Chapter 6

Decorum dictated otherwise, but decorum be damned. I took her up in my arms, right there in the gallery, and planted one directly on her lips. She wilted a little under the weight of that kiss. A stern-faced matron in the corner was shaking her head at me when we broke. Oh well, it was worth it. We were seated just as the final vote was taken. The resolution passed and the leader of the assembly picked up a pen. He signed the document with a swirling flourish. Of those assembled, thirty eight other men also signed. We had just witnessed the adoption of the Constitution of the United States of America by Congress.

"I hope the seeds we, well, I sowed while we were here take fruit, and the thing is," she excitedly whispered "We can check as soon as we get back. Let's go."

We left the state house and climbed up in the wagon. We headed west and pulled up once more when we found a secluded grove. I unloaded the wagon and made a neat stack of our stuff. I placed the note I'd written on the seat and led the mule back to the road. A small bridge was little way ahead where I could tie the animal up. I left a coin with the note and was relatively certain that the wagon would make it back to the stable. I was back in the clearing a quick walk later. The love of my life was seated on one of the trunks, the gentle rays of the sun shimmering through her hair. I stood there watching her as she fussed with her dress and hair. She noticed me and involuntarily raised her hand in greeting. I hurried to her side.

"Are you ready to go?" I queried.

"Yes, Darling. Let's get back, I want to check on something.

The things we'd gained were roped together. Jackie sat on one of the big trunks and I sat on the other. She took my arm and nodded to me. I activated the watch.

The first thing she did was pick up the Encyclopedia Britannica and looked up the US Constitution. She read it through, along with the amendments, and let out a whoop! I took that as a good sign. I had to look too, since I'd done a little campaigning on it myself.

Starting with Article 1, Section 2: The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. No person shall serve in excess of six terms, or a lifetime total of 12 years.

Article 1, Section 3: Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies. No person shall serve in excess of two terms, or a lifetime total of 12 years.

Article 1, Section 6: The Senators and Representatives shall serve out of duty to the people and receive a Compensation for their Services, at the rate of Ten dollars per month while in attendance when Congress is in session, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They will manage their clerical staff on their own account. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Article 1, Section 8: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Expenses (Note: not Debts as originally given) and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States is expressly forbidden;

Article 1, Section 9: No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time. Congress shall enact no laws of Appropriations not supported by Revenue. A balanced budget shall be authorized by the Congress on an annual basis.

Article 2, Section 1: The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, at a rate of Twenty five dollars per month, during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Amendment 1: Recognizing that these United States are a Christian Nation, nevertheless, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a state denomination of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof any religion; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2: A well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State; (semicolon added) the right of the people to keep and bear Arms (comma removed) shall not be infringed.

Jackie looked at me with a tear in her eye. I didn't say a word; I nodded and hugged her tight. We'd done it. Our thoughts had gotten heard and the brave intelligent men added to their document words necessary to make the country a better place.

Everything we had accumulated was returned with us as I expected. Everything except the bugs, that is. I was glad for small favors. I don't know the reasoning, but I didn't care either. All the stuff we'd collected was waiting for us. We labeled the trunks after changing, removed the presents for Mom, and stored the trunks in order with the rest of them. I decided to keep the presents up here until next Saturday. That was the next day for a chance to go garage sale shopping.

"I'm hungry, let's go eat," I suggested.

Jackie took my hand and we descended the staircase. She was as hungry as I was. I was beginning to see a pattern to it. No matter how long I was, no strike that, we were gone, the time lapse here was only fifteen minutes. The longer we stayed gone, however, the hungrier we were when we returned. It was as if the energy we expended wasn't completely replenished. Not only was that true, but despite getting a good night's sleep prior to coming back uptime, we both felt more tired than ever. In fact, we stretched out on the couch once we'd eaten and drifted off holding each other in our arms.

I was floating. The scenery passed by. I recognized the visualization as periods of history playing before my eyes. I was getting a glimpse of the past as in the City on the Edge of Forever. I sensed, rather than actually felt a presence. It was female and I didn't feel threatened by it. I felt extremely comfortable in its presence, in fact. The feeling expanded to totally envelop my body. It coalesced into form. My hands began searching the source out. I now physically felt what I had heretofore sensed. My hands grazed the rounded undersides of a pair of magnificent breasts. I quickly withdrew, having trespassed on sacred ground. A feminine hand stopped mine and held me close. I felt her breathing and could tell she was happy with our situation.

"Well, it's about time," she whispered in my ear, "I was wondering if you were dead or what. I can tell by what I'm feeling you aren't."

"I was dreaming." I replied, "It was a strange dream. I was seeing glimpses of history. I was floating and couldn't feel anything. Really weird."

"Me too, Sweetie. Just like that episode of Star Trek, where Kirk and Spock go back in Earth's history to find McCoy? Joan Collins was the love interest in that one.

