The Family Genes Part I

[Mikado14]

This is the last story I had published. It went to the editor and it was essentially what he called a novelette. I had it broken into four chapters. He wanted it reduced to a certain length so I did it in two chapters. He sent it back with his corrections, I redid and he published it.

I decided to put it back to the full four chapters and I cleaned it up. I hope I improved since then but I kept the flavor of the story as written at the time. There is so much I could improve upon with current knowledge but where would the nostalgia of the times be? I also took out the techno babble but kept just a bit for it mostly fit the story if not fit as a catalyst for a situation.

When I wrote this, my intent was character development. It is so difficult to write a short story and have character development. I have one story that was never published but this is the second one where I was honing the skills of character development. In fact, there are questions answered in these four chapters that you may have had from the previous ones, if you read them.

My intent is that all these stories could stand on their own as separate stories even though when they were originally written, I had a story arc and still do if I decide to write more but my fear is that I will interject more current tech and the style will change from the times the originals were written.

These four chapters would be better read if the first stories were done but then, it can stand on it's own...mostly.

I hope the cut and paste came out okay. I have to go through it and add the "carriage returns"....remember them?

Mikado





The Family Genes Part I

©1979 & 2014 Hickory Ridge all rights reserved

How many of us have wished, if we could only change the past, most everyone has. What if the opportunity presented itself for the possibility to relive an event. And what if we took advantage of that opportunity and then decided to do something unexpected? Would we be willing to pay the price of giving up our future?

The sun was climbing in the sky and the shadows were getting shorter as the day grew. He was out in the lower field plowing ground for a late spring planting. In the early morning with the dew still on the ground, the increasing humidity, along with the smell of the humus soil being turned over by the three bottom trailer plow, all combined to create an aroma the young man enjoyed. The right rear wheel of the tractor followed the furrow of the previous plowed pass and he had to keep the tricycle front end turned to the left to keep a straight furrow with an occasional application of the left rear wheel brake. He turned to watch the soil being thrown by each of the three moldboards as the trash boards threw the sod over further so that it would be completely covered and allow the green manure to decompose to provide nutrient in the soil for the next crop. He thought how this was work compared to the newer tractors on the farm. His mind went back as he thought how the old John Deere was easy compared to horses. A matter of perspective from different points in time.

Listening to the staccato of the old two-cylinder John Deere Model G, the one his grandfather bought new in 1938, he could tell how hard it was working. Remembering how his Granpa taught him to listen to the exhaust because it would talk to you and all you had to do was to learn the language it spoke, what he called the stack talk. It would tell you how hard it was working or how easy and it would complain when it was being overworked. All one had to do was learn the language of the engine. He gave it a little more throttle and felt the two big cylinders respond with more power from the additional fuel and the engine told him it was content with its job.

The young man came to a point in his plowing where he thought he had been once before, a long time ago and stopped the tractor. He reduced the engine speed down to an idle where the cylinders were moving so slowly, they caused the tricycle front end to hop but the tires cushioned it from jumping off the ground.

Dismounting the tractor, he leaned his back against the rear wheel and closed his eyes. His ears heard the sound of the engine. His back felt the thrust of the engine. His nose smelled the freshly plowed earth and through it all, he remembered that day in 1938. Opening his eyes, he went to the side of the tractor and ran his hand over a dent in the side of the hood. He smiled to himself and thought about the time his grandfather restored the tractor and he refused, no, he adamantly refused to remove the dent. He remembered being a brash 20 something know it all and how he told his grandfather that to leave the dent was counter to his restoring the tractor and that his work was in vain. He was being foolish to not remove the dent. He recalled how his grandfather turned to him and said, "Son, somethings are more important than money and there ain't no amount of money that could remove that dent as far as I am concerned." He shook his head and called his Granpa a foolish old man. And now, he felt foolish remembering that conversation and he made a mental note to apologize to his Granpa the next time he visited him.

His eyes focused on the corner fence posts and he saw a metal pole that propped up the posts and marveled how well it weathered the years. He remembered that out of all the fence on the farm, Granpa would always tend to this corner. He asked him why he did this and all Granpa said was because he wanted to.
The old tractor was sitting content at rest as he walked back and mounted it. He pushed the throttle to full and it came to life and was ready to work as he slowly pushed the hand clutch in. It protested at first under the load of the plow but it quickly rose to the challenge and it was moving along at a good pace, opening the womb of Mother Earth to accept the seeds for new life.


Rory walked into the kitchen and his Mom was there making lunch.

"I saw you coming up the road from the back field and thought you would be hungry so how about I make you a roast beef sandwich with some homefries from breakfast? You must be starved, you got up and went out without eating."

Rory was stooping down and petting girl as he responded, "Sounds good Mom. I just wanted to go out and work the back field to make it easy for Dad."
"Oh, is that your excuse?"

Rory stood and went to the table and sat down. "No excuse, just wanted to make it a bit easier for Dad. Supposed to rain tomorrow so at least the ground is turned and will dry out easier to get the soy in the ground."

"And that is why you took your Granpas' old tractor and not one of the newer ones? Do you think I don't know my own son after all these years? I know when something is on your mind."

"Not really Mom, just wondering about all that has taken place of late." She sat the plate down in front of him with the sandwich and turned back to the stove to mind the potatoes heating in the skillet. Rory picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

The only sound in the kitchen was the sizzling of the potatoes in the black cast iron skillet. Rory's Mom picked up the skillet and came to the table and unloaded them on his plate. He said thanks to his Mom and she put the skillet back on the stove. She hesitated for a moment and then sat down at the table.

Rory looked at his Mom and she asked what was bothering him.

"Nothing really Mom, just so much happening.", he said with a mouthful of food. He continued to talk and chew at the same time, "I go and get girl from the dam, I go and save Granpa from being killed by the tractor and then Uncle Buck going into the future. I wouldn't say I am bothered as much as trying to take it all in and sort it out."

