Journey to Yesterday (13 page)

Shaye blew out a sigh. “She probably won’t believe me any
more than you do.”

“I’m sorry, darlin’, but it’s just too farfetched.”

“Even if you don’t believe me, promise me you’ll leave town
before August the ninth.”

“Why? What happens then?”

“You’ll be arrested. Please promise me. At least promise me
you’ll think about it.”

A knock on the door put an end to their conversation.

“Who is it?” Alejandro called.

“It’s me, Rio. I need to see you.”

Alejandro glanced at Shaye, a wry smile curving his lips.
“Sounds like Fate’s come knocking at the door.”

He reached for a pair of trousers hanging on one of the
hooks and pulled them on. He smoothed his hair back with his hands, then opened
the door. “Mornin’, Daisy,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

Daisy was wearing a dark blue dress, a black shawl, and
black half-boots. The same gold locket she had been wearing before rested in
the hollow of her throat.

“Rio, I…” Her eyes widened with recognition when she saw
Shaye in his bed.

“Shaye, I don’t think you two have been introduced.”

Shaye sat up. “No, we haven’t.”

“Shaye, this is Daisy Sullivan. Daisy, this is Shaye
Montgomery. She’s a friend of mine.”

“Yes,” Daisy said, her voice edged with jealousy. “I can see
that.” She looked at Alejandro. “I need to talk to you, Rio.” She glared at
Shaye. “Alone.”

“We can talk downstairs,” he told her. “Give me a minute to
get dressed.”

With a last baleful look at Shaye, Daisy stepped into the
corridor and closed the door.

Shaye watched Alejandro open a dresser drawer and pull out a
clean shirt and a pair of socks. He dressed silently, his expression closed to
her. He put on his boots, buckled on his gunbelt, grabbed his hat and coat.

He had his hand on the doorknob when he paused. Turning, he
crossed the floor to the bed. Bending down, he brushed a kiss across her lips,
then left the room.

Shaye stared after him, wondering, as she had before, if it
were possible to change the course of history.

He found Daisy in the lobby, pacing back and forth. “Do you
want to get something to eat?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”

Alejandro glanced into the dining room, which was already
crowded with hungry miners. “How about a cup of coffee while we talk?”

“No, we can’t talk here.” She placed her hand on his arm.
“Let’s go to my place, where we can be alone.”

“All right.”

They walked down the street in silence. Alejandro nodded to
several of the men, smiled automatically at the women, but his mind was on what
Shaye had told him. If what she said was true, and more and more he believed
her, what did it mean?

Daisy’s house was located at the end of White Street. It was
a nice place, modest in size. New buildings were going up all over Bodie. Town
lots were selling for a thousand dollars; lots on Bonanza Street were going for
six hundred and more. He’d heard of one man who sold a house and lot adjoining
the Miners’ Union Hall for more than six thousand dollars.

There were about a hundred buildings up on High Peak. The
suburbs extended down the ridge to Silver Hill. Most of the houses were
occupied by miners who had wanted to be closer to their work. There were a
couple of boarding houses and saloons, as well. Some of the mining companies
built boarding houses near the mines in hopes of keeping the workers away from
town and on the job. Captain R.F. Lord, who was the superintendent of the
McClinton mine, built his house at the apex of High Peak so he could look down
over the whole town.

He followed Daisy up the short walkway to the porch and into
the house. Cluttered was the only word for the décor. There were fringed
pillows and knickknacks everywhere.

“Sit down, Rio,” Daisy said. She dropped her shawl over the
back of a chair. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No.” He picked up a couple of pillows and tossed them
aside, then sat down on the sofa. “What did you want to talk about?”

She perched on the edge of a dainty chair like a bird about
to take flight. “It’s Dade. I think he’s stealing from me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I’m not stupid. Our profits have been down for the last
couple of months. He says business is dropping off, but I know that ain’t true.
I think he’s been stealing whiskey, too.”

“Why don’t you sell him your half and go back home? You
always said you’d like to go back, if you had the money.”

She shook her head. “Not anymore. I like it here now.
Besides…” She glanced away. “I don’t think I could go home and look my mama in
the eye, not now.”

“She doesn’t have to know.”

“No.” Daisy met his gaze, reminding him of a defiant child.
“This is my home now.”

Alejandro ran his hand over his jaw. Would she believe him
if he told her what Shaye had said? Hell, he wasn’t sure if he believed it.

