When Yesterday Comes

By Janet Nice Davis

There is no available information at this time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 26, 2010
• ISBN: 9781465333056

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

THE TROUBLE WITH GARTH

March 2204

Jesse was thinking of Thisbe as he watched the horse galloping across the pasture. She was strong and striking, just like her mare. It was fitting that the horse belonged to his beautiful wife. The filly was past five years old now. She had all the qualities of her mare and his stallion. It seemed unreal those years could have passed since he helped Thisbe deliver this filly. She was old enough to sell, but Thisbe could not part with her. Jesse did not blame her. Thisbe’s mare was getting old and the filly did make an excellent, attractive riding horse.

Two hundred and sixty some years ago a woman from the Ukraine on Earth had two horses with her on the Uradonian ship. She, like all the others, had to prove they belonged to her. Uradonians do not tolerate thieves. She had all their papers so she was allowed to bring them with her. Over two hundred years of breeding with the other horses had made a beautiful, sturdy, well-built horse.

Kel was taken aback the first time he had seen the filly along with her mare. It stunned him to see the breed here in Hibiscus Syriacus. The Tersky breed was known on Earth, but at the time the genies (white foreigners) had come to Lambda Uradoni, few people had heard of it. These horses were so similar it would be hard for even an experienced breeder to tell where they had come from. Jesse was thinking of this and the reception coming up.

Thisbe wanted their Mating Reception in May of this year because it had already been put off long enough. The original date for it had been July 15 when he was twenty-four. Thisbe had thought about it and wanted to forget that was the day Jesse had been ambushed. Thisbe had thought at first the date would be a good one because it would help everyone forget what had happened that day. Genna and he had been shot by thieves. Jesse had been twenty-three at the time of the shooting; he was now twenty-eight. Legal age on this planet was twenty-four. They had waited for him to be of legal age after becoming engaged secretly to each other. Uradonians counted from the conception of the baby, not their birth date, which confused Kel for awhile. Jesse had turned twenty-eight in January and now it was time to complete their plans for the reception and announcement that they were a legal couple, which they had become in January. The legal mating and reception should have been much sooner and would have been if it had not been for Garth.

It had been four years since she asked him to be her husband. Thisbe had come to him two weeks after the raiding of Hiram’s ranch by thieves to talk to him privately. She had asked him then if he wanted her as his wife in the future. Just thinking about that day made him grin. She was so serious, like they had not known each other for years. The shock of knowing she could have lost him two weeks before made her take action quicker than she had meant to. He, of course, leaped at the chance to tell her that he loved her, now that he was still alive to say it. There had never been anyone but Thisbe as far as he was concerned. Thisbe made him promise he would date at least a few other women before he made a final decision. She did not want it said of her that she robbed the cradle and did not give him a choice. This was done on her part because he was twenty-three. Jesse dated, but the women knew it was not serious with him.

When they announced their desire to be with each other to their families, there were mixed emotions. Iris Beck was shocked and in fear over it. Her husband Beldon (Eng: pretty valley) was also concerned; Jesse, as a man now, would set out to right the wrong done to Genna by Garth. His oldest son Garth had made a stupid mistake with the woman, but he did not deserve death. Jesse tried to tell Mr. Beck that Garth had created his own hell and he would have to live with it. Two years later he informed the Becks that frankly he did not care what Garth did as long as it did not interfere with his life. Jesse had come to this conclusion only after a few years of being steamed up about what this man had done to his sister and their family.

Garth had hurt Genna emotionally, but not physically or medically. By now Jesse was willing to let it go as long as Garth did not disturb him and his family. Beldon, Thisbe’s father, did not completely believe him until Jesse said he had made a vow to Thisbe that he would leave Garth alone if Garth left him alone. Even Thisbe, at the time of Garth breaking up with Genna, had been concerned Jesse would kill her brother until the warrant for Garth’s arrest had been dropped six months after her brother had left the country.

Garth was a social outcast in his home town, but at least he had not broken the law . . . just a girl’s heart, until a better man had come along. The man would have been in serious trouble with the love potion issue if Genna had gone through withdrawal symptoms. Every genie had the potential of giving another person their love potion. It came from saliva and tear ducts. Of course, there had to be real, genuine love for it to even work. To give some one love potion was a pledge of making a life with that person until death. The Uradonians took it seriously. It was the same thing as adultery. If love potion was involved and they left the one they had pledged themselves to, and then mated someone else, it was a killing offense.

Garth may not be in trouble with the law, but this did not mean the Kaayyam Tekbilck’s did not have the right to remind him every chance they got. He had grown up with the rules the same as they had. The Becks knew Jesse was quite capable of doing just that. Hiram and Karimona had not mentioned it in years, but they knew Jesse still thought about it, even though Genna was perfectly happy with Kel. Kel was a much better man for her . . . even the Becks agreed to that.

