To Picture The Past (4 page)

He nodded, and I slowly started talking. "I taught history at the school where my brother-in-law was principal. He called me into his office to scold me for what he hoped was a practical joke, but it wasn't. My sister believes in time travel. That is when you are born to another time period, and somehow you die in that time, and you end up elsewhere. She and her children were visiting a historical home that was preserved and opened for tours, and she took a picture of her daughter standing to the side of a beautiful, old desk. When she looked at the pictures later, she was shocked to see me in it! I was dressed in clothing from this time period and seated at the desk. It shook her up because she was so afraid of losing me, too. We'd already lost our parents, and she saw the photo as a premonition of what was to come. She was beside herself with worry, and my brother-in-law insisted that I go and reassure Gail. I went to see my sister, but neither of us could make sense of the photo. She asked me to stay for dinner and once Jason was home we ordered pizza and played a long game of Monopoly. I went home afterwards, and there was someone hiding in my apartment. One minute I was fine, and in the next there was this blinding pain and the world went black. I woke up here, Robert. I think that God knew I wasn't finished living and he gave me the opportunity to come here."

Robert looked at me in disbelief, and I didn't blame him. I wouldn't believe it either if it hadn't happened to me. "Everything I knew and that is familiar to me is in the future. I have no money, no job, and I am terrified you will think me insane and want to have me committed. I also know that you are enough like Jason that telling you anything less than the truth would be unacceptable."

"I beg your pardon for spanking you, Gillian," he said the last thing I expected to come from his mouth. "You certainly didn't deserve a punishment, not after what happened to you."

I started crying again, but this time my tears were ones of relief. "Thank you for believing me, Robert. Oh, thank you!"

"I think you need to keep it secret, however. Just because I believe you is no sign that anyone else would."

"I understand." I gave him time to accept what I'd told him, and it was easy to see that he was having trouble. He looked at me and shook his head.

"How does it feel?"

"My body feels and looks normal, but nothing is the same. Clothing is a lot different; furniture is, too. You don't have bathrooms and indoor plumbing, not to mention appliances. I'm going to have to learn a lot of things."

"Are we really so different from what is in the future?" His curiosity demanded answers.

"Yes, Robert. In so many ways. One tiny example… The way I swore yesterday when the doctor put the antiseptic on my cut; no one where I came from would have batted an eye at my reaction. I wasn't raised that way, however, and I was taught to use words that weren't so caustic to make my point. Just so you know, my brother-in-law is probably one of the few men alive who would still spank for swearing in that manner."

Robert nodded, but looked at me in warning before he stated, "If I ever hear those words from your sweet lips again I will soap your mouth and set your posterior on fire. Swearing in that manner is not acceptable in this time or in this home."

"I am not likely to do so again." I couldn't help but smile at him. "I do not wish to upset you, Robert."

"I wish there was more time for us to discuss your situation, Gillian, but there isn't, and I think we should be married as soon as possible."

"What?" I thought my hearing was playing tricks on me. "You cannot be serious, Robert! Why should we be married?" I demanded of him.

"I must be able to offer you legal protection should the need arise. You are all alone, and you have no means of support. If you accidentally make a comment of the future in front of the wrong person, you could be forcibly removed from my home and made a mockery of. I will not permit this to happen, and the only means of protection that I can offer that is absolute is marriage. Then, as long as you commit no crimes, you will be safe in my care."

"That is a poor reason to marry someone, Robert!" I was torn between thankfulness that he wanted to keep me safe and insult that he thought me so foolish I would draw attention to myself in such a silly way.

"Are you in love with another?" he asked.

"No," I had to admit.

"I am recently home from a year abroad; there is no one special in my life, either. We shall marry at once and others will assume I met you while traveling."

"I can't permit you to do that, Robert," I argued with him. "Surely I can get a job teaching school somewhere…? I should be able to support myself."

"It is not a life for someone such as you, Miss Gillian. Teaching in these parts is a sentence to poverty unless your students' families take a liking to you and bring you food, or you are able to tend a small garden in addition to your duties. Your home is one room behind the school, and you would have to make sure that firewood was chopped each day. Hard work for a small female your size."

