Colony, The Lost

"Honey, this house is perfect! We must have it," my wife whispered
loudly at the top of the stairs.

"Dear, please not so loud, the real estate agent will hear you! Keep a
poker face, please," I whispered up the stairs.

She and the agent were bumping around upstairs, so I decided to go
check out the garage in the back yard. As I walked up to the huge red
barn style garage I noticed that it's architectural style was different
from the house. In fact, this barn had been built well before the
house. The iron works on the door were antique but in good working
order and the building technique was from the 1600's but looked in very
good condition. Too good. Only a master carpenter with a degree in
historical woodworking could have pulled this off. This will surely
drive the price of the house well out of our range. Jane is going to be
so disappointed. Guess it can't hurt to take a look inside to see what
else we are not going to be able to afford.

I reached for the door.

"Can I help you sir?" The voice came from behind me. I turned and saw
an old man wearing a straw hat and overalls. He had a wooden box of
tools in one hand and an old hand saw in the other.

"Well, yes maybe you can. I was wondering when this garage was
built?"

"Well, lets see now," the old man said putting his tools down and
pulling out a hanky to wipe the sweat off his neck.

"Nobody knows when she was first built, but my father told me her
lumber was brought over from England a very long time ago. I have been
working on her for about 62 years." The old man said as he wiped the
sweat from his brow.

"You have done a fantastic job. I have studied architecture and
antiques in general for some years and I must say this barn is in
marvelous condition."

"Yep, she does look young doesn't she? When I'm feeling old and tired I
come out to work on Lady Redgrove, that's what she likes to be called,
and it seems to make me feel better. Like a good shot of Vitamin B. In
fact, I was just about to do some repair work inside. Want to she what
she looks like inside?"

"Certainly, I would be honored to have a look around."

"Just be careful not to touch anything besides the wood, OK? There have
been some strange things happening to folks lately, but you look like a
fella that can keep his hands to himself." The old man said as he
strained to slide the enormous door.

As we stepped inside Lady Redgrove I felt a sense of peace and comfort.
The inside of the barn was like nothing I had ever seen. Inside, the
floor had been finished out with a beautiful hardwood. The walls were
outfitted with large wooden shelves all around,each shelf filled with
antiques, tools, and farming items. I had never seen such a wonderful
assortment of antiques in my entire life! Jane is going to flip when
she sees this! The first question out of her mouth would be, "Do the
antiques come with the house?"

I noticed a loft in the back of the barn that appeared to have even
more antiques.

"Mr. Uh..."

"Jameston, Mr. Jameston is my name." The old man didn't turn around as
he inspected a beam of wood in the corner.

"May I go up in the loft?"

"Certainly, help yourself. That ladder is sturdy, so don't worry about
that. Do me a favor and bring down that old clock. My wife has been
nagging me to get that clock fixed for years."

"Sure thing, Mr. Jameston." I said as I gripped the lower portion of
the ladder.

The ladder was indeed sturdy and easy to climb. As I got to the floor
of the loft I could see more antiques. Beds, lamps, beautiful
glassware, trunks, military artifacts, toys...this was a dream! Nobody
keeps this kind of stuff lying around in a barn!

Walking around the loft I marveled at all the items until I remembered
that I needed to bring down the clock. A close inspection of the
shelves revealed an old clock in one of the corners. Once I walked
closer to the clock I realized it was very old, at least 400 years old
and maybe older. It was then that I heard the ticking. The clock
worked! A 400 year old clock that works. Must be worth a fortune! This
old man was ether a lunatic or a millionaire who was toying with
me.

I reached out to pick up the clock carefully. As I took the clock in my
hands the lights in the barn seemed to fade some. "Must be a short in
the line," I thought.

Not wanting to drop the clock I slowly climbed down the ladder until my
feet hit the straw. "Straw?" I thought. What was straw doing on the
floor? Looking around the barn I realized the old man was gone and
there were two oil lamps burning where the lights were once
located.

"Maybe I just didn't notice the lamps when I first came in." I thought
as I walked to the barn door.

When I got to the door I knew something was wrong. Not
wrong...different. The house was gone. There was only a small cabin
like structure with a stone chimney puffing dark smoke. Several people
were tending a big field around the barn and cabin. I was
stunned.

I retreated back into the barn to gather my thoughts.

"How could this be happening? This can't be real?I must be dreaming or
feverish or something."

I heard footsteps coming toward the barn. Frightened, I hurriedly
climbed back up the ladder and hid behind two trunks. Two people were
below talking about the clock.

"We must use the clock, Benjamin!"

"No! I say. It has brought us enough trouble. Can we not live in
peace?"

"Indeed, my brother, but Sister Mary is sick with grief, we cannot let
her live like this without Matthew forever."

"You are right, but that clock will be the end of us all eventually!
When we discovered its power at Jamestown we needed the power to save
our settlement. Now we use it for every little thing."

My mind started to race. "This clock can make you travel back in time!
That is not possible, but here I am?"

"Matthew is dead. That is no small matter. We can go back and prevent
his death. Wouldn't you want me to do the same for you?"

There was a long pause.

"I suppose I would for Martha and the boys sake. Let's be done with it
quick then."

It was then I realized they were walking to the ladder to come up to
the loft. I panicked. The only thing I could think to do was to put the
clock back on the shelf. I rushed over and placed the clock back
carefully and turned around to face the two men.

They never came. The barn's light was brighter and I could hear the
rhythmic pounding of Mr. Jameston's hammer.

Quickly, I climbed down the ladder and said a polite goodbye to Mr.
Jameston.

"Come back soon!" He called out to me as I strode quickly toward the
house.

Jane met me at the back door.

"Honey, this house is fabulous don't you think? Did you get a chance to
inspect the garage?"

"Yes, I did. I checked it out thoroughly. I'm not feeling well. We
should go."
"But Dear, Mrs. Jameston was just about to show me the cellar. Don't
you want to see the cellar?"

I looked over at Martha Jameston. She had a very polite smile on her
face. A knowing smile.

"Honey, we really should go or we are going to be late." I said looking
at my watch.

"Late for what? It's Sunday afternoon." Jane asked.

"My dear lady, I believe your husband wants to spend some quality time
with you while you discuss this home. Take your time. In fact, take all
the time you need." She said looking straight at me as she spoke.

"Thank you, Mrs. Jameston. We will." I managed to say was we made our
way out the door.

As we walked toward our car, Jane asked, "What is going on? You know I
love that house. Why couldn't we stay a bit longer and look
around?"

"Honey, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Remember when we first
started looking at homes and you really wanted to build a house? I
think that is a great idea. With interest rates as low as they are
these days I think we can afford the house of your dreams. What do you
think?"

"You know I would love that. Why the sudden change?"

"Let's just say that time has a way of changing a man."