Time Will Tell (Timeless Series) (12 page)

She stopped the horse, dismounted
, and led her over to the trees, where she tied Pride to a low branch. Libby then walked around the trees, looking up with full understanding of why they were calling. She needed to return and undo
her mistake. The thought no longer frightened her. Instead she stood there, looking up into the new green leaves that were just making an appearance, and accepted the trees’ call, at the same time wishing to be taken back to the moment she left the past.

In seconds the world turned upside down and she felt herself floating through time again.

Blinking several times, Colin worked to clear his vision, positive his eyes deceived him. The boy was there one minute and then gone. Less than thirty seconds passed before he was back, but only in a different position. Even stranger—he was no longer wearing his sleeveless jacket. Plus his shirt was a different color. Colin narrowed his gaze and watched in stunned silence as the boy went over to the bushes and emerged a little later in the garb he’d worn earlier in the day. He then strolled past him not more than a few feet from his hiding spot.

Fascinated, Colin stared after him. A dozen questions swirled inside his brain, his most pressing running along the lines of what the hell had just transpired. There was more to Liberty Edwards than met the eye. Since Nathan had befriended him, he decided to talk to Berta about his new stable hand. Berta knew everything going on in her household. What she didn’t know, she would easily glean, once her curiosity was spiked.

Colin remained in his hiding spot until the boy was out of sight before finally heading back to the stable. Just as he pushed through the main door, a noise at the rear of the building drew his attention. The earlier scene he’d witnessed faded somewhat as he hurried to check on his favorite stallion.

Zeus greeted him with a loud neigh and one hoof pawing the ground. The horse’s ears perked up and he bobbed his head as Colin held out the carrot he’d taken out of his pocket and said in a soothing tone, “Hey, big fellow. Was that you making that racket?” The stallion nudged his hand and captured the bribe. Colin grinned. Must have been, he decided, since all was quiet. Zeus probably sensed his presence and didn’t want to go unnoticed.

As Colin shrugged aside his concern, the memory of the boy disappearing and reappearing entered his thoughts again. While the horse chewed on his carrot, Colin grabbed a brush and began stroking and talking about what he’d seen out by the twin oaks.

“So, what do you think, Zeus
,” he asked after ending his spiel. “Am I crazy?” Colin smiled when Zeus eyed him thoughtfully. Then the horse shook his head and neighed, as if to say no, like the horse understood the question. Suddenly, the thought of seeing an apparition wasn’t as disturbing as it had been a few minutes earlier. “You’re good for the soul, Zeus. I’m going to be gone for a few days. I’ll miss you.” Colin put away the brush. “There are several new mares needing your attention, my good fellow. You’ll be busy enough—too busy to miss me.”

His entire future was riding on all the horses in this barn, but this one was special. So was Asapurna, the mare two stalls down. Both horses were the basis
of his prized stable.

He stroked
Zeus’s sleek neck, thinking it an appropriate name. In fact, all of his horses were named after mythological gods or goddesses, which seemed fitting considering their ancestors. Mythology and the legends of ancient people had always fascinated Colin.

With Lexington as
Zeus’s sire, the stallion was a god among horses and one of the best runners he’d ever seen. Four years earlier, when Colin had first purchased the pair from Woodburn Farm, Lexington’s owner, his deal had included breeding Asapurna with Lexington. The result was a little filly he named Fortuna—the goddess of chance.

Lexington had been a descendant of
Diomed, a champion thoroughbred and the winner of England’s first Epsom Derby in 1780; a race that Colin knew was still run today. Diomed’s blood ran through some of the finest American thoroughbreds of the nineteenth century. Having never seen a better champion, Colin saw a sure thing in Lexington. Bred with the right mares, the stallion’s offspring would produce legendary horses. Zeus was one of those offspring. Fortuna was another.

“Well, good buddy, I need to get going.” He gave Zeus a final pat,
then walked the distance to Asapurna’s stall. When he leaned against the gate, it unlatched and opened. He froze as an eerie sensation settled on the back of his neck. Colin spun around and listened as his searching gaze swept the stable. Everything appeared normal and only the sound of chirping insects or croaking tree frogs filled the air.