He paused as he took another bite. "Think about it for a moment, girl went from a point in time 20 years ago to here in a moment, she exists over a broad expanse, in a way. Granpa, from his point of view, met me before I was even born and now, Uncle Buck is just like girl except instead of 20 years, he is 30 years forward in time."

He turned his head and looked at his Mom, "Just a lot to take in and process and then of course the dreams it has been giving me, weird ones."

She smiled, "I knew you took your Granpa's tractor out to plow for a reason." Rory looked at her and smiled, "Can't put nothing past you, can I?"

"Rory, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Sure Mom, name it." She looked at him as he was chewing and asked,"Promise?" and he simply answered, "Sure Mom", as he continued to shovel in the home fries.

"I want you to take me back to that day that your sister was" and she paused,"found."

Rory dropped his fork and looked at his Mom and with a mouth full of food, "Why?"

She put her head down as she spoke,"I just want to know what happened. Isn't that why you built your machine? To find out what happened to girl?"

He continued, "Mom, they are not the same. I wanted to find out who took girl and how she disappeared. The two are no way even remotely the same."

Rory just looked down at the table. He thought about what his Mom had just said. She's right he thought. I spend countless dollars of grant money to build a time machine to find out who took my dog. But this is different. He was afraid of opening old wounds. Revisiting something he buried long ago but then, he knew his Mom never did bury it and he raised his head some and glanced at her. He looked into her eyes and his heart melted just a bit.

"Okay Mom, I'll do it. But you must understand, it is going to be hard for you to watch anything, I just don't want you to be hurt, to go through what you went through.... again."

"But Rory, maybe it will give me closure." He looked into his Mom's eyes, he saw the angst in not knowing exactly what happened.

"Okay Mom, but I want Dad there as well." and she nodded her head.



Rory decided to open the letter that Betty gave him. He procrastinated in doing so over the past week since he came back. He sat at the bench in the shop and just played with it and wondered what was in it. J was sitting at his console reading a book on dark matter about Jan Oort. Rory turned to him, "Learn anything about Dark Matter yet?"

J looked up and said, "yep". Rory paused for a moment, "Want to open the letter?"

J jumped up and brought his chair over to the bench. "I take that is a yes?" and J just nodded his head and handed him a letter opener. Rory took it and with a sound of tearing paper, he opened the manilla envelop. He reached in and pulled out a stack of papers and on the top was a letter. He read it aloud.


"Hi Rory and Jay,

If your reading this then you are home, back in 1980, and I, the person that wrote this letter, am in your future. Strange thing this time travel stuff, took a while to get used to but then, that is another story for another time.

You will see that there are several sets of papers and there are instructions for each set. You have a time machine, right? You will need to go back to establish an identity for your Uncle. Take the amount of money specified on the papers from the money your Uncle left you and follow the directions as outlined. You will do fine, I already know how it will turn out. All I will say is to use your best judgement when needed, ask your Mom or Dad. When you have all the paperwork done, just give it to me and I will hold it. You may feel the need to explain a little bit but Buck laid it all out along with the date and time to be at the park.

Rory, you and Jay are preparing for a trip. I can't tell you the specifics but this is for you Jay, get me, you will know when. I can't tell you anymore.

I love you both.

Betty"

The silence was almost deafening in the shop. Finally, J spoke up, "What trip you think she is talking about?"

"I dunno, " was all Rory could say. Rory started flipping through the pages and noticed applications for bank accounts, Birth certificate for Buck along with other papers to be filed at different times over the next 30 years.

"Cripes V, looks like you are going to create a false identity for Buck." Rory replied, "Looks that way."

J looked at the letter again and all he could say was, "She spelled out my name. "



Over the following several days, Rory and J followed the instructions that Betty had written down. Rory jumped back to 1950, filed the birth announcement with the state and eventually, they sent a certified Birth Certificate to a PO Box he opened. He applied for and received a Social Security number and with that, he opend a trust account with a 30 year remission due in 1980 in his current timeline as per the instructions. The Post Master looked at him quizzically when he paid for the Box for the maximum they would do, ten years, and he commented on how he never had anyone do that. He opened a joint bank account, in his and Buck's name, and deposited funds from what Buck left him in his current timeline. These were the first set of instructions. And now Uncle Buck had a new social security number but his name was the same except without the junior. Rory and J chuckled at how there would be so much confusion and it provided a source of humour for them. They both saw how it would provide a cover in broad daylight for his Uncle.

Rory continued to make multiple jumps to maintain the PO Box and retrieve mail which was mostly junk mail. He found it curious that as the years went by and he approached his current time line he saw the result of inflation in that the amount for the box kept increasing. Eventually, the Post Master started to complain about having to put all the mail in boxes and he asked him to check it more frequently. Rory told him he travelled a lot and he had his permission to throw out all the circulars he wanted but the Post Master refused since the sender paid for it to be delivered and he was obligated to deliver it. Rory's reply was, "oh well, there is no rule about checking your box so you will just have to store it."

After all that was done, he had to decide how to come up with a diploma for Buck but he thought he would wait and figure it out later. It was the least detailed instruction that Betty gave him.
It was always the same, Rory jumping into the past and J making sure he brought him back.



It was Saturday morning, a week had gone by since Rory's Mom asked him about her favor. He and J had discussed it and decided they would do it on Sunday. As Rory approached the door to the shop, he saw a note on it. He picked it out of the door jamb and opened it.

Hi kiddo, how you doing? I had you drop this off, well, we dropped off this letter. I want you to know that you are going to need those tractors and generators a bit longer. I want you to extend the rental agreement and use some of the funds I left you and take it from that trust account you opened back in the fifties that is now open. Should be a nice sum after 30 years but take what you will need.

