Chapter Seventeen

Amanda stepped aboard the train with Dani. They were directed to a large sleeping compartment on the second level where the bunk beds had already been turned down by the attendant.

“I always traveled in the observation lounge,” Dani said, “but if the sleeping car is where you all work your magic, then that’s what we need.”

“I don’t know,” Amanda laughed without mirth. “So far, it hasn’t worked very well. I wish we could take the observation car.”

Dani shook her head. “We can’t now. I hear they disconnect it from this train and take it to Portland, so here we are with a sleeper that we’ll, hopefully, only be in for about three hours until we approach Wenatchee.”

“I know it seems like a waste of money. It’s 2:15 a.m. now, and we get into Wenatchee at 5:35 a.m.”

“It doesn’t seem like a waste to me,” Dani said with a yawn. “Let’s get what sleep we can. I can’t wait to get home. I know Stephen is probably worried about me.”

Dani climbed into the top bunk and Amanda took the bottom. She switched off the light and lay down, certain she would never be able to sleep. The train began its familiar screeching and rumbling symphony as it pulled away from the station.

“Dani?”

“Yes?”

“How is it...living in 1906? Don’t you miss the comforts of the twenty-first century?”

“Sometimes,” Dani said. “Microwaves, mobile phones, computers, modern medicine. But I wouldn’t come back permanently for anything. My kids and my husband live in the 1900s. That’s all the kids know.”

“So, they don’t know you came from here?”

“No, they don’t. I don’t think we’ll tell them either. Despite the fact that there are now six of us who have traveled in time—Ellie, me and my mom, Annie and her sister though her sister returned home, and now you. I still think it’s pretty freakish, and I don’t want my children to tell anyone or worry that we’re more unusual than we already are.” She chuckled in the darkness.

“So, you’re considered unusual?”

“Oh, yes! Ellie, Annie and I are always the first to buy new things. As you can imagine, if we can figure out how to modernize something, we will. And the way we talk, our dialect. Some folks pick up on that, too.”

Amanda smiled to herself, grateful to talk to someone who had traveled in time as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

“But the bottom line is...I love Stephen. I can’t imagine my life without him. He would have been willing to live in the future with me, but his life is there. His sister and her family are there. Our lives are there. So, yes, I miss some of the comforts, but my greatest comfort is Stephen, and he lives in the twentieth century.”

Amanda said nothing. What could she do but jump up and say, “I hear you, sister!” Somehow, it seemed too late in the night for that.

“Hey, Amanda, don’t forget you have to wish to go back to 1906 for this thing to work. Just like I’ll be doing. We probably don’t need to hold hands or anything as we both have the ability to travel back in time, but I’m sure we both still need to wish.”

“Okay,” Amanda said. “Will do. Good night, Dani.”

“Good night, Amanda. See you on the other side.”

Amanda began her wishing mantra again. I wish I was in 1906. I wish I was with Nathan. I wish I was with Nathan. I wish I could find Nathan in time. I want to be with him and live with him forever—his time or my time, I don’t care. I wish I was with Nathan. I wish I was in 1906. Oh, I don’t care what year it is. I just want to find Nathan in time.

Her heart thudded in the darkness, and she tried to slow her rapid breathing. Exhausted though she was, she wondered if she would be able to sleep at all. Her body vibrated with anticipation and yearning. She longed to see Nathan again, so much so that it kept her awake. But she needed to sleep. Dani had said none of the women understood the mechanism for the time travel but that it almost always happened around the Wenatchee area.

The Apple Capital of the World. Amanda remembered the sweet smell of fruit in the air. She liked the small town of Wenatchee, though she thought she hated the river. Still, the early historic town had a certain charm about it, different from the hustle and bustle of Seattle. Even in 1906, apple orchards lined the valley. A little drier and dustier than it would be later in the century with the advent of irrigation, she had a fondness for it anyway. Maybe because that was where she fell in love with Nathan.

Nathan! Amanda forced her thoughts back into focus. I wish I was with Nathan. I wish I was with Nathan. But the more she repeated her wish, the more anxious she became. She listened for sounds of Dani’s breathing to indicate she was asleep, but she couldn’t tell.

“Dani?” she whispered.

“Yes?”

Amanda bit her lip. She’d awakened Dani.

“Were you asleep?”

“No,” Dani said, speaking in a normal tone. “I can’t sleep. Too keyed up, I guess. As much as I’ve traveled back and forth, you’d think I would be used to this.”

“So, it doesn’t get any easier?”

“Not really. Or I’m particularly stressed out this time. Having lost Nathan somewhere, I’m a little leery about where we’ll end up in time...or if we’ll even end up in the same time. Maybe we should be holding hands just to make sure we both get to the same place and time.”

Amanda flipped on the light switch and sat up in bed. Dani climbed down from the top bunk. She pulled her bag and her pillow with her.

