The Color of Spring Lightning Read online

  “Where?” Kody asked more pointedly.

  “Where? Mr. Higgins, I’m wondering if it isn’t more a question of when. I’m not aware of any culture on the earth, either now or in the past, that would explain the way you dress and speak.”

  Kody grinned. “You seem very open-minded.”

  “I have read Wells’s recent story, the one about time travel. Although I never considered it more than interesting fiction.” Jarvis seemed to trail off into his thoughts while staring at the tabletop.

  “What’s today’s date?”

  “April 24, 1898.” Jarvis finally met his gaze. “And what was the date you departed from?”

  “I should be careful about too many details, but more than a hundred years.”

  “A century? And this strong musculature and minimal clothing style will be common in the future?”

  “Musculature? I’m not even really built.”

  “Oh, but by today’s standards, you are quite ‘built’, as you put it. Far beyond what standard calisthenics can achieve. How is that done?”

  “With workout machines that have weights to increase the muscle resistances.”

  Jarvis looked over his smooth skin. “And from your lack of pox scars, I can assume a cure is found?”

  “Even better, good vaccines end up preventing most diseases.”

  “I see, so Pasteur’s work does revolutionize medicine, as many are predicting.”

  “I should be careful about saying too much.”

  The glint in Jarvis’s eye dimmed slightly, but he nodded in agreement. After a moment, though, he broke out into a wide grin. “This is all assuming, of course, that you have some kind of proof to substantiate this wild yarn,” Jarvis said with a simple smile as he carefully laid out his trap.

  “Proof? I don’t know….”

  Jarvis feigned disappointment. “I did notice the bulge of items in your pants. Surely there would be no harm in displaying the contents of your pockets.”

  After standing up, Kody removed his keys and wallet from his pockets, then hesitated when his hand clasped around his cell phone. Even if the electrical surge of the lightning hadn’t destroyed it, Kody knew it would still be useless, since the phone would not have any cell towers to connect with. He withdrew the slim black phone from his pocket and set it on the table.

  He regretted the move when Jarvis’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the rectangular plastic. “And what is that?” Jarvis nearly salivated with excitement.

  Kody put his hand on top of the phone as Jarvis reached for it. “You never told me what kind of work you do….”

  “What difference should that make?”

  “A lot of difference.” Kody slid the phone close to him. “I probably shouldn’t let you see this at all, depending.”

  “And if I told you I was an accountant, would you let me see it more closely?” Jarvis said, trying to look demure.

  “But you would be lying if you said that, wouldn’t you?” Kody smiled tightly as he studied Jarvis. “An accountant wouldn’t pop a boner over something like this.”

  “And what exactly does ‘pop a boner’ mean?”

  “It’s an expression for getting an erection.”

  “Ah, an interesting euphemism. Yet I think that, once again, you are trying to distract me.”

  Giving up on the device for the moment, Jarvis turned his attention to the other items on the table. He ignored the wallet and picked up the key ring. The metal keys seemed to be of no interest, probably being similar in nearly any time period. Instead, Jarvis examined the flat plastic charm advertising the restaurant Kody had worked at years ago. He read the caption briefly, then bent the material between his fingers and watched it flex back into a flat shape. Jarvis then bit on it. “What remarkable material is this? Some sort of compressed and waterproofed paper?”

  “You still haven’t answered me about what you do.”

  “I do work as a small business accountant in my sister’s shop, for three days of the week.”

  “And what about the other days?”

  Jarvis sighed and put down the key ring. “I have been known to tinker a bit.” He picked up the wallet and opened it. “Which is what you fear, I imagine. That I would use this knowledge to my own ends.” He read the driver’s license displayed in the clear celluloid window.

  “Define ‘tinker’.”

  “I dabble with mechanics. Steam contraptions, mostly. I am fascinated by the notion of horseless carriages and other vehicles.” Jarvis gazed up from the wallet. “Speaking of which, where is your vehicle? I’m assuming this document, this license, refers to your time vehicle.”

