Yesteryear's Destiny: Wheels of Destiny Trilogy, #3

By Cheri Kay Clifton

A sensuous, adventure-filled western time-travel.

When Outdoor Magazine journalist, Angela Moore skydives out of a plane, she never expects the surreal time and place where she lands will not only transform the life she once knew but also will control her future … and for reasons she never could have imagined.

Chasing leads through every frontier town between Pineville and Denver for months, Ben Herrington's only aim in life is to get revenge for the murder of his father by a member of the notorious Dawson Gang. But when he rescues the strange and beautiful woman, Angela, who literally falls out of the sky, she changes his fate in ways he never could have envisioned.

Angela steals a piece of time, but can she get it back again? Ben is so near, yet so far away. Over a century apart, can their love keep them together?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cheri Kay Clifton
• Release date: Jun 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393700555

Cheri Kay Clifton

Cheri Kay is happily married to her high school sweetheart, has one grown son and resides in Florida and North Carolina. She previously served as president of a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. If she’s not riding on the back of her husband’s motorcycle, she’s writing the Book 3 in the Wheels of Destiny Trilogy which includes already published Book 1, Trail To Destiny and Book 2, Destiny’s Journey.

Book preview

My timeless love to

My husband, Mel

and son, Chad

Timeless Love is

the memories of yesterday,

the happiness of today,

and the promise of tomorrow.

―Anonymous

CHAPTER 1

PINEVILLE, COLORADO

1890

Ben Herrington opened the door into the Jackson’s Emporium, a tiny bell ringing overhead.  At the front counter, Mrs. Jackson offered her usual smile.

Hello, Ruby, he said, removing his hat. Although the proprietor’s wife was his mother’s age, at her insistence, Ben had conceded to calling her by her first name.  Did the marshal come in here?

No, dear, haven’t seen him today.  She peered into the storeroom behind her.  Joe, have you seen the marshal?

Her husband appeared in the doorway. Saw him outside a while ago, Ben. Said he was lookin’ for ya. I think he headed over to the depot.

Yeah, well, the 12:10 hasn’t come in yet. He’s probably wondering the same thing I am.  Train’s never late.

Joe Jackson pulled out a watch fob from his vest pocket, gave it a glance and frowned. He grabbed his bowler hat off the wall peg. "Darlin’, mind the store a while. I’m walkin’ over to the depot with Ben.

Joe followed Ben out the door, the bell ringing again. Across the street, a small crowd milled about the depot.  Ben was surprised to see his mother, Jennifer, standing among them, talking to Marshal Evans. Earlier that morning he’d stopped by her office and found her bent over the Pineville Gazette’s printing press in her usual hurry to get the town’s weekly newspaper out.

Several folks seated by the ticket office peered anxiously up the tracks. Everyone was attuned to the familiar and much-anticipated sound of the Pine Mountain Express Railroad’s whistle announcing its arrival. The townspeople never took for granted the enormous benefits the train had awarded their town since its construction, connecting them to both east and west with the luxury of faster travel and increased business.

As soon as he stepped up on the boardwalk, Ben saw the concern on his mother’s face as well as the marshal’s. He offered her a reassuring smile, more worried than he wanted to let on, especially since his father, Glen, had taken to riding the spur line as the railway’s expressman after firing the previous guard for insubordination.

We better ride up the tracks, he said to Evans. Hell, maybe the train jumped the rails or —

The distant moan of a steam whistle cut him off. Would have been music to his ears, except the whistle wasn’t the familiar short blasts, but instead, a constant wail growing louder. The powerful machine’s one hundred plus tons of iron rattling the town’s structures on Main Street wasn’t unusual. But this time, with slamming of steel, hissing steam and billowing dust and dirt, the locomotive sped past the depot. The brakes screeched and strained for another hundred yards before the train came to a full stop.

Ben was halfway down the tracks, Evans at his heels, when Nate Booker, the Pine Mountain’s engineer jumped from the locomotive.

We been robbed! the man shouted.  He eyed Ben. Your father ... he’s been shot.

Alarm bolted up Ben’s spine. Where is he?

Marshal Evans instructed Joe behind him, "Fetch Doc Sorenson. Joe answered with a quick nod and pushed through the growing number of onlookers.

Nate and Ben ran to the express car. No one else hurt, thanks to him. We were scared to move him.

Ben leaped through the doorway of the railcar, his intuition preparing him for the worse. Glen lay prone on the floor in a pool of blood, his chest ripped open with bullet holes. The conductor leaning over him rose and silently backed away when Ben knelt down.

One look at his father’s pain-stricken eyes and Ben knew. The man was dying and there wasn’t anything Doc Sorenson could do for him. Tears flooded Ben's eyes; he was too choked to speak.

Son, Glen sputtered, damn bastards got away. He made an effort to lift his head and groaned. Didn’t get to the safe ... they were —

Don’t talk. Doc’s coming. Ben cradled his father’s head in his arms. His throat burned with raw emotion.

Glen’s hand shook as he reached inside his vest pocket. He pulled out a silver dollar, the distinctive hole in the center. Our coin not so lucky this time. He coughed, blood running down the corner of his mouth. Tell your mother ... I love her. He heaved a deep sigh; his head slumped to one side. The liberty silver dollar rolled out of his open palm onto the floor.

Ben squeezed his father’s shoulder, his hand slippery with blood. Dad? Glen’s gray eyes that matched his own, clouded over, staring past him. As he picked up the coin, he heard a woman’s bloodcurdling scream.

Ben gently lowered Glen’s head to the floor, then stood to block the doorway just as Nate grasped his mother’s arm. Mrs. Herrington, don’t go up there.

