

### Twisted Time

By Jennifer Hitzeman

Copyright 2013 by Jennifer Hitzeman

Smashwords Edition

Cover Art By Melissa Kepler

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

Chapter 1

We drove up to the new house and my heart sank. It was so old. The shutters were falling off. The wrap around front porch was in disrepair, with peeling white paint and vines winding between the floor boards. There were front steps, but many bricks had fallen out and lay crushed on what was left of the grass. Tall weeds grew high around the front side walk. There were a few older looking houses along the street, but they all looked desolate. Ugh. It looked like we were moving into a haunted house! I stopped at the curb and imagined all the hard work my brother and I were going to be forced to do. Just then, a shutter on an upstairs window slipped down, partially covering the glass panes, and it looked like the sinister old house was winking at me. My summer was going to be miserable.

"Kids," exclaimed my mom, "Isn't it beautiful. It's exactly what we were looking for. I fell in love the moment I saw it. Your father and I have always wanted an old house to fix up. We can finally move out of that cramped apartment in the city. What a wonderful yard. Now, it will take some work, but we have all summer."

My father looked longingly at my mother. "We can finally live in the suburbs. My commute into the city won't be so bad, and you won't have to go back to school to start teaching again until September. I'll help as much as I can in the evenings and on weekends. You'll have the kids to help all day!"

Oh boy. I am not looking forward to all that work, but it's great to see my parents happy. They have been pinching and saving since my brother was born so we would have a better life. I guess eventually this house could be "a better life".

My dad is a technology specialist and was lucky enough to find a great new job with an expanding computer company downtown. My mom is a second grade teacher. She is going to substitute teach until she finds a full-time job in the new town. They are so excited, but I am not so happy about the move. I am about to turn 16 in two weeks and will be a junior in high school. Our new town is two hours away from our old home. I already miss my friends terribly. It's so hard to make new friends at any age, but especially when you're a teenager and shy like me. No one will be able to come for my birthday. But on a good note, mom promised I could get my driver's license this summer! I have been practicing a little, but it's hard to learn in the city with the traffic jams, buses and taxi stops. Maybe I can get more driving time now that there is no traffic! Maybe things are looking up!

"Okay kids," shouted my mom, "Grab some things and let's go inside."

She opened the trunk of the car and started doling out suitcases and boxes. I grabbed one of each and headed for the front door. Next came the moment of truth. As my father pushed the door open, we all stood there gazing into the hallway. The inside of the house was much more attractive than the outside. The cherry hard wood floor extended through the entire downstairs, and was adorned with a lighter colored design inlaid in the center of the hallway. A winding staircase emerged on the left, with Victorian finials symmetrically placed on the dark wood bannister. To the right was a parlor with large windows covered by dingy curtains. At the far end of the room was a fireplace with an intricately carved mantel piece. The room was beautiful, but as a typical teenager, I found myself searching the walls worried that there were no cable outlets in this old house. Hopefully we would at least have electricity. I crossed my fingers.

My mom flipped the switch on the wall. Thank goodness there was light coming from an antique crystal chandelier hanging at the center of the hall ceiling. The old light was angled to the side as it hung by only one wire. Many crystals were missing and only half of the lights worked, but compared to the lights in the rest on the house, this one was a peach. Most of the other lights didn't work at all and the ones that did work were about to fall to the floor.

This did not worry my unflappable mother and she calmly responded with, "Looks like we need to set up some lamps in here. It's a good thing the furniture is on its way".

The moving van was on its way, but because we did not have much furniture they had to stop and pick up a small load from another family that was moving to a neighboring town. Our apartment did not allow room for much but the bare necessities. This house is huge in comparison. I wondered if I would be able to buy the full sized four poster bed I had seen in a catalog. My previous room was so small there was only room for a twin bed and a dresser. I hoped the upstairs was as enormous as the first floor.

We glanced toward our mother. "Okay kids, go look upstairs. You can each chose a room, but don't fight over them! The big one at the end of the hall is ours, though."

We raced up the stairs. My brother was pretty fast for his size. He was eight. His real name was James, but we all called him "P", short for Peanut. He was born seven weeks early and had always been small for his age. He was so tiny when he was born that I told Mom and Dad he looked like a little peanut, and the name stuck. What he lacked in size, he made up for in energy. He could out run any other eight year old, always came in first place at races at school field day, and never seemed to get tired. Mom and Dad tried for eight years to give me a brother. At first I was used to being an only child and I didn't like him, but he's grown on me over the years. We get along surprisingly well, and I'm thankful that I have him with me in this new place.

There were three rooms at the top of the stairs. P ran to the one on the right. "Oh, wow, this one has a big window with a seat in front. Oh, and the seat opens up into a box. I can put my cars inside! And I can set up my race track on the top. Please, Emma, can I have this one?"

"We'll see. Let me look at the others. I am the oldest and should get to choose first."

The middle bedroom had a small window overlooking the yard to the side of the house, and a large one overlooking the porch on the front of the house. There was no window seat and it had a very small closet. Definitely too small for a teenagers wardrobe! I left that room and walked down the hall to the last available bedroom. The big drawback to this one was that it was across the hall from my parents' room. That would mean a loss of privacy for me.

I walked over to a medium sized stained glass window that was set into the wall overlooking the side of the house. I could see a small flower garden outside, through the clear glass in the window. Sunflowers, petunias and hydrangeas peeked out through the overgrowth of weeds. A tall ancient oak tree outside the window appeared distorted through the swirled colored glass of the window. As I stepped back I could see a shaft of light shining through the window creating a colorful pattern on the carpeted floor. Beautiful! If I placed my bed just so, I could wake up to the multitude of colors each morning.

I then began to search for the closet. That could be the defining factor for my room choice. I eyed a door at the back of the room. I crossed my fingers as I walked toward it and made a wish for a "walk in" closet as I opened the door. Awesome! The room extended about six feet to the left and was deep enough to fit two rows of clothes. I needed my dad to put up some racks, then it would be perfect.

I ran to the hall to meet P. "You can have that bedroom. I will take this one. No problem."

"Okay sis, but you will have to come visit me way down the hall!"

"It's a deal kiddo." And we raced back downstairs.

Mom and dad were eyeing the kitchen at the back of the house. There was a thick layer of dust on the cherry stained cabinets. The sink was stained porcelain and an old rusted gas stove stood in the corner of the room. "We'll need to replace that old stove, and I think the fridge will fit well in that corner over there," thought my mom. "What do you think hon? "

"Yes, it will fit perfectly. We will have to use the microwave for a while. I'd be afraid to use that old stove. Maybe one day we will get a dishwasher. We can use the kids in the meantime."

"What!" I gave P a serious look and my excitement over my new closet faded away. "No dishwasher? Ugh. You mean we have to wash and dry dishes. I hate this house. The kitchen looks like it's falling apart. Is it the same as when the house was built a hundred years ago? Can there be more work for us?!"

"Now sweetie, you know it's going to take a lot of work to make this place feel like home. Please bear with us. We have a lot of cleaning and fixing and painting to do. And, you're right, this house was built in the later 1800's. It is about a hundred years old. Some of the families that lived here did some fixing up since then, but not a lot."

"There goes the summer. I had to leave my friends and my school. Now I have to work all summer. So much for sleeping in, going to the pool, learning to drive. "

"Don't be so dramatic," voiced my mom as she rolled her eyes.

Mom and Dad then proceeded to the backyard through the loose squeaky screen door leading out from the kitchen. We followed with our curiosity to see what strange things we could find outside. The house had a huge yard overgrown with weeds and what was left of a wooden picket fence. Enormous oak trees with dark green leaves stood just beyond the fence. The yard seemed to go on forever, but finally stopped at a dense wooded area.

"See kids, this is so much better than the city. You guys can play ball and run around and play, play, play."

I glared at my mom, "Maybe if I was eight. For your information, 16 year old girls do not "play" outside. They drive and go to the mall! No offense P, I know you like to play."

"Wow. This yard is great. Maybe I can find some new friends and we can play baseball," Peanut exclaimed. "Can we go to the store and buy a bat, ball and glove?"

"Sure thing kiddo." My dad smiled gently. "I can start practicing with you as soon as we get some equipment. It's been a long time since I got to play ball. Any time you want, okay?"

"Sure thing Dad. I can't wait!"

While they were discussing the wonders of backyard baseball I began to look at the back of the house. There were two normal sized windows off the kitchen. I could see that awful stove through one window. I saw a large double window at what I thought was my parents' bedroom. To the far left of that window was another regular sized window frame. But that should have been off of my new room. I didn't remember seeing a window at that back of the room. It would have been in the closet and there was definitely not a window in there. It would have interfered with my clothes space.

My pondering was interrupted by someone talking to the rest of my family. I turned around to see the most beautiful boy I had ever seen. He was tall with almost black hair that swooshed over his forehead, just barely touching his eyebrows and framing his bright blue eyes. As he talked to my parents and smiled, clean, perfectly straight, teeth appeared and cute dimples formed in both his cheeks. I forgot about the window and stood in awe.

"Hi, I'm Zack. I live next door past those old oak trees. My parents sent me over to welcome you to the neighborhood. They are busy preparing a meal for church or they would come themselves. Anything I can do to help?"

"Thank you son," my dad interjected, "Not a lot of work to be done until the moving van gets here. We were going to get some lunch. Would you like to join us? We will probably get some fast food from somewhere. Ah, these are our children." He waved us over.

"Umm, Hi, I'm Emma and this is P, uh James," I wavered. "Nice to meet you. I didn't think there were any other kids in the neighborhood."

"Oh, we moved into my great-grandmother's house about two years ago. My parents had this great idea that they would fix it up. We're slowly getting there, I think. Most of the other houses on the block are owned by elderly couples that never want to move."

"That's funny, my parents are so excited about fixing our new place up. I just think it's a lot of work. I can see my summer slipping away."

"Don't knock it until you try it. It's a great feeling to have a hammer in your hand, building and putting that fresh coat of paint on the wall."

"Well you should come over and help us." I rolled my eyes. I didn't know any other teenagers that would rather spend their summer fixing up an old house than doing teenagerish things."

"I'd love to help! Just come get me if you need me. "Zack turned toward a noise coming from his house. "Oh, gotta go. Mom's calling. We are going to eat lunch today with a needy family. Oh, and thanks for the invitation to lunch Sir." And he was gone.

So, I have a cute neighbor boy, who lives right next door, AND wants to help us work on this old house. "Hey Mom and Dad, when can we start fixing up the house? I'm ready to hammer and paint!"

"I think we need to eat first," answered my dad, and we left for some lunch.

The next week was very busy. We had stacks of supplies everywhere. Paint cans were piled high in the parlor, stacks of wooden boards lay in the front yard, and buckets of nails and screws were strewn on the front porch. P and I had two jobs. One was painting, which I love to do, and the other was yard work. I just don't think I like to sweat and get dirty. I inevitably get covered with mud and leaves. It is just not very "lady like". Our orders were to trim the bushes and pull the weeds which seemed to have taken over the whole yard like a little marching army.

"Okay, let's go P." and we started pulling weeds.

We had been working under the hot sun for about two hours when I heard, "Hey Emma and James, do you guys need any help?"

I looked up to see Zack standing there in all his cuteness. I glanced down at my dirt covered legs and my now mud caked fingernails. My stick straight dirty blond hair was in a ponytail covered with little pieces of plants. I knew that I was a mess and I accidentally let out a groan. As I wiped the sweat out of my eyes I smudged mud across my cheek. I then summoned the imaginary self-confidence that I didn't have, turned to Zack, and smiled.

"Sure, we could always use an extra hand. Go grab the extra pair of gloves up on the porch. I think there are enough weeds to share."

Zack laughed at my joke, then smiled sweetly at me. I was so flustered that I lost my balance and fell into a bush. He reached down to help me up and then I laughed too. We then went to work pulling out all those pesky weeds for about another hour. By that time all of our stomachs were growling.

Just in time, Mom called out from inside the house, "Everyone come get some sandwiches."

We ate heartily and washed it all down with ice cold sodas. We worked about three more hours after that. Zack ended up helping our mom fix some boards on the porch, and P and I finished the weeding. The yard actually looked much better when we were done. It no longer looked like a haunted house, and appeared rather welcoming. The shutters still needed to be fixed and the outside needed to be painted, but that would have to wait.

The next week flew by. Zack came by to help when he wasn't working at the neighborhood hardware store. Dad helped us paint the outside of the house and fix the shutters. The house was no longer winking at me and laughing. We had taken control. The next set of jobs was to paint the inside walls, while Mom repaired the chandeliers and lights. Zack, P and I painted until our arms ached. We laughed and laughed, and both of us were developing a friendship with our new neighbor.

The next weekend was my sixteenth birthday. I was so excited. I could get my driver's license. I had a learner's license but Mom insisted that I needed more time with teaching before getting my real license. She had promised that she would do some driving with me, but we only went out a few times because of all the work that needed to be done on the house. When Friday, my official birthday, rolled around I was all ready to go. But then my mom burst my bubble.

"Emma baby, I don't think you're ready to get your license. We haven't been out on the road as much as I would like. I would feel more comfortable waiting a few more weeks before we go. I'm sorry, I've been so busy with the house that I haven't had the time to help you."

I was crushed. "But every sixteen year old needs to get their license on their birthday!"

I started to cry. My sixteenth birthday was not the exciting party that I wanted it to be. Dad was out of town until next weekend. Zack, my only new friend, left to go to the beach with his family for the weekend. That left P and Mom. No party, no license and probably no gifts. This was the last straw. I ran to my room sobbing. I threw myself down on the bed and cried. Sometimes it just makes you feel better. I had never been a popular girl in school and had many a meltdown from the jokes and jeers from the beautiful cheerleaders. Self-esteem was not my forte, but I managed to endure high school. I had a handful of close friends, which is all I needed, but I left them two hours away. Everything piled up in me all at once and I couldn't stop crying.

About a half hour later my body relaxed and I fell asleep. I dreamed about haunted houses, secret passageways and scary monsters living in the basement. I awoke with a start covered in sweat. Where do these dreams come from? I shook off the sleep and stepped up from the bed. Then I remembered the window. The window that did not have a room. It should have been at the back of mine.

I jumped off the bed, raced to the closet and threw open the door. Nothing. Just empty walls. I walked inside and travelled to both ends of the small room. No windows, no doors. I began to feel along all of the walls. The two sides were clearly thick plaster with areas of peeling paint. The back wall felt wooden and I assumed it was like a cedar closet, just so old it had lost its odor. I felt along the top and middle of the wall, then down at the bottom. Suddenly my hand moved across a small piece of wood emerging from the base. I reached underneath and the object easily moved upward with gentle pressure. I heard a click, then I saw light coming from a crack in the wall. A panel slowly slid to the left and I saw light streaming in through the bare window.

The room was about three feet deep and ran the entire length of the closet. To the right I saw a girls dress stained from age hanging on a small hook. It was white and had a high waist and lace around the circular collar. The sleeves puffed at the shoulders then tapered to fit snuggly around a slender arm. Lace trimmed the sleeves at the wrist and the base of the long skirt. It looked like it would fit a girl about my size, but the style had to be at least 100 years old.

Next, I turned my attention to the left corner. There was a small box about eight inches high and about twelve inches wide. The wooden top was attached by tiny metal hinges and a clasp at the center. No key appeared to be needed. I gently raised the top to see a pile of small treasures. I found coins, buttons, small pieces of cloth, stones and other odd looking pieces of metal. I placed each item into the floor. Underneath the treasures, I found a thin book that appeared to be a journal of some kind. The edges of the papers were browned and the spine crackled as I slowly opened the book. Neat cursive letters covered the top of the first page. "Our Journeys".

I heard my Mom calling at that moment. I quickly flipped through the next few pages. Underlined titles appeared at the top of each page. London, Paris, Cairo, Tokyo and more. I heard my mother coming up the stairs. I didn't want her to find my secret room. I may need to use it to hide sometime. I don't think I will tell P either. I placed the book back in the box, piled the treasures back on top of it then backed out of the room. As I slid the panel shut, the shaft of light from the outside window, that had illuminated the closet, became smaller and smaller until it vanished. I raced down the stairs and met my mom at the landing.

"Are you all right dear? You've been up there for over two hours. I usually just let you cry it out but I got worried about you. Honey, I'm sorry, we'll go out driving tomorrow, if that's okay?"

"Don't worry Mom, I'm sorry I got so upset. I guess it's the adjustment to the new place."

"Well let's grab some dinner. We can go to that little Greek diner you loved so much last time. "

"It's a deal. Food always makes me feel better." We all jumped into the car. P screaming about eating yummy French fries, Mom humming along to the song on the radio. I couldn't stop thinking about that journal. Who wrote it? What were the travels? Why was it all hidden in that secret room? Was the girl a teenager like me and needed her privacy? Did she have a little brother too?

The next day was a house working day. I didn't have time to be in my room alone to investigate further. I found out that Dad was coming home from his business trip earlier, and we planned to have my birthday cake on Sunday evening. The phone rang.

My Mom reached for the cordless phone that did not seem to fit with the house décor. "Yes, she is...okay...how bout I let you talk to her. Emma, Zack wants to talk to you."

She threw me the phone before I had time to feel nervous. "Hello?"

"Hi, Em. Just calling to wish you a happy birthday a bit late. We are actually coming home tomorrow so if you and your family are eating some cake and ice cream, I would love to crash."

Be still my heart. "Umm, sure that would be er nice. (Wonderful, magnificent, awesome!) I think we're cooking out around six and then will have cake after."

"Sounds great. I'll be there!"

Okay so this birthday wasn't as bad as I thought. I can be patient with the driving. I didn't really have anywhere to go yet anyway. The next day was wonderful. Dinner was great. Zack was great. We ate hot dogs and hamburgers, potato salad and good greasy potato chips. No health food for me today, and Mom was okay with that for once. My parents bought the cake from the neighborhood bakery. The cake was so moist and the icing was divinely sweet. Ice cream topped everything off.

Zack actually bought me a birthday gift. A silver necklace with a swirly blue rectangular stone set in a silver filigree design. Blue is my favorite color. How did he know that? He placed it around my neck and of course my heart raced. Little did he know that I would probably never take it off. Mom and Dad surprised me with a lap top computer.

"This is really for school sweetie, but we know you may get bored when the house is finished and may want to play on the internet. Our good news is that we are getting cable in a few days and it comes with an internet subscription."

P and I looked at each other. "Woo hoo," he yelled, "I can play intergalactic space battle with my friends back home."

I rolled my eyes. P was young for that kind of stuff but he always seemed to beat the other kids. He was definitely smart beyond his years... and his size.

"Great, now I can chat with my friends back home. Uh, I mean in the city." Cell phone reception was intermittent out here and the long distance for our home phone was outrageous, so I hadn't talked to my old friends very much since we moved.

"Thank you guys so much!" I hugged Mom and Dad, but didn't know what to do with Zack. A small head nod from him acknowledged the thank you and I nodded back. We all talked a while longer then Zack left through the front door, and we all went to bed.

It was four o'clock before Mom let us go for the day and I had a chance to investigate the journal without interruption. I locked my bedroom door, mostly to keep out P, crept to the closet and crossed my fingers that the lever would open the panel again. The panel did slide open, and I again squatted on the floor next to the box. I rummaged through the treasures to remove the journal. I knew it was fragile so I was very careful as I turned to the first full page and read.

"This is the diary of the travels of Julia Barnaby with her companions, Christopher Smith and her younger brother Steven. We have set out on many journeys through the mist, to many ages and have learned a great deal in doing so. Were it not for the magical tome of words we would not have had this opportunity. It must be divine intervention that has sent us out and brought us safely home. I have hidden the book in this home that my father built for his family. I have no further use for its properties as I am growing up and need to set off for a new life. One day I will have children of my own and maybe we will return. This book is special to me but cannot be left for anyone to see. It can only be read by a child that will use its power for knowledge not fortune. The secret to the book's hiding place is cleanliness and observation. Be careful and watchful and the clues will come to you. I have set our adventures down in writing so future children may know of them, but this must remain a secret for all times. We have learned much and want to share it, but only with those that will use it wisely."

I paused and took a breath. I looked around the small room to try to find this book she was talking about. No book. No visible clues. If this is the girl who wore that dress she would have written this about a hundred years ago. The book must be long gone by now. I read on. The next page seemed to be missing. There was a small tab of paper left in the binding but that was all. The following page was entitled "Paris" in neat block letters and underlined. The following words were perfectly spaced cursive with a fancy curly q at the end of each word.

"I had just turned 16 prior to our first adventure. We were whisked away not knowing where we would land. We embarked in London, frightened at first until we realized what had happened. To our surprise the passersby nodded to us as if we belonged there. Some men wore peasant garb of thick wool dyed bland colors and dingy from the dirt streets. Others wore silk pleated shirts and heavy knee length coats with wide shoulders and floppy velvet hats. Some women wore brightly colored dresses with high ruffled collars and sleeves that extended like bells to the end of their dresses.

A young child about the age of my brother approached us. "What's it like to eat with the king?" he said.

We were confused until we turned to look at one another. We were all wearing the dress of the nobility, even little Steven. We spoke to this little boy, pretending to be nobility, and learned that we were in England during the time of Henry VIII. There were many changes at that time and many people lived in fear. The king had already had his wife's head cut off. We remained in this time period for a few days, acting as nobility but ever watchful of being caught. Our visit ended unexpectedly with a journey back through the mist to our home where we awaited another opportunity."

I was stunned and couldn't put the journal down. She wrote of Paris during the revolution, meeting Julius Caesar and Michelangelo and travelling to Japan during the period of the Shoguns and Samurai. These kids walked where George Washington's army walked, and they looked through the window at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They saw Napoleon make a speech and watched Columbus board one of his three ships. They met knights on their way to the Crusades.

I read as much of the diary as I could before my mom knocked on my door. "Emma, time for dinner. After dinner we're going to watch a movie. Your Dad brought home a few we can choose from. You and P can pick."

The evening was enjoyable but I couldn't stop thinking about the journal and the book. I didn't quite understand the writings. I assumed the girl had a wild imagination but the stories were so detailed.

My Dad found me daydreaming at the table. "Are you okay Em? You seem a little distant tonight."

"Just tired I suppose. Too much work on the house." And we all laughed.

We watched the movies then went to bed. I dreamed about travelling through time and meeting the girl with the journal.

The following day I paid a little more attention to detail while I was finishing up the painting and cleaning up afterward. I thought that if the secret book was still in the house I could find it. I had promised Mom that I would dust the parlor and the dining room. As I pushed the little feather duster around the furniture and shelving, I was careful to feel for little levers like the one upstairs. I searched and searched but to no avail. The downstairs was definitely free of dust when I was done. I scanned the rooms again for any signs of concealed drawers or panels. I was disappointed when I found no evidence of the book, and reminded myself that the journal was written over a hundred years ago, and the book was probably drummed up by a young girl's imagination.

Dejected, I strolled over to the mantel in the parlor one more time. I ran my hand slowly over each stained board. I stood on tip-toes to see the very top of the mantel but nothing stood out. I laid my hand flat along the boards and slowly pulled it along. Then I felt it. A small bump in the wood just barely as wide as my pinky finger. I pushed down with my finger. Nothing. I pushed harder. I heard a quiet click, then an inset panel slid backwards towards the chimney. I reached my hand into the small space. Just to the left of the opening I felt a small metal box and pulled it out. I expected to find a book but it couldn't possibly be so small. The top popped open. Inside I found a folded piece of paper with a poem.

"What you are looking for, is much higher than the floor, aim your vision high, as you look toward the sky, once found, feel around, there may be more than meets the eye."

At that moment, my mom came around the corner and I shoved the folded paper into my pocket. "Hey, can I take a break for a little while?"

"Sure honey, you know what, just stop for the day. You've been working so hard these past couple of weeks. I think you've earned a shopping spree. We can go to the mall this weekend if you want. I promised James I'd buy him some new cars and maybe some trains"

"Awesome Mom! I'd love some new clothes."

"You need something new for when you and Zack go out."

"What!? Go out? Um, I don't think so. Zack just likes to help on the house. I don't think he thinks of me that way."

"Do you really think he comes over just to help and hang out with your mom and dad? I know we're pretty cool but I doubt it."

"Ugh. I don't want to talk about it anymore." My face reddened and I ran out the front door.

Once outside, I remembered my mission. The poem urged the reader to look high. I started with the roof of the porch. It didn't seem like a place to hide a book, but then the book could be very small. From the ground, I couldn't see any buckling of the tiles or abnormalities in the edges. Zack and my Dad had been up there last week fixing some old tiles and they didn't see anything. But they weren't looking.

The only way to get a good look was to go out onto the roof from P's room. I'd have to do this when mother went to the store later on. There's no way she'd let me go up there.

I thought the roof of the house would be an impossible hiding place, especially for a young girl. Plus, going up there was out of the question. I guess "high" could simply mean upstairs. I could try to search through those rooms while I was waiting for Mom the leave. I slinked back into the house trying to avoid the previous conversation, quietly tread up the stairs and began my search. I started with my parents' room, running my hand along every board I could reach. The furniture served as a hindrance but I tried my best to get to all the spaces. I crouched on the floor in their closet feeling for levers or buttons. Nothing. I had already searched my room for other hidden door so I skipped that room. I scanned the extra room completely and found no signs of the book's hiding place. P was in his room playing with his cars.

"Vroom, vroom. Watch out Emma my truck will run over your foot." He stood and stared at me.

I was franticly feeling the walls in his room, kneeling down and running my hand along the base board. I was frowning and didn't realize it.

"What's wrong Em? You look upset. Did I do something? Can I help?"

"No P. It's a secret. Hmm, but I'll let you in on it if you help me."

"Please, please. I can help," he yelled.

"Okay, we have to move these cars and open the window box. I'm looking for a secret hiding place," I said as I scooped the cars to the floor.

"Are you hiding something?" P asked.

"Oh, no, silly. I'm looking for something. A book."

"What does it look like," he asked sincerely.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before," I replied.

"What, I don't understand. Why are you looking for it if you've never seen it before?

I rolled my eyes, but then thought that Peanut may be able to help me. "Okay, promise not to tell Mom or Dad and I'll tell you."

"I promise, cross my heart," and he made an X with his finger over his heart.

I explained that I was looking for a very old book that a young girl had hidden in the house years ago. I didn't tell him about the journal or about travelling through time. I didn't even think that part was true, but part of me wanted to believe. P helped me look all over his room, but we did not find a hiding place.

Mom called from downstairs, "I'm going to the grocery store. You guys want to come?

"Hey P, maybe if you go by yourself, you can get some candy." I prompted him. I needed him to go with Mom so I could use his window to get onto the porch roof.

"Yeah," he yelled. "I'm coming Mom." And he raced down the stairs. I heard him at the bottom, "Maybe I can get some candy?"

