Mission in Time by Richard Scott

Author:Richard Scott [Scott, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winter Island Press
Published: 2014-06-22T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

It was the middle of April and the sun would be setting in less than half an hour. It was not too cold for this time of the year, but Mrs. Inglesby reminded Jennie to wear her winter coat anyway. “You never know if it will turn chilly at a moment's notice,” she'd said. Then she’d added, “And I'll expect you back here within an hour. You shouldn't be out there without me or someone from family. I'm only making this exception because I know Thomas.” Then she winked at him, “Don't you disappoint me young man.”

Tom Howard and Jennie were about to leave the house for what Tom considered their first date. He'd called it a date after she'd agreed to go for a walk with him, and she'd looked confused at the time, saying, “Sometimes you use the most uncommon expressions, Thomas. Why do you refer to tomorrow when we'll be seeing each other as if the date on the calendar were our date, a date that only we possess? Certainly it is a date on the calendar, but it is not our date. Not that I mind your making it so. I suppose it's actually rather romantic.” She grinned mischievously, “Though it would appear to some as being a bit premature. We haven't known each other very long now, have we?”

As they walked around Salem they came to the common where they saw cows grazing peacefully. Some were lying down in the tall grass; most were standing.

Jennie said, “Now that it's spring they'll sleep here at night. In the colder weather most of them are brought back to their barns at night.” Tom, who'd been to Salem in the twenty-first century, couldn't resist saying, “Someday there will be no cows on the common. Someday there will be paved pathways for strolling and comfortable benches to sit on. The grass will be cut short and even. I know it's hard to believe, but that's what I predict.”

She looked up at him, smiling. “You are the strangest man, Thomas. Where do get such ideas?”

“I just know how things evolve. As time goes by towns and cities improve, slowly, but surely. The changes in the common will not be the only changes, either. Believe me. I know it sounds strange to you but I can predict any number of changes that someday people will consider normal.”

She couldn't resist grinning. “My Lord, Thomas, you do have quite an imagination. And you use so many words I have never heard before. What is this evolve?”

“Gradual change for the better. Development, improvement.”

“People must be awfully smart up in Halifax if you're an example. Now you've made me curious. What sort of changes do you predict?”

“Believe me, people are no smarter in Halifax than they are here in Salem.” He went silent for a minute resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger. “All right, I'll give you a couple predictions. “Someday horse-drawn carriages and carts will be replaced by carriages or vehicles that are propelled or powered by machines or engines.

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