A TRIP BACK TO 1860

by Chantal Bellehumeur

The Girard family wanted to do something unique for their fall vacation. They became interested in visiting a historical Upper Canada style village consisting of buildings from the nineteenth century, and found the perfect lodging on site. The original log cabin, relocated to the village along with the other old structures, included modern conveniences.

guest sheet to enter the outdoor museum by the main entrance only, the Girards rebelliously disobeyed and walked down the dirt path from their cabin. A wooden barricade with a huge “DO NOT ENTER” sign should have stopped them from going any further, but they ignored it.

When they climbed over the barricade, the village suddenly came to life. Men and women dressed in 1860’s style clothing walked around, giving the family strange looks. Horse-drawn carriages went by. One of them stopped in front of the general store for a delivery.

A mischievous looking boy bumped into Garry. He ran away as Garry stumble forward, his foot landing in a pile of horse excrements. Julia supressed a giggle when her husband complained.

“Shall we visit a building?” she suggested, map in hand.

The door was locked when they got to the physician’s house, so Julia used the door knocker. A well-coiffed woman answered and politely asked what they needed.

Julia, her husband Garry, and their fourteenyear-old son Mathew purchased special outfits to live the full experience. It was easy for the men to find suitable clothing at the thrift store; dress pants, dress shirts, vests, bowties, and flat caps. The only thing out of place were their sneakers. Julia found a lovely Victorian dress online, but didn’t realise it wasn’t fashionable for the year she would be visiting. It was too revealing, plus her outfit lacked a hat and gloves. She found the perfect brooch though.

Although it was clearly indicated on their

“We’re just here to visit,” Julie answered.

“We don’t do visits,” the woman stated. “Only house calls.”

The Girards remained on the large porch, looking confused. “Are we supposed to invent a medical need?” Julia whispered.

“There’s nothing in the pamphlet about role playing…” Garry told his wife it was worth a try.

“Our son’s sick and needs a doctor,” Julia finally said.

“Where are you staying? I’ll send my husband shortly.”

“Just down the street,” Julia answered.

“At the hotel? Which room?”

Before Julia could answer, the woman added: “If you’re going to stay in this village a while, find something suitable for church.”

I guess I should visit the dressmaker,” Julia said after the woman shut the door.

As the Girards walked towards that house, Matthew pointed out wanted posters glued to the wooden fences. There were also several warnings to watch out for pick-pocketers. Garry instinctively put his hand in his pocket and realised his wallet was gone.

“That kid!”

Julia noticed children playing in the yard of the small schoolhouse. She thought her husband was referring to one of them but he wasn’t looking in their direction.

“I can’t believe he stole my wallet.”

Recalling the mischievous boy, Julia told her husband they could report him after speaking to the dressmaker. They were already there, and Julia asked the dressmaker to help with her outfit, hoping she could rent out a full costume with accessories. When the woman told her the surprisingly low fee, Julia took out her wallet and presented her credit card. Realising she needed to pay cash, she then presented a twenty-dollar bill with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II on it.

Julia made a respectful comment about the Queen’s passing which agitated the dressmaker. “When did Queen Victoria die? I didn’t read it in the newspaper.”

Thinking the dressmaker was simply playing her role, Julia apologised for her mistake and tried to give her the twenty-dollar bill again. The dressmaker glanced at it and told Julia to come back when she had real money.

“Do we have to get tokens or something at the main entrance?” Julia asked. The dressmaker gave her a blank stare.

Julia looked at her pamphlet and couldn’t find anything relevant.

“This place is strange,” Mathew said, and

Julia agreed. She thought the acting of each character was well played yet too intense.

A bell rang. When Julia looked up, she saw the children forming two lines in front of the school house; one for boys, the other for girls. The teacher came out, held his hand to his heart, and collapsed.

Having recently completed her first-aid refresher course, Julia ran towards the school and checked the man’s pulse and breathing. Nothing.

“Call 9-1-1,” she told her husband as she began chest compressions. “And go to the admissions building. Tell a staff member their teacher had a heart attack. Come back with a defibrillator if possible.”

“There’s no reception,” Garry stated in a panic. The children pointed at his cellphone, asking what it was.

Julia continued her fast compressions, not stopping once to give breaths since she didn’t have a CPR mask. It was the new way she’d been taught. “Run to admissions then!”

“I’ll get help!” an older boy volunteered. By the time the boy arrived with the local physician, Julia had revived the teacher. She was exhausted and traumatised from hearing the man’s ribs crack. He complained about the pain and the doctor yelled at Julia, “What did you do?”