“Mind if I join you?” Dani asked with a faint smile, settling her pillow behind her back.

“Not at all,” Amanda said. She spread her small blue blanket over Dani’s legs, and they sat quietly side by side for a few minutes.

“So, we have to be asleep for the time travel, right?” Amanda confirmed.

“Yes, we do,” Dani said. “If only we could click our heels and wish ourselves wherever we wanted to be.”

Amanda chuckled.

“If you had to guess, Dani, where do you think Nathan might be?”

Dani shook her head and frowned. “Hopefully, Seattle in 1906, although like I said, my husband will have a fit if Nathan shows up and I’m not with him.”

Amanda covered Dani’s hand with her own. “Thank you for all you’ve done, Dani. I’m sure we’ll get back to 1906...as soon as we get to sleep. With both of us wishing for the same thing, we can’t go wrong. It’s like a double whammy!”

Dani smiled. “That’s positive thinking.” She gave Amanda’s hand a squeeze. “Dear time traveling gods, please let Amanda and I get back to the men we love.”

Amanda chuckled. “Oh, that’s good!”

“I thought so too,” Dani laughed. “Now, let’s get some sleep.” With her free hand, she flipped the light switch off.

Amanda obediently closed her eyes. The warmth of Dani’s hand focused her, and she repeated Dani’s phrase. Dear time traveling gods, please let Dani and I get back to the men we love.

She drifted off the cliff on a cloud.

****

A sharp jolt of the train startled Amanda, and she opened her eyes. The compartment was dark. She reached for Dani’s hand but couldn’t find it…nor could she find any other part of her body. All she could feel was velvet...as if it was upholstery. Amanda opened her eyes wider in the dark to see better, but she couldn’t. She straightened her legs and felt her feet on the floor.

She had no doubt she was sitting on a bench in a Pullman sleeping compartment. Amanda rose and carefully felt her way toward the door where she remembered there was a light switch. She found it and turned the lights on, then turned around.

Yes, she was definitely on a Pullman car. Golden light from globed sconces shone on the mahogany walls. Green velvet covered the benches which had not yet been turned down for the night.

Where was Dani?

“Dani!” she whispered urgently. “Dani!” But Dani wasn’t in the compartment.

Amanda slid open the door and peeked out. The hallway was quiet, empty. Had Dani gone to the bathroom? Amanda looked down at her wrinkled skirt and ventured out into the hallway. She was appropriately dressed for the time, albeit a little bedraggled. She made her way down to the ladies toilet and peeked inside.

“Dani,” she whispered. There was no response. Amanda stepped in and searched the small room, but Dani wasn’t there.

Amanda began to panic. Where was Dani? Had she been stuck in 2013? Not able to travel back in time? What would Amanda say to Dani’s husband, to her friends? Would they hate her for losing Dani?

She hurried back to her room, stumbling as tears blinded her. She threw herself onto the bench and sobbed. She was exhausted. She had no idea what time it was, or where she was exactly. Dani was missing, and Amanda had no idea how to find her.

Amanda realized as her tears subsided that she was not responsible for Dani’s travel to 2013, nor was she responsible for Dani’s disappearance, but knowing it didn’t lessen her guilt. Had she dropped Dani’s hand when they slept?

The train lurched, and Amanda grabbed the edge of the bench. She’d forgotten how much wilder the ride in a Pullman car was than the more modern steel train, which rocked and rolled pretty well in itself. She pulled the velvet curtains aside and peeked out.

No golden orbs shone in the distance. In fact, the landscape was black, flat, without relief. The train slowed, and she craned her neck to see up and down the length of the train. Nothing.

She jumped up and pried open the door again to see if she could see out of the other side of the train, but pulled her head back in when she saw a porter down the hall, near the sleeping car door. Another lurch, a track switch as they approached a station, she guessed, threw her back onto the bench, and she held her breath and waited. The train slowed. It seemed likely the train station was probably on the other side of the car, out of her view. She would have no idea what station they were at unless it was Seattle, the end of the line. It couldn’t have been Seattle though because she would have seen lights from the city through her window by now—even in 1906.

Hopefully, the porter would just open the door and move on so she could run down the hall and peek out. The train slowed further still, and Amanda released her breath and took in air. No point in passing out. She tried to breathe evenly but found she couldn’t.

When the train stopped, Amanda was poised at the compartment door. She pulled it open and thrust her head into the hallway. No porter. She raced down the hallway, but stopped short when the porter appeared from the other end of the carriage carrying a stack of papers. She jumped into an open compartment and hid behind the open door, holding her breath again. She had to find out what station they were at. Although she suspected it wasn’t Seattle, for some reason she had to know.