Still not satisfied that all was right, considering the earlier noise, he did a quick inspection of the stables. Near the door he spotted a dirty bandana on the ground and bent to pick it up. He studied the red cloth and remembered that
Smithers had worn a bandana exactly like this.

The thought of canceling his trip flitted past his mind, but that meant missing the meeting at the Galt House in Louisville with the instigators of the new racetrack. Colin started back to the house with the intention of finding Gus and warning him to keep a
sharper eye out while he was gone.

As Colin neared the caretaker’s house, light from a gas lantern illuminated Berta and Gus on their porch swing. The couple was obviously taking advantage of the cooler evening air.

Gus stood. “Something wrong?”

Taking the steps two at a time, Colin held out the bandana. “Found this a few feet from the stable door. Earlier I thought I heard something and then found Asapurna’s stall gate unlatched.

Eyeing the red cloth, Gus scratched his head. “What do you make of it,” he asked as Berta came up behind him.

“Do you know who it belongs to
,” she asked in a worried tone.

“
Smithers wore a red bandana,” Colin said. “If it’s his, the man has to be up to no good, sneaking his way into the stable.” He exhaled heavily and let his gaze roam over the countryside before settling it on Gus once more. “I’ve decided to take the train from Shelbyville to Louisville in the morning. That way I can get back a little sooner in case there’s trouble.”

Then remembering the Edwards boy and what he saw, he turned to Berta. “I wanted to ask you about our new stable hand.”

“You mean the boy, Libby,” she asked, clearing her throat.

“Yes,” he said, nodding.
“The boy.” Unable to think of a delicate way of putting it, he blurted out, “Does he seem a mite strange to you?”

“Strange?” Her eyes narrowed as she studied his face. “What do you mean by strange?”

Colin shrugged, feeling rather silly for even bringing it up, but he couldn’t dismiss what he’d seen. “I mean, is there anything peculiar about the boy that makes you think he’s not what he seems?”

Shaking her head, Berta looked away and brushed at her calico skirt. “I’ll keep my eye on him, just to be sure. You can depend on that.”

“So will I, Colin,” Gus chimed in. “We’ll take care of things while you’re gone. I’ll put a couple more hands in the stable at night, just in case Smithers is up to anything.”

Thankful to have that out of the way, he smiled. “Good. This mating season is too important to the farm’s survival. I don’t want anything to go wrong.”

They said their good-nights, and Colin retraced his steps to his big house. First, he checked on his children. All three were tucked in their bed. He stared for long moments, just enjoying their innocent, angelic faces softened in sleep.

Sam, his oldest at five, had Colin’s coloring and temperament as did three
-year-old Melanie. Rebecca, his baby, was a miniature of Abby. Sometimes when looking at her his guilt would get the better of him, and he’d want to hug her to him, as if doing so would assuage the emotion.

He left them sleeping and walked toward his bedroom with the realization that Abigail hadn’t entered his thoughts until that moment, since before spying his young handler out by the trees, a novelty since her death. He was tired of feeling guilty and being reminded of how much his wife had hated being here. He often wondered why she’d married him when he’d made it abundantly clear during their short courtship that he wasn’t content to stay in Virginia. He’d always planned to find a place where he could start his own farm without the interference of his domineering father.

Colin had specific ideas of what he wanted for his farm that were more forward thinking, not at all like his father’s tried and true ways of generations. These ideas always created tension between the two men. Colin was more apt to experiment with his breeding and bring in new blood to his American thoroughbreds. He had a good eye for horseflesh. If he saw certain traits in a mare he liked, he had no qualms of putting her in with one of his stallions to see what she produced.

In the four years he’d been in business, his methods were generating incredible horses. Most of these he sold off, providing a good income. His dream of owning one of the best horse farms in the country was beginning to take shape. If Abigail had embraced his dream, he would have been the happiest man in the world. Unfortunately, his dream had played too big a part in her unhappiness, which kept him awake far into the night
, staring at the dark ceiling and wishing it hadn’t been so.

