Indiana Belle (American Journey Book 3), page 21
"Are you all right?" Cameron asked.
Candice nodded but did not speak. She instead removed her pack, lowered it to the ground, and stepped toward her hero with extended arms.
Cameron did not wait for her to cover the distance. He stood up, took one more breath, and headed back up the trail. If Candice needed a hug, he would be more than happy to provide it.
He never got the chance to deliver. Ten yards from an embrace he wanted and needed, he tripped on a protruding rock, flew forward, and rolled off the trail.
Cameron felt every stick, rock, and shrub as he tumbled fifty feet down a steep slope. He did not stop feeling them until he came to a rest, flat on his back, near the base of a young sequoia.
Candice screamed his name and rushed forward as he fell. When she reached the spot on the trail with the protruding rock, she stopped, leaned over the edge, and called out to him.
"Are you OK?"
Cameron chuckled. He wasn't OK at all. He felt like he had been tossed in a cement mixer and left to spin overnight, but even he had to laugh at his situation. Mere moments after driving off a savage beast – a big one, no less – he had fallen victim to something far less dangerous. He had succumbed to his own clumsiness.
"I'll live," Cameron said.
"Do you need help getting up?" Candice asked.
"I might. I'm not sure I can walk."
"What happened?"
"I injured my pride," Cameron said. He laughed. "I injured my pride and sprained an ankle."
CHAPTER 49: CAMERON
Cameron had not overstated the situation. He had sprained his left ankle so badly that he had to crawl back to the trail and was unable to stand without help when he got there.
Facing a serious, immediate problem, he set out to find a serious, immediate solution. He found one barely two hundred yards down the trail in the form of a cabin he had seen on the way up. Modern, furnished, and conveniently unoccupied, it was just what the doctor ordered for someone who was at least several miles away from a physician.
With Candice's help, Cameron reached the cabin, with the backpacks, at ten after six. Three hours, two whiskeys, and one nap later, he leaned against two pillows in a single bed, took a breath, and gazed at his rescuer. She appeared as amused as he was.
"How are you feeling?" Candice asked.
"My ankle still hurts like hell, but I'm feeling pretty good, all things considered," Cameron said. He chuckled. "We've had quite a day."
"Yes, we have. Can I get you anything?"
"No. I'm set for now. Just pull up a chair and keep me company."
Candice nodded and left the main room. A moment later, she returned with a wooden chair from the kitchen, placed it back first near the bed, and took a seat. She rested her chin on her crossed arms on the back of the chair, offered a silly grin, and batted her lashes.
"Is this better?" Candice asked.
Cameron smiled.
"It's perfect."
"Good."
Cameron glanced at his boxer shorts and his sleeveless T-shirt and then looked for the rest of his attire, which had mysteriously disappeared during his nap. He looked at his nurse.
"Did my clothes run off?"
Candice beamed.
"They did! They decided to skip town before the cougar returned."
"Are they coming back?" Cameron asked.
"I hope not," Candice said with a giggle. She paused and then looked at him thoughtfully. "I washed your shirt and pants while you were sleeping."
"That was nice of you."
"It was the least I could do."
Cameron smiled but did not reply. He instead looked around the room and pondered his good fortune. He had not only a roof over his head but also food, water, warmth, and comfort.
He also had an Irishman's luck. When he and Candice had entered the three-room residence, they had found a warm stove, a cold icebox, and a smoldering log in a stone fireplace. They had missed the owners, a Mr. and Mrs. King, by minutes, if not seconds.
Cameron surmised that the Kings had left through the back door, climbed in a car parked behind the house, and driven to Truckee via an access road. Had they walked out the front door, which faced the trail, they would have almost certainly seen two hobbling hikers.
He also guessed they would not return to the cabin for at least a few days. Candice had found a travel itinerary scribbled on a slip in the kitchen. The Kings had apparently rushed to Truckee to catch a train. The Overland Express left for San Francisco at seven fifteen.
Cameron stared blankly at the crackling fire and then turned his attention to the woman at his side. He smiled when he saw a mischievous grin.
"Why do I suspect you're up to something?"
"Because I usually am," Candice said.
Cameron chuckled.
"I see you're going to keep me on my toes."
"I hope so."
"Have you eaten?" Cameron asked.
Candice nodded.
"I found a can of soup in the pantry. It was nice of the Kings to leave us some food."
Cameron smiled.
"It was nice of them to leave us a house. Remind me to leave them a thank-you note and a twenty. I don't want them to think their trespassers were ungrateful."
Candice laughed.
"Have you always been this way?"
"No," Cameron said. "I wasn't flippant until I met you."
Candice smiled, shook her head, and then looked at him with serious eyes. She resumed the conversation a moment later with a question he did not expect.
"Are you looking forward to going back?"
"To Evansville?"
"Yes."
"Yeah," Cameron said. "I am. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself when we get there, but I am looking forward to going back. The town is growing on me."
"Is this time growing on you as well?"
