Time Lost: A Time Travel Novel, page 22
Within minutes, Deputies Carter and Wysong clambered down the ravine, the beams of their flashlights searching. They found Sally sitting, holding her head.
“Hello, Miss,” Deputy Wysong said. He was the younger of the two and had a long face and earnest eyes. He turned the flashlight beam to the ground. “There’s an ambulance on the way. The man who found you said you’d hit your head?”
“Yeah, but it’s not so sore now. I’m just a little dizzy, but I’m all right and I want to go home. My husband can call a tow truck and haul the car to a garage.”
“Are you sure?” Deputy Carter said. He was a broad, stern-looking man.
“Yes… I want to go home. Can you take me?”
“Yes, ma’am, but at some point, we’ll need to write an accident report,” Deputy Carter said. “And you’ll need it for your insurance. Are you up to it now?”
Sally was distracted, still confused as to where she was. “How is the other man? The man who hit me?”
“I’m afraid he’s drunk, Miss. May I ask your name?”
“Mrs. Sally Mason. You said he’s drunk?”
The two deputies exchanged a startled glance. Deputy Carter straightened a little and adjusted his hat, while Deputy Wysong shined his flashlight beam over the car with a mounting interest.
“Did you say your name is Sally Mason?” Carter asked.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Deputy Wysong ran a hand across his mouth as he shifted his eyes from his partner, then back to Sally. “And your husband… would that have been Ronnie Mason?” Wysong asked.
Sally’s mind was dull, but she certainly knew who Ronnie was. “Yes, that’s right. Ronnie Mason, my husband.”
Deputy Carter’s expression darkened. “Ronnie Mason, who owns the construction company?”
“Yes… what’s wrong? Has something happened to him?”
The officers exchanged another troubled glance.
“And you say you are Sally Mason?” Wysong asked.
Sally looked them over, confused. “Yes… Of course. How many times do I have to tell you? Yes, I’m Mrs. Sally Mason. What’s going on? What’s the matter? Is Ronnie okay? Are my kids…”
And then it happened. It was as though someone wiped clean a foggy window. Sally’s memories of both the future and the past came rushing back in vivid clarity. Everything became clear, startlingly so, unbelievably so. The realization hit her: she had survived. The car accident hadn’t killed or maimed her. She was alive and living in 1953.
Sally struggled to her feet, keeping a hand braced on the car. “I’ve got to get home.”
Deputy Carter moved to help if she faltered. But she didn’t falter. She stood strong and smiling. “Can we fill out that accident report later? I’ve got to get home and see my kids.”
Deputy Carter’s expression was strange and worried. “Mrs. Mason… I don’t know how to say this exactly. Well, can you tell me where you have been for the last two years?”
Sally stared at him, not understanding. “What? What do you mean, where have I been? I… I mean…” Sally stopped, not finishing the sentence. “I just want to go home. Can you please take me?”
Deputy Wysong pocketed a hand. The police radio squawked from the police car up on the road, and then a siren wailed, approaching.
“Mrs. Mason,” Deputy Carter said, searching for words, “you have been missing for two years.”
Sally blinked. “What did you say?”
“Ma’am, you went missing two years ago, and if my memory is right, you went missing at around the same time of year. We searched for you for months.”
The radiant, hopeful light left Sally’s face, and she staggered. Deputy Carter seized her arm and helped her sit back down on the front seat. She stared, not seeing, not feeling.
“What year is this?” Sally asked.
“It’s 1955, Mrs. Mason.”
She repeated the year slowly, as if she didn’t understand the numbers. Shaking her head, she muttered, “No, that can’t be. No… I was supposed to come home. It was supposed to be 1953.”
Deputy Carter had a hopeless look. Deputy Wysong puckered his lips and made a silent whistle.
The ambulance above screeched to a stop and then they heard excited voices.
Deputy Carter indicated toward the road with his chin. “You’d better get up there, Jim. I’ll handle this.”
When Deputy Wysong was gone, Deputy Carter offered his arm. “Mrs. Mason, I think you should go to the hospital and get a thorough examination. Later, we’ll have to talk.”
Sally kept her eyes down, an icy dread pooling in her stomach. “Do you know my husband, Ronnie?”
