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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Also by Kathryn Kaleigh

  A Fort Before Time

  A Misplaced in Time Short Story

  Kathryn Kaleigh

  Chapter 1

  Fort Nashborough

  August 21, 2017

  * * *

  At the moment, there were only a handful of tourists at the newly re-opened Fort Nashborough public park.

  A young couple walked along the dirt path, a little girl toddling between them. The little girl clutched a bag of popcorn to her chest, dropping more on the ground than went in her mouth. Black birds swooped down, grabbing the stray kernels in their beaks.

  The girl screamed, then laughed as one of the most bold of the birds swooped too close.

  Most tourists were downtown instead of here at the brand new fort.

  Despite being torn and completely rebuilt, not too many people seemed to care so much about history anymore.

  At least not when offered the choice to drink free beer and listen to a live band.

  Fort Nashborough didn’t stand a chance.

  I stood in the doorway of what was supposed to be the General Store. I rested a hand on the smooth doorframe that smelled like freshly cut wood.

  The fort had been damaged in 2010 when the Cumberland River flooded. I was one of the few who opposed the complete reconstruction. I wanted them to repair the one that was damaged, but they did what they needed to do.

  The city council had been right that this version of the fort attracted more visitors. It had more bells and whistles including a boardwalk along the river.

  But not today.

  Today it was relatively quiet.

  All the excitement was at the downtown park. The steady beat of music pounded in the background.

  People would wander through here this afternoon. After what I’d heard the media calling the “Great American Eclipse.”

  I smiled and held up a hand in greeting as the couple walked by with their toddler.

  “Mommy,” the little girl said. “Why is she dressed funny?”

  I didn’t hear the woman’s answer as they walked off.

  But the little girl was right. I was dressed funny. Especially for this summer heat.

  I was wearing a long burgundy dress—fortunately a lightweight cotton, and a bonnet over my long brunette hair. A big bow tied beneath my chin.

  The clouds were banked while the sun was high in the sky.

  The eclipse would be starting soon.

  I wasn’t sure exactly what time.

  My cell phone vibrated in the pocket of my skirt.

  It was against the rules to talk or otherwise use a cell phone while on the park grounds. I was supposed to leave it in the car, but being of the younger generation, I was permanently tethered to my phone. Mostly, in my case at least, I needed to be available in case there was an emergency.

  There was no one watching me, but if I was caught using my cell phone, it was automatic grounds for dismissal.

  It wouldn’t do for a colonial woman to be spotted talked on a cell phone.

  I ducked inside the building, into the cool darkness, and slipped the phone out of my pocket.

  It was my father. Since he lived in Florida, he wouldn’t know that we were all getting ready to watch the eclipse here.

  I turned my back to the door and answered the phone.

  Chapter 2

  Fifteen minutes later, I leaned forward from where I sat on a little wooden chair, and clicked off my phone.

  My hands were shaking.

  My dad was sick.

  What really bothered me was that he’d kept it from me for nearly a year.

  After my mother died five years ago, our family had drifted apart. Turns out she had been the glue that held us together.

  My father and I had a strange relationship. Though we didn’t talk very often, I still considered us to be close.

  I clung to his words.

  I’m going to be ok. The doctors got it all.

  I blew out a breath. He’d been trying to protect me.

  Whatever.

  He should have told me.

  When I hadn’t been paying attention, it had gotten dark in here.

  I glanced over my shoulder. It looked like twilight outside.

  The eclipse.

  Damn it.

  I was missing it.

  I jumped up and bumped into a wooden box someone from last night’s shift must have left lying about.

  Pain shot through my toe like nobody’s business.

  Tears coming to my eyes, I sat back down and pulled off my right shoe.

  It was dark now and I couldn’t see anything.

  I massaged my injured toe, blinking against the darkness.

  It was suddenly pitch dark inside the cabin and my eyes didn’t have time to adjust.

  I heard someone coming inside the door.

  Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I struggled to see in the darkness.

  They said the eclipse would be a once in a lifetime thing to see, but I hadn’t believed that it would get this dark.

  Pitch dark. Like the middle of the night.

  I sat very quietly, holding my breath. If it had gotten this dark this fast, it had to get daylight again in a few seconds.

  Or minutes.

  I waited.

  My breath shallow. My toe still throbbing.

  If I just sat very still, it would get daylight again.

  It was very quiet now. I couldn’t hear the background noise of the band anymore.

  Maybe they’d stopped playing while the eclipse was happening so they could watch the eclipse, too.