Cameron sighed.
"I thought we agreed to discuss that later."
"I can't stop thinking about it," Candice said. She frowned. "I don't want to have to choose between my family and you or my time and yours."
Cameron gazed at her sympathetically.
"No one has to choose anything now."
"But—"
"Let's just enjoy this time together. OK?"
Candice nodded.
"OK."
"That's my girl."
Candice took a breath.
"I'm going back to the kitchen. Can I get you something to drink?"
Cameron nodded.
"Bring me something hot."
Candice blushed.
"Can you be more specific?"
Cameron laughed.
"Bring me some tea. Thank you."
"All right," Candice said. She smiled and shook her head. "Tea it is."
Cameron waved as she got up from the chair, turned it around, and walked into the kitchen. He loved the playful exchange and hoped there would be many more in the future.
Cameron pondered that future. He imagined children, careers, vacations, and even a family farm. He pictured all the things he had never had and always wanted. He just couldn't picture when they would happen or where.
Candice was right to obsess about the question. She would have to confront some difficult decisions in the coming weeks – and so would he.
The cougar fighter gazed at the room and noticed it had grown dark. A candle on a table near the door and the fading fire provided the only illumination.
Cameron started to utter a warning about the dwindling light but stopped in midsentence when he heard a noise in the kitchen. He spoke again when he heard a crash.
"Is everything OK in there?"
"It's OK," Candice said as she entered the room. "I broke a dish, that's all. You just may have to leave a larger tip for our hosts in the morning."
Cameron laughed.
"I can do that."
Candice moved at a snail's pace as she carried a cup and a saucer across the darkened room. She got as far as a thick rug in the middle of the floor when she tripped, fell flat on her face, and broke her second dish in as many minutes.
"Oh, Lord, I've done it again!" Candice said.
Cameron reacted quickly. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, leaned forward, and extended a hand to Calamity Jane.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. I'm embarrassed to no end, but I'm fine," Candice said. She sat up, looked at her wet blouse, and laughed. "This is just not my day."
"Forget the tea," Cameron said. "I don't need it."
"No. Let me get you another cup. The water is still hot."
"Seriously, sweetheart, there is no need."
"Yes, there is!" Candice snapped. "I want to do this. I'll do better."
Cameron threw his hands up.
"All right, all right," he said.
Candice grabbed the cup and searched for the halves of the broken plate. When she found them, she stood up, took a deep breath, and smiled at her patient.
"I'll be back in a moment, Mr. Coelho."
Cameron smiled.
"OK."
Cameron added clumsiness and stubbornness to his fiancée's list of virtues as he watched her walk carefully over the rug and disappear around a corner. He wondered if it was even possible for her to become more endearing and appealing in a single day.
Candice answered the question five minutes later when she reentered the room with a new cup, a new saucer, and new attire. Wearing Cameron's shirt – and only his shirt – she stepped gingerly over the rug and completed her mission without incident.
She placed the cup and the saucer on the seat of the bedside chair, stood up straight, and unbuttoned the shirt. Slowly, deliberately, and no doubt with the best of intentions, she showed a time traveler that she would be no ordinary spouse.
Candice removed the shirt, draped it on the back of the chair, and then stepped toward the man she had promised to marry. She sat on the edge of the bed and put her hand on his chest.
"I said I'd do better, didn't I?" Candice asked.
Cameron nodded.
"Yes, you did."
"Are you upset?"
"No," Cameron said. He sighed as he admired the face and the form of the most beautiful woman he had ever known. "I couldn't be happier."
"Then why are you looking at me funny?"
Cameron chuckled.
"I was just thinking of a question."
"What?" Candice asked.
"Shouldn't the wedding come before the honeymoon?"
She put both hands to his face and nodded.
"It should," Candice said. She smiled softly. "But you know me."
She leaned forward and gave Cameron a tender kiss.
"I'm always doing things out of order."
CHAPTER 50: CANDICE
Winnemucca, Nevada – Friday, June 19, 1925
"Are you saying you can make it work?" Candice asked.
Cameron nodded.
"I can make it work in both directions. If the key is as accurate as I think it is, then I can turn your father's cellar into a time portal that can take us to the past and the future."
Candice gazed out the train window and tried to make sense of it all. Time travel still seemed as alien to her as the arid scrubland and towering brown mountains in the distance.
"Are you sure about this?" Candice asked.
"I'm as sure as I can be," Cameron said. "I've examined the key, the letters, and your father's diary several times and concluded the same thing each time. I can get the cellar to send us to a specific day in the past or the future by arranging the ceiling crystals in a certain order."
"Why was my father unable to do this?"
"He didn't have the key. He didn't have crystals. He may not even have had the necessary formulas. All I know is that he was close to making his portal work when he died. Like your uncle and, I suspect, Professor Bell, he did not have what we have. He had to do everything the hard way. That's why it took him months to get as far as he did instead of weeks."