I just looked at Jackie in wonder. I had never known she was a Trekker. This was just getting better by the moment. I reached up with one hand, placed it behind her neck, and gently pulled her toward me. She closed her eyes and tilted her head in acceptance to what I was attempting to do.

"Hi, Honey, I'm home," Mom called out, as she entered the house through the back door. She was carrying bags, indicating she'd been shopping. We quickly jumped apart, a blush quickly forming across Jackie's face. We fumbled around a little and Mom noticed.

"Are you two behaving yourselves?" she asked. She didn't take her eyes off me as she waited for an answer.

"Of course we are, Mom. You know us. We're always good," I joked. It was a good thing she'd arrived when she did. Who knows what might have happened if she hadn't come in just now. We were trying to be good, but it was hard. (Pardon the pun)

"We took a short nap together and I had a strange dream. I was just telling Jackie about it and she said she had the same dream. Isn't that weird?"

Mom shrugged and asked us to get the rest of the bags out of the car and to bring them inside.

We sat at the kitchen table while Mom put the remainder of her purchases in the cupboard. Jackie held my hand as she had moved the chair over so she would be sitting next to me. I thought I noticed a smile on Mom's face when she noticed, but she continued what she was doing. I related my story and Jackie noted her similarities.

Mom thought about what we had to say, but didn't have a comment for us. She did have some news, though. She told us she had hired a private detective to help find out why the unsavory element in town was out to get us and to find what they were looking for. The guy had a real weird name, too. Philo Vance, private detective. Mom said he came highly recommended by Mr. Van Dine, a family friend. He described Mr. Vance to Mom.

"Vance is what many would call a dilettante, but the designation does him an injustice. He is a man of unusual culture and brilliance. An aristocrat by birth and instinct, he holds himself severely aloof from the common world of men. In his manner there was an indefinable contempt for inferiority of all kinds. The great majority of those with whom he comes in contact regarded him as a snob." Van Dine related. "Yet there is in his condescension and disdain no trace of spuriousness. His snobbishness is intellectual as well as social. He detests stupidity even more, I believe, than he did vulgarity or bad taste. I have heard him on several occasions quote Fouché's famous line: C'est plus qu'un crime; c'est une faute. And he meant it literally."

"Vance is frankly a cynic, but he is rarely bitter; his is a flippant, Juvenalian cynicism. Perhaps he may best be described as a bored and supercilious, but highly conscious and penetrating, spectator of life. He is keenly interested in all human reactions; but it is the interest of the scientist, not the humanitarian. Vance's knowledge of psychology is indeed uncanny. He is gifted with an instinctively accurate judgment of people, and his study and reading had coordinated and rationalized this gift to an amazing extent."

Van Dine went on to explain "He is well grounded in the academic principles of psychology, and all his courses at college have either centered about this subject or been subordinated to it ... He has reconnoitered the whole field of cultural endeavor. He has taken and enjoyed courses in the history of religions, the Greek classics, biology, civics, and political economy, philosophy, anthropology, literature, theoretical, and experimental psychology, and ancient and modern languages. But it is, I think, his courses taking in the teachings of Münsterberg and William James that interest him the most. Vance's mind is basically philosophical—that is, philosophical in the more general sense. Being singularly free from the conventional sentimentalities and current superstitions, he could look beneath the surface of human acts into actuating impulses and motives. Moreover, he is resolute both in his avoidance of any attitude that savored of credulousness and in his adherence to cold, logical exactness in his mental processes."

I thought that Mr. Van Dine was always a bit long winded and a bit of a pompous ass myself, but I chose not to verbalize that assessment of the man. Mom has always respected him and his opinions. Well, mostly at any rate. So based on his recommendation Mom hired Mr. Vance to find out what the hell was going on. I knew I needed to be very careful with my actions while he was snooping around. He mustn't discover my secret. There would have to be no slipups like with Jackie. She would be quiet because of love. Just that thought alone caused my heart to sing! And the best thing was, she was sitting next to me, lightly rubbing her leg against mine.

After telling us her news, Mom told us she was going to take a hot bath before fixing dinner. She was planning lasagna for tonight and that was fine with the two of us. Jackie suggested we go to the attic and check out the rest of the trunks and the cloth. I started to agree but then had a thought. We hadn't done anything with the basement yet.

"Let's check out the basement. We haven't done anything there yet," I suggested.

Jackie excitedly replied, "Yes! Let's do that. Let's find out what treasures are in store."

I raced up to my room and grabbed my key ring. I believe I set a new record for ups/downs on the stairs. Jackie was startled when I reappeared with the keys. She was going to have a seat while she waited, and she didn't even have a chance to start for the chair. I took her hand and pulled her down the back hallway. The vestibule for the basement stairs was well lit, and I could easily see to put the key in the door. The problem was finding the correct key. I tried all the normal shaped keys, and then took up the irregular ones when none would work. I was almost at the end of my keys. I did find the one I needed. It was a strange affair with a double set of prongs, offset at ninety degrees to each other.