  Kody laughed. “No, that is just for my car… automobile. I don’t have a time machine.”

  Jarvis scowled slightly.

  “Seriously. I don’t have a time machine. I’m stuck here.” Kody sighed. “I arrived here just as you saw. I was walking across the park in a bad thunderstorm and was struck by lightning.”

  Jarvis peered at him. “You say it was the lightning?”

  “Believe me, I wish I did have a machine. Short of hanging around the park hoping to get struck again, I don’t have any way back to my own place. And what are the odds of that?”

  Softening his gaze, Jarvis frowned. “Then you are ‘stuck’ here? Left in this barbaric past?”

  “I never said that. It doesn’t seem that bad at all.”

  Jarvis quietly studied him.

  “Since I’m left to rely upon the kindness of strangers, I couldn’t have gotten much luckier, I don’t think. You haven’t even seemed to blink at such an outrageous idea.”

  “There’s no point in arguing against the obvious conclusion.” Jarvis smiled. “And you think I’m kind?”

  “Yes, I do.” Kody looked down at the table, then picked up the key ring by the restaurant charm. “And to answer your question, this is called ‘plastic’. It’s a synthetic created through some chemical process that solidifies oils.”

  “Solidified oil? How remarkable! That process sounds similar to creating celluloid, but this material is much stronger and more colorful. How is it done?”

  Kody laughed. “I’m not a chemist, so I couldn’t tell you, but even if I did know, that’s probably the sort of detail I shouldn’t share.”

  “Oh, right, then.” Jarvis paused. “Let me ask, if you’re not a tinker and not a chemist, then what work do you do?”

  “Artist.”

  “Really now? As in painter?”

  Kody struggled with how to describe a computer graphics artist. “No, not much experience with paint. More sketching, doing bold images for things like advertisements.”

  “Pictures in advertisements? How queer.”

  Kody frowned. “Your newspapers don’t have ad pictures?”

  Jarvis stood and disappeared a moment, returning with that day’s newspaper. He handed it to Kody.

  Kody looked over the page of nothing but columns of solid text. The masthead at the top didn’t even have a logo. How people could read this without eyestrain, he couldn’t imagine. Kody certainly didn’t want to try. He did notice a few ads, though, their plain text only separated from the stories by thin boxy outlines. “I guess newspapers haven’t advanced yet. There must be some improvement in printing technology that allows for pictures. Believe me, newspapers will be much prettier and easier to read in the future.”

  “So there will be a few advances in the future?”

  Almost laughing, Kody patted Jarvis’s hand. “You have no idea….”

  “Like what?”

  Kody thought a moment about how best to answer. “Right now, this is, like, a huge fulcrum point. Electricity is just getting started and will create a whole new foundation for everything. Disciplines and sciences that have always been distinct will begin merging and collaborating in ways you can’t even imagine.”

  Jarvis looked skeptical. “I have a very good imagination.”

  “Oh really?” Kody tapped his fingers on top of the ph
one as he flashed a grin. Since Jarvis was into steam mechanics, it probably wouldn’t hurt to let him have a look. He slid the phone across the table. “Here, then. If you’ve got such a great imagination, examine it and tell me what it is.”

  “A challenge.” Jarvis grinned as he gingerly picked up the device. “How delicious.” He ran his fingers along the smooth gray face, pausing briefly at the smiley-face-looking LG logo before turning his attention to the sides. “This is more of that plastic?”

  “Yes.”

  Jarvis studied the sides, fingering the small power cord hole and the elongated USB connection port. When his attention wandered to the top edge, he found the power button and pushed it. The gray screen blinked briefly with a flash of random colors as the phone tried to boot up, but the screen went blank again.

  Kody shrugged. “I was afraid the electrical surge of the lightning damaged it.”

  “I must confess, you have bested me, Kody. What is the purpose of this?”

  “It’s a phone.”

  “Phone? As in telephone? I see holes where the cord might attach, but it has no rotor. How do you dial such a thing?” He suddenly placed it back on the table.

