Between Two Worlds (3 page)

Samuel bounded out of the car and ran around to the other side of
the cab with a striped umbrella in his hand. He popped it open and held it over
her head. “Take this, miss. It’s the least I can do for the trouble I’ve caused
ye.” He seemed eager to make amends, so she accepted.

“Thank you. That’s a nice gesture.” She grasped the handle. “How
can I find you to return it?” She peered at the side of the taxi. “There’s no
name or number on this cab. What company do you work for?”

“Keep the umbrella,” he said. “Consider it part of me gift.”

“Part of your gift?” Again, her curiosity was piqued. “What does
that mean?”

He looked off into the distance and pointed, momentarily ignoring her
question. “Look! It’s a rainbow.”

Delaney stared at the wide ribbon of pastel colors that arched
across the sky. Her mouth gaped. She blinked. “Wow. I can’t even recall the
last time I saw a rainbow. It hardly ever rains here. It’s so beautiful.”

Sam moved close to her side and whispered, “Me other gift lies
across that bridge over there.”

Her head swung around. “What bridge? I don’t remember seeing a
bridge in this neighborhood before.”

About fifty feet away was a charming wrought iron footbridge with
handrails on either side.

Confused, Delaney said, “I’ve passed this way hundreds of times.
I’m sure I would have noticed that bridge before now. And the water, too. Can you
hear it, Sam? I hear rushing water.”

Sam gazed at her from behind heavy lids and said, “It’s time for
yer crossin’.”

A tingle moved across Delaney’s shoulders. She backed away. What
an odd little man he was. Distracted by the refreshing rain, she stuck out her
tongue and caught some drops on it and giggled like a schoolgirl. The light,
cool shower lifted her spirits, and she suddenly felt like a child again. She’d
often dreamed of walking in the rain, ever since she watched Gene Kelly dancing
and singing in it in one of her favorite movies. She closed her eyes and began humming
the song from that famous street scene.

Sam interrupted her reverie by tugging on her arm. There was an
urgency in his voice. “Hurry miss. The rainbow won’t last long. It’s already
startin’ to fade. Ye must go now.”

“Go where?” Delaney opened her eyes and realized the rainbow was,
indeed, growing lighter.

Sam clamped a steady gaze onto the bridge. Water dripped off his
cap onto his leather shoes. “Home, miss. It’s one of the short cuts I was
telling ye about.” He pushed his fingertips into her back and gave her a gentle
shove.  They began walking toward the bridge.

“How do you know it’s a short cut?” she asked.

“Don’t ye remember? I told ye I’ve lived around these parts a long
time. Besides, here’s yer chance to walk in the rain, like ye always wanted to
do.”

Again, a prickly feeling niggled beneath goose-fleshed skin. “How
do you know about that? Are you a mind reader or something?”

He nudged her on without answering. At the foot of the bridge, he exhaled
deeply and announced, “We’re here. Was there never a prettier sight than a
lovely rainbow?”

Her eyes slid from the bridge to the rainbow and back. The scene
was so pretty, it could have been a painting. “Am I in a dream? Or am I going
insane? I have
never
seen this bridge before, and I’d certainly remember
a river flowing through the middle of the city. I don’t understand what’s
happening here.”

“Go on now,” Sam urged, with a wink. “You’ll find out soon
enough.” He placed his hand at the center of her back and pushed. “It’s yer
destiny, lass. And mine, too. Hurry now. The rainbow’s disappearin’. Don’t
disappoint me.”

His face was open, and a warm feeling engulfed Delaney like a
homespun quilt. She felt a tug at her waist, as if an invisible rope pulled her.
Keeping a firm grip on the umbrella handle, she took one step, then two…and slowly
began to cross the bridge. Halfway over she stopped and peered over the
handrail. The rush of the river not five feet below sent her senses reeling.

“Sam! Come look at this!” When she glanced back to where he’d been
standing, he was gone. “Where on earth did he go?” She shook her head again.
“What a strange man.”  Taking a deep breath, she straightened her back and her
feet began to move. It was as if she was drawn by a powerful force—one she
didn’t understand, but was unable to resist.

