Chapter 26
It's now Friday morning, September 23rd, 2016.
Dalton woke up at his apartment, took a shower, got dressed, ate a quick bowl of cereal then headed off to the university.
Chrissy woke up from her apartment, got dressed, ate a quick breakfast, then headed off to the university. She made sure she had that book she checked out from the library and that Kissing Bandit picture from that website.
It was high noon.
Dalton and Chrissy met at the food court on campus.
"What did you do last night?" said Chrissy while she sat down at a table with their trays of lunch.
"I watched Back to the Future three," said Dalton while he sat down.
Chrissy's eyes widened a little. "So did I. What a coincidence," she said, then got curious. "Why did you pick a time-traveling movie?"
"Why did you?"
"You first."
Dalton thought for a few seconds. "I well, I sorta have this wish where I could travel back in time to the old west."
Chrissy cracked a little warm smile. "That's funny as I've had the same wish."
Dalton was impressed that they both had the same interests. This was the first for a woman with him. He liked it.
They did a little idle chat while they finished their lunch.
They were done eating.
"How about we go find Professor Mathers?" said Dalton.
"Let's do it," said Chrissy.
They got up with their textbooks, and put stuff in the trash then left the food court.
The left the building and walked through campus and soon arrived at the History Building.
They went inside the History Building.
They walked down the first-floor hallway and up to Professor Mather's office door. It was locked. Dalton knocked on the door. They waited. Nothing.
"He's gone," said a female voice behind them.
Dalton and Chrissy turned around and saw a middle-aged woman named Sally that looked like she worked at the university.
"We're students in one of his classes," said Chrissy.
"We wanted to talk to him about his textbook he's using in our class," said Dalton.
"We found a discrepancy," added Chrissy.
"He's out for the rest of the day. He's over at the Police Museum for the opening of a new display on old western Marshals and Outlaws," said Sally. "The display he created for the museum."
"Thank you," said Dalton, he motioned to Chrissy that they should leave.
They were quiet while they walked down the hallway and left the history building.
Dalton looked at Chrissy once they got outside the building. "Want to go to the Police Museum?"
"Why I thought you would never ask," she said with a warm smile. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt to miss a few classes for once."
"I agree, and I'm driving," he said.
She smiled while they walked away and headed toward the student parking lots.
They walked over to Dalton's Honda Civic. He unlocked and opened up the passenger door for Chrissy.
"A gentleman. Don't see that very often nowadays," she said while she sat inside the car.
He closed the door and rushed around to the driver's side, got inside, and started up his Civic.
He drove out of the parking lot and headed off through the streets of Phoenix.
Dalton drove up to a red light. He stopped. A car behind him slammed on its brakes. Dalton's heart raced, thinking that the car would hit his Civic. He cringed. No crash. He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw a car to close for comfort. He sighed a sigh of relief.
Chrissy turned around and saw the car behind the Civic. "You're telling me. That guy's on his cell phone, not paying attention."
"Figures," said Dalton.
The light turned green the split-second; another car ran the red light to his right.
Dalton slammed on his brakes. "I hate these drivers in this city. Always in a…" he said and paused, thinking he shouldn't use a cuss word with Chrissy in the car. "Hurry."
"I know, I'm getting to the point where I hate driving around here," said Chrissy. "Becoming way too dangerous."
"I agree," said Dalton, and he cautiously drove through the intersection and drove off down the street.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and Dalton and Chrissy were heading into the front entrance of the Police Museum. She had that library book with that Internet picture printout inside in hand. Dalton had their textbook from Professor Mather's class in hand.
They strutted to the front entrance on a critical mission in their minds.
Once they entered through the front doors, they saw a display board mentioning the "Grand Opening of the Old Western Arizona Marshals and Outlaws" display. It was located in the Sandy Desert Banquet room.
Dalton and Chrissy walked off through the museum in search of that room.
They found it.
They went inside and notice a crowd of only ten people milling around the new displays. They scanned the room, and it didn't take them long to spot Professor Mathers. He was standing next to another man. It was Clint Bartley, and they stood by the display on the Marshals and Outlaws that were part of Oak Creek's history.
Dalton and Chrissy walked up to the Oak Creek display; at the same time, two older gentlemen struck up a conservation with Professor Mathers and Clint.
Dalton and Chrissy checked out the Oak Creek display and soon saw the part about Marshal Clint Bartley.
They saw a picture of Marshal Bartley and saw the long scar on the left side of his face.
Dalton glanced over his shoulder to check on Professor Mathers. He got a good glimpse of Clint. He looked away and glanced back at the display information of Marshal Bartley. Something suddenly felt weird when he saw the long scar on the left side of Clint's face on the picture.
He glanced back at Clint Bartley and saw a similar long scar on the left side of his face.
