Tunnels Of Time

Little Chicago?

7:30 PM Friday Night

   Andrea looked up Main Street and stopped short at the sight. Gone were the cars zooming up and down only a few short minutes before; gone were the traffic lights blinking red and green to control the flow of vehicles; gone too were many of the buildings she was used to seeing. Instead Andrea saw a few horses and buggies. And cars! The Model T kind she had seen at the Western Development Museum, and ancient looking street lights with huge glass globes. She wrapped her arms around her midriff to keep from shaking. What was going on? It must be a joke, it must be a joke, Andrea repeated over and over in her mind, like a chant, as she stared unbelieving at the scene before her eyes.
    She shook her head a few times as if to clear it, but the town remained, smaller, older, and almost unrecognizable in her eyes. Andrea felt tears begin to threaten and knew that wouldn't help her at all. She wasn't a crybaby at the worst of times, and even though this was really bad, she refused to give in to tears. So she had gone back in time; other people had done it like...like in the movies. But this was real life! What was she to do? Andrea absolutely rejected the idea that she was stuck in the 1920s forever. There had to be some way back to the present and to her family and she intended to find it.

   How long she stood there gawking at the town gone awry, Andrea could not say. People brushed by her, politely excusing themselves and hurrying off into the evening sun. Andrea finally gave herself a mental shake. Standing rooted to one spot in front of the train station would only bring attention to herself. The best thing to do, she decided, was to stay with Vance, but to do that, she would have to brave the Men's Room and go in search of him. Resolutely, Andrea turned back to the station.

She found the Men's Room along the outer wall of the train station, its windows facing Manitoba Street. A huge doorway led into the facility, and with great reluctance Andrea allowed her feet to march her inside. She let her mind go blank, preparing herself for any strange sights she might encounter. There were two rooms, she discovered as soon as she'd crossed the threshold of the main doorway. One room was obviously the place for relieving oneself and, with a huge sigh of gratitude, Andrea avoided that room totally. The other room appeared to be a smoking and sitting room of sorts. Andrea decided to try there first. She stepped to her right and entered the sitting room. Large couches and armchairs were scattered around, as well as a table where a few men sat talking quietly. They glanced up as she entered and she froze for a moment, wondering if they would guess that she was female and definitely in the wrong place.

"Psst." Andrea heard and turned back toward the sound to discover Vance waving wildly at her from the doorway. "Come on," he urged. "We ain't got time now. Gotta meet the train from Chicago. Just follow me, I'll teach ya the ropes!" He disappeared out the door and into the busy train station.

Andrea had trouble keeping up with him as he darted back down the stairs to the underpass and then up the other stairs to the platform where a train was just pulling into the station. Andrea watched as a thin, pale man approached Vance and talked rapidly. Vance nodded several times and jerked his head in Andrea's direction. The man watched her rather unwilling approach, looking her up and down several times.

"You'll do," he pronounced. "Listen to the boy," he muttered, jerking a thumb in Vance's direction. "He's one of the best. Stick with him, kid, and you'll learn a lot."

The man stepped back into the shadows leaving Andrea and Vance alone on the platform. "What are we doing here?" she whispered frantically.
  "We gotta carry the passengers to certain spots, see."
"Carry?!"
"Shh! Here they come now." Andrea watched as six men came slowly down the length of the platform. They had obviously just gotten off the train. Even with Andrea's modern taste in clothing, she could tell that these gentlemen were well dressed. They wore white baggy trousers and white hats and blue or black dinner jackets and shiny shoes. But who were they?