Nick opens the door and steps back, saying nothing. John steps in through the door. And Sean turns to greet him.
His Sean. Five years old when this long, long day began. Now he must be almost sixty, nearly twenty years older than John himself. He's wearing the same round, wire-frame glasses. Aside from the gray hair and a bit of Yoko in the eyes, like a ghost, it's like looking in a mirror. Sean. Five years old when this long, long day began. Now he must be almost sixty, nearly twenty years older than John himself. He's wearing the same round, wire-frame glasses. Aside from the gray hair and a bit of Yoko in the eyes, like a ghost, it's like looking in a mirror.
"Hi, Dad," he says.
The tears come, swift and unstoppable. Yielding to them, John goes, at last, to his son.
It's Just a Matter of Time James M. Ward
James M. Ward on James M. Ward: Obviously, he was born, and not quite as obviously, he has lived a pleasantly long time. He married his high school sweetheart, and she's put up with him for almost forty years. He has three unusually charming sons: Breck, James, and Theon. They in turn have given him five startlingly charming grandchildren: Keely, Miriam, Sophia, Preston, and Teagan. In that same stretch of time he managed to write the first science fiction role-playing game, Metamorphosis Alpha Metamorphosis Alpha; he worked for TSR and did lots of Dungeon & Dragons Dungeon & Dragons and and After Dungeon & Dragons After Dungeon & Dragons things; and designed the best-selling things; and designed the best-selling Spellfire Spellfire and and Dragon Ball Z Dragon Ball Z collectable card games. collectable card games.He has written all manner of things that he is unusually proud of-the Dragon Lairds board game, the novel Halcyon Blithe, Midshipwizard Halcyon Blithe, Midshipwizard, the My Precious Present card game, and the role-playing game supplement Of Gods & Monsters Of Gods & Monsters. He's working with a computer company to produce the Panzer General board game.He reads a lot, greatly enjoys fencing with a rapier when he gets the chance, and constantly gets beat in board games with friends in the area. Currently, he is the managing editor for Troll Lords' Crusader Crusader magazine, and the go-to guy when his sons need a babysitter. magazine, and the go-to guy when his sons need a babysitter.
Jason Nips was possibly the richest man in the world. He'd stopped counting his money a long time ago.
He currently stood in line waiting for his turn into the temporal field like the five other rich tourists. Mr. Nips was the owner of Refresh, a corporation responsible for keeping a youthful look on the faces and hands of the rich. Standing five- foot-eight, Jason didn't look a day over sixty. He was far older, but the products from his company kept him looking younger and fitter than almost any other man his age in the world.
What's the sense of owning one of the largest companies in the world if you couldn't take advantage of it?
Zap!
Another tourist walked into the field dressed as a Roman soldier, and the line grew shorter. In front of him stood a lovely woman in Renaissance garb, a man in some sort of Raj costume from India's past, and a woman in a short Greek tunic with a bow and quiver on her back and a bronze helm on her head. Jason's suit was a dull black, typical of the style of dress in the 1880s, and he held a worn leather satchel at his side. His heart raced in his excitement, but his face never showed it.
Zap! Zap! Zap!
The glowing neon sign said TIMESHARES Incorporated above the desk. The badge on the man's chest read TIME TECH GLEN JOHNSON LEVEL 3 TECH.
"Your forms and birth certificate please," the Time Tech asked, his hand out.
Jason handed over the prepared materials.
The tech read over the information.
"Mr. Nips, I'm a huge fan of your company. My parents won one of your public lotteries and got treatments free. Would you mind giving me your autograph?"
"Sure, my boy, and thank you for asking."
"Wow, a real paper birth certificate from 1910," the tech marveled. "We don't get many of these. Your papers say you want to go back to your grandfather's time in 1887."
Jason looked down at his birth certificate. The perfect forgery had cost him a cool million dollars. In his mind, it was worth every penny. "Yes. I want to refresh my memories of the place. I didn't get the chance to say good-bye to my grandfather before he died."
"I suggest you don't talk too much to your grandfather. We don't want to risk Temporal Divarication, do we? As you know from your three previous briefings, Temporal Divarication happens when you deal with the immediate relatives of your past. We've found that in some instances just touching your parents or yourself can force a readjustment in the timeline. I think it was Mike Gray and his time studies that . . ."
"I've studied time travel with the designers of your unit. They've given me some good advice. I think I'll be all right. Thank you for your concern."
"I'm just doing my job," the tech said, obviously not liking being cut off from his normal lecture. "Show me your remote and you can go right through."
Jason took the device out of his pocket.
"Excellent. Just press that when you are ready to come back. If you don't press it, in thirty days you will come back automatically. Enjoy your stay."
"Thank you."
The one- hundred-and-twenty-five-year-old posing as a ninety-five-year-old walked into the temporal field and into his own history, breaking the number one rule of the Timeshares Company.
