Fire, The (23 page)

Kevin looked at Sarah.

"
Jane's
is short for
Jane's Fighting Ships
. It's a reference book that contains detailed information on warships from around the world," he said. "The more relevant question is how Sadie got her hands on a copy and why she's reading about warships."

Sadie, still smiling, turned to Kevin.

"I found it in Marcus Duvalier's private library. Maude has given me the run of the place and I'm learning many new things."

Andy leaned forward.

"So why read about warships? Isn't there any fiction in his collection?"

"Oh, there's plenty, but I've found
Jane's
very much to my liking."

"Why is that?" Sarah asked.

"Well, I do like numbers and
Jane's
is full of numbers. It tells the dimensions, displacement, speed, and range of each ship, in addition to many other things."

"You like numbers?"

Kevin smiled.

"Oh, yeah, she likes numbers. Don't get me started on story problems."

Andy chuckled.

"My date is getting more interesting by the minute," he said as he sipped his scotch. "So tell me, Sadie, do you think this new British dreadnought is a good thing or a bad thing?"

Sadie addressed Andy with wide eyes.

"It's definitely a good thing."

Kevin was tempted to jump in with a question of his own but decided to hold off. He leaned back in his chair, smiled at Sadie, and enjoyed the rest of the show.

"Why is it a good thing?" Andy asked.

"It's a good thing because the British need to protect themselves. The kaiser is building his own navy. He's been saber-rattling."

"He's been what?" Sarah asked.

"He's been rattling his sabers."

Kevin put his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh. He didn't know what awaited them at the theater, but he seriously doubted that the actors and musicians had anything on this. Sadie Hawkins was entertainment gold.

"What do you mean exactly?" Andy asked.

"Well, he's been making wild statements. He told a London newspaper – last year, I believe – that the English are mad. He said they are as 'mad as March hares.'"

"That's pretty mad," Kevin said.

"It is," Sadie said. "What I don't understand is why he's so upset."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that he is arguing with his own family. The king is his uncle. That's another thing I've learned. All the royal houses in Europe are related to each other. The kaiser is related not only to the king of England but also the tsar of Russia," Sadie said. "He's squabbling with the tsar too. I don't think he likes him either."

Kevin took a break from Sadie and glanced at Sarah. He saw a woman with a wide grin and lively eyes, a woman who seemed to be enjoying the performance as much as anyone.

Sarah turned to Sadie.

"What else have you learned in this wonderful library of Maude's?"

Sadie paused for a moment.

"I've learned a lot about different cultures and other parts of the world. Just yesterday I read about the Pygmies in
National Geographic
magazine. The Pygmies are a very short people in Africa. They're shorter than Burke's basketball team."

Kevin nearly bit through his lip.

"They are highly advanced culturally and musically, but because they're short and defenseless they've been mistreated and even put in zoos. I found their story very sad."

"It does sound sad," Sarah said. "What else is in this library?"

Sadie lit up again.

"There's everything! There's magazines, novels, maps, and even something called the
Encyclopedia Britannica
. I really like that."

Sarah smiled.

"The library sounds impressive. Perhaps you can give me a tour someday."

Kevin immediately turned to Sadie. He could only imagine how she'd greet a request by her rival to give her a tour of the newly discovered jewel of the Duvalier mansion. To his surprise, she greeted the request with open arms.

"I'd like to give you a tour, Sarah. I'd like that a lot," Sadie said. "I can even recommend some materials for your classes. There's so much to see."

"Then let's do it tomorrow," Sarah said. "Let's do it right after church. I don't think Kevin would mind, would you?"

Kevin chuckled. He had feared that dinner might turn into a catfight. It had instead turned into a lovefest. He again praised himself for bringing Sadie along.

"I wouldn't mind at all," he said with a grin. "I might even join you. I can't imagine a better education."