"Maybe if you're good." I heard my mom reply. "What about you Em?"

"I don't feel like it. I think I may just read a book or play on the internet."

"Okay sweetie." And my mom shut the door behind her.

I waited to hear the car back out of the driveway and start down the street before I went to the window. I unlatched it and slid up the bottom panel. I carefully placed my right leg through the open space until it touched the roof, then I wiggled the rest of my body through. The search began. No levers or buttons around the window frames. No hidden panels in the siding. I couldn't find a single bump in the black tiles. I had just about finished when I heard a rustling from down below.

I peered over the edge to see Zack standing there with a funny smirk on his face.

"Whatcha doin'? Looking for something?" He just stood there staring at me.

I tried to think of an excuse but nothing came to mind, and as always when I'm nervous, I got clumsy. My left foot slid out from under me. My body flipped so I was nose down on the tiles then I slid down the slanted roof. Ouch. I kept sliding until my shirt caught on a nail sticking up from the eave. My legs were dangling over the edge and I was holding on for dear life with my fingertips.

Zack ran over me with a scared look on his face. When he saw I was all right he started to laugh.

"Don't worry, I'll help you down." He reached up and grabbed my legs and gently pulled me to towards the ground. I wiggled the wrong way at the last minute and we both ended up flat on the ground.

"I'm so sorry. Are you hurt?" I asked sheepishly.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just glad you aren't, but what in the world were you doing on the roof?"

Should I share my secret with Zack? At that moment I decided I needed a confidant. He may think I'm crazy in the end but I was itching to tell someone about my discovery. "Stay here!"

I ran quickly upstairs, threw open the closet door and slid back the panel. I grabbed the journal and raced back downstairs. "Come sit on the porch, I want to show you something."

Zack sat beside me on the wicker bench and his shoulder gently touched mine. I showed him the first page of the journal then explained to him about the missing book. He seemed confused and I let him read the rest of the diary page by page, then I opened the small folded paper with the poem.

His mouth dropped open. "Do you really think there's a magical book somewhere in this house?"

I nodded, "I'm sure there's an old book hidden somewhere in this house. I'm not sure if it's magical or not, but it may be worth finding. I've searched all the rooms upstairs, and as you know the porch roof. The poem states to look high, any other ideas."

Just then Mom and P drove in to the driveway. P came flying out when he saw Zack. "Hi! Did you come to help us paint some more? I got candy at the store, want some?"

"No thanks little man. I don't want to spoil my dinner."

Mom eyed Zack, walked nonchalantly by but whispered, "See I told you." and as she was walking through the doorway added, "Kids I think we will start on the attic tomorrow, it's a mess. Zack you are welcome to come and play with us too." Then she was inside the house.

Zack's eyes were wide as I turned toward him. "The attic, that's high, right?"

"Yes," he agreed. 'I'll be over first thing in the morning to help you search." He winked at me then jumped off the porch to go home.

That night I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned for most of the night, and finally nodded off around three in the morning. I awoke to the sun streaming in through the stained glass window. A blue streak softly touched the wad of sheets and blanket at the base of the bed, and I realized how restless my sleep was. Groggy, I raised my body up and stepped to the floor. Suddenly, I remembered that Zack was coming over to help us clean the attic today. I ran to the bathroom, took a fast shower then tried to fix my hair. I peered at myself in the mirror. I parted my limp hair to the side and tucked it behind my ear. I imagined myself with luxurious blond curls like magazine models. Then the doorbell rang and broke the spell. Zack was early. P was already at the door talking his ear off. Then my mom invited him in for breakfast.

I ran downstairs. "Hi, how about we just have some cereal. No need to make anything special Mom. We are anxious to get cleaning, er uh, that way we'll get done sooner." I glanced at Zack and he nodded.

"Okay kids, I'm sending Peanut up with you to help. He is very good at dusting."

Ugh, we can't hunt for the book with P. I guess I did tell him about the book. What would it hurt? "Okay Mom."

The attic stairs were behind a locked door at the end of the upstairs hallway. Mom tossed me the key and we were off for the attic, armed with feather dusters and cleaning supplies. The locked door reminded me again of a haunted house. I let P do the honors because he was feeling brave. He stuck the small key into the old fashioned lock above the doorknob and turned it to the right. After we heard a quiet click, he turned the doorknob and the door creaked open to reveal steep narrow wooden stairs.

We trudged upwards, tools in hand. Another narrow door stood at the top of the stairs and we all became a bit scared as we walked closer to that door. I gently pushed it open to find a bare dusty floor, streaked with light from the small window at the peak of the roof. To the left, shelves adorned the walls, and to the right were stacks of boxes and old furniture. A wooden rocking chair sat in the corner near the window on the left. A child's writing desk abutted the right hand wall. We set to work cleaning, but all the while hunting for a sign of a hiding place.

P caught on, "Hey Emma, what are you looking for? That book still? I can help!" and he ran around dusting and touching all the flat surfaces in the attic.

We had dusted and cleaned everything by one o'clock. Zack and I were discouraged. We had been searching for a likely imaginary book for five hours. We looked in every box and on every shelf. We searched the desk entirely. We found an old ink well and some faded sheets of paper. I wondered if Julia wrote at that desk. Finally, Zack and I slumped down onto the floor tired and sad.

P, however, maintained a discoverers spirit. He continued to investigate everything. He made a final sweep of the shelves and happened to accidentally move a picture frame by sliding it backwards, instead of picking it up. We all heard the discreet click, and a small piece of the wall slid to the left. The support on the frame had pushed a tiny button that released a lever and opened the secret compartment.

The compartment was about a foot wide and four inches high. Zack decided to be the brave soul to stick his hand in and fish around for the book. I was a little squeamish about running into rats or spiders. Zack's eyes lit up. I saw his forearm muscle tighten and he pulled a dust covered rectangular object out if the hole.

He handed it to me. "Do the honors."

I grabbed hold of the book and blew the dust off of the front cover. A single word in slightly raised gold leaf adorned the top half, but it was not English. The letters resembled our language but they had extra curves and lines and I couldn't make out the word.

"Maybe it's Russian." Suggested Zack, and I glared at him.

"I don't think so. Russian is very boxy and there are too many curlicues on the letters."

"I think it looks Elvish. Like from elves." Added P. "Like from those movies."

I shook my head no, remembering the imaginary language, but then I realized that this book was supposed to have magical powers. I hadn't let Peanut know because he believed everything I told him and I didn't want him to be disappointed. The kid had such an imagination. He could whip up a story at the drop of a hat. Even if he told mom what we were doing now, she would think it was just another one of his tall tales. I patted him on the head with my free hand, then realized that the book was heavy and quickly grabbed it with both hands again.

Zack took the book from my hands and laid it on the top of the writing desk. "Let's open it up and see."

He carefully moved the brittle cover and revealed the first page. More of the unusual writing faced us. The title was repeated and the words that followed seemed to be in a numerical order, like a table of contents. He turned a few more pages but found more unintelligible words. We all looked at each other confused.

Just then, a breeze caused the dust on the floor to stir and swirl around. The pages rustled slightly, then, a gust of wind made the book's pages stand in the air. They swayed back and forth briefly, then finally came to rest with the book sitting open to a middle page. Puzzled, we all glanced at the closed window and wondered where the wind came from. We gazed at the open book. The strange letters seemed to vibrate and stretch. Some letters elongated and some shrunk like in the mirrors at the fun house. They arranged themselves in a new pattern on the paper so that they began to look like English words.

Mesmerized, the three up us stared at the page. Zack began to read,

"Beware those who take time for granted. What is now, was different then, but past and present can combine as one. The traveler must have innocence and imagination before beginning their journey. Look inside your heart, accept the challenge and take the ultimate leap."

Slowly a swirling mist formed in front of us at the center of the attic. The vapor suddenly became circular, with gases flowing clockwise then switching to counterclockwise. Back and forth they flowed until a vortex formed in the center, like a big black hole. A hissing whirring noise emanated from the hole and became louder and louder. We stood in awe afraid to move. P inched slowly up to the circle, curious as usual.

"Be careful!" I yelled over the din. But I was too late.

P placed his small hand inside the swirling mass. He couldn't take it back out. The vacuum pulled his arm farther into the circle. He screamed.

"No!" I yelled. I lunged forward but the swirling mass of mist pushed me backwards. I was frozen as I watched P's shoulder disappear, then his head, then his body and legs. He was gone. After that, the swirling continued but the noise was starting to get quieter.

"We have to go after him!" yelled Zack, and he pushed towards the center of the circle. "Grab the book!"

I pulled the magical tome towards my chest, put my head down and pushed through the spinning vapor. Zack grabbed my open hand tightly and pulled me close to him. "Jump!" he whispered in my ear.

I closed my eyes and leapt, holding fast to the book and Zack's hand. We were spinning with the mist, around and around. My head ached and I couldn't feel my fingers or toes. I think I let go of Zack's hand, but held tight to the book. The whirring noise continued to surround us. I felt pressure on my chest and couldn't breathe. I shut my eyes and wished I had never searched for the book. As I hovered in space regretting my decision, abruptly, silence replaced the din and I briefly felt an overwhelming calm. We continued on for what seemed like an hour, floating weightless in the darkness. I had just begun to enjoy the peacefulness, then suddenly... thud. I hit the ground. Ouch. I heard another thud and hoped it was Zack falling near me.

Chapter 2

I felt groggy, and I could barely see Zack a few feet away. I reached my hand down to help push myself up, and I felt hot sand. I looked up again to see Zack moving towards me, trudging through deeper sand. Where were we? And where was Peanut? Zack grabbed my arm for safety and we scanned the area.

Very thin, dark skinned men were dressed in beige cloths that draped over their legs, but left their chests bare. Many were pulling large stones tied with thick ropes. Others shaped new rectangular stones with picks and chisels. Across the sand, we saw strange contraptions full of large levers that assisted men in moving many stones at a time. Other primitive machines were pushed up against piles of stone, and we saw men lifting stones onto the machines. The stones were being raised onto a pile in front of the machines and the pile began to look like a set of stairs.

We stopped dead in our tracks, and took in the whole expanse, realizing we were looking at the Egyptian pyramids. We saw the pyramids of Giza just like the pictures in our textbooks. To the left, two completed pyramids towered high over the ground. The few people at the bases looked like ants in comparison. A few unfinished pyramids lay scattered over the sand. Nearer to us on the right was a small pyramid with what looked like an open door. Farther to the right was a long parade of people dressed in colorful jeweled fabrics. At the center of the long line of people, four muscular men carried a sarcophagus on a shiny gold platform. They walked rhythmically with the crowd toward the opening in the pyramid.

We watched the funeral march as they neared the entryway to the pyramid. We were mesmerized by the gold headdresses of the priest leading the group, and the gold staffs that followers held high. We turned to look at the doorway of this eternal resting place for their king. A small child-like figure was slowly looking around then darted into the pyramid. It was Peanut!

"ZACK!" I screamed. "It's P. He's gone in there!"

Zack grabbed my hand and we raced to the doorway, darting around stones and tools on the sand. We made it to the door before the procession could see us and flew into the inner hallway.

"P!" I yelled and added in my sternest big sister voice, "James where are you? Please come out. You'll get stuck in here."

Zack and I travelled down a narrow corridor, just big enough for a sarcophagus and two men underneath it. The path became very dark as we crept further into the tomb, as the light from the doorway dimmed. At the point that we could barely see where we were going, and had to feel along the walls to guide us, light emerged form an area ahead. We continued and the pathway widened. Torches began to line the walls. A large shaft of light shot into the hallway, then, we turned a sharp corner and entered into an antechamber. Gold statues of figures with heads of jackals and bodies of men stood lining the walls. Chests overflowing with gold jewelry, wine goblets and coins obscured the stone floor. Colorful hieroglyphics covered the walls.

We walked to the back of the room full of treasures. A short hallway led to a second, smaller room. More hieroglyphics lined the walls. They seemed to tell the story of a king that had fallen in battle. We saw a painting on the far wall that depicted a man with an elaborate headdress reaching for the hand of another man with a jackal's head. This man appeared to be a god that the ancient Egyptians worshipped, and he was pulling the king to heaven.

A large rectangular stone box sat stationary at the center of the room. It was adorned with extravagant winged carvings along the sides that spread upward to touch the heavy stone lid. The cover sat at an angle, covering only half of the ominous final resting place for the man that we saw being carried across the sand. Our eyes were suddenly drawn to the lid as it slowly shifted and exposed more of the inside of the box.

"Surprise!" yelled Peanut as he jumped out of the box. "What have you guys been doing? It took you a while to find me. I've been waiting in there forever. This is the coolest place. Look at all the gold and jewels. Is this a room for a party?"

I glared at him. "You scared us half to death. You could have gotten stuck in there. What were you thinking? We are already stuck in a time that I'm sure is not our own, and we need to figure out how to get home."

P looked like he was about to cry. "Hey, it's okay kid. Everybody's all right," added Zack. Just as long as we're all safe." He looked around. "Come here, I think we're all safe now."

P ran to me, and I hugged him. "I'm sorry kiddo. I'm just a little scared and don't want anything to happen to you."

P smiled. "I'm sorry too."

Just then a noise came from the entrance to the pyramid. It was the throng outside chanting. It became more musical sounding as they entered through the door and proceeded down the narrow hallway. They were coming closer and closer.

"We need to hide...now!" Zack grabbed me with one hand and P with the other, and we ran and hid behind the tall golden statues in the farthest corner of the room.

The chanting was travelling down the hallway but getting quieter. It sounded as if only a small group of people was left from the large crowd. We watched the group emerge through the door. The priest entered first. He wore a jeweled headdress with a golden crown sitting atop his head. Silken cloth intricately embroidered with stripes of golden thread draped down from the crown. Four muscular men dressed in colorful robes carried the golden sarcophagus into the antechamber. They were followed by two very thin men dressed in plain white fabric.

The group continued through the treasure room and entered the attached crypt. The men in white robes walked over to the box at the center of the room, then yanked and pulled on the lid to Peanut's hiding place until the heavy stone fell to the floor. The priest was continuously chanting words we did not understand and lifting his hands toward the heavens. The other men appeared very solemn as they walked toward the open coffin. They slowly lowered the human faced sarcophagus into its final resting place.

The priest continued his prayers over the deceased, and we saw him gently place a jar with a hawk's head into the coffin with the sarcophagus. Three of the other men pulled jars out from under their robes and placed them beside the other jar in the coffin. Each jar had a strange head on it. I remembered from school that these jars held the deceased man's organs.

"Gross," I thought, but kept it to myself.

I saw the strong men then step back and the thinner men slowly lift the heavy lid onto the large box. The priest continued to chant quietly.

The men were unaware of our presence, but their movement through the anteroom and into the crypt had stirred up the sand floor and the air was full of dust. I felt my nose tingle. I wiggled it as best I could but I couldn't suppress the sneeze. "Achoo!"

The sound rang out in an echo over the antechamber. The priest stopped his chanting and we all caught our breath during the silence. One of the larger men peered out of the doorway down the short hallway. None of us moved. He scanned to the right, then the left, then went back into the crypt. He looked at the now quiet priest, shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands in the air. He hadn't seen us. The priest completed his prayers, and we stood motionless, waiting for the men to leave.

The men in white slowly slid the lid over the top of the coffin and covered the contents. We watched as the face of the sarcophagus vanished and the men turned to leave. They solemnly marched through the anteroom and towards the hallway. The seven of them disappeared into the darkness and we all breathed.

At first P and I couldn't speak, so Zack had to break the silence. "We need to get out of here. As soon as those guys get outside they will seal the outer door."

We all scrambled to the doorway. "Shhh!" Zack said. "I hear something."

We heard a loud grinding sound and looked up to see a stone panel slowly lowering to block our exit from the anteroom. We ran. First P, then I raced under the stone door. Zack then came sliding through the sand under the stone, barely missing being crushed by the block. We all scrambled to our feet again and ran fast through the darkness of the hallway.

We had no time to feel our way along the walls like before. I tripped going around a corner and fell into the sand. I had scraped my head against the stone wall as I fell, and blood trickled down my nose and dripped onto my hand. P had run on ahead, but Zack stopped and rushed back to help me up. I felt the warm squeeze of his hand and I felt safe. He yanked me up and we raced to the exit.

We saw faint light at the end of the hallway. We ran towards it, but it was only a torch hanging from the wall. From what we could see, with the small amount of light, the hallway became wider further up and we knew we were nearing the final doorway. We ran as fast as we could, but were too late. An even louder grinding noise came from outside. As we entered the larger hallway we could see the heavy stone closure nearing the sand on the ground.

"No!" I yelled, but it was over.

The light became narrower, then just a small sliver, then blackness again as the stone made a kthunk on contact with the ground. We were trapped inside a pharaoh's tomb. We were imprisoned with the mummy king and would soon meet the same end.

I sat on the sand and cried. My tears rolled down my cheeks, but I realized they were not reaching my knees that were tucked up under my chin. I looked down to see that I still held that magical book in my hands. I held it in front of me in the dim light from the single torch. Each tear that touched the book seemed to uncover parts of letters on the front cover. What had appeared to be a foreign language before slowly turned into English letters, as the warm liquid flowed past. I wiped away the tears from my face and streaked a wet finger across the letters.

I caught my breath. "It says believe!" I shouted to the boys, and held the book out for them to see.

Golden letters peered back at them. "BELIEVE". We were stunned yet again, but Zack had the forethought to open the book, as he did before, and place it on the ground. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew in out of nowhere, like it had in the attic. The pages rustled and finally came to rest on a single page. I drew the book closer to me and read aloud the letters that had transformed on the page. "Believe in the truth that you see before you. Leave behind riches and death. Step forward to the future."

As soon as the words came out of my mouth, the swirling mist formed again, faster this time, encompassing the entire hallway. The magnetic pull of the massive circle was stronger now and the three of us were pulled toward the gaping hole.

Don't lose P!" I screamed as Zack and Peanut were travelling to the opening far in front of me.

Zack grabbed P's hand tightly, and I saw their bodies disappear into the vapor. I pulled the book securely to my chest and held it so tightly that my fingers ached. I let the black hole swallow me up once again and I floated in space, wondering where this enchanted passageway would take us now.

Chapter 3

Thud. I landed on hard ground that was definitely not as soft as the sand in our previous trip to Egypt. My head throbbed this time. As I slowly arose, I looked at my surroundings. To the right, I saw rolling hills covered with soft green grass that came to a rest at the edge of thick woods. To the left, the hills rolled down to massive stone wall that encircled what looked like a city. I followed the wall with my eyes until I saw a large iron door blocking any easy passage through the wall. A caravan of carts and men on horseback stood patiently outside the portal. Slowly, the door opened inward allowing all to pass, then closed tightly after their passage. I then heard a loud clang, as if a large bar was being dropped into place to bolt the door shut.

I hoped that P and Zack had made it safely to the same time period that I had. I scanned the area around me, but they were nowhere to be seen. They must be in that city. I quickly began my descent down the hills toward the guarded city. Walking too eagerly, I stumbled over a rock and fell face first into a pile of mud.

As I sat up and wiped the caked mud out of my eyes, I heard, "Are you all right my lady? I pray you are not hurt."

I slowly focused on a tall young man, dressed in shiny silver colored armor, sitting atop a brown stallion. The velvety brown horse stood frozen at attention as the knight addressed me. The knight lifted his visor and I could see his handsome face.

I was incredibly embarrassed that this attractive man had seen me fall. I wanted to hide under the mud on my face. I looked down at my feet and realized that they were covered with a long skirt of brocade red cloth. Where were my shorts and tennis shoes? The dress had a low square neckline and I wished it covered my chest as well as it covered my feet. The long silken sleeves covered my arms well and connected to the top of the dress via puffed shoulders. My usually flat blond hair was no longer concealing my shoulders. I reached up to feel it twisted and drawn up with an intricately carved ivory comb. Maybe I really was a "lady".

The knight alit from his horse and offered me a hand. "Please let me help you up my lady. What is your destination?"

"Umm, I was on my way to that city down there. My friends are there."

"Oh, I am on my way there, as well. It is my home. It is a small kingdom, but it is thriving. Our king is generous, and his people work very hard to please him. Please let me accompany you. It would be my honor." With that, he helped me up off of the ground.

I stood before the knight stunned and amazed. What chivalry. He then hopped easily back onto his horse and held his hand out once more for mine. I reached up with my right hand and as he grabbed my hand, I stepped onto the nearest stirrup with my brown leather high button boot and swung my other leg over the horse. Thank goodness for horseback riding lessons at Girl Scout camp.

"Grab on tightly my lady. This horse runs swiftly"

I held tight around his chest feeling the chain mail vest with my fingertips. The outer armor clanged as we rode down the hillside and made our way to the enormous metal door.

On arriving, a man peeked his head out through a window in the stone wall. "Oh it is you Sir Phillip, please enter."

I heard a loud creaking noise, then the door slowly swung open leaving enough room for a horse to fit. We rode through the opening and entered the kingdom. The streets were hard packed dirt, with the more worn areas showing ruts from the cart wheels. Rows of small connected houses lined the streets. The dwellers were out in front of their houses selling goods off carts. I saw fruits and vegetables on one cart, spices and dried meats on another and beautiful cloth on yet another cart. A well-dressed man in a long silken coat and velvet hat strode up to one of the carts. He handed a coin to the pretty peasant woman by the cart and reached for a plump crimson apple. He tossed it gently in his hand, took a bite and smiled. The woman blushed and smiled back. I looked around to all the carts and saw gentlemen and peasants buying and enjoying the goods. This seemed to be a thriving city.

We continued riding down the road towards a great stone building at the far edge of the enclosed city. As the building came into view I could make out more of its features. It was a castle with circular towers at the four corners. A small draw bridge covered a ravine in front of the heavy oak entrance door. We crossed over the drawbridge and rode into the courtyard. A lanky young attendant came to take our horse and helped me down first. He nodded his head and tipped his blue woolen hat in my direction. The handsome knight then jumped down and the young man took his horse to a stable on the right of the courtyard.

The knight grabbed my hand. "Please let me introduce myself, officially. I am Sir Phillip of Easton. My kingdom, or that is, my King's lands extend far beyond where I found you today. Our people were prospering for years when King Stephen of the neighboring kingdom of Sumter sent his knights over to our land to pillage our goods. They captured many good women and killed many good men. That is when our king had the protecting wall built around the village. It is impenetrable. Stephen sent his knights with catapults but alas the wall was too high for his men and machinery. I do believe he has given up."

"As for me," the knight continued, "as I grew up, I saw the wonderful things that King William had done for our little village and I wanted to help our people like he did. That is why I chose to become a knight, and at 17 years completed my training. And, I am here now to come to your aid. That is my story. What is yours oh gentle woman?"

I stood there frozen. What was my story? What could I say so he would not think I was crazy or a heretic? I definitely could not say, "My name is Emma and I am from the future."

I chose my words carefully. "I am Lady Emma from the kingdom of, umm,...Ohio. I was travelling with two of my friends when we were separated in a storm. I do believe they came this way."

"Oh, we have many a traveler stop by our grand kingdom. Usually the king wants them to dine with him in the banquet hall. There is a feast tonight. Your friends may likely be there."

He waved towards a young woman dressed in a plain grey woolen dress. Her hair was neatly pulled back from her face and placed in a smart bun. She nodded and came to my side.

Sir Phillip spoke, "Marie, please take this kind gentlewoman to get cleaned up a bit. She is my visitor for the feast tonight."

She nodded at him, smiled at me, then took my hand and led me to a small room. I saw a large porcelain pitcher of water sitting on a table next to a round bowl. She poured the water into the bowl then dropped a small white washcloth into the water. She proceeded to clean the dried mud off of my face and hands. I had forgotten that I looked such a mess and appreciated her efforts. When she was done, she spritzed me with a perfume bottle that she retrieved from a shelf behind her. She then led me to a room nearby and bade me to sit on and extravagant tapestry sofa.

"Please miss, do wait here until you are retrieved for supper."

I thanked her and she quickly walked out.

It felt like forever until a butler came to get me." Supper will be in the main banquet hall miss. Please follow me."

I followed him out the door and down numerous hallways. I hoped he wouldn't lose me somewhere. I would never find my way out of this maze. We walked around a final corner and my eyes met an enormous room with four very long tables at the center. Each table held bowls overflowing with fruits and nuts. I watched the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen sitting at one of the tables. Each would occasionally take an apple or pear from a bowl as they continued their conversations with their neighbors.

Sir Phillip approached me from behind. "Dear lady, I have a seat saved for you at my table. Tonight we are dining with the king. Please follow me."

He grabbed my hand and led me to one of the tables. He pulled my chair out for me and I sat down as gracefully as I could. He sat next to me.

On one side a tall thin woman was dressed in a blue silk brocade dress. Her teardrop-shaped sleeves dangled almost past the end of her chair and shimmied back and forth each time she raised her goblet full of wine.

Across from me, sat a balding gentleman in a silk shirt with cuffed sleeves. He raised his goblet high. "A toast to King William! It has been five years since our enemy kingdom has attacked. The wall has kept our people safe. Hail King William!"

The others raised their glasses and drank. The king sat at the head of the table. He smiled proudly at the praise. He was dressed in a fur lined deep blue silken coat. His crown was shining gold with a few sparkling gems at the points, and the light reflected off of the metal as he nodded his head in appreciation.

After the toast, Sir Phillip noticed that my wine glass was empty. He realized it had not been filled prior to the toast. He shook his head in disapproval and filled my goblet to the rim with deep red wine. I was thankful the toast was over, as I was far too young to be drinking wine. Servers then came around the table with trays piled high with scrumptious foods. They leaned over to place morsels on the guests' plates. Large shanks of lamb and whole pheasants, venison, huge bowls of peaches, figs and pears, and plentiful hard breads and pastries. The guests were laughing, talking and thoroughly enjoying themselves. I realized how hungry I was and ate heartily.

After I devoured my entire plate, I happened to look up and caught sight of the last table near the corner. There sat P, mouth moving quickly telling a story to the man sitting next to him. I hoped he wasn't talking about the future. How would I explain things? Then I glanced to his right and saw Zack smiling and speaking to a very pretty young girl with beautiful long black wavy hair. She wore a purple silk gown that was a little too revealing at the neckline. She giggled and tossed her hair away from her face. My heart sank and my stomach felt tight. Why was he talking to her like that?

As my head pounded with jealousy, Sir Phillip stood up beside me and offered and "end of the meal" toast to the king. At its completion, he drank heartily but looked at me inquisitively when I did not take a drink. I lifted the cup to my mouth and pretended to take a sip then swallowed. I raised my glass when I was done. "To the king!"

The meal was over and everyone rose from the table. As Sir Phillip spoke to another man, I maneuvered my way through the crowd. Both Zack and P saw me, and P ran up to me and gave me a hug. I frowned at Zack, but he didn't seem to understand.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried!" he smiled at me.

