Chapter 3

The Adventure Begins

Uncle Bob invited Roxy and Ray over for dinner with the promise of revealing some exciting news. Naturally, their dog Jasper came with them.

When Bob told the twins about his discovery, they stared, wide-eyed, in disbelief. But then he showed them the Cree, Blackfoot, and Michif notes, the English translations, the time machine, and finally, the glowing magical eggs. As they took in the amazing find, the twins’ looks of doubt vanished.

“Wow, that’s awesome,” Ray said.

Speechless with excitement, Roxy just nodded. Now I can actually meet my heroes from history, she thought. How cool is that?

Uncle Bob and the twins spent the next two hours figuring out which places, dates, and years to visit. Bob wanted to go back to the 1950s and watch Elvis perform, but Roxy looked at the calendar and noted that it was August 30, just two days before Alberta would celebrate its anniversary. Always the history fanatic, she thought it would be amazing to see the first official ceremony in Edmonton in 1905. Ray protested that if they were going back in time, it would have to be after the Calgary Stampede started in 1912. Knowing Ray’s love of bull riding, Roxy was not surprised at his point of view.

They debated for some time and, in the end, reached a happy compromise. For the first two-hour stage of their adventure, they would visit Edmonton in 1905; afterward, they would take in the 10th anniversary celebrations in 1915. Then they would ride the train south to Calgary to check out the Calgary Stampede.

Uncle Bob wanted to make sure that the time machine worked safely. But how could they test it? After some thought, he came up with a brilliant idea: Bob would pour the crushed, small blue egg and sand formula (which was good for one hour of time travel) into the funnel, while Jasper’s leash was tied loosely onto two of the buffalo bones so that he could yank himself free. He would then have the dog fetch a Drumheller Mail newspaper, first published in 1911, and bring it back to the present day.

To ensure Jasper’s co-operation, Roxy went out and bought a foot-long hot dog with cheese and promised it as a reward if Jasper fetched the paper.

Bob engraved August 30, 1915, onto the egg with the tip of a sharp dinosaur bone from his personal bone collection. Roxy then attached the bone to the leash. Jasper seemed to know something was about to happen and started to bark louder and louder with anticipation. Bob carefully stated to pour the blue egg and sand mixture into the funnel. Instantly, the room became silent, and Jasper vanished.

Roxy began looking at her watch nervously. She couldn’t help but worry about her beloved pet. What if he didn’t get back to the right spot on time? What if someone tried to keep him? What if he had simply vanished and Roxy never saw him again? What were we thinking? she asked herself as she paced the kitchen floor.

But precisely one hour later, the dog reappeared with a newspaper in his mouth. “Drop it!” Roxy told Jasper and rewarded him with the well-deserved hot dog, which he quickly devoured.

With bated breath, the twins and Uncle Bob unrolled the Drumheller Mail. Uncle Bob shouted out the news headline: “Excitement Builds for Annual Calgary Exhibition.” The date on the front page read August 30, 1915.

Hardly able to believe their eyes, Uncle Bob and the twins jumped for joy. Jasper had returned safely and they would be next!

The next day, Uncle Bob asked the twins’ parents if he could take them to Edmonton to watch Alberta’s annual birthday celebration. Knowing how much Roxy loved her Alberta history, they said yes.

On the way to the provincial capital, Bob and the twins stopped off at Heritage Park in Calgary to borrow some turn-of-the-century clothes. They didn’t want to look like fashion misfits when they went back in time. Roxy, however, wasn’t keen on the Anne of Green Gables look and told her uncle she would probably spend most of the time in her favourite tracksuit or rodeo attire.

Donald Smith driving the last spike.

© Glenbow Archives: na-1494-5.

Before leaving Calgary, they also visited Albern Coins on Centre Street and bought $150.00 worth of early-1900s money, just in case.

The three-hour drive to Edmonton felt like an eternity. Everyone was so excited they could hardly contain themselves. The whole way there, they imagined what they would see when they were back in time.

