When the three men emerged from the Portal, the new edition was not there which meant they had to take a decent hike to reach the old house. David didn’t mind the walk as the fresh air, even a little extra time, let him wake up and recover from the headache that was still nagging him. As the three projections were walking back to the house, they could hear wood being chopped behind the house, a sound David easily recalled from his childhood. Yet the sound wasn’t helping with his current state, as each chop made his head hurt just a little bit more. David also remembered that his dad did this whenever mother ordered him to do so because she loved to put the fireplace on every once and while. Their dad stopped chopping as he noticed the three men approaching and greeted them with a smile.
“Hey Ricky,” he called out to the first person he spotted.
“Hey dad,” Ricky said, as he walked over and hugged his old man. “Gail got your message, and we traveled back to you as quickly as we could.”
“Fantastic,” Dad said, looking over at his other son. “David, you don’t look so well. Are you alright?”
“I’ll be okay,” David lied, “I’m just a little under the weather.”
“More like a little hung over,” his father corrected him, and then he looked over at David’s shoulder to realize that his own father, who had far more white hair than he ever remembered was standing behind David.
“Son,” Harv called out, with a sly grin on his face.
“Hold on,” father said, his face looking quite surprised, “What the hell are you doing here? How old are you?”
“I’ll be eighty-nine in a few months,” Harv answered, “Nice to see you too.”
“How the hell are you still alive?” Dad asked.
Ricky seemed a little nervous as he hadn’t told Dad about the futuristic hospital that they had in the basement of the new edition.
“David convinced me to quit smoking and eat more greens.” Harv answered, “You’d be surprised what a difference that makes.”
“Ah huh,” Dad said, as he didn’t believe it for a second, “I’d love to dig deeper into this, but there’s something more pressing that demands our attention.”
“So, we’ve been told,” David said, clearing his throat. “Let’s get inside. The sun is giving me an awful migraine.”
The men all went into the house and straight into Father’s study, where he quickly sat down and took a sip of scotch. David and Ricky took a seat while Harv preferred to remain standing with his arms folded.
“Shit,” Harve cussed, “This can’t be good if you’re already into the scotch this early in the morning.”
“And what’s that?” father asked, curious to what the old man thought.
“That somewhere in time it’s all hitting the fan,” Harv completed.
“As much as I hate to admit it,” father replied, taking another sip. “The old man is right. There’s been a significant time shift.”
“Shit,” Ricky cussed out loud.
“Son of a bitch,” Harv joined him, not pleased about it one bit.
“Excuse me,” David stepped in, “What exactly is a time shift?”
“It’s when something big changes in history,” his father replied, “but we’re the only ones who notice it.”
“I’ll give you an example,” Ricky added, “Let’s I’m walking down the street and I accidentally bump into someone, and that person gets hit by a bus and die. I didn’t mean to do it, but that one small incident could have a ripple effect that creates problems all over world.”
“How so?” David asked, trying to understand. “It’s just one person.”
“What if it was a person was a lady named Churchill?” Harv suggested, “And now because she’s dead she doesn’t have any kids… one of which was named Winston.”
“Okay,” David conceded, “That would be bad.”
“No shit,” Harv concurred, “Suddenly the United Kingdom is short one fearless leader during the second world war and the time shift is everyone in Europe is speaking German, eating sauerkraut, and there are statues of Hitler in every capital.”
“Wow,” David said, thinking about it. “All that from one person?”
“Time is very delicate,” David’s Dad added, “We must treat every person like their future offspring could be the next Churchill or Kennedy. This is why we have so many rules that must be memorized and followed whenever we time travel.”
“This is deep,” David said, “So, how often does this happen?”
“This is only the third time I’ve ever felt a time shift,” father continued, “They don’t happen that often, and unless it’s world changing like Harv suggested, then most of the time we don’t interfere because we could only end up making things worse.”
“So, what’s happened now?” David asked, “What’s changed?”
“It’s something that actually affects us this time,” Father said, “Someone out there has successfully invented a time machine.”
“Whoa,” Ricky said, as he thought about it.
“Son of a bitch!” Harv called out again, “When the hell did this happen? How did you find out?”
“I spoke to one of our relatives,” Father answered, “And he bumped into another person that was not of his time. I also bumped into another time traveler as well. It happened last weekend. There are starting to be more and more of them out there, which suggests that whatever device they’re using is being replicated by a select few and these people are traveling with little regard for history’s stability. I cannot begin to tell you what that means for us.”
