Roxy assured him. “Let’s just ask some of the folks walking towards the military tattoo if they saw a full moon last night.”

Unfortunately, no one they spoke to could answer their question, as the two previous nights had been cloudy and rainy, with no visible moon of any shape. The twins had no choice. If they wanted to help their great-great-grandmother, they had to put their own lives at risk.

“Well, Ray,” Roxy said, “I do remember Uncle Bob once said that depending on the month, the odds of a full moon in the sky are 17 percent. That means there’s an 83 percent chance we will be just fine.”

Ray sighed. “I wish I had my iPhone. I could just click the weather icon and check out the shape of the moon tonight. I just don’t know if we can take the risk. Before I decide, tell me more about our great-great-grandmother.”

Roxy was more than happy to share what she knew about Leah, who was born in 1893 in a log cabin on a 160-acre homestead by the Sheep River, south of Calgary. She grew up living close to John and Mildred Ware’s ranch, and Leah became best friends with their daughter, Janet, who was born in the same month. Janet’s father, John Ware, was an ex-slave from the American South. John first rode into Alberta in 1882, working with a 3,000-head cattle drive to the district of Alberta, which was part of the Northwest Territories at the time.

John was very tough, something he’d developed as a boy when he’d been forced to fight other young slaves for their owners’ entertainment. As an adult cowboy, John took on the toughest assignment at the famous Bar U Ranch where he worked. He was responsible for breaking in wild horses for the ranch’s clients, including the North West Mounted Police and local settlers.

Leah’s best friend Janet and her dad John Ware.

It is said that John never got bucked off, even the first time he was on a wild horse. It bucked and reared before jumping over the corral fence and galloping out of sight, but he stayed on. When the horse and rider returned, John was in the saddle and the horse was under control.

Over the years, John became famous for his cowboy skills. In addition to his exceptional bronc-riding abilities, he also steer-wrestled faster than any other cowboy in the Canadian West and was an expert trick roper. It was this last amazing skill that John began teaching his daughter and her best friend, Leah, when they were knee-high to a black stallion.

John died in a tragic horse accident in 1905, two weeks after Alberta became a province. By then, Leah was practicing her trick roping technique at least two hours a day, seven days a week, and continued to do so until she was 19. Leah was seen as one of the favourites going into the World Champion Lady Fancy Roper title at the first Calgary Stampede in 1912. She also toured with her boyfriend, Dallas “Big Boy” McCoy, throughout North America at Wild West shows, where they were billed as “The Root Tooting Twosome.” They were considered the finest trick and fancy roper acts on the circuit, apart from Florence and Guy.

The 3-year-old cowgirl!

“Roxy,” Ray said, when she’d finished her story, “I think we owe it to Leah to go back in time and try to help her out. As Grandma, Leah’s granddaughter, likes to say to us, ‘Pitter-patter, let’s get at ‘er!’”

They decided to sneak under the packed and noisy grandstand to initiate the time travel sequence. Roxy opened her knapsack and took out the thick burlap bag containing the sharp tooth and dinosaur bone that Bob had given them. She engraved September 5, 1912, onto the tooth. She was certain of the date of the Lady Fancy Roper World Championship event because, in her room at home, she had a framed letter that Guy Weadick had personally written to her great-great-grandmother. The letter invited Leah to the “monster celebration,” featuring the world’s best fancy ropers competing for the World Championship title, on September 5th. The letter also mentioned that the Calgary Stampede would feature cowboys and cowgirls from all over North America, plus more than 300 Mexican horn steers and the “buckingest bucking horses that ever bucked a buck!”

Florence & Guy putting on a show.

Once the engraving was finished, Ray reluctantly picked up the tooth and pierced his palm. Jasper was certainly startled when Ray yelled loudly. The tooth felt more painful than when he’d stepped on a sharp piece of glass as a kid. Fortunately, the five bands had started to play and the sound of the blaring bagpipes drowned out Ray’s yell. Roxy, however, had no qualms and, apart from a slight wince after she’d pierced her skin, she was fine.

“Okay,” Roxy said, her voice quivering slightly, “it’s time to clasp my right hand with your left to form a blood bond. Let’s just hope that there’s no full moon and Jasper’s able to travel with us.”

Roxy grabbed Jasper around the neck with her left arm, before thrusting her right hand into her brother’s outreached left palm. The instant the combined blood began dripping from their hands onto the dirt below, Ray and Roxy closed their eyes. They started counting down, while the marching bands struck up “Maple Leaf Forever.”

“8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”

A bright light flashed and the twins were gone.