I relaxed and smiled back. Just then, Sir Phillip approached us. "Ahh, so you've found your friends." He introduced himself and P was in awe.

"You're a real knight? Do you have a trusted steed? Where is your armor? Where is your sword? Do you fight bad guys?" P couldn't stop asking questions.

"Okay P, that's enough questions for the day!" I blurted out and looked at him sternly.

"That's quite all right Lady Emma. He is an inquisitive boy, isn't he?" Sir Phillip smiled kindly at me then looked at Zack's hand which still rested on my shoulder. He frowned and glared at Zack. "Hmm, what kind of friends are you two?"

"We are very good friends." Zack replied with an equal glare and squeezed my shoulder more tightly.

Sir Phillip's piercing green eyes widened and his breathing quickened. He stepped back abruptly and stared at Zack. "I challenge you sir to a joust! For the hand of Lady Emma! There is a competition tomorrow. Be there at noon or you will wind up in the stockade." He turned on his heels and gruffly walked away amongst a whir of conversation in the banquet hall.

Zack looked at me. "What in the world was that about? I can't joust. What have you gotten me into?"

P joined in with a sing-song voice. "Sir Phillip likes Emma! Zack likes Emma! Oh Emma, who are you going to like back?"

I opened my mouth to apologize to Zack just as two other knights whisked him off. P and I ran after them.

The men spoke to Zack quickly. "We must fit you in appropriate armor for tomorrow's competition. How many jousts have you won? We need a change. Phillip has beaten every other knight in the kingdom and he has gotten very boastful about it. We must beat him tomorrow!"

"But you don't understand. I don't know how to joust. I've never done it before!" Zack whined.

They looked at him in disbelief. "But those stories you told at supper about your battles with your enemies. How you stopped the offensive line, pounded the oncoming runners, and brought the prize to safety."

I caught up to the men, glared at Zack and pulled him over to the side. "Where did you get that story?"

Zack looked up to the sky and tried to act innocent. "The knights at the table were telling tales of the crusades and battles. I wanted to seem brave."

"For the pretty girl sitting next to you?" I interjected.

"Well, um, no, not exactly. For everybody. I didn't want to be looked down on, so I told them the story of our first football game last fall. We were down in the fourth quarter, the team rallied and we came back to beat the enemy!"

"Ugh!" I exclaimed. "Now they expect you to be able to fight like a knight. You'd better go with them and learn some jousting!" I rolled my eyes.

The two knights dragged Zack to what looked like a practice field. We saw an expanse of grass with a brown dirt path at the center. At the end of the dirt pathway sat a large rectangular wooden crate, with a smaller square crate on top of it. On top of the smaller crate, someone had placed a fancy gentleman's hat with a falcon feather sticking out of the brim. Zack looked at the crate then looked back at the two men.

"Ahh, Sir Zack, that is our practice knight. We could not spare a metal helmet so one of the gentlemen gave us his hat as a gift. It helps us to feel like we are at the joust when we can aim for the chest below."

Zack drew a breath, "Ugh. The chest? Are you sure no one else would rather be your new pupil?"

"Sir Zack, you were challenged, so you must compete. I think Sir Phillip likes your pretty friend."

Zack looked towards me this time and I blushed. To the knights he said, "Well he can't have her."

I smiled to myself. Zack proceeded confidently, grabbed the pile of armor and prepared for the crash training. P and I watched for a while. Over and over, Zack would climb onto the horse and gallop toward the makeshift man. As he rode, he held the long spear-like lance straight out in front of him. The first time he tried, he dropped the lance and the tip stuck into the mud. He was holding so tightly onto the handle that he did not let go in time and his body flew up off the horse. He looked like a high jumper at the end of his pole then landed with a loud thump inn the tall grass. Luckily he was able to get up, brush the dust off his pants and try again. He continued over and over again until his aim finally hit the mark and the top crate and hat soared backward to the ground.

I continued to watch until a quiet and unassuming lady in waiting came to take me back to my room. P stayed with Zack. His excuse, "But Emma, I need to stay. I am his side-kick. Like Batman and Robin or the Lone Ranger and Tonto. He needs me!"

"Okay, little one," I replied, "Keep an eye on him."

Hours later I heard a rap on the door. I crawled out of bed to see a very anxious Zack and an excited P.

"Where's the book? You have to get us out of here. I can't joust your Sir Phillip. He's going to kill me. The knights say he's never lost a joust and has killed many enemies in battle."

Suddenly, I remembered the book. I didn't have it. It must be out in the field beyond the city walls. My heart sank. We would never find it in time. Just then, there was another knock at the door.

"Hide under the bed! Quickly!"

Zack and P scrambled across the room and slid under the bed. I opened the door to see Sir Phillip standing there with a sweet smile on his face. "My lady, I do believe that this is yours." He handed me the magical book. The edges were slightly marred by the fall in the field. "This looks important. What a beautiful bound manuscript. What language is that on the front cover? It is not English or even Latin. Is it in Italian?"

"Um, it is, er, Finnish." I said the first thing that came to mind. Then floundered.

Luckily at that moment two men walking down the hallway spoke to Sir Phillip. "You must rest for the competition tomorrow."

He paused and looked in their direction. "You are right, my men. Lady Emma I must bid you adieu. Here is your manuscript. Goodnight. Until the morrow." He nodded and turned on his heels.

As soon as he was gone and the door finished closing, P and Zack scrambled out from under the bed.

"Give me the book!" Zack demanded harshly. He grabbed it from my hand and placed it on the floor. Nothing. He opened the cover and rifled through the pages then stepped back. Still nothing.

P reached down and turned the pages one by one and looked closely at the leaves as he turned them. "Zack, the words still look so strange. Like another language. Remember before. They changed and we could read them."

Zack sat on the floor and gazed at the book dejectedly. I sat next to him and gently touched his sunken shoulder. "I have faith in you. I remember the story you told me about starting football for the first time. How you couldn't even throw the ball but with perseverance you became the starting quarterback. Just believe in yourself. I wonder if that's what the book meant when it said "believe." "

Zack smiled at me and appeared slightly calmer. "Okay, we need to get some rest then. Come on P. Goodnight Emma. But please don't lose the book between now and tomorrow!" And he winked at me.

Morning came quickly. Sun streamed in through the slit of a window in the east side of the room. A maid rapped at the door then came in to help me get ready. We were to all meet in the banquet hall for a hearty breakfast, then reassemble on the competition field.

I ate my meal at a table with other ladies, away from Zack and P. I was then ushered to the jousting field and advised to sit in a special booth at the center of the field. People filled tiered seats on either side of the playing field. A crowd stood in front of the seats and surrounded the field.

P crawled into the chair beside me. "I know Zack is ready. He did a very good job at practice yesterday."

I looked up to see Zack stomping towards me dressed in heavy armor. He stopped by the booth and raised the visor on his helmet. He smiled forcefully. I grabbed his gloved hand. "You can do this. I know it. I believe in you!"

P pulled on my sleeve. "Sir Phillip is coming. He was watching you two from over there."

He walked up, took my hand and kissed it. "Oh my dear lady, I will win this for you."

Zack sneered at the knight then walked to his corner. Sir Phillip strolled to his corner and they both mounted their steeds. It was kind of a strange feeling to be fought over. Handsome Phillip versus my true friend Zack. Oh... I hope he doesn't get hurt.

Trumpets sounded, "Doot de doooot!" The crowd clapped and cheered. We could hear the horses snort as their hooves beat the ground. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. I saw Zack's visor go down and he hunched forward – javelin in hand. Sir Phillip calmly pointed his spear towards Zack. The roar of the crowd was deafening. Slowly, the starter raised the trumpet for the final blare. The crowd became silent. The trumpet sounded and they were off.

The horses barreled down on each other. Dust filled the air, as the crack of the horses' hooves broke the silence. The men came nearer and nearer to each other. They were so close, then..."clang". The spears deflected off both sets of armor, but both metal clad men remained on their horses. The horses then trudged back to the starting line. They would have to try again.

My heart was beating fast. I wanted to close my eyes but I couldn't take them off the game. The trumpet sounded again and the horses ran as both men hunched forward in preparation. Closer and closer they came, then the reverberating "clang". I saw Sir Phillips body fly through the air then land with a loud thud in the dry dirt.

Sir Phillip didn't move. The crowd grew silent. Slowly he turned his body over on the dusty ground and arose. He stood, then bowed to the crowd, and they applauded. Then he turned to Zack, "Congratulations sir, I do believe the better man won. At least the better man in Lady Emma's eyes, I believe."

Zack blushed. The crowd clapped and clapped. P and I rushed to Zack. I threw my arms around him, then, thought better of it. But as I hugged him, I felt his arms tight around my waist and I could feel him hug be back. I was so glad he was okay. P hugged both our legs and cheered.

Things seemed to be looking up, when suddenly without warning, a huge round rock came flying onto the field. More large rocks followed, then, showers of smaller rocks followed.

A tall knight rode in on a sleek russet colored horse. "King Stephen's army has broken through the wall on the East side of the village. He has positioned his army atop the hills there and was able to cause a small portion of the wall to collapse with the artillery from the catapults. We must ready the army, they are coming!"

Men ran from the stands to armor up at the castle. Women grabbed children and ran to safety.

Sir Phillip acknowledged the knight on the horse, then turned toward us and grabbed my hand. "I need to keep you three safe. Follow me."

P, Zack and I swiftly followed him down a grassy path towards the castle. We came to a small door at the far side of the castle. The three of us heard cries and commands from the troops at the front of the castle. The men were readying for retaliation. Sir Phillip placed a large key in the lock on the metal door in front of them. The iron door creaked open and we all travelled into the castle. We followed my knight into a narrow stone corridor and then down sloping passageways. The air grew damp and cool and the ground became slick. We heard a persistent dripping from the end of the hallway.

"Where are we?" I asked. I was getting a little frightened.

"We are in the dungeon." Sir Phillip replied. I"I think this is the only way to keep you all safe."

"Why do you care so much about all of us?" questioned Zack. "Why do you have to keep us safe?"

Sir Phillip sighed. "I know you are not of this time. If I want to protect the future, I need to keep you safe from harm. I know you have travelled back in time. I assume, by the powers of that book you have. I know that you need to get back to your time unharmed."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I first overheard Zack talking to you about that fighting game he played. Football, was it? I have heard of no sport like that in any of the lands in England. I was curious. I knew you were from a land very far away. I then listened to a story that Sir James was telling to a fair maiden in the banquet hall. He spoke of flying machines that were powered by fire. He chose his words carefully so the lady would understand, but this child knew more than any child I have ever met. The details of this flying machine could not be made up. You three know of things that could only be from the future."

Just then a crash came from a hallway above us. King Stephen's troops had stormed the castle. We heard the sound of many men running and horses neighing far away, but suddenly there was a shuffling of feet that neared us. Men were talking loudly. "I hear someone down there. Ready your sword."

"Do what you must!" Sir Phillip yelled. 'They are getting closer. Hurry!" He drew his sword and prepared for the opposing knights to enter.

Zack looked at me. "The book! Get it out. We're losing time!"

I pulled the book out of the woven cloth bag I had slung over my shoulder. I pulled the edge of the book out of the bag. As I pulled, the words on the front began their transformation. Slowly the word "TRUST" appeared at the top center. But I was so nervous and scared that as I yanked the book out it slipped out of my hands and landed on the cold and wet stone floor. The pages fluttered. The words inside began to sway and twist like before.

Zack leaned forward and read. "Trust in yourself and others. The answers lie in the friendships that you make and must leave behind. March forward to make new alliances."

The wind started up and created a whistling sound through the narrow stone passageways. It seemed stronger this time and I felt like I couldn't keep my footing. I tried to grab onto the slick wall. I had to push my wind-blown hair out of my face to see that Zack had a tight grip of P's arm. The circular whirling mist started up once again and the far wall became a massive hole of black. Zack and P inched their way toward the opening. I turned to see Sir Phillip pulling his sword out of its sheath. He smiled kindly and his eyes twinkled. I waved goodbye.

"Emma! Come now! Grab my hand. We're running out of time!"

I turned away from Sir Phillip as the rival knights came around the corner. I heard swords clanking and hoped that Sir Phillip would be okay as I grabbed Zack's outstretched hand. The three of us jumped headfirst into the unknown as I wiped the tears out of my eyes.

Chapter 4

Crash! Each of us rolled onto a hard cobblestone street. Ouch! The grassy field in England was much softer. I think I may have a few bruises. I landed first, then P, then Zack landed and rolled with so much momentum that he bowled into a street vendor's cart and fruits tumbled to the ground. The cart owner stood up, his round ruddy face becoming redder with anger. He raised his fist and shouted at us in a foreign language. He continued with more words we didn't understand until two police officers rounded the corner. They picked up speed when they saw the man yelling at us.

"Ruunnn!" I screamed. The book had fallen a few feet in front of me when we had landed. I remembered to grab it this time and we took off. The man continued to yell at us and the policemen followed. We still could not understand the language that the men spoke.

Zack glanced back at me as we ran through the streets. "I think it may be Italian."

Then the words started to sound familiar. "Stop thieves!" came from the cart owner's mouth.

"You children will go to jail!" came from the policeman.

We ran and ran. We passed city shop after shop. I was starting to get tired. P seemed to have enough energy to keep up with Zack.

"This way!" Zack yelled over his shoulder.

There was an alley off to the right of the main road, just past a small foods store. We were far enough ahead of the men that they wouldn't see us turn. Alas, the alleyway was a dead end lined with two old empty carts and three large barrels. There was no way out. It was only a matter of time before the men would find us.

"Should we try the book?" asked P.

"No. I don't think so" I replied. "We don't have time to waste. If it's not the right time, and it doesn't work, we'll get caught standing here waiting."

Zack scanned the alley. "We have to hide in the barrels!" he waved us on. "Let's go!"

We threw off the lids and climbed in. The barrels were filled with hundreds of small sardine sized fish. Gross. I held my breath as the stench was almost unbearable. We kept silent as the men passed by still yelling. We waited until we could no longer hear their voices then jumped out of the barrels.

"PU, we stink!" stated P. "Now all the cats in the city will be following us."

Faint meows floated out from the dark end of the alley. Zack looked at me, "We have to get out of here, now! Let's go!"

The three of us slowly emerged from the alley, careful to search for the men before beginning down the main road again. The coast was clear. We passed another small outdoors market full of carts overflowing with fruits and breads. We were cautious not to touch anything as we watched the people passing by. Men wore small black hats without brims and long black cloaks. The women wore long dresses, in variations of red or blue, with high empire waists and modestly cut bodices. We listened to the men and women talking. Some words would be in Italian, but we became to hear more and more in English. It must have had something to do with that magic book.

Zack and I came to the conclusion that we were in an Italian city and, now that we seemed to be safe, were very interested in the sites. The point we stood in the road was a hill and we could see down into the valley at the end. It looked like a town square with tall white buildings lined with ornate columns. A fountain sat at the center of the square. We thought we were in the clear so we both grabbed P's hand and strolled down the slope.

I thought out loud. "I remember reading about renaissance Italy in History class. I wonder what city we are in. Look at all this old architecture. It is beautiful."

"It's not as old now as it was in our history books!" retorted Zack. "Wow, look at the detail on those columns. I wonder if that is the center of town."

Just then, P was gently tugging at my shirt. I ignored him and he pulled harder. "Emma! Please turn around."

Zack and I continued our conversation but slowly turned around to see what P was so upset about. One of our policeman followers had seen us and was picking up speed running down the hill. Zack yanked both our hands and we were off again. My legs were so tired. We ran hard straight down the hill. We were going so fast that we couldn't stop when an old man walked out into our path. The four of us fell into a heap in the middle of the cobblestone street.

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized to the man crumpled on the ground.

Zack helped the man to his feet. We all scrambled up around them. As we arose, the police officer came up to us.

"Stop those children. They are thieves!" shouted the policeman.

The elderly man looked him straight in the eye. "No, sir, not these children. These are my sister's children. They have been with me all day. We just came out of my home to check the weather, and three young hoodlums ran by and knocked us down. They continued running down the hill and didn't even stop to help us up."

Surprisingly the policeman believed the old man, thanked him and continued on his way down the hill. Then we thanked the old man too.

He smiled kindly, "Please tell me your story young children. Why were you running from the police? What did you do?"

Zack spoke first. "I accidentally knocked some fruit off of a man's cart and he thought we were stealing from him. But we weren't!"

"Yes," I interjected, "and I don't think anyone would have believed that we didn't steal anything. The man was so angry."

The older man nodded in understanding. "I see, but you left out the part where you fell into the fish pond. You three smell awfully fishy. My name is Leo. My home is just up these stairs. My housekeeper is here today and she may be able to help you freshen up a bit."

"What do we have to lose?" Zack looked at me. "We are out of place in time, we are being chased by the police and boy do we stink!"

"Please guys," pleaded P. The sun is going down and it is starting to get chilly out here. I am wet from fish water and am going to catch a cold. I say follow that man!"

"Okay P," I agreed. "Sir, we won't be any trouble, but we could use your help. My name is Emma. This is Zack and that is P."

"All right children, good to meet you. Follow me."

We followed the old man up a winding staircase to an ornately carved door. He gently turned the knob, and as the door swung inward we could see a large room filled with easels and tables. Jars of paint and multiple types of brushes were strewn haphazardly on the tables. A large bookshelf stood against the far wall. It was filled with tall leather bound books. Many books lay open on the long tables. Some were bound with twine at the center. Some lay open and their exposed pages were covered with charcoal and pencil drawings.

One book was laden with intricate drawings of the human body. Every muscle was outlined carefully. There were human forms in motion, running, jumping, squatting down. It was fascinating. P came over to me and we turned each page in amazement. We continued until I flipped open a page and came across a nude female body. Of course it was beautiful and drawn perfectly anatomically. I stared in wonder but then remembered P's naïve young eyes beside me and I quickly put my hand over his eyes and closed the book.

"Um, P. This book over here looks very interesting too. I think you'll like it better." I tried to change the subject.

The next book was thick and heavy. The pages were more worn as if each picture had been rubbed out and changed numerous times. Each page was filled with what looked like drawings of mechanical devices. The first set of drawings looked like weapons. There was a large gun with 8 barrels for shooting many bullets at the same time. Another picture looked like a bunch of guns set up all at once. Other pages had drawings of wheels. Some had larger scaled pictures of the treads off to the side. The spokes in the wheels appeared different on each picture. We saw drawings of wagons attached to horses, with close up pictures of the axles and other components.

As we flipped through the pages, the machines became less like the wagons of the current time and more like vehicles of our time. We saw a boat with a very sleek body. There was a triangular shaped machine with small wheels at the bottom that resembled a tank. As we flipped through more pages we came to the most fascinating drawings of flying machines.

P was taken aback. "Emma," he exclaimed. "Look at these. These are planes! And this is a helicopter!"

The charcoal drawings were detailed. The first 2 machines looked like airplanes. There was a body like a fuselage and very thin wings extending to either side. The helicopter-like machine had a small body and one circular wing on top that looked like a very wide corkscrew. These vehicles weren't put into place until the nineteenth century!

The nice old man came up behind us. "I see you've found my flying machines. This one here is an ornithopter. One day someone will build these and they will fly. I need to modify them a bit, but I know that they can work."

Zack approached us at that point. "Sir, what is your full name."

The kind man replied, "I am Leonardo Da Vinci, painter as profession, inventor on the side."

We were in awe. We had read about this man's many paintings and inventions in History class in school. He is famous for his paintings.

"Shhh. Don't say anything about what we know." I looked at P.

"Ah Em, I won't say anything. I won't call his ornithopter a helicopter anymore. But it's really cool."

"Um, Mr. Da Vinci," interrupted Zack. Your drawings are amazing. We are very impressed and hope to see them built one day."

"Thank you my child," the kind man replied. "I will continue to invent as long as I can. But right now it is time to go and paint. I have a job at the monastery in the center of town. Once my housekeeper returns with some of her children's clothes for you to change into, and you get that fish smell off of you, you can all go with me.

The housekeeper returned soon after that and took each of us separately into the bedroom. She helped us get cleaned up with water from a wide pitcher at the bedside. It was great that her kids were about the size of each of us, however, they were all boys. I was the last to get dressed, and as I walked into the main room I could hear peals of laughter from P and quiet giggles from Zack. I had a long white woolen shirt on that hung down past my knees. The brown woolen trousers continued past my toes, and I walked on the cuffs of the pant legs and almost tripped coming into the room. Luckily the housekeeper cinched a rope around my waist to hold up the pants and to tighten the shirt. She then bent down to roll up the pants and pinned them up so I could walk.

"All right kids. It's time to go to work. P, you grab some of those brushes over there. Emma, you grab a few of those paint jars over there, and Zack you can grab those other jars over there."

He pointed and nodded as we gathered the materials. He grabbed a few other supplies himself and we were off.

The monastery wasn't very far away from the old man's apartment. We walked a few blocks and came upon a high iron gate with intricately twisted dark metal rods at the center. The gate joined two high stone walls that surrounded the courtyard of the building. At either side of the gate a bronze angel sat atop a pillar of stone.

Leo pulled a rope attached to a bell at the side of the gate. A deep resonating sound emerged from the bell and, in a few minutes, a small balding man dressed in a small round brown cap and a long brown robe that dragged on the stone under his feet came into view. The robe was loosely tied at the thin man's waist allowing the top of a coarse white woolen shirt to be seen.

As the man neared, Leo bent down to me. "It's a good thing you have on boy's clothing. Women are not allowed in the monastery. Please don't let anyone know you're a girl" And he winked at me.

We followed the small monk to the back of the monastery to what looked like a dining hall. There were numerous wooden tables and chairs pushed over to one side of the room. On the other side was a make shift wooden scaffolding. It looked like someone had nailed or tied together old discarded wooden planks and sticks. It looked awfully rickety.

The scaffolding took up most of the wall on the far side of the room. Above it, we could see a large painting encompassing most of the wall above the framework. It was not completed, but we could easily make out figures of men. There was a man with a beard at the center surrounded by two groups of men on either side. They all looked different. Some were balding, some had long white beards and others had shorter curly hair. These men appeared to be celebrating with bread and wine, yet turning their attention to the serious figure at the center.

I looked at Zack wide eyed. "This is "The Last Supper"-one of Da Vinci's most famous works! This is his interpretation of the final meeting of Jesus and all of his disciples. It is wonderful. Look at the vibrant colors. The reds and blues and even oranges." I pointed, "Look at the emotion on the faces of the men on the more completed side of the painting. I have seen photographs of this painting, but it was so aged that the colors appeared faded and dingy and it was very hard to see the faces of Jesus and his disciples. And even though Jesus is not finished in this current painting, I can see the gravity of his words on his face."

"Come children. We have work to do." We saw Leo look quickly over his shoulder as he began to climb up the fragile scaffold.

P went running after him.

"Be careful!" I yelled, trying to make my voice sound a little more boyish in case any of the monks was listening. "Don't fall!"

"He'll be fine," Zack stated calmly and took my hand.

We carefully climbed up the wooden framework after them and situated ourselves in front of the painting. We placed our supplies out where we were directed by the old man. Leo took out a few jars from the bag he was carrying and took a few of P's brushes. He mixed up a thick sticky whitish concoction and spread it on the wall in front of him. He then opened the jars of paint and went to work putting color on top of the base mixture. We would hand him whatever he wanted when he required it.

The three of us watched as the hand of Jesus took shape. The fingers ended in translucent nails and wrinkled knuckles formed with a few strokes of the paintbrush. Veins ran over the back of the hand as if blood began to pump through them.

This man was such an artist. We were mesmerized. Then suddenly Mr. Da Vinci handed a paintbrush to P and told him to start painting Jesus' robe. We were speechless as P gently stroked the red-brown tempera paint onto the wall. We could see his eyes widen with excitement and pride in his accomplishment. He continued to paint the robe while Leonardo painted more intricacies on the face and hands.

We watched and helped for hours until the silence was broken by a man that walked into the great room. We first heard the clip clop of his fancy shoes across the stone floor. Zack and I turned to look as Leo and P continued to paint.

"Ahem..." came from down below. "Mr. Leonardo Da Vinci, your housekeeper told me I would find you here. You have been avoiding me for months. I have you trapped now on that scaffolding and you cannot run away. Have you thought about my offer?"

Leonardo slowly stopped painting and moved to the edge of the scaffolding. "You have found me, sir." He sighed. "And yes, I have considered your offer. But I have been so very busy with this important work that I currently do not have the time to undertake anything else. Please give me a month's time to complete this task and I will again consider your offer."

The man snorted under his breath then again looked up at the master painter. "My offer stands at the same amount of money. It is a good sum of money if you recall. You would be a fool to reject it. Keep that in mind. Also, I cannot wait forever. My wife is not getting any younger!"

With that, a shy woman with a plump round face emerged from behind the stern man. She had long straight dark brown hair parted at the center of her head. We could see thoughtful brown eyes with small wrinkles at the corners. At first she had a serious expression on her face, but when she saw the three of us kids, a faint yet gentle smile formed at the angles of her mouth. She did not say a word but nodded kindly to Leonardo as she turned to follow her husband out of the hall.

The two figures walked out and Leonardo turned back to his painting. P continued to help.

I turned to Zack in awe again and almost couldn't speak. "Do you know who that was?" I squeaked out.

Zack shook his head quickly from side to side. "I saw a pretty woman with a cranky man. That's all I know."

I leered at him. "Oh come on. Pay attention. That is the Mona Lisa! Only the other most famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci. It has to be. Did you see that smile? Wow, we've met the Mona Lisa!"

Zack finally got it. "I think you're right Emma. That is really cool!"

We sat and talked about our discovery while P and Leo finished painting Jesus' robe and hands. A little while later the old man began to clean up his supplies.

"That is enough for today. We must be fresh for tomorrow. Come children help get these things together and we will go home for the day."

We packaged up the supplies and climbed down to the floor, then left the monastery through the ornate front gate. We followed Leonardo down the street towards his home. It was getting dark and P tripped over a loose stone in the street. The paint jars rolled everywhere, but it didn't sound like any of them broke. Leonardo turned around and began to help us pick up the jars. He had just walked to the alley across the street to pick up a stray jar when that police officer from earlier in the day strolled around the corner. He immediately recognized us and picked up his pace. We took off!

As we ran down the street Zack called to Leonardo, "Thank you for everything. Sorry about the paint jars. We are all honored to have worked with you for a day!"

Leo watched helpless as we ran. "Good luck children. Thank you for your help!"

We all sprinted down the next block as the officer narrowed in on us. We couldn't end up stuck in an Italian jail. What if we never got home? The faster we ran, the faster the policeman ran. Around corners, past the fruit cart from this morning, past the alley with the fish barrels. Running until we felt like our legs could run no more. Finally, Zack steered us down an alley. He thought we could lose the policeman and come out on the other side, but the alley was a dead end. And no barrels to be found, just an empty lane.