No one but Iris Beck and Garth knew the entire story of why he chose to date her and then not go through with the legal mating. After a year of letters and dating when they saw each other, Genna asked him to commit to her. He had agreed to it. They had known each other for years; after all, they lived in the same small community. Garth was an adult, but Genna was still under-age. She assumed he loved her. After all, he knew about her birth defects (birthmarks or, as Kel would say, beauty marks) and that did not deter him from dating her, so it must be love.

They agreed to wait for the mating (marriage) after Genna had gone through her medical courses. She would be twenty-five at the time. Garth seemed in no hurry. They were both young and they lived on a planet where the average lifespan was 150 to 160 years. Iris Beck approved of their plans whole-heartedly. She actually wanted Thisbe (her daughter) mated before Genna because of a stupid bet she had made with Karimona Kaayyam Tekbilck years ago.

Garth told his mother Genna had asked him to commit to her. Garth knew his parents would be pleased with this news. So why had he not told them sooner? He had kept it quiet for some time. He had not seemed overly excited with his prospects. Iris put it down to having to wait so long before they could live together. She set out to encourage him that it would not be so bad to wait that long, never dreaming that was not the problem. The real problem was Garth felt like he was committed to a sister. He had the same feelings for Genna as he did for Thisbe. It was like mating a little sister and that was all she would ever be to him. There was no real love there for a wife and soul mate.

Why was he doing it? It was for the family’s sake, of course. Everyone had built it up to be such a great deal, he felt he had to go along with it. After all, Genna was not too bad looking, if you over-looked her imperfections (birthmarks). The girl would inherit land and he would not have to build a house for her. She would own Troy’s Place someday. Being an animal reserve made it the perfect place to hunt. Garth loved to hunt. The idea that her son had no backbone of his own disturbed Iris. If he had not wanted Genna, why didn’t he say so months ago? For months he had talked of the possibility of making a life with her; not once had he said he was against the idea. He had not even hinted at it. Kel would have called it a marriage of convenience, but there was no concept for that in their language.

Iris was shocked beyond words, but not for long. She exploded, which brought Beldon (her husband) to Garth’s bedroom to investigate. It did not take Beldon long to find out what was going on. Iris told him almost everything. He helped his son pack and told him to leave the house that night. He would not put up with anyone that thought the way his son did. Beldon respected Hiram Kaayyam Tekbilck and liked the entire family. He was sickened that his son was perfectly willing to live with Genna and never love her. He did not want Genna hurt over it and he knew she would be.

Genna did not know why Garth had left her until a month later. He had actually left it up to his parents to tell her. Mr. Beck and her father told her together. Several months later she received a letter from him at medical school. The letter was short and to the point. He had never loved her. He had done it as a charitable act for his parents. They had thought it would be such a wonderful solution for both families. Genna destroyed the letter and never spoke to him again. She did not tell anyone for a long time she had received a message from him.

Jesse had been thinking about all of this as he watched the horse. He wondered what he would do to Garth if he ever saw him again. One could not change the past, but he wondered what he would have done if he had known then what he knew now. It had already occurred to Jesse that the past may come back to haunt them in the form of Garth wanting to come home to see his family. He had vowed he would not harm him physically. He did not say a thing about not roughing him up some emotionally. Jesse would not get the chance in the near future, but another man would and did. Kel had come to Jesse when Thisbe had put off their legal mating because of Jesse’s determination to deal with her brother. She could not deal with it; enough had been said on the subject as far as she was concerned. Kel had informed Jesse quite formidably that if anything had to be done with Garth Beck, he would do it. He was Genna’s husband and her champion. It was his legal right. Jesse withdrew from the battle of what to do about Garth.

Jesse heard someone behind him and turned around. Kel and Reed were coming across the street to the corral. They were ahead of Genna and his beautiful wife, Thisbe. He loved Thisbe’s shiny red blaze hair. She had told him years ago why she had kept it bleached to white blonde. Her mother did not like her true color. He had persuaded her a year ago to let it grow out to see what color it turned out to be. As far as he was concerned, the red blaze of her hair, her light brown eyes and her horizon haze blue skin were perfect together.

He had moved into her apartment the day he was told the papers had been signed for their mating by his parents and hers. Two months of living together. He still could not believe it. They had waited so long, but the wait had been worth it. He loved being with her. He had been in and out of her apartment enough over the years to know where everything was by now. One thing did bother him, and that was Thisbe’s bed; until January he had never laid on it. He wanted his bed. Kel and Genna had brought it to him. Thisbe had told him he was spoiled and he agreed. He did not mind sleeping on the ground when it was required of him, but at home he wanted his soft gel foam bed. Thisbe laughed and agreed to try it. The men carried it upstairs. They made a party of it bouncing on the bed to see if it was soft enough for this man that spent so much time outside with his sheep. The three of them teased him, but he did not mind. He was where he wanted to be and with the person he wanted to be with. Reed did not tease him. He simply barked about it.

