Book 1 A Thread of Time

Its writer/creator, KAB, copyrights all the characters and story lines of ‘Book 1 A Thread of Time’. To use the characters or storylines of ‘Book 1 A Thread of Time’ for any means or reason without the author’s prior knowledge and consent is a Federal offense and punishable under the copyright laws of the United States. Copyrighted 11/2/2008.
A Thread of Time
Chapter 1
Nick sat on the couch in the small, untidy living room watching as a cop made his way through the mess to the kitchen. It was not the first time the cops had been there, Katy had called them several times before. However, this time felt different to Nick for some reason. Maybe it was because this time a cop kept going back and forth between the kitchen where two cops were questioning Katy and outside to the steps where two other cops were questioning John, his hands cuffed behind his back. This was the first time during all of the times the cops had been there that one of the cops had done that.
Two younger children, a four year old boy and a three year old girl cowered at the opposite end of the couch from Nick too scared to even cry. They sat as far away from Nick as they could neither wanting anything to do with Nick. Nick didn’t want anything to do with them either so the hate between him and them was mutual. They were Katy‘s kids and if they had just left him alone like he had asked them too maybe none of this would have happened.
Nick couldn’t hear what John was saying but he could hear what Katy was telling the cops and it was a bunch of lies. She was sitting at the kitchen table crying crocodile tears as she lied to the cops making John sound like a total asshole and herself sound like a saint. Nick stared at the floor; he knew exactly what was going to happen. Every time Katy called the cops it didn’t matter what the truth was, John went to jail for domestic abuse and then Katy made Nick pay for all the shit because it was all his fault.
After about an hour of listening to the two different versions Katy and John were telling the cop walked over to where Nick sat on the couch doing his best to be invisible.
“You are Nick McCabe, John’s younger brother.” He said as a statement of fact not a question.
Nick looked up at the cop warily “Yeah, I’m Nick.” he replied sullen.
There was a visible bruise on Nick’s face. On several occasions, when he’d been sent on calls to this house; he had suspected John or Katy might be abusing Nick and that bruise on Nick’s face proved it to him one of them was. “I want you to come outside with me Nick; I want to talk to you.” He ordered Nick. Nick stood up and followed the cop outside knowing he really didn’t have any other choice.
The cop led Nick to his patrol car and opened the passenger side back door. “Have a seat Nick.” He ordered.
Nick sat down in the cop car facing the cop who stood on the sidewalk blocking his view of John. The cop knelt down so he was closer to eye level with Nick. “I’m Officer Ortega Nick and I need to ask you a few questions. I want you to be honest with me Nick, it’s very important, okay?” he asked sounding compassionate and concerned.
Nick stared at the sidewalk; he didn’t want to be questioned by the cops. He just wanted whatever was going to happen to go ahead and happen and for the cops to leave. “Yeah, sure.” he responded, he‘d lie if he had to. He‘d been dealing with cops long before John got custody of him.
“Nick, did you see what happened today between your brother and his wife?” Officer Ortega asked he would wait to ask about the bruise on Nick’s face til he felt like the boy was a little more comfortable with him and would be more likely to tell the truth.
“She’s not John’s wife.” Nick responded sounding a little pissed trying to change the subject and avoiding the cop’s question.
Officer Ortega grinned slightly at Nick; he knew exactly what Nick was trying to do. “Okay then Nick, did you see what happened today between John and Katy?” he asked.
“Yeah, I saw what happened.” Nick replied sounding like a petulant child as he still stared at the sidewalk. His head was starting to hurt, he was starting to feel sick to his stomach and he felt very tired suddenly.
“Tell me what you saw happen Nick.” Officer Ortega asked being patient. He knew of Nick’s history and the boy had been trained, almost from birth, to keep his mouth shut around cops.
Nick sighed softly “John came home from work, him and Katy got into an argument then Katy called the cops.” He replied in a monotone voice.
Officer Ortega decided to try a different questioning tactic with Nick; one he believed would get Nick to tell the truth. “So John came home from work and started hitting Katy because he’d had a bad day at work and had several drinks before he came home. You tried to stop him from hurting Katy and he hit you then Katy called us.” he said pretending to write in his notebook. He looked at Nick “If we arrest John this time Nick, he won’t be coming home in a day or two, John will be staying in jail til his court date and he will be sentenced to at least 7 to 10 years.” he informed Nick.
Nick looked up at Officer Ortega, he was upset and angry about what the cop had just told him also his head was hurting and he felt like he was going to puke so he replied without even thinking. “No, John never hit me, he hadn’t been drinking and he didn’t hit Katy either. She’s a fucking liar; she started the fight when John came home. She was hitting me with a piece of my car track when John came home. He was pissed and told her to stop then she started yelling at him to get rid of me, that I was a little fucking bastard and that I’d hurt her kids. She said if he didn’t put me in foster care right then that she was gonna make him wish he had. John, he tried to calm her down and he asked her what happened, how I had hurt her kids. She said I started hitting them for no reason and that I hurt them. Then John asked me what happened and I told John that Katy’s kids had been hitting me first and they jumped on my stomach, it hurt so I shoved them off me and they fell on the floor and started crying. Katy came into the room then; she jerked me off the couch and started hitting me. I tried to get away from her and she threw me towards the coffee table. I fell down and hit the back of my head on the corner of the coffee table very hard; it hurt bad. Then Katy jerked me up off the floor, slammed me face first into the wall, and started hitting my back with a piece of my car track. That’s what I told John. Katy called me a liar and she threw a glass off the table at John, John held his arm up the glass busted and cut his arm. His arm started bleeding and he looked pissed off. Then Katy started screaming ’No, don’t hit me John, please’ she was screaming real loud so the neighbors would hear then she grabbed up her two brats, ran to her and John’s room, locked the door and call you guys.” Nick said angrily talking really fast. “That‘s what really happened and John never fucking hit her or me.”
Officer Ortega believed he had finally gotten to the truth of what had happened. He felt bad for the Nick but this was the 15th time Katy had called the cops on John in the 6 months since John had taken custody of Nick and it was time to put an end to all of this. Let the courts sort it all out.
“Okay,” Officer Ortega said standing up, “Nick, I want you to stay in my car for now and I am going to go get another officer.” he informed Nick before he closed the car door.
Nick watched as Officer Ortega walked into the house and a moment later came out with one of the two cops that had been questioning Katy. Officer Ortega said something to one of the cops that had been questioning John then both cops followed Officer Ortega to the cop car where Nick sat. The three cops blocked John’s view of Nick as Officer Ortega opened the car door and ordered Nick out of the car and ordered Nick to take off his tee shirt. Nick complied, he was tired of getting beat on by Katy, he head was hurting worse, and he was starting to feel dizzy and very sick. All three cops stared at the bruises and nasty red whelps that covered Nick’s stomach and chest. Officer Ortega ordered Nick to turn around and all three cops stared at his bruise and whelped covered back. Officer Ortega then ordered Nick to put his shirt back on, to face his squad car, put his hands on the trunk and spread his legs. Officer Ortega patted Nick down then cuffed his hands behind his back and read Nick his rights while the two other cops blocked John’s view of what was going on. Officer Ortega told Nick he was being arrested for physically assaulting Katy’s two children. Nick was put in the back of Officer Ortega’s car and left there. He watched as Katy was pulled out of the house her hands cuffed behind her back. She was yelling, screaming and crying; despite how lousy he felt, Nick smiled pleased to see the bitch being arrested for what she’d done to him.
Nick watched as John was taken into custody as well for suspected domestic violence and was put in the back of a separate squad car from Katy. Both squad cars drove away leaving 3 cops and Katy’s two brats at the house. The squad car he was in was hot and made him feel even worse, he began to worry he was going to throw up in the back of the squad car as he waited for what seemed like hours in the car alone. Finally, a plain sedan pulled up and a man and woman got out, Nick knew they were from social services without even being told. He watched as the two social workers brought Katy’s two kids out with them, both kids were crying hysterically and Nick felt bad that they were both so upset but there was nothing he could do about it now, it was too late.
Officer Ortega did not look too pleased when he got into his car and he wasn’t. He’d called to let juvenile detention know he was bringing in a kid he’d arrested. The officer he’d talked to informed him that juvy was full up and he would have to take his prisoner elsewhere. He told Officer Ortega that any further juveniles arrested were being put in the old part of the jail that was in the process of being renovated. This did not set well with Officer Ortega, the old part of the jail had been bricked off for many years; some of it had been built originally before the revolutionary war. The cells were primitive; many did not have running water or even toilets. Officer Ortega parked his car and pulled Nick out; the kid was pale and got violently ill when he was removed from the car. Officer Ortega assumed Nick was sick from being nervous and upset because he’d been arrested and due to everything else, that had happened that day. After Officer Ortega was certain Nick was finished getting sick, he took the boy inside and had him fingerprinted and his mug shot taken then he put Nick in a holding cell.
Officer Ortega had been a cop for several years and s several people owed him favors. He went to his desk and began making calls to see if maybe he could find somewhere else to put Nick other than the old cells.
Nick sat in a corner of the holding cell leaning against the wall with his eyes shut. He had thought after he got sick he would feel better but he didn’t, he felt worse. His headache had grown intolerable, it hurt so bad he wanted to cry and he didn’t cry easily. He felt so dizzy he feared he would get sick again, his vision was so blurry he could barely see and he was so tired he couldn’t keep his eyes open. Nick closed his eyes and drifted off into an uneasy sleep, there was a strange buzzing in his ears. He smelt a strange scent of wild flowers and vaguely felt someone push a lock of his hair out of his closed eyes; the touch was gentle and made Nick feel safe for some reason. He started feeling cold and wished for a blanket.
Almost as if in a dream Nick heard a woman softly say “Poor little beggar you never really had a chance now did you?” The woman’s voice sounded musical to his ears, he wanted to open his eyes to look at her but found he couldn’t open his eyes. Slowly he realized he couldn’t move and he wasn’t even certain if he was breathing; everything felt unreal to him. “Sleep now little one.” the woman said as she gently stroked his hair and Nick fell into a deep sleep.
Nick did not know how long he slept before he felt someone gently shaking him. “Wake up lad tis time for you to go to your cell.” a male voice with just a touch of an Irish accent said. Nick slowly opened his eyes, he was freezing cold and still felt deathly ill as he stared up at the police officer. The officer was dressed strangely in an old police uniform like the ones Nick had seen in old black and white movies from the 30’s and 40’s. The police officer was strangely pale but he had kind blue eyes and he smiled at Nick as he took his hand and gently pulled him from the holding cell. He led Nick through the police station to a very old looking iron door. He inserted an old skeleton key into the door’s lock and opened it. Then he picked up an old looking flashlight and led Nick down a cobble stone set of stairs. They went down a long corridor and Nick saw strangely dressed people in several of the cells that lined the corridor. They came to a place where two corridors split off in separate directions and the officer led Nick down the right one that curved around to where a solitary cell was a stone bench was set in the stonewall by the cell. The officer opened the iron barred cell with a skeleton key and looked at Nick. “Tis lucky you are lad that this cell was available, very few have been given the privilege you are receiving. This cell is one of the oldest in the jail and many a famous person has been imprisoned in this very cell pirates, outlaws, soldiers and gangsters to name a few.” the officer informed Nick.
Nick stared into the pitch-black cell as the cop lit a candle in a candleholder on the wall. There was a bare mattress on the floor with three folded blankets and a pillow on it. There were 2 buckets in the cell, one had water and a dipper in it and Nick could pretty well guess what the other bucket was for as there was no toilet in the cell. He didn’t feel very lucky as he walked into the cell and the officer locked the door behind him. He looked up at the officer “I’m cold.” he said slightly timid, cops could be assholes sometimes.
“I’ll see to it you get some more blankets lad.” he said with some kindness “Tis not likely I’ll be see you again lad so I wish you the very best of luck.” he said before he walked away. Nick heard the officer’s footsteps echoing down the corridor then suddenly it was silent.
Nick covered up with the 3 blankets and laid down on the bed trying to go back to sleep but he was still freezing cold and he could hear strange voices, women crying and screaming which made it hard to go to sleep. Finally, he drifted off into a strange sleep; it felt as if he were falling down slowly into a long dark spiraling tunnel.
Chapter 2
Nick felt a strange jolt run through his body; he opened his eyes and looked around the cell with growing amazement. Sunlight was streaming through a barred window and a man dressed like a cowboy was sitting on a bunk in the cell. Nick shut his eyes and shook his head thinking he was seeing things but when he opened his eyes the cowboy was still there staring strangely at him and sun was still coming in the barred window.
“You all right kid?” the cowboy asked with some concern. Nick was in too much shock to speak so he nodded his head yes. The cowboy grinned at Nick “You’re pretty damned young to be in jail, what did you do to get yourself locked up?” He asked Nick in a friendly tone. Nick shrugged his shoulders and continued to stare at the cowboy with disbelief. He could feel the heat of the sun coming in the window and smell strange unfamiliar odors in the air. This had to be a dream Nick decided but if it was a dream, it was one hell of a vivid dream. He watched as the cowboy pulled a tobacco pouch out of his pocket and rolled a cigarette. The cowboy lit the cigarette and Nick could smell the smoke from the cigarette.
“Not much of a talker are you?” the cowboy asked Nick. Nick shook his head no, as he watched the cigarette with fascination. The cowboy grinned at Nick “You want a cigarette?” he asked Nick. Nick nodded his head yes and watched as the cowboy rolled him a cigarette. He lit the cigarette and gave it to Nick. “Got that tobacco from some Indians, it’s a smoother blend than you can get from the white man’s tobacco and it’s suppose to have some medicinal qualities to it. It makes you more relaxed and makes things seem less realistic.” He explained to Nick as Nick took his first drag off the cigarette.
Nick could taste the smoke and feel it go into his lungs; he could now hear what sounded like someone pounding nails into wood. Nick slowly exhaled and stared into the cowboy’s light blue eyes “You’re a dream.” he informed the cowboy seriously “You’re not real.”
The cowboy laughed and shook his head. He looked at Nick obviously amused “Been called a lot of things in my life boy but never been called a dream before.” he informed Nick as he looked at the barred window, his smile faded. “And I recon I’ll be real enough to the hang man in a few hours when he puts the noose around my neck and I do the hangman’s dance.” he said seriously. Nick saw a strange look of sadness in the cowboy’s eyes for a moment then it was gone. The cowboy smiled at Nick and pulled a deck of cards out of one of his pockets “Ever played poker before?” the cowboy asked Nick.
“No sir.” Nick replied with a slight smile, the tobacco was not regular tobacco and Nick knew exactly what it was.
“Well get your ass up off the floor and sit up here on the bunk across from me and I will teach you how to play.” the cowboy invited, it was as good a way as any to pass the last few hours he had left to live.
Nick sat down on the bunk facing the cowboy and for the next few hours, they played cards. The sound of the hammering continued without a break then suddenly the hammering stopped. The cowboy paled slightly, he laid his cards on the bunk, pulled out his tobacco pouch and rolled two more cigarettes. He lit the 2 cigarettes and gave Nick one then tossed the tobacco pouch onto the bunk in front of Nick “Where I’m going recon I won’t be needing it where I’m going.” he said in a serious tone. “Thanks for passing the time with me kid.” the cowboy said as he stood up.
Nick heard footsteps coming towards the cell another cowboy with a tin badge on his vest unlocked the cell door “It’s time Dalton.” the sheriff said to the cowboy then he seemed to notice Nick and seemed surprised to see him. “Don’t recollect letting you in the cell.” he said sounding a little confused as Nick stuck the playing cards and tobacco pouch into his pocket. Nick stared at the Sheriff but didn’t say anything. “Recon you best stay in here til I figure out where you came from.” the sheriff decided as Dalton walked out of the cell, the sheriff locked the cell door.
“Good bye.” Nick said hesitantly to Dalton.
Dalton turned and looked at Nick, there was a slight twinkle in his blue eyes “Never say good bye kid, its til we meet again.” he said with a cocky grin at Nick.
Nick nodded his head and smiled at Dalton “Til we meet again Dalton.” he said as he watched the sheriff and Dalton walk away. Nick climbed up on the bunk so he could look out the window and he could see the gallows. He watched Dalton walk up the gallows steps followed by the sheriff. Dalton looked over at the cell window Nick was looking out of and gave Nick a half smile as the sheriff slipped a noose around his neck. The sheriff said something to Dalton though Nick would never know what was said then the sheriff pulled a lever, a trapped door opened and Dalton dropped down through the opening. Nick saw a look of terror on Dalton’s face as he fell then his neck was broke and Dalton was dead. Nick realized he was crying as he felt tears rolling down his face though he wasn’t sure why he was crying; he’d only know Dalton a few hours and he never cried. Nick lay down on the bunk and covered up with the blanket trying to go to sleep. He didn’t understand what was going on or how he had got to this cell. He’d played cards with a man; a cowboy named Dalton, and then watched him hung. He had a tobacco pouch and deck of cards in his pocket that had been Dalton’s and they were real, this wasn’t a dream. But if it wasn’t a dream then what was it? Nick heard the sheriff come back to the cell but apparently thought Nick was sleeping so he left Nick alone. Nick fell asleep with tears still rolling silently down his face.
Chapter 3
Nick awoke back in his own cell alone, very cold and hungry. There were two more blankets lying folded on the mattress that Nick quickly wrapped around his body as he sat up. His head hurt extremely bad, so bad he began to believe something might be really wrong with him and maybe he needed to go to a doctor. However, as it seemed other than to bring him some more blankets the cops had forgotten he was there it wasn’t likely he’d be seeing a doctor anytime soon. He wasn’t even certain how long he’d been in the cell, days maybe weeks. What had happened to him had been more than a dream, he was sure of that and he even had proof but if it wasn’t a dream then what? Had he somehow traveled back in time? If so how was he doing it and for what reason? These were the questions he was asking himself. He’d seen shows on TV about time travel and knew it was suppose to be science fiction though some guy on one show he’d watched had said it was a plausible theory.
The extreme hunger he felt and his headache made it impossible for him to think much more. Suddenly bright lights came on in the corridor outside of his cell, which made his head hurt more. Nick shut his eyes, he could hear the faint sounds of men talking, and then a bit later he heard the sounds of machines and realized the men were renovating the primitive cells. Nick lay down and tried to get what rest he could, whatever had happened to him had exhausted him.