We could hear him getting closer and Zack prompted me, "GET THE BOOK!"

I had forgotten that I had the bag slung over my shoulder all day. I was not letting it go. I took a deep breath and quickly pulled the book out of the bag and placed it on the stone street. I held my breath as the running footsteps neared.

Suddenly, dust on the street began to stir and gently swirl around us. The letters on the cover moved into their assigned spots and the word "IMAGINE" appeared at the center. The pages began to rustle as before until they came to rest at the precise location. Letters darted across the page and it seemed as if they moved faster than before. They faded in and out for a few minutes, like blinking Christmas lights, then appeared as a paragraph at the center of the page.

I read aloud, "Open your mind and imagine worlds that you never knew. Let your mind lead you away from a newfound kindness and guide you to greater knowledge and adventure."

The breeze turned into a wind that swept my hair from my face and almost pushed us off out feet. Just as the officer rounded the corner to the alley, the swirling mist began to form our black hole to another time. He stopped as he saw the scene, almost falling over from the force of the wind. We saw him shake is fist and thought we heard him say something about black magic, then, he was drowned out by the din.

Zack glanced at me and grabbed my hand tightly. I grabbed P's hand so tightly he yelled "Ouch!" With Zack as the leader, we jumped into the eddying whirlpool of gas. I imagined that we looked like three paper dolls, unfolded and holding hands, as we floated through the blackness to a new destination.

Chapter 5

Whumph! We landed on another cobblestone street. This one was quiet, though, and Zack did not roll into anyone. It was getting close to dusk and the distant sun was nearing the horizon. This area did not appear as clean and cheerful as the street in Italy. No street vendors with colorful items. No women laughing on the sidewalk. No open shops lining the street. And of course no angry men to chase us. We peered down both sides of the road. We saw shops, but the doors were locked tight. A few stores had windows or doors that were boarded up. Not a sole was visible. The roads were lined with dust and dirt. The once freshly painted store fronts were caked with dust from the street and the colors appeared dingy and cold. This city seemed dark and sad, and I think we were all a little apprehensive of our new endeavor.

"Look," Zack whispered, "way down there on the right. I see a light in a window. What do you guys think?"

"Let's go." I replied. "The sooner we meet people here, the sooner we can leave. I'm kind of scared. I wonder what that book has in store for us."

P spoke up. "Emma, do you know what city or country we are in? That may help us figure out why we are here?"

"I don't know P, It all just looks dark to me. Once we talk to some people we should know."

We sent Zack out in front and we followed him down the street towards the light. As we neared, we could hear a murmur of voices. The sounds were flowing out of a doorway that seemed to be the opening to a tavern. We saw a large man open the door, nod at two smaller men dressed in black, and stand back so they could walk into the bar. Then he closed the door. What had we gotten ourselves into?

I spoke up first. "Maybe if we wait until another group of people come, we can sneak in behind them?"

Zack nodded in agreement, but he was quiet and I could see he was trying to think of another plan to keep us all safe.

Just then a group of three young men, possibly teenagers rounded the corner and approached the door. Zack looked at me and nodded, and we snuck up behind them hoping we could quietly follow them inside.

The tallest of the three caught sight of us and turned toward Zack. "Are you with the Resistance? Traitors for the monarchy are not allowed in there. Your friend is rather young to be fighting for us." He pointed at P.

Zack was at first surprised that he understood the man. He had to think up a good response quickly. "Um, yes we are with the Resistance. We are here to help you fight for your freedom. This is my sister Emma, and brother James. Um.... We are alone. Our parents were killed in a battle against the monarchy. Please let us bring our young brother into your meeting with us."

The three boys nodded and as the large man discussed things with them we were allowed to follow them into the tavern.

As we entered, I whispered to Zack. "I think I know where we are..."

We were ushered to the back of the crowded room as the leader of the small group of fighters began to speak. Before any words came out of his mouth, I heard utterings of "Oui" and "Merci" from amongst the crowd.

I quickly whispered to Zack with my eyebrows raised. "We are in France and this is the French Revolution! We are in a lot of danger!"

I was sharply silenced by an older woman sitting nearby. I kept my mouth closed and began to listen to the speaker as his thick French magically became English to my ears and I was mesmerized.

The tall man with chiseled cheek bones and wavy black hair stood confidently behind a table at the front of the crowd. He made wide gestures with his hands to emphasize each point. "We must put an end to this tyranny! We cannot be oppressed any longer. We must join forces and strength to fight the evil monarchy!"

The crowds cheered and took swigs of their dark brown beer in thick glass mugs. A barmaid had asked us if we had wanted any. Zack and I shook our heads "No!" They had no non-alcoholic beverages in this place. We were so engrossed in the speaker that we didn't notice what P was doing beside us. A generous man had given him a small mug of beer. He had been sipping on it through the speech.

I turned to P and my mouth dropped open. "Stop!"

P had finished about half of the glass. "What Emma? I was thirsty!"

"Oh P," I exclaimed. "Now you are going to be sick!" I scooted his chair close to me so I could keep a better eye on him.

Just then, a middle aged gentleman approached us from the right. He stared straight at Zack. "Are you him? You must be! But why are you so quiet at the back of the room?"

Zack stared back at the man. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ahh, you are him. You are the spitting image of those wanted posters. You are Pierre Lefleur!"

Zack shook his head, "No sir, my name is Zack. I am not sure who you are talking about."

The man replied, "Oh, I see you are in hiding. But we are on your side here. We will not tell anyone!"

As they conversed, the speaker was winding down his speech. Cheers and clapping arose from the crowd. The man winked at Zack and walked off to join another group. Zack stayed there speechless.

"Zack, who are they talking about? Do you have any famous ancestors we should know about?" I asked.

"Not that I know of." Zack replied, as he shook his head no.

By this point, P was getting sleepy. The beer was starting to take effect. We needed to get him out of that place. But where could we go. We slowly shuffled out with the crowd. Luckily we ran into the group of boys that helped us get in.

The tallest boy spoke to us. "Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?"

Zack took charge. "No, we have been wandering for a few days trying to stay closer to the revolution. We feel we have to carry on our parents' legacy."

I gave him a sideways glance, where did he come up with that?

The tallest of the boys offered his hand up to Zack to shake. "I am Henri." He pointed to the other boys. "This is Jean Claude, and that little squirt over there is Francois. We would be honored if you, Pierre Lefleur, would stay at our home. We have just a small room above a shop down the street. You may stay with us tonight."

Zack nodded, "Why thank you, but I am not who you think I am. I do believe this is a case of mistaken identity. I am not this Pierre Lefleur. My name is Zack."

Henri looked disappointed and his eyes turned toward the cobblestone street. After a moment he smiled and looked back at Zack. "Anyone who is a fighter for the revolution is welcome in our home." And he waved us to follow him.

We began to follow the boys home. At this point, P was really beginning to feel the effects of the beer. As we walked, he started to lag behind. He would veer to the right off our path, then catch himself being out of place and veer back to the left, then he stumbled over a small rock in the street and I had to catch him. He began to stammer about his toy cars, then bits and pieces about the book and our travels to Egypt, England and Italy.

P was blabbing, "And I said, Zack, you are the strongest kid I know. I knew you would win that joust. And, Mr. Leonardo, I think you should paint that cloak red..."

Luckily the boys did not seem to understand anything P was saying. We were glad. Then P really began to slow down. It was so much that the three of us were lagging far behind the boys in front. Zack took action, swept him up off the street and threw him over his shoulder.

We continued to follow the trio around a bend in the road until we came to a small door that opened onto a narrow staircase. We followed the boys to a room at the top of the stairs. It encased three small beds pushed up against the walls. No kitchen. No living room. No other rooms attached. The boys were kind and gave each of us a blanket to use. We accepted graciously and each one of us curled up on the floor and slept soundly.

We were so exhausted after our travels that we all slept well that night. The blankets were warm and I did not want to awake as the sun streamed through the small room. I looked around to see the boys all sleeping peacefully, and hoped P would be feeling much better this morning.

I was still in my groggy state when a very loud persistent rapping on the door jolted me upright. Suddenly three large men dressed in uncomfortable looking uniforms, with tight white pants and elaborately tailored blue and red jackets, barged into the room demanding the "one they call Pierre."

"We want the traitor now!" yelled the man on the left, and lunged toward me.

I quickly slid to the right and avoided his grasp. I ran to the other side of the room where the boys slept as they awoke and started clamoring out of the beds and off of the floor.

"There he is!" screamed another man, and reached toward Zack. "I would recognize him anywhere. Ah, you look just like your "wanted" posters that are hung around the city. We received a tip last night that you were in town. Now we can put an end to your revolt! We are taking you to the king and queen."

With that they grabbed Zack by both arms and twisted them behind his back so he couldn't move his upper body. He tried to kick them but lost his balance and fell into one of the officer's arms. The man held him tightly as they paraded him out the door and down the stairs.

I could hear Zack yelling, "You have the wrong man. I am not Pierre!"

The officer replied, "Stop the lies, we have you now. You cannot hide any longer!"

The boys and I chased after them down the stairs. We were all yelling, "No, stop, you have the wrong man. That is not Pierre. He is innocent."

We ran after them down the street. As we caught up to them, the two men without the captive in their arms pushed Francois and Jean Claude onto the cobblestone street and drew their swords as P and I drew nearer. "Do not interfere in this or you will lose your lives also."

We stopped. What else could we do? I turned toward Henri. "Where are they taking him?"

He replied, "They will take him to the prison at the eastern most edge of the city. A few years ago they would have taken him to the Bastille, a huge stronghold where the political prisoners would be held. That is, anyone against the king, but our rebels invaded it and destroyed the entire building. If we have our way, the new prison will soon be filled with the nobility themselves!"

"What will they do to Zack?" I asked anxiously.

Henri paused and scanned the ground. He was avoiding making eye contact with me. "Um, Emma, they will probably hold him in a cell for a few days. Then they will put him on trial for his deeds. Then they will set him free if he is found innocent." Then he paused again and stared at the ground.

"What if he is found guilty?" I quickly interrupted. "What will happen to him?"

Henri then looked me straight in the eyes. "They will put him to death by guillotine."

"Noooo!" I screamed. "We can't let that happen! We have to save him! He is my best friend." I started to sob.

P came up and held my shoulders. "Zack is my best friend too. We will save him!"

Henri hugged both of us. "I know some people that may be able to help. Come, we must go talk to Jacque. He owns the café where we were last night."

We again followed the boys down the winding street. The café was empty and quiet at this time of the day, but a few women were straightening chairs and sweeping the floor. Henri walked past them and approached the man behind the bar. We saw him whispering in his ear.

The man paused and thought a moment, then nodded. "I will see what I can do. Meet me here tomorrow morning just before sunrise."

The next day, P, and I waited for the man outside the café. The boys accompanied us to learn the plan. The air was cold before dawn and I felt a chill. Just as I shivered, a thin man dressed all in black emerged from the front door. It was not the heavy set man we had seen the night before. This man was much younger and I could see the sinewy muscles in his arms beneath his flowing blouse-like shirt. His head was bowed down at first but he lifted it slowly as he passed through the doorway. It was Zack! I drew in a deep breath of excitement only to have my hopes dashed.

The man opened his mouth. "Hello, I am Pierre Lefleur."

He held out his hand. I shook it in stunned silence. He had Zack's bright blue eyes and his welcoming smile, and when he smiled small wrinkles formed in the corners of his eyes. He could be Zack's twin. His hair, however, was much longer and he kept it tied back from his face with a white silk ribbon. And poor Zack never had muscles like these.

I stepped back as Pierre extended his hand to P. "I am sorry little man and fair lady, I am the reason your friend is being imprisoned. I only learned of this last night. Thank you for meeting me here in secret. You see, I do much for the resistance and would be arrested myself if I was seen in public. Do not worry, though, I will make things right. I will devise a plan and help save your friend. There is little time. Meet me tomorrow outside the prison gates!" And he disappeared back into the café just as the sun was coming up behind the building.

As we walked back to the small room, Henri gave us directions to the massive prison. "We will stay here in case something goes wrong and you need to be saved."

Just before dawn the following day, P and I met Pierre just outside the prison gates. Henri had given us directions. We watched from behind a large tree and could see two men standing guard in front of a giant iron door.

Pierre nodded in their direction. "That leads straight to the courtyard where they hold the beheadings. The King's guards watch the area like hawks. They allow the crowds to come in to watch but there is very little chance of a prisoner escaping, especially from the platform that holds the guillotine."

I was taken aback. "I can't believe they kill those innocent people as the crowd watches. This is inhumane."

A shiver moved down my spine, and P just stood there shocked. Suddenly, Pierre started walking around the side of the high wall surrounding the prison.

He motioned to us with his hand, "Come, there is another way we can get to your friend."

We continued to follow him away from the guards. We stopped at a place along the wall that looked different from the rest. A few bricks were a slightly different color that the rest of the wall. Pierre gently moved his left hand over one of the bricks then pounded the opposite edge with his right fist. The brick popped out at an angle. He slid the brick out of its slot then started taking the surrounding bricks out of the wall one by one. P and I helped him complete the task. When the bricks were all in piles on the ground, we peered into a dark hole.

Pierre winked at me, "Okay let's go!" And he disappeared into the hole.

I grabbed P's arm and we followed him. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark. We had entered a narrow corridor. The walls were slick with moss and felt damp. We had to feel our way along in the blackness.

"Gross!" came from P. "This is so slimy."

"Keep walking!" I insisted.

Finally, we could see a faint light ahead and we approached it. Pierre crouched down and ran his fingers along four metal rods at the base of the wall. We heard a quiet clanging as his fingers tapped on what appeared to be a grate in the wall.

Pierre whispered, "Monsieur Zack, please come to the outer wall of your cell. I have your friends here. Be very quiet and do not draw attention to yourself. You do not want to disturb the guards."

We heard shuffling feet then a whispered voice close to the grate. "Who are you?"

"I am Pierre Lefleur, sadly, the reason you are in this predicament. I am so sorry, but I am here to help."

"Zack, it's me Emma."

I heard a sigh from the prisoner, then, P chimed in "Do you know what they are going to do to you?"

"I don't know the whole story," replied Zack in a whispered voice, "but I heard the guards talking last night. It seems my offenses, or that is Pierre's offenses are so extreme that they are foregoing a formal trial and have already decided my fate." He paused, then added, "Pierre what did you do to make the King so mad?" He continued before letting Pierre answer, "I am scheduled for the guillotine tomorrow at noon."

We heard a quiet sniffle and I knew Zack was trying to hide his tears. At that point, I could feel hot tears running down my cheeks. I gripped P's hand more tightly and he squeezed back.

"I am sorry Monsieur Zack. I will fix this. Here is the plan. You must go through with everything they tell you to do. They will take you to the guillotine. Do not cause any trouble. I will save you tomorrow." Pierre nodded commandingly.

I grabbed Pierre's hand. "Can't we just get him out of here now? They will kill him!"

"No," Pierre shook his head. "We cannot get him out tonight. The timing is not right."

At that moment we heard a guard speak harshly. "Prisoner, come to the front of the cell where we can see you!"

"I have to go," whispered Zack.

I crouched down and tried to speak, "Um, Zack, I, er, that is, I, um..." I couldn't say what I felt. I love you just wouldn't come out. "I, um... that is... we miss you. I won't let anything happen to you. We will see you tomorrow. We will save you. I promise!"

Zack shuffled away from the grate and moved towards the guards at the front of the cell. Pierre ushered us back through the corridor. After we emerged from the passageway we carefully replaced each brick into its designated place in the wall.

Pierre turned toward me, "You must come to the event tomorrow and stand with the crowd. I will be there with my men." He nodded his head, smiled slightly and was gone.

P and I spent the night in the boys' apartment. I was awake before dawn, worried and scared. When it came time to leave for the beheading, Henri, Jean Claude and Francois accompanied us through the prison gates and into the morbid mass of people. My heart was beating fast. We crawled through the crowd to get closer to the platform.

Murmurs arose from the men and women surrounding us. One woman said, "I heard that man was a thief and marauder. He conned people into following him. He is an outlaw!"

Another said, "No, he fights for the people. The king wants him killed because he is a threat."

I wanted to say, "But he is innocent. They have the wrong man!" But I remained silent for fear that we would be caught before Zack was saved.

Henri beckoned us to follow him closer. "Pierre wants us as close to the platform as possible. He will come at the precise moment."

P and I followed him. I shuddered as we approached the guillotine. "So now we wait?"

Henri nodded and I pulled P close. P looked at me and smiled gently, "Emma it will be okay. I have faith. We will save Zack and get out of here!"

I nodded in agreement but really couldn't get any words out. Oh to be young and trusting.

A drum sounded from in front of the crowd. The five of us pushed our way through towards the wooden platform at the center of the throng. We saw a tall gaunt man dressed all in black standing on the right of the platform. His long black hair was tied back with a black ribbon. I felt goose bump on my arms as I watched him prepare.

To the left was a large wooden contraption. At the base was a wooden board with a semi-circle cut out at the center. On both sides long wooden slats lead upward to a wooden bar. Beneath that bar rested a gleaming piece of metal. It was cut at an angle and came to a point at the right side of the machine. The bright sun reflected off of the blade, and the metal glowed as if it was full of power. I knew it was the guillotine.

The executioner raised a piece of rope up to the sharp blade. It easily split in half and two pieces fell to the ground. The crowd roared. I cringed as the sound grew louder. Fear gripped me as I looked up at the machine of death.

The drum began to beat slow and loud. The crowd grew quiet and I knew it was time. We took our places among the crowd and watched in stunned silence as Zack was marched up to the platform. His hands and feet were bound with thick rope. His head was covered with a black silk cloth. He walked slowly up the stairs and past the executioner under guidance of the guards. They positioned him at the center of the platform for all to see.

The executioner yanked the cloth off Zack's head and exposed his face to the crowd. Cheers and boos came up from the crowd. At first Zack stood there with his eyes turned downward then he began to scan the crowd for us. His eyes landed on me and I smiled as well as I could. I could see a faint smile of recognition on Zack's face.

The executioner spoke, "It is time for this traitor's final judgment. Let his death be a lesson for you all!"

He pushed Zack toward the dreaded guillotine. As he shuffled along, I heard a cry from the back of the crowd, "Not so fast sir! Do you want to kill an innocent man?"

As I looked up, I saw Pierre sliding along a rope attached to a banner on the east wall of the courtyard. With swift movements he swooped through the air like an acrobat and landed gracefully on the platform between Zack and the executioner. He quickly drew his sword and aimed it at the tall man. The two guards also drew their swords. As they did this, Zack broke loose from their grasp. Pierre lunged forward and a sword fight began.

Henri turned to P and me, "Now is the time, get Zack!"

We rushed to the platform as fast as we could. Zack saw us and inched his shackled feet toward the edge. Just then, one of the guards noticed he was trying to escape and came toward him.

I screamed, "Nooo!" and in my distress almost did not feel P tug my shirt.

"Emma, Emma, use the book!" He stopped to get it out of the bag I still had slung over my shoulder.

I stopped screaming and helped him grab the book. We pulled it out of the bag so violently that we lost control of it and it flew through the air. When it landed on the ground it sat upright on the spine for a few seconds. As it teetered a word began to form on the face of the book. "FAITH".

We felt a slight breeze blowing through the crowd. The book fell to the side and exposed the inner pages. The slight breeze grew into a strong wind. The pages shuffled in the breeze. As they came to rest, letters started dancing on the open page. They maneuvered themselves into place shifting and growing as they had before. "When danger lurks and fear takes over, have faith in those who aspire to help. Remember their sacrifice as you travel away, and learn from your experiences."

The wind became a gale, and leaves and dust swirled up from the ground. The banners on the courtyard walls twisted with the force. Men lost their hats. Women pulled their cloaks to cover their heads as their hair blew across their faces. Then we all saw the growing swirling circular mass of mist just in front of the platform.

I screamed over the loud din, "Zack jump!"

Zack had shuffled to the very edge of the platform as close to the round portal as possible. I grabbed P's hand so tightly that he squealed and cut his eyes at me.

"Let's go!" I yelled.

The crowds had parted, in fear, away from the mist and a clear pathway was available. We quickly ran towards the portal. I almost forgot the book but scooped it up just before we made that final leap. I looked back to see Zack wobbling on the edge.

"Go!" he yelled. "I'm right behind you!"

P and I jumped through the gateway into the abyss. "Dear lord please let Zack make it." I could barely see his body through the mist as we passed over. His knees bent, then he was in the air and that was all I could see of my dear friend before the blackness took over.

The weightlessness was like it was before. We floated blindly in silence. When I finally started to become comfortable with this feeling I heard the whirring noise that usually begins as we near our destination. I knew we were close to a new adventure.

Chapter 6

Whmmp, whmmp, whmmp. "Ouch!" P and I hit the ground so hard that we each rolled for a few feet after landing. We were on a rough dirt road, and as I came to a rest I felt pain in both my arms. I reached across to feel two large abrasions on my elbows and I rubbed the aching areas.

I looked up just in time to see P roll into the legs of a man standing on the opposite side of the street. The force knocked his legs out from under him. I could see his arms flailing ion the air then stretching outward as he tried to brace his fall.

"Oh, ouch, that hurts!" the man cried. As he arose, I could see he was holding his wrist. It was swollen to the size of a lemon on one side.

"I am so sorry!" P exclaimed with tears in his eyes. "I, um, lost my balance and fell. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I am so sorry!" he apologized again.

As I was hurrying over to them, the man forced a smile through the pain. "It's all right son. Accidents happen."

I approached them both. "Uh, sir, let's get you something cold to put on that arm." Thank goodness I remembered a little bit from my first aid class last year. I looked around for a shop or vendor with ice then realized that they would probably not be selling any ice around here.

We were in an old town. The streets were made if dirt and some hay. The buildings were small and made of wood and mud-like bricks. Many had straw roofs and some had wooden shingles. The man that had fallen wore an unbuttoned grey woolen coat that flared slightly as it came to his knees. He wore white woolen socks that stopped underneath his brown woolen pants that tapered just below his knees. His feet were covered by pointed black leather shoes with large buckles adorning the toes. On his head, sat a round hat with an upward turning brim that came to a point over the middle of his forehead. Other men were dressed similarly. The few women that passed by wore long woolen dresses that dragged across the ground. The colors were mostly grey and brown. The collars were high on their necks and the sleeves covered their entire arms.

As I was assimilating the era I noticed that the edge of the road bordered on a waterway. In the distance I could see wooden ships with large white sails and men loading wooden crates onto a pier. I quickly grabbed the man's good arm and gently dragged him to the water.

"If you put your hand in here, the coolness may reduce some of the swelling," I insisted.

The man obeyed, squatted down next to the water then swirled his hand in the wetness for a few minutes. He then stood up next to us and offered me his non-injured hand to shake. At that moment Zack strolled up to us shackle free. He had landed a little ways down the street from where we had dropped from the abyss.

"Hi guys." said Zack.

"Oh Zack!" I ran up and hugged him. "I'm so glad you're all right."

P raised his eyebrows at the hug. Zack pulled back gently and turned to the man with the cold swollen hand. "Hi, my name is Zack."

I took a deep breath, "Hi. I'm Emma and this is James, but we call him P for Peanut because he is so small.

"Ahh," said the man. "I guess I could be called P for short also. My name is Paul, Paul Revere. It is nice to meet all of you."

I turned to Zack, "THE Paul Revere? The one that made the midnight run to alert he troops that the British were coming?"

Zack replied with a smile and a wink, "Well he is wearing HIS hat!"

P spoke up, "I am so sorry. Is there anything we can do to help you?"

"Oh no, young man, I am sure it will be fine. I am off to the doctor to have it looked at." He tipped his hat and he was gone.

We were in awe. "Oh my goodness," Zack exclaimed. "Are we at the time of the American Revolution?"

"Wow!" I nodded.

P interrupted, "We learned about the Revolutionary War in school. I wonder if we'll see any battles."

"Hopefully not!" I added quickly and rolled my eyes. "I wonder why we're here. Let's just look around quietly and learn what we can. And... stay out of trouble. Let's not make anyone mad this time either."

We wondered around the streets for a while. As we were taking in the sights, we ran into Mr. Revere again. "Hello my friends. I have been to the doctor and I may need your help."

"Anything!" exclaimed P.

"Well it depends," replied Paul. "Young man, where do your loyalties lie? Are you an American or a redcoat sympathizer?"

P stood up straight. "I am an American!" and he started to recite the Pledge of Allegiance, "I pledge allegiance to the flag..."

I grabbed his shoulder. "Paul Revere would not have any idea about the pledge at this time in history!"

P stopped as Mr. Revere looked confused. I interjected, "We are all Americans!"

Paul replied, "Then I may need your help. Can any of you ride a horse?"

P spoke up, "I can ride! I used to ride all the time at my grandmother's farm."

Zack's eyes grew wide and my mouth dropped open. What is P getting us into? Zack just escaped the guillotine. But...we gave in and nodded simultaneously. "We can also ride horses." We couldn't abandon P.

"Well, may I take you into my confidence?" and Paul took us aside away from the crowd. "I need your help. There is a chance that the British will invade soon. We have been waiting for them. I am one of the lookouts for the city. It is my job to sound an alarm when I get the word that they are marching. I must ride to the next town and warn them. They in turn will warn others. But, my hand is too injured to hold the reins as I ride. The doctor thinks it is broken. I cannot hold a gun in one hand and hold onto the reins in the other."

P looked guiltily at the ground.

Paul continued, "So I need someone to ride for me and carry the information so our armies can be ready. We have received word that it will happen soon."

P held his head high. "Of course we will help. Anything for our country!"

I cut my eyes toward Zack and he rolled his, but what could be worse than what we had already been through?

Zack pulled me aside. "You know, we have to help him. The fate of our country could be in our hands... or P's. What if this changes the world? What if we all end up speaking English?"

I laughed at his joke. "You're right. It would be our fault if the Americans don't win the Revolutionary War and we end up being ruled by an unjust monarchy." I turned to Paul and replied, "We would be happy to help."

"Okay. Where can I find you when the time comes?"

"Well, sir, we are travelers to this area and have no place to stay. Can you direct us to a nearby inn?"

"Ahh, young lady, I can set you up at the Smith's Inn. The innkeeper is a friend of mine. Do not worry. I will take care of everything."

It had become dusk and evening was approaching. Paul directed us to the inn and let us settle in for the night. We had just gotten comfortable when we heard a rap on the door. Cautiously Zack opened the door. It was Mr. Revere and his eyes were wide.

"I may need your help tonight!" he exclaimed excitedly. "One of my allies has overheard a conversation between two British officers. He thinks they may start their attack tonight. I need you to come and sit with me while I take the lookout. Meet me by the water where we were today as soon as the sun goes down." And he was gone.

