Chapter 3

I considered what I was seeing, for a few minutes. The evidence of my eyes said there was no snow. I had dug piles of it, with considerable effort, at this very entrance, less than an hour ago! Now... Nothing. I cautiously looked around. I listened and sniffed for smells. People seldom realize the power of smell.

I saw hoof prints on the ground, and knelt to consider them. There had been two horses here, not long ago. I took off my left glove and felt some horse dung with my left hand. It was still moist, which meant it was not more then a few hours old.

I smelled wood smoke, faintly, in the air. Someone had a fire going somewhere nearby. As a matter of fact, it was coming from the direction of my house. There was no fire in my fireplace, so it couldn't be that... could it?

Still, I cautiously made my way towards my place, after re-gloving my left hand. I pulled my cap on over my head. I resettled the earflaps, leaving my ears clear so I could hear the smallest sounds and react to them. I had automatically pulled the cap down over them to keep warm, after exiting the cave.

I heard a voice, and the lowing of a cow. Then I heard a horse neighing as I got closer to my house. What the hell was going on, anyway?

I was starting to get the idea of something wild, but I shied away from it, as being totally impossible. No, it couldn't be what I was now considering. That would be totally impossible! Totally! What I was starting to think, could not happen...

Could it?

I clamped down on my imagination, and kept heading back to my place.

I was being extremely cautious though, which turned out to be a good thing. There was smoke was coming from my place, after all. The cow sounds, and horse noises were there, also.

People were living in my house, and it looked different! The carport I had added was gone, and the fireplace had changed. The barn had a sort of corral built around it, and a horse was standing in the corral, as well as a milk cow.

The gravel road I had added was gone.

The smoke house was actively being used, and the chicken coop was looking like new!

I observed all this while carefully remaining hidden. What the hell was going on? If I didn't know it was impossible, I would have said I had stepped right into the past.

The more I saw, though, the more I was convinced that this was exactly what had happened. But how? What was the mechanism?

Just then a door opened at the back of the farmhouse. A woman came out, dressed in a much patched looking dress of some sort. She went quickly to a pit and dumped a few items into it, then ran back to the house.

I saw a piece of paper fluttering in the slight breeze, and decided to see if I couldn't get a look at it.

I waited a few minutes, and then went next to the barn. I kept it between myself, and the house. I looked carefully around the edge of the barn, and saw that the coast was clear.

I made my way to the trash pit, grabbed the paper, and got out of there.

It was a newspaper!

I made sure I was out of sight of the house, before I looked the paper over. First thing I noticed was the date.

August 4th, 1877.

Yet more evidence that I had somehow stepped back into time. That warrant had been for a later date, so this paper was old. Hell, the weather told me that.

The top story was about a murder committed by a Bill Jacobson. The local town Sheriff, Tom Haydon, was applying for a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Jacobson. I wondered if that was the sheriff, who I had found dead in the cave.

I also read the rest of the paper. It was very informative as to what was happening, locally. Some woman was selling eggs at eight cents a dozen. I didn't know if that was considered expensive or cheap for the area. Personally I thought eight cents was very cheap.

A special election was going to happen on October the fifth, to replace a councilman who had died while in office. Turn out was predicted to be a landslide for Jim Pressman, a local parson.

The Emporium was announcing its doors would open for business in two weeks. This had to be the same Emporium that I went to, whenever I was in town!

While I read the rest of the paper, nothing struck me as memorable, just those first few stories. I folded the paper and put it in my fatigue pants pocket. I withdrew, and then made good time back to the cave, still keeping a wary eye out.

I was now ready to go back into the past for a slightly more extended period, at least I thought so. I had gone into town and traded one of the twenty dollar gold double eagles I had taken from the sheriff's body for a replica Winchester, and Colt. I had also received a holster and some ammunition.

It was a fair deal, I thought, though I did have to pay a bit of modern cash to boot. I got those items from the owner of the Emporium. He dealt in all manner of items. He also had a damned good restaurant/bar on the premises.

I was dressed in some old comfortable field boots, Levi pants, and a flannel shirt. I had on an old coat. My clothes might look a little out of place here, maybe; but they should blend in, for the most part, in the past. At least I would not stand out as totally strange. I also had the remaining money: a gold double eagle, two silver dollars, the three dimes and a quarter.

I hoped that twenty-two dollars and fifty-five cents would last a while in the Wolf Creek of 1877. It should if I watched my expenditures. Who knows, I might even get a job and be able to stay a while! The thought was exciting.

I had moved the body of the sheriff to the "past" section of the cave. I left it near the entrance, where it was a little cooler. It wasn't freezing, but still, it should keep the decomposing down a good bit. I hoped the body would still be there but there was no telling if anyone close by knew about the cave, or not.

I ate a good meal before I left, and made sure my house was set for an extended absence.

I also called the local Sheriff's office, and told them I would be gone for a few days, or perhaps a few weeks. I asked if a deputy might be sent to look my house over from time to time. They agreed. Small town police rocked, as far as I was concerned.