He appeared on the edge of Red Gulch, South Dakota. His mouth tasted of vile vinegar and the place stank to high heaven. He popped an illegal breath mint in his mouth, but he could do nothing about the smell. Cow dung mingled on the street with horse and pig dung as the animals walked about, ignored by the townsfolk. Nips hadn't remembered the stink of his hometown. He took out a piece of paper and read over his notes.
"One, I have to meet myself and talk about our grandfather. Two, I have to attend the ice cream social and get myself to buy Annetta Falkensturm's lunch box. Three, we have to use our inheritance to buy the oil land. Four, we have to save the life of our brother from the Yancy Gang."
Jason looked up from his notes and his eyes beheld a vision. Annetta Falkensturm and her mother just walked out of Tuttle's Grocery. She was a goddess in black and white. Her dress perfectly outlined her amazing hourglass figure. She had full breasts, a wasp waist, and wide hips. She swayed slowly down the boardwalk with her eyes modestly downcast. Jason thought she was prettier than any movie star. Her skin was white under her parasol, and there wasn't a blemish anywhere. She had to be the loveliest woman in the whole world. He had been a fool to not buy her lunch box at the social those many years ago. His heart ached at the sight of her, and he chastised himself for never pursuing her. He wouldn't be making the mistake of not buying her lunch box this time.
Struggling to tear his eyes off the girl, he moved to Hal's blacksmith shop. He had worked there far too many hours, and that would never happen this time around. As he entered the shop, the old fool Hal walked up to him, wiping his soot-covered hands with an even more soot-covered rag. "What can I do ya fer, old timer?"
Hal stood five foot and was as wide as he was tall. His hair was sticking out in all directions and he had a soot-dusted beard. His overalls hadn't seen a washing in a long, long time.
"I'm after a new horse with all its tack," Jason said. "I'm told you give fair prices. I want to buy the best you have."
"Well, we can take care of that right away. Jason! You come on a running with Thunder."
Jason saw his younger self pop out of a stall with a pitchfork of dirty straw. He dropped the fork and ran for the back of the barn. In minutes, he brought out a large stallion.
"This horse is the best I've got," Hal said. "It's a stallion, but calm as you please."
"What are you asking for it, new tack, and a rented stall for seven days?"
"I like the way you deal, mister," Hal said. "I'm asking one hundred and ten for the lot."
"I'll give you six twenty-dollar gold pieces if young Jason here can get some free time to show me around the town in the next couple of days."
The younger version of Jason looked up, surprised.
The greedy Hal jumped at the chance. "It's a deal!"
The older Jason reached into his bag and took out the very authentic gold pieces.
"Jason, my lad," he told the boy, "I'm your cousin, Jason Walch, of the Virginia Walches. So you and me share the same name. I was a good friend to your grandfather, Big Mark Nips. I'm sorry I wasn't here for his burial last month. Saddle up my new horse and take me to the best hotel Red Gulch has to offer."
"You knew Grandpa Mark?" young Jason asked, wide-eyed with surprise. "That's great. Sure I'll get right to the saddling. The good hotel is a mile down the road, next to Getchil's Dry Goods Store."
They talked as they slowly rode to the hotel. The younger Jason was unusually ignorant, and that didn't please the older version. They talked about Grandpa Mark.
The younger Jason was all smiles.
When they got to the hotel, people were sniffing at the younger Jason's clothes.
"What's there to do in this little town?" the older version asked.
"There is the ice cream social this evening at sunset. I didn't plan on going this year, but I sure do like the taste of ice cream."
"Of course you do, and of course you and I are going. Get into Getchil's Store and get yourself some new clothes for the social. I'm going to get a room in this here hotel. When you walk out of that place, I want to see you looking like a New York dandy." He passed two twenty-dollar gold pieces to his younger self and was careful not to touch the boy's flesh.
"I don't rightly feel good about taking your money, Cousin," young Jason said.
"Not a bit of it, my boy," the older version said. "Part of the reason I'm here is to give you an inheritance your grandpa had me hold for you. Get some new clothes and join me for a long meal in the hotel. We'll talk over old times and go to the social together. Now get along."
Jason didn't even look back as he entered the hotel, feeling very pleased with himself.
Getting a room, he unpacked his few things and took out a pouch of three hundred dollars in twenty-dollar gold pieces. It was a small fortune in gold coins in his time, and it would be a great start for the young Jason in this time.
The old version couldn't help laughing at the younger version as he walked into the dining hall a short time later. The boy had on a white shirt with a string tie. The new brown vest matched the brown pants. He had on new boots, and to top it all off he was wearing a bowler hat. A fashion plate he was not.
They ate a great steak with beans and talked the afternoon away. The old version gave the young version the three hundred in gold, and the young version was lost for words.
"You should invest that money, son. But we'll talk about that tomorrow. Right now, we've a social to go to."
