Chapter 5

Susan and I talked mostly about nothing for a couple of minutes and then I made sure of the time for tonight's buggy ride and headed back to the livery stable. I asked Gus if he knew of any boys I could hire to help me move a few things and he told me about a widow woman with three boys and then told me where she lived. I rode out to her house and she was standing on the porch yelling at two of the boys when I drove up.

"Howdy mister. Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes mam, Mrs Jenkins, I think you might be able to. I heard in town you had some boys and I came by to see if they'd like a little job today."

"They sure would like one. What would it pay?" she asked.

"Two dollars a day each," I said, and she looked like she couldn't believe it. She yelled at them, telling them to come over and they all three came running.

"Mam, you don't happen to have a wagon I could rent at the same time do you?" I asked her.

"I sure do, and a good team too." she said, and then she gave the boys their marching orders and warned them to do just what I said. She even told the oldest one to go hitch the wagon and follow me in it.

Thirty minutes later we were at my first house and I told them to load everything here in the wagon and then drive it out to my new house. Of course they knew where it was and when I rode off they got started.

I stopped by Liverman's for pie and coffee when I got back to town and I kept sitting at the table until I saw the boys come by in the wagon. I gave them a few more minutes and then left, climbed aboard Red and headed out after them.

I caught up to them about the time they came to the gate so I unlocked it and opened it up. They rolled right up to the house, turned the chickens and rooster loose and waited while I showed them where to deliver everything else.

I paid them all three dollars each for their hard work and then told them they were done. I rode back into town and to their house. Their mother was still on the porch so I got down and asked her what I owed for the use of the wagon.

"Are you done with it already?" she asked.

"Yes, those boys of yours were good workers. They should be back any minute now."

"You don't need to pay for using the wagon then no longer than you needed it," she said.

"I'd feel better if you told me how much I owed. I didn't come over here to borrow a wagon." I said.

"Oh, I guess a dollar will do then." she said

I reached into my pocket and the smallest thing I had besides dimes and quarters was a twenty dollar gold piece so I gave it to her. She acted like she didn't want to take it, but she did finally. I said my goodbyes and left after that.

I was in time for an early lunch when I got back to town and Liverman's did me up right again. Thankfully there was no excitement today.

I still had my team and buggy out at my first house so I went out, hitched up the team, tied Red to the back of the buggy and drove it to my new house. As soon as I walked into the barn I could tell it had been modified by my friends since it was easy to see the outline of a newly installed lift in the center aisle.

"I see you've been at work here?" I said to the air.

"Yes, we've also moved your truck and trailers since we filled the other space we made back in like it was. We have also installed the means for you to move back and forth to your former timeline.

I was so excited by this knews I nearly pissed my pants. The voice told me it would work from the same lift they'd installed in the barn here at my new house.

I walked back up to the elevator and when I looked for the buttons to raise and lower the aisle lift I noticed a small unmarked button. The voice told me to just push on it and when I did a more complicated control panel opened up. It had a digital time readout with a number keypad below it. The voice broke into a short lesson about how to use it then.

To keep things simple the only way it will function is to take you back to an earlier time or to a later time up to the time you left. You cannot move into the future past the time you have actually already lived. The return button will always bring you back to the place and time you left from. In other words no time will pass here and now while you are away. You can set the time to go to, move to it, and stay as long as you like. You will always return to here and now just seconds after you left. Also, anything you place on the pad will come back with you. You can even bring people or animals back with you, but we think it would be wise if you didn't bring people back from the future to here and now. It might confuse them even though you could return them at once.

This was amazing. He was handing me the best of both worlds even with the limitations he was giving me. I set the timer for the date and time I'd left due to the shooting star incident. When I mashed the go button there was only a slight disorienting blurriness and then I was inside my barn back where I'd been. Damned if my truck and box van amd camper trailer didn't come with me. I opened the front door of the barn and drove out. It was early morning outside and I headed for town after closing the barn door behind me and unhitching the box van and camper.

I went directly to town and parked on HIram street in front of Coulter's Cafe. It hadn't been present in the old timeline of course since it had only opened about ten years ago. They made a fine breakfast here and now though and I nearly walked in without a penny in my pocket I could spend here. I knew the cure for that though. I headed for the First National Bank where I had my current account and wrote a check for cash then I went directly back to Coulter's and ordered ham and eggs with coffee.

I made it all disappear when it was delivered then I paid my way out. I had things to do and people to see. My first trip was back to the bank after taking thirty of the Gold ingots out of my camper's hidey hold. I put them in a bag and carried them into the bank where I sat in front of Milton, the banks vice president's office. When my turn came up I placed the ingots on his desk and asked him how I could turn them into money. He was amazed, but for some reason he didn't ask me any questions. He told me to just deposit them and the bank would do the rest. He did warn me the funds wouldn't be available for about a week. Hell, I had plenty of real money on deposit here anyway so I didn't care.