Out of Touch, Out of Time - Epilogue

July 11, 2008

Jonas set the newspaper on the table. They'd checked into the hotel the afternoon before after they'd finished with the police and fire departments. That had then been followed by making the rounds to the insurance company and mall to buy clothing and necessities, as Cheyenne put it.

He frowned at the paper. Just as he’d suspected, the reason for Cheyenne’s death appeared on the 11th. When he couldn’t find anything beforehand, he knew that would be the case.

“Hey, what’s the frown for?”

He smiled at her as she sat cross-legged on the bed. She was so beautiful and he was so grateful she was alive and his.

He sat on the bed and pulled her against him. “I always suspected I’d find the reason for your death in today’s paper.”

She shuddered, “If you hadn’t have been here to change my life, I would’ve been in the house when it blew up. I’m sure that’s why I landed in your time dead.”

She was silent for a moment before she continued, “Oh, while you were in the shower, the Police Chief called.”

“Did he say what’d caused the fire? The paper said faulty wiring.”

“That’s what the Chief said. Apparently, the fire inspector believes the wiring in the basement was frayed and the fire started in the wall down there. Then when it spread, it caused the cans of stripper to explode and that in turn may have ruptured the gas line for my stove and furnace, they need to do more testing or something like that before they know for sure. The end result: a really big boom and a lot of fire.” She frowned, “Kaltenback was telling the truth, he didn’t start my house on fire. The fact that I hadn’t gotten around to getting it rewired did.”

He held her for a few minutes, just happy as hell to be with her in any time, but especially this time.

As though she’d read his mind, she said, “Oh, that reminds me, I emailed an old friend of mine from London last night and he’s working on getting all the credentials you’re going to need.”

“What kind of credentials?”

“A birth certificate, a driver’s license, a social security number, and a credit history. Oh, and he also said he could get you a degree from any university in England. I told him I wanted Oxford, so you’re getting a degree in horticulture from Oxford.”

“Oxford? Even I’ve heard of Oxford,” he said with a smile.

“Figured you had.” She turned and rising on her knees took his face in her hands. “I love you Jonas Salinger, and thank you for coming into my life and saving it.”

***

Changes in Cheyenne's timeline:

Before Jonas:
Mark bullied Cheyenne until she agreed to take a dozen uninspired photographs, which she put together and sent over to the Gallery without leaving her house any more than absolutely necessary. She was in her kitchen on the morning of the 10th, heading out to her soon to be renovated garden when the explosion occurred. She entered the time rift at a point where she landed on the 10th, but later in the day than when the accident occurred. Jonas that day was in the front of the house and stepped back into the time rift at a different point, bringing him to the future ten days earlier, in time to save her.

After Jonas:
Mark bullied Cheyenne until she agreed to do the show, but this time, Jonas inspired her and she went into parts of town she didn’t the first time looking for just the perfect shots. She ventured out and took chances in places she wouldn’t normally have gone. Therefore, she was in the right spot to take the picture of Kaltenback this time around.

Because Jonas was in her life, and they discovered the photograph, and Jonas knew she was destined to die, she was not in the same place at the same time as she had been before. The explosion still happened as it had before, but she was in front of the house, not inside it.

One thing I did to show things had changed between the two timelines was I purposely dressed Cheyenne different. When she went back to Jonas’ time, she was barefoot and very much dressed for staying home. This time, she was dressed to go out. :)

Because of Jonas coming to the present, Kaltenback was caught and stopped before he could continue taking money and letting drugs remain on the street. The changes made with Kaltenback’s immediate life and the people who buy and sell the drugs, would affect many people in one way or the other.

Jonas’ coming to the present not only saved Cheyenne and gave her love; it very well may have saved many other lives as well, thus causing ripples in the timeline possibly for generations.

I hope this answers most of your questions. Thank you so much for reading.
-Lachesis

Chapter Twenty-Six