Carl crept out of the room while Beth slept quietly. Still dark out, the only light came from the glow of the fire still burning in the fireplace and a candle by the stove. Thomas and the chief sat at the table eating breakfast while Helen stood over a simmering pot stirring something.
“Good morning,” Thomas said as Carl approached them. “Come have some cooked oats and tea.”
He rubbed his eyes with a fisted hand and took a seat at the table. “Have you milked the cow already?” Helen hurried over with a bowl of steaming hot cereal. “You didn’t wake me,” Carl said.
“The good chief here offered to help, so there was no need to call upon you this time. Besides, I think you and your lady will be going along with him today, and I thought you’d need all the rest you could get.”
“Yes,” Carl faced the chief. “We hope you will help us get back to where we belong. I’d like to talk to you about it.”
“We will talk after we eat,” Chief Paul told him as he held a cup to his mouth.
“I want to explain to you, where we need to go and it may take some convincing.”
“Uh,” the chief uttered as he drank.
They all turned their heads when they heard the bedroom door open and watched Beth emerge from the room, dressed in the clothes loaned to her.
“There she is,” Helen noted. “Come eat while it’s still hot.”
Beth moseyed over to the table, eyes fixed on the chief.
The cooked oats with sweet milk and honey really hit the spot. “I’ve packed up some dried meats and fruits for your journey,” Helen told them as she reached for the bowls on the table to clear them off. “Thomas has some rum for you, and I want you to take a little note with you to give to the person who sent me this wonderful shawl.” She set an open hand on it and smoothed it down to her waist. “I just love it.”
Carl went outside with the chief to have the talk he so waited for. The morning was brisk but not the freezing cold it had been. With a slow sweeping breeze to ruffle all the fallen red and orange leaves on the ground, it seemed like it would be a rather a pleasant day for traveling.
“My wife and I come from another time, a time in the future. Can you understand what this means?” Carl examined the expression on the chief’s face with interest.
“You come here under your own control?” Chief Paul asked.
“No, we had no idea why we ended up here in this year and this place. We were having a weekend at our cabin in campgrounds at the Catskill Mountains and suddenly here we are.” Carl went on to tell him what had happened and how they ended up at the farm. “We were told you could help us get back to our own time, our place in the future. I hope this is true and you can help us.”
The chief walked around on the long wood planked porch holding a hand cupped around his chin and then came back to Carl. “I know a place where you can go back. We will need to go today and not waste any time. This place is not always there, only when the sun is where it is right now. So tell your wife to prepare to leave, and we will be on our way.”
“You speak such good English; may I ask why?”
“My mother was not Indian; she was from England. I spent much of my younger years there with her while my father stayed here in America with his tribe. They are both gone now, and I’ve made this country my home with my American family, but I do respect the tribe of my father.”
Beth sat at the table as the two men entered the cabin. Her eyes filled with questions she stared up at her husband with wonder of what would happen now. She rose from her chair and waited for him to tell her. Carl came to her, a smile on his face.
“Sit down. I want to tell you what’s been decided.” He took the chair next to her. “We will be leaving today with the chief. He says he can help us but it has to be soon, some idea about the sun and weather. We’re going back, Beth. We’re going home.”
She grabbed his hand. “Are you sure?” Tears burned in her eyes.
“Yes, I think so. He seems to think he can help us, but I don’t yet know how. He didn’t say. All I know, is we have to go with him and trust he knows what he’s doing.”
“What time do we leave?”
“As soon as we can be ready and he has had time to secure his things. We need to put on our own clothes and leave everything else here. Can’t take anything with us… This is what he told me.”
Helen overheard them and came up to her guests that she had grown fond of. “I take it you will be going off, then. I’ll miss having you here, but I know how much you want to go home. I would like to give you a token of your stay here, but you say you’re not allowed.” She put a hand on Beth’s shoulder. “I hope you will always remember your visit here. I know I will never forget you.”
Beth reached up and covered her hand with hers. “I will never forget, Helen. I can’t thank you enough for all you and your husband have done for us.” The tears spilled. Beth tried to hold back, but she lost control and let the tears fall. Emotions ran high as the two women embraced. For Beth, it was joy of going home and sorrow for leaving the people who were so kind to them; for Helen, a sense of loss.