Amanda looked around the corner again. The porter had disappeared. Maybe he’d gotten off the train. She inched her way out of the compartment and down the hall to the end of the car. A stack of newspapers, those the porter had been carrying, waited on a table for the sleeping car passengers. She threw a cursory glance at them and stopped short. The date! They would have a date on them.

October 30, 1905.

Amanda blinked, thinking she had misread. 1905? She picked up the paper and read it again. No, there was no doubt. The newspaper was dated 1905, one year before she had intended to go back. She dropped the paper and slumped against the wall. What now, her tired brain screamed? What was she supposed to do now? No matter where she was, she didn’t have any money from 1905. She had foolishly traded it all in.

How could she possibly get out of this merry-go-round? No wonder Dani was missing. Dani had probably traveled to 1906—to the man she loved, while Amanda had lost herself in time again.

Nathan... She remembered him! Not their first meeting but the second. How? The words she had whispered on the train came back to her.

I wish I was with Nathan. I don’t care what year it is. I just want to find Nathan in time.

But she hadn’t... And at the moment, there was nothing she could do but figure out where on earth she was. She lifted her chin, took a deep breath and peered out of the car.

The scene was familiar. A small train station, modestly lit, the sweet scent of fruit filling the air despite the usual smells of coal and smoke, a wooden sign that read “Wenatchee.”

Wenatchee. Of course!

Without hesitation and without thought, Amanda gathered her skirts and stepped down off the train, heedless of whether she was seen by the porter or conductor. She ignored the call of the porter behind her as she walked toward the station door.

A man, leaning against a pillar, straightened and moved quickly toward her. Before Amanda had a chance to ward the stranger off, he enveloped her in a powerful embrace.

“Amanda, my love, my darling! You’re here. You’ve come! Oh, my dear love, we are together at last.” He murmured into her ear.

Amanda pulled back and looked into the eyes of the man she loved, the man she had traveled through time to find. Nathan.

“It’s you,” she whispered. “It’s really you. You’re here.”

Nathan released her and cupped her face in his hands. The dimples in his cheeks deepened as he beamed at her. He pressed his lips against hers for a long, warm moment before lifting his head once again to stare at her.

“Yes, it’s me. I have been waiting for you. I was so worried you wouldn’t find your way back to me. Dani—”

Amanda reached for his face and laid her palms flat along the side of his face.

“I think she’s okay. She found me. You didn’t lose her.”

“Yes, I know she is fine. I inquired about everyone’s health from Robert via telegraph. He assured me they are all well. Dani and Stephen are at their cabin in Montana.”

He pulled her into his arms again and buried his face in her hair. “Everyone is where they should be, my love, including you and I.”

Amanda wrapped her arms around him and clung tightly.

“I’m so sorry. I still don’t remember when we first met, even though I’ve come further back in time.”

He looked down at her.

“But you love me still, don’t you?”

“I love you still, Nathan, and I always will.”

“And I will always love you. I promise you that we will never be parted again. Never! I wished to find you in time...any time...and you have come back to me.”

Amanda nestled in his arms. “I wished the same thing. I didn’t care what year it was as long as I could find you.”

“Perhaps those were the magic words,” Nathan murmured. “The reason we remember each other now. No matter what the formula, it has worked, and we are together again.” He pulled his jacket off and wrapped it around her. “The night is chilly. Let’s go back to the hotel.”

“As Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter?” Amanda said with a grin.

“No, my dear. We have a chance to start anew with the Spiveys. I shall introduce you as my fiancée.”

“Your fiancée?” She arched an eyebrow.

Nathan, wise man that he was, needed no further prompting. He went down on one knee.

“And you and I will start anew as well. I love you with all my heart, Amanda, and I always have. Will you marry me?”

“Yes, Nathan, I will.” She laughed and pulled him to his knees. “Now, it’s official. I’m your fiancée.”

He pulled her into his arms again.

“By the way, what are you doing here in Wenatchee?” she asked.

“I thought we might live here, my dear. The scent of the apples entices me. I am having a house built overlooking the river. Would that be all right with you?”

“The Apple Capital of the World?”

“Exactly,” Nathan grinned.

“And we’ll sit on the porch and stare down the river that almost separated us?”

“We will befriend the beast,” Nathan said. “From a distance.”

“No more sternwheelers,” she said.

“No more sternwheelers,” he agreed.

“And no more trains,” Amanda said.

“I understand your sentiment, but that will be very difficult, my love. There are no modern highways for our automobiles to traverse the mountains. We must ride the train if we are to visit Seattle.”

“Your grandfather,” Amanda nodded. “Yes, you’ll want to visit him.”

“I imagine I will bring him to live with us. Will that be all right?”

“Of course.”

“I love you, Amanda,” Nathan said with a husky voice.

“And I love you, Nathan. I was so worried I’d lost you in time.”

“But you found me. You found me in time.”

He kissed her again, a deeply satisfying kiss that promised a long and happy future together.