  It was only fair.

  Still. It was too quiet.

  I’d been here once by myself. At night. When the park was closed.

  It was like that.

  But it wasn’t dark and the park wasn’t closed.

  I slipped my shoe back on.

  I heard footsteps again. If I hadn’t known better, I would swear I was back in my apartment. The people who lived above me had a seven-year-old girl who had more energy than a wild horse. In fact, when she got home from school every day, it sounded like a herd of wild horses running over my head.

  This wasn’t that bad, of course.

  It sounded like one person walking around.

  This building, however, had no upstairs.

  I think the original store did. Part of my spiel was explaining how the owners lived above the general store.

  Sometimes they would wake in the middle of the night and have to open up if someone needed something. Sometimes it was something like medical supplies. Or sometimes it was just someone coming in to town who needed supplies.

  They didn’t keep store hours like people did now.

  They just opened up whenever anyone needed to buy something.

  Tourists were often appalled at the lack of boundaries.

  As they answered texts and emails on their phones.

  The more the world changed, the more it stayed the same.

  The footsteps stopped.

  Then I saw the flicker of a candle in the darkness.

  Chapter 3

  Someone carrying a candle was coming toward me.

  In the darkness.

  The eclipse should have passed by now.

  Something was wrong.

  It was a man carrying the candle.

  I sat very still, hoping he wouldn’t see me.

  As he came closer, he looked over his shoulder.

  Though I followed his gaze, I couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a curious tone.

  I put a hand over my eyes. As though that would make it easier to see in the darkness.

  The eclipse should have been over by now.

  Again. Something was wrong.

  But I needed to answer.

  “I stumped my toe,” I said.

  He set the candle on the table between us and I could sort of see his face now.

  “I am sorry,” he said.

  I peered past him, but I couldn’t see the door at all anymore.

  I thought the eclipse was supposed to last just a few seconds. Or minutes. I hadn’t really paid all that much attention.

  “Why is it still dark?” I asked.

  He looked confused by the question.

  “It is night time,” he said. Then after a moment. “Did you fall down? Did you hurt yourself?”

  “What?” I sat up. Straightened my skirts. “I bumped into that box.”

  “Oh,” he said. “My apologies. I left that out last night.”

  He came around and shoved the box over against the wall.

  He was wearing long pants and a whitish cotton shirt. He appeared to be in costume.

  “I thought I was the only one working right now,” I said.

  He turned and looked at me with that strange look again.

  “I have not seen you before,” he said.

  “Nor I you,” I said, adopting his somewhat strangely formal speech.

  He smiled. “You must have come a really long way.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t understand what he meant by that.

  Before I could ask for an explanation, someone pounded on the door.

  The man excused himself and, taking the candle with him, went to the door.

  I heard them talking in muffled tones, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  A few minutes later, the man with the candle came back.

  “He will come back in the morning,” he said.

  I nodded.

  I needed to keep my wits about me. For some reason I couldn’t fathom, it was still dark.

  I’d figure that out later. It wasn’t something I could control anyway.

  “I didn’t catch your name,” I said.

  “Smith,” he said. “Nathaniel Smith.”

  “I’m Abigail,” I said.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you Abigail,” he said.

  “It’s still dark outside,” I said, unable to let it go.

  I really couldn’t see Nathaniel. He was just a shadow behind the soft glow of the little candle.

  “It is cloudy,” he said.

  “Ah.” Somehow that simple statement brought me comfort.

  Perhaps a storm was coming in.

  That could explain the darkness. It was always dark in the cabin since there was no electricity.

  It also explained why everything was quiet. Why the music had stopped. The band had no doubt packed up ahead of the storm.

  Nonetheless, my shift wasn’t over for another few hours.

  And I certainly didn’t want to get caught out in the storm and the traffic. There would be tons of traffic.

  “There is a cot in the back room,” Nathaniel said. “You can sleep there if you like.”

  “Sleep?” I looked toward the door. Into the darkness. “I can’t sleep.”

  Surely Nathaniel didn’t think that I would sleep during work hours.

  “All right,” he said. “I will leave you be. I will be upstairs if you need anything.”

  Back room. Upstairs.

  Wait. This was a one room cabin.

  There was no back room. No upstairs.

  “Do you have another candle?” I asked. “In case I want to go to the back room.”

  “Of course,” he said. “There is one back there. Come. I’ll show you the way.”

  I followed him and the dim candle to what should have been the back wall.