He was trying to figure out how to tell her when suddenly,
Daisy was kneeling in front of him.

“I’m afraid of Dade,” Daisy said urgently. “Please come back
to the Belle. I need you.”

“Daisy…”

“Please, Rio. I’ll give you my half. I’ll give you any…”

He shook his head. “If I’d wanted the saloon, I would have
kept it.”

He reached down, intending to lift her to her feet, but she
rose up on her knees and wrapped her arms around his waist.

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with devotion. “I love
you, Rio. I’ve always loved you! I never stopped. Please stay with me. I’ll do
anything you want, be anything…”

Unlocking her arms from his waist, he stood up, drawing her
with him. “Daisy, listen to me, you’ve got to get out of town. You’re in danger
here…”

“It’s her, isn’t it? That woman in your bed? I saw the way
she looked at you. The way
you
looked at her.”

“Daisy…”

“It could be good between us, Rio. I could make you happy, I
know I could, if you’d just…”

“Daisy, darlin’…” He took her in his arms as she began to
cry, held her until her sobs subsided.

“I’m sorry.” She pushed away from him and turned her back.
His heart went out to her as he watched her straighten her shoulders, heard her
sniffling softly.

“Daisy, listen to me…”

He put his hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off. “Just
go away.”

“Daisy, dammit, you’ve got to listen to me!”

“Get out!” she shrieked. She whirled around, her finger
stabbing toward the door. “Go, on! Get out!”

“I’ll talk to McCrory.” He pulled his hide-out gun from his
inside coat pocket and laid the derringer on the table beside the sofa. “If he
gives you any more trouble, let me know. In the meantime, keep this handy.”

Daisy stared at him, her eyes dull and red, her lower lip
quivering.

Feeling like a heel, Alejandro left the house. Women! If he
lived to be a hundred, he’d never understand any of them.

He thought about what Shaye had told him while he walked
back to the hotel.

It was beyond belief. And yet, she had known things she had
no way of knowing. And while he didn’t believe in time travel, he did believe
that some people were able to see the future. His great grandfather, Red Bow,
had been a shaman gifted with many mystical powers, among them the ability to
look into the past, and see into the future.

Shaye wasn’t in their room when he returned to the hotel.
Going back downstairs, he looked into the dining room. She was sitting at a
back table.

“Everything okay?” she asked as he took a seat across from
her.

“She thinks her partner’s skimming the profits.”

“Yes, I know.”

He looked at her, a question in his eyes.

“The diary. It’s all in there. Did she throw herself into
your arms?”

He grunted softly.

“So many women, so little time,” she muttered drily.

“What the deuce does that mean?”

“Nothing. Did you tell her about me?”

“I tried. She wouldn’t listen. I’ll give her a few days to
calm down…”

“Calm down? What did you say to her?”

He muttered an oath. “I didn’t say anything. She…hell, you
said you read her diary. You know what happened.” He blew out a breath. “So,
tell me more about the future.”

“I don’t know where to start. People travel in automobiles
instead of carriages. We have electric lights instead of kerosene lamps. Our
houses have air-conditioning to keep them cool in the summer, and furnaces to
keep them warm in the winter. We have airplanes…”

“Airplanes?”

She nodded. “It’s a way to travel through the air. “

“You mean, like flying?”

“Yes. And men have walked on the moon and…”

He laughed out loud at that. “Why would anyone want to walk
on the moon?”

It was a good question. She had often wondered that herself.
“I don’t know, to prove it could be done I guess.”

He shook his head. “You’ve got a hell of an imagination,
I’ll give you that.”

“I’m not making it up! It’s all true. There will be amazing
inventions in the next hundred years. Telephones will replace the telegraph.
Computers will replace typewriters. Refrigerators will replace ice boxes.”

She bit down on her lip, trying to figure out how to explain
the miracle of computers and television, stereos and microwaves, washing
machines and indoor plumbing, blow dryers and toothbrushes and toilet paper,
and all the other things that she had taken for granted and dearly missed.

Alejandro stared at Shaye in bemused bewilderment. It was
obvious she believed what she was saying. And he was beginning to. Was she
crazy, he wondered, or was he?

Addy Mae sashayed up to their table. “Good morning, Rio.
What’ll you have?”

“Same as usual, darlin’.”

