Chapter 12

Hello, everyone, my name is David McTavish, the younger brother of Martin McTavish. You may know me from my brother’s adventures.

He wasn’t the only one who did it. He decided that he had feelings for his sister, Linda. If you knew the two of them, you may understand that, despite it being taboo in most of the civilized world

Brother Sister, Mother Son, Daddy Daughter, along with many more derivations also fall into the taboo called incest.

Guess what, I am 51 and have a strong feeling of either lust or love for my father’s sister. Yeah, that kind of thing just slaps you across the face doesn’t it?

So, the story continues, with me David, now telling the story. The Time Machine Golf Cart is still in the basement of Dr. Emmett Huckabee.

It’s late 2012, I’m 51 years old, retired with a hot wife named Julia, with no kids.

The details of how the Time Machine works I never fully learned, but I finally convinced my big brother to take me to it.

“Hello, Martin – is this your brother?” Doc asked after opening the door to the two of us.

“Yeah, I did my best to explain what was going on, but he insisted on seeing the Time Machine up close and personal, for himself,” my older brother said a bit condescendingly.

Marty showed me the controls, how to read the information, then took me on a trip - to April 12^th, 1954 at 5am!

We seemed to lose the vision of the basement and from what Marty told me we were on top of the property that we were in the basement of scant moments before. I looked over at him to remind myself how he looked, then unbuckled the seat belt and got out. So, did Martin.

“Oh god – it’s all true, I see Danny Hilts when I look at you, big brother. So ... we’re in 1954 – I guess the housing development hadn’t got here yet. You understand this better than I, lead on!”

As we walked towards the home we both were born and grew up in I looked back and saw the Time Machine go invisible, just like Marty said it would.

“Aren’t we going to run into you and Linda?” I asked.

“No, we’re here after we’d left, just don’t make too much noise?” he said to me as we skulked to our own house.

He took me to around the back of the house and showed me Aunt Susan at 14, holding little Martin and singing to him. Wow, what a looker Susan was back then. She was already stunning, with her short style blonde hair and pretty brown eyes.

It was growing lighter quickly so we used Docs Remote and got ourselves back to the Machine where Marty let me get us back the present.

“Holy Shit, Martin – that is just about the coolest thing that I have ever seen,” I said.

“Hello gentlemen,” Doc Huckabee said, “How was it, David – everything your brother said?”

“Doc, I’m still shaking – could you try again to explain this to me and talk to me like I’m only 10 years old, please?” I asked. They both chuckled, Marty gave me a slight slap on my back.

With much patience, Doc, with the occasional smart-ass remark from my brother explained the ‘Electrinos,’ which started to make some sense to my 51-year-old brain.

After he was through, I asked, “May I used the machine, Doc Huckabee – not for anything devious. I’d like to meet some family from the past?”

“While your brother used it rather willy-nilly I have some reasonable ground rules for its use nowadays,” Doc said.

“I understand,” I remarked seeing Martin glance at my wide-eyed wonder.

“First, if you go ahead in time, I want to hear none of it – I want my future to be at my own pace, got that!”

“Absolutely, Sir!”

“Second, do you understand how to read the time used portion of the screen?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Show me, change it to time remaining, as opposed to time used?”

I pressed a few buttons and it came up to “88,271:31:44” with the seconds and hundredths frozen in place.

“Very good, David - you officially know more about it then your older brother does!” Doc said with a laugh.

“Any more rules and regulations, Doc?” I asked.

“Yes, one more – there will be a fee for usage ... for either of you. I trust you - so payment can be after the fact, but I have a meter built in now – that only I can access, that will charge you $20 for every 3 hours you use it. Also, I suspect that when the usage approaches 10 percent of the available time left, there may be something of a ‘hiccough’ that happens. That’s about 65 hours of usage from now – Be warned!”

Martin asked, “What brought on the fee idea, did I really abuse my privileges, Doc?”

“Not really, I need some funding for my next project – ‘Electrinos’ don’t grow on trees, you know,” he said chuckling at his uber geek joke.

“Linda’s expecting me home Davey – are you ready to go?” my big brother exhorted.

“Go on ahead, I’ll meet you in the car – I have something to ask Doc,” I said.

As he went up the stairs, I stepped to Doc, “Do you want me to only use it when you are here?”

“I have trusted two McTavish’s already – there isn’t a problem, anything else?”

“Is there any logistical problem going back before the year 1900?”

“No, what is there that far back to see?” Doc asked.

“I promised Aunt Susan, I would take her to see her grandparents,” I said.

“There shouldn’t be a problem with that – although no one had yet gone that far back yet – Here’s a key for the front door and your own remote for your use. Now go, your brother has plans!”

After shaking his hand and getting up the stairs and into the car, Martin took me home then accelerated quickly to get home to Linda.

As I lay in bed that night, I was thinking about what name I’d use when I started jet setting through time – Douglas sounds good, yeah Douglas Goode!

The next morning, I went over and found Doc at home!

“Bright and early, aren’t we David?” he said opening the door. He walked me down to his basement. “Go ahead, I know you are anxious to try it out, when are you going?”

“To the year 1965,” I declared.

“Any specific reason for that?” he persisted.

“Not really, Linda would be 8, Martin 11 – I think my Aunt Susan was still helping with things,” I remarked as casually as I could.

“Don’t tell me that you’re going to hit on your own Aunt?” he said figuring me out.

“Well, she’d be 25. I’m going to be Douglas Goode – 18 years old...”