When they arrived in Edmonton, they checked into the Old Strathcona Hotel. They chose this hotel because it had been operating since 1891. That way, when the twins travelled back to 1905, they would arrive in the privacy of a hotel room. Also, the hotel was built by the C&E Railroad Company and was conveniently located across the street from the train station. Roxy explained that the hotel and area was named after Lord Strathcona, who was Donald Smith before Queen Victoria elevated him to Lord in 1897. He was the man who drove in the last spike to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway on November 7th, 1885.

Before going to bed, they set the alarm for 8:00 am. The next day was September 1.

During breakfast, Roxy gave her uncle and brother a history lesson to prepare them for their adventure. She informed Uncle Bob and Ray that Canada purchased Rupert’s land from the Hudson’s Bay Company on March 20th, 1869 for 1.5 million dollars. Before Alberta became a province on September 1, 1905, it had been part of the North West Territory, led by its first and only Conservative premier, Frederick Haultain. Haultain didn’t want to split the territory into two provinces, Alberta and Saskatchewan. His preference was to have one larger province called Buffalo.

“Can you believe that?” Roxy shook her head in disapproval. “Lucky for us, the Liberal prime minister in Ottawa wasn’t keen on the idea. Otherwise, Albertans today might be called Buffalonians!

“Once Alberta became a province,” Roxy continued, “the first legislative assembly meeting took place at the Edmonton Thistle Curling Arena on March 6, 1906, in front of thousands. It was subsequently moved to the third floor of the McKay Avenue School, until the magnificent Alberta Legislature building was completed in 1913.”

After Roxy’s brief history lesson, Uncle Bob took out a stopwatch and gave it to Ray. “Don’t forget,” he told the twins, “you absolutely must start the watch the minute you arrive in 1905.”

If they did not return to the hotel room within two hours, they would be lost in 1905 forever! Bob handed Roxy the reinforced bag containing the magical, razor-sharp dinosaur tooth and translated note. He warned them that it was only to be used in an absolute emergency because, if used improperly, it could be fatally dangerous! 

After breakfast, the group returned to their room and changed into their heritage clothes.

When everyone was ready, Uncle Bob placed the time machine on the round coffee table. He carefully unwrapped the large magical egg and placed it on the down-filled pillow beside the table.

At that point, Bob voiced some second thoughts, wondering whether he should join them on their big adventure. They assured him that they’d be fine. But just to be safe, they agreed that Jasper would accompany them. He was, after all, a veteran time traveller.

Uncle Bob went over the plan one more time. When the twins were gone, he would pack up and drive to Calgary the next day. He would register in the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, which was built in 1914 by Canadian Pacific. That meant the twins could return to the present day just as they left it, in the privacy of a hotel room.

Family Day Roxy and Ray both put on their small knapsacks. Roxy’s bag contained her basketball shoes, comfortable black track suit, pajamas, and a pair of jeans, as well as her new western shirt and skirt. Ray brought jeans, pajamas, cowboy boots, a camera, and a pair of small binoculars.

Uncle Bob carefully crushed the egg, mixed in the fine sand in the required four-to-one ratio, and had Roxy attach Jasper’s leash to the machine once more. He then told Ray and Roxy that, when he gave the word, they were to grab the buffalo bones and hold on as tightly as they could for eight seconds. This was no problem for Family Day Ray: eight seconds was how long he needed to stay on a bull in a rodeo!

Everyone was ready and held their breath in anticipation. Uncle Bob took a deep breath and shouted, “On your mark, get set, hold on tight.”

The twins grabbed the buffalo bones with all their might. The formula started entering the time machine through the quarter-inch hole in the beaver pelt, and Ray and Roxy suddenly felt a sharp tickling sensation up and down their ribs and spine. They both laughed and yelled, “Yee haw!”

Then, as fast as you can spell Alberta backwards, they disappeared.