Candice looked away, this time to her right, and studied nearby passengers in the Southern Pacific coach. None of the men in pinstripe suits or ladies in pleated skirts appeared to show any interest in the fantastic conversation. All seemed oblivious to what one fellow passenger had done and what two could do in the not-so-distant future.
Candice pondered Cameron's words as the Pacific Coast Limited rolled through the desert. She still had far more questions than answers.
"Have you thought about the possibilities?" Candice asked.
"I've thought of nothing else since the hike," Cameron said.
Candice smiled.
"I know that's not true."
Cameron chuckled.
"No. I guess it's not."
Candice placed her hand on his as she mentally revisited their four glorious nights in the comfortable and entirely agreeable home of David and Elizabeth King. She had not had any difficulty convincing Cameron that all work and no play made a fiancé a dull boy.
"I hope I didn't scare you away this week," Candice said.
Cameron glanced at the other passengers, as if checking for eavesdroppers, and then returned to his seatmate. He caressed her hand and leaned toward her ear.
"You didn't scare me. You inspired me. You reminded me that I picked the right partner," Cameron said. "We're going to have many happy years together."
"I'm glad you feel that way," Candice said. "I've worried all morning that I crossed a line at the cabin. I still don't know you all that well."
Cameron lifted her hand and kissed it.
"You know me well enough, Miss Bell. That's all that matters."
"I suppose," Candice said.
Cameron looked at her with thoughtful eyes.
"Have you thought about when you want to get married?"
"I have," Candice said.
"Well?"
Candice smiled sheepishly.
"I think we should marry sooner rather than later – just in case. I don't want to burden Mother with more surprises than I have to."
Cameron chuckled.
"I agree. Sooner is better. How about this month?"
"This month is too soon," Candice said.
"It's not in my book."
"What's wrong with July? That would give me time to finish a few stories, organize a nice wedding, and deal with any sordid rumors swirling around Evansville."
Cameron frowned.
"Let me think about it."
"What's the matter?" Candice asked. "Did I say something wrong?"
Cameron shook his head.
"You didn't say anything wrong. You just reminded me of a matter I have put off, a matter I didn't want to bring up until we got back."
"This sounds serious."
Cameron took a breath.
"It is."
"What is it?" Candice asked. "Please tell me."
Cameron released her hand and looked away. He stared blankly at the front of the crowded coach for what seemed like an eternity before finally returning to his companion.
"There is something I haven't told you."
"I'm sure there are many things you haven't told me," Candice said.
"There are. But none are as important as this."
"What are you saying?"
Cameron reclaimed her hand.
"I'm saying that I did not come to Indiana just to gather information for a trip to California. I came to save you."
Candice sank into her seat.
"I'm afraid to ask what that means."
Cameron paused for a moment.
"When I started the research that led me to you, I did more than study your works, your career, and your legacy. I studied your life."
"My life?" Candice asked.
Cameron nodded.
"More to the point, I studied an incident that occurred on July 2, 1925, or at least the first time 1925 played out. It was an incident that has haunted me for months."
Candice took a breath.
"Does this 'incident' involve me?"
"Yes," Cameron said. "You're at the center of it."
"Tell me."
Cameron sighed, glanced again at other passengers, and then looked at Candice with the most solemn eyes she had ever seen. He tightened his hold on her shaking hand.
"You did not meet someone like me the first time you went through this life. You did not marry. You did not have children. You did not live to see your twenty-sixth birthday."
Candice put a hand to her mouth.
"You were murdered, sweetheart," Cameron said. "You were savagely beaten by a man you know well. If we don't do something to change history, you'll be dead in fourteen days."
CHAPTER 51: CAMERON
Evansville, Indiana – Wednesday, June 24, 1925
"July?" Marjorie asked. "July?"
"Yes, Mother … July," Candice said. "We want to be married on July 18."
Cameron smiled as he watched the Second Battle of the Bells play out in the dining room. He loved watching these women interact. They were the best entertainment in forty-eight states, or at least the best show in what was now his new family.
"You know I can't plan something that quickly," Marjorie said.
"You don't have to plan a thing," Candice said. "I'll take care of everything."
"I have to do something!"
"Then plan the reception. Enlist your friends. Ask the church ladies to bring the sandwiches and the temperance ladies to bring the liquor."
"I'll do no such thing," Marjorie said.
Candice sighed and smiled.
"All I want is your blessing."
"You have it," Marjorie said."
"Thank you."
Cameron laughed.
That was quick.
Lawrence, grinning, leaned across the table and extended a hand.
"Congratulations, Cameron. You've done in two weeks what mere mortals couldn't do in twenty-five years. You've made my sister a respectable woman."
Cameron smiled as he shook the hand.
"Thanks, Lawrence. I think."
"I'm happy for you," Lula said to Candice. "I'm happy for me too. I finally have someone to listen to my stories. Marriage gives women much to talk about."
"Lula!" Marjorie exclaimed.
"I'm just joking, Mom. I know marriage is bliss."