Addy Mae smiled at him, then looked at Shaye. “And you?”

“Just coffee. And a muffin.”

Addy Mae laid a hand on Alejandro’s shoulder. “I heard about
the accident at the mine. I’m sorry about Moose. I know he was a friend of
yours.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Addy Mae squeezed his shoulder. “I’ll bring your coffee.”

Alejandro leaned back in his chair. “The funeral’s tomorrow
morning.”

Shaye nodded, wondering where they would hold the service,
since there was as yet no church in town. There were over sixty saloons in
Bodie, and fifteen dens of iniquity, but not one house of worship. Would they
use one of the saloons? Or maybe someone’s home. No churches, she mused, but
three cemeteries: the people’s cemetery for citizens, the Miners’ Union Plot,
and the Free Mason’s cemetery. The Chinese had their own cemetery, too. And
then there was Boot Hill, reserved for the less respectable citizens of the
town. Moose would most likely be laid to rest in the Miners’ Union Cemetery.

“Where will they hold the service?” she asked.

“Over at the Miners’ Union Hall. Reverend Warrington holds
church services there, or sometimes at the Odd Fellows Hall. The Miners’ Hall
is a popular place for dances and recitals and the like. The fireman hold a
ball there once a year, and the Union has benefits now and then to raise money
for the families of men who are killed or injured in the mines.”

“Amazing,” Shaye remarked. “Thousands of people and two
preachers, and no church.”

“Hey,” he said, “we’ll have a church soon. The reverend is
soliciting subscriptions now.”

Shaye frowned. “If I remember right, you’ll have two.”

“Two?” Alejandro grinned. “Lord have mercy!”

“As I recall, they’ll both be finished in September of next
year. The Catholic one will be lost in a fire. But the Methodist one on Green
Street is still standing.”

Alejandro shook his head. Either she was telling the truth,
or she was far and away the best storyteller he’d ever heard.

Addy Mae brought their order. Shaye sipped her coffee,
wondering if the coffee was getting better or if she was just getting used to
it.

“So,” Alejandro said, “what are you going to do today?”

“I don’t know. Look for a job, I guess.”

“What kind of job?”

“I thought I’d ask Philo Richardson if he could use me at
the newspaper office.”

“You could always get a job dealing cards at the Queen.”

“Me? You’re kidding, right?”

“Why not you?”

“But I hardly know anything about the game.”

“You did all right the other night.”

She felt a flurry of excitement at the thought. She’d had
fun the other night.

“Will you help me?”

“Sure. You can deal at my table until you feel comfortable.
You can start next week.”

“Will Rojas let me?”

Alejandro grinned at her. “Darlin’, he’ll love having you
there. And so will I.”

Daisy wandered through the house, her heart heavy and
aching. She had made a fool of herself with Alejandro, she thought bitterly,
but she loved him so much. Why couldn’t he love her in return?

She thought about the woman she had seen in his bed, and
felt a sharp pang of jealousy. She had offered herself to Rio when she worked
at the Rose, and again when they were partners. She had practically begged him
to make love to her, and he had refused. And now there was another woman in his
life, in his bed.

She picked up the derringer he had left on the table, traced
the initials AV carved in the butt with her fingertip. Why couldn’t he love
her?

Tears stung her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. Maybe she
should take Fred Syler up on his last offer, sell him her half of the Belle,
and go back home. That had always been her dream, to earn enough money to go
home in style. But, somewhere along the way, her dream had died and going home
no longer held the appeal it once had. How could she face her mother, look her
father in the eye? Her parents were decent, church-going people. They would
never be able to understand, never be able to forgive her. She put the derringer
back down on the table and went into the bedroom.

Sinking down on the bed, she picked up a flaming red pillow
one of the miners had brought her from San Francisco. Clutching it to her
breast, she let the tears fall, silently praying that somehow, someday, Rio
would love her as much as she loved him. She thought of him constantly, relived
every moment they had spent together, every word he had spoken to her, every
smile, every touch. She rocked back and forth. She hurt deep down inside, hurt
with an ache that would never heal.

He was the real reason she didn’t want to leave town. Even
though he didn’t love her, might never love her, he was here. If she went home,
she would never see him again.

She wondered what kind of danger he thought she was in, but
it didn’t matter.

She couldn’t leave town, not as long as he was here, not as
long as there was a chance, however small, that one day he might love her.