A few hours later, he heard the sounds of footsteps coming towards his cell and began to hope that maybe a cop was bringing him something to eat. A man wearing jeans and a tee shirt sat down on the stone bench by his cell and opened a lunch pail. Nick though he looked kind of like Dalton, he had long blond hair and blue eyes and some of the same physical features Dalton had.
As if realizing he was being stared at the man glanced into the cell and stared at Nick. The man looked startled and swore softly “Damn, where in the hell did you come from?” he asked sounding surprised.
“Some cop brought me down here last night I think, it’s hard to tell time in here.” Nick responded staring at the food the man was removing from his lunch pail.
“You’re pretty damned young to be locked up.” the man said with some anger, he noticed the boy staring at his food longingly. “Are you hungry?” he asked the boy.
“Yeah,” Nick admitted a little hesitant, “I ain’t had nothing to eat since breakfast yesterday if today is Thursday.” he informed the man.
“Today is Friday. “the man informed Nick then asked a little surprised “The cops didn’t feed you since they locked you up down here?” It was strange enough that the cops had locked a little kid down in the old part of the jail but for them not to even feed him bordered on cruelty.
“No, they brought me some more blankets while I was asleep but nothing to eat.” Nick replied.
“I’m JD,” the man said as he split his sandwich in half and dumped part of the bag of chips he had into his lunch pail. He handed the kid half the sandwich and part of the bag of chips through the bars of the cell. He got out a can of coke he was carrying in his lunch pail and gave that to the kid as well.
“I’m Nick.” the boy responded as he took a bite of the sandwich “Thanks for the food, I was starved.” he said appreciatively.
JD ate his lunch and watched the kid eat; the kid was too damned pale. Cops could be real assholes when they wanted to be, JD had more than a few bad experiences with cops than he cared to remember. Likely, some cop had locked the kid down here to put a scare into him. Still to not even feed the kid, that was bullshit.
JD and Nick ate in silence after that, JD wasn’t much of one for talking and Nick wasn’t certain if JD was even real or maybe some part of a hallucination or something else. JD pulled a cupcake out of his lunch box before he closed it and handed it to Nick. “I’ve got to go back to work now, but I will check on you before I leave tonight.” JD said as he stood up.
“Thanks JD.” Nick said seriously.
“Anytime kid.” JD replied with a slight grin at Nick.
Nick watched JD leave and wished he could have stayed. Even with the lights on in the corridor, his cell was still dark and though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, he was scared of being left all alone in the primitive cell. Nick put the cupcake aside in case no one brought him any dinner and laid back down there really wasn‘t anything else to do in the cell but sleep. He felt a little warmer since he’d ate and his head didn’t hurt so bad. Nick tried to go back to sleep but with all the noise the construction crew was making it was difficult.
Slowly Nick dozed off and began falling into the dark spinning tunnel again, he felt afraid and tried to wake up but couldn’t. Suddenly he found himself standing in a large tent in the middle of an isle of two rows of benches. Boys of various ages sat on the benches to his right and girls of various ages sat on the benches to his left. A man stood on a platform at the front of the tent behind a desk and was writing on a chalkboard. The man and the children were all wearing strangely outdated cloths.
The man at the front of the tent looked strangely at Nick for a moment then with a slight shake of his head; he gave Nick a very stern look. “If you wish to attend our school young man I suggest you be on time in the future and bring a writing slate with you tomorrow.” the man said addressing Nick in a stern tone. “Take a seat and do not disrupt this class any further.” the man ordered.
Nick stared at the side of the tent where the boys were sitting and sat down at the end of one of the benches. He felt very much like someone who’d been abruptly thrown into a play without knowing what the play was about or what his lines were suppose to be.
For the next couple of hours Nick sat silently and listened while the man he assumed was the teacher lectured the children and helped some of them with their schoolwork.
Suddenly Nick heard the sounds of galloping horses and the sounds of gunshots. The teacher yelled for all of the children to lie on the ground, which they all did. After what felt like an eternity to Nick, the gunshots stopped and the sounds of the galloping horses faded away. The teacher and all of the students stood up but one, a small girl with curly blond hair wearing a light blue dress. An older girl went to help the small girl up as did the teacher but the girl lay face down on the hard ground not moving. The teacher rolled the small girl over and Nick saw the front of her pretty blue dress was covered with crimson red blood. The older girl began to scream, a sharp shrill scream that pierced through Nick’s head like a sharp, hot knife. Some of the other girls began to scream and cry as the teacher took off his coat and covered the dead girl with it. Nick put his hands over his ears and closed his eyes trying to block out the pain the screams of the children were causing him. Everything went black and suddenly he was again falling in the dark twisting tunnel and this time he was glad of it. Nick woke in his cell cowering in the corner with all five blankets wrapped around him, the shrill unearthly screams still echoed in his head and a picture of the small dead girl was burned into his brain.
Nick opened his eyes and saw JD standing outside his cell looking in at him. JD was pale and had a strange almost frightened look on his face. “Are you okay kid?” JD asked Nick sounding uncertain.
Nick slowly took his hands from his ears “My head hurts real bad.” he admitted truthfully.
JD pulled a small pill bottle out from one of his pockets and dumped two pills into his hand. He put his hand through the bars “Here take these.” he ordered.
Nick stood up with the five blankets wrapped around his body and unsteadily walked over to where he could reach the pills JD held out. He took the pills from JD, “Thanks.” he said as JD gave him another soda through the bars.
JD took the empty soda can and chip bag then he put them in his lunch box. “You’re welcome kid.” he said feeling like shit leaving the kid there but he didn’t really have a choice. “I have to go now but I’ll be back in the morning and I’ll bring you some breakfast. Try to get some sleep kid.” he said still looking at Nick a little strange.
“Okay.” Nick agreed but knew he would do his damnedest not to go to sleep, not after his last incident. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” he said sounding a little forlorned as he watched JD walk away. Not long after JD left, the lights went off and Nick sat alone in a totally dark cell, no candle light even. He ate his cupcake and drank his soda slowly trying to stay awake. He was scared all alone in the dark cell, especially when he began to hear the murmur of other voices and the sounds of a woman crying. He didn’t want to go to sleep, in fact he was now terrified to go to sleep. Whatever was happening to him when he slept scared the hell out of him and he began to wonder if perhaps he had gone insane.
Chapter 4
JD sat in a bar having a few drinks with some of the men he worked with. They were talking about some ball game they had all watched the night before but JD was paying little attention to their conversation, he rarely contributed to any conversation the men he worked with had and they were use to him being silent. Going out for a few drinks after work with some of the men he worked with was often preferable to going home alone to an empty apartment.
While the men talked about the ball game, JD sipped his beer and gave serious consideration to whether he’d had an acid flash back or not. Something strange had happened that much he was sure of; he just wasn’t quite sure what it was. He went over it again in his mind. He’d gone to Nick’s cell before he left work for the day to give the kid another soda and check on him to be sure he was okay. When he’d got to the cell, he would have sworn it was empty which was impossible. In order for a cop to have taken Nick from the cell he would have had to of walked right by where JD was working and JD would have seen him. As he had stared into the dark empty cell, one of the men he worked with had yelled at him to hurry up or he’d be locked in the old part of the jail for the night. JD had glanced away from the cell and yelled back he would be there in a minute. He’d heard a strange sound coming from the cell and looked back in the cell then he saw Nick crouched in the far corner of the cell with his eyes closed and his hands over his ears.
Logically JD knew the kid hadn’t appeared out of thin air, so either he’d had a flash back which was totally possible with as much acid as he had dropped in his younger years. Or else maybe the corner of the cell was just so dark, even with the overhead corridor lights on that he had simply not seen the kid. That had to be it, JD decided with a slight smile, it had just taken his eyes a few minutes to adjust to the darkness of the cell and he’d simply not seen the kid. That was the logical explanation and JD decided it was the one he was going with.
For the next 2 weeks, JD was the only person Nick saw that came to his cell. Though when he’d wake up in the night, which he now did several times a night, the candle would be lit, the bucket he had to use for a toilet would be emptied and clean and there would be fresh water in the water bucket. Nick wondered why whoever came at night when he was asleep didn’t leave him any food. If it hadn’t of been for JD feeding him, he knew he would have starved to death. JD came early each day and ate breakfast with Nick, bringing him a breakfast sandwich and a carton of milk. JD ate lunch with Nick and left him a sandwich, chips and a soda every evening before he left work for the day. Nick ate as much as he could but his headaches were growing steadily worse and despite how hungry he was eating to much made him feel sick to his stomach.
Slowly the two got to know each other, Nick told JD about living with his father, his mom leaving when he was just a baby and about his dad abusing him til one time he almost killed him and Nick had ended up in the hospital. Nick told JD how his half brother on his mom’s side, John Jordan, had got custody of him and then what had happened over the last 6 months to cause him to end up in jail.
JD told Nick about his own experiences growing up, about his mother dying when he was young then being raised in foster homes. About the older brother he barely knew and his own multiple run ins with the law in his younger days. JD and Nick became friends over those first two weeks.
Though he didn’t want to and fought to stay awake, Nick was sleeping more and more. Each time he fell asleep, he fell into the dark twisting tunnel and found himself in a different time. Even when it was a pleasant experience, what was happening to him terrified Nick. One time he awoke in a primitive jungle and he saw dinosaurs, they were huge and they terrified him. He also saw what he thought might have been an ancestor of modern man. Another time he lay motionless in what was left of what had once been his cell; he could barely breath, the sky which he could clearly see was black and horrifying thunder and lighting shot across the black sky leaving purple lines.
On an other occasion he watch a group of native children playing, he stayed hidden so they wouldn’t see him but it felt like a peaceful time and he almost wished he could have stayed there. Another time he found himself in his cell with at least 20 other people, they talked of a civil rights movement, and that all men, no matter the color of their skin were equal and deserved to be treated the same, given the same rights. For some reason they seemed very impressed that Nick was there in the cell with them. And sang songs that said ’we shall overcome’ a lot in them. The same night after he awoke from that experience, he went to another time and found himself locked in his cell with a bunch of men and women; they were dressed strangely and talked a lot about student rights. They were protesting some war and kept talking about making love, not war; they sang a few songs one he remembered hearing before about giving peace a chance. One man that was older than the rest kept staring at Nick as if he knew him and there was something that seemed familiar about the man to Nick too. Nick began to feel uncomfortable and was glad when he woke up alone, in his own time, in his cell.
Nick began to theorize that if went too far from where he entered a time that he would be stuck in it forever so he tried to always stay as close to his point of entry as he could.
The one time that terrorized Nick the most wasn’t like any of the other times, it didn’t just last for a few hours or a night; it lasted for days and would haunt Nick‘s nightmares for the rest of his life.
Chapter 5
Nick awoke to find himself in a cell with six other boys, four were between 15 and 18 and the other two didn’t look to be more than 11 or 12. Four of them were asleep when he arrived and the two oldest were talking in low whispered tones. They were all dressed in what he knew were confederate civil war uniforms and the uniforms were tattered and worn. He could see cuts and bruises visible on all six boys and they were very thin, almost gaunt looking.
The two oldest boys that were awake glanced at Nick briefly but didn’t seem surprised by his sudden appearance in their cell. They continued their conversation.
“I heard tell the yanks are killing any of us they capture what ain’t officers. I heard a general talking to a group of his officers afore I got captured and he said the yanks shot 20 unarmed soldiers dead after they’d surrendered to them only letting the officers live.” the boy with long blond hair told the other boy with longer brown hair. He sounded scared to Nick.
“You recon they’re gonna kill us.” the soldier with brown hair asked.
“I recon they might, I recon the only reason they ain’t killed us yet is they recon we might have some information about where the next attack again the yanks will be.” the blond headed soldier replied.
“Better a bullet to the head than being sent to one of their prison camps. Heard tell they don’t feed you there and ifen you get sick they just let you die.” the brown haired soldier whispered.
“Ain’t no different in our prison camps, the general I was under said there ain’t enough money and food to feed our own much less a bunch of damned yanks. And I saw the inside of one of our prison camps… the yanks are treated worse than dogs and the soldiers what guards them are cruel bastards to them, saw them torturing this one yank just for the hell of it.” the blond headed soldier whispered back.
“Recon I won’t ever see my ma or pa again. And Lizbeth, she said she’d wait for me, that we’d get married after the war was over. My pa was going to give us some land to build a cabin on. Me and Lizbeth had already talked about what we wanted to name our children. It would have been a nice life.” the brown haired soldier whispered sounding wistful and sad.
“Me, I’d planned to travel, see some of the world before I settled down….never really figured on going to war.” the blond haired soldier said then he looked at Nick, “What was you gonna do with your life afore the war?” he asked Nick.
Nick thought for a moment, not sure exactly what to say before he replied, “I never really gave it much thought.”
“How old are you?” the brown haired soldier asked Nick.
“Almost 10.” Nick replied truthfully.
Both of the soldiers looked at each other for a moment then both stared at Nick, “That’s pretty damned young to die.” the blond headed soldier said with some pity in his tone.
For the number of days Nick was locked up with the six soldiers, he was never really sure how many days it was. They were given 1 bucket of water to last the seven of them for three days and were given no food at all. On the 3rd day Nick was there, two yank soldiers came and took Nick and the three other youngest soldiers to a different cell. Nick was terrified as he was led from the cell that he would be stuck in this time forever if he wasn’t killed first. For several days, Nick and the three other boys were beaten and tortured for information. What was done to himself and the other three was so maliciously vicious and brutal that it was burned into Nick’s mind and would be the subject of many of his nightmares for the rest of his life. When Nick was returned to his cell, he was alone; the other three had died most horrendous deaths.
Only the brown haired soldier was still in the cell when Nick was returned and he was near dead. Nick could see some of what the yanks had done to his body and was surprised he was still alive. The brown hair soldier motioned Nick to come to where he lay on the bunk after he was certain the yank that had brought Nick back was gone.
Nick went to the boy that was only a few years older than him and knelt down so he could hear whatever the soldier wanted to tell him. The brown haired soldier pulled a pocket watch out of his pocket and held it out to Nick. “My pa gave me this watch when I was about your age and his pa gave it to him on his 10th birthday. I would have given it to my oldest boy on his 10th birthday too but don’t recon I’ll ever have no son to give it to now so I want you to have it. I’m dying for certain; maybe you’ll survive to see the end of this war and if you do then at least something of me and mine will live on through you.” he said hoarsely as he pressed the watch into Nick’s hand.
Nick felt tears rolling down his face, the soldier was so hoarse Nick looked for the water bucket to give him some water but it was no where to be seen. Nick put the watch into his pocket with reverence and saw the soldier’s eyes were closed. Nick sat down on the bunk across from the dying soldier and watched his chest rise and fall. He watched the unconscious soldier’s breathing for hours or days, he was never certain for how long he sat there. When the brown haired soldier stopped breathing and Nick made certain he was dead, Nick sat down in a corner of the cell and cried. He just wanted to go to sleep and wake up back in his time in his cell. Somehow, the dark cell didn’t seem scary at all now and it sure as hell was preferable to this time.

Chapter 6
JD went to the coffee shop where he normally ate breakfast on Sunday, his only day off. He bought a paper and sat down to read it as he ate his breakfast. He couldn’t help but think about the kid, he left him extra food on Saturdays but it had to be pretty rough on a kid that age to be locked up all alone in a dark cell from Saturday at 5pm to Monday morning at 7am. A small article in the paper caught JD’s attention and he swore softly. It wasn’t as if the kid didn’t already have it bad enough, this happening was only going to fuck the kid up more; he thought as he carefully tore the article from the paper and put it in his wallet.
The next day JD stopped and bought the kid some breakfast and a carton of milk, he decided if the kid didn’t already know what had happened he would wait til after the kid ate to tell him.
When he arrived at work and went back to the cell to give the kid his breakfast, he was relieved to see the kid wasn’t there. It had really pissed JD off that the cops had left the kid locked in that primitive fucking cell for almost 3 weeks just giving the kid water but not feeding him, that was bullshit. The kid had been thin to begin with and despite JD feeding him, he was still losing weight. He had dark circles under his eyes so he obviously wasn’t sleeping much and he was filthy from not being allowed to shower or given a change of cloths, his hair was greasy and matted.
JD had considered going and trying to talk to the cops about the kid, see if maybe he could get the kid some better treatment but had decided against it. For the cops to of locked the kid down in that hell hole someone on the force had it in for the kid and if JD made any waves he might just find himself locked up in a cell beside the kid’s or maybe even dead so he kept his mouth shut. Maybe one of the few decent cops on the force had found out about the kid and moved him to juvy or even foster care. Anywhere was better than where they had been keeping the kid locked up.
JD continued going down to the cell and sitting on the bench to eat his lunch, it was quiet there and he didn’t have to listen to the other workers talk a bunch of shit while he ate. A week later JD went to eat his lunch at the bench by what had been Nick’s cell. JD opened his lunch box and sat it on the bench, out of habit he glanced into Nick’s cell and with shocked horror stared at what he saw inside the cell. Nick was back, the kid was sitting on the mattress in his cell, wrapped up with the five blankets he had tears streaming down his dirt covered face. It was obvious the boy had been severely beaten, by who JD guessed was the cops. But as to why, he wasn’t sure. Something that was really fucking with his brain was the kid hadn’t been in the cell that morning so how in the fuck did the cops put him in there without JD seeing, the section of the jail he was working on they would have had to walk right past him to of put Nick back in the cell.
Nick stared at JD and smiled slightly, he wiped the tears from his eyes and face with a part of the blanket then weakly crawled to the cell bars. JD handed the kid the extra sandwich he had got into the habit of putting in his lunch and a soda, the kid was obviously starved and his lips were cracked and bleeding so he hadn’t been given anything to drink for some time either. “What the hell happened to you?” JD asked with a mixture of concern and anger as Nick took several sips off the soda. JD realized the kid was in some kind of shock as tears continued to roll down his face.
Nick took a couple of small bites of the sandwich and another couple of sips of soda before he replied with a low hoarse bitter laugh, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, you’d likely think I was insane. Hell, I was there and I don’t even believe what happened to me happened.”
