The Traveler (The Traveler Series, #1) Read online

  "Are you alright ma'am?"

  "Yes. I am now, thank you kind sir." Bethany responded shyly.

  "Is there something you wish to speak to me about? You look quite troubled and sometimes an exceptional listener, like myself, even when he is a stranger can help, just by opening an ear to listen." Jebidiah encourages her to tell him her story that Daniel had already told him about while she had remained unconscious. At first, he felt it too fantastical to be true until Daniel explained what he'd lived through with his mother and how she ended up taking her own life to get peace from the hereditary vision sight. It was passed down through the women in his family. It had caused female relatives in his family to be accused of being witches in Salem and is why the family moved to Kentucky.

  His father died by gangrene when he accidentally chopped into his leg while splitting rails and his mother died seven years later. Wanting a better life for himself and his feeble brother, they left and came to the wild west to stake a claim.

  By the time Daniel finished his story, Jebidiah was a strong believer but he wanted to hear it from Beth's own mouth. He wanted to help her and yet, the strange and overwhelming pull and attraction to Beth made him want to keep her there with him, safe and protected.

  Jebidiah wanted to pursue this electric connection between them that pulled at his very soul. He knew she felt it too, he sensed it and it made his heart rejoice. He waited patiently for Beth to tell him the truth in her own words. After a short time of silence, he knew he had to help her along.

  "Beth, I realize we only met today, but to me at least, it strangely feels so much longer, as if I have known you my entire life, so comfortable am I with you. I wish you to know you can trust me. Daniel has already told me of your strange news and I believe it. It's the darnedest thing but I believe it's the whole truth and to be honest, beautiful Beth, half of me wants to help you while the other half desires to keep you here, keep you as mine." Jebidiah declared with an emerging smirk upon his face and the heat of desire in his eyes. Something Beth had seen men use when they look at their women but this is the first time it was aimed directly at her.

  Forgetting for a moment, that she was barefoot or that in these days, eighteen was quite a marriageable age, she slid to the opposite side of the bed, got out and stood against the wall as her eyes frantically searched for an escape. She may be a modern woman but she wasn't sure she could handle this suave, older man who looked to be about in his twenties. She also feared he was going to steal her heart and ruin her for all other men. She didn't realize she'd just whispered her thoughts aloud, not until it was too late to run. She also didn't realize that as a former gunslinger and a bandit, he had no qualms about pursuing what he wanted to a point.

  Jebidiah knew she was an innocent woman who was unfamiliar in the way of love and he'd have to gentle her just like a filly before he could fully enjoy the fruits of is labor. He saw the fear of the unknown mixed with desire in her eyes. It was the second that drove him over the edge. He locked his eyes onto hers as he slowly but confidently approached. His confident swagger drew her eyes to his gun belt and then his leathers where his manhood sprung to life feeling her heated gaze.

  Bethany blushed profusely when it dawned on her just where she'd been staring and quickly raised her eyes again. The pupils darkened in his eyes making the hunter green color of his iris's even more defined as they contributed among other things to speed up her heart and breathing. A flood of warmth went from her face to travel the length of her body causing her toes to curl under as he crept closer still.

  Bethany felt dizzy again but fought against it. The wicket part of herself just wanted to feel his lips warmly pressed against hers if only once, to know what it's like to be kissed as a woman. She took a deep inhalation and breathed in his crisp, fresh scent of pure man and wild west and it sent her senses and body tingling with some unknown want.

  Jebidiah on the other hand, saw the subtle change in her body language and it endeared him further to her. He quickened his steps until he was right in front of her. "Forgive me, sweet Beth. I can't stop myself until I've tasted the sweet nectar of your succulent lips." He said as her lips parted and her tongue caressed her lips one at a time.