When the time came, we gathered our things together and met Paul at the water. As we left the entrance to the inn we passed some British soldiers. They all wore swords in sheaths attached to their uniforms. They were dressed in tight white pants that were partially covered by the tails of red woolen coats. The coats were adorned with thick yellow material along the breast and golden buttons that ran along both sides. The soldiers wore silken black hats that turned up in the front and the back and looked a little like tacos.

One soldier carried a musket under his arm. We overheard him say, "If any of these men start another fight against King George I will not hesitate to shoot them."

They seemed to stare at us as we left the building. It was late for us to be out, but we may have just felt like they were staring at us. We moved quickly along. We didn't want to cause any more problems like we had in Italy.

We met Paul at the side of the river. We could see the moon rising in the sky and lighting up the water. We stayed in the shadows as well as we could so we would not be seen.

"What do we do now?' whispered P.

Mr. Revere turned towards the little boy, "We wait... I must await the signal from across the river. My friend on the other side is now waiting for his information about the British troops. We have spies that have been watching their movements. We are afraid that the British has found out that we are keeping our weapons at Concord. If their troops are marching tonight we need to warn the town that they are coming. My friend will alert me if they are coming. He will shine a light once if they are coming from the neighboring town on foot or shine it twice if they are coming down the river."

Zack looked at me and muttered under his breath, "One if by land, two if by sea." And he raised his right eyebrow as if he was proud of himself. I rolled my eyes.

Paul continued, "There is a small rowboat secured down near the water. Once we get the signal I need the three of you to ride across the river. I would do it myself if my wrist was not injured."

P looked dejectedly towards the ground.

"Oh, do not worry young man. I think you all can help me. After you row the boat across the river, you will meet a man at a dock. He will have three horses there tied to trees. Then you must ride like the wind to the next towns. The second will be where the arsenal is held. You must alert people on the way!"

We all nodded. We were sure we could do it.

Paul paused to think then turned towards P. "Whatever you do, don't say the word British. They have some spies in the woods and they will know we are on to them."

Just then we heard a rustling coming from the street above us and saw two redcoats strolling along the street, guns and swords at their side.

"Shhh," whispered Paul and put his finger to his lips.

The soldiers passed by and we sat in silence waiting for the beacon across the water. I think a few hours passed by and it felt close to midnight. Just as I started to fall asleep we saw it. One bright flash.... We waited what seemed an eternity but it was only about thirty seconds. Then we saw a second bright flash from across the water.

"Aha, they are coming down the river. Are you ready children? We must put the plan into action!"

We all took deep breaths. P looked so eager and excited. Zack looked a little more leery. As did I. We had to remember that British soldiers lurked everywhere and we could be in danger. We started to sneak down closer to the shore to find the rowboat.

"Good luck children." Paul whispered loudly and walked away quickly so as not to be caught.

The three of us carefully climbed into the small dingy, trying not to tip it over. We each grabbed an oar from the bottom of the boat and placed it into the water. Small splashes from the river moistened my face. It was cold and it only added to the goose bumps on my arms that fear had already created.

The plan was to travel until we came to another small dock. There would be a man there waiting for us to lead us to the horses. We hugged the shore as we paddled. Occasionally we heard soldiers standing guard on the shore, but they could not see us through the brush.

It was slow going, but finally we neared a small dock. We saw a man sitting quietly on the edge with a hat pulled down over his eyes. P's eyes lit up. He was in charge of the code words that Mr. Revere gave us to show that we were allies.

We pulled up to the dock and tied off the boat. The man nodded his head slightly but remained still. We approached him cautiously.

P tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me sir."

The man continued to stare at the water.

P cleared his throat and spoke again, "The lights shine bright. The moon is at its height. The time has come for us to fight."

The man jumped up enthusiastically. "I have been waiting for you. My, you are all much smaller than I imagined! Please follow me!"

We followed him up the wooden planks and then along a dusty path through a wooded area. We came to a grouping of three trees that bordered on a clearing. A horse was tied to each tree.

"Here you go." said the man with the hat. "Just keep the open area to your left and the forest to your right. Good luck. May God be with you."

Zack chose the large brown stallion with the ebony mane and tail. I chose the tan spotted mare. That left the smallest young rusty colored male for P to ride. Each one of us grabbed the reins and jumped onto our chosen horse. We rode as fast as we could. We travelled along beside the trees, carefully avoiding rocks in the path and jumping over narrow streams in our way. Finally, in the distance, we could see thatched roofs and we neared the first small village on our way.

Zack shouted loudly over the sound of the hoof beats. "P, are you ready? You're in charge of alerting these people. Go for it!"

P took a deep breath as we neared the houses. As we passed by, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "They are coming, they are coming, they are coming. Prepare yourselves!"

Townspeople started coming out of their houses to see what the commotion was. A few of the men suddenly understood P's meaning and began to search for their weapons. More and more men emerged carrying muskets.

One man spoke up, "We thank you kind sir for your warning. We will be ready!"

"You're welcome!" replied P, always polite. We are continuing on to Concord to warn the others." And we were off again.

It seemed like we were riding forever, but finally we neared our destination. The town was calm and quiet in the dark. P once again cleared his throat and was ready to shout the news. Concord was larger than the previous town and we passed businesses in addition to homes as we neared the center of town.

P started to yell, "They are coming. They are coming!"

Windows lit up with candlelight and people began to emerge from their homes. Men were armed with muskets or swords. A tall man at the center of the crowd neared us.

He looked at P, "Who has sent you? Who started the alarm?"

"Sir, it was Mr. Paul Revere that sent us. He was injured unexpectedly." P stared at his own feet guiltily as he spoke. "He sent us to warn you that the British troops are coming by way of the Charles River. They will be on their way soon. You must prepare to defend yourselves and keep them away from the arsenal!"

"Thank you dear boy," spoke the man. "We will prepare for their coming, but I need you to continue on to warn some of the towns to the south of us. Please continue your trek."

Zack and I looked at each other. How far do we have to go? What is in store for us?

"I'm not sure we can go on." I spoke up.

"Aww Emma, we need to help these people. Please let's just keep on riding!" begged P.

"Okay, P. So far we have been safe. Let's keep riding." I readied my horse.

The three of us took off again toward the next town. The moon was almost full and its light guided us. As we rode, we caught sight of a plume of smoke ahead in the distance. At first we thought it was the next town, but as we rounded the corner we saw some horses tied to trees and a few haphazard tents on the ground.

"Slow down!" shouted Zack. "I think this is an army camp."

We slowed the horses down to a trot as more of the scene came into view. There were three men sitting on stumps around a campfire. At first I thought they were colonists but as we neared I saw their dark red coats. British soldiers!

"Stop!" I ordered and the boys brought their horses to a standstill. "I think we are on the edge of a British camp. I only see a few men though. I wonder if they are just lookouts."

P spoke up. "There are only three horses. I don't see the rest of the army but they mustn't be far away. We can't let them see us."

Just then a twig snapped in the woods beside us and Zack's horse neighed.

"Who goes there?" a short heavy soldier spoke sharply and stood up. As he rose, he grabbed the musket that had been lying beside him on the ground. He readied it for firing. The other two officers grabbed their guns and joined him.

The three of us stood still like statues, frozen in fear. The soldiers walked away from the fire and approached. They could see us now.

This time the taller man spoke, "Come down off your horses or we'll shoot!"

We didn't know what to do. He could shoot us even if we did jump down, and if he suspected what we were doing, he would surely shoot us.

Zack started, "Okay, okay. We mean you no harm. Let us get down. See, we are unarmed."

We each jumped off our horse. My legs were shaking. The soldiers neared, guns pointed.

The tall one that seemed to be in charge spoke. "What are you kids doing out here so late?"

I thought quickly and then spoke up. "Um, we were coming home from our grandmother's house and we got lost in the woods. We are so sorry to disturb your camp. We know you are busy keeping things under control for the king," and I smiled.

The soldier seemed concerned. "So what town are you headed to? We could escort you home."

Then I got nervous. I didn't know the name of the next town and I didn't want British soldiers following me there. "Oh, no thank you sir. We are almost home now and we would not want to bother you. We will be fine."

He paused and looked a little suspicious as he drew his mouth to the side. Then he shook his head from side to side as he tried to convince himself that we were not a threat. "I guess you are just children. What could you possibly do? Off you go!" and he nodded his head in the direction we were going as if to give us permission.

"Oh thank you sir!" I exclaimed and we climbed back onto our horses and we were off again.

We had begun to saunter away when the tall soldier's mouth dropped open as if he had just remembered something. He pulled the heavy soldier aside and whispered spoke into his ear.

"You saw what?" the lead soldier yelled. "Where? These kids have been talking with Paul Revere? Our intelligence has been watching him. He may be a rebel! Stop them!"

At this the three officers turned their horses around and began to raise their muskets. "Stop traitors!" they shouted as the rode.

I beckoned to the boys, "Ride fast! Don't look back!"

We rode as fast as the horses could carry us, heads down against the wind. We heard the hoof beats of the soldiers' horses getting louder and louder as they neared. Suddenly, musket balls began to whiz past our heads. Thummp. One shot hit a tree to the right of Zack. I tried to stay behind P. I would rather the bullets hit me than him. My only hope as we raced was that the muskets were very hard to aim and their bullets rarely hit their target exactly. Zack lowered his head more and hunkered down on his horse. P and I followed his lead and dropped our heads even lower, grabbing the reins tighter.

At this point we were outrunning the soldiers. If we kept going we would soon be in the clear. I felt a small rush of relief and relaxed a little.

Suddenly, Zack yelled from up in front, "Whoa!" He slowed his horse.

P and I did the same and soon saw the obstacle too. We were on the edge of a rocky hill overlooking a valley filled with evergreen trees. The sides were too steep for our horses to travel down. We would have to continue our escape on foot down the steep weed covered slope. We jumped down off our horses, but as we began to attempt scaling the side a shot rang out.

The stallion neighed wildly and ran off back through the woods. The other two followed.

"We have to hurry!" I shouted, but it was too late. The British soldiers were coming into view. They would surely shoot as they came closer.

P turned to me, "Emma we have to use the book. It's our only chance!"

I had forgotten again that it was draped over my back, snug in its carrying bag. I was so used to carrying it, I felt as if it had become a part of me. I yanked the bag off my shoulder and pulled it open. It seemed like I had ten thumbs as I pulled out the book and clumsily dropped it to the ground.

We all stared at the book as it rested there motionless. Nothing happened. The cover remained bare. How could this not be the time for the book to work? Zack groaned and rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later we heard the soldiers yelling "Stop traitors!" And they began to come into view.

I grabbed Zack's arm. "I think I feel a breeze..."

I was right. Air began to blow at the pages of the book. It opened slightly as pages rustled in the wind then closed with a snap. Letters began to come into view on the cover. This time they were shining silver in color and seemed to rise off the page with a three dimensional property. It read "COURAGE". The letters tempted me to reach down and touch them but my fingers slipped right through like passing through a hologram.

As I ran my fingers over the book's face, it flapped open. The sudden movement scared me and I pulled my hand back quickly. The inner pages began to flutter in the air then fell and rested open. We all huddled around the book watching the transformation. Very small ink blots appeared on a page. At first they appeared faint, but quickly became darker and grew in size. They appeared randomly and sparsely at first but increased in number until they almost covered the sheet. It reminded me of freckles as if they were on the paper's face.

Suddenly, the dots began to move and create tiny swirls on the page. They wiggled all over the paper like little worms until they finally met at the center of the page. "Have courage in your travels. This courage will carry you through more adventures and help you learn about yourself. This knowledge will lead you home."

I spoke to P and Zack. "Do you think this means we're going home? I am getting a little tired of being chased all the time."

"I don't know Emma. I hope so." replied Zack. "But only the book knows where we will end up next."

At that, the wind began to howl through the trees below us. A thick mist began to rise from the valley to the tree tops. It swirled around until it formed a cone shape with its point hovering above the trees. It looked like a small tornado but it remained stationary in front of us. We stared in awe, not moving or speaking.

"Aha, we caught you!" came bellowing through the air and broke the silence. We knew it came from one of the British soldiers. We all turned around to meet our pursuers.

They were two feet in front of us with their guns pointed at our heads. Just then the conical mist moved closer to the hillside. It began to twist around so that the wide base of the cone turned downward toward us and we saw the familiar circular rim of mist beckoning us to pass through. The mouth of the abyss was hovering about 3 feet away from the hillside. We would have to jump farther to get to the opening this time.

The guns remained aimed at us. The book was still lying on the ground in front of us, and I quickly tried to shove it back into the bag with my foot. I could see the corner still hanging out.

"Don't move!" the tall officer shouted as he moved the gun closer to me. "We have you now."

Zack leaned ever so slightly towards me and whispered, "We have to go. I'll get P. You get the book. I'll meet you on the other side."

I nodded slowly so as not to draw more attention to myself, not taking my eyes off the soldiers and the guns. I saw Zack out of the corner of my eye inch toward P, then he was off!

Zack grabbed P tightly and ran towards the edge of the hillside. I saw his muscles tighten as he leapt off the rocky ground, into the air and through the misty circle. I couldn't reach down to get the book fast enough so I passed my foot through the straps on the bag and twisted it around my ankle. I dragged it along with me as I ran after Zack and P. As I leapt from the hillside, I heard musket balls whiz past my head and I prayed that none of them would hit me. I finally passed through the swirling vapors and felt safe in the silence. I floated alone through the void wondering where it would take us this time.

Chapter 7

Th-thumph! I landed on the earth again, but this touchdown was much gentler than the previous ones. This time there was no rolling or bumping and I realized I was sitting upright with my legs stretched out in front of me. I looked around me and saw fabric everywhere. It took me a minute to figure out what I was looking at. I was wearing a deep magenta colored dress covering a bulging hoop skirt. My feet were sticking out from the edge of the skirt, enclosed in dark brown leather shoes that laced up over the ankle, and I could see tufts of lace just above the tops of the shoes that I assumed were the ends of white pantaloons. Just then I realized that I couldn't take a deep breath. I reached up to feel my chest and felt the boning of a tight corset. No wonder I couldn't breathe.

I slowly twisted around as best I could and somehow got my hands beneath me so I could push myself up to my knees. I don't think women got around very fast in this time period. I brushed myself off and scanned the scene again. I looked around me and saw women dressed like me with hoop skirts and petticoats. Some wore their hair in tight buns at the napes of their necks. Others wore bonnets to cover their locks. I saw young girls with long ringlets. The men wore long woolen coats that terminated in tails at the back. Their heads were adorned with derbies or short stove pipe hats. Most of the older men had long beards on their chins. I saw dirt roads and horse drawn carriages coming and going by the people.

I had seen _Gone With the Wind_ enough times to know that I had probably landed in the South some time before the Civil War. I was still resting on my knees trying to figure out how to get up the rest of the way when two teenagers came up to me. They looked to be about my age.

"Can we help?" the boy asked. He was tall with straight blonde hair and green eyes. He smiled politely at me.

"Yes, please." I smiled back. "I, um, stumbled on a few rocks and fell. I feel so silly. I'm a little embarrassed for being so clumsy."

"Not to worry." He reached down, grasped my hands and pulled me up to my feet. "I'm Josiah and this is my sister Mary."

"Oh, hi. Thank you so much for your help. My name is Emma. Nice to meet you."

Mary spoke up, "We haven't seen you in these parts before. Are you new to the area?"

I had to think fast and make up a story quickly. "Yes, my family is new to the area. We recently moved from, um, Tennessee to Georgia. We live a few blocks over." Ugh, I hope they didn't see though my tale.

"Well welcome to the neighborhood," responded Josiah with a southern drawl. "Ya'll need to come visit us sometime and have a right reception. We live in that big white house over yonder. Our mother loves to have parties. We will have to invite your family over for a soiree."

"Oh yes, Josiah we must. I'll use any excuse for a party." Mary interjected. She was small and fair and her dark brown hair was partially tied back from her face with a blue silk ribbon. The rest hung in ringlets to the small of her back. She paused a few seconds. "No brother, I have an even better idea. You must come to our ball tomorrow night. It is sure to be so much fun!"

Josiah added, "It is Mary's coming out party. It will be a wonderful debutant ball. All the well to do young men and women will be there. Please do try to come." He smiled at me again, then it seemed like he was flirting with me. "And I would love it if you saved a dance for me!"

I was embarrassed and I could feel my cheeks getting flushed. "Um... thank you so much for the invitation," I had to think quickly. "But...the trunks with my party dresses have not arrived here yet. I will have nothing to wear."

Mary responded, "I know what we can do. You can borrow one of mine! I have so many pretty party dresses you can choose from. You can come over about an hour before the ball and I will dress you! Oh please come! You can spend the night if you need to."

What could I say? I'd never been to a fancy ball before and probably will never have the chance again. I was excited about the opportunity. "Ok. I will come!"

"Oh goody!" Mary laughed. "It will be so much fun. I will see you then."

"Come Mary. We should be getting home. Mother will be waiting for us. It was nice to meet you miss. I will be looking forward to our dance." Josiah winked then gently grabbed Mary's arm and they were off.

I was left alone to gather my thoughts and find my friends. I scanned the street up and down looking for P and Zack. There was not a sign of them anywhere. We had never landed this far apart. I was glad that Zack was with P to look after him. I had to begin my search.

I decided to travel to the right first. This path took me toward the huge plantation where Mary and Josiah lived. I was walking down a narrow dusty dirt road in front of the house. A few mule drawn wagons passed by, and I heard their rickety wheels clacking in the ruts on the road. I continued walking and the road lead me to an expansive field where I saw many men picking cotton. They were sweating in the hot midday sun but never even paused in their work.

Something in my mind drew me closer to the white balls of fluff that swayed in the breeze. I focused more closely on the men working in the fields. My eyes landed on a pair reaching down to pick off the cotton balls and stuff them into bags they wore over their shoulders. One was thin and tall and the other was the size of a child. The taller man seemed to be helping the small man with his job. From my vantage point, I saw another man on a horse ride up next to them and he seemed to be reprimanding them. Suddenly, he pulled a whip out of his jacket and slapped the taller man on the arm with the snake-like end of the leather weapon. Then he simply rode off.

I felt compelled to walk closer to these people. I struggled with my hoop skirt to pass through the rows of plants. As I neared, I could see that they were very dark skinned with dark curly hair. Their clothes were tattered and torn. Their shirts hung from their shoulders as if they were three sizes too big. Their pants were tightened around their waists with rope belts and their bare feet stuck out below covered with mud.

As I approached, the taller man turned his head toward me and I could see his shining blue eyes. I caught my breath. It was Zack! I turned my eyes toward the smaller man. It was P! The travel through the mist must have transformed their skin and hair, and now they were slaves. I came out looking like a wealthy land owner's daughter and my best friends were slaves. I felt so bad. Not only for them but for all the people in the field forced to work alongside them. I looked around and saw men, women and children all laboring under the hot sun.

I came up to my friend and my brother. "Are you guys all right? I'm sorry we were separated. Is your arm okay?"

Zack replied, "We're fine. My arm hurts, but he really didn't hit it that hard. We landed here in the cotton field. In fact I rolled straight into Mr. Hall, that lovely man that hit me with his whip!" Zack's statement oozed with sarcasm and cynicism. "He is in charge of the slaves on this plantation and keeps them in line. As soon as he saw us lying on the ground he assumed we were loafers and pushed us back into work. While we were working, we met Sam and John over there." He nodded in the direction of two other men picking cotton. "They showed us the proper way to pick the cotton balls and gave us each an extra bag that they had. Sam's wife and son are on the other side of the field. Mr. Hall thinks that the slaves work faster when the families are separated."

I looked to see to two dark skinned men in their thirties dressed in ragged threadbare clothes. Both were pretty thin but had prominent muscles in their arms, likely from their hard work. They continued to stuff their bags full of cotton as Mr. Hall road his horse up and down between the rows of cotton plants. He watched everyone like a hawk so I stayed in the shadows as best I could. Finally he ended his rounds on this side of the field and began to trek across to the other side where Sam's wife labored.

The thinner of the two men watched Mr. Hall leave then walked over to Zack, P and me. "Hi, I'm Sam. Your friends have told me about you. It's nice to meet you." He bowed and offered me his hand.

I shook it and replied, "It's nice to meet you, too. I wish it was under better circumstances."

Sam nodded in agreement, "We get by. I don't think we could make it through without faith though. We pray that God will get us out if here. I've heard that up North black men can be free and don't have to be slaves. Zack here tells us that he and P were free up in Ohio and actually got paid for the work he did for your family."

I had to think carefully about what I said next. I couldn't give any information on the Civil War. It hadn't happened yet. I shook my head yes and replied, "There are many people up North that don't believe in treating human beings like animals. I have heard that President Lincoln is trying to end slavery in the United States. My family stands behind him."

John had approached us and joined in on the conversation. "That would be wonderful if the President could save us, but these wealthy landowners are very powerful down here. They give up humanity for money. They'll never settle for the rules from up North. I've heard that trouble will be brewing once Mr. Lincoln passes his new laws."

Zack, P and I remained quiet but nodded our heads. We knew trouble was just around the corner in the form of a war that would end many American's lives. We also knew that is would be many, many years after the Civil War before people would be accepted despite the color of their skin.

Sam interjected, "The talk around the slaves' quarters is that some Northerners are here doing work for the Underground Railroad."

What's the underground railroad?" asked P. "Is it a train that goes underground?"

"No, son," continued Sam, "It is a group of people that secretly work together to help slaves escape and bring them to the North. They help get them from station to station until they make it to freedom. We've heard that there is a meeting point at the end of town. Behind the blacksmith's shop, I think. I would love to be able to save my whole family and get them to freedom." He chewed at the inside of his cheek as he stared down at the ground sad and disappointed.

John interjected into the silence, "Mr. Hall and his underlings watch us too closely to ever think of escaping. A few weeks ago Isaiah snuck out of his cabin to secretly meet with Annie at the camp down yonder. Typical teenage boy thinks he's falling in love. See where it got him. Mr. Halls lackey, Charles, caught him halfway there and whipped him severely. I can't imagine what would happen if he tried to escape." He shook his head back and forth.

Zack spoke up, "There has to be a way to get you guys out of here to meet the operatives of the Underground Railroad. You can't miss this opportunity!" As he was thinking, he looked up just in time to see Mr. Hall's horse emerging through the cotton plants on the far side of the field. "Emma, you have to get out of here! He can't see us talking to you. We will all be in danger then. But where will you go?"

"It's okay Zack. I've been invited to the party at the plantation. The teenage girl that lives there is letting me borrow a dress and gave me an invitation to stay the night. Will you guys be all right?"

"Yes, P and I can sleep in the cabin with Sam's family tonight." Then Zack pulled me aside so the others could not hear. "I don't know how long we will be in this time but we need to stay safe while we're here. Try to meet us here in the morning. We will start working in the field at dawn. Please be careful!"

"Yeah Emma," chimed in P. "Be careful. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you." Then he smiled.

"Okay guys, I will. You two please stay out of trouble too!" and I turned to wade through the field toward the plantation house just as Mr. Hall came near enough to see us. The boys went back to their picking.

It was nearing five o'clock as I started the climb up the hill in front of the grand plantation house. From where I stood I could see the expanse of the house. I think there were about 25 windows on the white façade. Huge Corinthian columns lined the front porch that extended all the way to each side of the house. The columns' leaf-like carvings at the top seemed to creep towards the eaves of the porch roof. Bright white wooden rocking chairs sat empty and motionless behind them. I imagined that they would be filled with wealthy Southern women clothed in beautiful silk gowns, fanning themselves in the heat, once the party started. Then I realized how hot it really was, especially with the multiple layers of clothing I had on. Little beads of sweat were running down my face and neck and staining the top of my dress. It was a good thing that Mary had a dress I could borrow.

I approached the house and ascended the brick stairs that lead to the front porch and I began to get nervous. What was I doing? I'm terribly shy at parties in my own time. How would I fit in here? What if someone asked me to dance? What would I talk about?

I came up to the great wooden doors and reached up to grab the ornate metal knocker on the right door. The metal was twisted into a spiral and bent into a circle that would hit a metal plate to make a noise. The circle ended at the top and morphed into a metal buck's head, complete with spiky metal antlers. I knocked the metal circle on the door. Bang! The noise was louder than I expected and I jumped. Just then, the door was opened by an older African American man dressed in a simple black suit. He was clean shaven and had graying hair at his temples. His face was worn and seemed to show years of a stressful life, yet he had a soft kind countenance and smiled as he let me in.

"You must be Miss Mary's new friend. I will let her know you are here. Please miss, come in and sit down." He nodded gently and waved his arm toward a mauve velvet settee in the hallway.

As I was bending my legs to sit on the sofa Mary came bounding down one side of the ornate wooden staircase at the center of the foyer. The stairs split in the middle and descended along both walls of the entranceway. They were made of beautiful hardwood, stained dark brown and carpeted at the center with a purple tapestry rug.

"Oh Emma, you came. I'm so excited. Let's get you upstairs and pick out a party dress."

Mary grabbed my hand then dragged me up the stairs behind her to her room. It was exquisitely decorated and an ornately carved four poster bed sat at the center, under a window. She pulled me into an adjoining room that I soon realized was a closet. It was huge and stuffed full of lovely silk dresses in a rainbow of colors. She began to rifle through the collection, yanking a part of each dress across my torso to see if it suited me. She finally narrowed the choices down to two and let me decide which one I would wear.

One dress was a deep golden silk with pale yellow flowers embroidered throughout the cloth. It had a sweet heart neckline that seemed to come down pretty far and puffy short sleeves that were adorned with lace at the edges. The bottom of the dress hit the floor and was embellished with more lace at the hem. The other dress was dark purple almost the color of eggplant. The neckline was square and did not come down as far as the other. Its capped sleeves were made of layers of silk cloth that gave each a subtle ruffle. The fabric was smooth and unadorned which made it appear richer in color. The dress tapered at the waist then cascaded to the floor where it was tied up in small bows to reveal a lighter purple underskirt. This dress was more "me", simpler and less ornate.

"Oh, Mary, can I wear the purple one? I think it is gorgeous!"

"Of course." she replied. "I will have Hattie help you put it on." And she called for her maid.

Hattie was in her early twenties and very sweet. She had beautiful ebony skin and a crystal clear complexion. I think in our time she could have been a model.

"All right Miss Emma. Let me cinch you up so the dress fits best."

She pulled my corset strings tight and I felt the air rush out of my chest. I had visions of Miss Scarlet being dressed by Mammie and briefly felt like a star. Then I realized how uncomfortable I was and the star quality vanished. Hattie draped the dress over my head and pulled it down into position. She shook out the bottom of the dress so it fell evenly onto the floor.