CHAPTER 2

CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN

March 28, 2204

Jesse was standing in front of a full length mirror looking at his reflection. This was not a usual spot for Jesse to be, but he was getting ready for a special occasion. In a month’s time Thisbe and he would be celebrating their mating reception. Thisbe was making the clothes for it. She could have ordered them like most people did, but Thisbe was a clothing designer. She owned her own store and if she was going to make clothes for other people, why not do it for herself? She had been designing clothes ever since she was sixteen, so this was nothing new to her.

Jesse did not mind being a clothes-horse for an afternoon, and he was not overly concerned about his clothes as long as they were clean, comfortable and did the job. Jesse was a gentleman in his own right, but he lived in a world that had no use for ties and stiff uncomfortable garments. It was true that Jesse’s ancestors had come from Earth to Lambda Uradoni in the 1930’s, but Uradonians quickly did away with the stiff boiled shirts, starched collars and ties. Uradonians could see these things as only a form of torture and torture was only used on criminals. If they were surprised at what some of the men wore, they were more astonished at some of the women. Not everyone that had come to Lambda Uradoni from Earth had been into the flapper age of the 1920’s or the more conservative 1930’s. One man and two women wore the 1910 style clothes until the day they died, but their children and grandchildren quickly learned that this was not a requirement in this new world and were relieved to wear something else.

Thisbe was trying something on Jesse that had not been used in this town since the first genies had settled here. (The Uradonian word for the earthlings/white foreigners was ‘genie’.) The shirt had a stiff collar with points that buttoned down to the shirt. This was not at all Jesse’s usual style. Thisbe had made it detachable because she knew Jesse. He might wear it for an hour to please her and then he would rip the collar off and that would probably be the end of it. Thisbe had made it with Velcro for that reason. Velcro was a different word for something Uradonians had been using for hundreds of years. Thisbe used the local variety of it all the time. Genna had found the Velcro in a small shop; the tearing it apart and putting it back together had captivated her because she had found it on Earth. It was a well-known product at home. So, of course, she had to bring a roll of it home to show Thisbe that Earth had practical things, also.

Thisbe had never made a shirt with a collar before, at least not like this one. It was to be worn with a tie according to the history Kel had told her, but a tie was something to hold two pieces of cloth together like the opening of a blouse or skirt. What did he mean? Was it something like a scarf? This bit of information did not worry Thisbe overly much. She would make the tie and a scarf. Jesse liked scarves and had several, but they were used during the winter. Why would anyone want to wear one during the heat of the summer? Kel had told her that ties were worn all year around.

When Genna had first gone to Earth, people considered her clothes museum pieces. Genna, like all of her friends and family, wore a mixture of Uradonian styles and modified styles of the clothes the earthlings wore when they came here. Genna liked the idea that she was wearing archaic fashions, but, never the less, she went shopping with the women of Kel’s family at her first opportunity. Genna bought clothes from everywhere she went. It was such a novelty, but even with that she did not pack nearly as much as Kel thought she might to go home to Hibiscus Syriacus. Genna was not a shop-until-you-drop type. Gwen (Irene’s mother) also got into the act. With Gwen’s artist-bent Genna went to places she would not have thought of to buy clothes and get ideas for more.

Genna’s most prized possessions from these shopping trips on Earth were her Made in United States denim blue jeans that were a shade darker than her skin and a gold and cream colored bathing suit. She had brought back more than just clothes; she also came home with books, prints and illustrations of what was worn. Thisbe marveled over them.

Jesse was a sheepherder and horse trainer, so his clothes fit the trade, but when he went to formal occasions he could and did outdo a lot of the others. He remembered the outfit he had worn for Kel and Genna’s mating dinner. The women had made a great ado about it because he had chosen the most formal and traditional set of clothes he could find. He had out-shined his father and grandfather; this did not bother him. What had bothered him was he had out-done Kel. Kel had laughed it off and told him if he wanted to wear it for the next three days of celebration, it was alright with him. Jesse wore it two days out of the three days of partying and he attracted a lot of women. Some of the women were from The Advantage. In fact, he had gone to the ball on the last day of Genna’s reception with four women from Kel’s ship. Everyone thought it was great fun to see Jesse enter with four women on his arms. No one took it seriously, least of all the women, and by the end of the evening Jesse ended up with the only woman that had ever mattered to him, Thisbe Beck. Jesse had told her all about it and Thisbe was quite willing to go along with it. She had known for several days that she was