  In a breathy sigh she whispered, "Then don't stop, Jebidiah." She raised her arms to lay upon his shoulders, her hands seeking the softness of his long light chocolate colored hair just as his hands rested upon her hips. Before she knew it, his hips sought to touch hers as his body pushed hers into the wall at her back. His nostrils flared with her heavenly tantalizing scent. Her heart beat out a rapid tempo of anticipation as her eyes fluttered closed on their own. Only then did she feel heaven upon her lips as his gently caressed them. His hands tightening on her lips a moment, before they reached around to caress her backside. His knee parted hers as he sunk into the depths of her dress between her legs to push against her most sensitive area with his. The feeling was so exquisite that Bethany couldn't hold back the moan he captured with his mouth as his tongue pushed into the hot warm cavern of her mouth only to duel with hers for dominance.

  When Jebidiah momentarily pulled his lips from hers it was only so he could taste her neck and the skin of pushed up breasts above the neckline of the dress. God help him, he wanted all of her but he would not dishonor her by treating her like a prostitute when she was worlds above that. So he stopped and rested his forehead upon hers while they both labored to bring their breathing under control.

  Bethany, curious and wanting more, moved her hands to caress the stubble on his cheeks. She loved feeling the rough hair against her sensitive hands. "My turn...." Bethany whispers as she turned them so he was against the wall and she the aggressor. She kissed him the same way he kissed her albeit a bit more shy and unsure. It was then that Jebidiah Cole knew he was completely lost. His heart and soul were hers forever more. There would never be another for him. She was his perfect woman. Letting him take charge and then shyly doing so herself in a way that made fire of want rush through his veins as she assaulted his senses.

  When Bethany finished kissing Jebidiah, he could feel she was afraid she'd done something wrong when it couldn't be further from the truth. Lifting her eyes to his, he hoarsely whispered, "My sweet Beth, that was perfect. You do incredibly amazing things to me. You are the only one for me in this life or in any other to come after it. With your permission, I'd like to ask Daniel's permission to court you. I don't really care that no one else can see you sweet Beth, I will build you a beautiful home and give you a wonderful life if you'll allow me to."

  "Oh handsome Jebidiah, I'd love nothing more! But I have only a slippery foothold in this time and a more solid one in my own time. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to remain here. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to remain here." Bethany said softly and meant it with her heart. She'd already given this man her heart and soul.

  "Then marry me, right now. Give me whatever time you can and I shall be content with it."

  "We can't. No one can see me here but you and Grandfather Daniel."

  "That, my love is easy. Daniel was ordained a preacher before he came here but did not follow in it as there was already one when he settled the land here. He can marry us. I realize this is so very sudden but I don't want to spend a minute without you in my life. Please say yes." Jebidiah begs her with hope and fear in his eyes, afraid she will say no.

  "Then yes, Jebidiah, I will happily marry you." Bethany's face lit right up as she said the words he'd prayed she would say.

  "Come my love. We will visit with Daniel in his office then I want to take you for a walk. Dusk and dawn are the most beautiful time of day around here." Jebidiah whispers happily as he tugs on Bethany's hand, not wanting to waste one second. Bethany nodded in excitement and wrapped a hand around his bicep so nothing would look out of the ordinary as they made it upstairs and walked toward Daniel's office.

  Once inside, they both explained their intentions to Daniel, both accepting whatever life God blessed them
with together and vowed to love a lifetime's worth in the amount of time they had. Daniel, happily agreed to marry the young couple on the spot when he somehow saw that their souls were already joined.

  After the short wedding ceremony they both hugged and thanked Daniel who assured them he would move Bethany's meager belongings to Jebidiah's room while they went for their walk.

  Jebidiah walked down Main Street and right out of town toward the Raccoon River to the fruit orchard Daniel had planted there. They sat below the apple tree and shared their first picnic dinner together thanks to Daniel and then, as the sun began to set, they each had a juicy apple to eat, sharing stolen kisses along the way.

  Once they were done, they walked back into town to the Sheriff's office where he made sure all was right as rain. Then with a glint of mischievousness and desire in his eyes, carried his new wife up the back steps of the hotel and straight into his room. It was the one Bethany thought it was when she'd found it in her own time.