  “When it works right, buttons that can be pushed appear on that gray screen.”

  Jarvis frowned. “Then my imagination has indeed failed me.”

  “No, it hasn’t failed; at least you found the power button. But you’re looking at over a hundred years of tech advances that led to that device. The floods of new technology can be very difficult to predict.”

  “Floods,” Jarvis repeated, pondering the word. “And what other floods await? Does the United States still exist?”

  “Yes, even bigger than it is now. And many social changes have already started.”

  “Such as?”

  “The WEVA, for one.” Kody saw the confusion on Jarvis’s face. “Equal voting rights for women.”

  “And how do you see that?”

  “Most historians seem to think it started with women allowed on the battlefield in the Civil War, as nurses and cooks and such. It allowed women the taste of something more like true equality and started an attitude shift.”

  Jarvis still seemed to be having trouble following.

  Kody took a deep breath. “Unlike technology changes, which seem to happen like a flood from a burst dam, social changes are more like a rainstorm flood. It starts with just one or two drips of water that might go unnoticed. Then another drip, and a drip-drip-drip until more water falls and starts the flood.”

  “Ah.” Jarvis looked thoughtful. “Like the few bold women now wearing slacks. That’s another drip.”

  “Exactly. And it will lead up to women pushing for the right to vote and other equal legal standings. They eventually get to vote in 1968 when the WEVA passes.”

  “My sister will be relieved when that finally happens. She often complains of feeling her hands are tied when it comes to business dealings and hates the need to bring her husband into situations.” Jarvis’s gaze turned more serious. “And what of….” Jarvis squirmed a bit on the stool. “What of bachelors?”

  Kody smiled. “Oh, it’s much better than I suspect it is now. Most of us are out openly, and we recently got the right to marry, although the religious nuts still have their butts on fire about it. But most people are pretty much live and let live.”

  Jarvis chuckled. “They have ‘butts on fire’? Your expressions are quite humorous at times.”

  “And I’m not even trying to be funny.” Kody leaned forward a bit. “How exactly are things right now? Is it just like an unspoken secret?”

  “Society tries to be ‘quietly polite’ about it. After a man reaches a certain age without marrying and he isn’t a philanderer, people will suspect, but it’s not something that should ever be mentioned.”

  “Oh, kind of a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy.”

  “Yes, that sounds like a way to describe it.”

  “The military went through a phase of that in the 1940s, before they finally just gave up and let us serve openly.”

  “You keep using the word ‘openly.’ What exactly does that mean?”

  “That means we date other men without hiding it, we touch and hold hands on the street, introduce a guy as our boyfriend or husband, if that’s what he is. You know, just out in the open with no secrets.”

  “Then I’m afraid you will miss that greatly.” Jarvis smirked.

  Kody smiled warmly. “I won’t have to miss everything, though; you guys still have sex, right?”

  “I’m not sure if our definition of ‘sex’ and yours would be the same.”

  “Sex, as in, mutual penile stimulation of one form or another that results in orgasmic ejaculation for both parties,” Kody said with a grin.

  “That certainly sounds like my definition. I can’t speak for all bachelors, though.”

  Kody gazed into Jarvis’s eyes. “And who said I cared about the other bachelors?”

  After clearing his throat, Jarvis dropped his gaze. “Right, then.” He looked at the phone. “I imagine you will need to make arrangements now, considering your situation.” Jarvis found the thought of sheltering Kody both terrifying and exciting. He tried to ignore the increase of his heart rate.

  Kody tried to hide his disappointment. “The little cash in my wallet will probably be useless. But why the sudden brush-off? Do you already have a boyfriend?”

  “No. I suppose I didn’t explain that clearly enough. Men of our predilection can’t hope for such things. We simply find the occasional relief when we can.”

  Kody bristled. “Oh, hell no. Anonymous sex in dark bars and dingy alleys? I’m not settling for that. And you do?”

  “There is no choice.”