He glanced back at the display picture of Marshal Bartley. No way! He thought.
He leaned in closer to Chrissy's face. "Take a look at that guy that was with Professor Mathers when we came into the room. Kinda looks like that Marshal Bartley," he said to her in a low voice. "They both have the same scar."
Chrissy took a discreet glimpse of Clint standing near Professor Mathers. She looked at the display of a picture of Marshal Bartley. She did this a couple of times, focusing on the scar. "I feel like we're in an episode of the Twilight Zone," she said.
"Tell me about it," said Dalton. He tried to quietly sing out the Twilight Zone TV show theme song but got it half correct. But Chrissy knew what he meant.
They both looked at Professor Mathers the split second he set his eyes on them. "It's showtime," said Dalton, and he looked at Chrissy and made a gesture they should go talk with him. Chrissy gave a small nod agreeing with him.
They walked over to Professor Mathers.
"Hi, Professor Mathers," said Dalton when they stopped at John.
"Do I know you?" said Professor Mathers thinking these young kids looked familiar.
"Yes, we're in your Arizona Old Western Marshals and Outlaws class," said Dalton.
"Ah, yes. I'm happy to see you here for the new display. What are your names?" said John when he remembered them.
"I'm Dalton Trevor."
"I'm Chrissy Barron."
"This is my near friend, Clint Bartley."
They all shook hands.
"Clint Bartley. The same name as that old western outlaw from Oak Creek," said Dalton.
"You're correct. That's why I brought my old friend down here. To show him that famous Marshal that had his same name," said John.
"Yes, I find that extremely fascinating," said Clint.
"What do you do for a living, Mister Bartley? I don't recall seeing you as a professor at the university," said Chrissy.
"I'm a pianist for the Phoenix Symphony," said Clint.
"That's nice," said Chrissy.
John looked at Chrissy, as there was something about her that started to bug him. "I remember you from yesterday's class."
"Yes, I asked you about the Kissing Bandit outlaw," said Chrissy, and she paused to open up that book she checked out from the library. "I found out that there's no information out there about the Kissing Bandit's parents. About where he came from," said Chrissy.
"Also, we found it strange that he suddenly showed up in Oak Creek in eighteen eighty-three, robbed banks, hooked up with Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler," said Dalton.
Chrissy opened up her book and removed the paper with the Internet picture of Bart, Charlie, and the Kissing Bandit taken at Mountain Rock. "I found this picture on the Internet," she said and showed it to Professor Mathers and Clint.
Professor Mathers and Clint looked at the paper.
"Funny thing is Professor, that Kissing Bandit has a striking resemblance to you," said Chrissy.
"Plus, that Marshal Bartley also has a striking resemblance to your friend, Clint," said Dalton.
Clint glanced over at John and with a "How are you going to talk out of this one?" glance.
"We went back in time," said John, then he laughed.
Clint started laughing.
Dalton and Chrissy laughed along with them.
John stopped laughing. "Now, we all know that time travel isn't possible. Now, for us resembling that old western Marshal and Outlaw, well, why can't people of today have a striking resemblance to people in the past? Remember the Nicholas Cage resemblance to a Civil War soldier? Very striking resemblance," said John.
"I vaguely remember hearing about that," said Dalton.
"Plus Bruce Willis greatly resembled General Douglas MacArthur," added John, then he paused for a second to think about another one. "Oh yeah, that actor Christopher Lloyd's Back to the Future movie character Doc Brown looked like the John C. Calhoun politician."
"I don't know about that," said Dalton.
"Go do your Internet search on a Business Insider article. He shows a bunch of famous people of our time that looked like famous people from the past," said John. "That article came out a few years ago."
Dalton and Chrissy looked at each other and didn't know what to do next.
"About that Kissing Bandit, I have a small display over there," said John pointing to another wall. "He's part of the Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler display."
Dalton and Chrissy looked at where John was pointing. They saw the display on Bart and Charlie, and something felt odd about those two.
"And there's another copy of that picture you just showed me," said John.
Dalton and Chrissy looked back at each other.
"Well, guess we'll see you next week in class," said Dalton.
"Yes, see you next week," said Chrissy.
They both walked away and felt a little embarrassed.
"I have to admit, that was smooth," said Clint. "Very smooth."
"I hope they bought it," said John as he still had this hunch these two would be a torn in his side.
"You know they did. And besides, we planted cacti at the entrance to Crazy Hole ten years ago. There's no way they can get inside that cave. No way," said Clint.
"Yeah, you're probably right," said John. But inside, he still had a small flame of concern with these two students. They reminded him of his obsession with being a famous outlaw ten years ago.
"Now, let's go take another glance at that handsome Marshal Bartley," said Clint.
John chuckled. "Yeah, let's check out this handsome Marshall Bartley," he said and patted Clint on his back.