When she stepped onto the grassy banks on the other side of the
bridge, the rain abruptly stopped. Delaney peered into the bright orange sun
overhead. The fiery orb blazed from an azure-colored sky. She wondered if
global warming could bring on such crazy changes in the weather.

As she looked around, the breath caught in her throat. She closed
the umbrella and dropped it in the thick grass right where she stood. An eerie
feeling settled over her.

Something’s not right
.
This
doesn’t look anything like my neighborhood  For one, there’s no grassy banks in
the city.
Her eyes darted back and
forth, and her ire rose like
mercury in a thermometer.
Short cut my foot! I don’t think that Irish midget
would know a
short cut
if there was a sign in front of him with Short
Cut painted on it!
Delaney slammed her fist into the palm of her other hand
and began cracking her knuckles.

Three

With her hand shading her eyes from the sun’s strong rays, Delaney
spied buildings in the distance. Turning her back on the bridge and leaving the
gurgling river behind, she trekked across the grassy patch, which turned into
sage-covered desert, then eventually gave way to a dirt road. With her purse
slung over her shoulder and perspiration dampening her face, she trod down the
road in her uneven high heels, glancing around, taking in the serene countryside.
The land was barren, dry, open desert except for the scattering of saguaro and
chollo cactuses—nothing like her modern city neighborhood at all.

She wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to swallow her
dizzying nausea, because her entire body was shaking. She talked out loud,
telling herself everything was going to be okay, even as a sick feeling settled
in the pit of her stomach. “That cabbie misled me, sending me off to God knows
where. Hopefully someone in the town ahead will be able to steer me back in the
right direction.” Even as the words left her mouth, Delaney feared the worst
and expected no less.

Fifteen long minutes later she reached her destination. It was a
destination all right, but one she wasn’t familiar with. She stopped at the
fringe of a bustling frontier town and sauntered into the wide, dusty street—a
street swarming with activity.

Ladies wearing ankle-length skirts and blouses with high collars
scurried from store to store, holding their children’s hands. They nodded to
one another, wishing each other a good day. Cowboys in chaps, neckerchiefs and
wide-brimmed hats, and gentlemen dressed in button-up jackets, trousers and
bowler hats filled the boardwalks. There were as many horses and mules in the
street as people, with some of the animals being ridden and some tied to
hitching posts.

Several wagons filled with supplies rumbled past, kicking up rocks
and red dust. A stagecoach with the words
Castle
Creek Stage Company
written
on the side also rolled by. A sign on the corner read
Washington Street
.
Delaney had been down that street dozens of times, but this was
not
Washington
Street, as she knew it. She smacked her hand against her head. Was she losing
her mind? Was she dreaming? Doubting her sanity, but not knowing what else to do,
she willed her feet to move. Trancelike, she inched across the road.  A horse
and buggy came close to running her over. When the driver hurled an obscenity
her way, it was just the rude awakening she needed.

She snapped to and scampered across the thoroughfare to the other
side and stepped onto the raised wooden walk that ran the length of the street.
Strolling down it and feeling like she was in a fog, she gawked at the
clapboard and stucco storefronts, all of which resembled an old west movie set.
Folks passing by openly stared and pointed at her, whispering to one another.

Her attention was drawn to the names on the old buildings and
businesses.
The National
Bank of Arizona, Hurley’s Central Market,
The Arizona
Telegraph Company, Ike’s Livery and Stables, Territorial
Library, The Phoenix Herald, Medical Clinic, Donovan’s Café
…
Is this
some kind of joke?
she questioned. Telegraph company? Livery? When did they
change the name of the Phoenix Public Library to the Territorial Library?

Several cowboys stumbled out of a bar and touched the brims of
their Stetsons to her. Delaney returned their greetings with a shy nod.
Sauntering past the White Dog Saloon, she heard robust laughter and the
plinking of piano keys coming from inside. Sensing inquisitive eyes upon her, she
glanced up and studied the half dozen young women who hung over the balcony
rail. Their faces were painted with heavy makeup and they wore nothing more
than tight corsets, silk stockings, and feather boas. They pointed and whispered
behind their hands, too.