  “Oh, fuck that, there’s always a choice, dude. You make a choice by just lying down and accepting it.”

  Jarvis blanched. “That’s quite enough language, Mr. Higgins.”

  “Bullshit. It’s not enough language. You need to just fuck that shit, piss all over it, and tell the nosy cocks and cunts to mind their own fucking business.” Kody watched Jarvis grow red in the face and clench his jaw as he spat out the curse words. “And quit calling me mister.”

  Jarvis stopped grinding his teeth and relaxed his jaw. “You confound me.” He finally looked directly at Kody. “I am torn between the notion of punching you or kissing you.”

  “I’d prefer the kiss.”

  “As you made quite apparent earlier.” Jarvis turned his eyes away to the cabinet and took a calming breath. He would not let himself be captivated by this man.

  Kody smiled. “So you did notice I was flirting with you. Maybe you aren’t hopeless.”

  Jarvis let out a big sigh. “But I fear you may be, Kody. I can’t in all good conscience let you out on the street. I doubt you could reach the corner without creating some scandal or another and getting arrested.” Jarvis leaned forward and pointed his finger as he spoke. “Those attitudes and your temper are bound to stir controversy, to your detriment.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid. I can behave myself in public.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  “But you need to loosen up, at least a little. You’re wound up tighter than a Swiss watch. You can say the word homosexual without the sky falling down.”

  Jarvis frowned. “We don’t need to discuss me. My future is not the one at stake here.”

  “Alright, then.” Kody threw up his hands in surrender. “I guess I should put together a plan. Where should I start?”

  “The most pressing matter, I would think, is your clothing. You will also need to consider employment. Have you any skills besides the art?”

  “And what’s wrong with art?”

  “You should avoid the stigma of a bohemian. You’ll have enough to concern yourself over without adding that smear to the list.”

  “I have some music talent, but that’s probably just as ‘bohemian’, as you put it. I do have other skills. I’m just not f
amiliar enough with how things work now to know what’s marketable. Or useful.”

  “Then let us tend to the first matter.” Jarvis stood and walked to the doorway. “Follow me.”

  Kody got up and trailed behind Jarvis through the house, back to the central hallway and up a flight of gleaming wooden stairs. He followed Jarvis into his bedroom.

  Jarvis opened a wardrobe and sorted through some jackets. “This one is loose on me; it may fit your ample chest,” he said, handing a dusty purple suit coat to Kody.

  Kody shook his head as he tried to slip on the coat. It was too snug to fit his arms into. “Did you pick these colors out yourself?”

  “Yes, I did,” Jarvis answered as he helped Kody remove the strangling coat. “My brother-in-law is larger; maybe we can temporarily borrow a suit from him.”

  Kody scanned through the wardrobe as Jarvis put the suit coat back. “These colors are all wrong for you. You could use a good makeover.”

  “Wrong? How so?”

  “That forest green and black bow tie you’re wearing is too winter of a color and washes out your beautiful eyes and leaves you looking pale. This autumn-y purple will make your lighter skin tone look jaundiced.” Kody sorted through the other jackets in the wardrobe. “Another winter, and this summer one,” he said while holding out a bold yellow suit coat, “will make your skin look unnaturally pink. You need spring colors, more genuine pastel tones.”

  Jarvis laughed. “And I was so concerned about you sounding bohemian,” he teased.

  Kody stuck his tongue out at him. “Just calling it as I see it.”

  “I should dispatch a post to my sister and have a suit brought over, to avoid having you wander the street in such dress.” Jarvis hesitated, then reached out his hand and rubbed his fingers along Kody’s bare upper arm, feeling the bulging firm muscles. “That outfit would barely be acceptable for the beach. T’won’t do at all in town.”

  Reaching out to Jarvis’s left mutton chop sideburn, Kody teased his finger along the thick, coarse-looking, flaxen hairs and was surprised at how soft they felt. “These will take some getting used to.”

  “Men of the future don’t have facial hair?” he asked, raising his hand and trailing his finger along Kody’s smooth jawbone.