“Yes, ma’am, I know him.”
“How do you know him?”
“It’s a small town, Mrs. Mason. His company did some renovations on the courthouse and the police station about a year ago. We’ve had a beer or two over at O’Grady’s.”
“Do you know about our kids?
“I’ve seen them.”
“How are they?”
“Fine, as far as I know.”
Sally slowly raised her sad gaze. “And you say it’s 1955?”
“Yes, Mrs. Mason, it most certainly is. November 8, 1955.”
Sally hesitated before asking the next question. She didn’t want to ask it. It hurt to ask it. “Where is Ronnie now? Do you know?”
Deputy Carter shifted uncomfortably, angling the flashlight beam to his right. “I guess I wouldn’t like to talk any more about this, Mrs. Mason, until you’ve had the chance to be examined by a doctor, and until I can interview you in an official capacity.”
“Please tell me. Where’s Ronnie? Where are my children?”
Deputy Carter scratched his cheek. “Mrs. Mason, we tried to find out what happened to you. Ronnie searched everywhere. He hired a private detective, and we all did our very damned best to find you; to find out what happened to you. Ronnie did all he could to find you.”
“Please tell me where my children are.”
“They’re with Ronnie. Mrs. Mason, a little over a year after you… well, after you went missing, Ronnie filed a petition for a divorce on grounds of abandonment. It was granted, and he has remarried.”
Sally’s head lowered by degrees until her chin was on her chest.
“He married a nice girl. Linda Hughes.”
She lifted her head slightly. “Okay. So, my kids are living with Ronnie and Linda?”
“Yes.”
“And they’re healthy? I mean, as far as you know, they’re fine… my kids? I have to know that they’re all right. I have to know that.”
“Yes, Mrs. Mason. As far as I know, they are doing well.”
They heard voices coming near them, but neither Sally nor Deputy Carter moved.
Finally, Carter asked, “Can I help you up?”
Sally’s eyes were full of torment. “No, not right now. I can’t move. I need to sit here for a while. You see, I’m lost. I’m just so lost.”
CHAPTER 46
While Sally was taken to Rosemont Hospital by ambulance, Deputy Carter phoned Sheriff Tom Widmeyer. The two troubled men convened at the police station shortly after midnight. They had both been involved in trying to find Sally Mason after her disappearance in 1953. After much discussion of their options and the probable consequences of Sally’s extraordinary reappearance, they decided to delay reaching out to Ronnie and Sally’s parents until early the next morning.
Upon arrival at the hospital, Sally was examined by Dr. Anthony Stevens and his assisting nurse. Sally had encountered a series of jolts: an emotional shock from time traveling, a mental jolt upon realizing two years had elapsed, and a physical shock resulting from a car accident.
As a result, the answers she gave Dr. Stevens were vague. A stocky, mature man with a kind manner, he suspected that she had suffered more trauma than was initially apparent from the bruises and contusions on her body and face.
“You were very lucky, young lady, that your windshield didn’t shatter and that you don’t have any broken bones,” he said. “But I want you to stay overnight, so we can observe you. I’ll give you a mild sedative to make sure you sleep and don’t wake up with nightmares.”
Sally was too exhausted to protest, and the sedative soon put her into a deep sleep.
She awoke a little after 8 a.m. to a sore body, a dull mind, and a snowy November day. Nurse Jenny Moore placed Sally’s breakfast on her over-bed table and rolled it toward her. Sally had no appetite.
“You should eat something, Mrs. Mason.”
Sally looked at her through narrow, sleepy eyes. “I just want to sleep—to go back to sleep and sleep forever.”
Nurse Moore’s smile was practiced. “Sleep will do you good, Mrs. Mason. Sleep is always the best thing after a shock.”
“And don’t call me Mrs. Mason,” Sally said sharply. “I’m not Mrs. Mason anymore. I’m Sally Anne Davis. Just plain old Sally.”
Nurse Moore drew back, startled by Sally’s outburst. “Pardon me, Miss Davis. I didn’t wish to offend you.”
Sally regretted her harsh tone as soon as the words left her lips. “I’m sorry, Nurse,” she said, with the face of an apology. “I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. I’m just not myself.”