“Oh, I know what it means.” Harv said, looking rather steamed. “We’re going to be up to our assholes in friggin’ paradoxes!”
“We were hoping to give you more time before tossing you into the deep end, David.” His father told him, “But we might not have a choice. You’re going to be dealing with your first paradox sooner rather than later.”
“He’s tough,” Harv said, vouching for his grandson. “He’s got the muscle and dedication to kick time’s ass and whatever time tosses at him. David’s addition is a godsent, because we could use the extra muscle if we’re going to deal with more people trying to manipulate the past.”
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“Something tells me a lot of my free time is about to disappear,” David said as he leaned over to look at the page. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“I’m afraid so, sport,” Father confirmed, “This is your first assignment. When you return to the cave, change into the proper clothes, go back to this time and fix the paradox in question as quickly as you can. I was going to send you by yourself but since we have an extra body here you can take Harv with you. Is that alright with you?”
“That’s fine,” Harv answered, “I will help out but let the kid take care of as much of it on his own as he can.”
“This shouldn’t be too difficult,” David confessed, “I’ve already visited this place. I’ve even met the subject in question, so I’ve already built a decent rapport.”
“You have?” David’s father said, “That’s interesting. Let’s talk more about your travels over supper. I had Mom make roast beef and Yorkshire pudding for supper.”
After supper, David spent the first night speaking with his father about the paradox that he was assigned and what actions needed to be taken to resolve them. The next day, he and Harv spend the afternoon near the cave, shooting at jars and bottles just to stay sharp. Upon returning to the cave, David and Harv didn’t waste any time as they strolled back to the house to change. The shed that Ricky used to change their clothes in was torn down as it was too much in the open and not that secure. Instead, there was now a fully stocked change room inside the house which was just an enormous walk-in closet full of various clothing fitted to help anyone blend into whatever times they were trying to travel back to. As they were changing into their new digs for the next trip, Harv couldn’t help but talk about what he heard at the dinner table.
“You never mentioned you went back to that time and place,” Harv started, “Why did you want to visit him?”
“Just seemed like a good idea,” David confessed, “Talk to the legend himself, one marshal to another.”
“Oh, now I get it,” Harv said with a soft smile, “That’s like a baseball player going back in time to meet Babe Ruth and pick his brain. I’d would want to milk that for all it’s worth too.”
“As someone who has the same job,” David continued, “I just wanted to see if meeting him and seeing how he did things might make me a better marshal, and even a better lawman in general.”
“This gives us an in, but we still have some explaining to do.” Harv added.
“I’m well aware of that,” David said, “They offered me a job and then I just disappeared in the middle of the night, never to be seen again. They probably thought I was murdered and buried out in the desert.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Harv said, confident in his skills. “If there’s one thing this group understands more than anything, it’s loyalty to family. They’ll be alright when I explain it to them.”
They left anything high tech in the dressing room, carrying only weapons and tools that were from that period. Even the guns were period, which was going to take some getting used to for David, as he was spoiled not only by his fourteen bullet clips of his time, but of the unlimited guns from the future. As they were leaving the house, Gale gave their outfits the thumbs up.
“Go kick that paradox’s ass.” She said to them. “Good luck, David.”
“We’ll be fine,” Harv snarled, “This is a good one to get his feet wet with.”
The two men looked like Western gunslingers, as they strolled into the cave, and both traveled back to the same period together, arriving just as the sun was going down. They resisted the urge to hit a saloon and immediately walked over to the Sheriff’s station in the middle of town.
“David?” one of the deputies said as he recognized him. “Where the hell have you been? We all thought you were taken out!”
“No time to explain,” David said as he walked up, “Where’s Virgil and Wyatt?”
“Virgil is playing pool with Morgan at the saloon,” the deputy answered, “And Wyatt volunteered to do the rounds, bad night with all this rain too.”
“Which way did he go?” David demanded with a harsh tone.
The deputy pointed and both men walked off as fast as they could in the same direction.
“Where has time changed?” Harv asked as they were walking fast to catch up with Wyatt.
“Virgil was supposed to be doing these rounds, not Wyatt.” David answered, “This was where Virgil was supposed to lose his right arm. Instead, Dad says Wyatt gets killed right here, five decades too early.”
“Wyatt was supposed to outlive all the Earps, so yeah, just a tiny change.” Harv said as they kept walking. “There he is!”