Can't tell you much more than that, as Betty says, "spoilers".

By the way, I am having a ball here and I feel great. I want you to know that the cancer is gone. It has only been a week for you but about 6 months for me. Betty and I got married, as if you didn't realize that would happen. I want you to know I am happy, really happy.

And here is a spoiler....Granpa says hi!

Uncle Buck


Rory read the letter a second time and threw it on the bench in anger. "Why is it that everyone insists on telling me something is going to happen and then don't say a word!"
J walked through the door. "What's all the hollering?"

Rory picked up the note in a wad and briskly handed it to J. He read the letter. "So? Uncle Buck is okay and he told you that we will need the tractors a bit longer and gave you permission to extend the lease. What's your problem?"

"You don't get it, J" sternly replying as he exhaled a breath of air and in that moment, he realized he was like his Dad in expressing his emotion with an onomatopoeia.

He paused for a moment, "Sorry J. I am frustrated. Betty's letter insinuating that there will be this trip we will take, that I will take," he paused, "whatever, you, me, we, whomever, that will be so eventful that you will look up Betty to come and help. Where the hell am I that you are going to get her? "

J paused and looked at the note and then at Rory, "Well my old friend, why don't we put the notes aside and get ready for your little trip you are going to take your Mom on."

"Okay" and with that, J asked Rory, "So tell me what this trip is all about". Rory looked at J and slowly he answered.

"Back a long time ago, my sister was out picking those wineberries along by the old mill. She was on her way home and apparently had walked across the covered bridge and you know how the road bears to the right?"

J responded, "yeah" and Rory continued, "Well, my sister was found there on the side of the road. It looked as if she were hit by a car coming around the bend. The car kept going and they never found who did it. That happened about a year or so before I lost girl on the dam. It was a bad time." Rory paused.

J spoke up, " Look V, I never asked about your sister but I have a question."

"Sure"

"Well, you get obsessed to go and find out about your dog, why not about your sister?"

Rory paused and then replied,"I wanted to know what happened on the dam. I saw a hole appear and I didn't know where it came from. I watched a man pick up my dog and disappear into nothingness. I wanted answers. I didn't know what happened to her. As to my sister, why would I want to go and see what happened? Why would I want to see her die? I already knew and that was that but Girl, it was a mystery."

"Well old friend, your Mom seems to think it is important. Apparently, she wants some closure. I say, give her what see wants".

"J," and Rory paused, " I had my closure when we buried her. I think my Mom is wrong in wanting to go back but she wants some form of justice, she wants to see who did it and ran."

"Well V, why did we build this machine if not to get justice? You got justice and found out it was yourself, which I think you are still trying to get over but then why not your Mom too?"

Rory looked around the shop and said to J," Do you mind getting things ready? I am going out to think."

"Sure V, I can get things ready and check out the equipment." and with that, Rory left the shop.



"Go get it girl!" as Rory threw the frisbee and off she went and with a leap into the air, she caught it. She brought it back to him and he threw it again and the process repeated. He heard a voice from behind.

"I remember you and your sister doing this with girl. You would both throw the frisbee and she would try to catch it before your sister got it. Remember how your little sister would catch it and girl would drag her around trying to get it from her?"

"Yeah, I remember. They were both about the same size. Girl would drag her like a rag doll."

Rory's Mom came up to him. "You okay son?" Rory kept throwing the frisbee and after several throws he turned to his Mom.

"Why Mom? Why do you want to go and live through it? How is it that you can do that?"

"You don't understand Rory until you have your own children someday."

Rory continued to throw the frisbee several more times. He remembered seeing himself 30 years in the future with a wife and kids. He then answered his Mom.

"Okay Mom, I will give you the wish you asked for but we will stay on top of the hill and if I don't watch, don't blame me but I buried Diane a long time ago."

"Calling her Diane? When did you stop calling her Dane?" Rory looked at her, "When I watched her being buried." and with that, he just walked away and as he did, "I want Dad in the shop with J when we go back and we are going to do it at noon and I want the time you think it was so I can set up."

"It was about 11:30 in the morning before lunch and it was on a Saturday."

Rory hollered back, " I remember the day" and he walked to the shop with girl on his heels jumping at the frisbee in his hand.


J looked up as Rory came through the door. "I need the calculations to set up the wave so whenever you are up to it, okay?"

Rory turned to J and in a brisk manner, "You ever going to get a girlfriend? You need to get out of this shop and start a life or something. Have some kids, grow old."

J looked at his friend, "Bad day I see. I could say the same thing about you, you know".

"I am not interested. I have my work. I've been thinking about what Buck said about a stasis in a stasis and getting more power for this machine of ours."

J looked at Rory and replied," yeah, right" as he stood up from his console, "I'm going over to see your Mom about some lunch." and J walked out the door and as he was leaving with his back to Rory, "just get the damn calculations done so I can do my job for tomorrow." as he slammed the door shut.

Rory stared out the window at his friend as he walked over to the house and he said to girl, "Guess I am taking it out on the only true friend I ever had, right girl?" and she just looked up at him with her butter cream eyes.



Sunday morning came and found J, Rory and his Mom and Dad in the shop. Rory had only one of the tractors started and warming up and he turned to his Dad and asked him to run it up to PTO speed.

"Only running one Rory?" and he replied, "Yeah Dad, we only need the one to jump back 21 years."

He then turned to his Mom as his Dad went out to ramp up the tractor. "Are you sure you want to do this? I am asking one more time for you to reconsider." She looked at her son and said, "Yes, I am sure. Your Dad doesn't want to go." As Rory turned to look over the equipment one last time he quipped, "He's the smart one."

The sound of the tractor running at full PTO throttle filled the shop and J started the wave form generators and the charging of the banks. Rory gave him the go ahead after checking the numbers one last time and gave him a thumbs up.