  In that room, two souls became one. Jebidiah made gentle passionate love to his wife for the first time. He gave her everything within him and Bethany did the same. Afterward, she told him the story of how, in her time she'd found his room and his black long duster and took it home with her to wear it alone as she thought of him. It made his heart burst with joy to know a part of him was with her in her own time even as he vowed to love her deeply for the time they would have, no matter how short as he fell asleep with Bethany in his arms.

  As the days passed, Bethany spent her days in her world and her nights in another, loved and safe in Jebidiah's arms until the night he'd given her his Grandmother's wedding ring and she awoke the next morning in her time with the ring still on her finger and as real as anything else in her time.

  She had convinced her parents to let her live on the second floor in Jebidiah's old room. they were comfortable knowing she'd be watching over it and prevent intruders stealing valuable museum pieces. It was hard some days to know which time period she was in but she wondered about one thing constantly. If she could bring the ring back to her time with her, she could bring Jebidiah back with her too. She only wished there had been a way to call on Mariana for help to know for sure.

  One night, after they'd been together for a month, Bethany broached the subject with Jebidiah. In the history books she found out if he remained in his time, he'd die there at the age of twenty one, just six months away by the Outlaw Gang. They came to town seeking him out from his gunslinger days when he'd killed their old leader during a bank robbery.

  Now, they would end up killing him in his sleep. He never knew what hit him and Bethany could not bear to live with that outcome, not if it meant she could change it. She honestly told her husband everything. He was up for an adventure and very much wanted to try to come home with her. They would try it, the next night after she warned Daniel of the date the Outlaw Gang would arrive and she planned to encourage him to take his family on a vacation as she knew they would all die, all except for his daughter Bethany, would die that day. She hoped to change history if she could. She knew it could change the course of history for the worse but knew she at least had to try.

  The next evening, she explained everything to Daniel. Daniel said that he would pray that Jebidiah was able to go home with Bethany to her time and knew they'd have a great life. He then promised his granddaughter to take a vacation with his family and get them out of harm's way. That night when she and Jebidiah fell asleep, it was Bethany who held him, completely clothed, in her arms tightly as they fell asleep.

  When Bethany woke the next morning, her arms were empty and she was still wearing Mariana's dress. She bolted upright in her bed and began to sob. It didn't work and Bethany was completely heartbroken. That is, until she felt familiar arms pull her into their embrace.

  "Hush now love, it's alright, I'm here for you." Jebidiah reassured his beautiful wife. He was having a bit of culture shock himself. He was here in her time and it was a vastly different place. He half expected to be a ghost here but, people had seen and spoken to him! It really worked! He was here, over one hundred years later with his wife in her own wonderful time! The only thing that had alarmed him was that people rode in fast moving metal boxes instead of on horse and buggy. He could not wait to explore this world with her.

  "Oh my God! You're still here! You're really here! Does that mean I'm still in your time or you are in mine?" Bethany gasped out, clearly in shock.

  "You saved me, my love. I am here with you in your time." Jebidiah said excitedly.

  "I'm going to have to explain you to my parents somehow. They are going to flip out, uh, I mean, be extremely confused. Not that they can do anything about it regardless. I know, I'll tell them I met you at my college orientation trip and that we are dating." Bethany thought aloud.

  "What is this dating? We are married sweet Beth." Jebidiah asked as confusion set in.

  "I can see I am going to have a lot of explaining to do." Bethany said and picked up her cell phone, called her parents and told them she had a migraine and was going to sleep today. She had to keep herself from bursting out laughing as Jebidiah stared at her like she was bewitched. Boy, was it going to be a long day!

  Bethany spent half of the day explaining to Jebidiah the rules and workings of her world to try to help him, at least when he met her parents. She used her laptop to show him how history changed from his time in 1869 to her time in 2014. Of course, he was terrified of the cell phone but loved her information box as he called her laptop. She hadn't quite thought about how he would perceive her strange new world and she suddenly felt awful for forcing him selfishly here with her without forewarning.

