Chapter 12: A Letter from the Past

Thank you. I guess I’m normal now, but it helped to have someone to tell the story to. I haven’t been back since the birth of my daughter. I don’t reckon I ever will go back again. I don’t have an anchor anymore. That’s why Geneive and Joe and even Phile never went back after their hosts died, I think. They didn’t have an anchor in that life like I did. Once Kyle found Kat, he stopped going to Bertha’s. Geneive just didn’t have anyone to go back to. I had Laramie.

They’ll all be waiting for me when I die. I’ve got a little girl and a little boy just six months younger. They are the most fun I’ve ever had. Ashley says they’re too young to have horses already, but I figure the horse ought to know his rider from the beginning. It’s like the two black geldings already know them.

I managed to open the stone in the fireplace. A few years ago, Dad had it tuck pointed so the mortar would all look nice. I had to chip away the new mortar in order to release the stone. Inside there was a box with several hundred dollars in it. Not a big find, but a few of the bills are collectors’ items. The rest we’ll just put in the bank eventually. I pulled my guns out and they felt smooth and natural in my hands. I got them cleaned up and now they hang on the hat tree that’s still in the corner of the office. The locked metal box, though, was different. The first thing in it was a letter from Laramie.

My darling Kyle Redtail.

You never told me what the name of my great-great-grandson would be, so I call you by the only name I know. I’m sure you will find this letter and the other things I have left for you. I left everything in the cave except the currency. There was such a lot of it, though. I know Kaylene has enough to get through the hard times and Mildred will have the ranch and plenty to work with. But that left quite a lot of cash and coinage.

I went to the new College in Laramie before Mildred was born and they taught me about finance and economics. Armed with the knowledge I acquired there and your warning of what was to come, I began traveling and making purchases. No one asked where I got the money so I guess that will be your problem to deal with. Herein are my purchases.

Kyle, I love you with all my heart. I listen each day for the call of the redtail hawk and dream of you each night. We may not see each other again in this world, but I will wait for you in the next. And bring your wives and family. I will love them all.

As I write this tonight, I think of the first time we met when you taught me the pleasures of love. I will smile throughout the night as I relive that moment.

With all my love,

Laramie Wyoming Bell

The contents of the box were negotiable securities. There were shares of companies that were still new in the 1920s like Ford Motor Company and the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. There were bearer bonds, treasury notes, and other items. Some proved to be worthless, like the five thousand shares of Studebaker Corporation. But by and large, she’d made good decisions and more than half of her purchases were worth a great deal. Close to a billion dollars, in fact. She was a good and faithful steward, in Phile’s words. I gave everything to Gold Watch Trust to maintain and liquidate if necessary. We all went to Phile’s funeral last year. He was ninety-four and lived to see the good works that his time-traveling had enabled.

Mary Beth, Ashley, and I draw a healthy salary as the board of directors and we are putting the money to use wherever we can to help people.

And we work the ranch.

Neither of them will be going up on the ridge this year. They are both pregnant and that is something no mere ranch hand should have to deal with. Ashley is still a bit miffed that Mary Beth’s first labor took less than three hours and hers took closer to twenty. Ava warned us. But Kyle is a healthy boy and follows his sister Laramie everywhere.

I still believe this ground is sacred and forever protected. Even if I am dead and buried, I will be here to protect my women, my children, and my land. The spirits in this land do not rest. And we are deadly when we hunt.

No. I’m okay with not going back in time anymore. Who would I see? I know how the story ends. I just couldn’t get that across to Geneive, though God knows I tried. She set out for California to live the good life, but she never made it. I cried when I heard the news and I went to Caitlin’s grave with two flowers instead of one. What more could I do. Not everyone’s story ends happily.

So, I don’t think I need to come back again, at least any time soon. I’ve got a lot of work to do on the ranch and two pregnant wives at home.

Did you know that pregnancy makes some girls horny?

The End