With her heart hammering, Delaney walked a couple more blocks
until she reached the far end of the street. She fixed her eyes on Quinn’s Boarding
House, the Methodist Episcopal Church and the East Side Primary School—and her
mind flew into a tailspin.

What’s happening to me? This can’t be real. This has to be a
dream! I don’t remember walking into my apartment, but I must have, and I must
have fallen asleep.  Or maybe that little Irishman got us into an accident and
I was knocked unconscious. I’ll wake up any minute now, safe and sound in my
bed, and this weird dream will be over.

She turned in a circle. The thick scent of jasmine perfume clung
to the air. The sweet tang of sweat and the sickening odor of ripe horse manure
filled her nostrils. She heard the rumble of wagon wheels, the clink of the
distant piano, and the laughter of children playing in the schoolyard.

The hot sun seared the nape of her neck. Stumbling back into the
street, she knelt and scooped up a handful of dirt. As she crumbled it between
her fingers, dust spiraled into the air and tickled her nose. Her  heart
pounded with an insane rhythm
. I can’t be imagining all
of this.
These smells. These sounds. If I’m dreaming, this is
the most realistic
dream I’ve ever had. If it’s not a dream,
God help me, because that
means I’ve…I’ve…I don’t know what it means!

Suddenly,
it occurred to her.
I’ve
stumbled
onto a movie set. Of course! That has to be it!  Why didn’t I
realize it before? Lots of western movies are made in Arizona.

Her stiff shoulders relaxed with the revelation, and she looked up
and saw a ball roll into the street. A towheaded young boy chased after it. His
mouth was open wide in an innocent laugh.

The loud pop of a revolver went off nearby, followed by the
whinnies of horses somewhere down the road. Delaney’s head swiveled. She saw a
freight wagon pulled by a team of four horses stampeding straight for the
child. The gun undoubtedly had spooked them. She sprang up and screamed, “Get
out of the way, boy! Move!” Even from a distance, she could see the frantic driver
yanking on the reins, but his efforts to control the team were in vain. He
waved his arms and hollered for the child to move as the wagon barreled up the
road. There was nowhere for the driver to turn. As the wagon closed in, Delaney
could see resignation cloud the man’s face.  He must have realized there was
not a thing he could do to stop a tragedy from happening. Terrified screams of
women from somewhere behind her exploded in her ears.

The boy stopped, whirled, and froze in the middle of the street.
His eyes fearfully fastened on the wild horses galloping toward him.

Delaney kicked off her shoes, threw her purse to the ground, and
bolted into the road. She lunged and shoved the child hard, pushing him out of
harm’s way. The slipperiness of her nylon-clad feet caused her to lose traction
in the gravel road, and she fell flat. Sprawled face-first in the dirt, more
shrieks pierced her ears.

The wagon!

As she desperately tried to scramble to her feet in the tight
pencil skirt and slick pantyhose, her head turned, and she stared straight into
the crazed eyes of the beasts bearing down on her. Her whole world moved in slow
motion.

She squeezed her eyes shut.
If there ever was a good time to
wake up from this ridiculous dream, now would be the time!

She opened her eyes and
BAM!
All the air was knocked out of
her lungs, as she was tackled from behind. She half skidded, half flew, and
landed again with a thud on the ground next to the boy she’d just saved. He
cried and called out for his mother, but his words were garbled. It sounded
like he was underwater. Or maybe the problem was with her. Were her ears full
of dirt? She had no idea what had just happened. She lay trying to catch her
breath.  Her head throbbed, and there was a ringing in her ears. She gasped for
air. Suddenly, she realized why it was hard to breathe. A heavy body crushed her,
and two hands were on her neck. Was some fool trying to suffocate her?
Summoning every ounce of strength she had, she kicked her feet and managed to
shout, “Get…off…me!”