JD shook his head, whatever had happened to the kid he needed to tell him about it or else he just might go off the deep end. “Try me kid, tell me what happened, you might be surprised.” he said trying to encourage the kid to talk. If the cops had fucked the kid up this bad he would find out which ones had done it and see to it that they paid for it. Hell the kid said he was almost 10 but looked more like seven or eight. It would have taken a real cold hearted bastard to have fucked Nick up as severely as he was fucked up.
“Okay, I’ll tell you JD…” Nick said hesitantly as he took another sip of his soda. “I want you to know I realize how crazy what I’m gonna tell you sounds.” he admitted in a very serious tone, his voice still very hoarse. JD lit a cigarette and Nick looked at him “Can I have one?” he asked JD.
As shaken as the boy was and considering what had happened to him and where he was JD shrugged his shoulders and lit a second cigarette, which he gave to the boy. Then he waited for the boy to continue telling what had happened.
Nick took a deep drag off the cigarette and slowly exhaled; he took another sip of his soda then stared into JD’s blue eyes. “It started the first night I got locked up in this cell, I went to sleep and suddenly woke up back in time locked up in this cell with a cowboy, there was a barred window then and I could see and feel the sun. The cowboy’s name was Dalton and he taught me to play poker for a few hours then a sheriff came and took Dalton out of the cell. I climbed up on the bunk so I could see what was going on and I saw Dalton hung. I went to sleep there and woke back up here in this time.” Nick explained a little hesitant, he could see doubt in JD’s eyes still he continued his story. “Pretty much every time after that when I go to sleep I wake up in a different time. I’ve seen dinosaurs, a little girl killed by a stray bullet and a lot of other things.” he paused and took another deep drag off the cigarette before he continued. “This last time was the worst, I was gone for days. It was back in the civil war and I was locked up with six other soldiers, two of them were only 11 or 12 the other four were between 15 and 18. They all died JD, I saw 3 of them tortured to death, I’m not sure what happened to the other 2 but the last one I sat with and watched him die, I think he more or less starved to death. Then I woke up back in this cell in my time and you were sitting there.” Nick finished as he put out the cigarette, he waited for JD to say something.
JD stared into the boy’s light blue crystal colored eyes and tried to think of what to say. It wasn’t too hard to figure out that being locked down in that primitive cell alone for the most part might have driven the boy insane but he couldn’t very well say that. And if the cops had told him, what had happened while they were beating him up, then it would even be easy to understand why the boy’s mind had manufactured up this strange tale of time traveling. It was a hell of a lot easier than dealing with what had happened. “It’s not that I don’t believe that you believe what you’re telling me is the truth…” he began wondering how to say what he knew he had to say. “Being locked up in this hell hole, the cops beating you and after what happened to John. Well kid, it’s probably pretty normal that your mind has manufactured this alternate reality stuff to protect you from going totally insane…,”JD said cautiously, doing his best to find the right words to say. He didn’t want to hurt the kid any worse than he already was.
Nick stared at JD confused, “What happened to John?” he asked seriously not knowing what had happened.
JD swore to himself silently cursing the cops for not telling Nick what had happened, “Nick, I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this…” he began as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and pulled the newspaper article out of it. “Nick, John was killed in jail, another inmate stabbed him and he died.” JD said sympathetically as he held the article out to Nick.
Nick took the article and read it slowly several times, his eyes slowly filled with unshed tears. “It’s that bitch Katy’s fault, if she hadn’t of called the cops and lied to them, they would have never arrested John.” Nick said angrily. JD didn’t say anything; he understood the kid’s anger better than most. Nick threw his empty soda can against the far wall angrily “I hope that bitch rots in hell.” he said as tears started to fall from his eyes and roll slowly down his cheeks. “I wasn’t lying to you either JD I don’t know how or why but I am traveling in time in this cell somehow. Believe me, don’t believe me I don’t really fucking care anymore. John, he was the only person who ever gave a shit about me and he’s gone now. So I got no reason to stay here either.” Nick said sounding almost desperate as he pulled some things from his pocket and held them out for JD to see.
JD took the items and stared at them. The kid would have been searched before being locked up in the cell so how in the hell did he have this stuff JD wondered as he stared at it. An old pocket watch, a very old deck of playing cards and an old tobacco pouch filled with something that smelled like pot. Okay, logically the kid could have found them hidden in the cell, that was possible as old as this part of the jail was. The kid could have found the items and then his mind manufactured the time travel stories; that even made sense. JD handed the items back to Nick and glanced at his watch, his lunch break had been over for more than an hour now. He was surprised his boss hadn’t come looking for him.
“Okay, Nick, I will have to admit something strange is going on here, maybe you are traveling in time somehow.” JD agreed seeing it was important to the boy that he believe him. Better to be traveling in time then admit he’d gone insane. Nick smiled slightly.
“Nick, I’m sorry about John and I will see what I can do to get you out of this cell. I’ll go talk to a lawyer friend of mine tonight after I get off work, maybe he can get you out of here.” JD said as he stood up, he felt like shit leaving the kid alone but if he didn’t go back to work soon, he might not have a job and then who would feed the kid. “I have to go back to work but I will come and check on you before I leave tonight.” JD said as he watched Nick wiping the tears from his face with a part of one of the blankets. He lit another cigarette and handed it to Nick. “I will do what I can for you Nick.” he promised as he picked up his lunch bucket.
“JD?” Nick asked a little hesitant.
“What?” JD responded trying to sound patient.
“What does JD stand for?” Nick asked throwing JD off balance a little.
JD smiled slightly bitter “James Dalton and my last name is Younger.” he replied glad the kid had at least stopped crying. “My mom, she was into the cowboy outlaws, she was related to a lot of them. So when I was born she named me after some of my great, great uncles.” he explained then he grinned at Nick, “I really have to go back to work now, I will see you tonight before I leave.” he promised before he went back to the part of the prison he was suppose to be working on.
Nick nodded his head “JD, thanks for everything you’ve done for me. I will never forget you.” he said very seriously.
JD felt a strange sense of foreboding, if he could have stayed with Nick he would have. “I’ll never forget you either Nick.” JD said seriously. “”I’ll come back and check on you before I leave Nick and I’ll bring you something to eat and drink.” he said with a slight smile at Nick, “Try and get some rest and I’ll see you soon.” JD said before he left to go back to work.
Nick forced a smile “Til we meet again.” he responded as JD walked away. He watched JD leave then lay down on the mattress and closed his eyes. Nick ignored the tears that rolled down his face and slowly dozed off to sleep.
JD had a hard time concentrating on work the rest of the day, he was worried about Nick. The kid had just learned the only relative he had was dead, he was locked in a primitive cell and someone had beat the holy shit out of the kid. JD wasn’t sure how they were getting to the kid without using the corridors but somehow they were; maybe there was a secret passage into the cell. JD wasn’t certain why whoever was fucking with the kid so severely was doing it but it seemed like they were trying to drive the kid insane, maybe the kid knew something and if he were declared insane then he couldn’t testify to whatever it was he knew. Maybe whoever had beat the kid was also making the kid believe he was traveling in time someway, maybe hypnosis or something like that. Whatever was going on, JD had enough he was going to contract his lawyer friend and tell him everything that was going on, maybe he could help Nick. If someone didn’t help the kid soon the kid was going to go so far over the edge that he would never come back.
When JD got off work, he went back to the cell to check on Nick, he had bought the boy a candy bar, some cheese and crackers and a soda from the cop’s vending machine before he went to the cell. JD swore angrily when he looked into the cell and saw the kid was gone. Whoever was fucking with Nick had taken the kid again and there wasn’t a damned thing he could do about it.
For the next several days, JD checked Nick’s cell often but the boy was never there. JD didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t even go to his lawyer friend because there was no proof Nick had ever even been in the cell.
Chapter 7
It was Sunday and JD was eating breakfast at his usual coffee shop reading the Sunday paper, he was playing with his food more than eating it. It had been over 2 weeks since Nick had disappeared from his cell and he had not shown back up as far as JD could tell. He had to accept that likely the boy was dead or they’d locked him up somewhere else like maybe a mental hospital. He was angry because there was nothing he could do and worried about what was being done to Nick where ever he was. JD had pretty much lost his appetite for food though he was drinking a lot more trying to drown out the pain and guilt he felt for not having helped the kid out more. He should have gone to his lawyer friend when he first saw that little kid locked up in that hell hole but now it was too late, he didn‘t think he would see the kid again.
An article in the paper caught his eye and he paled significantly there was a picture of Nick and the headline under neath read:
Boy Dies in Police Custody
Nickolas McCabe was arrested on January 4th charged with assaulting two minors that shared his residence. Also taken into custody were John Jordan, Nick’s guardian and Kathleen Jones. 2 minor children were removed from the residence and placed into the care of Social Services. Due to over crowding in our city’s juvenile facility Nick was taken to the adult dentin facility and placed into a holding cell while his arresting office Jeremy Ortega placed several calls trying to find other placement options for the 9 year old boy. Officer Ortega went to check on his 9 year old prisoner to find him unconscious. The paramedics were called and Nick was rushed to the hospital where he lay comatose for over 5 weeks before his demise at 5am Saturday morning. Preliminary cause of death is believed to be a brain hemorrhage obtained from alleged physical abuse palpitated by Ms Jones. Kathleen Jones is being held without bail pending an investigation into this incident. An autopsy will be preformed on Nickolas McCabe to determine cause of death and he will be buried at Hope Memorial Cemetery on Friday.
JD read the article several times before he tore it out of the paper and put it in his wallet; he paid for his uneaten breakfast and went to the closest liquor store. Nick was dead; those fucking bastards had killed Nick and concocted this bullshit coma story to cover their tracks. He didn’t give a fuck it Katy, as Nick had called her, went down for Nick’s murder; the bitch deserved to go to prison for what she had done to Nick. But it ate at him that some fucking cops had locked Nick up in that damned cell, beat the shit out of the kid and pushed him over the edge til the kid though he was time traveling. The kid was dead and there wasn’t a damned fucking thing he could do about it. JD spent the rest of Sunday getting as drunk as he could possible get. He went to work hung over as hell on Monday morning. He’d got so fucked up the night before that he had slept through his alarm and was late to work, a first for him. His boss gave him a strange look but didn’t say anything, JD was a good worker normally and everyone had an off day.
JD went to eat at Nick’s cell out of habit on lunch break, he was pissed that the kid wasn’t there, that the kid had been killed by the fucking cops and he couldn‘t prove a damned thing. He sat down and opened his lunch box, nothing in it looked appealing in fact, he felt sick as hell. The price you paid for getting as fucked up as he had.
JD worked every day, sat at Nick’s cell every lunch break and stared into the cell then went home and got drunk every night. His boss wasn’t too surprised when JD called in sick on Friday, he didn’t know what was wrong with JD but the man had worked for him for 4 years and this was the first time he’d pulled anything like this so he told JD to take a few days off and get to feeling better.
JD hadn’t planned to go to the cemetery but found himself going there. He had to bribe the grave diggers to open the cheap pine box Nick was being buried in so he could take one last look at the boy and prove to himself that it was Nick in the coffin. It was only by chance that Nick was buried next to his brother John in a pauper’s grave. Tears rolled down JD’s cheeks as he watched the boy buried. He put the small bouquet of flowers on the small boy’s grave then went home and got very drunk. He called an old connection and got some shit to take the pain away and some good smoke to numb out his mind so he didn’t have to think or feel anything. He spent his weekend shooting up some nice shit that made it impossible to think, smoking pot to even out the buzz and staying as drunk as he could.
On Monday morning, he got out of bed, snorted a couple of lines of some pretty decent crank to clear his head, and went to work. He’d quit doing hard drugs several years before only smoking a little pot every now and then and having a few drinks a night since he’d stopped doing the hardcore dope. But that weekend he had to either totally numb out or he would have lost his fucking mind from the grief he felt at the boy’s death and how much responsibility he felt for the Nick’s death.
JD worked til his lunch break and even though he didn’t want to and most definitely hadn’t planned to, JD found himself sitting on the stone bench by Nick’s empty cell. JD forced himself to eat, he had accepted that he would always feel a hell of a lot of guilt over the boy’s death but there was nothing he could do about it. Like it or not his life had to go on. Still as he stared in Nick’s empty cell, he found himself wishing the kid had been right; that he was traveling in time instead of laying 6 feet under ground. JD was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear anyone approach him til he realized someone was standing right in front of him. JD jumped, slightly startled as he stared up at a cop dressed in a uniform from the 20’s or 30’s. He continued staring at the strangely dressed cop not sure what to say and wondering what the cop wanted. The cop made him feel strangely uncomfortable.
“Would you be JD Younger?” the cop asked with a slight Irish accent.
“Yeah…” JD replied guarded, something about this cop sent chills up his spine.
“The lad wanted you to have this.” the cop said pulling a folded note out of his pocket and holding it out to JD.
JD cautiously took the note from the cop wishing he had a gun. If this cop knew he had known Nick then it was possible that this cop had been involved in Nick’s death. JD felt a weird jolt of some kind of strange energy as his hand brushed against the cop’s, he jerked his hand away as quickly as he could. “Nick was just a kid, not even 10 years old. That’s too damned young to die.” JD said in a soft tone to the cop as he stuck the note in his pocket not taking his eyes off the strangely dressed cop. “I know he wasn’t in a coma in the fucking hospital for the 5 weeks before his death.” JD admitted wanting to confront the cop, not even caring if it meant the cop killed him.
The cop smiled slightly as if he knew something JD didn’t. “I cannot explain it to you JD but the lad was in the hospital and as you saw for yourself he died and was buried.” the cop replied.
“Bullshit,” JD said angrily “I fed him, I talked to him, I know damned good and well that he was in that fucking cell being left there to die.”
“Do you now?” the cop asked still smiling “Well, whose to say the wee lad wasn’t in the cell as well?” he asked JD confusing the hell out of JD. “The lad was special and while I cannot explain it to you, the boy is dead but he isn’t.” he said cryptically “It might clear the matter up for you some if you stop by the post office. There is likely to be something there for JD Younger under general delivery.” he added with a smile that sent shivers of fear down JD’s spine.
JD decided at this point that the cop was insane and the best thing he could do was get as far away from the cop as possible as quickly as he could. He closed his lunch box and stood up. “Thank you for giving me the note from Nick and I will go by the post office once I get off work.” he said humoring the cop. “I really have to go back to work now.” he said walking past the cop and hoping to hell he crazy bastard didn’t follow him. He’d not even gone 3 feet down the corridor when he heard a strange whooshing sound from behind him. JD turned around and saw the cop was gone. There was a strange nauseating smell in the air that almost made him sick. Almost against his will, JD walked back towards Nick’s cell, looking at each cell he walked past as he walked back to Nick’s cell looking for the strangely dressed cop. The cop was no where to be seen and when he walked back to the bench to see if the cop had gone in Nick‘s cell, JD got another shock. Nick’s cell was gone, the bench was still there but where Nick’s cell had been there was now a stone wall. JD walked over and felt the wall with disbelief, it was real. JD was in total and complete shock. He walked back to where he was suppose to work and stared at his tools as if he’d never seen them before. Everything seemed unreal to JD as he started back to work.
JD’s boss had noticed JD looked very pale and moved as if something was wrong with him. Maybe drugs or maybe he was sick but whatever it was JD didn’t need to be at work. “JD,” his boss said tapping JD on his back to get his attention. JD turned around and looked at his boss; he was as pale as a sheet and looked like he’d seen a ghost. “You have a shit load of vacation time built up, take some of it and don’t come back to work til you have worked through whatever is bothering you. Call me in a couple of weeks and let me know how you’re doing.” he ordered JD with a slight grin, “You know you always got a job with me. I will pay you as much vacation time as I can til you get your head together.” he really liked JD, he was a good worker and one of the few men Ronnie would call friend. They had known each other since kindergarten, gone through their dope period together going to concerts and had even had their own band for awhile. 90% of the time JD was the one person on his crew he could always count on. He’d worked for JD for 10 years and only missed 2 days of work in all that time, he had at least 20 weeks of vacation time he hadn’t taken in the past 10 years. So if JD needed some time off for whatever reason then that was fine with him.
JD stared at his boss and slowly nodded his head yes, “Yeah, okay, thanks Ronnie, I appreciate it.” JD said packing up his tools.
“You need to talk or anything JD, give me a call.” Ronnie offered.
JD chuckled softly; “If I told you what was going on Ronnie you’d think I’d lost my fucking mind.” he said seriously, “Hell, maybe I have. But I will call in a couple of weeks and let you know how it’s going.” he agreed with a slight smile at Ronnie before he left.
JD left the work and caught a bus going to the main post office, after everything else that happened that had happened since he’d met Nick, he almost dreaded what he would find. His perception of reality had been totally blown away when the strange cop had disappeared and then where Nick’s cell had been had become a brick wall. That cop had said Nick was dead but he wasn’t dead or something like that. Thinking of the cop reminded JD about the note in his pocket the cop had said Nick had wanted him to have. JD pulled the note from his pocket, opened it and began to read it.
JD,
I don’t know if you’ll get this letter or not but I hope you do. I want you to know I really appreciated everything you did for me. I would of starved to death in that cell if you hadn’t of fed me. I also appreciate the friendship you gave me; I’ve never really had a friend before.
I know you don’t quite believe that I have been traveling in time and I can understand that, if it hadn’t of happened to me I wouldn’t of believed me myself. But you were nice enough to not call me a liar or tell me I was crazy and that meant a lot to me.
Since I first began to travel in time I have come to believe that if I go very far from the point where I entered that particular time I will be stuck there for the rest of my life. I plan to put that theory to the test today. In this time, I am locked up with a pirate captain named Jean Luc Batiste. Captain Jean Luc has a plan to escape and if he succeeds, I am going to go with him. I will become his cabin boy and sail on the high seas with him and his crew.
There is nothing left in you’re time for me. John is dead, I’ve no idea where my mother is or if she is even alive and my father is a bastard I would rather die before going back to live with him.
I will miss you JD and if I can find a way to I will write you and let you know what becomes of me. I do not believe I will ever see you again so I can’t ask your permission but I don’t think you will mind. I have decided to change my name to Nickolas James Dalton, a new name for a new life. McCabe was my father’s name and I want nothing of him to pollute my new life.