As Rory's Dad came through the door he looked at his son. They exchanged glances and all he said to his son, "Take care of you Mom." and he replied,"Always, Pop".

Rory looked at girl and she was right along side of him as the banks were charging. He turned to his Mom and said, "When I say let's go, we step through." and he received a nod from his Mom.

"How long do you want to stay?" asked J. Rory answered before his Mom could say a word, "30 minutes, give us 30 minutes. The coordinates are on the yellow legal pad to your left"

"30 minutes, V"

He stared at the banks and saw the shimmer, heard the tractor working hard. The frequencies beating against each other to stabilize and then J calling out,

"Stable standing wave, get ready in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...engaging the bank!"

The tractor protested and the lights dimmed. The portal slowly opened to reveal a green grassy field looking down toward a dirt road, the other road coming into the curve was visible. Rory found himself staring at a moment in time he never wanted to visit, he knew what the outcome would be, he lost his little sister but he would do this one thing for his Mom, almost the hardest thing he could ever think of doing and in that brief instant, he regretted ever building the machine. With that, he said,"let's go" and the trio stepped through the portal. As he stepped through, all he could think about doing was to destroy what he had created.


The air was a spring day turning into summer. It was late June and the smell of the grass with the heat of the day coming on accompanied by a gentle breeze. The sound of some birds and a red tailed hawk screeching filled his ears. He looked at girl and she was doing her thing sniffing the breeze and he couldn't help but wonder, she is in a time when she was alive. To her, it was only about a year and a half ago. His thoughts were broken by the sound of a tractor starting over by the barn and getting ready to fill the silo with a load of haylage from the alfalfa field. He remembered his Dad was out cutting and he was bringing back the loads to run up the silo. His Granpa went somewhere with his Uncle Buck. He recalled that day, it was burned into his memory, the day he lost his little sister.
Rory looked at his Mom as she looked off to the farmhouse and he turned his gaze to it as well. They both watched as his Mom was hanging laundry out back. He turned and said,"Kind of weird watching your self doing something from 20 years ago."

"I never imagined what it would be like to come back. So many times I wished I could be here just so I could know. So I could be there with her as she laid there along the road."

Rory looked at his Mom and said, "Forgive me but I don't know how you can do this." His Mom just glanced at Rory and then stared at the gound looking off in the direction of where she had been hanging laundry so many years ago.

They strolled over toward the slope that went toward the road and sat down on the grass. Rory looked at his watch, "We have about 27 minutes".

The time slowly passed as the trio sat there and then they heard it, a little girl singing. They stood up and waited as the singing got louder.

Rory's Mom watched as a little blonde haired girl, swinging a basket of berries, came around the bend. The sound of a car coming with loud exhaust could be heard coming toward the covered bridge. Kathy reached inside her bag and pulled out a frisbee and hollered,

"Get it girl!" and she tossed the frisbee toward the little blonde girl and girl took off after it.

Rory screamed in panic, "MOM! What are you doing!!???"

She hollered, "Diane! Catch the frisbee!" The little girl turned at the sound of her name and she caught the frisbee out of pure reflex action along with girl jumping and clamping down on it.

"VENUS,...let gooo!" and girl pulled on the frisbee and the little girl followed as if she were a rag doll. At that moment, the car with the loud exhaust came around the bend and in the last instant, it swerved ever so little but enough to miss the blonde haired girl being dragged by a dog.

Rory fell to his knees with a look of stupefaction. His Mom called to the little girl and she let the frisbee go. Both she and girl carrying the frisbee in her mouth, walked up the hill.

"Who are you? You look like my Mom." And Rory's Mom replied, "No, just a friend."

"But that's my brothers' dog." Kathy replied, "No, I am sure she just looks like her. She likes to catch frisbees. Sorry if she hurt you."

"No, not really. My brothers dog does the same thing to me." Kathy looked into the young girls eyes. She looked at her blonde hair and how the breeze was moving it and she remembered how beautiful her little girl was and she was emotionally bathed in the moment and then she spoke, "Your Mom going to make a tart for you?"

The little girl replied,"Yes, she promised she would make me and my brother and maybe my Daddy if there is any left, some for dessert."

"What's your name?"

"Diane but everyone calls me Dane." Kathy smiled at the little girl, "Why Dane?"

"My big brother couldn't say Diane and it came out as Dane, so that is what they call me. I like it better than stupid Diane."

Rory, on his knees, stared at his little sister and felt his heart being torn apart as the tears ran down his cheeks. He couldn't understand how his Mom could be doing this.

"Well, I am sure they love you very much no matter what they call you, you run along now and be careful on the road. And you remember to always walk on the opposite side facing traffic, okay?"

"Okay" and the little girl bounded down the road toward the farmhouse singing her song, carrying a basket filled with berries, oblivious to her new destiny as she walked on the other side of the road. A road that before this moment, did not exist in time for her.


Kathy turned to see Rory still on his knees with tears rolling down his face. "Mom," he stuttered, "do you know what you did? Do you know the paradox you have created? We can't go back, it could kill us."

"Yes I do, I listened to you. I know about paradoxes and I am sorry you are stuck here with me. I did what only a Mother's love could do. I gave my future to my daughter. Your sister will grow up and live a life that she was meant to live."

She continued, "I'm sorry Rory. I know that I may have taken away yours but she is just a little girl. I'm sorry for being selfish."

He looked at his Mom and all he could say was, "Do you have paper and a pencil in that bag of yours?"

"Sure" and she retrieved them and handed them to Rory.