Helen hurried around the kitchen area, preparing a last meal for her guests. Wanting to please them completely, she also brought down her fine china from the top shelf of her pantry. This was her way of saying good-bye with love.
Carl helped Thomas out in the barn for the last time as a final gesture of gratitude. “I’m going to miss this place,” Carl told him as they baled hay into the horse’s stalls. “It’s been a real experience for me and for Beth.”
“It’s been a delight to have you folks here, and also a great wonder for me and Helen. I’ll never understand this future place you say you’ve come from, but I hope you make it back and are happy there.” Thomas gave Carl a pat on his shoulder.
Chief Paul went down to the river to wash off some of the trail dirt while his soldier companion took care of feeding and watering the horses. Two of Thomas’s horses were readied for the lost couple to ride on their journey to a place unknown to them, a place to help them back to the future and their lives, their home.
“This is so good, Helen,” remarked Carl as they all sat at the table enjoying the meal she prepared for them. “You sure know how to fix a meatless plate of food that tastes wonderful.”
“Its corn, cheese, dried beans with chestnuts, and my bread,” she said with a proud tone in her voice. “I’m happy you like it.”
Topped off with rum, the men held their cups in a kind of salute to each other as the women began to clear the table. It was time to get ready to leave.
In the bedroom, Carl opened the dresser drawer where their clothes were stored and placed them on the bed. “I’ll be glad to get into my own clothes, Tom’s things hung on me like old rags.”
Beth slipped the blouse up over her head and dropped the long skirt to the floor. “I wonder why we can’t take something with us. You know a small token of our stay here, something to remember all of it.”
“I’m not sure I want to remember it, but I guess they don’t want us to have anything from here, at least this is how I think the chief feels about it.”
“Well, I guess we’ll soon find out why. The chief was very decisive about it. Anyway, what would we take? These people have so little, I’d be ashamed to take anything from them.”
“Carl,” Beth paused at the door and stopped him from opening it, “Do you really think Chief Paul can help us get back?”
“I sure hope so.” He took her hand. “Come on; let’s get out there.”
Chief Paul stood by the fireplace talking to Thomas. “I won’t be back this way for some time. The war is far from over. I’ll be returning to the men once I’ve had time with my family.” He put a hand on Thomas’s shoulders. “You serve as a comfort to so many when they need rest and a place to come while things are at a standstill, but it never really ends. Our last battle marked a great triumph to the cause and will be a stepping stone to total victory. The men in Congress are planning on that.”
“I have no doubt we will succeed, especially with men like you on our side. Take care, my friend, and we hope to see you soon.” Thomas reached for the chief’s strong arm and gave it a light squeeze. “God be with you.”
Helen approached Beth with tear-filled eyes and hugged her. “I won’t forget you. Please be careful, and be happy.” Beth hugged her back and kissed her cheek.
Outside, the sun beat down through the trees, offering a warmer fall day for them to travel. Carl helped Beth up on her ride while the chief and his soldier mounted their horses. One last wave as Carl sat tall on his mount and they were off.
The trail was clear and dry as they rode off into the depth of the forest. Thomas and Helen stood on the front porch watching them go.
Beth promised herself she wouldn’t complain about her bottom this time, even if it throbbed with pain from the backbone of the horse beneath her. When did they have saddles around here? she thought as she bounced up and down as the horses pranced along in unity.
Chief Paul led the way, with the soldier named Joseph following at the rear, leaving Beth and Carl between them. Nothing was said while they traveled through the vast wilderness for over an hour to a clearing where the chief stopped and dismounted. “We take a rest here before going on,” he announced.
Beth was happy to get down, to have her feet on the ground and give her bottom a well-needed rest, hopefully to restore it from the rude abuse it took. Carl led her to a large flat rock for her to rest her sore body then he joined her sitting close next to her. “I wonder where and how long it will be before we get there,” he mentioned as he watched the chief adjust the blankets on his horse. “He doesn’t say much about this. It makes me a bit nervous.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. I have my doubts he will be able to send us or tell us how to get back, but I guess we’ll see, and I hope it won’t be long. This ride is killing me. Oops, I wasn’t going to complain. Oh, well.”
“They say he has some kind of superpower of a sort, something in the realm of the paranormal. I don’t understand all that stuff, so this may be a real adventure for me.”
