New Yesterdays by Jim L Wright - HTML preview

Chapter 25

Dustu took Jim's hand and lifted him to his feet. After bidding Adahy goodbye, they walked out into the bright warm day to begin the short journey to the portal. Jim had never been so nervous in his life. When they got to the other side of the small hill at the edge of the village Jim stopped short. Dustu came to stand beside him to see what he was looking at, thinking it might be a snake. But Jim was just looking at the ground. The Indian boy was quiet for a moment and Jim said;

"In my time this trail is a road. We call it the ‘Big Road’. Just here they put a pipe under the road for the water to go through. It's almost big enough for me to stand up inside. When it rains and the water comes through, it washes away the dirt and it's kinda deep just at the mouth of the pipe. Sometimes after a big rain my brothers and I come here and jump off the road into this hole and play in the water."

Dustu was puzzled. "Why would you come here and play in rain water when you have the creek to play and swim in?"

Jim hadn't realized he never told his friend about the creek.

"In my time, it's not a creek anymore. We call it the spring branch because it's just a runoff from the spring. We play in it sometimes, but it's not much more than ankle deep!"

Both boys shook their heads as they considered the differences time makes and began walking up the trail again.

***

The mass of vines and underbrush that concealed the cave entrance looked as though it hadn't been disturbed in a hundred years. Jim wondered if it had some magical characteristic that allowed it to reshape itself to hide the cave. He shook hands with Dustu and then embraced him. With tears filling his blue eyes he said;

"You have been a great friend to me and I will miss you like a brother if I don't come back."

Dustu returned the embrace, squeezing him tightly

"I believe I will see you again my brother. Take care where you walk!"

With that, Jim began to push his way through the entrance to the cave. The moment he entered he stopped again to take in the smell of the damp soil. The aroma evoked memories of summer rains back home. After a quick glance back to Dustu he began to move deeper into the cave.

Emerging from the portal, Jim was first struck by the dimness. A few seconds ago, the sun was bright and the day was warm. Now, it was wet with just a bit of chill in the air. Heavy dark clouds hung low, promising a deluge. And, what was this? He wasn't in the Old House! He was still standing in the woods. The forest looked a bit different, to be sure, but there should be a deserted house here. "Adahy said it would be changed" he said to himself. He stood for a moment longer, taking in the scents of the forest and listening to the fat rain droplets falling from leaf to leaf and then began to walk toward "home". Before he had taken many steps, he could clearly see that the road was where it should be, and a few more steps showed him that it was paved with macadam, not tar and gravel. Dividing lines were painted in the center of the pavement. Looking left and right he could see that a few houses were nearby. Houses he had never seen before. Well, his life had been weird as hell for the past six months, and it looked as if that at least wasn't going to change.

Well, he was still in the countryside, so at least that much hadn't changed. He stopped at the place he had shown Dustu just a few minutes before. That too, was the same as he expected. Filled with the hope of seeing his family after all, his feet began to run up the hill seemingly without his even thinking about it. Cresting the hill, he stopped suddenly as the panorama filled with houses and businesses. Slowly, he willed himself to walk forward. He was filled with astonishment and dismay at the view. The town went on as far as he could see, rising over the next hill and disappearing behind it. Left and right, the town filled the woods and fields he had played in for thirteen years.

There was nothing left of his home.

Fighting back the tears with all the strength he could muster, he sat down on the edge of the pavement to consider what to do next. How does a stranger walk into a town and begin asking questions about people they've probably never even heard of? Where does that stranger sleep when night comes? What does that stranger eat when he gets hungry? These and a hundred more questions poured into his mind, making him feel even smaller and more insignificant than he'd ever felt in his life.

There was no choice. He had to find out what he could before going back to Adahy's place. Without a conscious thought, that decision had been made. He knew that a boy of his age couldn't expect to live on his own in the twentieth century and he'd read enough stories about orphanages to know he didn't want any part of that! Life was hard enough without being beaten daily and trying to live on a bowl of gruel a day. He didn't even know for sure what gruel was, but one had to admit that the name alone was enough to make it somewhat off-putting.

Having acknowledged the decision to go back to Adahy's house gave Jim the courage to go further into the town. It was an adventure now, another chance to explore new territory.

Drawing on the memory of Piedmont as it was before he entered the portal the town he now stood in compared very favorably. It appeared to be a substantially bigger town than Piedmont had been. The tree lined streets were neat and tidy. His eyes involuntarily moved to the spot where his grandfather's house had stood. A different house had taken its place. It wasn't much bigger, but certainly it was more modern. He was happy to see that the ancient gnarled oak that had been in his grandfather's yard was in the front yard of this house. He walked directly to it, touched its dark rough bark and felt linked to a past that no longer existed. He remembered that in his time there was an old forgotten horseshoe someone had hung over a branch in the far distant past. The tree had grown around it, but nearly half of it was still visible. He peered up into the tree, searching for the branch that should be encasing the horseshoe. It wasn't there. Whoever had placed it there and forgotten it in the old time had likely never even been to this place in the altered timeline.

He began to walk slowly toward the place where his own house had stood. A house was on the place, but much nearer the street than his had been. The very spot, as near as he could determine, where the house had stood was a small, unpainted building that he assumed was a garage or workshop. A lean-to had been attached to it that housed a lawnmower and a few other gardening implements. He decided he had seen enough. It was time to go back past his grandfather's place to the business district of the town.

