“The movie portrayed Bess as your wife—I thought she was your wife when I arrived at your place that day—and that you had mistreated her to the point that Cole came in to try to rescue her from her life with you.”
Sam’s face grew angrier as I spoke.
I went on quickly, “The movie made it look like you were trying to get rid of Cole, so you trapped him in a building and set it on fire. Bess attempted to rescue him, and in the process, she was the one who died as Cole got away.” I watched all the emotions flickering across his face. “It started a fire that swept through San Francisco, killing others and destroying an unimaginable amount of property, which led a vigilante posse to hang you.”
His emotions cleared. “And this was all based on an account given by Cole Goodman?”
“Yes.”
“But nothing like that happened.”
“I know. Instead, Bess died in her sleep, which led me to believe that she knew it was supposed to happen and she changed something. Probably to protect you.”
“She gave up Johnnie to protect me?” Pain lowered his shoulders as he turned away again.
“The book was never written, and the movie was never made,” I said, just above a whisper. “When I returned to 1929 the day after, everything had been erased. No one had any memory of it but me.” I paused. “But then something else happened.”
“What?”
This part I was even more nervous to tell him. “I saw Coleoutside Sadie’s place a few days before we left San Francisco. I wanted to know what happened, so I approached him.”
Sam’s face was devoid of emotion as he listened.
“He told me that he usually went to see Bess, but the night the fire was supposed to happen, Bess asked Cole to meet her at the docks just before sunrise—to run away with him.”
Sam’s entire body stiffened.
“I think it was just a ruse,” I assured him. “To change whatever history she knew was supposed to happen.”
That seemed to relax Sam a little.
“Cole told me that when he finally realized what happened, he was going to confront Bess, but then he crossed paths with Paddy and learned that Bess had died.”
Sam looked down at his hands and sighed.
“I told Cole that nothing good would come of his joining up with Jim, and that he should head to Sacramento like he planned and write his book.”
With a frown, Sam glanced up at me.
“The next day, when I got back to 1929, I realized Cole must have taken my advice. He wrote a different version ofGold Rush!and several other fictional books. I don’t think he’s in San Francisco anymore.”
Sam was quiet for a moment and then said, “As much as I despise Cole Goodman, I don’t wish him any harm. I hope he is in Sacramento, and I hope what you’ve said is true.”
“Why do you despise him?”
Sam let out a breath as his gaze wandered to the horizon where the sun was setting. “He was infatuated with Bess. At first, I think she liked his attention, but then he took it too far and misused her. He swore he loved her, but after that night, Bess tried to avoid him. There was little I could do, except keep him away from her. There is no justice in San Francisco, no law.”
“Do you think he had plans to misuse her again the night the fire was supposed to start? And that somehow it caused a chain of events that would lead to a fire? Is that what Bess stopped?”
“All I know is that if I had been there the night he hurt her, I could have been capable of anything. If he had attempted it again ... there’s no telling what I might have done. But I wouldn’t have set anything on fire.”
“Perhaps that’s the answer, then,” I said. “Maybe Bess knew it was going to happen again, and she made sure it didn’t, thereby changing history and forfeiting her life in 1849. She knew she wouldn’t be here for Johnnie either way, but if she changed the course of history, you would be here for him.” I couldn’t imagine the pain it had caused Bess to make that decision.
He turned back to me. “Are you telling me that Bess had to forfeit her life with her son to protect me because Cole was going to try it again?”
“I don’t know.”
Sam’s anger returned, and he fisted his hands as he stared into the branches he hadn’t yet set on fire. “It seems Cole has continued to hurt Bess and the people she loves.” After a moment, he shook his head. “I need a minute.”