"Look at yourself in the mirror Emma!" Mary exclaimed. "What a pretty dress."

I peered into the mirror. The dress actually looked good on me. It was stunning. "Thank you for your help Hattie, and thank you Mary for letting me borrow this dress. I feel like a princess."

Mary was ecstatic and clapped her hands. Then she went to get herself ready in the golden gown, and she looked wonderful too. I was having so much fun, but then I remembered that the boys were not as lucky as I was in this time period and felt very guilty.

We finished getting ready as we heard guests arriving downstairs. Then Mary grabbed my hand again and pulled me along behind her to the top of the stairs. "Okay Emma, you have to go downstairs by yourself for a bit. I need to make my entrance because I am the debutant tonight!"

She sounded a little snooty when she said this but I brushed it off as just being a teenager. I knew that I liked good attention sometimes.

I carefully walked down the stairs and was happy to spot Josiah standing at the bottom.

"Hello Emma, you look beautiful!"

I could feel my cheeks getting hot and I knew they were also turning fiery red. I hoped Josiah did not notice. He smiled then took my hand to help me down the last step. Funny, I made it down the other fifteen on my own. Why did I need help on the last one? Josiah took me around to meet his parents as we waited for Mary's entrance. They were both impeccably dressed. His father was attired in a tuxedo style suit with black tails that came to just behind his knees. His mother wore a red silk gown with a beaded bodice. I could see intricately embroidered leaves and vines cascading down the scarlet skirt of the dress. I could tell these wealthy plantation owners ran in the highest social circles.

Just as I was admiring Josiah's parents' style, the butler I had met at the door stood at the top of the stairs and spoke in a loud baritone voice. "May I have your attention please? I would like to introduce Miss Mary Turner on her sixteenth birthday."

Mary emerged from the hidden part of the hallway and slowly walked toward the stairs. Her shoulders were pulled back perfectly and she held her chin at the exact angle that would accentuate the neckline of her gown. She carefully walked model-like down the stairs to her friends who were standing at the bottom. After she touched down the grown-up air quickly disappeared and she began to gab and giggle with her friends.

Then the music started and the party goers began to dance. The men and women partnered, grabbed hands and began to promenade in the center of a circle of the other dancers. The music was fast paced and lively. I saw Mary swept up to dance with a very nice-looking boy about our age. Her friends were all caught up in the energy of the dance, twirling around with the aid of their partners' arms. Everyone's faces beamed with smiles and Mary looked so happy. I enjoyed standing back and watching the scene.

Then the music changed to a slower beat and a three-quarter time rhythm. I heard one, two, three...one, two three. It was a waltz.

Just as I realized what the dance was, Josiah approached me. He held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

"Oh dear," I replied, "I did promise you a dance, but I am such a terrible dancer that I may step on your feet."

He smiled softly. "Do not worry my dear, I will lead you." And he grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor. He reached around my waist with his right hand and pulled my opposite arm into the air with his left. A step out to the side and away we went.

I was having so much fun being spun and twirled around to the music. When the song was over, we laughed despite our exhaustion after the activity, Josiah still holding me around the waist. It felt so good to have attention from a charming boy. We walked to the back wall to sit the next dance out.

"I will get you some punch Emma, and there is a servant over there that has some appetizers on a plate."

I watched my dance partner walk towards the refreshments and I turned to the servant with the food. My heart stopped for a second. It was Zack and he was looking at me with a scowl on his face.

"I'm glad you're having fun Emma." he said cynically. "P and I have worked in the field all day and they made me come to work at this party with all these pretentious rich people. How can you dance and laugh with these slave owners? Don't you remember the families we met today?" He shook his head back and forth.

"Zack, I told you I was coming tonight. Mary is very nice and she has offered me a place to stay and let me borrow her clothes. I need to act grateful."

"Oh, all right," he conceded. "Go have fun, but please come and stay in the slaves' cabin tonight. I don't trust these people, especially that boy." He nodded in the direction of the punch bowl.

I turned to see Josiah returning with my punch. I was confused, but then detected an air of jealousy in Zack's words. We broke off the conversation as the boy advanced and I backed away.

"Here you go Emma." Josiah handed me a glass. "What were you talking to that slave about? Do you know him? He is not supposed to talk to the guests."

"Oh, no. I, um, do not know him. I had just asked him about the appetizers and he was telling me how delicious they were."

I changed the subject and we conversed about the plantation and how the land had been in his family for years. We danced a few more dances as the night wore on. Soon the party was over and Mary came up to me. Not surprisingly, I did not see much of her that evening. She was usually being whisked around the dance floor by eligible young men.

"Oh, Emma, have you had fun? I saw you dancing with my brother out there. Do stay the night if you can. We would love to have you."

I saw Josiah nod in agreement and I remembered Zack's comments. I felt horribly guilty. Not only was I eating, drinking and having fun while people were being held as slaves at this house, but I hurt my friend's feelings.

"No thank you. You have been very kind to me tonight, but I need to go home to my family. I had a wonderful time." At that, I nodded to both of them with a polite smile and went upstairs to change back into my own frock before leaving the great house.

There were many people coming and going on the front lawn, and I blended in as best as I could. I snuck down to the edge and started toward the cotton field. Sam and John had warned us that Mr. Hall's minions guarded the field and cabins at night, so no slaves could escape. As I neared the camp, I saw a young man on a horse patrolling the area. The horse trotted slowly back and forth in front of the cabins, seemed to complete its course, and continued on down the field to the other camps.

I ran to the first cabin on the right as I had been told, careful to avoid the watchful eye of the guard. My dress dragged through the mud and made my trek slower. Finally I came to the small house, without being seen, and rapped on the front door. Sam slowly opened it then relaxed when he saw me.

"Oh, Miss Emma, Zack told us you were coming. We are so happy to have you. You were careful going past the guard though?" warned Sam.

"Don't worry, he didn't see me."

"Come sit down." It was P. "This is Maggie, Sam's wife, and this is Lucy their daughter. Maggie was tall and slender with a pretty face and complexion like Hattie at the plantation house. I wondered if they were sisters. Lucy was about P's age and just slightly taller. She wore her hair in pigtails on either side of her head. She giggled when she talked to P and it looked like the two of them were fast friends.

Zack pulled me aside and tried to speak to me in private, while P and Lucy were entertaining the rest of the family. He spoke in a desperate low voice, "We need to save this family and take them to the Underground Railroad. I think it is why we are here. I think we can get them out of here and to the end of town."

"Zack, how are we going to do that?"

"One of us needs to distract Charles while he is on patrol. The others can sneak out past him after that. P and I can cause a commotion while you get the family and John out to the road."

I thought for a minute. "No, I have a better idea." I was feeling a new confidence in myself and my appearance after my dances with Josiah. "I can try to distract him. I can maybe try and flirt with him. He is just a young man."

"No, Emma that would be too dangerous. You could get hurt." said Zack worriedly.

"Zack, I think I would be in less danger of getting hurt than you and P. Two slaves getting into mischief would surely get whipped if they got caught."

Zack thought a moment then agreed reluctantly. We would have to wait for another hour until the party guests cleared out. We didn't want anyone to see us on the road.

We heard a rapping at the door and froze. Sam opened it slowly. It was just John coming over as he planned earlier, and we invited him in. Zack and I explained to our new friends that I would try to engage Charles in conversation, as P and Zack led them to the road. Then we sat in silence, waiting for the appropriate time to leave.

I cautiously looked out the front door to watch the big house. I saw a man and a woman leaving through the front door. The man tipped his hat and said goodnight. I saw the butler extinguish the candles in the lamps along both sides of the doorway, then close the door behind him as he walked inside. Moments later, lights went out behind the windows at the front of the house. Only servants in the kitchen at the back of the house would still be active. It looked like things were over for the night.

I nervously squeezed both P's and Zack's hands before I walked out into the humid night air, then I cautiously searched for Charles, Mr. Hall's subordinate. His horse was at the far end of the field, so I quietly walked toward the house to make it look like I was coming from that direction when Charles returned. My heart beat fast and hard as I waited for him.

The horse hoof beats neared, and when the young man was about 25 yards away from me, I started to walk towards him. I made sure to make a lot of noise as I tramped through the muddy field.

"Who goes there?" Charles slowed his horse and raised his rifle.

I almost couldn't talk when I saw the weapon, but I eventually got out the words. "Excuse me sir," I said with the sweetest southern accent I could, "I am so sorry to bother you but I seem to have lost my way coming from the party. I am so distressed. I meant to find the road to town but I have ended up at this field of cotton. I am so lucky to find such a nice-looking man as you to help me find my way back."

Charles smiled smugly. "Of course little miss. Things seem quiet here tonight. Why I won't just tell you how to get back to the road, I'll show you personally." At that, he tipped his hat, jumped down from his horse and tied it to a nearby hitching post. "Follow me miss." And he waved me on with his hand.

"So, were you at the big party tonight? I wasn't able to go because I was working. Maybe I will see you at the next one?" He winked.

I continued the conversation as long as I could. As we were walking up a small hill almost at the road, I carefully looked back to see how my friends were doing. I saw the six of them crawling through the cotton. They were heading to a trail farther down than we were, so they wouldn't be seen. That path led closer to town, and eventually ended behind some stores at the town's edge. Once they emerged behind the shops, the plan was to continue out of site in the shadows until they reached the area at the back of the blacksmith's shop. There were expecting helpers of the Underground Railroad to be there.

I kept talking until my friends were well out of view. I silently prayed that they made it safely. "Well, my stars, here is the road. I don't know how I could have missed it before. Thank you, kind sir."

He raised his left eyebrow. "Now little miss, you must save at least one dance for me at the Turners' next ball. I'll be looking for you." And he winked.

"Sure will." I replied, and I gave him the biggest, sweetest, fake smile I could muster.

There was no way I would ever dance with that horrible boy. I started to walk faster as soon as I was out of his sight. The plan was to meet Zack and the gang behind the general store then we would continue our way to the blacksmith's shop.

The general store was positioned on the right side of the road. All the inside lights were out and not a sole was around. Good. I quietly walked to the corner of the wooden building and cautiously peaked around the side. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the six of them crouched down, huddled in the shadows, under a few pine trees at the edge of the lot. No one made a sound.

Zack waved excitedly when he saw me, then put his fingers to his lips for me to be silent. I ran over to the group and hugged P and Zack tightly.

Zack brushed a strand of hair back from my forehead and whispered, "I'm glad you are all right." Then he brusquely said, "Let's go. We don't have much time. The abolitionists will only be there for a short time. They will need to leave before dawn."

We were like little mice scurrying from one shadow to the next. No one said a word, not even a squeak. At one point, John, who was leading the pack, held up his hand with his palm towards us, beckoning us to stop. He nodded his head toward the upper level of the building to our right. A light shone through one of the windows. We all stopped as if we had turned to stone and waited for a few minutes. The light went out and my muscles relaxed.

We approached our destination but everything seemed too quiet. No one was outside to meet us. I was worried that we had missed them.

Sam turned to John, "Are we in the right place?"

Just then, we heard a squeeeak from the rear door of the blacksmith's shop. A mouse-like whisper emerged from behind the crack in the door. "This way."

We followed the sound and crept toward the doorway. A skinny female hand reached out, grabbed John's arm and pulled him through the doorway. He slipped behind the door and we all followed one by one.

We stood inside a back room at the shop. Facing us were a young man and woman that couldn't be more than twenty years old. They reminded me of some of my neighbors back home that had just graduated from college and, dissatisfied with the state of the world, had joined the Peace Corp. These two shared that look of wide-eyed innocence that they had.

The thin fair-skinned girl reached out and embraced Sam's wife Maggie. "I'm so glad you made it. We were worried that no one was coming. We do need to hurry and start the next part of our journey so we can get you all to safety."

I introduced myself as a friend and the young woman thanked me for my help. She started gathering up John, Sam and Sam's family and pushing them towards the open door. She started to pull Zack and P into the group.

"Oh, no!" I blurted, "They stay with me!"

"What? You don't own them dear. Let them go where it is safer."

"No, she's right miss." Zack interrupted. "P and I are staying with her. She um, well her family, um... they pay us well to work for them. They are going to take us back to Ohio when they go."

"All right boys. Then we will be off," she replied.

Each of us hugged Sam, Maggie, Lucy and John. "Good luck," I sniffled through a few tears. "You will be in our prayers."

They were gone, and it was just the three of us again. Zack and P were free from the plantation, but we were still stuck in this time period.

Zack looked at me. "Well, we've helped people and I guess we've learned something. Maybe the book will work now?"

"Yes," P added. I've definitely learned that people shouldn't have to be slaves, and I found a new friend."

"Okay." I drew out the book and placed it on the ground. We all stood back and watched. Nothing. "Ugh, how could NOW not be the right time? What is it waiting for?"

The air was still. No wind, not even a breeze. I reached down to grab the book when I heard, "Don't move!" I looked up to see Charles and two other men with rifles pointed at us.

"So you're a slave thief? Or are you one of them abolitionists that thinks all men should be free. Well they are our property. I can't believe I fell for your sweet talk. After you left I went back to finish my rounds and I saw that one of the slave cabin's doors was open just a crack. I looked inside and the place was empty, so I rounded up some men and followed your tracks." He nodded to his partners, "Get them!"

They edged toward us and I felt the hard cover of the book in my hand. I threw it up into the air as a distraction. The three men looked up as it flew through the air. It seemed to hover for a few seconds, pages fluttering with a current of air, then, suddenly it closed and landed on the ground with a loud clap. The men were sidetracked and turned their attention briefly to the book.

We could see the face of the book transforming. A word began to form in thick inky black letters "FREEDOM". Then it opened to a middle page more quickly than it had ever done before. The unusual letters began their mutation sequence, swirling and twisting at a rapid rate.

It seemed as if the book knew we were pressed for time. Letters fell into place. We read. "Never underestimate the value of your freedom. Fight for what is right and you will find yourself closer to home."

A strong wind began to blow. Dust from the street swirled up into the air. Leaves danced on the ground then flew up into the air like birds. The powerful moving air blew the hats off Charles' two partners. As the men struggled to keep their guns positioned at us, they were knocked off their feet and pushed to the ground.

A small circle of swirling mist appeared in front of us. An opening at the center began to form but it was too small for us to fit through. We stepped closer to the hole in preparation.

Zack turned to me. "Grab P's hand!" he yelled over the increasing noise. "We are NOT getting separated this time!"

I grabbed P's hand tightly as Zack grabbed mine. Just then Charles got control of his gun. He struggled to stand in the gale. He finally stood up and pointed the gun straight at us. The opening slowly enlarged as we waited anxiously.

Charles began walking toward us. "Stop! You know I'll shoot!"

Just then Zack yelled, "Now!" and plunged through the opening dragging us behind him. Ahh... the silence engulfed us in safety as we floated. We made it out of another mess at the last minute. I hoped we would be on our way home now.

Chapter 8

Thump...thump...thump. We landed on gray gravel. I sat up and brushed the grit off of my face.

Zack rolled over next to me, "Can we ever land on something soft?" We both laughed.

P came over to us to make sure everyone was all right. "Are you okay?"

Zack and I dusted ourselves off as we stood up. We began to look at our surroundings. Things looked really familiar. It took us a few minutes before we figured out where we were. Beautiful oak trees with tender green leaves lined the gravel path we were standing on. The path led up to a stunning white house with a huge wrap around porch. The white paint was bright and the shutters on the upstairs windows were shiny black. Intricate carvings adorned the corners of the posts on the front porch and ran down the railings on either side of the stairs. It was definitely our house, but it was clean and bright now!

P's mouth dropped open as he realized where we were, "We're home! Finally!"

We were home, but something felt wrong. Something about the house was different. The oak trees that lined the gravel path were small and young. We were walking on a gravel path and there was no concrete driveway. Our parents had never replaced the carvings on the posts or railings.

"Oh P, I think we're at our house, but it's not our home." I replied sadly. "Look at it. Everything looks brand new. I know our parents did a lot of work, but not that much. And look at those trees. The last time I saw them, they were so big we couldn't even see Zack's house next door. I'm sorry, but I don't think we're home quite yet."

Just then, a distinguished looking gentleman strode up behind us. He was dressed in a gray double-breasted coat and a black top hat. His sideburns almost touched the angle of his jaw. I think they are called mutton chops.

"Ahh kids, isn't it a fine house? So, is this your first party here? Mrs. Barnaby throws the most magnificent parties. She serves wonderful food and drink. Come up to the door with me if you have finished your gawking!" and the man smiled kindly.

We followed him up the front steps. Gas lamps hung from either side of the door, giving off just enough amber colored light to illuminate Mrs. Barnaby's face as she opened the door.

"Well hello Mr. Schmidt. It is so good to see you. Please come in." She ushered the man in over the threshold. Then she turned towards us. "Oh, hello children. You must be here for Julia. Come into the hallway and I will get her."

After she closed the door behind us, she disappeared into the kitchen. A moment later, she emerged with a teenage girl following close behind her.

"Here she is kids. I need to get back to the party myself." And Mrs. Barnaby walked away towards the front parlor.

Julia was about 16 years old, slender with wavy dark brown hair tied up in a loose bun at the back of her head. A few thin ringlets of hair framed her face. She wore a white cotton dress that just touched the ankles of her white button up boots. The frock had a high collar edged in lace that gently cradled her pretty face. I was amazed. It was the dress from the secret room! We must be looking at Julia Barnaby, the author of the journal and fellow time traveler. I stared in awe.

She stared blankly at us at first, not recognizing us as guests she had invited. Then her eyes twinkled and she clapped her hands together in front of her. "Well, I'll be!" she exclaimed. She held her arms out towards us then waved us to follow her. "Come into the back parlor, we can talk in private there."

She grabbed my hand excitedly and the four of us shadowed her, looping through the maze of rooms past the party goers. As we passed, Julia gracefully grabbed two boys from the crowd without even slowing down. They entered in line swiftly, and followed too. We ended our trek in a small room at the back of the house. Our parents used this room as an office, and I had forgotten it was even there.

Once we were settled on a settee in the back parlor, Julia introduced the other boys. "This is my little brother Stephen."

A small boy of about eight or nine politely held out his hand to each of us. He had light blonde hair, blue eyes and faint freckles on his fair face. He was a few inches taller than P and had a little more meat on his bones. After her had shaken each of our hands, he nodded and sat in one of the chairs on the other side of the room.

"And this is Chris, er, Christopher," Julia continued.

Christopher also shook everyone's hand. He was tall and thin with slightly wavy Auburn hair and green eyes. His hair was slickly combed to the side as must have been the fashion of the day. Surprisingly, despite his red hair, he didn't have any freckles on his face and his skin was almost olive toned. He had one of those smiles that makes you a little weak in the knees, and I was glad I was sitting down when he came to shake my hand. He was a definitely a handsome boy but not nearly as handsome as Zack.

The three of us introduced ourselves in turn. When the introductions were done I had the chance to ask Julia, "You seem to know who we are, but how?"

"Well," Julia responded, "at first I didn't recognize you from around here, then I just had a strange feeling when I looked at the three of you. At first I wasn't sure why. You all are dressed very nicely for a party. In fact, I love your pink dress Emma!"

"Thank you." I replied.

I hadn't even realized that I wore a pink dress. It was pale pink cotton and fell in lace tiers down to the top of my light brown button up boots. Both Zack and P wore white buttoned shorts and crisp gray pants. They did look nice for a party.

Julia continued, "But something seemed peculiar about P's outfit. His shirt and pants were fine but there was something odd about his shoes."

We all looked down at P's shoes. He still had his white leather sneakers on. Somehow they had not transformed as we travelled through the abyss.

Julia added, "I saw his white shoes with white laces and the very thick soles. They were unlike any leather shoes I have ever seen. I knew you must have travelled from a future time and must have found my journal and the book."

We all laughed and relaxed a bit.

Julia continued, "I remember, one time, we were travelling in Japan and Chris still had his big brown boots on. We were able to hide it though."

I got excited. "Oh Julia, I was the one that found your journal. I hope it's okay that I read through it. It was amazing. The story about your visit to Japan was one of my favorites!"

"Of course, Emma! I'm so glad. I always wanted other children to be able to go on the same adventures as we did. My grown up self must have left it in the secret room so that it would be found in the future! How wonderful! So tell me where you have been."

Zack, P and I sat with our new friends and related our own tales of adventure. P especially liked the visit to Italy and meeting Leonardo Da Vinci. They sat in awe as we told them about meeting Paul Revere. Julia was enchanted by my visit to the medieval city and my knight suitor. I noticed Zack rolling his eyes as I described the dashing Sir Phillip. Chris especially liked the story about our visit to Egypt and was amazed that we were almost trapped in a pyramid.

We talked and talked with our new friends. Julia, Chris and Steven told us about trying to outrun Samurais, meeting the Queen of England and watching Michelangelo paint the Sistine Ceiling. This time the three of us were amazed.

Julia explained that they had actually been able to travel on three journeys. "Each time, the book sent us to entirely different places. Now, we couldn't just pick it up and go whenever we wanted too. Sometimes, when I was bored, I would drag Steven and Chris up into the attic. Is that where you found the book?"

"Yes," I replied, "It took me a while to find the clues, but I finally found the book's hiding place!"

Julia continued. "That's great! Each time we went up to the attic, we pulled the book out and placed it on the wooden floor. Most of the time, it just sat there. It would decide when it was time to go on another adventure."

The first trip happened after we initially found the book. Steven and I were helping my parents clean the house. Chris had come over to help my father move some hefty furniture so my mother could clean underneath. He volunteered to help when he saw us trying to lug Great Grandmother's travel trunk up into the attic. He helped us carry the old heavy trunk up the stairs, but when we placed it onto the wooden floor it tipped over on its side. The book slipped out onto the floor and that was the start of the adventures.

Now that I think about it, the next two journeys occurred when we were handling stressful events in our lives. One time, my mother was very sick with pneumonia and in the hospital. I was starting to lose hope. On that travel, we met Florence Nightingale, the famous English nurse, and it helped me find faith and courage. The other time, Chris's brother had joined the army and we were all worried about him getting sent overseas into war. This time we were transported back to the Revolutionary War, like you guys were, but we met General George Washington. We learned the importance of valor and tried to support his brother instead of worry about him.

"Wow!" came from P, who had been rather quiet, and his eye grew wide. "I would have loved to meet our first president!"

I touched him on the shoulder. "They have had some amazing travels, too." After taking it all in, I asked anxiously, "So, Julia.... how did you guys ever get back home? I'm beginning to think we'll never get back home."

"Oh, Emma," Julia replied seriously. "I know it's scary. You feel like you are stuck and have no control, but eventually the book will decide that it is time to go home. Before you can come home, you must learn about yourself and grow. It is very frustrating, though. Just when you are extraordinarily homesick and can't stand it anymore you wind up back where you started.

"Ugh," I replied, "We may never get home!"

P interjected, "Awe, Emma, I think we've learned a lot. I learned about Egyptian tombs, medieval knights, Paul Revere and even the Underground Railroad. Did you know it's not really a railroad?" He looked to Julia for approval.

She grinned, "Very good P, you have learned a lot."

"Okay," chimed in Zack. "If we've learned so much, why are we not home yet?"

I sighed, "I think I understand. We have to learn something about ourselves, something deeper inside."

Chris spoke up and added, "Sometimes you don't realize what you've learned, and you have to put it together like a puzzle."

"Ugh," Zack rolled his eyes. "I've never been good at "feelings." We may never get home!"

Steven added, "You never know, you may be able to go home after meeting us!"

Chris smiled, "Maybe we've helped you learn about yourself!" and he winked at me.

"Well let's see," Julia spoke excitedly. "Let's go up to the attic and find the book. Maybe we can help you guys get home!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the attic stairs.

P and Steven jumped up and bounded up the stairs ahead of us. Chris and Zack brought up the rear more slowly.

As we walked up the stairs Julia whispered in my ear, "I do believe he's sweet on you!"

I looked back at her blankly. "Who?"

"Well Zack of course, silly. Don't you see how he looks at you? When you speak he listens intently. When you move, he watches you walk away. I think he likes you!"

"Of course he likes me. We are very good friends." As I said this I found myself fingering the charm at my neck. I had forgotten about the necklace.

Julia watched my hand. "Did Zack give that to you? It is very pretty."

"Um...yes he did." I responded, "For my sixteenth birthday"

"See, I told you he was sweet on you." Julia remarked.

"Oh no, he doesn't like me like that. Zack is very popular at school. I've heard that all the girls flirt with him. He could choose whoever he wants, why would he want me?" I looked down at my feet wishing that I looked different - tall, curvy, and beautiful.

"My dear new friend, you need to look at yourself. You are tall, but not too tall. You are thin, but not too thin. I think you are even starting to get some curves."

We had reached the top of the stairs. After we crossed over the threshold into the attic, Julia dragged me across the room to an old dusty mirror. She blew on it and dust flew everywhere. Then she grabbed both of my shoulders so I could see myself square in the center of the mirror.

"Look at yourself!"

I gazed into the lake-like glass and saw myself as I never had before. My hair was silky smooth and fell in shiny tresses that terminated in small ringlets just below my collar bones. My cheeks were rosy after the climb up the stairs and my face seemed pretty. Zack's charm shimmered at my neck. The pink material of my party dress hugged all the right places and I looked a little bit curvy.

"How could Zack resist that?" Julia whispered over my shoulder. "But, your real power over him comes from your big heart and wonderful kindness that you show toward others. I can tell just from knowing you a short time. You just need to see it in yourself!"

I still wasn't so sure of myself, but I had a little more self-confidence than before. I glanced at Zack as he walked into the attic and sighed. Julia laughed. We were all in the attic now. Julia and Chris took us over to the secret compartment in the wall. The door slid back and Chris reached in to feel for the book. As he moved his hand back and forth, his lips turned down in a confused frown.

"No book." He stated bluntly as he shrugged his shoulders.

Zack wrinkled his brow and walked closer to Chris and Julia. After thinking for a moment, the creases in his forehead smoothed. He had been carrying the bag over his shoulder since he helped me up off the ground after we landed. He placed the bag on the floor and carefully withdrew the tome.

"I guess the book can't be in two places at the same time." He said smugly and grinned widely.

We all laughed.

Zack placed the magic book on the floor. "Let's see if it's time."

The six of us stood in a silent circle around the motionless book. We waited.... and waited.

Then I sighed and frowned, "I guess it's not time yet."

"Oh, well." Julia chimed in with a sing-song voice. This just means that you can enjoy the party! Come downstairs and have some food and punch!"

We dejectedly followed her downstairs again, but once we started eating and drinking, we all cheered up a bit. As we stood by the punch bowl and sipped a fruity ade out of crystal glasses, we watched outside through a nearby window.

Mr. Schmidt strolled up to us as we looked out. "Looks like a storm is brewing."

