The good, the bad and the traveller.

Hide and seek

Thomas

"Audrey. You ready, sweetheart?" I asked my daughter, who was fidgeting nervously with her gloved hands. I've travelled through the timeline to protect it hundreds of times before, but for my bean sprout, it was the very first time. "Yeah, dad. I'm fine." I heard her say. She didn't sound fine, but I understood. The first time is always scary. I was waiting for the other guys, who were getting ready in their clothes and getting their weapons cleared. We are about to go 400 years back in time, to save my ancestor; Jeremiah Morrison. How do we know that's the person in danger? I forgot who my own damn child was.. Just for a moment though. I talked to the agency I worked for and they helped us out just fine.

My wife didn't like that I felt like I needed to bring Audrey but hell.. What if something happened and she'd be gone forever..? I wouldn't be able to live with myself..

"Thomas." I looked up when I heard my name, and my good friend, Alexander appeared in my view. "You sure you want to bring her? The old west is a violent place." He said. I nodded. I knew that it was. Violence was pretty much eradicated in this time.. This was going to be a whole lot different.. "I have little choice, Alex. I can't risk losing her." I muttered while i pushed a gun into the holster on my belt. Alexander nodded and he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "She needs to stay close to us at all times. Maybe leave her with one of the big guys in a saloon every now and then while we go out." He said while shrugging his shoulders. I nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea." I muttered.

A voice over rang and the platform that would send us 400 years back into time lit up. "Ready everyone?!" I called out, while walking over to it. I was followed by Alex, Audrey, our historian and some buff guys the agency felt we should take with us. Dressed in our best attire and armed to the teeth we made ready.

This was three days ago. Audrey never made it with us to Tombstone. We had searched ourselves to near death, asking around if anyone had seen her, but no.. We had managed to contact the agency shortly, but they said that she did travel with us through the timeline. And that she should have landed there with us. They also said that they were going to do their best to locate her, but I stopped believing that crap long ago. They have the best equipment in our century, but do they use it? No. Of course not.

"Thomas!" I heard someone call out to me and I turned around, to see Micheal, our historian, come over to us, waving a telegram in the air. Oh yeah, we had sent out messages, or telegrams, to other towns in Arizona.. Hopefully praying she had landed at the wrong coordinates instead of anything else.
He walked over to me, panting like he had just ran a marathon. "What's the news, Mike?" I asked and he handed a small piece of paper to me. I took it and looked at it, letting my eyes fly over the words. 'To Mr Morrison. Girl of description found. In Oatman, Arizona. Left. One day ago. On horse with man.'

I kept staring at the paper. Somewhere I was relieved that she was seen but.. The last sentence made the hairs on my neck stand straight up.. On horse with man.. That could mean so many things.. Did she go willingly? Is that particular man to be trusted..? Are they even on their way here..? "Thanks Mike.." He nodded but lifted a finger before I could walk away. "What does it say..?" He asked and I sighed. "Gather the men." I just muttered and I walked inside of the saloon we'd been sitting in, planning. We have 2 weeks left to save our ancestor.. And she better be back by then.

When we all had gathered around a table, and a lovely lady brought our drinks, we started to discuss. We couldn't all go after Audrey.. And even though I love my daughter a lot, she isn't currently the priority.. I looked over at Alex, who was now reading the telegram with a frown. "So you assume she was taken by someone?" He asked and I nodded. A lonely girl who seems lost is an easy target. I sighed as he gave me the telegram back. "I'll take one of the guys, and we'll ride out into the desert. Maybe we'll find her." I heard Alex say and I sighed once more, biting on the inside of my cheek. "Are you sure about that, Alex?" I asked and he immediately nodded. "Course, Thomas. We'll get her back. You focus on Jeremiah."