“Even though I’ve read a lot about several kinds of weird things that can and do happen, I still wonder about this,” Beth said as she slid off the rock when the chief waved for them to come back to the horses. Within minutes they were back on the trail, the chief once again leading the way.
The afternoon was slipping away. The sun was about to settle on the western horizon, a hazy mist forming on the ground that had Beth worried. “I hope we’re not going to spend the night out in this without some kind of cover.”
“I doubt the chief would let that happen, Beth,” Carl told her as he rode up beside her. “Take it easy. The guy knows what he’s doing…I think.”
“Oh, real encouraging you sound. Thanks a lot.”
Ahead of them appeared what looked like a high stone wall. The chief was headed right for it.
Carl went ahead of Beth to survey the area before letting her come closer. “Stay back a little, while I take a look. I’m not sure what this is.”
The chief came to a halt near the wall and dismounted. He peered over the back of his horse to speak to his companion, the faithful soldier who traveled with him most of the time. “Help them down and prepare to return their horses to the farm.”
“What is he talking about?” insisted Beth as she slid from the horse and landed safely on the ground. “How will we get around without the horses? We can’t walk anywhere. Carl? It’s all wildernesses everywhere you look. Now I’m really scared.”
“Hold on. Let’s find out what gives.” He walked up to Chief Paul, coming face to face with him. “Are you saying he should take our horses back to the farm and leave us stranded here without them?”
“No, this is the place where you will go back to your time, your home, this future you talk about. I want you to gather your wife and come with me to the wall.”
The soldier had roped the two horses to the lead on his horse and mounted, ready to leave. He called back to the chief, “I’ll see you at your home.” He waved to them then turned around to lead the horses. Carl and Beth watched him go until he was out of sight. Somewhat troubled, they looked on in awe.
The wall stood six feet tall, layered with strangely-colored, all different-shaped stones. Chief Paul stood close waving for them to come forward. “Step up to the wall and face it,” he ordered.
Carl took Beth by the hand and pulled her up to the strange structure of stones. “Don’t argue; just get up there.” Slowly they approached the wall and turned to face it. “Now what?” Carl asked.
“This is where I say good-bye to the both of you. Put your hand into the wall, and you will see how easy it will be to enter it.”
Carl hesitated for a moment, but then held his hand up to the wall, about to touch the stone when his hand went right through it. “What the—? It’s not solid. What is it?”
Beth tried to withdraw, but Carl held her hand tightly. “Carl, how can this be? I’m afraid of what’s in there.”
The chief walked up to them. “Go through it, and you will be home. Please, walk right into it, and good-bye.” He stepped back to watch.
Carl tugged at his wife until they were right up to the stones. He put his hand through first and then his foot, and before he knew it, he was entering the other side of the wall, still holding onto Beth and pulling her along with him.
The flash of sunlight reflected on his car in the driveway of their cottage struck their eyes, and they both held an open hand up to their forehead to shade the brightness it offered. Carl turned around to discover the wall was no longer there, but all the roads and buildings of the camp were laid out before them.
He tugged at Beth’s hand. “Hurry, there’s the cottage! We’re back.” Without hesitation, they ran to the side door and opened it.
Sitting on the kitchen table was Tabitha, meowing to let them know she was hungry and happy to see them. She jumped down and pranced around their feet, purring with joy. How long had they really been gone? It seemed like only minutes by the way everything looked. Even the cat acted like they had only been out that door for a short time. Surely, if it had been weeks, she’d be dead or half dead by now.
“I can’t believe this, here we are like nothing at all happened,” Beth said as she raced over to her furry friend and picked her up. As she hugged the cat, she surveyed the interior of the cottage. Everything was in its place, nothing had changed. “Carl,” she shouted. “We’re at the park!”
“Yes,” Carl replied. “We are back. We’re really back.”
“Please, Carl, let’s pack up and go back to the apartment in town. I’ve had enough of this little time-out of ours. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow here and find some other time warp waiting for us outside that door.” She pointed to the door they’d come in. “Let’s really go home.”
It only took them minutes, and they were on the highway back to the city and what they called home.
It felt good to see the city full of buildings, roads, and people driving in cars, and music on the radio. Beth turned to Carl. “Do you suppose time goes on, active and alive in another dimension?”
“I guess it’s possible, but I don’t want to even think about it. I only want to get home and forget it ever happened.”