In the Wake of the Blizzard (Blizzard Part II)

“You’re from Earth, aren’t you?”

Jean Daniel’s question left me speechless. I’d nearly blurted out “Of course,” but just as he had seemed to have a lightbulb moment a few seconds ago, I was having one now. Even though I’d only been visiting family, the mountains and the trees had never looked right today. Jean Daniel’s guns were basically relics compared to those back home, though to be fair they had killed the snow tiger. Heck, that name alone should have told me that there was something wrong. I’d just been too frightened to think about it.

Suddenly Jean Daniel started to laugh. “That’s what my face must have looked like when I first realized it, too.” He said as he sat down in a chair

He’s from Earth? I thought as I sat down. “How’d we end up here?”

His expression turned. “I’d hoped that you would shed some light on that. I woke up here five years ago.”

“Five years?!”

He nodded. “Well, not here specifically. I woke up on a ship bound for Kingston and stayed there the first winter, then I came out west the next summer and have been mostly in this area ever since.”

Five years. I couldn’t believe being out here for that long. Then again, he had clearly done well for himself. The cabin and the barn looked well built and had that rustic charm I’d always loved. And he could clearly handle a gun and wasn’t afraid of the local predators. “Do you know anything about what brought you here?”

He shook his head. “I spent almost a year searching for answers before I left Kingston. Never caught so much as a whiff.”

There was a twinkle in his eye. I’d been around enough young men to know that he was scheming something. “What are you thinking?”

“If we follow your trail back, we may find an answer.” My heart leapt in my throat, but I glanced to the shuttered windows and saw that the light behind them was dim. He seemed to recognize my thoughts. “We would need to follow your tracks tomorrow. I wouldn’t expect any more snow tigers, but this world does have plenty of wolves.”

I felt a twinge of fear. I’d be alone all night with this stranger. Sure, he’d saved my life, but what could I do if he were like some of the guys I knew at college? There was no one to stop him.

“Don’t worry. I can sleep in the barn with Frost if that would make you feel better about this.” He said with a smile. “I still remember my first day. I was lucky to convince the sailors that I wasn’t a stowaway, or it would not have been a pleasant experience. They made sure to tell me the stories afterwards.”

“What kind of ship was it?” I asked, relieved that Jean Daniel still had some decency to him.

“A two-masted sloop. She’d been a blockade runner during the last war and was now a smuggler’s ship. You can imagine the master’s surprise and disdain when I seemingly smuggled myself aboard his ship.”

“That would be startling. What did you do before the ship?”

He looked to the ceiling, as though trying to recall those memories. “Nothing really of note. I had graduated college and was working a desk job at an engineering firm. Needed to get out one night and fell asleep stargazing. I woke up on the ship.”

I chuckled at this.

“What?”

“I never would have guessed you for an engineer, though,” I said as I glanced around the cabin, “that would explain your design style. Very efficient layout. I’m guessing this place is built like a fort.”

His face turned a little red. Clearly he wasn’t used to getting a compliment from a girl. Typical of the few engineering students I’d met. “Well, she hasn’t given me any problems. My cabin higher up survived a thirty foot snowfall last year, but that place has a much steeper roof pitch.”

“Nerd.” I teased, and he went a little redder.

“What were you back home?” he asked.

I sighed. “I’m still in college, majoring in film design. Lived in LA my whole life, though I have cousins up in Oregon that I love visiting. I won the college surfing competition a few months ago, almost won the beach volleyball tournament after that, and had plans to go to Hawaii with some friends after the semester finished.”

“26 doesn’t run through California. Guessing you were up with your cousins when you went off the road, right?”

Wow, he remembered that. “I was. My cousin Gwen had a riding exposition and I dressed up for the occasion.”

“They the ones that taught you to ride and shoot?”

I breathed a laugh. “You’re figuring me out pretty quick.”

Jean Daniel smiled. “Engineers like patterns.”

“So it would seem. Anything else?”

“Guessing you still live with your parents?”

“Do you know how expensive college is?” I shot back. For some reason, that question stung. All he had to do was raise his eyebrows and I realized my mistake. “Sorry, of course you do.”

“That’s alright. I stayed home the first couple years myself. Good financial choice, but I had a much better time once I moved out.”

“Then why’d you ask?”

Jean Daniel held his tongue for a moment. “Forgive my saying so, but you come across as very sheltered.”

“And why-” I stopped myself before I went any further. My gaze turned to one of the cabin walls. If he had once been sheltered in addition to being an engineer, he no longer was. “I guess trying to walk out of a snowstorm would seem a bit foolish to you.”