“She brought Mr. Garrison back to life!” a little girl announced. “Yeah” the other children confirmed. “With her magic,” a boy stated. Oh no, Julia thought. Are these people really living in the past? Do they think I’m a witch? Did they burn witches at the stake in 1860? They can’t legally do that now,” she reasoned.

The physician grabbed Julia by the arm and demanded she follow him. Julia tried to resist, but he was too strong and she had not recovered her energy.

“Find your father,” she told Mathew. As Julia was being tugged along the dirt road, observed by other villagers, she spotted Garry’s wallet. The contents were scattered on the ground. She didn’t understand why somebody would steal a wallet but not take anything. Then something dawned on her. It didn’t make sense, but Julia feared she and her family had literally travelled back in time.

Julia was ignored when asked what year it was, and soon placed in a jail cell. Sitting on the cold concrete floor, she pondered on her fate. She wondered if she’d get a fair trial, and what her punishment might be if she were found guilty. She imagined being hung and it made her nauseous. She was given stale bread and water with her continued silent treatment.

The next day, Julia heard Garry and Mathew’s voices near her barred window.

“We went back to the cabin but a family lives there,” Garry announced. “They thought we were breaking in so the older boys chased us.”

This confirmed Julia’s illogical theory.

“We managed to find shelter in an old barn for the night and stole an apple pie cooling on a windowsill. We also managed to grab vegetables from a garden.”

Garry dropped pieces of lettuce and a carrot into the cell which Julia devoured.

“What are we going to do?” Mathew asked his parents.

“See if the pastor can help you while we figure this mess out,” Julia suggested. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

“And if he turns us away?” Garry asked.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but take advantage of everyone being in church tomorrow. Break into houses and steal as much food, money, and clothes as you can.”

They didn’t have to do any of this since Julia was released moments later. Mr. Garrison came to his senses and was thankful for Julia’s actions. “You saved my life, so I’d like to help you in return.” He invited the family to stay with him and his wife on a short-term basis, and offered to help them get jobs.

When asked what his skills were, Garry said he was a ‘Jack of all trades’. Mr. Garrison started enumerating potential jobs for him; tin maker, broom maker, shoemaker, cabinet maker. “The saw mill or flour mill could use a strong man, and my father-in-law also needs an extra pair of hands at the Gazette.” Garry agreed to work for the printing office.

“The blacksmith is looking for an apprentice,” Mathew was told. The boy never worked a day in his life but realised he didn’t have a choice now.

“The wool factory is hiring, and my wife could use help with the house chores and spinning.” Julia nodded at this. She knew there weren’t many options for her.

Mrs. Garrison was welcoming and lent Julia some proper clothing. There were so many layers to put on! When Julia was fully dressed, she was expected to help in the kitchen right away. It was hard work, but well worth the effort.

Over a delicious chicken dinner, Mr. Garrison asked where the Girards were from and what brought them to Morrisburg.

Julia dared not say she was from the future, at the risk of sounding insane. She invented a story about her village up north burning down. “We lost everything, including our horses.”

“That’s terrible!” Mrs. Garrison stated. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”

Unfortunately, another tragedy hit and the Girards were blamed for it. A fire started in the Garrison’s house and quickly spread from one building to the next. The community was unable to dump water buckets on the growing flames fast enough.

Julia woke up in a sweat, relieved to see she was inside the rented cabin. “What a nightmare!”

“I had a bad dream too,” Mathew said.

“As did I,” Garry announced.

The family discussed how they all travelled back to 1860 in their dreams.

Mathew said the blacksmith never actually taught him anything. “Watch and learn,” was all he ever told me. “I managed to make a hook though.”

“I learned something,” Garry stated. “While picking each letter one by one to form words for the press, I collected the uppercase letters from the top case and the lowercase letters from the bottom case. I realised that’s why they’re called uppercase and lowercase letters.”

“Fascinating,” Julia responded. “I was fired form the wool factory because I was a terrible weaver, but managed to figure out how to spin a wheel at the right speed.”

As the family started getting ready for the day, they each pondered on their strange collective dream. Mathew noticed a burn mark on his hand, Garry found the letter G in his pant pocket, and Julia discovered dyed wool among her belongings.

Julia opened the door to the cabin. She was relieved to see several people wearing modern clothing walking by.

Chantal Bellehumeur is a Canadian author. She has several published novels of various genres as well as short stories, poems and articles featured in compilation books, magazines, plus a local newspaper. For a complete list of publications, including free reads, visit: https://author-chantal-bellehumeur.webnode.com/products-/

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