Read Online Mail Order Cowboy (Harlequin American Romance) by Pamela BAUER - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Pamela BAUER
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It was red with two small wheels at one end and two large wheels at the other.
When he stopped to stare, she said, “What’s the matter? You act as if you’ve never seen an old tractor before?”
A tractor? Grain bins? Bus? Wood did a complete circle, looking in every direction, trying to find something familiar in the landscape. There was nothing. It was as if he had fallen off his horse and landed in a foreign country.
“This is Minnesota, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes.”
From the look on her face Wood knew he needed to be careful or she would call the sheriff. “I thought so,” he said as calmly as he could, Although he was feeling anything but calm.
He wished he knew what the hell was going on. Maybe he was crazy. Where was his sister, Hannah? And how was he ever going to find her when he didn’t even know where he was or how he got here?
Nothing made sense. A digital watch that flashed numbers, a canteen that was bright red, clothes unlike any he had ever seen before. It was as if he had awoke in another era.
The thought caused his heart to pound. Yesterday Gabby had said “back in 1940.” Could it be that he was in the twentieth century? He shook his head. No, he was crazy if he thought that.
“Alfred! Are you well enough to be up and around?” Gabby had come out of the house and stood in front of him, critically assessing his condition.
“He’s fine,” Hannah answered for him, which Wood thought was rather odd. But then everything on the Davis farm seemed odd.
Gabby shuffled over to Wood’s side. “I’m the one who should be taking care of you.”
“He needs to use the bathroom. Gabby,” Hannah pointed out, hinting that the old lady should move out of their way so they could get up the steps of the house.
“Of course he does,” Gabby crooned. “Hannah, you go in and start breakfast. I’ll see that Wood is taken care of.” She insinuated herself in between Wood and Hannah, wrapping her bony fingers around Wood’s arm.
Hannah didn’t object. In fact, Wood thought she looked relieved to be able to turn him over to her aunt. She climbed the stairs and disappeared into the house without another word.
As soon as she was gone, Wood asked Gabby, “Can you tell me what date it is, ma’am?”
“Why sure. It’s September the eleventh.”
So he had lost a few days. The question was, had he lost years, too. “I don’t mean any disrespect, ma’am, but may I ask what year you were born?”
“Why, 1923,” she answered cheerfully.
Wood felt as if all the air was being sucked out of his lungs. 1923! He hadn’t misheard her when she’d said her cousin’s wedding was in 1940. Hannah had said Gabby was 75. It couldn’t be...Or could it?
He had thought that when he’d awakened in the Davis’s cornfield he had lost a couple of hours of his life. Now he knew that simply wasn’t true. Instead of a hundred and twenty minutes passing, he had skipped a hundred and twenty years...or a hundred and twenty-two to be exact.
It was 1998.
Chapter Four
“Y ou didn’t tell Hannah why you’re here, did you?” Gabby asked anxiously.
Stunned from his discovery, Wood didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He was still trying to comprehend how he could have passed through a hundred and twenty-two years and not be dead. It had to be a dream, yet this old woman clutching his arm was as solid as the ground beneath his feet.
“Did you tell Hannah why you’re here?” she repeated.
“No, ma’ am.”
She exhaled in relief. “Good. You see, Hannah doesn’t know I placed the ad. She thinks you put one in because you were looking for work.”
It only took a few moments for Wood to realize that Gabby was still under the false assumption that he was someone named Alfred Dumler. She had no idea that he was an 1876 man who by some strange phenomenon was now in the twentieth century.
He thought about telling her the truth, yet how could he? How could he explain something he himself didn’t
When he stopped to stare, she said, “What’s the matter? You act as if you’ve never seen an old tractor before?”
A tractor? Grain bins? Bus? Wood did a complete circle, looking in every direction, trying to find something familiar in the landscape. There was nothing. It was as if he had fallen off his horse and landed in a foreign country.
“This is Minnesota, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Yes.”
From the look on her face Wood knew he needed to be careful or she would call the sheriff. “I thought so,” he said as calmly as he could, Although he was feeling anything but calm.
He wished he knew what the hell was going on. Maybe he was crazy. Where was his sister, Hannah? And how was he ever going to find her when he didn’t even know where he was or how he got here?
Nothing made sense. A digital watch that flashed numbers, a canteen that was bright red, clothes unlike any he had ever seen before. It was as if he had awoke in another era.
The thought caused his heart to pound. Yesterday Gabby had said “back in 1940.” Could it be that he was in the twentieth century? He shook his head. No, he was crazy if he thought that.
“Alfred! Are you well enough to be up and around?” Gabby had come out of the house and stood in front of him, critically assessing his condition.
“He’s fine,” Hannah answered for him, which Wood thought was rather odd. But then everything on the Davis farm seemed odd.
Gabby shuffled over to Wood’s side. “I’m the one who should be taking care of you.”
“He needs to use the bathroom. Gabby,” Hannah pointed out, hinting that the old lady should move out of their way so they could get up the steps of the house.
“Of course he does,” Gabby crooned. “Hannah, you go in and start breakfast. I’ll see that Wood is taken care of.” She insinuated herself in between Wood and Hannah, wrapping her bony fingers around Wood’s arm.
Hannah didn’t object. In fact, Wood thought she looked relieved to be able to turn him over to her aunt. She climbed the stairs and disappeared into the house without another word.
As soon as she was gone, Wood asked Gabby, “Can you tell me what date it is, ma’am?”
“Why sure. It’s September the eleventh.”
So he had lost a few days. The question was, had he lost years, too. “I don’t mean any disrespect, ma’am, but may I ask what year you were born?”
“Why, 1923,” she answered cheerfully.
Wood felt as if all the air was being sucked out of his lungs. 1923! He hadn’t misheard her when she’d said her cousin’s wedding was in 1940. Hannah had said Gabby was 75. It couldn’t be...Or could it?
He had thought that when he’d awakened in the Davis’s cornfield he had lost a couple of hours of his life. Now he knew that simply wasn’t true. Instead of a hundred and twenty minutes passing, he had skipped a hundred and twenty years...or a hundred and twenty-two to be exact.
It was 1998.
Chapter Four
“Y ou didn’t tell Hannah why you’re here, did you?” Gabby asked anxiously.
Stunned from his discovery, Wood didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He was still trying to comprehend how he could have passed through a hundred and twenty-two years and not be dead. It had to be a dream, yet this old woman clutching his arm was as solid as the ground beneath his feet.
“Did you tell Hannah why you’re here?” she repeated.
“No, ma’ am.”
She exhaled in relief. “Good. You see, Hannah doesn’t know I placed the ad. She thinks you put one in because you were looking for work.”
It only took a few moments for Wood to realize that Gabby was still under the false assumption that he was someone named Alfred Dumler. She had no idea that he was an 1876 man who by some strange phenomenon was now in the twentieth century.
He thought about telling her the truth, yet how could he? How could he explain something he himself didn’t
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