Outside the house, the small oak tress began to sway in a strong wind. Dust blew up from the gravel walkway. The swing on the front porch began to move back and forth as if a ghost was sitting on it.

Julia rushed over to see us with Chris and Steven in tow. "I think it's time. Look at the change in the weather. Did you see a single cloud in the sky when you came in? This storm came up awfully quickly. Let's go!"

We raced up to the attic again. Zack was in front and tried to push open the door at the top of the stairs. It opened about an inch, but pressure from the other side pushed it closed again. We caught up to Zack, and all six of us pushed on the heavy wooden door and it finally opened into the room.

We walked into an eddy of spinning air and I almost lost my balance. Papers that were originally stacked in a corner began to twirl around in the vortex. I had to hold my hair in my hand so it wouldn't block my vision as it blew across my face. We all looked to the center of the room where the mist had already formed a huge twisting circle.

P hollered over the whirring noise, "Look at the book balancing on its side!"

The cover faced us so we could read the large script letters on it. "KNOWLEDGE." Then, the book flopped open to a page that already had words formed on it. "Find the knowledge of life. Expand the knowledge of yourself. Use this as a starting point for your future."

The winds howled inside and outside the house and the party goers were unaware of the events taking place in the attic. Zack, P and I edged closer to the dark black hole inside the mist.

"Goodbye my dear friends!" shouted Julie.

Chris and Steven waved.

"Thank you!" I yelled back. "We will never forget you!"

As soon as the words came out of my mouth it was time to jump. At that, Zack, P and I leapt once again into the abyss. This time the silence was oddly comforting. I was sure that we were going home this time. I longed for my own bed and to eat dinner with my family. As we floated along, I felt Zack's hand in mine and I squeezed it tighter. I smiled to myself as I felt him squeeze back.

Chapter 9

Slossshhh! I felt the right side of my face slide through wet mud. As my body finally came to a stop I saw Zack and P roll up next to me. Their faces were caked with mud.

"Where are we this time?" asked P.

"I have no idea." I retorted as I looked around our muddy environment.

Zack added. "At least we're together this time!"

I looked down at our clothes. We were all dressed in olive colored military-style jackets with matching pants made out of a scratchy stiff material. Zack and P wore olive colored caps that resembled train engineer's caps. I reached up to feel my head and felt the same hat.

Just above P's left breast pocket sat a blue rectangle with white letters that spelled out J. Douglas. Zack's name tag read Z. Tucker. I looked down at my jacket, and I too, had a name tag. Mine read E. Douglas.

"Are we in the army? P asked.

"I think so," responded Zack, "but where and when, I'm not sure."

No one else was in the immediate vicinity and we sat in the mud for a few minutes, not sure what to do. The spot was quiet then suddenly out of the blue, we all heard "crash, pop, pop... kaboom". An explosion lit up the sky in the distance, then smoke filled the air. Multiple explosions followed, then gunfire resonated throughout the area.

We ducked low, out of reflex, in response to fear. When I lifted my head, up I saw Zack frantically searching for clues to where we were. We were in a ditch with sides about four feet high that arose from a wet brown muddy floor. I could not see the end of the ditch but thought I could hear commotion towards one side.

"I think I hear voices." I told Zack.

P agreed and nodded his head. "So do I."

"Shhh," Zack lowered his voice. "I think we are in a military trench. Hopefully we are in an American or British one, and not a German one. We must have been sent back to World War I! Let's go see who else is here."

We crawled on our bellies toward the voices. As we crept along a curve in the trench we saw five men dressed in fatigues. Two were positioned squatting with their backs against rows of wood and sticks that made up the posterior of the trench, their mud covered boots tucked under their haunches. Sandbags lined the opposite side where three other soldiers stood.

One thin man wearing a heavy olive jacket stood with his body pressed up against the sandbags, holding a rifle over his right shoulder. He had pouches hanging from both sides of a leather belt tied around his waist. He reached into one of the pouches and pulled out what looked like bullets. He loaded them into the rifle then fffft. A shot rang out amongst the tumult out in front of the trench. He continued his job until he had to reload again.

To his right, a stockier man dressed in the same kind of jacket crouched down on a small ledge near the top of the trench. In front of him sat a larger gun on a thick metal pedestal. It looked like a small cannon. Beside him, another man, much taller and thinner, stood and held tightly to the base of the gun. The stocky soldier held on to handles attached to the back of the gun. Pow, pow, pow! He steered the gun in an arc as the bullets flew out rapidly towards the enemy. After a few minutes, he had run out of bullets. He paused but still held onto the gun. The thinner man reached down, grabbed a long strip of ammunition and attached it to the gun. The firing started again.

As we crawled forward we scanned the rest of the area. A few canteens rested on the ground at the men's feet. Strange masks with large metal rimmed eyes and elongated nosed were lined up against the wall.

"What are those?" I whispered to Zack.

"I think those are gas masks." He replied. "It was common for the Germans to use mustard gas as a weapon."

"They sprayed the armies with mustard? Why would they do that?" P asked. "That sounds silly!"

"Oh no, honey." I replied. "They just called it that. It's actually a gas that makes people very sick."

"Oh, how scary! Those poor men." P looked very concerned.

We had been able to rise to a seated position, as the trench walls became higher where we were. One of the men crouching against the wall noticed us.

He looked inquisitively at the three of us. "Hey, are you new to the regiment? I haven't seen you before."

Zack cleared his throat and spoke first. "I am, um, Officer Zachary Tucker. This is Officer James Douglas and this is, er um, Officer Edward Douglas. They are brothers."

I was taken aback at my name change then I remembered that women did not fight in the trenches during World War I. I held out my hand towards the man.

"Hello," he replied and shook my hand. "I'm Captain David Simmons. Welcome to my battalion. This here is Lieutenant Jason Miller. The chubby guy over there at the machine gun is Tom Snood and the skinny guy is Peter Rich. Andy Carmen is shooting over there. Good to meet you guys. I heard we were getting some reinforcements, but I didn't know when. Just be patient and I'll put you guys to work soon. We are waiting for our runner to bring us some more ammunition."

The lieutenant Jason scanned P up and down. "Um, James, aren't you a little small for a soldier? How'd you get into the army?" He scowled at us.

I could see P's wheels turning. His imagination was working. "Well, I'm actually a lot older than I look. I am really 18 years old." He paused, wrinkled his brow and twisted his mouth to the side as he thought. I have an illness that makes me stay small. Other than that I am fit as a fiddle and very, very intelligent. I have a high IQ." At that he tapped his head twice with his index finger. "The government wanted me because I was so smart and so small. They thought I could fit through small spaces in case they needed a spy!"

We held our breaths as the soldiers took in this information. Jason responded first, "Why are you out here with us if you are a spy and why don't you have a higher rank?"

P had answers for everything today. "They wanted me to learn the ropes out in the field first, before they put me to work as a spy. Because my sis, er um, brother was in this regimen I ended up here."

Jason rubbed the stubble on his chin as he contemplated P's story. "Okaaay," he said slowly. "Welcome to our trench. Hopefully the runner will be back soon with ammunition. We will be running out soon." He nodded his head slightly, but I could see that he wasn't entirely accepting of P's story. He went back to what he was doing.

The three of us stood beside the men waiting for David to put us to work. The rifle kept going off and the machine gun continued its rattattat. I watched the scene in front of me. Tom and Andy continued their shooting. Peter supplied Tom's machine gun with ammunition. Jason was preparing the long strips of bullets for Andy.

As we stood there, I could see another group of soldiers some ways down the trench. They ran another large machine gun that looked like a cannon sitting on the edge of the trench. One man would fill the huge gun with the mortar then stand back. Another man pulled a lever at the back and quickly crouched down with his hands over his head. Whzzzzz.......boom! I could see dirt fly high into the air. The ground shook. Then there was a few minutes of silence before a high pitched noise came from the other side.

"Down!" yelled David.

We all lied down on the ground and covered our heads with our arms. Whzzzzz..... Boom! The bomb landed very close to our trench. Dust flew again, up into the air and over our heads. My heart was beating out of my chest and I felt like I couldn't breathe. We remained motionless on the ground.

Finally, David yelled, "Clear!"

I heard the other soldiers start to shuffle back up to their positions. I turned my head slowly to the right, wiped the brown dirt out of my eyes and saw that Zack and P were attempting to get up. I relaxed a bit, rolled over to my side, and managed to stand up next to them. The three of us brushed ourselves off. We must have looked shaken.

Andy nodded his chin in our direction. "You get used to that. Just make sure you get down and cover your head. Once you've been out on the lines for weeks like we have, this kind of stuff is old hat. The goal is to just stay alive."

I tried to get my wits about me. Here we were again, in a situation where we were facing danger and had to keep ourselves alive. I turned to Zack, "What do we do now? We are in the middle of a war."

He touched my arm. "What can we do? We can't leave until the book thinks we're ready. You know there is something that we have to accomplish while we're here. Let's try the book when everyone else is busy again."

I nodded okay as I reached for the book in the bag I had hidden under my jacket. I felt the hard edge of the binding through the cloth and felt a small sense of security. At least we had a way out, not like these men who had to keep fighting. I admired them for their courage, and wished I had a little more myself. Zack and I stood behind Andy as he fired and P stayed against the back of the trench out of the way.

Jason looked at P. "Hey kid, you can help me get what ammunition we have left ready for the machine gun."

P moved toward Jason hesitantly not sure if he could trust him or not.

Jason reached out and shook P's hand. "Good to meet ya. Where do you hail from?"

P's poor eight year old brain was a little confused but then he figured out the question. "Well, my brother, um Edward, and I grew up in Ohio." He muffled a snicker as he referred to me as his brother. "We started out near the city but recently ended up in the country in an old farm house that we fixed up." P looked proud of himself as he told his story.

Jason responded, "I'm from Pennsylvania myself. Born and raised on a farm. Wakin' up to the rooster's crow, milkin' the cows early in the morning, plowing the fields the rest of the day. I gotta sweetheart back home, too." He pulled out a faded photograph that was well worn along the edges. "This is Sarah. We grew up together. We're gonna get married when I get home." He smiled as he thought about her. "So, do you have a girl back home?"

P's mouth dropped open. He still thought that girls were gross and wanted to say "no-way", but thought that Jason may not understand. "Uh, no man, I didn't want to have to leave anyone behind when I came here. No girlfriends for me!" He tried not to make a gagging face as he thought about girls. Oh ,gross!

"Okay James, take these bullets and pile them up by Tom, behind the machine gun."

As P went to work, Jason continued to talk with him. "So, is your family still back in Ohio? Besides your brother, that is."

P wrinkled his brow and seemed pensive. As pensive as an eight year old can be. He thought a minute. "Well, my mom and dad still live in the farm house. We've always been close. We've been gone so long. I'm really starting to miss them." Tears started to well up in his eyes, but he held them back.

Jason must have seen P's emotion. "I know how ya feel. I miss Sarah so much, but I also miss my dad. He raised me after my mother died from cancer. I was 13 when she passed and I wanted to drop out of school, and life for that matter. I didn't want to work on the farm anymore. At first I stopped doing my homework, then I just quit going to school. My dad was so sad in the beginning that he just didn't care and we began to drift apart. Finally one day he sat me down and talked to me."

"He said, 'Son, your mom would be so proud of you if you could graduate from high school. I know how hard it is. I miss her so much, but we have to go on without her. We have to live our lives. If you don't want to work on the farm, that's okay. I can hire some help so I can keep my head above water. Your schoolwork comes first. What do ya say, son? Can you do it for your mom?'"

"I remember breaking down in front of him and then he started to cry. I'll never forget that day. I went back to school, started making good grades and I graduated. I wish my mom could have been there to see me though. My plan was to go to college, study agriculture and business, and come back to the farm to help my dad. Then this 'War to End all Wars' came along. When I heard about the French and English soldiers that were losing their lives, I just had to join the army and help. I thought my dad would be angry, but when I told him, he had tears in his eyes. He said 'Son, I am so proud of you and I know your mother would be too!' And... here I am in the trenches trying to stay alive. And kid, that's my story. What's yours?"

P looked overwhelmed, but opened his mouth as if to start relating his own story. He was suddenly interrupted by a man's voice from across the field in front of us. "I'm coming with ammunition reinforcements!"

We saw a thin man running toward us with two bags draped over each shoulder. Suddenly we heard the familiar whizzing noise coming closer and closer.

We didn't know, but as we watched the injured soldier, Jason had left his post and was running out into "no man's land" to retrieve the bags of ammunition. Zack and P looked up just as Jason grabbed the bags, but as he took his first step back toward the trench he stopped and clutched his left leg. As he drew his hands back up we could see that they were dripping with blood. He had been hit by enemy fire. He tried to hold onto the containers as he limped, but it was slow going. David began to scurry up the side of the trench to come to his aid. Just as David took a step onto the flat soil, we heard the buzzing sound of enemy bombs flying through the air.

"Down!" David yelled.

We flattened ourselves in the prone position and covered our heads. After the dust had cleared, we were able to move back to the edge of the trench and search for Jason.

As my eyes adjusted to the light, I heard P yell, "Noooo!"

Jason was lying face down in the mud, motionless. I couldn't tell if he was breathing. I heard P catch his breath beside me then all of a sudden he took off. Before I could stop him he had scaled the side of the trench and was running towards Jason. When he got to him, he squatted down, grabbed him under the arms and pulled as hard as he could. Jason's limp body moved forward only slightly, but P kept pulling with all his might.

"Zack, do something!" I exclaimed. "P needs your help. You help him drag Jason to safety and I'll get the ammunition sacks. Go now!"

We both scurried up the side of the trench. Zack ran to the left and grabbed Jason's right arm, while P had his left arm. His body started to move forward more quickly and they were able to drag it all the way to the trench. As they did that, I ran to the right and retrieved the bullets. I could hear the sounds of the machine guns behind me and I ran as fast as I could.

Zack and P had Jason back in the trench when I arrived, and David was tending to his wounds. Jason was slowly coming to as David wrapped thick gauze around his left calf. It quickly became soaked with blood. Jason's eyes finally opened and he saw the blood dripping from his leg.

"W-what happened?" He asked. "I remember running out to grab the ammunition then it's all fuzzy after that."

David held his friend's hand. "You were hit by machine gun fire and you almost made it back safely but then a bomb exploded behind you. The shockwave knocked you out!"

Jason shook his as if to clear it. "How did I get back here? Someone must have dragged me into the trench."

David nodded. "Yeah, that little guy over there did." He pointed at P. "Well, with a little help from his friend. They ran out through the fire before anyone could stop them. They saved your life."

Jason turned his head to P and patted him on the head. "Thank you my little friend."

"Aw, it was nothing," P replied, and smiled.

Jason's eyes were closing again. P looked at David. "Will he be okay?"

David sighed, "Well it looks like the bleeding from his leg wound is finally stopping. Hopefully he didn't lose too much blood. We need to get him to the army hospital. It may take him a while to recover from the blast. He may have a concussion. Only time will tell."

"At least he's alive." Zack chimed in.

I stayed quiet during this exchange. I was stunned by the whole situation. We had learned about wars in school but I never realized how terrifying it was to be out in a battle. I stood back as a medic team placed Jason on a stretcher and carried him away down the narrow pathway of the trench.

I noticed P had tears in his eyes. "He'll be all right," I said hopefully.

P shook off the tears. "I know. It's just that he has to be able to get back home. He needs to help his dad with the farm. He needs to get home to Sarah, his sweetheart."

I wanted to hug him but knew I couldn't in front of the soldiers. "Oh, P, maybe we just need to have a little faith."

At that moment, there was an onslaught of bombs and gunfire. Tom and Peter prepared the machine gun. David ran to take over the rifle, while Andy prepared the ammunition. Bullets were flying everywhere, dust and dirt filled the air as bombs landed and the sky began to fill with flashes of light.

The three of us stood against the back of the trench, out of the way. The soldiers were too busy to notice us. We thought we would get in the way if we tried to help. As I contemplated what to do, I felt the bag under my jacket get heavier. Was the book trying to get my attention?

I cautiously pulled the bag out from under my arm. The rectangular shape inside felt warm and I could see a faint glow through the fabric. I pulled the book out of its hiding place. It was so hot that I dropped it to the ground.

As we watched, the cover began to bubble like the top of a pot full of boiling water. Blub...blub...blub. The bubbles grew and then shrank again. As the face of the book bubbled and popped, a word started to come into view. "STRENGTH." Then a powerful breeze blew the book open and a few pages fluttered in the air.

Polka dots flashed at various corners of the page, then disappeared like blinking Christmas lights. They continued to appear, then fade away. With each blink, more dots stayed on the page. The dots began to form letters, then words.

P looked down and began to read aloud. "Hide your fears and be brave. Use your strength to move forward. The life you save may bring you home."

He had just enough time to exclaim, "It's about me!" before the book slammed shut.

After a moment, it became engulfed in a low fog and we lost sight of it. As we stood back against the wall of the trench, we could see the soldiers continuing to do their duty. Soon, however, they became lost to our eyes as the fog moved between us.

As we watched, the fog swirled up into a circle in front of us. At first, the center was filled with the thick mist, but as it subsided a hole began to form. Tentacles of water vapor formed and emerged from the center of the circle. They seemed to beckon us forward like hands. Above the top arc of the circle, we could see flashes of light from explosions outside of the trench.

Zack looked at me and raised his eyebrows. "Let's get out of here!"

"I agree!" I responded excitedly.

P already held my right hand tightly, and Zack grabbed my other hand. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes as a reflex, and jumped with the two of them. I felt each boy grasp my hands more tightly and we floated in silent space.

Chapter 10

Whhppttt........bump...bump...bump. As I tumbled onto what felt like concrete, I briefly looked up to see an object getting closer and closer. I had no time to react, and suddenly, whap! I had rolled right into a brick wall. Ouch! At first I felt a little dizzy but I got my wits together and began to stand up. As I, stood I felt something warm dribble down my forehead. I reached up and felt the area. As I withdrew my hand, I saw bright red blood dripping from my fingers and began to feel lightheaded again.

"Oh gross Emma!" I heard P exclaim. "You're bleeding like in one of those horror movies."

Zack hurried over to me. "Emma, are you all right? That's a lot of blood. Here let me help you." He pulled a crisp white handkerchief out of his pocket and placed it over my wound. "This will help the bleeding stop." He pressed the cloth more firmly and the blood stopped running down to my nose. I felt his other hand on my back as he held me still during the procedure. I definitely felt better then.

"Thank you. I think it's stopping. I'll be all right." I felt my face getting red and I knew I was blushing. I was embarrassed and quickly grabbed the handkerchief out of his hand and held it myself.

Somehow P caught on to my dilemma and quickly diverted Zack's attention. "Hey, where do you guys think we are now? It looks like we're in another back alley!"

We all looked around. We stood on a cement road that lied between two buildings and dead-ended into the wall of another. The open end of the road was barricaded by a wide metal gate. At the other end of the alley, in a corner, stood a large trash dumpster with a lid. I could see in my friend and sibling's eyes that they had no desire to have to hide in another smelly container. On one building side, we saw a red metal door that sat about four feet above street level. In front of the door, stairs led up to a small concrete deck surrounded by a rod iron railing.

As we continued to scan our new environment, we heard a creak. The door swung open, and a lanky man in his twenties walked out onto the small deck. He bent down to place a small piece of wood between the door and the frame, to keep it from closing all of the way. He then stood up and leaned his elbows on the railing. He held a long white cigarette in his left hand and pulled a silver lighter out of his back pants pocket. Steadily he flipped the lighter on and the flame flickered in the night air. He lit the cigarette, drew it to his mouth and took a long puff.

We watched in silence from the shadows at the other end of the alley. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw P's mouth drop open.

"Gross." He snarled quietly.

"Shhh," I whispered, "I think we'll be in trouble if he sees us here. It looks like a pretty private area."

P whispered, "Okay, Emma." He remained quiet but I could still see the disgusted look on his face.

We waited quietly as the man smoked his cigarette. After a few minutes had passed, a muffled male voice came from the other side of the door.

"Sam, we need you in here now! The band is about to go on and we need you to put the drum set on stage."

The young man turned around towards the door and yanked it open again. "Aww Johnny, I just started my smoke... okay, I'm coming."

He threw the cigarette onto the cement and smashed it into the ground with his boot. As he began to pass through the doorway, Zack turned to me and spoke quickly, "We need to follow him. That may be our only way out of this alley."

My eyes got wide. "Okay, you're right, that door may lock when it closes. You run and catch it. We'll be right behind you."

Zack sprinted to the small platform and ran up the stairs. He was just in time to catch the door before it clicked in the latch, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He opened the door and quietly peaked into the hallway behind it. He turned his head toward us, "The coast is clear!"

P and I followed him up the stairs. As we neared the door, P looked down at the crumpled cigarette on the ground. He sneered. "Why do people do that? Don't they know that it causes cancer?"

I patted his head. "You're a smart kid P. I'd like to say we are in a time before they knew how dangerous it was, but people smoke in our time even though we do know."

P frowned, "I know. I feel bad for the people who are addicted to smoking."

"Are you guys coming?" Zack hissed from the doorway.

"Oh, sorry," I replied, grabbed P's hand and yanked him across the threshold.

After we passed through, the door closed tightly behind us and we faced our newest adventure. We looked to the right and then the left down the long empty corridor that stood in front of us.

"Which way should we go?" asked P as he tugged on Zack's shirt.

"Ugh, I'm thinking." retorted Zack sharply, but added quietly, "I'm sorry P, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just not sure where we should go." He smiled at P. "What do you think?"

"Hmmm," P thought a moment. "Well, I'm left handed so I think we should go to the left!"

The corners of Zack's mouth slowly curled into a smile and he laughed. "Honestly, that's probably our best bet now. What do we have to lose?" He turned and started to walk down the hallway to the left.

We continued down the hall until we heard voices. We neared an open door and slowed down to peek inside. In one corner of the room, people were busy preparing for some kind of musical number. Toot-toot-to-toot came from a trumpet raised high in the air. The man holding it puffed his cheeks out every time the instrument made music. Low moaning notes came from the clarinet next to him. The young woman sitting beside him stopped to take a breath, then replaced her lips on the reed to continue the hum. Doo-doo-doowoo.

On the opposite side of the room, two ballet dancers were warming up. A thin man with muscular arms was doing a plié while his petite partner stretched to touch her right toe with her fingertips. As she did this, she lifted her left leg up directly behind her and pointed her toes to the ceiling. I was impressed. After all the ballet classes I had taken as a child it was all I could do to not lose my balance on a pas de bourrée to the side and a releve up on my toes. I watched the girl bring her foot down to the floor and reposition her footing. The man had stopped his stretching and moved closer to the wall. He held his arms down and out in front of him and beckoned her forward. She ran briskly and jumped into his arms. Then he lifted her body upward until her abdomen was even with his head.

As I stood there sucked into the scene, Zack tapped me on the shoulder and brought me back to reality. "Hey, look at that man over there. He has stacks of plates. I wonder what he's going to do with them."

As we watched, we heard clicking heels coming around the corner. We were approached on our left by an older woman with graying hair twisted into a bun at the back of her head. She wore a slim fitting pink pencil skirt and a matching pink short sleeved twill jacket. She breezed past us and leaned through the doorway.

"Eric, you're on in five minutes! Get your plates to the stage now!"

As we all looked at each other wondering what the plates would be doing on stage, the gray haired women turned around, as quickly as she had walked by, and stared at us. She raised her voice. "What are you kids doing back here? You are not allowed to be near these rooms. Ugh! I'll be happy when this band is gone. Sam...Sam... get these kids where they are supposed to be!" She looked around for Sam, made a tsking sound under her breath, turned on her heels and clicked off.

Sam came around the corner. It was the young man we had seen outside. "Aww man, you crazy kids are gonna get me in trouble. You need to follow me back to the theater!" He dragged his hand through is thick shaggy hair and looked distressed. "How am I going to break into the music business if I keep messing up? Ugh, this way!" He nodded his head in the direction of another hallway.

We followed him around the corner, down the hallway to a closed door with a blinking red light hovering above it.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief, "We're just in time." He yanked open the door and we followed him into the wings of a large stage, down a small set of steps and through another door. "Here we are." He eyed an open set of seats. "Go sit! Your group will be out shortly. Be patient!"

He motioned to the seats. We were standing in a medium sized theater filled with people. Some were older adults but most were teenagers. We piled into the seats just as the lights went down in the theater. A middle aged man with slightly receding black hair walked to the center of the stage.

"Welcome to our show. We have a great selection of talent for you tonight. We will start with Eric and his creative plates."

Applause filled the theater and the spotlight lit up the middle of the stage. We could see a thin man dressed in a gray suit with the ruffles of his white shirt emerging at the collar. He set up a long rod in front of himself and started it spinning. Quickly, he threw a ceramic dinner plate on top of the rod and it continued to spin. As the plate continued to rotate, he set another plate in motion, and then he suddenly had six plates up in the air. The audience clapped and laughed. P loved it. He laughed and laughed as his eyes twinkled.

As the plate spinning performance came to an end, the audience quieted. The middle-aged man walked onto the stage again. "Thank you Eric, that was very entertaining. Now for our second act, what you have all been waiting for..." The emcee waved his outstretched hand toward the stage as he walked away. "The Beatles!"

The spotlight moved slowly from the announcer to the center of the stage. It highlighted a group of four young men dressed in dark gray suits with black collars. Black socks peaked out beneath ankle length pants and ended in shiny black patent leather shoes. All of them had shaggy dark hair that looked like someone had cut it around a bowl. Three of the young men stood holding guitars, in front of microphones that looked like giant lollipops. The fourth man sat on a platform behind a set of drums, his hands poised in the air gripping his drum sticks, ready to tap out the beat. They were all smiling.

As we waited patiently with the rest of the audience, the young man on the left began to count, "a 1,2,3,4....," then music began to pour out from the drums and guitars on stage. The beat got our attention and the melody drew us in. The men began to sing and the crowd went wild. Some young girls were screaming with their hands in the air, while others began to sob uncontrollably. The young men in the audience clapped along with the music and cheered. As I looked around, I could see a few middle aged men and women with scowls on their faces as they watched this young hip band.

It was all I could do to discern the lyrics of the song through the roar of the crowd. I finally recognized the refrain, "I wanna hold your ha-a-and, I wanna hold your hand!" I found myself singing along with the words and rocking back and forth to the music. I glanced over at P and Zack, and they were clapping and bouncing along with the music, too.

I yelled over the pandemonium to Zack, "I can't believe we are seeing the Beatles in person!"

He replied, "I know, this is awesome! My mom and dad would be so jealous."

"So would ours," P chimed in. "They love the Beatles."

We continued to watch and enjoy the music. We were excited that we recognized most of the songs. What a fun change from the other places the book took us. No guns, no war, no guillotine. We began to relax and just have fun.