He had noticed, as he went to examine the oak tree, that a right turn would take him to the shops and he somehow knew this was going to be the place he would learn what he needed to know. He decided the best thing would be to walk the entire area to see what was there before determining where he should go. The town itself wasn't that much different than the towns he had known in his own time. He passed hardware stores, dress shops, a couple of barber shops and cafes. There were two pool halls and two movie theatres. Nothing really surprising. Then he saw something he had never seen in Piedmont. A bar. Yes sir, a genuine bar! He peeked in the smoky glass and saw that this was no ordinary, garden variety juke joint. The mirrored bar back was lined with liquor bottles of every size, shape and description. On each end of the long bar were tall pull handles for operating the beer taps. There must have been twenty tables inside and the tall, long windows were lined with booths that would seat four comfortably or six more cozily. Had his father and Uncle Walter been fortunate enough to have lived in this town and time, this sight would have made both of them very happy!

There were quite a lot of cars parked on the streets. They looked pretty much exactly like the cars of his own time. Continuing down the street he stopped in front of another shop. It was a sign hung in the window that caught his attention. Large red letters proclaimed a special offer IMPORTED FROM USA!

He smiled just a little. He was proud to know that he was standing in a foreign country that had achieved its status, at least in part, because of something he had done. That no one would ever know it was he who had brought life changing information to those ancient Cherokee there was no doubt. Somehow, that didn't matter. He knew. Those old Cherokee knew. They had shown their appreciation and gratitude in many ways before he came back to this side. Perhaps most importantly, they had offered him a home when they knew he wouldn't find any home on this side. His parents, three brothers and sister and a large extended family were lost. An enormous family had been gained.

Seeing what had happened because of his words to Adahy did little to diminish the grief he felt over losing his family. In time it would become easier to think about them and remember the things they'd said and done, but just for now he was nearly overcome by his loss. For the next hour or two, he lost track of the time, he wandered the sidewalks looking in windows, but not really seeing what was inside. People spoke to him, and he responded mechanically. Suddenly, he looked up at the building in front of him. It was the public library. Always an avid reader, he walked inside.

Jim had been in a few churches and one museum in his short life. They awed him with their majesty. Walking into a library though, produced a sense of reverence in him that no church or museum or any other place on earth could duplicate. No matter how big or small the library, when he walked in he felt he had the entire world at his fingertips. Thanks to his old fourth grade teacher, Mrs Studdard he was well versed in the use of the card catalogue and knew exactly how to find anything that struck his fancy at the moment. At this particular moment, it was Unalii History that struck his fancy. He wanted to know how the history books recorded the events he had helped to create.

As he walked with purpose toward the smooth, glossy wooden card catalogue a librarian intercepted him to ask if he needed help.

"No ma'am, I know how to look it up. I want to see a book on Unalii history.”

The librarian's face beamed the way he remembered Mrs Studdard’s face beaming when a student showed interest in learning.

"Oh please, let me help you."

Her gnarled, wrinkled hand rested lightly on his shoulder as she guided him, not to the card catalogue but to the shelves.

"We have a large section on Unalii history that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about it!"

The pride in her demeanor made Jim at once comfortable and anxious to begin digging. He knew he didn't have much time and without a library card he'd never be allowed to take one of the precious books out of the building. So, he determined to scan the pages and learn as much as possible before having to leave.

As it turned out, the history was recorded in a straightforward manner that didn't require that he spend much time with it as he had lived through it and the memory was still quite fresh. He was more interested in the history of the nation since its formation. As he leafed through the book, taking in as much information as possible his eyes fell on a picture of a combine harvester. The caption told that the combine harvester had revolutionized farming, especially wheat farming. The germ of an idea began to form in Jim's head.

"Excuse me, ma'am", he interrupted the librarian. "Can you help me find a book about the combine harvester?"

It must be a trait common to librarians. The woman's face seemed to glow at the prospect of conducting him to the area where he could find his information.

"Of course I can! Come this way."

Jim examined the pictures closely as he attempted to figure out how the machine was made. Book after book gave general information but was frustratingly short on details until his eyes happened to fall on a workshop manual for the combine harvester. This is it!

The idea of stealing a book from the library went against everything in Jim's moral fiber. At the same time, he wanted to do something for the Cherokee who had been so good to him, to make their lives easier. The invention of this machine could provide jobs and income for the families of the village. As he leafed through the book he wrestled with his conscience. The conscience took a beating. He stood and walked to the shelf, making sure the librarian was occupied and not giving attention to him. He began returning books to their places as he surreptitiously slipped the workshop manual under his deerskin jacket and then began to casually make his way to the exit.

"Did you find everything you wanted young man?"

The voice startled him, but he managed to stammer

"Y-yes ma'am, for now. I'll be back again to read some more. Thank you!"

Once outside the doors he heaved a huge sigh of relief at being able to take something so valuable without being caught.

After spending the day looking at the town and learning all he could learn in a day's time Jim began to make his way back toward the portal before he lost the light. The sun was getting low in the sky and he knew it would be full dark in another hour or so. Fortunately, that was plenty of time since the walk to the portal was no more than fifteen minutes.

***