I hope you have a good life JD; I am going to try to have a good life in this time.
Your Friend,
Nick
JD put the note back in his pocket and got off at the bus stop for the post office and felt honored the that Nick had chosen to use his name. His mind was still reeling over the fact he had seen Nick’s body and watched him buried. All of it, even the sudden appearance of the brick wall where Nick’s cell had been could have been a trick by the cops to make him keep his mouth shut about the truth he knew about Nick, still he had to go in the post office and see what was there.
It was strange, he had only know Nick a little over 5 weeks but he felt like a part of him was missing with the kid gone. He had friends of sorts at work that he went out and had drinks with almost every night. His boss Ronnie was about the closest friend he had and that was only because they’d known each other since they were kids. Female companionship he could have whenever he wanted it but he’d never really fallen in love with anyone. He’d talked more with Nick than he had with anyone else in his life. He’d told Nick things he had never shared with anyone else and he was really going to miss the kid.
JD walked into the post office and causally asked if there was any mail for JD or James Dalton Younger sent generally delivery.
The woman behind the counter stared at JD rather strangely, almost as if she were seeing a ghost. “Yes, there is…“she said a little hesitant “I’ll need to see some ID though, to prove you are actually James Dalton Younger. These letters are quite old, they were mailed in 1928 and normally would have been disposed of a long time ago but somehow they were hidden behind a desk in out dead letter room. I just happened to find them yesterday when I moved that desk.” she explained sounding a little uncomfortable with the strange coincidence.
JD smiled his most charming smile and chuckled softly as he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, he removed his license and showed it to the woman behind the counter “James Dalton is a family name; it has been given to the oldest male child for several generations.” JD lied smoothly, realizing what was making the postal clerk so uncomfortable.
The woman seemed to relax some and even smiled slightly at JD as she gave him his driver’s license back. “Just a moment Mr. Younger, I’ll go get your letters for you.” she said going back to the dead letter room. A few moments later, she returned with a large packet of letters, which she sat on the counter. She had JD fill out a couple of forms and sign them then she gave JD the large packet of letters. “I hope they will be as interesting as they look to be.” she ventured a little friendlier.
JD smiled at the postal clerk “I’m sure they will be.” he replied before leaving the post office to catch a bus closer to his home.
JD got off the bus, stopped as a local pizzeria, and got a pie, and then he stopped at a liquor store, got a 12 pack of beer and went to his apartment. JD put the letters on his coffee table, got a couple of slices of pizza on a plate and a beer then went and sat down on the couch. JD opened the first letter.
JD,
Captain Jean Luc and me made our escape with the help of some people he knew it the town. We made it back to his ship the Marquis. Being a cabin boy is hard work, I have a lot of duties to perform. One I especially like is helping the cook, he lets me eat what I want while he cooks and gives me other privileges not afforded to the rest of the crew.
Water is rationed closely on the ship and if you are caught stealing water, you will be whipped at the very least and can be put to death for it. Ale you can drink as much of as you like and when we have it, we can have all the wine we want as well.
My first night aboard the Marquis I got drunk on ale and had the most hellious hangover I have ever had in my life the next morning. I learned a very important lesson about life aboard a ship; it didn’t matter that I was severely beat up nor did it matter I was so hung over I could not even stand up without getting sick I was still expected to work . I now only drink ale with my meals and before I go to bed to help me sleep.
Captain Jean Luc and several other members of the crew are teaching me how to use sword, knife and pistol as well as hand to hand combat. Jean Luc gave me 5 pairs of pants, 3 of which I am to wear aboard ship for work and 2 which are for dress, they have 2 shirts, a waist coat and 2 pairs of stocking I am to wear with them as well as a pair of shoes. Aboard ship I go barefoot and shirtless and am in truth thankful, I only have to wear the dress cloths when we go to a proper town and any other time the Captain tells me to wear them. The shoes pinch my feet and hurt, and after being use to going shirtless the shirt and waist coat feel confining.
Something I find a bit strange about this time is the people don’t bath very often, they believe bathing too often is bad for ones health. Personally, I think it may have to do with the fact that water has to be heated in kettles and pots and then a tub filled with the water. It is a long and thankless process and by the time the tub is half full the water is lukewarm if you are lucky. Still whatever the reason people of this time bath as little as possible, they use perfume to try and mask their unpleasant body odor and actually have combs and picks for head lice as well. Most people here have a very unpleasant odor.
Despite my insistence that I am almost 10, the Captain informed he knows I am only 7 and soon to be 8. One does not disagree with the captain, so now I am to say I am 7 almost 8 years old when asked my age. A new name and a new age for a new life.
Sincerely Your,
Nick
The next letter was written a few months later; JD carefully laid the first letter on the couch and opened the second one.
JD,
In your time, I am now 10 in this time I am now 8. Yesterday I learned the true meaning of what it is to be a pirate. We boarded a ship, our crew against their crew. It was a fight, man to man, sword to sword…there was so much blood, the stench of death was strong in the air and I was in the midst of the battle armed with my sword. I know not how many men lay on the deck dead or dying by my hand when the battle was over and the victory was ours, but were I to guess I would say I killed 5 out right and perhaps 10 more lay wounded from my sword. My crewmates said I fought like a blond haired savage but was them and the captain who taught me to fight.
The vessel we took was a passenger ship; there were women and children aboard… By the gods JD what my crewmates did to those helpless women and children and the wounded crewmen left alive after the battle was won made me physically ill. This was the first time I truly regretted my decision to stay in this time and to become a pirate but no choice was left to me now.
Tis a practice of this time to kill all aboard a captured ship after it is plundered, though oft the women and sometimes even the children are taken aboard the victors vessel to satisfy they crew’s urges til the prisoners either died or were sold as slaves. Any left alive on the captured ship who would not swear the oath to the brotherhood and become one of the pirate crew was left aboard the ship and it was sit afire. Either the hapless soul could take his chances and jump into the sea or be burned alive. Dead men tell no tales. Captain Jean Luc held a different view on what to do with a captured ship, he allowed the crew their pick of what women and children they wanted then he would leave the rest of the women and children alive on the ship with enough food and water to last them a week. The dead and dying were thrown overboard and I saw my first shark frenzy as I puked over the side of the ship. Captain Jean Luc held the believe if any survived they would tell the world Captain Jean Luc and the Marquis were to be feared. Whether or not the few women and children Jean Luc left aboard the ship survived or not I do not know.
Captain Jean Luc invited me to his cabin after our vessel was underway and praised me on how well I had fought in my first battle. He shared a bottle of wine with me and told me of his first battle and of other ships he had captured and adventures he’d had. Captain Jean Luc had seen me getting ill while the sharks were feeding on the dying men, women and children; their screams were animal like as the sharks attacked and ate them. Captain Jean Luc told me that was not unusually to feel ill after one’s first battle and that in time I would adjust to what happened during and after a battle, he called what his men did to the women, children and some of the men bloodlust. It was something I hoped I would never get use to. He told me in time that I would adjust to killing others as well but I do not believe I ever will.
I cannot describe the feeling I have now that the battle is over and I lay on the trundle bed under the captain’s bed. I closed my eyes but I still see the men I killed and I can hear the screams of the men, women and children on the deck as the crew has their fun with them. This is one of the times I wish I were back in your time. There is much I miss of your time but I do not believe I can come back so I will have to find a way to learn to live with the life I have chosen and accept what I have to do to survive in this time.
Nick
The next letter JD picked up was dated 2 years later.
JD,
Sometimes I wonder if you and your time were just a dream and this was my real time. I’m almost 13 in your time and here I am almost 11. I am now a full-fledged member of the crew, I receive an equal share of any bounty and I also now bear a skull and cross bone brand on my neck that marks me as one of the brotherhood for life.
I have killed more men than I care to remember though I refuse to kill helpless women and children and I also do not take part in the forcible sexual activities that take place on board the Marquis after a victory. I have read stories about myself, I am described as a small blond savage, and it has been suggested that I am Jean Luc’s illegitimate son. The crew believes because I sleep mostly in Captain Jean Luc’s quarters (unless he has a female guest) that I am Jean Luc’s property so none try to force me to do anything of a sexual nature. Jean Luc has whipped me many times for trying to protect women and children from being captured and killed, it is disobeying orders and therefore I have to be punished, occasionally the punishment is more severe. Still I refuse to kill those I view as innocents or participating in hurting them so I pay the price gladly.
I still often wonder if it more merciful to leave a few women and children aboard a ship they do not know how to sail with only a week or two of food and water or would it be more merciful to kill them.
I have been to many different countries since I last wrote you and have seen many wondrous things. I miss many things from your time like being able to shower daily, deodorant, air conditioning. heaters, TV, radios, popcorn, cheeseburgers, French fries, mac and cheese and candy.
In a way I suppose Captain Jean Luc was right, you do become accustomed to killing in the heat of battle, you even have an adrenaline rush before taking a ship but I will never like killing. I have also become accustomed to the bloodlust that follows a victory and still feel a certain distaste for the human frenzy that follows afterwards so I never take part. Perhaps tis why I drink more ale now, to help me sleep with hopes of none of what my life is invading my nightmares.
I have told no one, not even Captain Jean Luc the truth of my origins. Like as not I would not be believe and branded either crazy or a warlock. Most of my shipmates are English or Scottish and find the way I speak strange. Jean Luc tells any who ask that I speak as I do because I come from the colonies, tis what he believes as well.
To be truthful JD, I know not why I continue to write you less it be that you are my only link to a reality that once was and is yet to be. Perhaps the fates had a hand in our coming to know each other as we did. I know not if you will ever read these letters, still I feel compelled to write to you. I can only hope one day you read these letters. I keep them well hidden from all, I’ve no desire to be put in one of the places they put those believed to be insane in this time. Captain Jean Luc took me to one to see a friend of his that had been committed to one of those places for the rest of his life and it was the most frightening place I have ever seen. People go around with no cloths on, the staff beats them for any and no reason. Their bodies were covered with open sores and the treatment they receive for their illnesses are appalling. The doctors drill holes in their heads with hand-operated drills and oft no anesthesia. Some of the doctors truly believe that the holes will relieve the pressure that causes the illness, others of the doctors actually believe that the holes will release the evil spirits that cause the person to be crazy. Medical practices of this time are quite frightening, oft the cure has as much chance of killing you as the illness. And were I deemed not to be crazy then would be likely I would be tried as a warlock and burned at the stake or drown or some other horrible death. So tis best I keep my secret to myself.
I hope you are well and getting what you want out of life. I will write again when I can.
Nick
JD found himself chuckling at some parts of Nick’s letter and feeling immensely sad at other parts, Nick was having to be a man at far too young of an age and the boy had a conscious about killing others; not a good think to have if you were a pirate. JD went to the kitchen and got another beer before picking up the next letter to read.
JD,
In this time I am 12, in your time I would be 14.… I know not where to begin to tell you all that has happened since I last wrote. I am no longer a member of the crew of the Marquis. I am now an indentured servant and damned lucky to still be alive. Rafe Canterbella owns me for the next 7 years of my life, he is a ship builder and lives on an island.
The story of how I came to be an indentured servant is a long and rather painful one; suffice to say the Marquis was captured by the British and we were brought to this island to be tried for our crimes and sentenced. I am still small for my true age and am oft thought to be even younger than 12. My body is severely scared from the many times I have been whipped on my back as well as my chest and I had several cuts on my stomach and chest as well as one on my face from a recent knife fight I was involved in with another crewman over some supposed insult I said against him. I had several bruises as well from the British sailors that brought us to this accursed island.
None of us save Jean Luc was allowed to speak in our own defense, he was to speak for all of us in front of the magistrate. I learned whilst we were in court why Jean Luc had chose to brand the skull and crossbones on my neck instead of on my arm where most others of the brotherhood were branded. Only those that are forced to become a part of the brotherhood are branded there. Still I am marked for life as a member of the brotherhood, never to be allowed to be a part of any decent society.
Jean Luc listened as the charges against us all were read aloud, he denied nothing, he did not admit guilt either. Jean Luc remained silent through most of the short trial until the magistrate found us all guilty of multiple offenses against the crown and sentenced us all to death. Was then that Jean Luc spoke.
“Magistrate, myself and the men who served under me have always known that the day might come when we would answer for the life we chose to live. However, Nick is but a lad, barely 12 years old and had no choice in this. I took Nick from a ship we captured when the lad was but 3 years old and forced him to be what he has become. He was beaten, starved and tortured because he constantly fought against being what he had to become to survive. Myself and my crew accept out sentence to be put to death tis only fitting but I beg your magistrate to give the lad clemency and allow him to live.”
Was all Jean Luc said and the magistrate said he would not grant me clemency but would show me leniency and spare my life. He said I would be sold into indentureship so I could learn an honest and worthy trade. Before being sold however I would watch Jean Luc and my crewmates put to death, hung they were and their bodies hung where all who sailed past the island could see as they decomposed, no Christian burial for pirates.
It was very hard for me to watch Jean Luc and the crew I had served with for 4 years hung without showing any emotions, but I did it out of respect for all Jean Luc had taught me.
Master Rafe, as I am to call him was a stern taskmaster and beat me most severely for even the most slightest error. I am kept in a wooden cage like an animal when I am not working for Master Rafe. I am also fed like an animal the same slop he feeds his pig. It is dehumanizing and I oft find myself wishing the Magistrate had sentenced me to death as well, I believe this to be worse than any hell could be. I am not allowed to bath and am covered in filth and vermin, my odor is even offensive to me. I have the pair of pants I was wearing when the British took our ship to wear and no other cloths nor am I allowed to wear shoes.
I have serious doubts I will survive 7 years of servitude under Master Rafe, death is becoming an attractive option to the life I am now forced to lead. Master Rafe informed me the day he purchased me that I was a pirate; the lowest form of life known to man as far as he was concerned. A cold-blooded killer and a heartless bastard and would be treated as such by him. He did not lie to me, however to his credit he began to beat me less often as I have proven myself to be a hard worker, do my best to learn whatever he tries to teach me and do as I am told. Perhaps in time he will allow me to bath and treat me a bit more humane.
I hope my next letter to you will be filled with how my life has improved, otherwise this will be my last letter to you.
JD, Captain Jean Luc was a hard, cold, unfeeling man who killed without feeling or conscious. His crew both respected and feared him… I saw a side of him none other knew. He treated me like a son and cared for me as much as he was capable of caring for anyone. I miss him, I miss the sea and my life aboard the Marquis.
Nick
JD laid that letter down and shook his head, so Nick was an indentured servant now, a slave. From what he remembered from reading about indentured servants in school children who were forced into servitude in the time he believed Nick was living in rarely survived to gain their freedom, they were horribly mistreated, starved, beaten even tortured til they died.
JD picked up the next letter hoping Nick’s circumstances had improved some.
JD,
I have been an indentured servant for almost 2 years. In this time I am 14 in your time I would be 16. My circumstances have improved somewhat. Master Rafe rarely beats me now, he feeds me human food instead of the slop he feeds the animals and allows me to eat 2 sometimes 3 times a day. I am allowed to bath once a week now and Master Rafe has bought me 2 pairs of pants and a shirt I am allowed to wear when we go to the township, though I still have no shoes. While going barefoot aboard a pirate ship is perfectly acceptable, in proper society a gentleman does not go barefoot.
Several weeks past, a new person took up residency on the island, a woman school teacher. The townships first teacher for the new school house Rafe designed and built with my and several other men of the townships help. I’ll not be allowed to attend the school though, indentured servants are considered little more than animals and are not considered fit companions for children of normal society.
I was at the dock awaiting Master Rafe whilst he had business dealings with a captain whom needed some repairs done to his ship. I saw Mistress Cecilia Stonerage disembark from the ship that had brought her to our island. She supervised her trunks being unloaded from the ship when she happen to spy me standing barefoot at the dock wearing a pair of pants and shirt that were obviously worn and getting some holes in them. Mistress Stonerage approached me with a look of sympathy in her eyes and asked my name. I told her I was Nick Dalton then she asked where my father was. I smiled slightly and informed her my father was dead as far as I knew. That I was Master Rafe Canterbella’s indentured servant. A look of loathing and anger filled her eyes and I was privileged to hear her views on the indenture ship of children, which she most definitely did not agree with. She asked how I came to be an indentured servant, I pulled my hair away from my neck and showed her the skull and cross bone brand then told her a brief version of my story. There were details of my imprisonment aboard the British ship and in the township’s jail that I will never tell anyone JD, not even you for they were done not only to hurt and degrade me but to humiliate me and make me feel as if I were little more than an animal.
When I was done with my tale Mistress Stonerage had unshed tears in her eyes, perhaps because I used Jean Luc’s version of how I became a pirate in my telling of the tale. She ordered her trunks to be taken to her rooming house and to inform the owner of said rooming house that she would be along at a later time to arrange payment. She stood by me and talked to me as if I were a person, not a servant and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was human. I found myself liking Mistress Stonerage, she was unlike most women of this time, she is a woman of strong opinions and has no difficulty voicing them, consequences be damned, as I was soon to learn.
Master Rafe came out and saw Mistress Stonerage talking to me, he did not look pleased. He strode over and introduced himself to Mistress Stonerage as my owner then asked if I had caused any problems for her. Mistress Stonerage politely introduced herself to Master Rafe then proceeded to tell him exactly what she thought of his treatment of me, the way I was dressed, my lack of shoes, how thin I was etc…. Master Rafe stared at her as if she were a mad woman then firmly told her how he chose to treat his property was none of her concern. He wished her good day then grabbed the back of my neck and proceeded to drag me away. Perhaps Master Rafe was finished with the conversation but Mistress Stonerage was not, she actually hit him on his back with her parasol then demanded he turn around which Master Rafe did.
“I do not approve of indenturing children into servitude. However since this child is your indentured servant tis not only your responsibility to teach the child a trade, it is also your responsibility to see to his health and well being. To see he is clothed properly, feed regularly, and not physically abused, even with his shirt on I can see bruises on his stomach and where he has recently been caned on his back. The boy appears to be intelligent and well behaved, why do you beat and starve him? He is so thin I can count his ribs.“ she asked Master Rafe.
