“You’ve got to be kidding! The Pony Express died like a hundred years ago!” Tabatha scoffed.
“No ma’am, we’ve heard rumors of telegraph lines going up and trying to put us out of business, but I’ll assure you we’re still the fastest way to get a message from Saint Jo to San Francisco. We’re far from dead.” Jimmy explained, forcing a smile to his face in an attempt to cover the look of puzzlement he felt, over the young woman’s exclamation.
“Mr. McSwain,” Alex said, attempting to bring the quiet young man into the conversation and draw out the truth at the same time, “would you please tell me today’s date?” She knew she was grasping at straws in an attempt to still the growth of the thought that was burning its way into her brain.
Ike shook his head negatively in response to Alex’s question, knowing that she would not understand what he was signing. Slowly he deliberately wrote the date in the air using precision to make the letters backward so she’d be able to read them.
“Ike is mute,” Jimmy explained gently, trying to spare his friend’s feelings while informing the girls before they said something that Ike might take offense to. “He uses signs to talk.”
“Really? What form of sign language do you use?” Tabatha asked signing the words as she spoke.
Ike’s eyes lit up at the sight of her hands making seemingly familiar motions. He’d never met anyone so willing to accept his handicap and who knew how to communicate with him so readily. Not even Buck, who had taught him to sign in the first place, had known how to communicate with him right from the start. Tabatha’s signs weren’t exactly right, but he could easily understand the general idea behind each motion.
“How do you know sign?” Jimmy asked in surprise.
“I’m majoring in communications, and I’m about eight credit hours and a test away from being a licensed sign language interpreter. “ Tabatha explained.
Tabatha’s signs came so rapidly that Ike had no idea what she was saying, making him glad that he could simply listen to her words.
~ I can hear what you’re saying. I just can’t speak. ~
“Look,” Alex cut in, “I think it’s awesome that you two can talk and everything, but I really have to know today’s date.”
“May 17, 1861. Why? Do you have somewhere more important to be?” Jimmy asked with a lopsided grin. He hadn’t expected such a venomous reaction.
“Liar! 1861 was over a hundred years ago! That’s the most ridiculous, story I’ve ever heard. “
“I’m not lying! Why would I lie to you?” Jimmy exclaimed, his temper beginning to flare up at her accusations. No one called him a liar to his face and got away with it!
~ Jimmy’s not lying. Today is May 17, 1861. That’s what I told you earlier. ~ Ike added quickly. His mouth was slightly a gap from his shock at Alex’s reaction.
“Um Lex…Ike said that Jimmy’s not lying,” Tabatha began hesitantly. “Does this mean what I think it might?”
“No! It couldn’t. That’s impossible. We must be dreaming some psychotic nightmare and we’ll wake up in a minute. People don’t go –“
“Alex,” Tabatha tried to soothe her friend.
“Time travel isn’t possible. We’ve just seen too many movies. We are not sitting here in the middle of Nebraska with two incredibly hot guys. Oh my God, Tab!” Alex whispered, desperately trying to keep the tears that pooled in her eyes from spilling over. Her hands were shaking violently as she placed them over her lips to still the flood of half-witted speech that poured from her lips.
Taking a deep breath, Tabatha tried to compose herself. “It would explain everything, Lex. No road, no electric lines, no planes. I know it sounds completely irrational, but if we really are in 1861, those things would make perfect sense. Besides, why would Ike and Jimmy lie to us?”
The group was silent for a moment as each tried to figure out what was really going on. Neither of the young men had a clue what the females were carrying on about, they just stared at them as if they were completely crazy.
Alex’s mind was spinning with the sudden realization that they really were somewhere else. Suddenly feeling ill, she jumped up and dashed away from the campsite, to a cluster of nearby bushes.
“We’ll be right back,” Tabatha announced quickly before following her friend.
