Short Story Saturday

Carley stood in the middle of the dirt street, shivering, looking at the body of the man her husband had just shot down. "How did I get here?" she thought, looking around, trying to figure out where exactly here was. The last thing she remembered was showing up at the TIme Travel Inn, the place where her husband had last been seen, a full month ago.
Things had been kind of rocky between her and David for the last year, but it didn't mean she didn't still love him. She never really realized how much she loved him, until he was gone. Even the brief glimpse she'd gotten of him had made her feel better. But where did he go?
Starting to walk, she made her way down the street. People slowly began trickling out of doors, whispering quietly to themselves.
"Did you see that? The sheriff shot him down!"
"Smoot finally got what he deserved!"
"Where did the sheriff go, though?"

"Was David the sheriff?" thought Carley, stunned. "He's an insurance man!"
To her left, a large, blond, cross eyed man approached her.
"You the new girl?" he asked, leering. "I'm cross-eyed Pete, soon to be your first customer."
"I don't think so" she answered, disdainfully. "I am David's wife. Where is he?"
"Sheriff is married?" said Cross Eyed Pete. "Ain't that somthin'. I don't know where he went, but I can show you to his room, Ma'am".
"Please" said Carley, suddenly tired...
****
Back at the Time Travel Inn, David tried to piece together what had happened. The best he could figure out, is that Carley had come searching for him, and the idiot behind the desk had given her the keys for the cowboy room. And since he'd already traveled back, he could not do so, again.
"So, I have to wait for someone else to come check in?" he asked the desk clerk, trying to resist the urge to choke him out.
"Yes" the kid answered, laconically.
"Great".
******
Carley laid down on Davids bed, weeping. She cried harder, when the scent of him reached her nostrils. Even this far away, he still smelled the same, a tangy-sweet smell that reminded her of their prom night. Eventually, her weeping subsided, and she sat up, snuffling. The room was very plain, a pitcher and bowl on the nightstand, plain wooden floor. The bed had a faded blue quilt on it. Hanging on the pegs, were some pants, shirts and vests. As she approached them, they faded away, and in their place, dresses appeared. Sighing, she fingered through them, they were all in her size.
"What am I to do here?" she thought to herself. She'd left her children with her mother in law, and hoped like hell that David had returned to their home. She trusted her mother in law, but the children needed their parents. "I have to find my way home" she thought.
Smelling food, her stomach started to grumble. She went down the stairs, and was greeted by someone named "Miss Fanny". Surprisingly, there was a new sheriff at the table. David was all but forgotten, and they were all under the impression that she was the new town seamstress. Letting them think that, she sat down to eat her meal.
As she ate, and people talked to her, and around her, she was stunned to hear she had her own shop. 2 doors down. As soon as she finished her meal she made her way to the shop, discovering the door was open. Bolts of denim and cotton were everywhere, along with an archaic sewing machine. Sitting down at it, she soon lost herself in the reverie of sewing. She'd always loved the craft, but, since having children, she'd not had the time to do it. Now, however....
Quickly she got the hang of the foot pedal, the old bobbin. The thread. The sewing machine hummed with life. She finished the shirt that had been sitting in the machine, and then another. A man arrived, and claimed them as his own. He paid her money for them, which she accepted gratefully. As the day wore on, more men approached, politely, asking for shirts, pants, and even under things. A few of the "girls" from Miss Fanny's came, too, and she willingly took their orders, as well. Feeling productive for the first time in a long time, Carley kept sewing. Sewing was the only thing she could do that distracted her mind away from David, and her children, whom she longed to get home to. She vowed, if she ever got back home, she was going to buy a sewing machine, and make clothing for them all.
Weeks passed with Carley at her sewing machine by day, crying into her pillow each night. She was making enough money to pay Miss Fanny for her room, but people were beginning to speculate on whom she would choose as a husband. "I have a husband!" she would remind them. But they didn't remember David, at all. Cross Eyed Pete asked her to dine every evening. And she always said No. Business at the shop remained brisk, with people paying her in all sorts of manner. Gold, coins, and livestock the most popular. The gold she kept on her, the coins she gave to Fanny in payment, and the livestock, she sold. She quickly became a rich woman, by the standards of the time she was living in. Still she sewed, and longed for home...

To Be Continued, because Carley apparently is not so short of a story...