Out Of Time

The Storyteller

"So...Dutch knows too?" John asked.

"And Hosea," Arthur replied.

John rubbed his face.  "Good Lord..."

Sam lowered her gaze.  "If you don't believe me, that's fine.  Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

Arthur sighed.  "Well, I'm pretty sure Bill will be talkin' about it back at camp.  Maybe not Lenny, but definitely Bill."

Sam groaned and grabbed her head.  "Oh man, what am I gonna do?"

Arthur lifted her head.  "Hey, it's gonna be alright.  No one is gonna think any less of you, and if they do, they're gonna answer to me."

Sam chuckled bitterly.  "You can't protect me from this, Arthur.  They'll either think I'm crazy or a witch."

"Do you at least have proof?" John asked.

Sam grabbed her wallet from her satchel and opened it to show John.  "Look at my driver's license."

John took the wallet and looked at it.  His eyes went wide.  "This is...this is...what the hell is this?  What's a driver's license?"

"It gives me permission to drive a, uh, horseless carriage."

John laughed a little.  "This is insane."

Sam snatched back her wallet and stuffed it into her satchel.   "I know.  Believe me, when I first got here, I thought it was insane too.  I thought I was dreaming."

The three people walked off the dock to their horses.  "How did you get here?"

"From dream.  I dreamed about a buck, touched it, a light flashed, then I ended up just outside Colter."

John, Arthur and Sam mounted up.  "My God.  That must've been hell for you."

"It was.  You've heard the stories, I imagine."

"Yes."  The three left Lagras and headed out to the road.  "I just...this still seems so hard to believe."

"I know," Sam said.  "But it's the truth."

"So, what is the future like?"

Sam explained to John all kinds of things about the future as they rode onward.  By the time they got home, it was early in the morning and both Arthur and John were very well educated on what the future was like.  Apparently, she'd left out a lot when first explaining it to Arthur.  They all left their horses and as Sam walked into camp, she noticed all eyes were on her.  She felt the urge to hide behind Arthur when she spotted people gawking at her.  Arthur seemed to notice and he wrapped an arm around Sam tightly.

"Come on, let's go get some sleep," he said.

Sam nodded and walked with him, hiding her face in his chest.  This was so embarassing.  They entered the house where they were greeted by Reverend Swanson.

"Mrs. Morgan, is it really true? Are you from the-" he began to ask.

Arthur cut him off.  "She can answer questions later.  Right now, we're both tired and need rest."

Arthur walked passed with Sam before Swanson could retort.  When they got to their bedroom, Sam collapsed on the bed face first and groaned into the pillow.  Arthur laughed and crawled into bed with her, resting an arm around her. 

"You okay?" he questioned.

"Not really," she replied as she lifted her head.

Arthur stroked her hair.  "Just get some sleep, sweetheart.  It'll all be better when you wake up."