Master Rafe stared down at me as if seeing me as a person for the first time. He looked at Mistress Stonerage, “The boy was a pirate, and he has to be severely disciplined to teach him to behave in a proper fashion. And the boy is fed 2 to 3 times a day, he seems unable to eat much.” Master Rafe responded to Mistress Stonerage.
“All you teach Nick by beating him is to cause him to long for his freedom and the very life you are trying to discourage him from and if he is unable to eat much at a time perhaps is due to the severe beating you have apparently given him on his stomach. Perhaps were you to be less stern with the lad he might be able to eat more and even come to admire you instead of hating you for how you treat him.” she suggested.
Master Rafe nodded his head “Perhaps my treatment of the lad has been a bit too harsh. Still Mistress Stonerage tis none of your concern and I wish you good day.” Master Rafe said shoving me forward. I believe he was more moved by her words more than she realized as he bought me 3 new pairs of pants, a new shirt and a pair of shoes. The shirt and shoe were to wear only to the township still it was quite a concession on his part. He even stopped hitting me in the stomach and started allowing me to eat 3 meals a day with him at the table in his house. He actually did seem more concerned with my well being and my respect for him began to grow. I was still locked in the wooden cage at night and when he was not at home but I now had a pallet, a blanket and a pillow, which I had not had before. He also left a pail of water and dipper in the cage with me, another concession on his part. I was also allowed to bath twice a week, which was almost unheard of in this time, but Master Rafe worked me hard and he himself bathed 2 to 3 times a week.
A few months later I became ill, a high fever, food would not stay down when I was able to eat. Master Rafe thought I had become lazy and began to beat me severely again which made my illness worse. He caned me severely and when I threw up at the table he locked me in my cage and left me there for several days not feeding me and he cut my water rations down to half a bucket every 2 days. I was in misery and likely would have died had not Mistress Stonerage decided to pay Master Rafe a visit to check on my well being and see if Master Rafe might allow me to attend school.
Master Rafe was not at home when Mistress Stonerage arrived, she came into the barn to look for him and I will never forget the look of horrified anger on her face when she saw me locked in a cage like an animal. She used words I have never heard a lady of this time use before as she knelt down beside the cage. She reached her hand into the cage and felt my forehead, she could see how severely beaten I was and stared at the empty water bucket in my cage. She used more curse words, some of which I had never heard before and having been a pirate I possessed a fairly good vocabulary of curse words. She did what she could for me in the cage, gave me some water, found a rag and gently washed off what she could of my battered body.
When Master Rafe came home, she went outside and met his carriage. I could hear her as she told him what a bastard he was to lock a desperately ill little boy in a cage without water and leave him there to die. She demanded the key to my cage and informed Master Rafe she was taking me home with her. She told Master Rafe to go to the authorities if he wished but until I was over my illness, if I survived, she was going to take care of me. Master Rafe said nothing to her, he came into the barn, unlocked the cage and told Mistress Stonerage to take me but once I was well if she did not return me to him, he would go to the authorities. He even carried me out to her carriage for her and laid me on the seat.
Mistress Stonerage took me to her home, she no longer lived in the rooming house, she now had a house of her own. For the next 3 weeks, it was like I was living in heaven JD. I was allowed to sleep in a bed and cared for by Mistress Cecilia, as she requested I call her, as if I were her own child. It was the first time in my life I have know the gentleness and compassion of a mother and I flourished under her care.
Master Rafe came by every 3 or 4 days to check on my health. The first few times he came he and Mistress Cecilia had rather heated discussions but then one night Mistress Cecilia asked Master Rafe to stay for dinner. By the end of the 3rd week when Master Rafe took me home, he was courting Mistress Cecilia and my circumstances improved further. I now had a bedroom of my own in Master Rafe’s house, all he asked of me was to give him my word that I would not runaway which I gave him. I was also allowed to go to school after that time and bought cloths according to that need. Even though I am still an indentured servant, I almost feel like I have been given my freedom. Even when we work together Master Rafe treats me more as an apprentice than an indentured servant.
It would seem that my circumstances have improved a great deal and I have Mistress Cecilia to thank for that.
Nick
Chapter 8
JD felt a sense of relief that Nick was being treated better. JD chuckled at his thought, Nick would be long dead now even though his letters made it feel as though Nick was alive. He opened the next letter dated 1 year later.
JD,
In this time I am 15 in your time I would be 17. Much has happened the past year. Rafe and Cecelia have become engaged and will soon be wed. Rafe gave me my freedom and now pays me a good wage for the work I do with him. Both Cecilia and Rafe believe were not for me they would not have met and fallen in love, they both treat me as if I am their son.
When I think on the last 7 years of my life I realize it is has been quite an adventure. I have been a pirate, sailed the ocean and seen many strange and wondrous lands. I have learned to fight, use a sword, a pistol and a knife to kill. I have plundered many a ship and I have kill many a man. I have seen more death and violence than I care to remember. I watched the men I served with and fought beside all hung and their bodies in various states of decay til all that was left of them was bones. I have had more than my share of bad times with Rafe but now will be the best man at his wedding.
JD, my life has been no bed of roses in this time but I truly believe it has been better than would have been in your time. After the wedding Rafe has booked passage for me on a ship bound for the colonies. I am curious to see the land where I come from even if it is not in the time I came from and will also give Rafe and Cecilia time alone for the first part of their married lives together. I look forward to the journey a great deal but also fear it, I am marked for life as a member of the brotherhood and were the captain or crew of the ship I will be sailing on, could mean my death. Still I look forward to the journey and being at sea again, tis true it gets into your blood, I have missed the smell of the fresh sea breeze, the feel of the ocean mist in my face and by the gods JD the sky at night is a most magnificent sight to behold.
I still think of you often and the kindness you showed me . As strange as this may sound JD I believe we were fated to meet for a reason though I know not what it was. Perhaps one day it will be revealed to me what that reason was.
There is another reason I journey back to the colonies but I will write you of that another time. I can truly say I am happy JD, perhaps the happiest I have ever been in my life.
Nick
JD laid the letter down and smiled pleased Nick had found a good life for himself the past. JD glanced at his clock, it was 2 am. He should go to bed but he felt an almost urgent need to know what had become of Nick. JD picked up the next letter, it was dated 3 years later. He opened the letter and began to read.
JD,
In this time I am 18 and in your time I would be 20. The last 3 years have indeed been an adventure for me. I have seen America when it was still new and fresh, it was beautiful.
The voyage here was magnificent but what has truly made this trip the most wonderful exciting adventure I have ever had is a 16 year old woman named Amanda Sterner. JD, I wish you could see her, she is the most beautiful, exquisite woman I have ever seen. Her eyes are the most amazing blue eyes, her blond hair is as soft as silk and the color of spun gold. She smells like a field of the most fragrant field of wild flowers, she is so kind and gentle that I could not help but fall in love with her. She is a petite little thing, only 5 foot 4 inches tall and an orphan like me. Yesterday Amanda Sterner became my wife.
We are going back to the island, I am going home and taking my bride with me. I have realized in the last 3 years that the island is where I belong, where my family is. I plan to surprise Rafe and Cecelia not only with my return but with my beautiful bride Amanda. I have missed Rafe and Cecilia and I have missed the island. I take home with me much more than I left with, so much more.
I have booked passage back to the island for myself and Amanda, we will leave in the morning after spending our first night together as man and wife; I can thank the crew of the Marquis for my knowledge of what to do with a woman to please her as well as myself. I am so happy JD that I cannot even put it into words. Amanda awaits me in our bed, she is shy and frightened by what will occur tonight, I will make this a night of pleasure for her that she will not forget.
Nick
JD chuckled as he laid the letter on the growing pile of letters he had read. So the kid was married and taking his bride home to the island with him. JD paused briefly and wondered why he had never married. Probably because he had never met a woman that he felt about the way Nick felt about Amanda. JD opened the next letter, it was dated 2 years later.
JD,
Much has occurred since my last letter to you. I will start with my and Amanda’s journey home. Amanda had never been aboard a ship before and suffered greatly with sea sickness which not only embarrassed her but upset her as she believed her illness had ruined our honeymoon, silly little minx. It took me almost a week to get her to confide in me why she kept bursting into tears for no apparent reason. I comforted my bride and told her we had our whole lives together to celebrate the magic of our marriage, that many who’d never been to sea before suffered from sea sickness and I knew she could not help being ill. I told her that one day we would tell our children of our journey from the colonies to our island home and we would laugh about it. Strange as it may sound Amanda even looked beautiful when she was sick.
3 weeks out of port I saw several of the deck passengers, those who could not afford the price of a private room, were ill. Was an illness that I recognized having seen it once before aboard the Marquis , it had killed over half our crew before Jean Luc determined a way to stop it from spreading to the rest of the crew. I was either immune to the illness or had been inoculated against it’s effects in your time because despite almost constant exposure to it on the Marquis I never became ill from it. I could see that the captain and crew also recognized the illness though apparently did not know how to halt the spreading of it.
Diseases in this time runs rampant and many die from illnesses they would not in your time. I had worked in the galley on the Marquis and knew how unsanitary food preparation is aboard a ship so I had brought a supply of non perishable food for Amanda and myself as well as several kegs of water, remembering how tightly water could be rationed aboard a ship. We had enough supplies to last us through our journey home if need be and when I saw the illness first appear on deck I confined Amanda to our quarters and told her to eat and drink only what we had brought with us aboard ship. I knew the illness could be spread from contaminated food, water or being around another who had the illness. Amanda was not overly happy being confined to our cabin but as most women of this time did as I asked. I respected Amanda too much to order her about and treat her as many a woman of this time is treated, she is not only beautiful but is quite intelligent as well and I believe she understood I would not command her to do something less I had a good reason for doing so. As much as I love Amanda I could not tell her how I knew of the illness nor would I ever tell her I came from a different time, some things are better not known. I did tell Amanda of my past serving under Captain Jean Luc as a pirate and some of my life as an indentured servant but as I wanted her to come to love Rafe and Cecilia as her new in laws, I left much of Rafe’s earlier treatment of me out of what I told her.
As I watched deck passengers die from the illness and be thrown overboard it weighed on my conscience that I knew how to contain the illness and keep others from dying of it. I overheard several of the passengers like myself whom had cabins talking very seriously of putting the deck passengers adrift at sea in the 2 long boats the ship carried and was not idle talk. Unchecked this illness would spread first among the deck passengers, killing most of them then would spread to the crew that had handled the bodies to throw them overboard then to the rest of the crew and then to those of us left.
I wear my hair long and do not tie it back as is the fashion of this time to hide the brand that marks me for life as a member of the brotherhood. If seen on land it would ostracize me from all decent society, seen on sea aboard a ship was reason enough for the captain to kill me. Finally I felt I had no choice but to go to the captain and tell him what I knew of the how to stop the illness from spreading any further. I went to the captain and suggested that those who had the illness be kept separate from the rest of the crew and passengers, only those who had previously survived the illness should attend to them and to wash their selves and clothing in heated sea water before going around those who were not ill. I did my best to pass it off as a thought that had just occurred to me but the captain was a shrewd man and asked how I came to the knowledge I obviously had of this illness.
I could have attempted to lie to the captain but the way he looked at me I realized he would see through any lie I might attempt to tell. As I was considering my options 2 of the captain’s crew grabbed my arms and held me immobile while the captain pushed up my coat and shirt sleeves looking for the skull and cross bones brand where it normally would be. When he did not find the brands there he shoved my hair aside and stared at the brand on my neck.
“What pirate captain scum did you serve under?” the captain asked with barely concealed anger in his voice. Pirates are not well thought of by the rest of the sea faring community.
Realizing was my only choice I told the Captain Jean Luc’s version of how I had come to be a pirate , of the capture of the Marquis, the death of Captain Jean Luc and my being sentenced to be an indentured servant to Rafe Canterbella.
The captain gave me a strange look that sent a shiver of fear down my spine, the look in his eyes told me he had some personal knowledge of Jean Luc Baptiste and the crew of the Marquis and whatever that knowledge was did not bode well for me. The captain ordered me on deck then ordered all the deck passengers with the illness down into the hold. For the most part the deck passengers obeyed the captains orders, those that didn’t or were unable to due to the state of their illness were forcibly carried down to the hold by members of the crew. As some sort of perverse punishment from that point on, by order of the Captain, I was the only one allowed to care for ill passengers, I alone had to carry their dead bodies to bury at sea. One couple who died of the illness had a small 2 year old son who by some miracle did not contract the illness.
By the captain’s orders 3 crewmen stood watch over the entrance to the hold at all times, they brought me what food and water I requested and were also there to be certain I made no attempt to leave the hold less it was to dump a dead body overboard. I bade one of the guards who seemed sympathetic to my plight to boil some sea water and get the small hysterical lad some clean cloths to wear. The guard accommodated me and stood on deck watching as I cleaned and dressed the child then at my request he took the child to Amanda and relayed my message asking her to care for the wee lad.
It took a little over 4 weeks to irradiate the illness from the ship and of all the deck passengers who’d contracted the illness, only 3 survived. The captain allowed those 3 to leave the hold but ordered me kept there. I realized by law of the sea the fact I bore the skull and cross bone brand was reason enough for the captain to have me put to death and was left alone in the hold for 2 days to contemplate my fate before the captain chose to come down to the hold. I was exhausted from having cared for the sick and dying for over 4 weeks and had in fact slept for most of the 2 days as I was given no food or water I was now quite rested but also quite thirsty and hungry.
The captain held out a cup of water, which I drank despite the bitter taste in it, for all I knew the captain was poisoning me but I was too thirsty to care. The captain told me he appreciated all I had done to save the rest of the ship from catching the illness and for the care I had given the sick and dying. Then he preceded to tell me a story of his brother, who had also been a sea captain and had oft sailed with his wife, 2 daughters and son. I dutifully listened as the captain spoke though in truth if the captain did not plan to kill me then all I really wanted was to be allowed to bath, put on a clean pair of cloths, go back to my cabin and see Amanda and the child. As the captain’s story of his brother and family progressed I began to realize how the captain knew of Jean Luc and the crew of the Marquis and was not a story that seemed to have a happy ending. The captain also knew who I had been, the small blond headed savage that fought as a man but looked to be only 10 years old. It seemed that whilst the captain’s brother was made by Captain Jean Luc to watch as his wife was forced to pleasure a number of the Marquis’s crew members I had taken his 2 nieces and nephew and hidden them away before the crew could turn their attentions to the 3 children.
I personally had no conscious memory of the incident the captain was describing was oft something I had done when able to without Captain Jean Luc or the crew seeing me, I hid what women and children I could to keep them from being tortured and sold as slaves. Captain Jean Luc caught me several times and tis why my back, chest and stomach are so scarred up from all the time he punished me for trying to save those I could. He had given me lashes several times with the whip as well as the cat of 9 tails, a whip that held 9 strains of leather with bits of glass and metal embedded in each strand. I had been left tied hanging from the mast of the ship in agony for days after each punishment with no food or water then when cut down oft beaten black and blue by Captain Jean Luc‘s fists, yet I still persisted in attempting to save those I could so each time I was caught the punishments grew worse. Eventually Captain Jean Luc would have put me to death for what I was doing when I grew to be old enough for him to consider not a child trying to clear his conscience but a man defying his captain’s orders.
It seemed that the captain’s brother had survived as had the 3 children I had hidden away but their mother was driven mad by what the crew of the Marquis had done to her and eventually had to be put away. The captain’s brother had never been quite the same after either and I had a good idea as to why that was though was information I was not going to share with the captain. So to be quite honest I was very uncertain of what the captain planned to do to me; kill me outright, punish me in some way or perhaps just leave me in the hold to die. The ship’s captain then asked me what I considered a strange question, he asked why I had hidden his 2 nieces and nephew. I considered my answer carefully before I replied that I had been take as a lad of only 3 and forced to become a pirate. That I had been forced to witness many atrocities done to helpless men, women and children without being able to stop it and that I had been forced to learn to fight in battle to kill just to survive. That when I could I tried to help those I could to escape from a fate even worse than mine. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach, dizzy and chills, whatever the captain had put in my water was starting to have an effect on me and was not going to be good.
The captain smiled slightly bitter at me “I see you are starting to feel the effect of the drug I put in your water.” he said with a strange coldness in his voice.
“Yes sir.” I replied hoping he would tell me what exactly the drug was he’d given me and possibly what the effects would be.
“I cannot in good conscience kill you or allow you to be killed Mr. Dalton. I truly believe you attempted to save the lives of many aboard the ships you plundered under Jean Luc’s command.” he said very seriously as he stared into my eyes. The pain in my stomach had grown so bad that it was all I could do to stand up straight, I wanted to double over from the pain. “However you have been responsible for the death of many a good sea faring man, caused many a wife to become a widow and many child to become fatherless. For those deeds Mr. Dalton, there is a price you must pay and tis more than what the magistrate sentenced you to. For the remainder of your journey you will be chained in the hold with only myself and 4 of my men will have access to you. You will not be killed Mr. Dalton but you may well wish you had been before the voyage is over. Your wife will be told that you have contracted the illness and are being kept separate from the rest of the ship’s crew and passengers until you recover. You will be allowed to go up to your cabin the day before we reach your port of call.” the captain informed me as 2 or the crew chained me to the ship’s hull.
We were 5 weeks from the island, I was whipped til my back was almost devoid of skin then they branded me a traitor in the middle of my raw bloody back. They beat me til I was covered with bruises, sparing only my face from abuse, and they did most anything else they could to hurt, degrade and humiliate me. What little food or water I was given was always laced with whatever drug the captain was using to make me feel deathly ill so I usually threw up anything I was given. I withstood all that was done to me in silence. Jean Luc had taught me to withstand whatever was done to me in total silence for were I cry or even moan when being punished by Jean Luc my punishment was automatically doubled. Some of what was done to me was so debasing that I will have difficulties with my husbandly duties for sometime to come but was nothing I’d not seen done to others by the crew of the Marquis to other captives.
Apparently the captain took some pity on me and released me 2 days before we were due to arrive at the island. I was washed with several buckets of cold sea water then give a clean set of clothing Amanda had given them. After I was dressed the captain helped me to my cabin. Upon seeing me Amanda burst into tears and flung herself into my arms. I ignored the agony her touch caused and held my young bride soothing her til she stopped crying then did what was my responsibility to do as her husband. I protected my bride from the truth of what had happened to me and lied like a dog, telling her I had been desperately ill and that the captain himself had taken care of me and nursed me back to health. What was done to me had affected me far more than I cared to admit, it caused me to remember things that were best forgotten not just from this time but from your time as well. I managed to keep Amanda from seeing how severely beaten I was by saying the cabin felt too confining to me and going on deck to sleep. I also got to know young child Matt during the last 2 days of our journey home.
