"You're in Montana," replied Con, "It's June 29, 1878."
Rick's head cleared, and he found he could sit up. There was tall grass all around him. Con squatted next to him, dressed in rags and grinning broadly. "I remembered just in time," she said. "I'm Constance, the family legend."
"You do realize you're making no sense at all," replied Rick. "Are you sure I'm not dead?" Con got a mischievous grin and gave him a playfully in-timate caress. "You don't feel dead to me."
"Con!"
"It's all right. We're married. Maybe not officially yet, but we are. I'm Constance Clements." Rick looked perplexed. "I don't understand. Would you please calm down and tell me what's happened?"
"We're here because I figured it out. It was the last name that threw me. I thought I was Con Greighton."
"So did I," said Rick. "Who's Constance Clements? Other than yourself, of course."
"She's the Greighton family legend, Daddy's only bedtime tale. He was so serious about it. It always began, 'Never forget about Constance Clements.' My mother thought he was loony to tell it over and over again. I never understood what the big deal was—until now. It was my message to myself!"
"You still haven't answered my question," said Rick. "Who is she?"
"The woman who founded the family fortune. She and her husband came out of nowhere and were found in the prairie by a wagon train. They struck gold soon afterward, three mines in all—The Second Chance, The Paradox, and The Full Circle. Talk about hints! Once I figured it out for myself, I was able to prove to Jane, Hitler, and Stalin that I was that woman. That meant they had to take us here if they didn't want to change their own present."
"How could you prove that?"
"I knew the dates. I knew the names of the mines. I had all kinds of proof, and it all fit. But, most important, it's true— I'm the legendary Constance Clements 7"
"I can't believe this, it's too fantastic."
"Spoken by a man who just visited the Cretaceous and survived the K-T impact."
"So the current version of time depends on our traveling from the twenty-first century to live in the nineteenth?"
"Yep," said Con, "and that thing Jane called 'the archive' bore me out. Hitler and Stalin looked really put out."
"The whole thing's mind-boggling."
"Isn't it?" said Con with a grin. "When you think about it, this must have happened before. Otherwise..." Con looked confused.
"It's a paradox, an infinite loop," said Rick. "Don't even try to figure it out."
"Maybe it started in another version of reality," said Con. "One many times removed from our own."
"Maybe. What I'm curious about is how could you have known about this woman? We're talking over a century be-tween you and her."
"Never underestimate a strong-willed woman with money. Our children will name their daughters Constance and they'll pass on the story."
"That you traveled through time?"
"Not that story," said Con. "The story about you and me being found and the mines and the family curse."
"Curse?"
"That if the oldest daughter isn't named Constance or doesn't learn her story, the family will be ruined."
"Who'd buy that?"
"Daddy did. Rich people can be very traditional; all my girl cousins are named Constance. Besides, there are lawyers involved."
Rick grinned and shook his head in amazement. "Con-stance Clements was quite a woman."
"She sure was," agreed Con. "Now that I know she's me, I'm even more impressed."
"What about her husband?"
"The geologist? He helped discover the mines. Then he retired to collect fossils." Con kissed Rick. "They were very happy."
Rick looked dazed. "So what now?"
"We won't be found for three days."
"Three days!" said Rick, in alarm. "You'll be eating grass!"
"Jane left us a supply of cubes for our honeymoon."
Rick lay back in the grass to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. Con cuddled next to him. "First we'll build a cabin, then we'll look for gold. Of course, we won't find much until after Joe is born."
"Joe?"
"He was my final proof that I'm Constance Clements, the one that clinched it. They tested me."
"What are you talking about?"
"Joseph Burns Clements, silly. Your son. I'm pregnant."
"Pregnant?" exclaimed Rick. He looked at Con with an awed, silly grin.
"Yeah. We'll discover The Second Chance two months after he's born. In a year we'll be rich!"
"Con! You're going to drive me nuts if you keep telling me my future. Save a few surprises." Con giggled. "That's no problem. I'm probably the most surprising woman in history."
Epilogue
TOM CLEMENTS GAZED UPON THE CROWD AT THE SYM-
posium, smiling and nodding to whomever he knew. Many of his colleagues were there, along with his students and former students. There were also numerous new faces. One of those belonged to a slender, blonde-haired woman who stared at him in a puzzled way. Thinking perhaps he should recognize her, Tom acknowledged her gaze with a nod. The woman hesitantly approached him. As she advanced across the room, Tom looked at her more closely. She had the sun-darkened face of someone who had spent a lot of time in the field. Her tanned skin set off her light blue eyes. She was clutching a bound manuscript. A new doctorate, he surmised, networking for a position. When she was a few feet away, he glanced at her name tag. It read dr. c. brown.
Dr. Brown also glanced at Tom's name tag and her reac-tion was one of surprise. It took a moment before she re-gained her composure. When she did, she blurted out, "Are you related to Richard Clements?"
A look of sorrow passed over Tom's features. "I had a brother by that name."
"No, I mean Richard Clements, the ammonite collector."
"I'm afraid not."
"He's not famous, but he was a pioneer in the field. A contemporary of Marsh and Cope."
"Nineteenth century?" said Tom. "I fear my history's weak. Besides, I'm mostly interested in Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary mammals."
"Richard Clements was way ahead of his time," said Dr. Brown, waxing enthusiastic. "His collection is extensive."
"I've never heard of it," said Tom.
"It's still in private hands, my aunt's actually. It was in-valuable in my research." Tom tried to hurry Dr. Brown's banter to the point by asking the question he assumed she was hoping for. "Is that your paper?"
Dr. Brown nodded and handed it to him. He read the title aloud. "The Cladogenesis of Ammonites in the Pierre Sea-way."
"I'm presenting it tomorrow," said Dr. Brown proudly.
Tom smiled, remembering his first presentation. Definitely a new doctorate, he thought. "So you spotted my name tag and thought I was related to your Richard Clements."
"No and that's the strange thing," said Dr. Brown. "You look a lot like him."
"Look like him?"
"See for yourself." She opened her manuscript to a page with a photograph. It showed a man in antique clothing standing behind a fossil ammonite that almost reached his waist. Tom stared at the picture in amazement, for the man had his brother's face. The caption beneath the photograph read, "R. Clements and Splendidodiscus tomatis." Tom trans-lated the Latin in a soft voice. 'Tom's splendid disk."
"The resemblance is remarkable," said Dr. Brown. "Did I say something wrong? You look upset." Tom wiped his eyes. "Where did you get that photo-graph?"
"It's a family heirloom," said Dr. Brown. "Paleontology runs in our family."
"We've got to talk," said Tom urgently.
"About what?"
"Richard Clements. I think I own the first ammonite he ever collected." Dr. Brown looked at Tom quizzically. "You just told me you had never heard of him."
"Please don't think me forward, but could we have dinner? We could eat at my place. There are things there I need to show you."
"What kind of things?" asked Dr. Brown.