He wrote a note for J explaining that something terrible had happened. Time has been altered and a paradox has been created, a great big paradox and he and his Mom may not be able to come back.
When he was finished, he wrapped the note around girls collar. At about that time, he heard the distinctive sound of the portal and he walked over to it and when it was open, he stood there looking into the black nothingness knowing that on the other side, J and his dad would be watching. He pointed to girls collar several times and hoped they saw what he was doing.

"Okay girl, go home, get J" and girl jumped through the portal, alone. Rory watched as the sound increased in frequency and the aperture closed and with a sound of a distant cannon, he resigned himself that he and his mom were stuck here, perhaps for the rest of their life.


Jay opened the portal and saw Rory standing there and pointing several times to girls collar. He got the message and with that, girl jumped through the portal and ran over to Jay. He retrieved the note from her collar and read it:

J, we have a problem. On your end you will not see it. Mom created a paradox by saving my sister's life. I suppose to you, you may wonder what I am talking about. I don't know how we can come back at this point without doing damage to ourselves as you should remember from our experiments. This is nothing compared to that, it is far worse, years of paradox to contend with.

Tell Dad I will take care of Mom. If you come up with a plan get back to me and send girl through with a note. If you keep the portal to this time period and progress slowly by decreasing the frequency by .00001, you should be able to continue to come here minutes apart. Like I said, use girl to send messages. The paradox will not affect her as we have seen.

Hang tough,

V


Jay turned to John and said, "There's been an accident. And who the hell is V?"

John looked at Jay and said "What?"

"It would appear that Mom has changed something in time. According to Rory, she saved Dane's life somehow. I guess that means that at some point in time, Dane died and that has been changed."

John looked at Jay with a perplexed look and quizically asked,"Say that again?" and Jay repeated with a few more words in that a paradox has been created and to bring both Rory and Mom back could possibly kill them for their minds would be inrushed with 20 years of information that didn't exist before and it could cause brain damage.

With that, the shop door opened and in came Dane. She walked over to Jay and kissed him on his cheek and asked, "Well, did Mom go back to see me picking those berries?"

Jay looked at his wife and hesitantly said, "yeah, in a manner of speaking. I," and he stuttered, "I don't know." Dane turned to her Dad and said, "Daddy, what is he talking about?"

John looked at his daughter and said, "sit down, hon. We have something to tell you." Dane sat down on a stool and looked at both her Dad and Jay.

"Sweetheart," and she answered,"yes Jay?". He looked at her and in a small fraction of time he thought about what had just transpired. That before this jump, somewhere, his wife died as a little girl. Somehow, somewhere he didn't know her, wasn't married to her but then, that was never the case. However, from two people's perspective, Dane died a long time ago. And he wondered, in the aborted time line, why did they go back?

"Remember us talking about paradoxes?" and she nodded, "well, from your Mom and Rory's perspective, you died a long time ago and apparently, they saved you and now they can't come back or they will quite possibly die."

"Mom?...Rory?...die?" and with that, her eyes filled with tears and Jay and her Dad held her amidst the din of a tractor running a generator creating the lonesome sound of forlorn hope.



The rest of Sunday found John, Dane and Jay sitting in the dining room trying to decide what to do.

Jay spoke up, "We need to call Betty, she told me specifically in her letter that I would know the time. This has got to be it". He turned and looked at John and he asked, "Did Buck leave you her number?" John arose from the table and went to the desk in the living room. After a few minutes he came back and handed a piece of paper to Jay.

Dane got up and picked up the phone from the side board and placed it on the table next to Jay. He picked up the receiver and dialed the number. As the phone connected it started to ring and this young sounding girl answered the phone.

"Hello?" and Jay responded, "Hello, is this Betty?" and the young sounding voice responded, "Who wants to know?".

"My name is Jay, actually, I am married to Buck's niece and he said that we could call on you if we ever needed any help."

"Okay, who is the "we"?" Jay felt a bit admonished, "I'm sorry, his nephew, I mean Rory and I."

"Oh...the two Rory's. He has talked about you two a good bit. So, what kind of help do you need?"

"Well, if you aren't doing anything this afternoon, could you come to the farm and I promise you a supper you won't forget?"

"Buck has talked about how good a cook his sister-in-law is. Okay, give the directions." With that, Jay gave her the directions to the farm.

"See you in about a half hour. Bye".

Jay hung up the receiver. "Sorry Dane, looks like you will have to cook a dinner."

"But what about Mom and Rory?" Jay looked at his wife, "Your brother and I built a machine and went back in time to get his dog, I think we will be able to get a handle on this and find a solution." Jay stood up and kissed his wife on the forehead. "I have to go over and discharge the bank and bleed off the energy and shut things down, sorry about offering you to make dinner."

She looked at her husband and put forth, " We can't think on an empty stomach." Jay looked at John and said, "she gets that from you, you know." John said, "Nah, she gets that from her Mom."
With that, a four year old girl ran into the dining room and jumped at her Daddy to pick her up.

"Hi Rose" as Jay picked up his daughter. "Whats for dinner Mommy?"

"We are having steak and potatoes and anything else I can muster up." Rose leaned into her Daddy's ear and whispered, "I don't like steak." Jay looked at his daughter and said, "I know but your Grandpa here raised it." She turned to look at her Grandpa and smiled "I love you Grandpa" and he smiled and knotted her head, "Me too punkin".
Rose asked her Mom, "Can I have pudding?" and Dane answered, "Maybe, if your a good girl."

John and Jay chipped in to help get dinner ready. Rose and her little sister Clara played in the living room but periodically checked on the status of dinner with the usual, "I'm hungry" and Dane replied soon.

The sound of a Corvette pulled into the driveway over by the shop. Jay went out to meet the driver.

As he walked over toward the car, a young lady, not much younger than himself opened the door and got out.

"Hi, you must be Betty." and she replied, "And you must be Jay" as she extended her hand to shake.