Young Jason put the money in the hotel safe and they took their time walking to the town's band shell.
The older version carried two blankets as they strolled into the park. A small band was playing a light tune, and many couples bounced to the music. There was a huge batch of wrapped boxes on several tables.
The older Jason couldn't wait for the bidding.
A man got up from the crowd and walked in front of the band. "You all know me. I'm Mayor Parker. We are going to start the bidding on these here packed lunches. The money we get goes to the widows and orphans fund, so be generous. Mary, start bringing up those boxes. Let's begin with that nice big basket with the red bow."
"That's Annetta's basket," the older Jason said. "You bid on that basket, you know you want to."
"Twenty-five cents," the younger Jason shouted. "Cousin, how do you know it's hers?"
The bidding was brisk, and soon it was up to two dollars.
"Go on now, outbid everyone."
"Cousin, that's a lot of money for dinner."
There was nothing that was going to stand in the way of the two young'uns getting together.
"I've got a twenty-dollar gold piece that says my young cousin here, is going to eat from that basket tonight," the older Jason shouted.
The crowd gasped at the thought of that.
"Well heck-fire, I don't imagine any gent here is going to beat that price. The red box is sold. Will the lady who made this one please come up."
Annetta Falkensturm, turning several shades of red, walked up to the stage. The older Jason tossed the younger one a blanket and a twenty-dollar gold piece to pay for the box.
"You take that girl up on the hill, under the old oak tree and have yourself a time, ya hear me boy?"
"Thanks, Cousin. I will try and do that."
The two went up the hill, arm in arm.
Jason leaned back on the bench and smiled as the beginnings of his plan began to unfold just the way he wanted. Halfway through the auction, a yellow- ribboned basket came up for sale. He remembered it to be the Widow Jenkins'. The girl was just twenty, blond and blue-eyed. She made the best meat pies in the county. In that long-ago time he had strolled out with her a few times, but found her way to bold to suit him. That wouldn't be a problem now. He waited until the basket was bid up to three dollars, before buying it with another twenty-dollar gold piece.
"Dear lady, I hope you don't mind that an old man bought your wonderful basket."
The girl in front of him was a vision in her light blue dress. "Why no, good sir. I saw what you did for your cousin and I'm proud to sup with such a gentleman."
He walked her up the hill and spread his blanket by another oak tree. He heard the strangest snorting from time to time, but soon that was lost in the eyes and gentle smiles of the Widow Jenkins. It seems she liked older men and wasn't shy about it.
The next day young Jason was to meet his cousin in the hotel. As he rushed up the stairs, he saw the Widow Jenkins leave his cousin's room. Her hair was all messed up and there was a huge grin on her face. She didn't look him in the eyes as they passed by in the hall.
The door was open.
"Cousin, that was the Widow Jenkins leaving your room, wasn't it? She's the best cook in town."
"She has some other skills as well. I will be seeing her tonight when you and I have finished with our business. How did your picnic with Annetta Falkensturm go?"
"It was amazing. We watched the moonrise, held hands, and she even kissed me good night. She's the prettiest little thing I've ever seen. Her laugh's hard to take though. She sounds a lot like a rooting pig when she laughs."
So that explained the odd noise.
"I'm sure you can get over that little flaw. Now I want you and me to ride out to Devil's Canyon to look over that land."
"Why would we do that? It's nothing but bare earth and rocks. Lots of people have owned it, but no one has been able to do anything with it."
"Humor me, son."
They rode out, and the canyon was just as promised. A couple miles wide and seven miles long, it didn't support any growth.
The cracked earth was depressing. Outside the valley, there were a number of clumps of forest.
"Cousin Jason, I told you this land is dead. Why would anyone want to have a chunk of this?"
"There's oil there, my boy, and lots of it. That's why there isn't a lot of plant growth. We get into that oil, and you will be a very rich man. I know it doesn't look like much now, but I can see wells and processing plants filling this canyon in the years to come. Trust me."
"All right, if you think so." The young Jason didn't sound convinced.
"Mark my words. This is just what you want to own. You'll be rich in no time and giving your Annetta Falkensturm all the things a lovely young lady wants to have."
"Well, Cousin, that's more than enough reason to do a little, investing, I guess. Let's get back to the bank."
They rode their horses hard back into the city.
Grim-faced bank managers became all smiles when the two Jasons said they wanted to buy the Devil's Canyon. They asked for five hundred dollars and were talked down to two hundred and fifty. The ink was fresh on the land contract when the bankers started laughing at the deal. They admitted that they never thought they would sell the property.
The older Jason had to make a comment. "We're going to take millions of barrels of oil out of that canyon. What do you think of that?"
The bank manager was blunt. "I know there is oil down there but it is all shale oil. The oil is embedded in the rock. Good day, Mr. Nips. Thank you for your business."