  Instead, there was a door.

  I was absolutely certain that there should have been no back door.

  But we went through the door that shouldn’t have existed. Into what I would describe as a guest room.

  There was a twin sized bed with a little night stand next to it.

  And a chair next to a fireplace.

  None of this should have been here.

  “Take this.” Nathaniel handed me the candle.

  Our fingers brushed and a shiver ran down my spine.

  I reeled myself back.

  I didn’t date coworkers.

  That was something I’d learned the hard way.

  Breakups were much too uncomfortable.

  It was best to just not get involved in the first place.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll stay here for a bit.”

  “Make yourself comfortable,” he said. “We can work everything out in the morning.”

  I set the candle down on the nightstand.

  Perhaps Nathaniel was merely staying in character.

  I wasn’t being very cooperative.

  “Ok,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  “Sleep well.” He smiled and left the room, walking easily through the darkness.

  I slipped my phone out of my pocket.

  No service.

  Chapter 4

  I stared at my phone a few minutes.

  It was fully charged, but had zero service.

  Nothing.

  The only explanation I could think of was that maybe the eclipse had knocked out the power.

  There would be no tourists coming in with it storming.

  I laid down on the bed, my phone on my chest.

  It was so quiet.

  Maybe a quick afternoon nap wouldn’t hurt anything.

  I must have drifted off to sleep.

  I woke to the sound of roosters crowing.

  Roosters?

  Someone had added another level of authenticity to the park. They were always changing things.

  Adding something.

  It was daylight again.

  The storm must have passed.

  As I sat up, my phone clattered onto the floor.

  I leaned over and picked it up. Still no service. None.

  I checked all my settings, but everything seemed to be in order.

  I heard the front door open and close.

  Quickly standing up, I straightened my skirt and combed my hair with my hands.

  I’d never fallen asleep at work before.

  But then I’d never been at work when everything was so off-kilter.

  The eclipse that didn’t end.

  The strange man named Nathaniel.

  The room at the back of the cabin.

  And possibly an upstairs, though I hadn’t seen it yet.

  Lifting my chin, I stepped out into the main room.

  The little store looked much like it always had.

  Sacks of flour. Candles. Bolts of material.

  The front door opened and Nathaniel came back in carrying a pail of water.

  “Ah,” he said. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning,” I said automatically.

  Seeing him in the light of day was quite a bit different from seeing him in the pale candlelight.

  He definitely fit the part. A lean man with sun-kissed skin. He had a ready smile I hadn’t notice last night… earlier.

  Now he had me thinking it had been nighttime.

  “Has the storm passed?” I asked to distract myself from my own thoughts.

  “Storm?” He set the pail of water down next to the wood stove. “I suppose so.”

  “Anyone out there?” I went to the table and began to set the table with the clay plates and silver forks.

  “No one else is up yet,” he said. “Except for the Stanley brothers. They’re heading out to the fields.”

  “Right,” I nodded.

  “You know them?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  “Good men,” he said, moving to light the stove.

  I had expected to have to train him how to do that, but he seemed to already know.

  He must have transferred in from another park.

  He wasn’t much older than I was, so I didn’t think he’d worked here before the park was renovated.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  We weren’t supposed to eat on the job.

  No cell phone use.

  No sleeping.

  No eating.

  While I was breaking all the rules, I might as well break all of them.

  “Sure,” I said, sitting at the wooden kitchen table.

  I watched as he cooked—mixing flour and water in a bowl.

  Again, I was surprised at how authentic he was.

  He moved with sure, swift movements

  I relaxed and looked around the room. He’d straightened things around. Somehow added more authenticity.

  The scent of bacon drew my attention back to him.

  He smiled at me.

  His cheeks were covered with a five o’clock shadow. Really. He could have been on the cover a men’s magazine.

  Except for his clothes. His clothes were rough. But instead of taking away from his good looks, they accented them. He looked quite comfortable in his historic outfit.

  “After breakfast,” he said. “I have to walk down to the river. You can come if you want to.”

  “Sure,” I said. Why not break the other rule? No leaving your station except for five-minute restroom breaks.

  I had no doubt at this point that I was going to be fired.

  After breakfast, which was much more tasty than anything I’d ever managed with little to no ingredient, we cleaned up the kitchen as we prepared to go outside.

  “Ready?” he asked, pulling a rifle off pegs over the door.

  That gun had not been there before.

  He pushed opened the door and I stepped out into the sunlight.

  Chapter 5

 

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