“Wyatt!” David called out as he started running up to him.
Wyatt on instinct turned around with a hand on his gun but tensed down when he realized who it was.
“David,” Wyatt called out. “When did you get back into town?”
“DUCK!” David called as he pulled out his pistol.
Rather than ask questions, Wyatt did as he was told and hit the dirt just as Curly Bill tried to gun him down, missing the lawman completely. David returned fire, hitting the wood beam just above Bill’s head, which sent him scrambling and running away like the sniveling little coward he was. David could have easily blown that little weasel’s head off but was aware that killing that piece of shit before his time could have caused more paradoxes, so he intentionally missed his head just enough to spook him.
“That’s right, Bill!” David called out as he fired more shots above the running man, “You keep running, you yellow bellied bastard!”
Harv walked over and helped Wyatt to his feet. As the lawman was brushing the dirt off himself, he looked back at David.
“Thanks,” Wyatt said, “With all the rain coming down, I never saw him there.”
“We got word that Bill and his goons were going to take a shot at you tonight,” Harv explained, “So, we rode hard into town to make sure that didn’t happen.”
“Thanks again,” Wyatt repeated, and looked at Harv. “Who are you?”
“That’s my old man,” David answered, fibbing just a bit.
“It’s an honor,” Wyatt said, shaking Harv’s hand. “Wyatt Earp.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Harv said, “Now we need to get back before…”
There was another shot in the background, as a rifle fired a few shots which caused Wyatt to run off. It was easy to tell that the shots came from the saloon where Morgan and Virgil were playing. David wanted to follow Wyatt, but Harv grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Let him go,” Harv said, “We’ve interfered enough.”
“That had to be Morgan,” David said, recalling how history played out.
“Let it play out,” Harv repeated, “And why did you miss?”
“One paradox is more than enough,” David answered, “Curly Bill isn’t supposed to die for another five weeks. Last thing we want is Johnny Ringo taking over that outfit way earlier than he was supposed to.”
“Alright, good point.” Harv agreed, “Now we’re going to need to lie low for the next few days.”
When they returned to saloon, Morgan was already dead and Virgil had taken one in the arm inside the saloon rather than walking around, which was close enough for history to get back on track. Even though Harv warned against it, David walked up to Wyatt to offer his support.
“We can hang in town for a few days.” David offered, “Watch your back while you take care of your brothers.”
“Thank you,” Wyatt said again, “I could use the extra hands, especially from good people I can trust.”
Harv and David went back to the Sheriff’s house and watched the town that night, which allowed Wyatt to be at the hotel with Virgil while the doctor was trying to save his arm. After the significance of what had just happened that night, David was jacked and full of adrenaline, so he was fully awake and able to watch the town as long as they needed him to. David stood there, pacing the porch with a shotgun laying on his shoulder when a rather pale and slender man came strolling up to them.
“Why, David Jones!” The man called out with a small grin on his face. “It appears that the slanderous rumors concerning your untimely demise were greatly exaggerated. It pleases me to see you again, especially during these difficult times.”
“Good to see you too, Doc.” David said, cracking a grin at the gambler. “How the hell are you holding up?”
“About as well as someone can be on such a dreadful night,” Doc replied, “Where might I be able to find Wyatt?”
“He’s at the hotel with Virgil.” Harv replied.
“Thank you kindly, good Sir.” Doc said, tipping his hat to him before limping off.
“Jesus,” Harv said, as he watched him walk away. “That boy is paler than a bed sheet. How the hell is he even alive?”
“Barely would be my guess.” David answered, “His lungs must feel like shit in the Arizona heat. He needs to be where the air is thinner and cold, like Colorado.”
“Next time you see him, drop the hint before we go,” Harv suggested, “Just to make sure that part of history stays on track.”
“Yeah, but I’ll try to keep things to a minimum till tomorrow.” David said, as they had interfered enough with the night thus far. He was just glad that he and his grandfather were able to get to Wyatt before the worst could happen. Whoever shifted time nearly caused the infamous gunslinger to meet an early grave, and David was happy to save his hero and even get to hang out with him again. David took his eyes off Doc as he was limping off and then continued to look around. As he did, there was a small flash that grabbed David’s attention: a small camera flash. A flash that came from a small piece of tech that hadn’t been invented yet.
“Son of a bitch!” David said, when he realized what he’d seen.
“What is it?” Harv asked.
“Time traveler!” David said, as he leapt over the rail and off the porch.