Was not til we disembarked and all of our trunks were on the island’s dock that I began to breath a little easier. I had my own secret in several of our trunks, call it a legacy from Jean Luc if you will that I had retrieved from the colonies whilst I was there. Hidden in 2 different locations in the colonies was bounty Jean Luc had left and I knew the location of both, he had told me whilst we were held in the island’s jail before his death. In his own way Jean Luc was an honorable man. I came home with a bride, young Matt and a very wealthy man.
I could tell as we walked to Rafe and Cecelia’s home that Amanda was very nervous about meeting them, they were the closest to parents I had and was how I had come to think of them. I carried young Matt whom was proving to be a quite intelligent young man for only 2 years old. He asked many questions about things we saw as we walked that were unfamiliar to him. Amanda was unusually quiet and slightly pale which at the time I wrote off to her nervousness at meeting Rafe and Cecilia.
Rafe was working in the yard planting some flowers for Cecilia as we approached. Rafe stared at me a little uncertain as we approached, I had grown some in the 3 years I had been gone from the island. Then Rafe smiled slowly in recognition and walked to meet us. “Nick, I was beginning to believe we might never see you again.” he said staring pointedly at Amanda and the 2 year old child I held in my arms.
I smiled at Rafe “Rafe, allow me to present my wife Amanda and Matt, his parents died aboard the ship that brought us home.” I explained introducing my companions.
Rafe stared into my eyes and what I could hide form Amanda I could not hide from Rafe, he’d seen that look of pain too many times before in my eyes. Rafe smiled at Amanda “Welcome to our family Amanda.” he said warmly “Congratulations on your marriage.” then Rafe looked at me, “Take Amanda and young Matt into the house, Cecilia will be home from her school soon, I am sure young Matt could use a nap and perhaps Amanda would like to refreshen herself and rest until Cecilia returns home. Cecilia had a feeling you would be returning soon and has made your room up.” Rafe informed Nick as he took Matt from him. “After Amanda and Matt are settled in I would like you to come take a look at something in the workshop, a design I have been working on.” Rafe said wanting to get Nick alone to find out how bad he had been hurt and why. “Cecilia will be very pleased to see you Nick she has missed you a great deal as have I.” Rafe admitted as he carried young Matt into the house. Amanda smiled at me feeling a little braver about meeting Cecilia, she did look tired but we had survived a long journey and only spent a few weeks together of it.
“I think he likes me.” Amanda whispered shyly to me as we followed Rafe into the house.
“I think he will love you as his daughter once he gets to know you.” I whispered back putting my arm around her. Once we got Amanda and Matt settled I went with Rafe out to the work shop where I told Rafe a condensed version of what had happened on the ship.
Rafe listened as I talked, nodded his head then asked me how badly I was hurt. I couldn’t lie to Rafe and look him in the eye so I stared down at the ground “Tis not bad Rafe, I have been hurt worse.” I said very quietly.
Rafe nodded his head “After dinner tonight you kiss your wife, go to bed, keep her from seeing how badly you are hurt, make it a very memorable night for her and tomorrow I will take you to the native village. They can heal what the white doctors cannot. We will leave after breakfast, I will tell Cecilia the truth and she will help us to protect your young wife and son from the truth.” Rafe informed me. I said nothing at the time but I did not plan to keep Matt as my son.
I agreed to his plan and we went back to the house. Cecilia took to Amanda as if she were her own daughter and young Matt attached himself to Cecilia as if she were his mother the moment he sat his eyes on her. I had unintentionally overheard a conversation between Rafe and Cecilia where she had admitted to Rafe that she believed herself to be incapable of bearing children because of a childhood illness. Rafe said it did not matter, that they had me and I was as much a son to them as if I had been born to them but I saw the look of yearning in Cecelia’s eyes every time she saw a baby and while Matt was not quite a baby he was only 2. I would discuss it with Amanda that night and if she were agreeable I wanted to give Matt to Rafe and Cecilia to raise. Amanda and myself would have many children together over the years but this would be the only one Rafe and Cecilia would ever have. Amanda was agreeable to giving Matt to Rafe and Cecilia, she had seen the look of longing in Cecilia’s eyes when she’d first laid eyes on Matt. I made our night together as special as I could before I left letting my beautiful bride experience what many of the women of this time would never know. I cannot even begin to explain to you the love I feel for Amanda JD, but I would give my life for her without a second thought.
Amanda was disappointed that Rafe needed me to accompany him to the native village and that we might be gone 2 or more weeks but understood. We told Rafe and Amanda at breakfast that we did not feel ready to raise a child just yet and that we would like Rafe and Cecilia to take Matt to raise. The only other time I had ever seen Cecilia look that happy was the day she married Rafe.
As we walked to the native village Rafe admitted to me that he was aware of some of what had happened to me, that he had seen it in a dream. This he admitted to me hesitantly in almost a whispered tone though we were alone, in this time what he was telling me could be considered witch craft. I said nothing feeling that the safest course.
Rafe had never taken me with him to the native village before, the natives were friendly to me and their medicine man was very good. Rafe went pale when I took my shirt off and he saw how badly I was hurt but he said nothing, he lit his pipe and watched as the medicine man treated my raw branded back. The medicine man covered my back and the brand with a yellowish white pasty substance. I felt the immense pain I had tolerated for weeks start to ease almost immediately. Then he diluted some of the paste into a stone cup of water and had me drink it. I was the highest I have ever been in my life in less than 10 minutes and the pain faded away almost immediately. 3 weeks later we left the village to go back home, most of my wounds were healed and I had made a few friends in the village as well.
When we returned home Amanda had some news for me of her own, she was with child. Rafe and Cecilia adopted not Matt but myself as well. Rafe gave me and Amanda 10 Acers of land and helped me to build a house on it. Our first son James Raphael Canterbella was born 9 months and 1 week to the day Amanda and myself were married. James is the apple of my eye and Amanda wasted little time becoming with child, Matt was only a little over a year old when we learned that she was expecting again.
Matt shows signs of being extremely intelligent, at 3 years old he is already reading and writing. James is very fond of his uncle Matt and his grandparents spoil him shamelessly.
Amanda knows something happened to me on the ship other than what she was told but respects my desire for her to not know the details of what actually did happen so she does not ask. The modesty of this time permitted me to conceal what had been done to me til the wounds became scars. There is so much that is good in my life now JD I sometimes find myself wondering if I shall have to pay for it at a later time.
It seems hard for me to believe that it has been 11 years since I last saw you, still I think of you often. I hope there is a way for these letters to be sent to you.
Nick
JD stared at the clock, it was 6 am, he had read Nick’s letter for almost 12 hours straight. He stretched, stood up and he went to his favorite café for breakfast. He needed to give his eyes a break from all that reading and kind of digest what he’d read. Nick had gone from a not quite 10 year old kid to a 22 year old man with a wife, a 1 year old son and another baby on the way. Nick had been a pirate, an indentured servant and now he was free and living on an island. That was a hell of a lot to adjust to in 12 hours. He ate slowly and read the paper out of habit though his eyes really needed a rest, he felt a need to find something to tie him to this time. He felt like he had lived in the past for the past 12 hours, Nick’s letter made all seem so real. JD felt strange, not connected to the reality of his own time. He went back to his apartment and slept for a couple of hours then got up, took a shower, put on some clean cloths and sat back down on the couch and began to read Nick’s letters again.
JD read of the birth of Jonathan Dalton Canterbella born 2 years after James then a daughter Jessica Nicole was born and looked more like Nick than Amanda. Nick began to visit the native village on his own, he was fascinated with them, their culture and their customs. Rafe made Nick a full partner. Then tragedy struck, Jessica became ill and died at only 5 years old. Nick took the loss of his daughter hard. He threw himself into his work and began to spend more and more time at the Native village using their potent drugs and an alcohol they brewed to numb his pain. He’d stood and watched his only daughter die of a disease that likely would have been easily cured in the time he’d come from but he could do nothing to help his little angel. He had felt so helpless and inadequate as he watched Jessica’s life slowly drain away, he had even prayed to the god he held no belief in to spare Jessica and take him instead.
2 years after Jessica’s death Nick came home from spending 3 weeks in the Native village in a totally doped out stupor to find Amanda and the boys gone. Amanda had left a note saying that Nick was not the only one hurt by Jessica’s death, she had lost a daughter, the boys had lost their sister and Rafe and Cecilia had lost their only granddaughter. Amanda said she could no longer live with the man Nick had become and until he came to his senses she was taking the boys to stay with Rafe and Cecilia.
Rafe came to see Nick 2 nights later and told him enough was enough. Yes, it was a tragedy that Jessica had died so young and was now lost to them all but in his grief for the loss of his daughter he was cutting himself off from his wife and sons who were still very much alive and most desperately needed him. It wasn’t that Nick disagreed with what Rafe said, he knew Rafe was correct. Still Nick could not bring himself to go to Amanda and the boys. He crawled into a drug and alcohol cocoon and stayed there, he packed some of his cloths and went to stay at the Native village.
Matt loved his sister-in-law a great deal and could not stand to see her so hurt and alone. She was so beautiful and sweet, she would allow no one to say a bad word about Nick in front of his sons. Both boys worshiped the ground Nick walked on as Matt once had til he overheard his father tell his mother that Nick was staying in the Native village using the drugs and alcohol they made so he wouldn’t have to face the grief he felt at the loss of his daughter. Rafe also suspected that Nick might be involved with one or more of the Native girls.
Matt’s room was next to the one Amanda slept in, the boys slept in the attic room. Matt heard Amanda cry herself to sleep every night and it tore at his heart. Matt was fed up and decided to go talk some sense into his older brother. He snuck out of the house and went to the Native village, his brother was not hard to find.
Matt stood in front of his brother, who sat in a native dwelling drinking a bottle of the native’s alcoholic brew and smoking a pipe of some type of drug that smelled terrible to Matt as Nick blew smoke into his face. Matt told Nick how much he had once admired him but no longer did he admire Nick for he had become a coward and unworthy of the wife and 2 sons he had. Matt informed Nick he felt nothing but contempt for him now for he would not face his own feelings and because he was hurting Amanda and his 2 sons most grievously.
Nick laughed at Matt, he called him a little boy who needed to go home and hid behind his mama’s skirts.
Matt lunged at Nick hitting and fighting his brother the best he knew how. Nick had taught Matt to fight when some of the township children had begun to tease, taunt and hit Matt. Nick had laughed at his younger brother and despite how drunk and stoned he was, he easily held his younger brother at bay. Nick found young Matt’s repeated attempts to beat him up while calling him names were Cecilia to hear she would have washed young Matt’s mouth out with lye soap for using such foul language no matter what the circumstances. Then Matt said something that hit Nick to the very core of his being. Matt told Nick he was glad Jessica had not lived to see the piece of human waste Nick had become. Nick became enraged with anger, he stood up and slammed his fists into Matt several times til Matt lay on the ground blood gushing from his nose and several cuts on his face. His left eye swelling shut and blood spilling from his mouth from a deep cut on his inner lip and where Nick had knocked a tooth out of the boy’s mouth. Tears rolled slowly down Matt’s face as he yelled at Nick that not only was he a coward but a bully as well.
Nick stared down at Matt as shock at what he had done to the boy slowly seeped into his brain, through the alcohol and drug induced haze that enveloped his brain. He had beaten a helpless boy, his only brother and he had beat him as if he were a full grown man. Nick slowly knelt down by Matt and told him how sorry he was he’d hurt him as tears started to roll slowly down his face. And he told Nick he was right, that he would be ashamed for Jessica or the boys to see him in the stupor he was in. Tears started to stream down his face as he finally allowed himself to feel the pain and agony of Jessica’s dying. He finally allowed himself to grieve for the loss of his daughter and cried for the first time since he was a small child. Matt loved his older brother and sat up, putting his arms around Nick trying to comfort him as Nick finally allowed himself to grieve for the loss of his daughter.
Once his grief was spent Matt took his brother home. Nick and Amanda sat up for most of the night talking after Amanda had attended to Matt’s multiple wounds. After breakfast the next morning Amanda, Nick and the boys returned to their own home. Rafe and Cecilia never asked what had happened to Matt to cause him to be so severely injured nor how he had brought his older brother to his senses; they were just glad to have the Nick they both loved back to the man he had been before Jessica died.


Chapter 9
The next letter JD picked up was dated 4 years later.
JD,
I write this letter with a heart full of both grief and joy. Amanda became with child again last year and she gave birth to the most beautiful little baby girl, she looks just like her mama; the same eyes the same smile, even the same beautiful spun gold hair color. And at only 3 days old Emily Amanda Canterbella had to say goodbye to her beautiful precious mama, my Amanda died.
Mayhaps Amanda was too old to give birth, I truly am not certain exactly what killed her but for some unknown reason she just did not recover from Emily’s birth. I was alone when Amanda died except for John who was tending to his sister. Rafe and Cecilia have taken Matt and James to England. Matt will attend college in England, he plans to become a lawyer and both Amanda and I felt James needed to see more of the world than this island.
John grieves almost nonstop for his beloved mother and James will be devastated when he returns from his trip to find his mother dead and buried. I feared Emily might soon join her mother in death, I could not get Emily to feed from a bottle no matter how hard I tried and how hungry she was. JD, her weak little cries were so heart wrenching, she was so hungry and when I would first put the bottle to her lips she would start to suckle it but would then pull away from the nipple and renew her weak little mews of hunger. I had no choice JD, if I wanted my daughter to live I would have to take John and Emily to the Native village. The village women fed each other’s babies as if it were the most natural thing in the world to do. I knew they would feed Emily as well once they learned her mother was dead.
The puritanical white society on this island will not approve of my actions, they have as much as said that if Emily is meant by God to die then so shall it be. I do not believe my daughter is meant to die, to slowly starve to death. So the people of the township can go fuck their selves for all I care, I am taking John and Emily to the village. I derived no comfort from the people of the township when they told me was God’s will that my Amanda died. Tell me JD why would some supreme being take a mother from 3 children who so needed and loved her, why would he take my Amanda from me and why would it be his will for a baby to starve to death when there are those who would willingly feed her.
The native children intrigue John almost as much as he does them, the whites of this island do not allow their children to associate with the Natives. John quickly made friends with several of the native children and is now living a very different lifestyle than he has ever known before. At 13 John is beginning to notice girls in a new way and the fact that many of the females of the village go topless is intensifying that interest a great deal more. The villagers don’t discourage their children from experimenting with each other sexually, to them it is quite natural. I also now ignore what John is now doing in that respect I brought him her to live so I have no right to interfere in what he chooses to do here.
2 of the native women have infants that are still breast feeding and were more than happy to feed Emily as well. My small daughter is flourishing under their care and seems to be a very happy baby.
I am again seeking solace in the potent drugs and liquor the natives make. John runs wild and free with the native children, he is happy and having the time of his life. Emily is well cared for so I feel free to kill the pain of losing Amanda, my one and only love, by staying in a drug and liquor induced haze.
From what I remember of your time, people seemed to believe using drugs for pleasure started in the 1920’s and 1930’s. This is quite untrue, drug usage for pleasure is quite rampant in this time. Even the puritanical white society use drugs in the forms of snuff and tonics for pleasure, to cure all their supposed ailments. I have seen more people stoned in this time than I ever did in your time.
For 3 months I was totally oblivious to John and Emily, they were being well cared for by the natives so I felt free to do as I pleased. The drug I most often used was a hallucinogenic, I saw and heard things I knew were not real but I wanted that world for my own world the few times I was sober in the village was just too painful. So as to what I am about to tell you I know not if were real or a hallucination I cannot say and other than you JD I will never tell another living soul about this. But one day as I sat watching a waterfall where John and his native friends were playing in the pool of water below, my Amanda came to me. She told me she loved me and would always watch over me and the children. She told me if I did not stop using drugs and drinking the way I was that our children would soon be orphans left for Rafe and Cecilia to raise. She said that was not fair to anyone of them or to me. JD, Amanda was crying, I could never bare to see Amanda unhappy much less crying. She slowly faded away right before my eyes with tears streaming down her face and soft quiet sobs echoing as she faded away.
I didn’t stop using the native’s drugs nor did I stop drinking but I cut back a great deal on my usage of both. By the time Rafe, Cecilia and James returned to the island from England I was staying in the house where Amanda and myself had started our lives together. Several days a week leaving John to play with his native friends where he seemed happy and Emily was in the care of the 2 native women who were feeding her, she also seemed quite content.
James took his mother’s death hard, as her first born he had shared a unique bond with his mother and was devastated by her death. Myself and John had time to adjust to her being gone and had become accustomed to her absence though we both still missed her very much but Amanda’s death was fresh to James. He had even brought her a gift from England, a quite exquisite locket that he placed on her grave. James seemed to blame Emily for his mother’s death and despised her. He treated her as if she were not there and there was a strange look in his eyes that made me certain to never leave him alone with Emily.
John and James had always been very close before Amanda’s death, they rarely argued and shared secrets as if they were best friends. However, the closeness they had once shared was gone they now fought over every conceivable thing and the verbal fights quite oft became physical. I often had to separate them before 1 or the other inflicted severe physical damage on their brother.