"So, what is this all about and what are we having for dinner?" Jay chuckled and thought how much a pair her and Buck would make in the future and he could tell who would wear the pants in that relationship.

"Well, we are having steak, raised here on the farm as well as potatoes and anything else we were able to muster up. How do you like your steak?"

"Medium and what about the help you need?"

Jay replied, "Let's raise the blood sugar and then it will make for some fine after dinner conversation."

"Sounds good to me" and as they approached the farmhouse, John was getting the grill ready to put the steaks on.

"Hi Betty, how do you like your steak?".

"Medium is good, John." Jay opened the door for Betty and they both entered the kitchen.

"Dane, this is Betty, Betty, this is Dane." The girls exchanged formalities and with that, two little girls came running out to see who just came in.

"And who do we have here?" asked Betty. Rose stepped forward and said, "I'm Rose and this here is my sister Clara."

"Well how do you do, pleased to meet you." and with that, the girls ran back into the living room.

"Smells good" and Dane replied with thanks.

"Well Jay, care to show me this Time Machine that Buck told me about before we eat dinner?"

"Sure, let's go over to the shop". Dane told Jay, "Don't be long, dinner is in about what ever it takes for Dad to cook the steaks." Jay replied, "Okay".


Jay opened the door to let Betty enter the shop. She walked around and perused the equipment.

"Did he make it?" she said standing in front of the portal.

"Did who make what?" asked Jay.

"Did Buck make it to where he was going?" Jay answered, "Yes"

"Was I there?"

"From what I saw through the portal, yes, you were there. Just older."

"Did you get a packet from me?" Jay looked at her and thought about it and then answered, "Yes".

She turned around, " I want to see it".

"I can't, it might cause a paradox." Betty looked at him and simply and directly answered, "I need to know."

Jay stood there and he thought about Rory and how he needed to know about his dog. He walked over to his console and opened the drawer. He handed Betty the letter of instructions but did not show her the note. She sat down on the stool and didn't read the entire list of instructions, all she did was look at the writing.

"Yep, that's my handwriting." Jay asked, "Aren't you going to read it?"

"Nope, just wanted to see my handwriting to know I was there in 30 years."

"Lets go eat" and with that said, the two left the shop and headed for the farmhouse.


Dinner went smoothly. Conversation revolved around various different subjects until Rose asked, "Why isn't Mom Mom eating with us?"

"She had to go somewhere with your Uncle Rory" answered Dane. "Where?" asked Rose. "Somewhere special."

"Will she bring me back a present?" Jay jumped into the conversation and said, "Yep, she is going to bring you some berries back and make something special for you but you will just have to wait." With that, Rose went off into the other room followed by her little sister.

"Okay, if I may deduce something here" said Betty, "I would say that you have a problem with the time machine and Rory and Kathy are somewhere stuck in time. Now, how close am I?"
"Paradox" was all Jay could say. Betty repeated, "Paradox? How so?"

"Well, it would seem that Dane was killed as a young girl and somehow, the past was changed." replied Jay.

"How can you know this?" asked Betty. "Well," said Jay pausing, "Rory sent girl back with a note describing the change from their perspective." Jay reached into his pocket and handed the note to Betty. She took it and read it.

"Okay, why don't you just bring them home?" asked Betty. "We have found through our experiments that if you go back and create a paradox, when you return, your mind becomes overwhelmed with the new timeline whilst you retain the old timeline, you remember both simultaneously. I intially went back a week and greeted myself. When I came back to the present, I had an excruciating headache and I was able to remember the timeline prior to my going back and the timeline that went forward from the moment I went back. Rory could not remember the other timeline, only the one where I met myself. Follow so far?"

Betty replied, "Go on". Jay continued, "Well, they both went back 20 years and from what we could figure out, they are going to be met with the 20 year timeline without Dane and the 20 year timeline with her. Our fears are that it will cause such a disturbance in their mind that it will kill them."

Betty sat and slowly stirred her sugar into her coffee. She looked over at girl laying in her bed watching everything going on.

"Didn't Rory go back to save his Granpa? Why wasn't there a paradox from that?" said Betty.

"The way I see it, it was preordained that Rory had always gone back to save Granpa, so, no paradox, it was already in the past."

Betty continued to stir her coffee in contemplation and after a moment of silence, she spoke.

"Why is it that girl was able to come back here?" asked Betty. "Well, it would appear that the paradox doesn't affect her for some reason. I believe that it is because a dog deals with the present, that which she is faced with. I don't think they look or should I say, perceive the passage of time as we do. I once described it to Rory like a stone skipping across the water. Where ever it touches, it is and that is all. Girls mind accepts what it is and where it is at. She is not burdened with the timeline as a human is. In fact, she is the perfect time traveler."

"Okay, then we have ourselves a courier of sorts. But I have no memory of anything about any of you prior to today other than what Buck has said so I am removed from the immediate paradox. I have not known either you Jay or Dane or your children. I have met John and Kathy before but only once at a picnic. I should be safe to go back. I am not a part of the paradox."

Jay looked at John and then to his wife. He then turned to Betty and asked, "You want to try going back in time?"

"I thought you would never ask."

"Let's go over to the shop. Dad, you get the tractor warmed up. Betty and I will figure out the jump."

Dane looked at her husband and said, "You think your going over there without me?"

"Never my dear, come on." replied Jay. John turned to girl, "Let's go girl" and she followed John out the door.



Jay, Betty and Dane entered the shop along with girl.

"Okay Betty, here is how I think we need to do this. Rory was the one who did the math and computed the jump point. If I compare the departure point to the retrieval point there are several decimal variations. If I decrease the retrieval time by a fraction of the variation he gave me in his note, which comes to about five minutes, I can open a portal that from their reference is mere minutes from their view but the reality is, it has been over eight hours since the paradox from our point of view. At least that is what Rory implied in his instructions and it makes sense and relieves us from doing the computations on a grand scale which frankly, was Rory's job."