"I'm not a weakling," I argued, but had to admit that I was a bit disillusioned at the idea of living in poverty in order to teach school. I was sure that not all schools were like that. I would just have to find one of those in a large city somewhere. But where was I? And what year was it? 

"Robert, you still haven't told me the date… or where I am…?" I asked.

"This is March 16, 1870, and you are in Milbourne, Missouri," he answered.

"Yes," I agreed, nodding. "You are close to St. Joseph. It is a few years after the Civil War, and people are heading west by wagon train to live in California and Oregon, and places in between, in spite of the plains Indians."

"This is true." Robert agreed with me. "And that is why you and Nellie are not to venture away from here alone. It simply isn't safe. Too many drifters coming here to catch a wagon train. When you have good people trying to make a new life, you are going to have others who want to fleece them and take advantage. At first Nellie and I thought that is what had happened to you."

"I want you to know how much I appreciate your kindness, Robert. You and Nellie have been wonderful to me." Nellie chose that moment to tap on the door and walk inside.

"Robert, Doc told you not to tire Miss Gillian, and you have been in here for hours now!"

"Are you scolding me, little sister?" Robert asked with a smile on his handsome face.

"Why, yes I am!" she replied, and then shook a finger at him in a playful manner.

"Nellie, Gillian and I have been discussing a serious matter. I have asked her to marry me so that I can offer her my protection."

"Robert, I won't permit you to make a sacrifice of this sort," I stated, shocked to learn that he was still considering his foolish idea of marriage. "I am hardly helpless."

"Nellie, what I am going to share with you now is confidential and must never be spoken of with anyone else, and that includes your David. Do you agree? Or must I treat you like a child and withhold the truth?"

"This sounds very serious, Robert," Nellie answered, frowning.

"It is serious. I am sure you will understand once I explain, but first, I must have your promise. This matter must not be spoken of again."

"Very well," Nellie agreed, giving me a sympathetic look. "Are you hiding from someone who wishes you ill, Gillian?" she asked, her concern reflected in her eyes. "You need not worry if that is the case. Robert and I will keep you safe. We certainly wouldn't permit anyone to hurt you."

"Oh, I know that, Nellie. Both you and Robert have been so kind to me. I don't feel, however, that Robert needs to go so far as to marry me!"

"But, Gillian, you are so beautiful. Why wouldn't my brother wish to marry you? At least you are open and honest and you aren't resorting to deceit like someone I could mention…" Nellie gave her brother a meaningful look.

"You are somewhat biased, little sister." Robert smiled indulgently.

"With good reason," she agreed. "So, then, I am ready to listen to whatever it is that I cannot share with my fiancé…"

Chapter Four

The last reaction that Robert expected of his sister was for her to sit there and giggle, but that is precisely what she did. "I do not find this situation amusing in the least," he finally stated, thoroughly insulted.

"That is because you are a man, brother, and everything is always black and white to you."

"I don't know what you mean by that."

"Robert, I am sure that you see nothing at all wrong in wanting to protect Gillian, and I am sure she is grateful, but, dear brother, no woman wishes to feel she is being asked to wed out of a sense of duty. Gillian is a woman, and she needs to know that the man she plans to marry loves her. If David proposed marriage to me in the manner you did to Gillian, I would not be planning to wed him. You have insulted Gillian."

"I did no such thing!" he quickly denied, and then he looked at me in consternation, "Did I, Gillian?" he wanted to know.

"I know it was not intentional, Robert, but it was certainly not the stuff that proposals are made of."

His face turned red, but he clearly wasn't through with me. "What of your safety?"

"I guess it will be up to me to make sure I stay safe," I replied. But, that was before a man and woman showed up at Robert's door a few days later claiming I belonged to them!

* * *

"Oh, Gillian, there is a man and woman in the parlor, claiming that you are his wife and her sister. They are demanding that Robert turn you over immediately."

"What?" I was shocked, to say the least. "That is not true. They must have me confused with someone else."

"The woman says that you were abducted from their wagon in Saint Joe, and she is wringing her hands and crying. The man is quite belligerent."