The lock required me to insert the key and rotate it a quarter turn before pushing it fully in and turning it another quarter turn. There was a satisfying metallic click, and the door effortlessly swung wide. I flipped the switch that was just inside the door and the entire dungeon became illuminated. We descended into the basement. Awestruck, we turned around and around looking at the vast quantity of accumulated treasures. At least that's what we thought we were looking at. Everything was boxed, crated, and neatly stored in row after row. The basement was as large as the house and we really didn't know where to start.

I started to wander towards one of the piles, when I heard Jackie exclaim, "Oh my God!"

I ran back to where she was standing. Her arm was outstretched and she was pointing at the wall. I moved closer as she backed away. I looked at her and noted a look of astonishment in her face. I moved closer to what she was pointing at. Hanging on a nail pounded into the wall was a clipboard with many pages on it. The top page was what brought Jackie's exclamation.

I pulled the clipboard close. The writing on the page looked vaguely familiar. I began reading.

'Eugene. By now you should have figured out what has happened here. I love the abilities the watch has given and have had so many adventures that I've lost count. The treasures of the attic were just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. They were designed to whet your appetite for the adventure you were to experience. You may not realize the full scope of what you are about to embark on. You have the millennias of man to explore. With that opportunity comes great responsibility.'

But before I get too far into the story, I think you should sit down. There should be a chair against the wall under the clipboard's location. It should be there because I placed it there a month ago. So have a seat before I go on.

The page ended at that point, so I took a seat as directed and then turned the page, well flipped it up at any rate.

I should identify myself to you. I am your granddaughter.

I had to pause again at the revelation that I was receiving communication from the future. Then it dawned on me that it was only a communication to the past by a granddaughter. A small smile crept over my face. I looked up for a moment and saw that Jackie was seated a short way off on a duplicate chair. She was intently watching my face as I read. Not wanting to disappoint, I continued with the epistle.

I know the entire story of the watch. After all, I am from your future. I know that Jackie only read the first line of the second page so she doesn't know the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. Oh yes, you don't know Paul yet, but you will. I found him charming and a very persuasive speaker, but then I digress a bit.

I need you to know a few of the rules of conduct before you really get started. The prime one is be careful. Because time is always in flux, a change from the original time line can have no effect or it could have a catastrophic effect. An example was your experience with Rebecca Sunnybrook in 1865. Because you enticed her to go to the theater with you, she left the box office early. Without that intervention she would have died in a box office robbery that very afternoon. The robbers were none other than Booth's accomplices, so they were killed anyway, but the point being they COULD have continued on and changed more things. You are smart enough to see what I mean.

So, my progenitor, the first thing you must do is go back and remove Rebecca from existence in 1865. She's not meant to be there and her offspring have caused a major catastrophe in my time.

I took a moment to take in the implications of his message.

I know what you're thinking, I don't mean for you to take her out. You can do something else. She was very smitten by you. What you need to do is remove her from the timeline by taking her away temporally. She is more than willing to take you to spouse! You and Jackie need to go back and convince her. You also need to marry Jackie. You can marry her in your time and marry Rebecca in her time. They will get along. Trust me.

The next thing, it's best that you not play with History, especially something key to the entire world, such as, oh, I don't know, oh, like the US Constitution! We are indeed lucky with that one. Yes, I know. Jackie didn't tell you. Mr. Madison's version did pass. Tell her right now, I'll wait.

Jackie, Sweetheart," I softly said, "I'm supposed to tell you that Mr. Madison's version did pass."

"YES!" she shouted, as she jumped up and down. She took a running leap and landed on me, her equipment meshing with mine as she rubbed against me. She was literally smothering me with her kisses. She knocked the clipboard from my hands and I put them to good use. I managed to cop a feel of her nicely rounded derrière. I was willing to let her stay awhile, but she got off and told me she was going up to the study for a few minutes. She wanted to get online to research something. ( but then we already knew this because we checked when we returned. Jackie was pleased that our ancestor knew what we'd done.)

I went back to the letter. I'm assuming her exuberance distracted you for a bit. She did that quite a lot. I remember ... Ooops. No hints. Back to business. If she didn't tell you, the First Amendment to the Constitution now reads: Recognizing first and foremost that the United States of America is a Christian Nation, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of a state denomination of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof by any; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. That put old Jefferson in his place. The Letter to the Danbury (Connecticut) Baptists was never written and there never was the erroneous pseudo doctrine of separation of Church and State. That was Jefferson's idea and his alone, formulated in January of 1802. The founding fathers, which included NINE ministers would never in a minute remove God and Christ as the guiding influence in this nation. I remember as a little girl you telling us stories about the way it was before the change.(*see endnote)