I understood Amanda’s death was fresh to James and his grief was strong. John and myself had near a year to adjust to Amanda being gone so I tried to take this into account where James behavior was concerned. I did the best I knew how to console James but he seemed to despise me almost as much as he did Emily. One day James took things too far during a fight between himself and John and actually stabbed John with a knife. The wound was not a serious one yet had I not walked in on the 2 boys though tis quite possible James might have killed John. I easily disarmed James then tended John’s wound, his pride was hurt far more than he was. I could tolerate much and had with James but this I could not and would not tolerate. I ordered John to stay with Emily then looked at James who had grown very pale by this time. I ordered James out to the barn and did something to him that I had never before done to any of my children. I threw him against a stable door and proceeded to beat him quite severely with a riding crop. When that did not satisfy the rage I felt at what James had done to John, I beat the boy with my fists. James cried and begged me to stop, John had followed us out to the barn when he heard James scream in agony and stood in the doorway holding Emily. John also began to cry and begged me to stop hitting James. Emily started to cry and that seemed to reach the rational part of my brain. I stopped hitting James and ordered him to go pack his things then ordered John to take Emily to the Native village. Both boys obeyed me immediately though they were both still quite upset. I had never hit any of my children before, I remember all too well what it felt like to have someone twice your size beating you and there was nothing you could do but take the beating and had swore to myself that I would never do to my children what my father and Katy had done to me. As I walked James and his belongings to Rafe and Cecilia’s I felt guilty as hell for what I had done to James, I could see bruises forming on his face from where I had hit him and I knew his back was covered with bloody whelps from the riding crop where I had beat him. I did not say a word to James as I led him to Rafe and Cecilia’s, I would never apologize for what I had done to him nor would we ever speak of it again but that was the day I lost James as my son.
When we reached Rafe and Cecilia’s James ran to Cecilia to be consoled while I went out to the work shop and told Rafe what I had done. Rafe said he understood why I had beat James and said I had done the right thing, the boy needed to learn a hard lesson that what he had done was wrong. Maybe what I did was wrong or maybe it was right but I had lost James because of it and I felt like a real bastard for what I had done. Rafe told me James could stay with him and Cecilia for awhile til things settled down. James stayed with his grandparents for 6 months and still spends most of his time there. When he is with myself, John and Emily it as if we are all strangers. I believe James will follow in Matthews footsteps and attend collage whereas John will likely come to work with Rafe and myself, he already works with us some and shows quite a talent for building and fixing things, he is quite good with his hands.
James attends church in the township regularly with Cecilia, he has become quiet pious in nature and does not drink, smoke, use drugs or foul language. John on the other hand only attends church in the township when I force him to go with James and his grandmother. Myself, I can no longer be a hypocrite and go to church myself, I don’t believe in the god the minister preaches about nor do I care to have overmuch to do with the pious people of the township so I do not go. John is indeed following in my footsteps, I have caught him smoking, drinking and doing drugs with his native friends and he curses almost as much as I do; John is indeed my son. It sometimes frightens me to see my 14 year old son so accurately portraying me, but who am I to judge. The boy is only following the example I sit before him. Life is sometimes quite strange indeed.
Nick
The next letter JD picked up to read was dated 3 years later.
JD,
Much has happened since my letter to you. James went to England to attend college last year and it was a relief to both of us in many ways. Though he now realizes Emily was in no way at fault for Amanda’s death and has developed a certain fondness for his younger sister, he strongly disapproves of the way I am raising Emily and John. I allow John to take Emily to the Native village several times a week and I allow Emily to wear James and John’s old cloths instead of dressing her in the cumbersome cloths little girls of this time wear. I only dress Emily in girl’s cloths when she goes to church on Sunday with Rafe, Cecilia, myself, James and John. (A most miserable way to spend a Sunday). I began attending church again solely out of respect for Cecilia, she came to me and requested I go with the rest of the family even after I admitted to her that I did not believe in her God. I also dress Emily as a girl and force John to dress as a proper young gentleman when I cannot avoid going to the home of 1 of the many eligible women of the township for dinner. James says I owe it to John and Emily to provide a proper Christian mother for them. Apparently even puritanical white women have a sex drive and were I to deflower one of these vestal virgins I would have no choice but to marry the bitch. I even go so far as to encourage John and Emily to behave as obnoxious little animals when we go to dinner in these women’s homes. So far my plan has worked, we have never been invited back a second time by any of the women. Emily will purposely ask the woman the most embarrassing questions in her innocent little voice, the woman will blush furiously and tis all John and I can do to keep straight faces and not burst out laughing. Since James left for England I have begun to refuse any further invitations which pleases both John and Emily as neither one of them feel a need for a mother. If I were to marry again they would prefer me to choose a native woman as a wife. Both of my younger children prefer the native lifestyle and the natives to the township’s way of life and the people of the township.
James and John have grown further apart since James went to stay with Rafe and Cecilia, they speak to each other only when they have to. John has been in many fights in school with the other children of the township mostly due to his friendship with the native children and occasionally over the fact that I allow Emily to be such a little tomboy. John has learned a form of martial arts from the natives and can hold his own in a fight even when the odds are 4 or 5 to one. Emily adores her older brother John and has also begun to train it the form of martial arts the natives use. Though the natives on this island are now peaceful was a time in their history when they were a warlike race. These fights further distant James and John from each other, James sides with the township children.
Rafe and Cecilia took James to England to help him get settled and will bring Matt back with them when they return to the island. Matt has earned his law degree and will sit up shop on the island. I also suspect he will marry the minister’s daughter, the 2 of them have been corresponding the entire time Matt has been away at school.
I now have a 3rd son by a native girl I dallied with. I do not love her nor does she love me though her beauty is quite breathtaking. I am not the first from the township to have a child with a native girl, there are many children and young adults in the village that are of obvious mixed parentage. However I am the first of the township to openly acknowledge the child as mine. He is named Dalton Nickolas Canterbella and will soon be 1 years old. All 3 of my children know Dalton is their half brother though he lives with his mother and will be raised as a native. Both John and Emily adore their younger brother and go to the village quite often to see him. James does not acknowledge Dalton’s existence and will speak to no one about my youngest son. James spoke to me only once about Dalton right after he was born, James informed me by having relations with a woman other than my wife, getting her with child and then not marrying her that I had condemned myself to hell. He also informed me that less I put a tighter rein on John and Emily I will be condemning both of them to hell as well.
How John ever came to be such a religious prude is quite beyond me. Amanda had her belief in God but not to the degree James does. I believe James was as happy to leave the island as I was to see him go. He is of my blood but no longer considers himself my son. James writes us once a month but there is no warmth in his letters to myself or John and his letters to Emily are filled with descriptions of his school and how prim and proper the girls of England are, how nicely they dress and so on. James writes to Cecilia almost weekly and is very fond of her. I am glad there is one member of the family he feels close to, someone he will confide in and whose advice he will seek when he needs to.
Rafe is every bit as fond of Dalton as he is of James, John and Emily. Cecilia feigns ignorance on the subject and never asks Rafe where we are going when Rafe goes with me and the children to the village to see Dalton though she oft sends new cloths and toys with Rafe for a child Dalton’s age and size. Propriety of this time and her loyalty to James prevents her from openingly acknowledging my youngest son.
John is old enough to know from where and how Dalton came to be, he is not judgmental like James. When I had my talk with John about Dalton’s birth all John said was that I was missing his mother and twas only natural for me to have sought adult companionship. Emily, bless her little heart, is too young to understand that her daddy had sex with a native woman to produce her precious little lamb as she calls Dalton. I hope when she is old enough to understand how Dalton came to be she will not be too hurt by it or too disappointed in me.
I guess the lesson to be learned here is when you make your bed you damned well better be prepared to lie in it.
Nick
The next letter JD opened was dated 5 years later.
JD,
Where does the time go? Matt is 26, he married the minister’s daughter 3 years past once he felt he could support a wife with his law practice. They had their first son last year whom they named Thomas Raphael Canterbella, so now I am an uncle.
James is 23 and chose to stay in England after receiving his teaching degree. James Married a young woman who is the daughter of a titled lord of the realm who could not accept his daughter marrying a commoner with an Italian last name so James is now has a minor title and uses Dalton as his last name. I find that a bit ironic considering James has nothing but contempt for me. James writes me 2 or 3 times a year and John and Emily once or twice a year. He still writes to Cecilia quite often and is very close to her. I am glad James has someone he can trust to advise and guide him as he would not turn to me for anything.
John is 21 and will soon be married I believe though I do not believe his marriage will be well received by those of the Township. My young rebel son has fallen in love with a very beautiful native girl. Upon learning of John’s impending marriage from Cecilia James sent me a scathing letter filled with reproach on how twas all my fault that John was ruining his life and would produce half breed children who will not be welcome by the Township or any other decent member of society. He said and I quote ‘ the sins of the father fall upon his heirs to bear’. I did not bother to send a reply to that letter.
The girl John has chosen for his bride is attempting to become accepted by the Township by moving in with Rafe and Cecelia. She has changed her name to Mary (her native name was Mara), Cecilia has made her a wardrobe of proper cloths and is teaching Mary to cook proper food and all other social graces necessary to fit in with the people of the Township. I fear all of this is in vain the people of the Township already treat her as if she is invisible when she attends church with Cecilia and attempts to be friendly with then and I do not believe her marrying John will change that. I believe eventually Mary will become miserably unhappy and return to her own people and John will follow her. It is painful for me to know what will happen and there is nothing I can do to stop it. Whatever happens John, Mary and their children will always have a place in my home and my heart.
Emily is quite the tomboy now and would happily all customs and social graces were I to allow it. I admit I allowed her too much freedom when she was younger and had John to watch over her and now pay for it daily. She much prefers her brothers out grown cloths to the undergarments, petticoats and all the other contraptions she must wear underneath the beautiful dresses Cecilia makes her and the ones Cecilia ordered from France on my request. So every morning she is to attend church or school the battle begins. I lay out the night before what Cecilia informs me is absolutely necessary for Emily to wear under her dresses then attempt to have Emily pick out which ever dress she would like to wear the following day. More oft than not I have to choose for her as she refuses to even look at her dresses. Though she is only 8 Emily is beginning to show signs of becoming a woman and while she inherited her mother’s beauty, she inherited my temper, stubbornness and willful ways. Every morning I have to stand in her room and watch my little princess get dressed and oft have to forcefully dress her myself. The few times I allowed Emily to dress herself for school or church she will put her brother’s old cloths on underneath her dress and hide the undergarments she should wear under her bed. On Saturdays I allow Emily to dress as she pleases and pretend not to notice when she sneaks out and to play with her native friends in the village when she is suppose to be doing her needlework or quietly reading a book in her in the library. She stays gone all day and more oft than not returns after dark. She sneaks in the house through a window in the library and I pretend to believe she was reading and simply lost track of time. Emily is a spoiled little minx and I love her dearly, it simply is not in me to deny her the pleasure she derives from being allowed to enjoy 1 day a week of freedom that the native children enjoy daily. Emily is as tanned as any native un like the fair skinned girls of the Township. Emily has no female friends in school preferring the boys and their games to the girls games and is oft teased for it. Emily is also very protective of her younger brother Dalton and responds to the other children teasing her about herself or Dalton by hitting her tormentors square in the face, it that doesn’t end the teasing and taunting then my little princess will beat the hell out of anyone be it boy or girl even the older and bigger children. Emily fears no one and will even take on more than 1 child at a time, she still almost always wins. Many an irate parent arrive on my door step bringing a hurt oft bleeding sobbing girl or sullen boy with them demanding I teach my daughter to behave with the proper decorum a young lady should. I personally find it quite entertaining when I inform said parent that my daughter is behaving in a matter I consider appropriate for a young lady. That it they don’t want my daughter to hurt their child then perhaps they should teach their children not to tease and taunt Emily about herself or her younger brother, Dalton, Many a father and myself have come to blows over this matter and I always emerge the victor.
Rafe I believes finds this situation as amusing as I do however Cecilia does not and oft scolds both myself, Rafe and Emily, Emily for her shameful and embarrassing behavior and myself and Rafe for encouraging Emily to behave as she does. I do admonish Emily for her behavior when she starts the physical parts of the fights and do punish her for it though not too severely.
One of my more interesting moments as a single parent so far has been to explain to Emily exactly what a bastard child is. She came home from school quite upset a few months past. An older boy had called Dalton a half breed bastard. That was not a conversation I had looked forward to but I did my best to explain it to her in terms she could comprehend at 8. I really felt I had done quite well in explaining it to Emily until one Sunday at Rafe and Cecilia’s a few weeks later when our whole family with the exception of James were eating dinner, sitting around the table enjoying the wonderful meal Cecilia had prepared. My beautiful young daughter looked at her grandmother and in a very calm, innocent tone asked “Grandmother, what is a bastard? Daddy tried to explain it to me but he really didn’t make much sense.”
Cecilia nearly choked on what she was eating turned 15 shades of red as she glared at me. Rafe and John both quickly excused themselves from the table and practically ran outside. I could hear them both laughing so hard tis a wonder they didn’t fall off the porch and break their necks.
I also attempted to excuse myself from the table as well whilst Mary sat looking quite confused but Cecilia would not allow me to leave. “Nicholas James Dalton Canterbella, you sit yourself right back down in that chair now.” she ordered me in her most stern voice. Reluctantly I sat back down and looked at Cecilia sheepishly. “You are responsible for creating this situation and tis up to you to correct it.” Cecilia ordered.
I blushed to the very roots of my light blond hair “I have tried to explain it to Emily, obviously I did a poor job of it.” I said slightly defensive, I had tried my best to explain it to Emily.
“None the less Nickolas tis your duty not mine to explain this to your daughter and I suggest you handle it appropriately and immediately.” Cecilia informed me, her tone still stern but I believe I saw a glimmer of sympathy for me in her eyes.
“As you wish.” I replied then looked at my daughter and again began to try to explain what the word meant in reference to Dalton. I stuttered and stammered looking for the right words, it did not help much that Rafe and John were both eavesdropping from the porch and oft burst into laughter at my feeble attempts to explain again what the word meant to Emily.
Cecilia watched me with the patience of a hawk and when I was finally done, she looked at Emily and asked, “Do you now understand what your father has attempted to explain to you?”
It was suddenly it was so silent you could have heard a mouse pee on a piece of cloth from the upstairs attic, even the men on the front porch were totally silent. Emily looked at her grandmother obviously confused “It has to do with what cows do in the pasture, where eggs come from and the duck pond.” Emily replied uncertain “But how does any of that make Dalton a bastard?” she asked.
Rafe and John both burst out laughing again, they were laughing so hard that tears were streaming down their faces. Cecilia smiled slightly at Emily, she stood up and took Emily’s hand “Come with grandmother my sweet and I will explain it to you.” she said gently as she took Emily from the room.
Mary looked strangely at me “John told me that word means a child born out of wedlock… he never told me it had anything to do with cows in the pasture, eggs or ducks in the pond.” she said quite seriously.
At that point, both my son and father did fall to the ground because they were laughing so hard. I personally wanted to go find a hole and crawl deep into it.
On our way home my 8 year old daughter apparently felt sorry for me because I apparently did not know what the word bastard meant so she carefully explained to me it had nothing to do with cows in the pasture, where eggs came from or ducks on the pond. Then she explained that it meant a child produced of a man and woman sharing a bed without being married. She also informed me her grandmother told her it was a word a true lady never used, most especially at the dinner table.
JD, all I can say is I am most grateful that Emily waited til we were alone to explain to me what it meant, had she explained it in front of my father and son I truly believe they would have died of laughter. As it is, I am still teased endlessly by Rafe and John about the incident and no doubt will be for years to come. If anyone says cows, eggs or ducks when I am around my father and son burst into hysterical laughter.
All I can hope is when the time comes for me to explain to Emily about what men and women do in the privacy of their bedchambers I will do a better job of it than I did this.
At six, Dalton is almost a miniature of me; he has my white blond hair, my blue eyes and even some of my mannerisms. Dalton is quite intelligent for only 6 years old. Emily has taught him to read, write and do his sums so he is at her grade level. Dalton is still her little lamb and she cares not that he is a child born out of wedlock. Dalton is becoming more curious about me and has spent several weeks at our home much to Emily’s delight. Unfortunately it has caused Emily to be teased more by her schoolmates, that matters not to Emily she has already proven she can take care of herself. I have, upon Dalton’s request, talked to his mother about Dalton coming to live with us. She agreed as long as I allow Dalton to come and visit her whenever he wants. This was a condition I agreed to. The bond Dalton has with his mother is quite special and I would never do anything to interfere with that bond. Dalton already shows an aptitude for building things and is already quite skillful at carving. Once John and Mary are married, Dalton will come to live with Emily and me.
Rafe has given John 10 acres of land and we are building him and his bride to be a house on it. Once John is married, Rafe intends to make him a full partner in our construction business. Between building and repairing ships, homes and businesses we make quite a lucrative living and thanks to Jean Luc, I have more money than I could spend in 6 lifetimes.
When I left your time, I was not even quite 10 years old. I never imagined one day I would be a 42 year old man who was widowed at only 34 years old, that I would father 5 children only to lose one too young not meant for this earth. JD I have lived a very full life and still many years left to live. I do not regret leaving your time. There are only two things I would change if I could; I would have Jessica and Amanda still with me instead of in their graves. Though Dalton’s birth would likely have caused some severe problems between Amanda and me. And in truth, I would also change the estrangement that came between James and me. I miss my eldest son and regret we will never have the close relationship I share with John. I cannot say why but James has been on my mind a great deal of late, I am even more concerned since asking Cecilia about James and she told me she too was concerned about him. James had not written her for several months. As fond of James was of Cecilia, him not writing to her bodes no good.
Nick
JD put the letter down on the growing pile of read letters. He was living Nick’s life through his letters and it felt strange as hell. He had known Nick as an almost 10 year old kid; he had personally verified that it was Nick buried in the coffin. Yet somehow, by some mysterious twist of fate he had gone back in time and had lived a full life. He had grown up, married and had children of his own. JD knew if he tried to figure out how it had happened and why he would go insane. So maybe it was best not to try to figure it out, just accept it had happened. JD picked up the next letter; it was dated 10 years later.
JD,
Today I gave my daughter’s hand away in holy matrimony; Emily married a 25 year old ship’s captain named Colton Dern. Colton is the bastard son of a titled English lord and a man I am proud to call my son-in-law. Colton came to our island, his ship severely damaged many of his men were injured and he himself was wounded as well.
Rafe had retired from the business leaving it for me and John to run and now spends his time with Mara and his three great grandchildren. John and Mara have nothing with any of the township people not only snubbed John and Mara in a most vicious and cruel way but extended it to our entire family as well. After only a few months of marriage, Mary became Mara again and told John much as she loved him she could no longer live in his world and was returning to her own world. John chose to go with Mara, then we all reached a compromise; John works in the business still as a full partner, he and Mara will reside in the house we built for them but other than Rafe, Cecilia, myself, Emily and Dalton they would have nothing more to do with the people of the township. They would spend more time with Mara’s family in the village and no longer make any attempt to fit into a township full of people who most obviously did not want anything to do with them. Mary became Mara again and no longer made any attempts to be something she was not.
