Chapter 10

Duncan steered the mule down the road that led to the town, Dillon, Colorado. A chunk of driftwood had been painted and nailed to a post indicating the line at which the town began. As if the sudden appearance of wooden structures didn’t indicate where it lay. A flat meadow surrounded by mountains all around, it was easy to see where the entire town limits ended. Chris leaned into the other girls and whispered, “This whole town eventually will be at the bottom of a lake.”

Anya glanced at Violet to see if she heard what Chris had said. Ashley bobbed her head. “We’ve,” She cleared her throat and started over. “I’ve studied many Ute findings throughout this Snake River valley. They relocated the last of them to Utah just about the same time as the town was established in 1881, as I recall.” She rolled her eyes up in thought. “But then they moved it...” She looked around. “In ‘82 ... to here, I suppose.” Her voice faded as the reality of when they were set in a little firmer.

Chris leaned further into the group of women. Tipped her head toward Violet and whispered. “She mentioned the town was named after Tom Dillon, but my research indicated the town was named for Sidney Dillon, as a way to flatter and encourage the Rail Exec to build the railway through the original location near Snake River, but he built the rails through Ten Mile Canyon, instead. Then, the founders—” She glanced at Violet and Duncan, who were visiting between themselves and hopefully not hearing any of this conversation.

Chris continued. “—moved the town again to be where the Denver line would go through the town also.” She perused the landscape. Seeing two rail lines converging at its center, she nodded. “I think ... this is the third location where the town was moved to.”

Nikki whispered. “She said the town had been moved.”

Chris looked out across the town. “Yeah, I think this is the valley where they settled it until later in the twentieth century when the area will be” — she lowered her voice even more— “flooded to make a lake. It’ll be moved again in 1961, board by board. Some of these buildings will be left at the bottom of the lake.”

Ashley brightened, “Yeah, my dad was invited to do a scuba exploration of the lake in the 70s.”

One thing Anya knew from her experience obtained by watching Star Gate, The Butterfly Effect, and other sci-fi movies about time travel, was to never, ever tell people about their future. Violet hadn’t turned around, so Anya could assume she had not heard, but all the same ... Anya frowned at Chris and Ashley shaking her head. “Don’t,” was all she said to them.

The girls leaned back from her, nonchalantly as if the information was their secret to protect now that it had been shared.

A large, thick-armed man stepped out of what might have been a blacksmith’s shop. He had a sheen across his exposed skin of soot and sweat. He eyed the wagon as Duncan drove by, then smiled. His smile unnerved Anya, but Chris sat up straighter and tucked her hair behind her ear. Was she intrigued by this behemoth blacksmith?

Violet turned to the girls. “That’s our mayor, Montgomery S. Anders.” She indicated the blacksmith with a smile and a nod of salutation to him. “Don’t let his size or dirty demeanor fool ya. He’s very intelligent. That’s why he’s our mayor, I suppose.” She glanced at Duncan for agreement. He nodded.

The large mayor returned her gesture and ducked back into his shop. Chris continued to stare longingly at the door where the man had been. Anya turned from Chris’s odd behavior to see where they were going.

Soon, they stopped in front of a home with a large Victorian porch. Two-story windows made the house look as though it was wide-eyed and open-mouthed in surprise. Anya stared at the place. Violet let Duncan help her down, then moved to the end of the wagon, to help the girls out. “This is Duncan’s Aunt Jean’s home, a dear friend of mine besides. It’s also a boarding house, so you’ll be safe, and, I hope, comfortable until you get back on your feet.” She smiled sweetly.