John entered, "Jay, the tractor should be up to temp in about five minutes".

"Okay Dad". Jay and Betty were looking over the numbers and she was verifying Jays computations. Dane turned to her Dad, "Daddy, why can't we go back and see Mom? We aren't part of the paradox." John turned to Jay and Betty and asked,"What about it?"

Jay asked, "What about what?".

"Dane just asked why we can't go back since we are not a part of the paradox."

Jay thought about it and turned to Betty, "What do you think?". Betty replied, "I think we should do this one step at a time. Girl and I will go back. John, you write a note to Kathy. Jay, you write a note to Rory and explain what we will be doing and how we will be altering the destination point and retrieval points. I am not a direct part of the paradox and it is safer if I go first. The reality is, neither are any of you a part of the paradox, as I see it. The problem is Rory and Kathy. We need to be careful before any of you go back, just to be safe for now."

"Safety first but Betty, what happens when you get back? You do realize that if the paradox is going to affect you, you will experience the twin time lines."

"Yes Jay, but I am willing to chance it and I am more likely the best candidate. It can't be you, or Dane or even John, at least for now."

"Well, I believe," said Jay,"that the paradox doesn't affect us in the least. At least from what our intial experiments indicated. The past timeline hasn't changed from our perspective but the possibility for us to create a new paradox is high and the longer Rory and Mom are back there then the possibility for further paradox is extremely high. We can't control every action they do. What I do know is that the only one affected was me, Rory was not from our experiments. I volunteered to do the paradox experiments. I needed Rory here to recalculate if necessary. We never had a reason to experiment with this scenario of a paradox of this magnitude. My gut tells me that we would be okay for short visits but let's just be sure."

Jay turned to John, "Bring the tractor up to PTO." John turned and went out. Jay entered the destination points into the waveform generators. He heard the tractor come up to speed and looked at the banks starting to charge.

Betty just stood there taking it all in. Jay was busy writing out a note to Rory. John came back in and Dane told her Dad to write a note to Mom. "What should I say?" he asked.

Dane looked at her Dad and said, "Tell her you love her. Tell her we are going to bring her home." He looked at his daughter and nodded and began to write out his note.

When he was done, he handed the note to Jay and he attached his note and John's to girls collar. Jay stood up and told Betty to stand in front of the portal.

"Betty, the retrieval is for five minutes after you get there. That should give enough time for Rory to read and respond. Have him write down anything he wants to say and attach it to girls collar just in case..." and he trailed off and Betty finished his sentence, "..just in case I come through and the paradox affects me." With that, Jay nodded and said, "yeah, something like that."

He noticed the shimmer effect on the banks and looked at his console, "Get ready Betty, we are building to charge and engagement."

Betty stood at the portal, nervously anticipating the journey that lie ahead. She thought, Buck did this except he jumped 30 years into the future, I am going back 20 years into the past. She looked down at girl and noticed how intent she was looking at the portal. The perfect time traveler she thought. She knows where she is going...the stone is skipping.

She looked to the banks and noticed that they appeared to be shifting in and out of phase or something, she wasn't sure but realized that they were out of the present time. She was brought to reality by Jay calling out.

"Standing wave is stable and in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, engaging the bank!" Betty heard the tractor deepen it's tone under load and saw the florescent lights start to swirl inside. She wanted to remember every nuance of what took place. She watched what looked like reflective shards resembling daggers going from the edge of the portal toward the center. The smell of ozone was strong which told her of the enormous static build up that was being created and then they pulled back and she saw Kathy standing there and a man which she assumed was Rory.

"Go Betty, see you in five minutes." With that, Betty stepped through with girl in the lead.



Rory sat down with his Mom on the grass. "Well Mom, all we have to do is wait."

"Rory, I'm sorry. You must understand, it is something I had to do. I had to give Diane a chance and if I could change it, I would but it was selfish of me to include you."

Rory looked at his Mom, "It's okay Mom. There was a time I might have agreed with you and a time I wouldn't but I understand. You think I didn't want my little sister to not have been hit by that car? I lost my sister.What was I? Three or four years old when you brought her home? I remember. I was so jealous at first, I was mad at Dad for taking you away to the hospital and then you came home with my little sister." He paused for a moment, "and I can't even remember her birthday I have pushed it so far out of my mind. It hurts too much."

He looked at his Mom and she looked deep into his eyes and saw the tears in the corners. He turned away and looked to the ground, "It's okay Mom, it's done now and Dane is alive and who knows how she turned out and what she grew up to be."

Kathy put her arm around her son. "And now she's Dane again?" as she pulled hard with her arm around his shoulder. "Yeah" and he paused, "Dane".

They heard a noise and Rory recognized it as the portal starting to open.

"See Mom, J is opening the portal." and with that they both stood to watch it open. Girl came through and ran up to Rory and jumped on him and a young girl walked through the portal behind girl.
"Hi Kathy." Kathy looked at her and just nodded.

She walked over to Rory and said, "Hi Rory."

"Hi Betty. Nice to meet you." She stared at him and said, "Well, if you took Buck 30 years ahead then I would assume that you have already met me, just older and seeing as you have a note in your shop from me."

"Damn that J! He never should have shown you that. He knows better than to create a paradox."

Betty looked at Rory and said, "He didn't show me a note, he showed me a list of instructions. But as to paradoxes, you mean like the one your in now?"

Kathy spoke up, "No, the one I created. And I'm pleased to meet you too Betty."

Betty thought for a moment, "You mean you and I haven't met before?" Kathy replied, "Not really, I know who you are from Buck talking about you but we have never met before."
"Well, from my perspective, we met at a picnic."