CHAPTER 42: KEVIN

The double date, the one thrown together Wednesday afternoon, ended at ten thirty, when Kevin and Sarah said goodnight to Andy and Sadie at the corner of Pearl and Sixth and watched them start back toward the Duvalier mansion. The single date, the one Kevin had anticipated for weeks, began at ten thirty-one.

"Where would you like to go, Miss Thompson?"

Sarah tightened her grip on his arm.

"I want to go wherever the wind blows," she said.

Kevin licked the tip of a finger and stuck it in the air.

"That could be a problem," he said. "Right now the wind is decidedly fickle."

Sarah smiled.

"Let's just walk about town like the two wandering spirits we are."

"That sounds good to me."

From Pearl and Sixth, Kevin and Sarah went east toward the brewery, north toward two hotels, and finally west toward the school, the river, and the city park. For the first fifteen minutes, they talked about the performance at the theater and
only
the performance at the theater. That changed when they reached the mostly treeless park, sat atop a picnic table, and stared at a billion stars.

"She's impressive," Sarah said.

"Who's impressive?"

Sarah smiled at Kevin and then looked away.

"I thought we left the comedy at the theater."

Kevin chuckled.

"OK. She's impressive."

Sarah adjusted a shawl that had begun to slide down her back. Though spring was well into its fifth week, it had yet to chase away the kind of crisp mountain air that made outerwear a necessity.

"I admire what's Sadie's done."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"I admire how she's made the most of limited opportunities. Most people don't value knowledge like she does. They consider their education complete the minute they walk out of high school, if they wait even that long. She's different."

"Yes, she's different."

Kevin put his arm around Sarah and pulled her close.

"There's something else I noticed," she said.

"What's that?"

Sarah looked at Kevin with thoughtful eyes.

"She likes you."

"Of course she likes me. Everyone likes me," Kevin said with a grin.

"That's not true. I can think of at least of two or three people who
don't
like you."

"Oh, come now. The men who beat me up were only expressing their affection."

Sarah laughed.

"I think we can both agree that that's the kind of affection you can do without."

"You've got that right."

Kevin smiled and pulled her even closer. For five minutes, the two did nothing but look at the spectacular sky, where the billion stars competed with a shimmering moon and a once-in-a-lifetime comet that was now clearly visible to the naked eye.

"Kevin?"

"Yes, Sarah."

"Do you like her?"

Kevin frowned.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," Sarah said. "She's gorgeous, not to mention charming and funny and intelligent."

Kevin looked away for a moment and pondered how best to proceed. He figured that Sarah would find Sadie endearing and maybe even intriguing, but he never imagined that she would find her threatening. Did Sarah really believe she wasn't just as worthy of his attention and affection? Maybe she did.

When Kevin returned to Sarah and looked into her eyes, he saw more fear than fight. He saw not a confident colleague but rather a doubtful and insecure young woman who had probably been burned by more men than he could count on one hand. It was time to take charge.

"Sarah, I want you to look up."

"OK."

"What do you see, besides a billion stars?"

She smiled softly at Kevin before returning to the sky.

"I see the comet – and the moon, of course."

Kevin pointed to the newsmaker high above their heads.

"Sadie is like our friend up there. She's bright, beautiful, and interesting. She's hard to ignore because she's someone I see every day. She's someone I'll never forget. But like that comet, she'll be gone someday. She'll still be bright, beautiful, and interesting, but she'll be bright, beautiful, and interesting for someone else. She's fleeting."

Kevin put a hand on Sarah's face.

"You're not fleeting, or at least I hope you're not. I want you to be that instead."

He pointed to the moon.

"I want you to be someone I can see and count on and appreciate tomorrow and the next day and the next. I want you to be the comforting light that never goes away."

When Kevin looked back at Sarah, he expected to see a nod and saw one. He didn't expect to see a woman with tears streaming down her cheeks, but he saw that too.

Deciding that the time for talk had passed, he put both hands on her face and kissed her softly at first and then more forcefully. He kissed her with passion and feeling, the way he should have done earlier but was glad to do now.

