“Hmm! Sadie 2.1!”
“Something like that.”
“What year were you born?”
“2026!”
“Did you know Tilly?”
“No! Only of her through… my parents.”
“Who is your father?”
“I’ll let him tell you himself. That way you can see where this is all headed. Just know we’re all friends here. You’re my hero Sadie.”
“Your father is here in 1876? Did Wyndham figure out the reason for males going insane when they arrived here?”
“No! That part is still a struggle. He’s my hologram sidekick. Nothing like your daddy shadowing your every move. Oh, well! He’s awesome! Taught me everything I know. Another tenth of a mile and you’ll reach topside.”
“Thanks, Siri!”
“Siri! Too funny! Love it! In the future we call her GyPSy. Get it? GPS in the word. Wanderer!”
“Yup! I see the light of day now. At least I know this isn’t our crypt.”
“No way! This is our home base. There are future plans to make this mesa into an underground base of operations. I’ve seen the blueprints. Who knows, next time you visit it might be built.”
“Whatever Grampa Jessup did sure warrants billions in tech. I just don’t get it.”
“We’re still piecing it all together even in the future.” A silhouette of a woman stepped into the framework of daylight. Even with her advanced eyesight Sadie couldn’t directly see her face yet. “Welcome to Mi Mesa Su Mesa!” Casa! Cute though! Home either way!
Tarnation whinnied and bolted faster up the pathway until nearly toppling the girl over. Laughing at his snout nudging her chest time after time Katrina finally told him, “Will you relax! I’ll fill her in.”
“Now that is an omen if I ever heard one.” Sadie told Tilly.
“I agree! How could she possibly know your horse.”
“Evidently, Tarnation knows her. He seems almost giddy up.” The black stallion went so far as to mimic what he often did to Sadie in using his snout to knock her hat off. Wait! That was a Brandon trick, the horse just did what Brandon’s spirit told him to. Right? “Hmm! Hey, Katrina? Do you mind tellin’ me jus’ how you know my horse there?” A carrot given to him had the horse happy as a jackrabbit in heat.
“That should be obvious, he was me.”
Startled by a hologram showing up next to her Sadie leered to her left. She nearly fell off Tarnation she jumped so hard in the saddle. “Uncle Brandon? How?” Tilly could not see nor hear Brandon’s hologram but was fretting something fierce in hearing his name and their contact.
“Careful up there! Hop on down and let’s have a chat you and I. Katrina, take her horse, rather me, to the water trough. We look a might parched.” Nodding she waited on Sadie to drop to the ground and hand Katrina her rein. Smiling at her with a childish giggle the girl led her horse to water out beside her train car, still there but oddly resting next to two other cars.
“Setting up a trailer park out here? Hold up!” His words struck like lightning. “You know you were in Tarnation?”
“How could I not? I recognized you, didn’t I. I’m not sure how but the horse’s spirit followed me to Wyoming. It was seeing him that brought me out of my catatonic state.”
“That was me. Peyote did a number on us. I talked to some spirit owl who told me that trick after it was said and done. Don’t ask! I might have been hallucinatin’.”
“Huh! I wonder why Tilly didn’t say anything about that.”
“Blame me! I asked her not to reveal that part until I could decipher who to trust. This bullshit you suckered me into doesn’t feel… hell, I’m not sure I trust even you these days. If Tarnation didn’t have my back like he’s shown I’d think different.”
“Sorry about the deception. You were trained to be exactly what could survive out here. Wyndham just juiced you up with nanites to give you an extra edge. That and Tilly’s help with her telepathic connection.”
“Tilly is freaking out right now just so you know. She hasn’t been told you were out of the sanitarium wing.”
“Well! At the time you and she bonded I wasn’t brought back to Wyndham therefore neither of you would know. Same for the horse. The me you see right now is 20 years in her future.”
“Okay! So, you did reunite with Tilly, correct?”
“Of course!” He expressed sadness! “We tried! Her accident put a loop in our future together. She might not know it now, but she was definitely the love of my life.” Sadie relayed the message. It was not helping Tilly’s emotions one bit. In her bed the doctors were concerned over why she was crying and refusing to speak to them. This information was withheld like pretty much all things at this point.
“Wait! Are you… “Sadie pointed at Katrina in the distance.
“My daughter, yes! I met with those time travelers that made it back here to formulate a new plan once Tilly and I met again after her misfortune. Peggy Winslow and I… well, had a one-night stand and Kat was the result. I’m proud of her. She’s every bit as smart and dare I say it careless as you. You do realize you fucked up the timeline and forced everyone associated with Wyndham and the military to go deep underground to avoid being either erased or totally changed. By the way, Ike is dead. I was appointed his successor and kicked up in rank.”
“General Outlaw, now?”
“Not as many stars but yes. I moved up quickly once I proved myself worthy to believe in again. Tell Tilly she has the best care Wyndham money can buy. I made certain she was made to feel useful again.”
“Ask him how.” Tilly begged! “Where am I and when.”
“Tillicent wants to know where, when, and how.”
“We reunited in 2025 after a lengthy recovery process. Ike needed to be positive I was not going to revert back to my saliva dripping days.” As he spoke Sadie heard a shrill cry of an eagle and looked to the sky. The three brothers Larry, Moe, and Squirrely were circling above. “Know anything about those eagles?”
“I do actually. Well, at least I suspect. As you know men struggle with time travel for some reason. I was not the first to fall prey to that. Monroe Perch, Eddie Wurl, and Lawrence Harris were in the same quarantine base in Wyoming. They’re still mad as a hatter. Now that you’ve confirmed a suspicion that’s nagged me for years it makes sense as to why they haven’t snapped out of it. Their spirits were not reunited like I was, even by sparking recognition in some dream state.”
“Hang on! You’re saying Lawrence, Monroe and this Wurl are in those eagles? Wow! When I named them, I was pretty close to their true names. Wurl is Squirrely now. I’m not sure how that’s possible because they go from real to ghostlike. Tarnation over there is as real as it gets.”
“Who are we to understand the spirit world, let alone the world period. Messing with time has proven how stupid we all really are.”
“Can I come over now?” Katrina called out. Brandon waved her over and she came running. “Hi! Did you tell her?”
“Come here Critter!” Sadie threw her arms out for a hug. Squealing like a teen Katrina raced into her embrace. “I reckon I’m Auntie Sadie.”
“I know! So awesome! Dad has told me so much about you. I wish I could have known the rest of my family.”
“How’s mom, Brandon?”
“About that! Your meddling back here kind of screwed that up. I’ve pieced things together, but she remarried after my brother died. For some reason she doesn’t even know who she was or that she gave birth to you. It’s heartbreaking!”