"Okay, we haven't much time. Rory, read the notes on girls collar." Rory took the notes from the collar. He handed Betty the note for his Mom and he read the note from Jay. Meanwhile, Betty walked over to Kathy and handed her the note from John.

"Tell me Betty, is Dane at home?" Betty looked at her and stared for a moment and then answered, "Yes, she is fine and she is on the other side of the portal."

"How is she? Did she go to college? Married? What?"

"Well, she's a good cook, she made dinner before I came here."

Kathy asked, "You've had dinner? How long have we been here?"

"About eight hours so far." Kathy shook her head, "It was only a few minutes ago that girl went back."

"Well Kathy, that's time travel for you. I don't think it is going to get any better any time too soon."

Rory interrupted, "Okay Betty. Tell J to keep doing what he is doing. I guess we won't have long to wait for you to figure out a solution."

"No, you won't. I just don't know how long it will take to solve the problem from our end. In fact, I don't know if the paradox won't affect me. It shouldn't. I don't think it will affect anyone from coming back but we weren't going to chance it. We will bring girl on every trip with a note so if you have anything to say to Jay, you need to write it down for a backup just in case our coming back here creates a second paradox." With that, Betty handed Rory a notepad. Rory wrote a few things down and handed the pad back to Betty.

With that, the distinctive sound of the portal opening was heard and Rory turned to watch it open.

"Betty, can Diane see me from the other side?" asked Kathy.

"Yes but to her, she only knows you from her timeline and not the one you were in when you went through. You appear the same to her. But what you are, is not what she knows."

The portal opened fully and Betty looked at it. "It looks like nothingness, just a great big nothing."

"Long explanation for that but the short version is, light travels from the opening back to the source. So when the portal is opened into this time, the light from here travels back through the portal. Same if the portal opens in the future, the light will travel back through the portal."

"Then you could see me in the future when the portal opened in the park."

"Yes, but there is a difference in certain aspects," he paused for a moment, "...it took a great deal more power to go forward. Think of a Minkowski time diagram but the past is always a straight line for it is distinct and set. The future has many possibilities. It takes a good deal of power to differentiate from all the possibilities and find the strongest path. Almost like there is an intelligence involved. I'll explain it to you later or J can. Go, you need to get through, your wasting power and he can't hold the portal too long."

Betty turned and walked toward the portal with Rory telling girl to go get J.

Jay, John and Dane stood staring at the scene in the portal. They watched as Betty appeared to be talking to Kathy and then to Rory. She turned and walked toward the portal and stepped through with girl alongside her.

She stood there for a moment. She looked around the room. She looked at Jay. Turned to look at John and then to Dane. She felt a minor headache coming on as she walked to a stool and sat down.
"Well?" asked Jay. She looked at him and said, "I feel fine. Just a little headache." and then she handed the notebook to Jay.

"What did my Mom say?" asked Dane.

"She wanted to know all about you. All I told her was that you were a good cook. She has no idea of anything." Betty turned to Jay and asked, "And I would bet that Rory has no idea that you married his little sister either or that he is an Uncle and as far as Kathy goes, she has no idea she is a grandmother."

John sat on a stool and all he could say was, "cripes what a mess".

Jay asked Betty as to what was said. "Well, Kathy didn't know me but I explained how we met at a picnic. From her point of view, it never happened."

Jay said, "I wonder if that is why you have a mild headache?"



Rory and Kathy sat back down on the grass. As they did, they heard the distinctive sound of the boards of the covered bridge rattling from a car coming across and then pulled off to the side of the road.

Rory looked at the car and realized it was a red two-tone '57 Chevy Belair and it seemed familiar. Two men got out and walked toward them. As they got closer Rory realized that it was Buck and walking with him was his Granpa.

When Buck got up to him he said, "Close your jaw boy, you have a problem."

Rory closed his jaw and Buck handed him a note:


Hi kiddo,
Well, looks like you got yourself into a fine mess thanks to your Mom. Can't say I blame her but I couldn't warn you just like I couldn't warn you about the tractor. I came back here and gave myself a note, can you believe that? I came back here to get myself to help you. Afterall, I had to come back and give myself the note I got a long time ago. I am sure you will understand it. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? My getting the note or my dropping off the note? Go figure, this time travel stuff. So, I kept quiet about you saving Pop in the back field so why not another story to keep? So many secrets.

I will help you. Pop here will help as well and we know how tight lipped he can be and we both know about the time travel so that will make it easy for you to talk.

Set up with Jay a schedule to come here periodically. I will be visiting him with instructions.

Now, go with this version of me and get the hell out of where you are before someone sees you.

Buck


"Come on Mom, we need to go with Uncle Buck."

Three men and a woman walked out of a grassy field and got into a car. The car turned around and went back across a covered bridge. If someone would have been standing in the field where they were, the boards on the covered bridge echoing inside would have sounded like the distant rumbling of a storm on the horizon.



There was a young boy, not quite a teenager, standing by a silo unloading haylage that his Father had cut from the alfalfa field. Something caught his eye in the meadow. He glanced toward the meadow and saw a man, two woman and a dog, that looked a good deal like girl, standing there. The one woman, with the dog, started walking toward the barn and they both just disappeared leaving only the man and the other woman standing there. He watched them sit down on the grass. He was brought back to his job at hand when the tractor blowing the silage up into the silo started to work hard and was getting ready to stall and he quickly stopped the feed on the chuck wagon. By the time it cleared up and he started to feed the silage back into the blower, he looked down into the meadow and the man and woman were gone.

His mind started to wonder what it was he saw. A woman and a dog just disappeared after walking through what looked like a shiny ring. It looked like lightning in a ring, just glowing but how would that be possible.....
....as he fed the silage into the blower, his mind began to drift about what he saw. Perhaps it was just his imagination but he wondered as to how he could duplicate it.


...to be continued