Chapter 4

After working for three days, I decided I wanted to buy, or rent, a house. It would ultimately be cheaper than boarding, though I really did like Mrs. Pennington. My only day off was Sunday, as that was the only day the Emporium was closed... except for cooking for the boarders in the upstairs portion, which he had rented out. Mr. Handson, the owner of the Emporium, was an astute businessman. He knew what he wanted.

My hours were from three in the afternoon until closing. The crowd never got that rowdy before the evening hours anyway. I also started eating my evening meals at the Emporium as they had a restaurant and a fine cook there.

I tried to get Mr. Handson to provide a room as well, but he wanted to deduct the price from my pay if I did that. He made a killing on his rooms, apparently. He kept a few rooms open for the seamier side of life, and had a few girls working for him. As I said, Mr. Handson was a very astute businessman.

I found a single story house, close to the center of the town, which was perfect for what I wanted. The house was selling for three hundred and fifty dollars, and came with a cooking stove, and a potbelly stove for warming the front parlor. It had a bedroom, a kitchen, a pantry, an outhouse in the backyard, a sitting room or living room, and a room I could use for storage. Small and tight, perfect for a bachelor.

Still, I would have to come up with the money. The owner wanted it sold, and would not take payments. His agent was the owner of the mercantile I had bought my clothing from. Now I had to get back to my own time, to procure the money I would need to buy the house. It had been on the market for sometime, so I was not worried about it being sold from under me.

I arranged an absence from work with my boss. He was not pleased. I told him I was going to buy a place in town, and I needed to go and get the money. He understood that, and gave me a week off. He told me that any longer than a week, and I could look for a new job. A week was not really time enough to get anywhere. Denver was the closest big city and it took about that long just to get there!

I informed Mrs. Pennington that I would be leaving the next day, and that I would not need the room for the foreseeable future. I did ask her if I could leave my valise with her, and pick it up when I returned. She was kind enough to agree. I packed all my clothing in it, and left it with her.

I got a ride out towards my 'home'. Or rather, what would be my home, in the future. The guy was turning off at a small junction and would be taking a different road, which left me about a two-mile walk in the cold, to the cave. I set a brisk pace, and before long, I had arrived.

If you have not tried to buy old coins or old paper money of the 1800's, it isn't as easy as you might think. Oh, you can buy some easily enough from dealers, but they charge far more than what it's worth.

Still, you can get what you want if you look hard enough, or get an agent to help. While the person I hired was looking into getting me my purchase of money that would be acceptable in late 1877, I started thinking of some of the peculiarities involved with time travel.

First, it seemed to be a one to one ratio. ie: one day there was one day here. It was just a totally different time. If it were October here, it was October there as well. Also, I had yet to understand the reason I had a doorway into the past in my little cave. I doubted I would ever understand.

I knew I could get any number of scientists to work on the problem for me, but I also knew as soon as the government found out about this little doorway into the past, I would be kicked off my property in a heartbeat, and the government would move in and clamp a security lid on it tighter than the Manhattan Project.

I finally converted a little over two thousand dollars in today's currency into three different types of money of the past. First I had three hundred dollars in paper money. Then I had one hundred and eighty dollars in gold double eagles, finally, I had twenty dollars in silver dollar coins.

Unfortunately, it took me eight days to get all of this gathered together at a reasonable cost to me. I could have done it faster, but it would have cost me an arm and a leg. Considering that I had laid out over thirty thousand dollars to fix up my farmhouse, and another seventy thousand to buy the ten acres plus the house and buildings, I was leery about spending more than I had too. My portfolio had taken a beating during the purchase and renovation processes.

I bought a money belt and placed all of my paper currency, and all but a few of my coins in it. I was ready to head back to the 1800's. It was a nice relaxing time in which to be, really. Things were done at a much slower pace. There was none of this 'hurry up and do it right now' attitude.

I also placed several slightly altered pill bottles into my pockets, as I had forgotten to take anything with me, last time. This time I would be a little more prepared. I took my Vicodin, some aspirin, and some vitamins.

I considered making a list of items to take back to the past with me, but first I wanted to establish a base of operations, so to speak. Still, medications were a top priority, as they did not really have much in the way of effective medications back then.

I also started thinking of things I could bring back with me, to make myself more comfortable in the past. Better lanterns for one. Wolf Creek did not have electricity or gas yet, so lighting was what I considered to be poor. I could bring better lamps back that ran on kerosene and provide myself with better lighting.