Chapter 6

The sun was just sending a little light through the window that faced my bed when I woke. The sound of George's pickup coming down my gravel road was the first thing I heard. There was no mistaking it. I knew it was George, but I'd have been happy to hear any truck or even anything I thought was modern.

I dragged yesterday's Levis up to my waist, strapped on my web belt, and headed for the door. I was almost beside myself waiting for him to get stopped and into the house, and I'd completely forgotten about Meka for a minute.

George had the funniest look on his face as he came toward the door; it was almost like he was afraid of what I might say to him. I, on the other hand, was shickled titless to see my new old friend.

"Come in this house and let me get some coffee on," I said, as he reached the door.

I turned toward the kitchen and the first thing I noticed was Meka, sitting up in bed in the smallest T-shirt I'd been able to find. It was hideously large on her but eminently more suitable for nightwear than her buckskin dress. Her expression was priceless though, because she could not believe it when George walked in.

It surprised George so much that he actually took off his felt cowboy hat like Ethel always made him do in his own house. I could see that Meka was trying to hold back a smile and I turned around to look at George.

He was even more surprised than Meka had been, and I finally heard her lose it and giggle. George did look funny with his hat in his hand and his mouth hanging open.

Meka hopped out of bed and scampered toward the bathroom. It was always her first move after she woke. I hadn't figured out yet whether she really needed to pee first thing in the morning, or if she just did it because it was her first chance to play with the toilet for the day.

George had reeled his hanging jaw back into place by now, so I hoped he could pay attention.

"Tell me George, why does it seem like you may know more about what just happened to me than I do?" I asked.

"Because I do know a little bit about it, but before you tear a strip off me, I couldn't tell you about it even though I wanted to," he said.

"You might have been able to. Now that I know some of it at least, I'm not sure I didn't like it. I don't think you had to trick me into it," I said.

"It isn't like that, John. I'd never have tricked you into anything if I could have helped it. It's kind of a long story but though the details are always different every time it's basically the same.

"For some reason, none of us can say a peep about it before the new one's first trip. We simply can't get anything out of our mouths about it," he said.

"Wow, that is big. Do you mean you can't even speak if you try?" I asked.

"Not exactly. It's like we can't even think up anything to say about it," he said.

"Then why did you looked so surprised when you saw Meka was here with me now. If you know something about where I've been," I said.

"The most I know, or think I know, is that you've been back in time from now. I don't know where, I don't know when, I don't know why, and I don't know how. If Meka is the little girl's name, I'm surprised because - from the first - no one extra has ever come back.

"There have been a couple of times that no one at all came back, but there's never been anyone to come back that didn't leave," George said.

I could tell that he was trying to answer my questions now without bothering me with any of his own yet. I guess that was polite, but though there was a lot I wanted to know, I was too happy about being back where I belonged to think about questions just now.

Meka came out of the bathroom then, with her buckskin dress on, still smiling. I'm not sure whether she was still delighted to see George or was just happy that she'd been able to flush the toilet six times without me protesting.

"Meka, this is George," I said, pointing to him.

"George," she said, getting it right on the first try.

"George, this is Meka," I said, finishing the introduction.

"I'm pleased to meet you, ma'am," George said.

Meka must have thought George had misheard me, because she repeated, "Meka."

George looked slightly puzzled and then looked at me.

"Say her name, George. She thinks you can't pronounce it right. She doesn't know who ma'am is and she doesn't speak English, yet?" I said.

"Meka," he said, smiling at her.

"Why can't she speak English?" George asked, before thinking it through, I'm sure.

"I'm pretty sure Meka is a Caddo Indian, and none of them could speak any English. Not while I was with them at least," I said, teasing him just a little.

"Well, if you'd put your time travelin' shirt on, me and Meka might let you go to breakfast up at the house with us," George said, getting his own shot in.

I did as he asked, and was happy to, then the three of us headed outside. George came with us to feed Joe Bob and the boys and then we went to his pickup.

It was new and wonderful for Meka, since I'd never even shown her my pickup. It just hadn't come up during the afternoon we spent after all the others left. She was thrilled with George's fifty-six Chevy though, and thunderstruck when we pulled up behind his house.

Meka didn't know which way to look first. I'm sure all the buildings were exciting for her, but when we headed into the house she got a little timid, probably from hearing the strange voices inside.

I can tell you now that Sprint doesn't know shit about a pin dropping. Meka brought utter silence to the room and the whole crowd was there for breakfast, except Chris. He still hadn't made it to a breakfast yet. He'd probably been a slow learner in school too.

"Don't let nothin' burn while you're a gawkin', Ethel," George said, after a few seconds.

She gave him a dirty look and then checked the stove in spite of herself. When she turned back to face us, I started the introductions.

"Ethel," I said, pointing to her, "This is Meka."

I always knew women were smarter than men. Ethel repeated Meka's name without prompting.

And so it went. I hoped it wasn't too many names for Meka to remember but I was sure it probably was.

"What's the matter with her arm? Is she hurt?" Ethel asked, when we were done introducing.

"Her arm was broken by some French explorers, I think, and several others were hurt too. I set Meka's arm but that lath and the horse wrap were all I had to immobilize it. I don't know how to make a cast and didn't have anything to make it with anyway," I said, explaining.

"Are you sure you set it right?" Wanda asked.

"No, I'm not sure. I did the best I could at the time. Now that she's here, we should probably take her to the hospital, but I'm sure it will be frightening for her."

"I'll bet it won't. I'll call Doctor James and give him a piece of my mind from the first, and then have him come out. He can mind his manners if you make him," Ethel said.

For once, I couldn't believe something Ethel said, but he probably was the best of bad choices. He also knew how to keep a secret if he needed to.