Oh, dear God ... please, let me go to him! Her pleading eyes met Ben’s.

He slowly shook his head, communicating the unthinkable. Her knees buckled. Ben leaped from the train and caught her in his arms.

No, Glen ... No!

Her wails of denial echoed in Ben’s ears. Despair turned to raging hatred. He gathered his mother in his arms as she wept aloud. Whoever was responsible for his father’s death would pay the ultimate price.

He tightened his fist around the treasured coin. From this day forward, one thing and one thing only would consume him.

Vengeance.

Cedar Canyon, Colorado

Present Day

Angela Moore swung her red Jeep Wrangler into a parking space in front of Gabrielle Porter’s apartment, only a twenty-minute drive from Angela’s. Gaby was already waiting out front. She picked up a duffel bag, tossed it in the back of the jeep and slid into the passenger seat.

Angela unwrapped a stick of Juicy Fruit gum and popped it in her mouth. Just talked to the airport and weather’s good, all systems go. She smiled at Gaby, but her best friend’s returned smile wasn’t very convincing. You’re nervous, aren’t you? she asked, offering her a piece of gum.

"Who me? How about freakin’ scared to death?’ she shot back, accepting the gum.

Angela shifted gears and steered the jeep out of the parking lot and onto the highway. Look, Gaby, if you weren’t a little nervous, you wouldn’t be human. She blew a tiny bubble and popped it. My first jump, I was too.

You? Miss adventure junkie, nervous? Ha! She lifted her brow and added with a smirk, Think maybe I should’ve made out a will.

Angela rolled her eyes. You’re gonna thank me, you’ll see. This is going to be the most thrilling day of your life. Sorry that boyfriend of yours couldn’t get off work to be there when you land.

Yeah, me too. Ken thinks I’m crazy but says knowing you, he’s not surprised. He’s read some of your outdoor articles. He said ....

Her friend’s voice drifted off. Driving past Wakan Lake, Angela was drawn to the high granite rock formations bordering one side of the lake, their reflection crystal clear in the deep blue water.

The memory still haunted her. Over twenty years had passed, yet she could conjure up the vision like it was yesterday. All alone, wandering around the lake, a little girl, lost and frightened, her parents nowhere to be found.

Gaby jostled her shoulder. Earth to Angie ... hellooo?

Huh ... oh, sorry. Angela redirected her attention to the road. They were almost to the regional airport, the hangars in view. 

I know where you were just then. Gaby sighed. I don’t blame you. I’d feel the same way. At least I know what happened to my first family.

Sad but true. Angela had heard the horrible story of Gaby’s parents and brother having been killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. But at least she had closure and could visit their gravesites. In Angela’s case, though the police searched for weeks, her parents were never found.

Angela drove around the airfield before stopping beside the hanger where the Blue Skydivers Club met. She shut off the engine and pulled the key from the ignition. She glanced at her friend who’d been more like a sister ever since they’d met in the Safe Haven Foster Home, both only four years old. Listen, Gaby, I don’t want you to think I dwell on it, ‘cause I don’t. The past is the past. She dropped the key in her purse, then grabbed her cell phone off the center console. And the present is the present! Come on, she said with a grin, you’re about to jump out of an airplane!

Gaby shouted above the sounds of a Learjet taking off down the runway, And oh, by the way, how to land safely on the ground!

Both grabbed their bags and headed into the hanger. After storing their purses in lockers, the girls donned their jumpsuits over their shorts and Blue Skydiver t-shirts. They tossed their gum in a trash container before pulling on their gloves, then crossed the tarmac to where the turbine Cessna aircraft powered up.

Gaby climbed in with her tandem instructor, Robert. A photographer and five other skydivers boarded with Angela, all certified flyers like herself with multiple jumps to their credit.

As Gaby listened to Robert giving her his typical procedural review, Angela sat next to the window alone with her thoughts. She loved this time to enjoy the awesome view of the Rocky Mountain range circling the valley while they climbed to their designated altitude of thirteen thousand feet. Closing her eyes, she reveled in the anticipation of free flight which she’d mastered in the last few jumps. Unlike flat flying with her body horizontal at a falling speed averaging one hundred, thirty mph, in free flying Angela could position her body head first, attaining speeds up to two hundred mph. 

While the other skydivers talked and glanced at their altimeters from time to time waiting for the plane to level off, Angela did a quick check of her equipment, making sure everything felt right. She buffed the tinted lens on her full-face helmet with a spare cloth before fitting it on her head. Her new custom-made jumpsuit was more comfortable than a standard one and no one would detect where her Sig Sauer P238 was hidden. As a successful freelance journalist for the Outdoor Mountain Magazine as well as various local newspapers, she forged the backwoods of the Rockies hiking on foot, on horseback or ATV.  A concealed weapon permit carrier, she would never go anywhere without her gun.

Showtime, Robert shouted, signaling with a thumbs up.

Angela braced for the rush of cold wind and heightened noise when he opened the door. One by one, the parachuters leaped out of the plane, their yells of excitement swallowed up as they vanished from view. She’d go next, then the videographer, followed by Gaby and Robert harnessed to her friend’s back.

She shouted to Gaby, See ya on the ground. Then yelling her favorite Yippy Kiyay, she launched herself out the door, the impact of the wind hitting her full force. She spread eagle, exhilaration coursing through her body with the fantastic feeling of not falling but flying. She turned to capture Gaby and Robert’s leap from the plane, the videographer close by.

After checking her wrist altimeter, Angela veered downward perpendicular to the earth and accelerated away from them at the much faster speed