“I understand. A doctor will see you soon. But in the meantime, you do have some visitors.”
Sally pushed the tray away and propped up on elbows, grimacing, ignoring the pain. “Visitors? Who?”
“Your parents and… Ronnie Mason. They’ve been in the lounge for at least an hour, waiting for you to wake up.”
Sally collapsed back down, shutting her eyes, her head sinking deep into the pillow. “Tell them to go away. I don’t want to see anybody. Tell them that.”
Nurse Moore rolled the food tray away. “All right, Miss Davis. If that’s what you want.”
“And call me Sally. I’m just Sally. Just plain old Sally, who’s out of her mind.”
At that moment, the door opened, and Ronnie entered. He took a few steps toward the bed and stopped, the weight of the startling moment etched on his still-handsome face. His eyes widened with a mixture of shock and uncertainty as he gazed at his former wife, Sally—someone he’d believed to be lost forever.
He felt relief, confusion, and then a flicker of anger. As he started for the bed, he battled a surge of conflicting feelings, torn between happiness and suspicion.
Drawing nearer to Sally’s bed, Ronnie struggled to speak. “Sally?” His voice was a mix of surprise and caution as he grappled with the reality of her presence. “You’re here? It’s you, after all this time?”
Sally slowly sat up, leaning back against her pillow. Her dry lips parted, but no words came out.
“I thought you were dead. I mean, I really thought you were dead, and yet, here you are. What the hell, Sally? You just left me, leaving me with the kids? I don’t get it. What the hell?”
Nurse Moore lowered her head and left the room.
The former married couple locked eyes. Ronnie’s gaze filled with a fiery anguish, while Sally’s opened fully to the realization that she didn’t love him, and maybe she never had.
“Talk to me, Sally. I mean, come on. Talk to me. Tell me something. Anything.”
Sally lowered her gaze. “How are Mary and Don?”
Ronnie flicked an irritated hand. “That’s it? Not how are you, Ronnie? Not this is what happened, Ronnie, or I’m sorry, Ronnie? I ran off with some other man, Ronnie.”
“I didn’t run off with another man.”
“No? Then what the hell happened to you, Sally? What?” he asked, pushing a hand through his thick, James Dean-like hair. “I searched for you all over the place. I hired two detectives to find you and spent thousands of dollars to find you. Half the damned town was out looking for you. So, don’t just lie there and ask about Don and Mary. That’s not making it with me, Sally, okay? I deserve some kind of explanation.”
He gestured toward the door. “Your parents are out there, and they’ve been worried sick. You should see them. They look old, Sally. You aged them and you almost killed them. Your father had a heart attack, and your mother lost so much weight she had to be put in the hospital for a damned week. So don’t sit in that bed and not say anything. You owe all of us an explanation, Sally.”
Angry, he turned in a circle, ran his fingers through his hair again, and pointed to the window, where snow flurries drifted and scattered in the wind. “You want to know about Mary and Don? Well, they’re happy now, that’s what. I guess you heard I married Linda Hughes, right?”
Sally nodded. “Yes.”
“Yes, you bet I did, and you know what? She’s a better mother to those kids than you ever were, okay? Can you take that? Linda would never, ever, run away from me and those kids. She loves them just like her own. And you know what else, Sally Davis? Linda’s pregnant, and in four months, she’s going to have a baby. Now, have you got anything to say to me? Like, well, Ronnie, I ran off with this guy because he had money, a big house and he was going to let me go to work so I would never, ever, have to stay home and take care of my kids.”
Sally straightened her back, the adrenaline bursting in her, the anger sharp and hot. “Shut up, Ronnie! For once in your life, just shut up. You always shoot your mouth off like you know everything. You don’t know anything, and you never did. So, just shut up.”
He surged toward her, his face hot with rage, his hands squeezed into fists.
She lifted her defiant face to him, daring him. “Go ahead, Ronnie, hit me. If you do, I’ll scream for the doctor and I’ll call Deputy Carter, and I’ll have you arrested for assault. You’ll be in jail, and I’ll spill everything to the newspaper.”
CHAPTER 47
Sally’s and Ronnie’s eyes clashed in the hostile air.