When he stopped, he leaned back, wrapped Sarah more tightly in his arms, and took another look at one of the most incredible skies he had ever seen. The moon was nearly full now. In less than twenty-four hours it would complete its ancient cycle, just as it would in May, June, and July. It would once again open a door leading to a time Kevin still called home.

Kevin planned to walk through that door. He might not do it on May 24 or June 22 or even July 22, but he would do it and do it soon. He would pick a night just like this and walk through Asa Johnson's chamber of stones. He would do it just as he had done it two times before, but with one critical difference. He wouldn't do it alone.

CHAPTER 43: KEVIN

Monday, April 25, 1910

For the first time in two months, Kevin had to work his way through a crowd to find a place to sit in his home away from home. More than fifty people had packed into the Shooting Star, including about forty he had never seen before.

"What's with the numbers?" he asked Andy. "Is it nickel draft night?"

Andy shook his head.

"There was a rockslide today that blocked the entrance to the Pennington Mine. The owners don't expect to have the mess cleared before Wednesday, so they turned the workers loose on the town. I don't know any of these blokes."

"Did anyone get hurt?"

"One guy broke his leg running away from a rock. As mine disasters go, this is as good as it gets. The only casualty was the bottom line. You can lose a lot of money in two days."

Kevin sat at the small table in the corner of the tavern and took a closer look at the men who had crowded into the establishment. They were an interesting lot.

He could tell from their worn clothes and faces that they knew the meaning of honest work. These men did the dangerous jobs that others wouldn't so that the others could build mansions with marble sinks, cast-iron cornices, and terracotta facades.

Kevin could also tell by what he heard that most were foreign-tongued, if not foreign-born. Scots, Welsh, and Irish mingled with Scandinavians, Danes, and Italians. The worker bees of Europe, it seemed, had found a new home in northern Idaho.

"Is that where you've been all day?" Kevin asked.

"No," Andy said. He sipped his beer. "I never left the office. I spent the afternoon talking to Bill and Ed."

"Who are they?"

"Bill Weigle is a Forest Service supervisor. Ed Pulaski's a ranger."

Kevin searched his memory. He remembered the latter from Walt's Walking Tour. Pulaski had been more than a garden-variety ranger. He'd been a hero who had saved forty-some men from certain death in the Great Fire by leading them into a mineshaft.

"What did you talk about?"

"We mostly discussed the drought, the condition of the forests, and public attitudes. Bill and Ed are worried that no one seems concerned about the drought. They said we need awareness as much as rain."

Kevin recalled that the inferno had started on August 20. That knowledge suddenly weighed heavily on his mind. He knew something that even Forest Service officials did not. He wondered whether he had a responsibility to tell them.

He hadn't given the issue much thought because he hadn't expected to stay this long. When he had entered the portal the last time, he had expected to settle matters with Sadie and return to 2013. He hadn't expected to teach school or become involved with Sarah. He hadn't expected to be in a position to change the history of an entire community. Yet here he was.

"What do you think?"

"I think they're right. I think this whole bloody state would go up like a match if conditions were right. We need more people like those two. We need better stewards of the land."

Kevin studied his friend and noticed a change. Andy didn't seem his usual jovial self. He seemed pessimistic, cynical, even defeatist. Perhaps the weight of the world he covered every day had finally pushed him into the ground. It was time to change the subject.

"Did you enjoy yourself Saturday night?"

"I did," Andy said. "I wasn't sure at first about that double date of yours. It felt too much like a mission of mercy. Then I asked: 'Who's the loser in all this?' It sure wasn't me. Sadie was wonderful company."

Kevin smiled.

"Does that mean you two are a couple?"

"No," Andy said. "For that to happen, Sadie would have to devote more attention to me than to you. She's smitten with you, friend, and I don't see that changing anytime soon."

"Then why the smile? What's changed?"

"
I've
changed. Thanks to Sadie, and you, I'm starting to look at the world differently. I didn't go to Maggie's today. I don't know if I'll ever go there again."