"We shall see about this," I declared. "Do you think that Ursula would loan me some clothing suitable for a servant?" Nellie looked at me and then giggled as she realized what I planned to do.

It was just a few minutes later when I approached the parlor carrying a tray laden with coffee and cakes. I carried it into the room and sat the tray on a side table, and then served the cakes while my supposed husband and sister looked right at me. Robert met my gaze but he gave nothing away.

"I am tired of waiting. I demand to be shown to my wife!"

"Yes, Carson is quite right! We need to see Shirley immediately so that we can get back to the wagon train before it pulls out." I handed the woman a cup and saucer, and she looked at me in annoyance.

"What makes you so certain that the woman I found is your sister, Miss Griffin?" Robert asked.

"It has to be Shirley. You are the only one who has reported finding a female."

"And you say that Shirley is to inherit her father's estate?" he questioned.

"Yes. My stepfather passed away recently, and now that Shirley is so wealthy, she just has to be able to enjoy the fortune he has left her. He treated her so poorly, and now it simply wouldn't be fair if…"

"I think you mean that it wouldn't be fair if you couldn't get your hands on Shirley's inheritance," Robert stated matter-of-factly.

"I am sure you know that we are willing to offer a substantial reward," Carson Smith said slyly.

"How much?" Robert demanded.

"Ten thousand." The man didn't bat an eye.

"I want double that amount."

"Very well. Cut the crap and get the girl down here. I'll see you get the money this afternoon."

"Don't you want to make sure the woman is Shirley?" Robert asked.

"I think we both know that she is Shirley."

"I think you both should be arrested and thrown in jail." I finally decided to speak up.

"Shut your insolent mouth!" Miss Griffin snapped at me.

"That is a fine way to speak to your sister, Miss Griffin," Robert stated.

"Robert, I have never seen either of these two fools before," I assured him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Shirley! Why, I only saw that deplorable dress and it never occurred to me that he would make a servant of you!"

"Get out of my home," Robert said, getting to his feet. "I wouldn't send any defenseless woman with the two of you."

"You cannot keep my wife from me."

"I am not your wife," Gillian said quietly, and then watched as Robert showed them to the door. She could hear their threats to return with the law, and she knew they were just stupid enough and mean enough to try something like that. She had no proof that she was who she claimed to be.

A few minutes later Robert returned. "I have sent for Judge Hendricks, Gillian. Go and find Nellie and ask to borrow a dress to be married in."

"What? I told you this would not work," I insisted.

"Those two will return, Gillian, and they will each lie and claim you are Shirley. The law will take their word, and you will be forced to go with them. We need to get married as soon as possible and I do not wish to hear any arguments. Now, do as you are told."

"I will not! I am not your child, and I do not have to obey you!" I lost my temper, even though I knew full well that the real target of my anger wasn't in the room. "I will be gone before they return." I turned to leave the room, but Robert snagged my wrist with his strong finders, and then he pulled me over his lap and started spanking quite hard. "Stop it!" I ordered sharply.

"I will stop when you are being reasonable. You and I are going to be married, and you are going to stop giving me an argument."

"I don't have any desire to be married to a man who does not love me!" I kicked my legs, trying to free myself from the hold he had on me.

"Would you rather be married to a man who only wants you for monetary reasons? As soon as that guy gets his hands on Shirley's inheritance, she will disappear again… permanently. But, I guarantee that man will use you over and over until he does kill you." He spanked me several more times. "Is that what you want?" Robert demanded.

I was shocked. "No! Let me go, damn it!" As soon as the swear word left my mouth I knew I was in trouble. I'd been warned and I still went ahead and used bad language. What was wrong with me? "I'm sorry!" I cried out immediately, but the damage was done. Robert was going to have my hide, and that is precisely what he did. He put some real strength into spanking my backside, in spite of all my 'sorries' and promises not to do it again. He made sure that I would remember this spanking the next time I was tempted to curse. It didn't take long for me to be reduced to tears, and it was hard to say who was most embarrassed when Nellie came into the parlor… her or me!