We finally got calmed down enough to eat breakfast, and Meka was the star of the show whether she wanted to be or not. Ethel became her next best friend, after me, when she put down Meka's plate of pancakes.

Ethel slathered them in butter and then did her best to drown them in Maple syrup. She had to show Meka how to use a fork but the girl was a fast learner and she gave the pancakes hell after she got started. When Ethel produced a big glass of milk for her, I'm afraid my stock might have slipped a bit. I wasn't worried though, I knew Coca-Cola would make everything right again.

Of course everyone tried to talk to Meka, and she was very polite about it. Whatever they asked or said, she listened patiently and then repeated their name as a reply. I was surprised that she got them all correct.

"Did I mention that Meka doesn't speak or understand English?" I finally asked the table at large.

They were not deterred and neither was Meka. She even knew not to talk with her mouth full and it made her an even bigger hit with Wanda. Hell, Chuck and Dave weren't fully comfortable with that process yet.

After breakfast, Ethel was on the horn to Doctor James right away. I don't know what she told him, but when she hung up, she said he and his long time nurse would be coming out to look Meka over.

"Won't he need to X-ray her arm?" George asked.

"I asked him, but he said if it was just a simple break, whatever that means, that it would be hard to foul up setting it. And he said that if it isn't, it won't be hard to tell," she said.

"I don't mean to pry, but what did you tell him to get him out here instead of us having to take Meka to his clinic?" I asked.

"I told him she was a young Mexican orphan that we'd been able to adopt, kinda," she said, grinning.

"That'll work," George said, "He's always thought he 'as too good to learn Spanish. It's finally come in handy, besides, he's probably got over fifty Mexican citizens - still wearing wet clothes - working on his ranches. I'm sure more than a few of them don't have all their paperwork ducks in a row."

"He probably won't think to ask any questions anyway," Ethel said, and she seemed pretty sure of herself.

I was a little worried, but not too much, and it turned out that Ethel had hit it on the head. Neither Doctor James nor his old nurse asked any unusual questions. Everything seemed normal about them except their lack of curiosity, but that surely wasn't normal for the Doctor I knew.

I couldn't gripe. He was gentle with Meka and when she gave him a smile he returned an even bigger one, and gave her a short laugh that sounded like it had come from a big friendly bear, if there is such a thing.

He'd even brought all the fixings for a cast and didn't bully Ethel much when he made her let the nurse prepare things using the stove to boil the water. Before they were gone, Meka was proud of the bright white cast she was sporting, even if it did cover her elbow now too.

She adored the sling Ethel made for her from several bright red bandanas George was never going to get to use anymore. I don't think I've seen or even heard of a child so happy about a broken arm.

After the doctor left, Ethel and Wanda took Meka into the bathroom for a bath and a shampoo, wrapping a trash bag around her new cast first. Occasionally George and I could hear her squealing with delight. Everyone else - except Carolyn and Geneva who were working in the kitchen - was off taking care of business.

"Well George, did you and Bob get the new printer here and working?" I asked.

"Not yet, we barely got it ordered yesterday?" he said.

"Oh, you were working on that over a week ago. I'm not complaining or anything, it was Ethel that had to have it, but it seemed like it was closer to the front burner when I was here last," I said.

"That's another thing that'll be strange for ya," he said.

"What is?"

"For us, it was last night that we were down to your house and Ethel was teaching ya to make biscuits," he said.

I just stared at him.

"Believe me, that's how it always is. You didn't have no way of knowing, and we couldn't tell ya, but we waited around out at the county road 'til ya was gone. One minute the house was there and the next there was a big circle of giant yellow pines where you'd been. We knowed they'd be gone and you'd be back afore morning though," he said.

"That's as strange as everything else, stranger even. I was there for more than a week," I said.

"That's the way it's always been though, and I don't think the house will come back without you, if you're still alive. Unless you just don't intend to come back. They have ways of letting you know when it's time," he said.

"I'm just wondering who They is," I said.

"I did for a while, but I'm glad I don't know now. Ain't nothin' I can do about it anyway," he said.

"I guess you've talked to others that have been and come back then?" I asked.

"Yep. And most of 'em haven't been none the worse for wear. One guy was plumb loco when he got back after his first trip, and he never did get over it. We had to call the law, and they came and kept him from doing anything too stupid until an ambulance got out here to pick him up.

"The only other one that got fouled up was barely alive when he came back, he'd been tortured some and cut up more, but I was afraid something like that was going to happen to him.

"He was dead set against guns or any type of weapons. He liked to go on about always being able to talk things over and come to an understandin' - I think whoever he ran into understood without any talking.

"We just gave him a nice burial out in the woods and damned little was ever asked about him disappearing. The sheriff didn't ask as many questions as I'd a figured he would have.

"Two different men didn't come back at all. I don't know if they got killed, captured, or just didn't want to come back," George said.

"Was it during their first trip?" I asked.

"No, one had been off three times before, and he loved it. The other one had been once before and when he came back it seemed he was put out that he had, he didn't come back from his next trip," George said.

"I'm not mad or anything, but why did you pick me this time?" I asked.

"I didn't. You called me about the land remember. It was already priced and on the market. It's like I said, we can't even think about saying anything about t'other until after someone's been on one trip. Most of 'em can't ever figure that out, but the ones that hang around after the first time all seem to get it straight," he said.

"Well I'm going to stay put, if you'll let me," I said.

"If we'll let you? It's your land now and even if it wasn't we're happy as hell that you're here. That girl comin' back with ya shows that whoever's runnin' this thing must like ya.

"I know something else too, bout the girl that is, Ethel'd run me off before she'd let you get away now. She's always wanted a little girl and damned if you didn't bring one back, and on the first trip too. Your stock ain't only high with her now, I think it's split three for one," he said, laughing.