Sally spoke through clenched teeth. “The Rosemont Chronical will just love writing about you, Ronnie, local businessman. A nurse told me that the Chronical is anxiously awaiting my story. Won’t it be a thrill for you when they splash your photo all over the front page with a bold headline like, ‘Tragic Reunion: Local Woman Faces Assault After 2-Year Disappearance.’ Or how about this one, Ronnie, ‘Reunion Turns Violent: Woman Missing for 2 Years Assaulted by Angry Ex-Husband.’”
Sally glared at him. “So go ahead, Ronnie, hit me.”
Ronnie backed off, staring at her warily, the rage melting into confusion. Her face was rebellious, her eyes hard. There was a strength in her, a conviction he’d never seen before. It wasn’t the Sally he’d known. She was different, more confident, and fearless. It unsettled him.
Ronnie relaxed his fists and squared his shoulders. “Okay, Sally. Okay. Fine,” he said in a milder voice. “So, can you just tell me where you’ve been for the last two years? Can you do that, at least?”
The night before, as she was drifting into sleep, Sally had created a story for herself. It wasn’t a good story, or a believable one, but it’s all she could come up with on short notice, and in her fuzzy state of mind.
Obviously, she couldn’t tell anyone the truth. Most, if not all, would think she was out of her mind, and what if, once again, the government came for her? She wouldn’t be able to go through all that again.
Sally stared Ronnie down and he lowered his gaze. “All right, Ronnie, you do deserve an explanation, not that you’ll believe me. But, anyway, here it is. There is a thing called amnesia. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”
He looked at her doubtfully, his mouth a hard line.
“The last thing I remember in 1953 was leaving the high school, and as I walked down the stairs, I fell and hit my head. After that, things are fuzzy. I remember bits and pieces of things. I must have driven out of town. I remember an old man who helped me. I remember two women who were nice to me. I remember them asking me who I was, but I couldn’t remember. I forgot about you, and Mary and Don, and my parents, and everything and everybody. It was as if I was someone else, completely.”
Ronnie crossed his arms, unconvinced. “So, when did you… I don’t know, wake up and remember who you were?”
“I guess it was a few days ago. I hit my head again, and I suddenly remembered. My mind cleared. I have no idea how or why, and then I remembered everything about my past life. So, I got in my car and I drove here. And then that drunk man hit me and… Well, you know the rest.”
Ronnie shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and Sally looked away, hiding her eyes from his scrutiny.
“So you’re saying that for two years, you never thought to look in your wallet to see who you were, or look at the car registration in the glove compartment to see who owned it? You never did that? That’s like, the first thing I’d do.”
Sally was trapped, but she had to stand by her story because she had nothing else. “I can’t explain it, Ronnie, I just don’t remember. It happened, and that’s just the way it was.”
“So, now you’re saying you have amnesia again, and now you don’t remember anything from those two years?”
“I told you everything. Believe it or don’t believe it, I don’t care.”
Ronnie stared out the window and shook his head. “And then you show up here with the same car, my car, with the same 1953 Indiana license plates?”
Sally shrugged. “What more do you want me to say? I told you what happened.”
Ronnie looked at her and exhaled a snort through his nose. “Well, okay then,” he said. “I’m not going to say I believe you, because most of me doesn’t believe you, but I won’t say I don’t believe you because, you know what Sally? It’s all water under the bridge now anyway, isn’t it? I mean, everything is all messed up, and here we are.”
“I want to see my kids,” Sally said.
Ronnie gave her a long searching look. “You don’t even look the same… and you don’t act the same. What the hell happened, Sally?”
“Ronnie… Please, I just want to see my kids.”
Resigned, Ronnie closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. “All right. I’m not going to fight you on this, Sally,” Ronnie said, opening his eyes. “I don’t want Linda or the kids upset, and I know you’re going to gab like a goose to that damned newspaper. I don’t want my business to go down the tubes. And, besides all that, I don’t want to go through anymore of the shit I went through two years ago. If you want to see Mary and Don, fine, we’ll set it up all legal and right, then whatever the judge says, that’s what I’ll do. But that’s it. I don’t want to see you anymore than I have to. I’m going on with my life and you can get on with yours, whatever that might be.”
