Tommy Makes It Rich

Chapter 11. 07 January 1900

07 January 1900

I awoke to see the sleeping form of Jackie as a ten year old once again. Yesterday she was 12 and seemed a bit fatter than now. Her features were more angular but she still looked good to me. “Wake up, Jackie.” I whispered.

Her eyes blinked opened and she smiled. “Oh it's you.” She said.

"Who were you expecting?” I asked.

“Well, I wasn’t sure you were coming. We haven’t seen you for a few days. Where have you been? Here put these on.” She said shoving some clothes at me. I explained where or rather when I had been since last we met as we did the milking.

At breakfast I went over it all again with Jackie’s mother and then we got out an exercise book and wrote out the news articles that I had committed to memory. Mrs. Andrews said. “I don’t know that this is going to work.”

“Well, these are the ones you recommended to me in 1902. You said the others didn’t go so well and these were the pick of the bunch.”

“So the very first thing we are going to do is go to the races, is that right?" Mrs. Andrews said skeptically. “And how do you propose we get there? Who is going to stay home to do the milking? You do know it takes nearly four hours to get to town so we can’t go in and out in one day.”

“Mrs. Andrews I see there are two ways of doing it. First you could go and Jackie stays home and does the milking. Or we could all three go by horse and cart. The race meet we want is not on till Saturday 21 January.”

“Horse? What horse?” they both chorused.

“Jock will be bringing a horse for you in a few days. Oh that reminds me. Jock passed away yesterday in 1967. I had a chat to him not long before he died. He remembered bringing you the horse and I saw it yesterday right out the front.”

“How does that happen?” Mrs. Andrews asked.

 “I am not sure.” I confessed. “I think I arrange it some time from the future.” I then went on to explain about the letter in the box and how what I do changes the future and I can keep changing it.

The next couple of weeks were spent in both times doing the things that farmers do. I managed to go to bed exactly at 7 pm each night so I was living a dual life. One day in 1967 where I was just the son of a farmer and then that day was repeated where I was the time traveler guest of Mrs. Andrews and her daughter Jackie. The horse showed up as expected and I learnt to ride as well as harness her for the cart.

We saw Jock a number of times when he collected the cream and brought newspapers. It was bit surreal knowing his fate. But it was funny how I liked Jock the old man. But Jock the kid was so cocky and was always playing up to Jackie that I could not stand him. But we needed him so I bit my tongue and said nothing. If I had of said something he would probably have belted me. He was a good head taller than me, and a year older.

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