Colton came to our office and asked my help in repairing his ship and to be directed to a doctor as many of his crew had been hurt in a battle. Colton himself would wait to seek treatment til arrangements were made for the repair of his ship and his crew’s wounds had been tended to. I liked Colton from the moment I met him and agreed to fix his ship; I invited him to dinner at my home and told him we would talk payment terms after dinner in the library over some brandy.
Emily I knew had already invited John Mara and their children. Dalton would be there of course so one more person would not matter. Emily was a very good cook, poor little minx had no choice but to learn how to cook. My cooking is passable but limited pretty much, to what I learned to cook in the galley on the Marquis and John… well, let us just say that cooking was not one of his skills.
When I brought Colton into the house and Emily laid eyes on him, I watched with some amusement as my little tomboy turned into a very flirtatious, shy, flustered young woman. Emily insisted on treating his shoulder wound and actually blushed when her hand touched his bare skin. What was perhaps even more amusing was Colton’s reaction to my daughter. Captain Colton Dern, master of his own ship and crew, a man who had fought many a battle and killed many a man became as tongue tied as a school boy when he stared into Emily’s blue eyes.
Both of my sons were pleased to see their sister showing interest in a man, due to her independent nature they had both feared that Emily would end up being a spinster. Both John and Dalton took to Colton instantly. It turned into quiet an interesting evening. After dinner Colton, John and myself went into the library for an after dinner drink and to discuss payment terms. After we had settled on a fair sum for the work to be done to repair Colton’s ship, Colton asked my permission to court Emily. I smiled slightly and told Colton the truth, he had my permission to court Emily but to I warned him that she was independent and head strong. I don’t think Colton believed me but as their courting progressed over the next few weeks, my daughter lost her shyness of Colton and he learned how independent, free thinking and spirited my daughter really was. My daughter had met her match in Colton Dern, they spared with words the way men spare with swords.
Six months later, three months after his ship had been repaired Colton could have let port and returned to sea, Colton came to me and asked my permission to marry Emily, permission I happily gave. Colton would be good to my daughter and he loved her as much as I did though in a different way. Emily would be happy with Colton.
The wedding was quite beautiful; we held it aboard a ship captained by an old friend of Rafe’s who married Colton and Emily. My little minx was so beautiful JD, she wore the same dress that Amanda had worn to marry me over 40 years ago. How I wished Amanda could have been there to see our youngest daughter married and perhaps she was for when I gave Colton Emily’s hand and stepped back I felt Amanda place her arm in mine as they said their vows. I felt near tears at Amanda’s touch, I do not believe that I shall ever stop missing her.
I most especially missed her the night before Colton and Emily’s wedding when I went to her room to have “the talk” of what a man and woman did in the privacy of their private chambers. I am sure you remember the success I had when Emily was eight and I tried to explain what the word bastard meant. To this day Rafe and John still burst into hysterical laughter anytime I am in a room and anyone says cow, pasture, eggs or ducks. John felt it only fair to explain it to Colton after he’d witnessed it several times, he always looked perplexed while I pretended not to notice John and Rafe’s laughter. Colton had the good grace not to also burst into laughter once he knew about the incident though on occasion he would find a way to slip one of the key words into a conversation, I believe just because he enjoyed John and Rafe’s reaction to them.
As Emily’s only parent, I felt an obligation to attempt to tell her of her wifely duties, so gathering my courage I walked into Emily’s room and sat down on her bed. I asked her if she were nervous about the next day and she admitted she was. I told her about the day her mother and myself were married, how nervous we had both been on that night when lay together in the same room in a bed together. I told Emily despite how careful I had been the first few times her mother and myself made love that it had been painful for her mother and would likely be painful for Emily as well. This was not an easy conversation for me to have with my daughter. I began to stammer and stutter, trying to think of a delicate way to describe that both men and women have needs that can be fulfilled in the privacy of their bedchamber.
Emily was staring down at her blankets, her shoulders began to shake and I feared I had bungled matters again and made the girl cry. Emily looked up at me tears streaming down her face not from crying but from laughing. “No daddy please don’t try to explain this to me. I don’t want my wedding night to be filled with images of cows in the pasture, eggs and ducks ponds.” she forced out through her laughter. She sat up and gave me a hug “I love you very dearly but I learned when I was 8 twas best to ask grandmother or Mara if I had any questions about anything to do with male and female relationships or female complaints. I talked to both of them today daddy so I would know what to expect tomorrow night.” she explained with gentleness in her voice and a look in her eyes that told me of the love and respect she had for me.
I pulled a box out of my pocket and gave it to my daughter feeling very relieved that I did not have to explain to Emily about sex. “I gave your mother this locket the day we got married and I have kept it to give to you. I am sorry you never got to know your mother or she you Emily, but I know she would have been very proud of the young woman you have become.” I said my own voice now choked with emotion, the next day my daughter would become Mrs. Colton Dern and she would go where he went, live where he lived, she would no longer be my little minx but his.
“I love you Daddy.” Emily said then she burst into tears. I held my daughter and let her cry knowing she would miss me as I would her.
Unfortunately, Emily and Colton’s honeymoon was to be spent going to get Alexander Daniel Dalton from England and bringing him back to the island to live. I had received a rather coldly worded letter from James wife informing me James had died of an illness one does not discuss in polite society. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, my son had died from a venereal disease he’d apparently acquired from having relationships with a lady of the evening to put it politely. To think my puritanical son had sought companionship with a woman other than his wife was perhaps even more of a surprise to me than the disease from which he had died. The bitch, as I shall refer to James wife from this point on, had her marriage to James annulled and informed me if we did not come get Alex before the end of term at his boarding school, she would place him into an orphanage. The bitch was getting married again and no longer had any use for young Alex.
None of my children knew the contents of the letter the bitch had sent me, I simply told them that James had died from an illness and his wife felt it would be good for young Alex to spend some time with his father’s family. I had shown the letter only to Colton, as strange as it may seem I trusted Colton more than my own sons to handle this matter. Colton is like me, he has seen the darker side of life that my children had not. My children had not seen the atrocities I had seen nor survived what I had but I believed Colton had. Colton had read the letter through twice then asked me if I believed the bitch had caused James to die, I replied that I did not. Colton seemed to think on that for a moment then he quite calmly asked did I want the bitch dead. I replied no though in truth I did not because of James dying but because of the way she was so callously throwing Alex away. I also knew had I said yes that Colton would have done it without a second thought and no one would ever know that he had killed her but myself and him. I believe fate will one day pay her back for her cold rejection of her son far better than her dying would.
Dalton will be going with Colton and Emily to England to get Alex, tis time the boy saw more of the world than the small island he had been raised on. Colton treats Dalton as if he were his own son, which endears Colton even more to Emily as Dalton will always be her little lamb and is very dear to her heart. I have also asked John and Mara to accompany them as well as their children Nickolas who is 8, James Dalton most oft called JD age 6 and Rafe, usually called Junior, age 4. I have chose to stay on the island to run the business and see to Rafe and Cecilia, they are getting old and need someone to help them though neither would admit it.
I stood at the dock and watched Colton’s ship sail away til it was no longer in sight. I am getting old too JD. Amanda has been gone 18 years, we would have been married 34 years had she lived. Where did the time go JD, has it really been almost 43 years since I last saw you? Life goes by so fast JD, do not waste one moment of the time you have it is more precious than gold.
Nick
JD laid down that letter and he felt sad, a son lost to Nick forever. His daughter married and he was getting old, JD got a real sense of the despair Nick was feeling and he began to wonder what it would be like for him in 43 years; would he still be alone or would he be married and have kids and maybe even grandchildren. JD picked up the next letter; it was dated 2 years later.

JD,
Much has happened since I last wrote you. Colton, Emily, Dalton, John, Mara and their three boys have returned from England bringing young Alex with them. By the gods JD, he looks identical to James at that age. Sometimes it hurts for me to look at him, he looks so like his father… the son lost to me forever, gone to join his mother and little sister Jessica (I hope, with what he died from and what little Alex has revealed to me. James did not lead the kind of life they teach in the church that leads to heaven’s gates). But then neither have I and as I still question many things about the God they teach of in the church I still cannot say with complete certainty that I believe in heaven and hell so what room have I to judge.
Alex is quite the proper young gentleman, he is very studious and very pale; I fear his health is not good. Alex lacks energy; he is quite thin, tires out very easily and has almost a constant hacking cough. I have tried to talk to Alex about James and his mother but it only seems to upset the boy. Apparently he spent little time with either of his parents, a nanny took care of him for the most part til he was 6 then was sent to a boarding school. What little time he did spend with James away from their estate was spent in not very savory places with even less savory people, so perhaps tis best to let sleeping dogs lie. Alex seems sad more oft than not, I believe he would like to play the games his cousins play though he always refuses when they ask him to join them. Truth be told I believe the boy realizes something is amiss with his health and that he cannot play the games his boisterous cousins play. I have to decide with whom Alex should go to live, much as I would like to raise him myself I am too old to do so. This is not an easy decision to make JD.
Emily came back laden with child, my tomboy daughter has become quite the young lady while she was gone. She spends much of her time sewing all manner of garments for her unborn child and runs my house as efficient as Cecilia with whom she spends much of her free time. Colton works with myself, John and Dalton. Rafe is quite ill and will likely not be with us much longer. Emily is of great comfort to both of her grandparents.
Cecilia teaches my grandchildren in her home, only Cecilia still attends church in the township and has any undue contact with those of the township. My family of half-breeds, as Dalton and John and Mara’s children are called by the pious, puritan, hypocrites ostracized my family, the children were teased, tormented and even severely beaten at the township’s school by their classmates for being half-breeds til Cecilia resigned her post as teacher and the children removed from the school. Dalton, myself, John and even Colton have had words and even physical confrontations with some of the men of the township so we have as little to do with the people of the township as we can and they have officially shunned us from the church. Only Cecilia and Rafe were spared that humiliation.
Colton plans to return to sea after the babe and Emily are able to travel. Unlike most seamen of this time, Colton does not hold with the superstition of a woman aboard a ship bringing bad luck and plans to take Emily and the babe with him. Dalton greatly enjoyed his time aboard ship going to and from England, I believe he wants to be a sailor. Mayhap Dalton inherited his love of the sea from me. I have already talked to Colton about taking Dalton with him when he returns to sea, Colton agreed if is what Dalton wishes to do. Colton treats Dalton as if he were his own son and I see hero worship in Dalton’s eyes whenever he looks at Colton. I worry a great deal about Emily as her time grows near, I do not want to lose Emily the same way that I lost Amanda, but I keep this worry to myself.
I have also been giving much thought to with whom Alex will live, with his health being as it is I do not believe him going to live with Colton and Emily at sea would be in his best interest. John and Mara’s boys are too boisterous for young Alex, they often tease Alex when they think none of the adults are watching. I see what they do but pretend not too, tis best I not interfere. Alex must learn to stand his own ground even if he is a frail child else he will grow to be a weak and fearful man. I do not feel would be in Alex’s best interest however to live with John and Mara. Rafe is bedridden and Cecilia too old to raise another child so even though my health is not what it should be and I am too old to raise Alex I have resigned myself to the fact tis likely me who will be raising the boy.
Matt showed up quite unexpectedly on my doorstep one night and asked if I might allow Alex to come and live with him and his wife and be his apprentice. It seems, unbeknownst to me, that Cecilia had talked to Matt about how intelligent Alex is and how much it would benefit the boy to become Matt’s apprentice. I requested Alex to come into the room and allowed Matt to present his proposal to Alex. Alex was quite pleased with the idea and sought my permission to go live with Matt. Permission I reluctantly gave for would mean Alex would become as lost to me as James had. As Matt is married to the minister’s daughter and makes his livelihood representing the township’s population in legal matters, Alex will become a part of the township’s population, which shuns my family and myself. Matt does not even acknowledge myself or my family in public in order to maintain good relations with the people of the township.
Alex packed his belongings and left with Matt that night, it hurt like hell to watch him go, it felt as if I were losing James all over again but I did what was best for Alex. My children were quite displeased with my allowing Alex to go live with Matt but I ignored them and all of their complaints and their anger. Alex will be as good if not even a better lawyer than Matt and Matt and his wife will give Alex the love he so desperately needs, they have yet to conceive a child of their own. I did what was right for Alex though I will miss the boy, all that was left of James is now lost to me as well.
Nick
JD laid down the letter feeling sad, he had read most of the letters; there was one letter left that bore Nick’s handwriting on the envelope. For some reason he dreaded reading this letter as he slowly opened it.

JD,
Tis hard to believe 8 years have passed since I last wrote you. I now have a total of eight grandchildren. Colton and Emily have Amanda Nicole who is 8, Nickolas Colton who is 6 and Cecilia Emily who is 4. My Emily is a wonderful mother and is expecting another child soon. Alex is going to college in England soon to complete his education, he plans to be a lawyer as Matt is and he will be a good one. I advised him to not try and see his mother while he is in England, I showed him the letter she sent me as I felt he had a right to know the true reason he had been sent to live with his father’s family after his father’s death. Still the boy is curious about his mother so he will probably try to go see the bitch. Alex has come to visit me often since going to live with Matt and is so like his father that it makes my heart hurt still sometimes to look at him for I don’t see Alex, I see James.
Rafe died less that a year after Amanda was born and Cecilia died last year. Our entire family still miss them a great deal and I wish they could have lived to know the rest of their great grandchildren.
Dalton married a French girl 2 years ago and they had twins, a boy and a girl, a little less than 9 months after they were married. Unfortunately, Dalton’s wife died in childbirth, an all too common occurrence of this time. Dalton brought Jean Luc and Jessica Nicole home to the island and is living with me for the time being. Dalton has been seeing quite a bit of one of the native girls the past few months and I believe they will soon wed. Dalton and John run the construction company now and Colton plans to retire soon to come live on the island and will become a partner in the family construction business with my 2 sons. Rafe and Cecilia left their house to Colton and Emily so they will live there.
I have retired from the business and stay home or in the native village with Dalton’s mother whom I married 3 years past. No one can ever take Amanda’s place in my heart but was time for me to have a female companion in my life again and hold a great deal of affection for my current wife.
So much more has happened JD but my time grows short. I am dying, I am sad I shall not be here to see Emily and Colton’s next child and would prefer not to leave all those I love behind but I hear Amanda calling to me sometimes now so I know my time left on this earth is short. I have missed Amanda, my little Jessica and James a great deal and I do look forward to seeing them again.
I have given a great deal of thought of late on how to ensure that someday you get to read these letters and have devised a plan. I have decided to confide the entire true story of my life to my son Dalton. I have sworn him to secrecy about much of what I told him, my other children and grandchildren do not need to know about. I have explained to Dalton how to address the letters so someday they will be mailed to you. Someday Dalton will choose a member of the family to pass the letters on to and so on til they can be mailed to you. I had Colton write down the exact location of the island and have enclosed them and part of a poem in this letter that will be of great importance someday to you and my descendants. I have given Matt some documents to keep for me in his office and I have written a journal for my family to pass down that will also have some information that is of importance to my descendants. There will also be well, something, for lack of a better description on this island that will remember knowing me. This is a mystery only the medicine man of the native village will be able to solve for you.
As crazy as this may sound to you JD, I have come to believe that you and I met for a reason and it has to do with you and you coming to the island to meet my descendants. I want you to come to the island JD, consider it the last request of a dying man and please honor it. I do not know how or why but I know it is imperative that you come to the island and meet my descendants. Much of Jean Luc’s legacy to me is left and I have hidden away a portion of it, come to the island and part of it will be yours. I know I am asking a great deal of you JD but it will be worth your time to do so. I beseech you to indulge me in this, a dying man’s last request. There will be one hell of a surprise here for you, I know it was to me, and there will be monetary gain in it for you as well.
This will be my last letter to you JD; I will not be of this earth for much longer. Thank you again for all you did for me so many years ago (or is it yet to come) trying to contemplate that alone could drive the average person mad. Please grant my last request JD, come to the island. I only wish I could be here to meet you and in a way, perhaps I will be.
Nick

JD looked at the map and read the partial poem before laying it aside and picking up the next one. It was in different hand writing.
JD,
I am still a little stunned by what my father has told me. His coming from the future and having been a pirate… well it all a bit hard to accept. However, my father was not a man to lie or make up fanciful tales therefore I have no choice but to accept what he told me as fact. I have addressed the letters as my father requested and will not tell any of what he told me til my time comes to pass these letters on. I will enclose a letter of what members of the family leave the island, die and so forth.
As you were a friend of my father’s I want you to know he died peacefully one afternoon as he sat on his porch watching his grandchildren at play. On his birthday when he told me the truth of his life then he said a strange thing he said he was 63 or 65 depending on which time he was in. We buried his body next to where Amanda was buried, Jessica was buried on the other side of her mother.
My father explained his belief that somehow you will affect the future generations of my family but he did and my father was quite an intelligent man.
Sincerely Yours,
Dalton Canterbella
JD read the remaining letters, there were several each dated 50 to 70 years apart. He read about the Canterbella and Derns, the various family names that were married into and the births and deaths of Nick’s descendants. Sometimes there were pictures or new paper articles in the letters until they were mailed in 1928.
JD left his apartment feeling a need to connect with the real world, with his time. Nick’s letters had made him feel like he had lived an entire lifetime in the few days it had taken him to read them. Moreover, Nick’s last request was one hell of a request. He felt a need to talk to someone he could trust not to think he had gone insane and tell them about Nick and his last request. There was only one person JD trusted enough to even talk to about this. JD went to the library and looked up the history of the island; Nick’s descendants had played some promenade roles in the island history. JD photocopied the information he had found on the island and then went to the jail. Ronnie’s last message on JD’s answering machine had said they were almost finished with the job and Ronnie was the only person he could trust enough to talk to about Nick and if the job was close enough to done and Ronnie thought JD should go to the island then likely as not Ronnie would go with him.
It was a hell of a decision to make and JD honestly was not certain what he was going to do as he sat outside the jail waiting for Ronnie to come out.