They looked at Marshal Bartley's picture, and for a few seconds, Clint really didn't miss those days in the old west.
Dalton and Chrissy walked out of the Police Museum and looked defeated.
"What he said about today's famous people resembling famous old people might be true, but seeing that Clint guy and that picture of that Marshal Bartley still has him wondering what's going on here," said Dalton.
Dalton and Chrissy walked up to his Honda Civic. He again opened up the passenger door for her.
"Thank you," she said while sitting down in the passenger seat.
He closed her door and rushed over to the driver's side and got behind the wheel.
He started up his car then looked over at Chrissy. "Why don't you come to my place? I want to do some more Internet research. We could order pizza for dinner. I hope you like pizza?"
"I love pizza, especially during Internet research."
Dalton smiled while he backed his Civic out of the parking space.
Dalton drove straight to his apartment.
He parked, got out of his car with their books, and they walked through the apartment complex to his building. It was a quiet walk.
Once he got inside his apartment, he started to get a little nervous. This was the first time he had a girl in his apartment. Even though he dated Shelly, well he thought it was dating, she just thought it was hanging out. She always refused his requests to go to his apartment.
"Do you like New York-style pizza?" Dalton asked while they stood by the door to his apartment.
"That would be great."
"Two small with pepperoni and cheese?"
"Sure."
Dalton removed his cell phone off its belt holster. He made a call to the nearest New York Pizza Department place and ordered two small pepperoni pizzas to be delivered.
"Should be here in thirty minutes," he said while he put his cell phone back in his belt holster.
Dalton and Chrissy glanced at each other, not knowing what to do next. This was the first time she was invited into a guy's apartment. Meaning alone with a guy.
Dalton's eyes lit up with an idea. "Can I have your cell phone number?"
"My number?"
Dalton thought he overstepped his bounds.
"Actually, that's a good idea. You know, in case we find something interesting and need to get a hold of each other," she said, then paused. "Five, five, five, two, nine, six, eight."
It took a few seconds for it to dawn on Dalton that she agreed. "Oh, yeah," he said, then whipped out his cell phone off its belt holster. He made Chrissy a contact on his phone.
"I need your number."
"Oh yeah, five, five, five, four, seven, six, one," he said.
Shelly opened up her purse and removed her cell phone. She made Dalton a contact on her phone.
"Now, what do we do?"
"We could talk while we wait for the pizza," she said.
"Talk is good. Get to know each other."
Dalton and Chrissy walked over to his couch and sat down.
It was quiet for a few seconds while they waited for the other to start the conservation.
"So, are you from the Phoenix area?" said Chrissy breaking the ice.
"No," said Dalton.
They chatted for the next thirty minutes. They learned that Dalton was from Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh area, and Chrissy was from the Seattle, Washington area. Dalton and Chrissy were both juniors at the university.
They learned that they were never in a serious relationship and wanted to go to college in Phoenix because of their love for the old west. The also mentioned how they liked that nineteen seventy-three movie called Westworld. They thought it would be cool if a theme park like that existed today, where they could take a vacation and pretend to live in the old west. Except where the robot staff goes berserk and tries to kill them.
The doorbell rang. The pizza was here.
Dalton got up and opened the door and paid for the pizza with Chrissy's help.
He got two beers out of the fridge. He opened the bottles and handed Chrissy her beer.
She looked at the label. Her eyes lit up. "Oak Creek Pale Ale? What a coincidence."
"I know, it's made by the Oak Creek Brewing Company here in Arizona. I found it last week," he said while glancing at the label of his bottle.
Chrissy was impressed and took a sip. "It's good."
He smiled and glad she liked his selection of beer.
The walked over and sat down at his computer desk. He powered up his iMac.
A few seconds had passed, and they were ready.
"Where do we start?" said Chrissy.
"How about that Business Insider article Professor Mathers mentioned?"
"That sounds good."
Dalton opened up Google and typed that in the search block. A link for that article appeared. He clicked on it, and they checked it out.
"He's right about Nicholas Cage. What a striking resemblance to that Civil War soldier," said Chrissy.
"I know. That's eerie," said Dalton and he scrolled down the article, and they soon found the Bruce Willis and General MacArthur pictures.
"What a striking resemblance," said Chrissy.
"Wow," said Dalton, and he scrolled down and stopped at the Doc Brown, Christopher Lloyd, and the John C. Calhoun politician pictures.
They started at this one.
"He kinda looks like that old politician," said Dalton, then took a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, this one is a bit of a stretch," said Chrissy, then she took a sip of her beer.
They took a second to munch on their pizza.
"What should we search on next?" said Chrissy.
"I don't know," he said and pondered for a few seconds. "You know, this connection between Professor Mathers and that Clint Bartley still has me wondering that something eerie is going on."