~

Thankfully, when Libby made it back to the small house, no one but Nathan paid her any attention. At first she was nervous. After all, she’d been gone in the future for several weeks, but it was obvious no more than an hour had passed here.

Nathan ran up to her and grabbed her hand. “Libby, I’ve finished my chores. Do you want to play checkers before bed?”

Smiling at his eagerness, Libby let him lead her to the table. “I guess I could play one game.”

“Great. What color do you want to be?”

“Hmmm.” She stroked her chin, appearing deep in thought. “Black. I need to warn you, I’m pretty good at this.”

Nathan giggled. “So am I.”

Once Libby sat, he went over to a cabinet and retrieved a checkerboard and a cup that held carved round wood pieces painted either red or black. As Nathan laid the board on the table and proceeded to place the pieces on the checkerboard in the appropriate spaces, Libby wondered how to go about getting her hands on Colin’s deed. It wasn’t as if she was experienced in this type of thing.

“Since
yer my frien’, you can go first,” he said, looking up at her.

His smile was so engaging that Libby was drawn out of her thoughts. Tomorrow was soon enough to figure out how to be a thief. “
OK. Prepare to be beaten.” She moved her piece one space and the game began.

“King me,” he said, jumping two of her pieces and landing at the end square.

Libby grunted and did as he asked. The little guy played a lot of checkers. She’d always thought it was a simple game requiring a basic skill, but Nathan seemed to have a strategy. Within the next five minutes, he soundly beat her. She stared at the board in awe, unable to believe a ten-year-old boy had trounced her so quickly.

“Best two out of three,” she said, while setting up the board again for another round. “And this time, I’m putting on my boxing gloves. No more Mr. Nice Guy. You are clearly a worthy opponent.”

Nathan laughed, clearly pleased by her praise of his abilities. The second game took fifteen minutes longer, but the outcome was no different than the first game. Nathan emerged the winner. When that happened, Libby eyed him speculatively. “I think I’ve been hustled.”

Chuckling, Gus came into the room and walked toward the gas wall sconce as Berta followed, only to disappear into the kitchen. “Nathan’s been playing checkers since he was in nappies,” he said, turning out the flame. “He loves the game and he hates to lose.” He moved to
the other one across the room. “It’s a good thing you lost. Otherwise, he’d never let you walk away from the table until he won. Come on, it’s time for bed. We all have a long day tomorrow. You can try for a win tomorrow night, Libby.”

“I guess I am pretty tired.” She got up from the table. Near Nathan’s chair, she placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Come on
, friend. I’ll have to work on my strategy.”

By the time she and Nathan were nestled in their beds, a little over an hour had passed since Libby was transported back in time. She wasn’t tired at all. Then she remembered it was afternoon when she had left the future. She mused that she was probably suffering from a time zone change of sorts.

Lying there, she could only marvel at how similar this experience was to the last time she was here.

This entire
process no longer frightened her. Now it seemed like an adventure or quest she had to conquer before she could go home for good. Until then, she planned to enjoy her visit here in the past. After all, everything about this farm was worth the trip—the people, the horses, and the land. Sighing, Libby brought her arm around and put it under her head. Everything would work out in the end. Somehow she just had to believe that it would.

The next morning’s rituals were no different than those other mornings she’d previously spent in 1874. Berta was in the kitchen when Libby returned from the privy. The toothbrush, bowl, cloth
, and soap were on the counter. She promptly pumped water into the bowl, added a bit of hot water, and washed. After brushing her teeth with the weird-tasting powder and emptying the basin and rinsing it out, she turned to go to the table.

Breakfast was also much the same affair as always, but this time Libby had come to accept the camaraderie of the family and joined in. When she’d lived with her father before she went to college, nothing had ever been this easy. Libby couldn’t remember what it had been like when her mom was alive, having very little memory of everyday happenings. Mostly the big events were what stayed in her mind. She wasn’t sure if her mother’s death changed things.