Three Rivers
Hudson~Mohawk~Schoharie
History From America's Most Famous Valleys
Synopsis, Out Of Time
She fell out of her time and landed in some horse manure…………
A student of history always dreams of watching historical events first hand and she was not an exception. Upon reading about astral travel, she decided to try it, but with her physical body. She realized that she could change her appearance to whatever she liked when she “traveled” and she decided to travel as a woman at about age 40 with red curly hair. This would eliminate the accompanying health problems of old age. There had to be more left for an elderly widow than sitting and waiting to die.
With colonial clothing on, she fell asleep while reading a book about the Holland, Michigan fire of 1871 and found herself in the midst of an inferno. After her arrival she started to say, “Hope,” but others thought this was her name. What she started to say was, “Hope I didn’t get too much manure on my skirt”, because she landed in horse manure. She decided that Hope was not such a bad name.
After the fire she met TJ, who became the love of her life and they married. TJ was a lumberman, one of those who became wealthy in Muskegon during the rebuilding after the great fire that also consumed Chicago. It was a happy marriage, they faced and Hope experiences many of the difficulties of the time together, a friend tried to murder them, and the ensuing trial was difficult. Because of TJ’s experience during the Civil War, he was called to help in the Indian Wars in the west. He served under Custer and was killed with the rest of the men at Little Big Horn. When the telegram came, Hope fainted and was propelled back to the present time.
Life without TJ was very difficult and to take her mind off her sore heart, she did some more time travel, brief visits. She felt like TJ was not at rest, and she went with her spiritual astral body to the battlefield to look for TJ. He was there, and she walked with him to the other side and wanted to join him, but an angel stopped her. What she didn’t know was that when she left, he followed her.
The next trip into the past and the Mohawk Valley, he followed her and realized she would be appearing again at some of the events in the Revolutionary War. He went back to 1745 and found a baby without a soul who was about to be born and entered his body.
Hope continued to visit places of action during the war and along the way, her granddaughter Kat began following her. After a few months, Hope sent Kat back home for her own safety. Hope was a captive of the Iroquois and Tory raiders and taken to Canada, but escaped and returned in time to see the Battle of Stone Arabia.
In between visits to the valley, she returned home to clean up and delouse herself, but the past kept calling to her. She saw the Battle of Klock’s Field, the woman accused of being a witch, and made friends along the way. Kat kept appearing in the past, she too found an irresistible call back to the past, the same call her grandmother heard and answered.
At the Battle of Johnstown, recognition between TJ and Hope reunited them once more. There were a few difficulties, he was married to another but their love could not be denied. TJ remembered her time travel and insisted he be allowed to visit the future against her advice. The result was that TJ could not process the future and withdrew.
She developed close friendships in the past. But the troubles of the times made survival a challenge. Eventually Hope and TJ are able to build a life with friends and family.
Kat, who is ever present in both times, finds love in the past too, and was struggling with her own set of problems which were the same but very different than her grandmother’s.
The adventures of TJ and Hope on the frontier were many. Each new challenge was met and TJ adapted some of the future to his needs on the frontier. They faced mountain lions, fire, danger, cold, and Hope nearly lost her life to a bite by a copperhead snake. Always they faced things together and with courage.
TJ adapted to the future and looked forward to his return each winter to live in a warm house and explore the world. Kat and John’s love deepened and they married. Both decided to become doctors to serve the past with their skill.
A smallpox epidemic swept the area and her friend’s family died with the exception of their son, Winter. As she died her friend Eva asked Hope to take care of her son. Hope said she would see that he was cared for, which is not the same thing exactly. Winter found a home with Hope’s son and family.
The book is over 251,000 words in length and covers the history of the mid-Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War and immediately after. In the future, there may be more added to the story.
AJ Berry is the author of previous books about the valley during this time and has heavily researched the subject and lives in the valley.