“You’re not the only fool who’s tried.” he remarked, then he smiled. “Though you might be the prettiest.”

I felt my cheeks blush, and his went a couple shades redder. I played coy. “Isn’t it a bit soon to say that, cowboy?”

“Actually I’m a mountain man, Miss Sierra, and that was revenge for the nerd comment earlier.” he stood up and made for a cupboard. “I don’t have much in the way of variety, but I’m mighty hungry. You good with meat and potatoes,” he turned back towards her, “or are you more the herbivore type?”

I feigned offence. “I may be a California surfer girl, but I’ll eat anything you put in front of me.”

“Good to hear.” Jean Daniel set down a jug and two wooden mugs on the table and two wooden mugs, then he put a skillet and a pot on the stove. He then opened an unseen trapdoor and disappeared, coming back a minute with a few potatoes and two thick steaks. Shaking his head with a smile, he set these in the skillet and took the pot to the window, opened the shutter, scooped up some snow, and returned it to the stove.

At least the water will be clean, I thought.

“Miss Sierra, can I ask something of you?”

“What?” I replied, wondering if he’d want me to peel the potatoes or something.

“Could you light the lanterns before it gets too dark? I tend to forget until after sunset.”

“Sure.” I replied. He picked up a thin piece of kindling and lit its end before handing it to me. The lanterns were easy enough to see and soon the main room of the cabin was fully lit. However, while I discovered that he had both a bedroom and a study through the two doors on one side, the only other door was the entrance. “Jean Daniel, where is the bathroom?”

He laughed. “Through the left door, around the bookcases.”

I proceeded into the study, lighting the lantern on the way. There must have been a hundred books on those shelves, but I was reminded of the time period when I opened the little door to see a box with a seat.

Returning to the main room a bit later, I saw Jean Daniel smirk. “It’s better than most cabins you’ll find out here, but hopefully you won’t need to get used to that.”

“I agree.” I replied as I eyed the food. He was whipping the potatoes with a fork and the meat was looking delicious. Not more than a minute later he cut one open and asked me if the color was right.

“It was less pink than I would like,” I replied sheepishly, “but it isn’t black.”

With that we sat down to eat, after Jean remembered to get some silverware. He bowed his head in silent prayer, and reassured I did the same. From the first bite I admitted, “A bit plain, but it tastes very good. My compliments to the chef.”

Jean Daniel smiled. “I’ll forward them to him.”

I smiled, then tried the cider from the jug. The meal passed slowly as we talked, first Jean Daniel as I asked him about this world, then moving to me and Earth. We were almost done when he lifted the jug and realized I had consumed most of it.

“I don’t want to be accused of getting you drunk the first night I met you.” he said, with more than a little worry in his voice.

“I’ve had stronger drinks.” I replied defiantly, but neither that nor any other argument worked to get any more of the sweet nectar. It was probably for the best, because within half an hour I was feeling well off my rocker. All that Jean Daniel did was laugh a bit and lead me to the study. He left and came back with several furs that he laid on the floor, and soon I buried myself in them and was out like a light.

I woke up with a start, but I quickly found that everything was where it was supposed to be. Still in a bit of a daze, I walked into the main room. The sun was well up, and the only sign that Jean Daniel was awake was what looked like a muffin on the table. Taking that it was for me, I tried it. His baking skills still needed some work, but it was alright.

I wandered out into the snow. Jean Daniel was out in the barn, having just finished skinning the snow tiger. “Finally awake?” He asked, spying me from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah. Guess that cider was stronger than I thought.”

He laughed. “If you think that, you should have tried Red Chapman’s. His will knock an unsuspecting man flat.” He touched up a few places on the hide, then he turned towards Frost. “Are you ready to seek some answers?”

It took a moment to realize he was speaking to me. “Of course.”

Jean Daniel took the reins and led Frost out of the barn. “If we do find a way home, it will be interesting to see what has changed.”

“Well, you missed quite the presidency.” I told him, thinking of the insanity both sides had shown during the Trump presidency.

“Wow. I wouldn’t have thought Biden would upstage Trump’s four years.”

“Biden’s inauguration is this week.” I replied before thinking about what he said.

He looked at me confused. “Biden hasn’t taken office yet?”

I had finally caught what Jean Daniel had said. “No, and he did defeat Trump.”

“I was still on Earth when he did.” came the reply.