"I know what you mean," said Chrissy. "Do a search on Clint Bartley, pianist for Phoenix Symphony."
Dalton did that and found the link for the website of that Symphony. He clicked on it, and a page about Clint Bartley appeared with a photo.
Chrissy opened up her library book and found the page about Clint Bartley. She scanned the article. Her eyes widened. "This is strange."
"What?"
"The article states that Marshal Bartley played the piano and was really good," she said.
They both about that for a few seconds, and their eyes widened. "Search for actual time travel stories," they both said in unison. They looked at each other surprised they had the same suggestion at the same idea.
"Time travel in Arizona?" said Chrissy.
Dalton smiled while he typed that in the search bar.
Some results appeared. One result was titled "I Traveled In Time." Dalton opened up the site.
He scrolled down the links of stories and found something of interest. It was titled "Phoenix Man Claims He Traveled in Time To Old West."
He clicked on the link, and it opened up. It was an old Phoenix Herald article dated July 16th, 1950.
"Phillip Yoemans, age twenty, made a claim of time travel to the old west last week, while he was hunting for buried gold in a cave in the Superstition Mountains. Authorities discounted Mister Yoeman's claim of time travel and requested an immediate psychiatric examination," Chrissy read the Internet article.
"I can imagine that Phillip Yoemans has passed by now," said Dalton.
"I agree. But that article did they mention he time traveled while looking for buried gold in a cave. What cave?" asked Chrissy.
Dalton typed in "Time Traveling Cave in Arizona" in the search block.
They waited. Nothing.
"Hmm," said Dalton while he pondered their next move. His eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. "I got it."
"Got what?"
"I know someone who might be able to shed some light on this," he said and whipped out his cell phone from its holster. He made a call from his contacts list.
"Hey Dalton," said Roger from the cell phone. "What's up?"
"Roger, I need to talk to you before you head off to work," said Dalton, and he sounded excited.
"Can't it wait until tonight? During our break?"
"I'm not working tonight, and no, it can't wait. It's essential," he said while glancing over at Chrissy. "Plus, I have a close friend that also needs to hear this."
Chrissy smiled.
"I have a ton of work to do around the house before I leave for work. So, why don't we meet tomorrow morning?"
Dalton frowned, as he was really looking forward to talking to Roger right now. "Are you sure?"
"Sorry, buddy, but when the wife wants something done, you don't put it off. So it's tomorrow morning, or you can wait until Monday night," said Roger, and he sounded dead serious.
"Okay, tomorrow's fine. What time and where?"
"Good, meet me at the Home Depot off East Thomas Road. "Tomorrow at nine," said Roger. "What's this about?"
Dalton hesitated. "It's for term paper for our college class. We need to learn about a story about a time-traveling cave located near Phoenix."
There was a brief moment of silence from Dalton's cell phone. "Well, I figured you would be asking about this one day. I'll see you tomorrow morning," said Roger, and he ended his end of the call.
Dalton placed his cell phone back in its holster. "Tomorrow morning at nine at the Home Depot near the university. Can you make it?"
"There's no way I would miss hearing what he has to say."
They both looked at their pizza boxes and finished their pizza.
Afterward, Dalton drove Chrissy back to the university so she could get her car. For the first time with meeting her, he had the inkling to give her a quick kiss. He refrained, as he didn't want to scare her off.
She left, stating she would meet him at his apartment at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.
So for the rest of the evening, Dalton reread the Internet articles about Marshal Bartley, Bart Stone, Charlie Chandler, and of course, the Kissing Bandit.
Dalton saw an interesting link. It was titled "Cowboy Fires Gun in Air from Horse in Phoenix." For some reason, he was drawn to that article. He clicked on it.
The article was a news report from ten years ago. It was about an unidentified cowboy shooting his gun into the air in downtown Phoenix. The article also claimed that this cowboy wanted to kill someone named the Kissing Bandit.
The picture that was a still shot from a video of this cowboy looked extremely familiar.
He compared pictures of Bart Stone, and Charlie Chandler, and his eyes widened. "Is that Bart Stone?" he said while he made numerous comparisons of the pictures. "It is!" he said, then grabbed his cell phone. He called Chrissy.
"Missing me already?" said Chrissy answering the call.
"Yes, I mean no. I found something interesting on the Internet," said Dalton into this cell phone
"What's that?" replied Chrissy from the cell phone.
"It's a new article from ten years ago. It shows a cowboy on a horse firing a gun in the air wanting to kill the Kissing Bandit. The strange part is that this cowboy resembles that outlaw Bart Stone."
There was a few seconds of silence. "Did you say, this guy resembles Bart Stone?" said Chrissy, not sure she heard correctly.
"Yes. He looks exactly like Bart Stone."
Chrissy thought about him for a few seconds. "You know, all these guys resembling old western people draws me to b