“That wasn’t the time when guys approached girls that much older than them, why don’t you try... 1958 instead – you are going to look 18, she ‘was’ 18!”

“Doc...”

“I’m not here to be your conscience -- after all of your brother’s trips to get his sister, I can still be your ‘Jiminy Cricket!’”

“Who?”

Rolling his eyes, Doc said, “Never mind, buckle up and have a nice trip, Douglas.”

At that exact moment, my phone rang.

“Hi, Honey?”

“Hey, David – where are you?” Julia asked.

“I’m running some errands – I’ll be back in 30 minutes, OK?”

“Fine, I got up and you were gone – just checking ... Love you!” she said.

“I love you, too,” I replied.

I heard Doc chuckling something about ‘That’s how it started with Martin?’

I entered the date and time, ‘June 7, 1958 2pm’ and pressed GO!

MCMLVIII (1958)
A gallon of gas costs 25 cents
Average apt monthly rent $92
The microchip was being developed
The US launches the Explorer I satellite
The United Arab was created (Syria & Egypt)
Sputnik 3 was launched
The World’s Fair takes place in Brussels
Munich Air disaster occurs, killing 23
Toyota and Datsun cars go on sale in the US
Iraq becomes a Republic after a military coup
Pope John XXIII become 262^nd Pontiff

Fortunately, Doc’s house wasn’t built yet, but there were houses on the same block now, none close. I am going to use the time-honored ‘I lost my dog,’ to get past the front door.

I personally didn’t like doorbells. I knocked, and an 18-year-old Susan opened the door. “Hello, can I help you?”

“Excuse me, my name is Douglas – my dog ‘Ruffles’ is loose and lost somewhere in the neighborhood. Have you seen a medium sized brown dog with big floppy ears around here at all?”

“I’m sorry – it sounds like you really miss him. It’s awfully warm out, come on in for a drink of water – my name is Susan ... Susan McTavish.”

She let me in, the house was the same, only the wallpaper was different.

“Well, who’s this handsome young man?” my mom Lorraine came out to ask.

“Excuse me ma’am, my name is Douglas Goode. Susan here asked me in to have a glass of water. I have been looking for my dog, Scruffy for two hours in the heat – I hope nothing’s happened to him. I have had him since I was nine years old...”

“I thought you said his name was Ruffles?” Susan said.

Damn! Marty told me to keep my lies easy to remember, “Well, everybody else calls him Ruffles, when he used to climb up on my bed to rest, I started calling him Scruffy – he’s too old to get up on my bed anymore.” I started to cry a little, not intentionally.

I felt an arm on my back, “Come sit down, Douglas, it sounds like you miss him – like he might already be gone. Lorraine, could you get him a big glass of water, please?” Susan asked.

I heard a baby cry, “Well it sounds like Linda’s up,” mom said coming out of the kitchen handing me the water and heading upstairs.

“I’ll keep him company, Lorraine – take your time, it’s OK. I’m the younger sister of Lorraine’s husband George McTavish. He works all day, she doesn’t – they have two kids, Martin – who turns four next month, and Linda who is less than a year old. They have said they are all through having kids, but I think she wants one more – another little girl maybe.”

“This is great water – tastes pretty good, I have always liked it from the tap better than bottled water,” I said.

“What do you mean, bottled water?” she asked.

That is what you get for winging it, Davey!

“I just meant, wouldn’t it be nice if someone were to take regular old water, clean out all of the impurities, then bottle it up and sell it that way.”

Just as I was finished taking a big drink of water – Little Martin got in between us and laughed at us. Susan picked him up in her arms and he said, “I wubbu Susu!”

I had no idea that she was such an influence on everyone in the family. I didn’t come along until 1961, and I don’t remember much about my real early youth.

“Douglas, would you like some help looking for your dog?” she asked putting Marty down between us.

“I’m not quite ready to go back out, something in here is a lot nicer than out there,” I said.

She giggled and said, “That’s OK, I’m not kicking you out. If you would like to stay for dinner, Lorraine just learned a new recipe for Chicken and Noodles last month. It’s become everybody’s favorite. George won’t be home for a while, is there anything you would like to do while we wait?”

Dammit – I was worried she might ask me something like that? I could really fall in love with this beauty. I also need to prepare myself better before any more trips to the past, or the future.

I took her hand and said, “Do you have a boyfriend, Susan?”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t right now – I seem to have the worst luck with boys, the ones I like don’t like me and the ones who like me, I don’t care much for!”

“Well, I know that we just met, but I like you?” I said gripping her hand.

“Douglas, to tell the truth – I kind of like you too!” she said demurely.

That old song, ‘It’s Now or Never’ popped into my head, so I put my hand behind her left ear, and I pulled her lips to mine, and we started a kiss – I needed to remember that kisses in 1958 didn’t include the tongue – so it was just the pressure of our lips...

“I never would have thought I could get that Linda back to sleep ... oh ... excuse me – I’ll just go in the kitchen, you two,” Lorraine said.

From the other side of the door I heard, “Can you stay for dinner Douglas?”

“Sure can, Mrs. M!”

“Call your parents and make sure, OK?” she said also through the door.

I went over to the old rotary phone, dialed some numbers and put my finger on the actuator and said, “Hey Mom, it’s me Doug. No, I haven’t found him yet; I’m over six blocks from home. No, everyone has been very nice – I met a family, the McTavish’s. They invited me for dinner, can I stay? Great, Gee, thanks Mom, I love you – I won’t be home too late!”