We stood there in silence for a minute, each trying to make sense of what the other was saying. Frost, while patient at first, finally got fed up of waiting and reared up slightly. I nearly tripped over myself when she did, and Jean Daniel verbally rebuked her.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“Well, it could mean one of two things.” Jean Daniel said as his eyes dipped in thought, for the first time sounding like an engineer. “The first is that we were dropped randomly into this world’s timeline, meaning that if we go back we may not be in the right year at all. We could be going to the Old West for all we know, and even if we go through one after the other we may end up in vastly different places.”

I didn’t like that possibility. “And the other?”

“The other is that time on Earth is dilated relative to this world. However, the span is roughly a half year here for every week on Earth. I don’t think gravity and relativity can explain that jump given the Sun’s density, but I may be wrong. In that case, we are truly in a parallel dimension with a different relativity but similar natural laws.” He returned his gaze to me, and must have seen my smirk. “What?”

“I believe you were an engineer now.” I replied with a head tilt. “Only someone who knows physics could have put it that way. So what does that mean for us?”

“Well, if the second one, very little for you. For me, I’ll have lived five years in ten weeks, and I don’t know how I feel about that.” I didn’t reply; I didn’t know how to reply to that. After a few moments though, he grinned. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, let’s see if we can even go home.”

Frost moved much faster through the snow today than she had yesterday, thanks to not towing the snow tiger. Jean Daniel quickly found my tracks, then we followed them into the forest. It appeared that I hadn’t walked all that far before crossing Jean Daniel’s path, for we soon came to a point where my trail just ended. Like I had literally stepped into this world.

Jean Daniel dismounted, then helped me down. “What do you make of this?” I asked.

He took a deep breath. “I almost want to just walk back over and see if there is an invisible portal.”

“Should I?”

Jean Daniel looked into my eyes, then he glanced at Frost before returning to me. “You first.”

I felt a twinge. “Will you follow?”

A muscle in his face twitched. “I’m not sure yet. I’ve built quite the life here, but I can practically just go back to my life on Earth as well.” He smiled, to reassure me. “You don’t have that dilemma.”

“But what if I do?” I wasn’t teasing this time, though I wasn’t sure why I’d said it that way either. What I did know was that it would be difficult to find someone like him back home, who would face down a snow tiger for me and not take advantage of me. That, or I was being a hopeless romantic like my mother.

His cheeks went a little red, though not like before. “Isn’t it a bit early to speak of such things?”

I laughed. “True, but I think you’re a good man, Jean Daniel, unless you prove me wrong.”

Now he laughed. “Now why should I do that?” He held out his hand, and I put mine into it. “We’ll step through together.”

Smiling, we walked towards the end of the trail. I felt my heart beat faster. This was like some sort of fantasy. It was surreal.

We took the last step.

The forest remained the same.

A moment of disappointment passed, then we broke out in laughter. Frost seemed to get the joke and whinnied behind us. “Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.” Jean Daniel exclaimed.

I was about to reply when I felt my phone buzzed. I quickly pulled it out. The phone was almost, but it had several notifications, including messages from my family and friends. “I have a signal!”

He hurried to my side. After a few moments, he gently took the phone from my hands and moved it in the air. For a while nothing happened, but at a point just behind my footprint the battery began to drain and a small light appeared, growing into a tiny ring. Jean Daniel yanked the phone back before the light grew any bigger.

“Why did you do that?” I asked as he quickly made an X in the snow.

“Send a message about what’s happened before your phone dies. We don’t have enough energy to open the portal, but the blizzard’s natural energy must have opened it.”

“How?”

“Sometimes snowstorms will generate lightning.” he said as he looked around, then he pointed. “Look at that tree! That scar is fresh. The bolt must have been enough.”

“So how do we get back? Wait for the next storm?”

“Or create a generator. I know the basic principles, but it will take some time.”

“Then why send a message?”

“Because the signal can be traced to here, and then they can open it from their side.”

“Would they believe me?”

“That’s why I said a generator was an option.”

I stopped short. We now knew we could get back, and Jean Daniel knew of three ways to do it. I quickly worded a message, showed him to see if it made enough sense, then hit send. The message made it out, but my phone was practically dead. “Should I leave it here for them to trace?”

“Good idea,” he replied. “It won’t do much good elsewise.” He had run a rope between two of the trees so that it passed over the X, then he cut a strand of the rope. “That should tell us where it is, and if the rope breaks the cut strands can be used to find it again.”

We stood there for a few moments. “Well, I suppose I will need a place to stay.”

He caught my tone. “The study is yours until we get you to your father.”

“You’re gonna do this right, aren’t you Jean Daniel?”

He smiled. “I hope that doesn’t disappoint you, Miss Sierra.”

“Not at all.” I replied, then we walked back towards Frost.