Arms heavy and chest on fire, Lori's eyes opened slowly. It took her a few moments to register that she was, in fact, not dead. That she was laying on her back, face up towards the sky. Tall trees were all around her, swaying lightly in the breeze. Pulling herself upright, Lori took a quick look around.
A forest. Trees all around, her brain trying to recall if there were ever so many trees at her local park. Though, something was telling her that she wasn't in her local park anymore. Lori stood, her legs shaking as her head pounded and her world spun.
What the hell?
"Sam?" she called out, looking between the trees to see if she could see her friend. There was nothing, just Lori and the trees. Lori took a glance down and spotted the watch at her feet. She bent down and scooped it up, the metal still warm. She frowned at it, remembering that she had pried it open, and then...nothing.
"Sam!" she called out, moving into the trees, stumbling over roots as she did so. She needed to find her friend, to make sure she was okay.
And, more importantly, that she wasn't alone.
She kept walking, her heart pounding harshly in her chest. It felt like she was having a heart attack, the organ in her chest pumping and skipping beats. She wanted to go home now. She needed to go home.
She continued to walk, finding a slightly warn down path that she assumed that people had walked down. Her hand reached out, stabling herself against a tree as her brown eyes scanned the area for any sign of movement. She didn't care if it was an animal or another human being. She just needed to know where she was, or how she got here.
The sun was over head, beaming down at her. The air was clean, fresh. It helped soothe the fire in her chest and throat, her headache was fading. She paused when she heard a twig snap, a shaking breathe leaving her lungs as she turned her head. She couldn't see anything, her hands starting to shake.
"Lori?" came a call as the figure moved out from behind some trees. Sam's expression changed from one of worry to relief at the sight of her distressed friend.
"Oh, thank god, Sam!" Lori called out, running over to her friend and pulled her into a tight embrace, and younger teen chuckling slightly.
"Have you been out here all this time?" Sam asked, Lori pulling back to look at her. There was something different about Sam, her hair was a little messier and when she turned her head slightly, she could see her black hair was braided Not to mention her clothes, she looked to be wearing a sort of felt dress with a pair of boots.
"How long have you been here?" Lori asked after Sam stepped back a bit.
"A few weeks."
Lori blinked, shocked, "I just woke up."
"Really?" Sam asked, placing a hand on her chin, "that's odd. I'm surprised I didn't find you sooner."
Lori sighed, annoyed and relieved at the same time. She had just found her friend again, at least Sam wasn't lost somewhere. Though, it seemed that they had the roles switched around.
"Do you have the pocket watch?" Sam asked, her eyes hopeful. She seemed cheery, despite what was happening. Lori made a mental note to ask her about that later as she reached into her pocket and held out the watch for Sam to take.
Sam flicked open the watch, looking at the clock. It seemed to be working just fine, which was a little odd.
"I think," Sam started, glancing up at the older teen, "this watch has something to do about why we are here."
"It's a pocket watch." Lori stated slowly as if she was talking to a toddler. Sam shot her an annoyed look, then nodded towards her.
"You don't believe me?" she asked, lifting her chin slightly. It was a habit she had when she knew something was right. She had often corrected their history teacher a number of times, Lori always picking up on the slight chin lift and the look in her eyes.
And that was the same look she was giving her now, and that's what scared her.
Sam turned on her heel, waving her hand to tell her to follow her. Lori went willingly, following her friend through the bush for a few minutes.
"Where are we?" Lori finally asked after a few minutes of walking, Sam glancing behind her shoulder at her.
"I gather we are a few miles from Saguenay River," Sam said, continuing her walk down the path, "I think."
"Wait, Saguenay River?" Lori asked, pausing, "Quebec?"
"Yep."
"We are in Quebec?" Lori asked, Sam nodding her head. "Isn't it supposed to be a city? A few towns?"
"Not at this point in time." Sam said, a slight smirk to her mouth. Lori stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth slightly agape.
"What do you mean?" she asked, Sam stopping to face her. She chuckled, gesturing to herself.
"You haven't figured it out?" she asked, "that watch, well, it sent us back in time. I gather we are in the time of the fur trade. When the colonies were just starting to settle. Maybe if we stay long enough we can see a few wars."
"Are you kidding me?" Lori asked, staring at her with wide eyes. Sam smiled, completely calm.
"I wish I was."
"This can't be happening," Lori stated, looking around, "this is some stupid joke, right? Where are we?"
"When are we would be a better question," Sam stated, Lori giving her a sharp look. She just shook her head, continuing to walk.
"Come! You don't believe me?" she asked, "I'll show you."
Lori shook her head, pausing for a few moments before she walked off after her friend.
Sam lead her into a clearing where people were walking around, some of them looked like the soldiers that she had seen in her history book. Lori stared at a few of them as Sam lead her inside the fort, Lori looking around in amazement. Sam just smiled at her in amusement.
"Amazing, isn't it?" she asked quietly, leading her friend down the wooden walk ways towards a small house. It was attached to a number of other small ones, Sam quickly pushing open the door and closed it, closing the window as well.
Lori glanced around the house, a fire burning in the small fireplace was the only light. Sam lit a few candles and walked across the room, opening up a chest and pulled out some clothing. She placed the clothing down on the table that Lori was standing by. She was still taking in the house, the bed that seemed to have some sort of fur draped over it.
"This has to be some re-enactment or something, Sam." she stated after a few moments. "This is getting too Twilight Zone for me."
"As I said before, I wish I was joking," she stated, then pointed towards the folded fabric sitting on the table. "Put those on. You don't want to get the same nickname they gave me here. 'The female with odd clothing'."
Lori raised an eyebrow, but took the clothing from her. "So, how did you get this? The clothing? The small house?"
"His name is Jacob, I believe," Sam said, "found me outside the fort the day I woke up. It's been almost three weeks, which is odd because I was sure you would have woken up right away like I did."
"Well, it's not a lie. I woke up a few hours ago," Lori stated, pulling the clothing on and took a seat at the table with Sam. "So...we are traveling through time."
"Yeah," Sam said with a sigh, "I've managed to avoid meeting too many people, so maybe it would give us enough time to fix the watch and get back to our own time."
"So, you really believe that this old and rusty watch is actually a time machine?" Lori asked, a smile breaking out across her face.
"Well, how to do suppose we got all the way to Quebec?" Sam asked, "I mean, all of this can't be some re-enactment to attract tourists."
Lori just shook her head, "what made you decide that this isn't just that?"
"I saw a Frenchman shoot a native," she stated, shaking her head. "You just can't fake that."
Lori blinked at her, shaking her head. "So, we really are...?"
Sam nodded, folding her hands on the table.
"Well," Lori said with a sigh, "this is just awesome."