  "Jebidiah, I am so very sorry. I wanted you here with me and never thought once about how deeply it would affect you, please forgive me." Bethany cried into her hands.

  "Sweet Beth, I would rather live in this strange new world with you rather than live a lifetime alone and without you in my own time. I only wish I physically looked like what is considered to be normal for men in this time as I do not wish to embarrass you, my love. I also wish I knew how my town ended up." Jebidiah whispered, his eyes still full of love for his young wife. He didn't like hiding the marriage from her world but he knew it was only for a few short months then they could do it properly and announce it to the world.

  "This is still your town honey just....over a century into the future. But I know a way we can find out about at least some of them." Bethany says as she remembers the books in the library.

  "How?"

  "By us going for a ride in my metal box to the town library. We can check out the history book to see what's changed, get some food to go and then come back here and find out. Is that okay with you, Jebidiah? I don't want to push too much at you all at once." Bethany suggested, a little bit worried.

  "Yes, let's do that. I would like to see this metal box of yours in action." Jebidiah was as excited as a kid in the candy store.

  "First, we need to change your clothes and purchase you some as well." Bethany knew she'd use a little bit of her bank account. After all, it was the least she could do. She made him take off the gun belt and duster as well as the gunslinger hat, shaved his stubble then brushed his hair. Jebidiah looked more like he'd fit in here in this time. Maybe the first stop would be the second hand store to get him started. At the second hand store, she purchased new clothes and boots along with tennis shoes for Jebidiah.

  He'd surprised her in the car, wanting her to speed to see how fast her metal box could go as he hung his head out of the window while she prayed her parents were still in Des Moines getting supplies for the museum.

  At the library, Jebidiah was fascinated by everything and Bethany was sure that this was his new favorite place so far, they checked out history books, a modern history timeline book and a western novel for him. She also got Jebidiah a library card which also excited him to no end. It made her smile to see him so happy. But, it was at the fast food restaurant that she could not hold back
a chuckle at Jebidiah's amazement that food could be prepared so fast to take with you. He just could not believe the magnificent wonders of her world. She had to explain to the clerk they didn't have fast food where he came from.

  Once they were back in the car, she drove them back to the museum building, they went up the same back steps that they'd taken in 1869, up to Jebidiah's room all furnished with all of Bethany's belongings including the two journals.

  They decided to eat and read. It was Jebidiah's first time having a big mac, fries and a shake. He absolutely loved it. His eyes closed and he moaned over the heavenly taste of this new world. He already loved Bethany's world and all of the new things within it as well as how much easier it was to live in her world than in his. He wanted to learn all he could about it so he could fit in with her and have her parents like him and get their approval as well.

  While Bethany and Jebidiah ate their meals, she opened the thick book and looked at the table of contents to see where it spoke of Jebidiah's era and went to the section about the first settlers in the town and skimmed until she found what she wanted and then read aloud just because Jebidiah loved her reading voice, not because he could not read as he most certainly could.

  Together, what they read shocked them both. Daniel ended up becoming sheriff and together, with all of the men in the settlement of Tracy, later re-named Van Meter, and after they locked up all of their women and children at the Wright and Sump homesteads with for men guarding each place, the men laid in wait at the hotel for the Outlaw Gang. When they arrived they were immediately taken over, arrested, and turned them over to the Marshals who were not far behind. The town's men received medals of honor for their quick thinking and fast actions. When Daniel had been asked how he knew they were coming his only response was that a traveler named Beth had overheard the gang mention they were heading to Tracy and so she felt it necessary to warn them.

  Many looked for this Beth but she had never been found. She and the previous sheriff, Mr. Jebidiah Cole had just disappeared on her last night there, Sheriff Daniel Wright had explained. He further said he thought the young couple had eloped and merely settled elsewhere and he wished them all of God's blessings and thanked them for being the real heroes in saving the town.