I continued to watch, mesmerized as the group sang their famous songs, when out of the blue, I felt an urge to make sure the book was safely secured in the bag on my back. I reached up to touch my shoulder and feel for the bag's strap. I felt my sweater but nothing else. I panicked and spun around in my seat to see if the bag had fallen. No bag...no book!

I frantically grabbed Zack but the shoulder. "I...I've lost the book!"

He returned my excitement with a calm, "Don't worry. We'll find it. It seems to always find its way back to us."

We all searched around, in and under the seats behind us, but to no avail. P leaned over to me, "I bet you dropped it in the alley where we first landed."

"No." I shook my head. I was sure I had it when I got up. I remember making sure the book was in the bag, and the bag was securely over my shoulder, after my head stopped hurting.

Zack turned to me, "What about when we ran for the door to get inside? It all happened so fast."

"Ugh!" I replied. I could have dropped it by the stairs."

"We need to retrace our steps!" P chimed in. "Just like in those old detective movies! I'm sure we'll find it then!"

"You're right," I said, a little disappointed that we couldn't continue to watch the Beatles sing. "But how are we going to get back behind the stage again so we can get back to the alley?"

We all looked towards the door we had walked through to get from backstage to the theater where are seats were. Sam, the young man that showed us to our seats was still standing guard by the door.

"Maybe if we plead with him, he'll let us go backstage again." I suggested.

"I don't think he's happy with any of this." argued Zack. "I don't think it would work."

We all looked at the man with his shaggy hair down to his eyes and a scowl on his face. "I know!" P said excitedly. "We can have Emma flirt with him to get his attention while you and I run past him to get backstage."

"Uh...NO!" Zack replied quickly. I think we put her in too much danger last time." He then moved closer to P and leaned over to whisper in his ear, "Plus, I don't like to see her flirting with other guys, and I definitely don't like seeing those other guys flirting with her!"

I felt my cheeks get hot and was sure they were bright pink, but I don't think Zack thought that I had heard him. Phewww.

Zack raised his eyebrows and continued talking in a louder voice, "I may have an idea." He nodded toward the man by the door, "Look, he still has that scowl on his face, but he's tapping his right foot in time with the music. He may be a musician himself. I may be able to win him over."

He ran off before P and I could stop him. He approached Sam, "Hey man..." and he nodded his head quickly the way young men acknowledge each other nowadays.

Sam continued to scowl as he opened his mouth to demand that Zack go back to his seat.

Zack started talking hurriedly but tried to sound calm at the same time. "Hey, please let me stand over here away from those crazy groupies. My girlfriend and her little brother begged me to take them to see this group. I like more soulful bluesy music myself."

"Exactly!" Sam spoke enthusiastically. "Now, don't get me wrong, this band is good. They definitely have a good beat with catchy tunes, but they have too many teeny-boppers following them. To me, their songs are too happy. They need a little bit more emotion and maybe even some misery. My band sings about real life and broken hearts, but those young kids don't come to see us perform. Look at the girls out there screaming and crying when they hear this band sing."

He nodded his head in the direction of the crowd just as a blonde teenager screamed at the four men on stage then fainted and fell towards the floor. Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. "We've got a swooner! Come on kid, you want to help? Let's go to work."

Sam ran toward the girl and began to scoop her up off the floor. Zack ran after him to help control the small crowd that had formed around the girl. When he arrived at the commotion he turned over his shoulder and mouthed, "Go, I'll catch up." Then he waved us on.

I grabbed P's hand and dragged him through the unguarded door to backstage. Luckily the area just behind the door was empty of people. We maneuvered around props and clothing hanging on mobile rods, around to the last secure door. This was the door with the blinking red light on the other side. Outside, the hallway should be empty, now that the show had started. It would be easy to get to the exit door to the alley now.

As we neared the door, I turned to look behind me. I saw a man at the edge of the stage, just behind one of the gold draping curtains that had been pulled back to open the stage. He was moving his hands through the air frantically, in response to similar movements from a man on the other side of the stage. He turned to run to the wall near us that was full of small multicolored blinking lights and switches. The man suddenly threw his hands up in the air with an exasperated sigh and turned toward us. He caught sight of us as he ran towards the wall. He paused briefly and his mouth opened as if he was going to yell at us, but then rolled his eyes and shook his head as if to say "I don't have time for this." He then completed his jog to the wall of switches and busily began flipping switches and turning knobs.

I nudged P with my elbow. "Go, NOW!" I whispered harshly.

P pushed open the door and we both emerged into the hallway. Thank goodness it was empty. We retraced out steps from one hallway to another, careful not to be seen. We passed the open door that we had peered through before, and saw some of the groups still warming up. I saw the dancers stretching in the corner of the room. I felt sorry for them. They were so beautiful, but the crowd would not appreciate them now, after they had seen the Beatles.

As I was shaking my head in disappointment, I heard footsteps coming down one of the nearby corridors. I grabbed P and we ran. The footsteps got closer and we ran faster. We finally saw the large door to the alley ahead of us. I really hoped the book was where I thought it was, and that Zack would catch up to us soon. The two of us finally came to the door and simultaneously pushed on the horizontal bar at the center of the door. It flew open and we were standing on the platform overlooking the alleyway. To our surprise, the lane was no longer empty. It was filled with a large black limousine with its motor running. The driver glanced at us but didn't budge.

P and I peered over the edge of the railing and scanned the area for the bag and book. "I don't see it!" I fussed.

We began to walk down the stairs. At that moment we heard a click. The limo door opened and the driver stepped out. He was a thin older man with white hair that was combed over a balding spot at the center of his head.

He spoke with a faint British accent. "Hey kids! What are you doing? You're not supposed to be out here. The band will be coming any minute!"

P gave me a very troubled look. I held his hand. "It will be okay sweetie."

The driver approached us. I spoke up, "Umm... I...I'm sorry sir, but we are looking for some property that we left out here by accident."

He raised his eyebrows in response, as if he didn't believe us.e wH

P responded trying to hide the tears in his eyes, and choked through his reply, "Please sir, we have to find Emma's bag or we'll never get home! Please let us find it!"

The driver seemed to soften and smiled. "All right son, I'll help you look."

Just then, the theater door swung open. I breathed a sigh of relief as I was sure it was Zack catching up with us. But no. Four young men dressed in gray suits emerged from the portal, talking and laughing as they walked. They saw us as they were walking down the steps. They appeared calm and not as agitated as the driver was to find us out there.

The driver acknowledged them, then apologized for not being ready with the car. "I am sorry that I am not ready sirs. I stopped to help these kids find a bag they had lost. I think it has their car keys or house keys or something in it. They need it to get home. I'm sorry it won't happen again."

The young man at the center answered him with a little thicker British accent. "That's all right Nigel. No worries. Can we help?" and he turned to P and me. "Hallo, I'm John."

He held out his hand to shake mine and I returned the gesture. Then P shook his hand, too.

John continued, "This here is George." He pointed to the thin man to his left who in turn nodded toward us. "This is Paul over here."

Paul held out his hand to shake both of ours. "How do you do?"

John continued, "And this crazy man here is Ringo."

The shortest of the four men stepped forward. "Hallo, what can we do to help?"

I stood in front of the men speechless, but P was more relaxed now that they had offered to help. "Well, you see, we have this bag, that um... has this book...er..." He paused and changed his story. "It has our mother's car keys in it and we accidentally dropped it out here and we need it to get home!"

John replied, "Well chap, let's start looking. We don't want you to be stranded here."

The seven of us began to search the entire alley. P and I started near the dumpsters at the back and the others searched closer to the door.

After a few minutes we heard, "Got it!" Ringo was standing on the side of the platform close to the brick wall of the theater holding the bag above his head. "It was lying here under a bunch of crumpled old newspapers and trash. Boy, it's heavy. What else is in here?"

He reached done to hand me the bag and I took it from his hand. "Oh...nothing, just some odds and ends." I tried to change to subject. "Thank you so much for your help. Now we'll be able to get home."

We heard four "your welcomes" in melodic unison. What more would you expect from a group of singers. Then from the driver, "Okay boys, we really have to go now!" The four men waved as they climbed into the limousine, and they were off.

P and I stood there in awe as the car drove off. I couldn't believe we had just met the Beatles. Just then the door banged open. It was Zack. "Hurry, they're coming after me. I hope you have the book. We have to leave now!"

He was out of breath but managed to run down the stairs to us. I yanked the book out of the bag and placed it on the cement in front of us.

"It's got to be the right time." Zack panted. "Oh, come on book!"

We watched in anxious silence. Seconds felt like minutes, and minutes felt like hours. Finally the word began to form on the front cover. "HARMONY". Then the pages fluttered open to the center of the book.

Black dots began to form in rows across the page. One by one they filled the page. Splot....splot...splot. Slowly, thin black lines began to rise from the dots. Some lines ended in little narrow flags, and some of the flags connected to other lines. The page became filled with musical notes. Whole notes, quarter notes, eighth notes. Just as my brain figured out what I was seeing, the notes began to transform again, morphing into letters, then words. "Enjoy the harmony in the world around you. Let that perfect balance into your life and sing its song out loud for all to hear. The music will bring you closer to your goal."

We waited for the misty circle to form, but the book lied still, open to the page covered with words. I jumped as I heard commotion behind the door. Men were yelling as they tried to open the door - but it wouldn't budge. I looked at the floor of the platform. Zack had wedged a piece of wood that he found near the dumpsters against the door. This bought us a little more time.

Zack winked at me. "I was trying to think ahead. Now I'm thinking that the book wants us to sing!"

"No way." I replied. "I'm pretty sure this book does not want to hear me sing."

"Oh, but Emma," P spoke up, "You have a pretty voice. I hear you in your room all the time singing with you headphones on. It sounds good and I can't even hear the music."

"Ugh!" I exclaimed embarrassed. "Well, if the book wants us to sing, what should we sing? A Beatles song?"

"Um, Em, I don't know the words to any Beatles songs." Chimed in P. "Sorry."

"Well little man, what songs do you know?" said Zack encouragingly.

"I know _Row, Row, Row Your Boat!"_ P smiled. "We sing it in music class all the time."

The noise from behind the door was getting louder and the piece of wood was beginning to crack. "Okay," I yelled. _Row, Row, Row Your Boat_ it is!" and we all began to sing.

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream......"

The air began to feel cold and a slight breeze started. The old wadded up newspapers began to swirl around in circles. Pieces of trash flew up into the air. A sudden gust of wind almost knocked me over and I grabbed onto Zack for support. The mist began to form in front of us, and we stopped singing in relief as we readied for the leap into the abyss. Then the mist disappeared just as quickly as it had formed.

We stood there stunned. This had never happened before.

P thought a second as he twisted his lips to the side." I think we need to keep on singing." And he began to wave his arms like a conductor.

We started again. "Row, row, row your boat....."

The wind and mist swirled again and we finally saw the familiar circle in front of us. We kept singing at the top of our lungs as the opening grew bigger and bigger. "Merrily, merrily, merrily..." The hole enlarged to person size and it was time.

"Here we go!" yelled Zack.

He grabbed my hand, then P's, and rejoined the singing as we jumped into the darkness. As we floated, I relived the Beatles moment in my mind, and, as we drifted farther, the picture in my mind began to transform into the four band members singing _Row, Row, Row Your Boat_.

Chapter 11

Whooosh......phtttt. I slid on something soft and powdery then slowly came to a stop. I sat lying on my back, with my feet sprawled out in front of me, staring up at an inky black sky. I felt the ground with my right hand. I could tell it was like sand but I couldn't really feel it with my fingers. I looked down at my hand. It was covered with a thick gray glove. My eyes scanned from my hand to my arm. It was encased in a thick white fabric sleeve. I looked down at my chest to find the same white fabric, but this time it was covered with small knobs and tubes.

As I was investigating my own new clothes, P walked up beside me and his costume was in full view. His face was obscured by a shiny helmet and I could see my reflection in it. My head was covered by the same helmet. The backs of the helmets were made up of a hard white material. That in turn was attached to a mirror-like face mask. P's arms and legs were covered with the puffy white suit and he looked like a giant marshmallow. P's suit had a large rectangular pack attached to the back. It looked as if it would pull him over backwards, but he was able to stand up straight pretty easily. As he walked towards me his feet seemed to hover for a few seconds before touching the ground.

"Wow, Emma, this is so cool!" P exclaimed. "We get to wear space suits!"

When I heard P speak, it seemed to be coming from inside my helmet, right next to my ear, and his voice had a slight electronic sound to it. I recognized that we were both wearing space suits and set out to discover where we were. As P continued to walk closer to me, I scanned the environment. The ground was covered in light brown sandy dirt and there was not a tree or plant in sight. The air was motionless, not even a slight breeze. I was so used to the rough winds that accompany our travels that the still air gave me an eerie feeling.

Just as P caught up with me, Zack emerged from behind a large hill of dirt that resembled a sand dune. "Hey, guys, sorry it took me a few minutes to get over here. When I landed, I got my foot stuck in that sandy stuff over there and I had a hard time getting it out because of this big boot! Where do you think we are anyway?"

P chimed in, "We must be in the desert. See all this sand. But why would we be in space suits in the desert?"

Zack responded, "I wonder if we're at a NASA training facility. I don't think we're in Texas or Florida, but maybe they have a secret place out in New Mexico or California. I think those states have some deserts. Why else would we be in these suits?"

I thought a moment then retorted. "This doesn't really look like any desert pictures I've ever seen. Even in the desert there is a little breeze and even wind. Look over there." I pointed to our left in the distance. "See those shiny slick rocks over there and those lumpy rocks over there. It looks like there are small mountains in the distance. Everything seems to be the same color, too." I looked at P. "Okay, kid, I know you studied this in school just before we got out for the summer. You showed me some photos in a book you were reading. What do you think it is?"

P thought for a few seconds then his eyes lit up. "It's the moon, Emma! Oh wow, we're walking around on the moon. This is awesome!"

He was so excited that he jumped two feet into the air then floated gently down to the ground. It caught him off guard and he stopped and stared at us with his eyes wide open. In less than a minute, the frightened look was gone and the boy began leaping into the air over and over again to see how high he could get.

"Whoa P, that's enough jumping, we don't want to lose you into space if you go too high." Zack laughed. P continued to do leaps, but kept himself lower to the ground to appease Zack.

"What should we do next?" I asked. "I doubt anyone else is here. I wonder what the book has planned for us to learn here."

"I don't know." replied Zack. "But let's go explore and figure it out!" He started to walk to the left and waved us on to follow him.

P and I walked after him. We walked slowly at first in our huge suits, then each step turned into a hop as we crossed the low gravity landscape. We finally approached what looked like a massive pile of sandy dirt. P immediately scampered towards it. He briefly paused to look at us, but before Zack and I could say "No" he had climbed to the top of the hill. Before we knew it, he sat at the very top of the hill and waved down at us.

"Hey guys, come look at this. It's huge!"

We eventually caught up to him, and stood at the bottom of the hill. Zack looked at me. "Ladies first." He bowed and ushered me ahead with a wave of his hand.

I climbed slowly up the hill until I reached P. I sat next to him and waited for Zack. He followed me up and sat next to both of us. The three of us sat quietly and looked out in awe over the other side of the hill. The dirt sloped downward in front of us and kept going and going until it eventually tapered off and became flat. The horizontal portion seemed to go on for miles into the distance.

"Are we on a mountain?" asked P and looked inquisitively at Zack and me then pointed. "Look how steep it gets down there."

Zack responded, "I don't think so. To me it looks like a great lake without any water." He wrinkled his brow, "But I'm not sure."

I scanned the area... brown dirt everywhere. It did look like a giant lake bottom, but it seemed too flat and even. Then it donned on me. "Hey guys. I think this is actually a crater."

"No way," P replied as he rolled his eyes. "I've seen pictures of those things and they just look like big circles. Like, this big." He held his arms in an arc out in front of him with his fingertips touching.

"No P," Zack laughed as he chimed in, "I think she's right. Craters can actually be miles long. I think they're caused by objects bumping into the moon."

"Really?" replied P, "Because it doesn't look like any of the pictures I've seen."

I answered, "Well, honey...those pictures are from really far away so the craters look smaller. We are seeing it from very close up so it looks really big!"

P thought a minute, "Hmmm, that makes sense. I can see it now."

Zack added chidingly, "Yes, and P, the moon is not really made of cheese, and it doesn't actually have a face on one side."

"Oh, Zack," P laughed as he responded. "Stop making fun of me!"

Zack winked at P, then all of a sudden P lunged at Zack and they started to play wrestle. We all laughed, but as they wrestled, they began to roll down the side of the hill towards the inside of the crater. They seemed to pick up speed as they rolled.

I watched Zack and P tumble down the side of the crater. Dust flew through the air as they rolled, their legs tangled and arms flailed in the air. What started as a fun tussle began to turn into a dangerous situation. I heard a faint "Helllppp...." as they rolled faster and faster down the crater's embankment.

I scanned the area for anything that might slow them down but the landscape was barren. If they didn't stop they would be so far into the lake-sized crater that they wouldn't be able to get back up. If I chased after them I could end up in the same predicament and we would all be stuck in the crater.

What else could I do? I started down the steep hill, trying hard not to lose my balance. The sandy ground was mobile and felt slick under my feet. Suddenly I started to tumble forward, but I caught myself just in time. Pheww. I started again but this time my feet slid out from under me and I landed on my back, with my feet sticking out in front of me. Dust flew around my face, and I had to wipe it from my eyes as I tried to look outward to see how far Zack and P had rolled.

I couldn't help them. I sat there hoping that they would be all right. Suddenly, the two of them flipped through the air, tumbling over each other. I saw boots, then gloves, then plopppp! Both boys landed face down in the tan dirt. Their legs were sprawled out behind them and they weren't moving.

I caught my breath as I waited for them to move. Finally I saw P's left leg wiggle. He slowly pulled his feet underneath him and stood up.

P was a little wobbly, but he managed to wave at me. "I'm all right Emma!"

"Thank goodness. How's Zack?" I responded, trying not to let P hear the worry in my voice.

"I don't know. Let me see." P plodded very slowly, being careful not to fall and start the rolling again. He made it to Zack's side, gently squatted down beside him and tapped him on the shoulder. He spoke quietly into Zack's left ear and I could hear the anxiety in his voice. "Zack, are you okay?"

Time seemed to stand still as we waited for a response. Finally, we heard a low moan.

"Mnnnpphh. Ugh. Oh man." Zack muttered. He slowly rolled over onto his back and pulled his heavy gloved hand to his the mask that covered his face, as if he was trying to hold his head. "What happened? I remember rolling down the side of the crater, then there was a bump, then everything went black."

"We hit a rock and it stopped us from rolling. We both flew through the air. It was awesome!" P exclaimed.

"Oh dear," Zack responded, "I must have hit my head on the inside of my helmet and got knocked out. I think I'm okay now. Thank goodness for that rock. I didn't think we were ever going to stop."

"I'm just glad you're both okay!" I yelled from where I sat on the slope. "You guys need to take it slow coming back up here. Be careful!"

P and Zack began the ascent back up the side of the crater. They scaled the embankment carefully, ensuring that each step had good footing. They finally caught up to me and we carefully completed the trek back up to the apex. Once we arrived at the top, panting from the exertion, we rested and looked back in awe at the huge lake-like crater.

After a few minutes of silence, Zack spoke up, "Okay... who's got the book. I think this may be a good time to try it."

My mouth dropped open. I felt around my space suit. I didn't have it. I don't know how I would have been able to carry it anyway. "Do you have it P?"

P shook his head no. Zack shrugged his shoulders. He didn't have it either.e slowly pulled his feet up under him then stood up

"Okay guys. We probably left it where we landed, but I'm not sure if I can even tell where we came from." I continued to scan the area below us, but I couldn't see the book.

The three of us sat atop the side of the crater looking out at the vast moonscape.

"Hey, Emma," P interjected, "I think I see our footprints over there. We can follow them back to the book!" He nodded as he tapped his finger on the right side of his helmet as if tapping his temple to indicate how smart he was.

"All right smarty," I responded. "Let's go look for the book!"

We slid down the side of the hill and set out in search of the book. We retraced our steps as we followed the imprints of our boots in the sandy dirt. We saw the large toes pointing toward us and the smaller heels in the back. The centers of each shoe print had wavy ridges from the soles of the boots. Zack's prints were by far the largest as he had started his teenage growth spurt. Mine were next in size, and P's much, much smaller footprints followed beside the bigger ones. We continued to retrace our steps along the flat ground.

I spoke up, "Wow, I didn't realize we had walked this far. There are so many footprints!" and then I paused and smiled. "Hey, I think I see the book. Is that it over there?"

Zack and P strained to see. "I see it!" P shouted. "That square bump right next to the rock."

He began to run as fast as he could in the big boots and cumbersome spacesuit, which wasn't very fast at all. We hobbled after him. We finally caught up with P, and I reached down to pick up the book. As I looked at its cover, I felt like it was frowning at me. The cover was slightly displaced to the right and I could see about one inch of pages sticking out. Because of the angle that the book was positioned in, they were spread into an arc forming the book's frowning mouth. Two small stones sat on the face of the book and looked like sad eyes staring up at me.

I grabbed the book and held it to my chest. "Sorry." I whispered so the boys couldn't hear. Then I turned towards them with the book in my arms.

"Well, throw it down!" shouted P, and his exuberant voice reverberated through my helmet.

"Okay kid, but, I don't think this is a good spot here. Let's walk over that way." I pointed in another direction worried that the book was still mad and didn't like where it was now.

P and Zack shrugged their shoulders as if they didn't understand, but followed me anyway as I turned and walked away. I walked about 20 feet before I gently put the book down on some soft soil. It was silly, bit I felt guilty for abandoning it earlier.

We waited about five minutes after I set it down. Nothing. The book remained still, but I felt like it wasn't upset with us anymore. Its pages were in line and its cover was straight.

Zack finally spoke, "Now what?"

"I don't think it's ready." I replied.

P looked downtrodden and shook his head from side to side.

"Well," I added, "I guess we should explore some more. How often do people get to walk on the moon? But which way should we go?"

Just then a rock rolled out from under the book and with a "plop" the corner slid into the sand. A thin line of sand stuck to the edges, about two inches up both sides. The sand lines formed an arrow at the corner of the book that pointed in a direction we had not travelled yet.

"How about this way?" I pointed my index finger in the same direction as the arrow.

The boys seemed anxious to get going so there were no objections, and they started ahead of me. I remembered to reach down and grab the book before I left. Luckily, I had found the cloth bag lying next to where we had found the book earlier. I slipped the book through the opening and tried to fling the bag over my shoulder. The strap would not fit over the huge arm of my spacesuit and the bag kept slipping off. I clasped the strap close to the opening of the bag with my thick gloved hand. I held it as tightly as I could for fear of dropping it, took a deep breath then followed the boys.

We plodded along, occasionally stooping to look at moon rocks. Zack and P pointed out craters, but we smartly stayed away from them. As we walked along, P started to get bored. At first, he began to wander away from us, but Zack sharply steered him back onto our path with a "P!" that echoed through our headsets. P joined us and walked with us for a while, but soon became bored again. He started to hop like he had done before, briefly hovering in the air before he landed back on the ground.

Zack and I let him go because it was keeping him busy and we could keep an eye on him. Eventually he had managed to move himself in front of us and we could see the hopping get higher and the amount of time he spent in the air get longer. This continued until we heard a squeal.

"Emma! Zack! Please help me. I can't get back to the ground!

Sure enough, P was floating about six feet off the moon's surface. We scrambled after him but before we could reach him, he had floated above our heads. He was scared and started flailing his arms and legs trying to move his body back to the ground.

"Don't flap your arms like that!" I shouted. "It will only make you go higher!

As I yelled, Zack was trying to jump up and catch P's leg, but he couldn't reach him. He kept jumping and hovering briefly in the air, but just couldn't get high enough. P seemed to be floating higher faster.

"Why is his suit not working?" I excitedly asked Zack as he hopped through the air. "It shouldn't let him get up that high! Our suits keep us heavy and on the ground."

As I said these words, I saw about two feet of thick black tube protruding from the back on P's spacesuit. It gently flapped in the air as P floated upward.

I yelled, "Zack, grab the black tube! You may be able to reach it. It looks like something came loose and his suit is not keeping him down!"

We both ran after P but it seemed like he kept getting farther and farther away. We frantically jumped trying to grab P or something sticking out from his suit. We were beginning to fear that we couldn't get him back down.

All of a sudden we heard a crackling noise come through the sound system inside our helmets, then a man's voice spoke. "Houston, you're not going to believe this. I'm not sure I believe it myself!"

There was a pause, then another crackle, then another man's voice came responded. "Go ahead Neil, what's the problem."

The first man replied, "Um...It looks like we may not be the first ones out here. I see three men in the distance. Two of them seem to running, if you can call their slow movements running. The third is hovering about seven feet in the air. I think they are running after him, trying to catch him."

The other man named Houston spoke again. "Uh, that's impossible. No one else's space programs have announced that they were going to the moon. It may be the Russians, be careful!"

"I don't know," Neil replied. "They all seem very short. The Russian astronauts that I have seen are much taller. The man that is floating in the air also seems extremely small." There was a pause on both sides as they thought in disbelief, then Neil added, "Houston, I think they're in distress and I need to help them!"

At first we could not see the astronauts, but as we chased after P, they came into view. The slightly taller of two men was just climbing down a ladder attached to a strange looking vehicle. The other man had poked his head out of the door. I thought that must be Houston. The top part of the contraption they were leaving was composed of flat panels placed in squares and hexagons. The top sat on a base that seemed to be covered in gold foil with four legs extending down to the ground.

We continued to move toward the men as we chased P. We couldn't stop. We couldn't lose him. The men started to hobble toward us as fast as they could.

I spoke to Zack as I had before, "I think the black tube is closer to the ground. Can you catch it? I think those men said they were coming to help. Maybe they can get it."

As soon as I said this, the two men stopped dead in their tracks. "Um... can you hear us talk?" the taller man spoke, then added in surprise, "You speak English?"

"I can hear you just fine." I replied.

Zack added, "Me too."

P added, "Please help me! I can't get back down to the ground!"

The taller man, Neil, began to speak to the shorter man, "Buzz, run around in front of him and try to catch him. I will try to grab him from the side!"

They maneuvered toward P. Buzz headed in front of him and Neil came towards him at an angle. We followed behind him as fast as we could in our cumbersome spacesuits. The two older men were much taller than us. Zack was tall but not as tall as them. Hopefully they could reach the tube.

We watched Neil jump into the air, and, as he hovered there, he was able to reach out and grab the broken black tubing sticking out from P's suit. He grabbed it tightly and pulled P closer to the ground. P was then able to put both of his legs on the ground as Neil held him by the shoulder. Buzz came over to him and grabbed the end of the tube that had been hanging off of the spacesuit. He found where it had popped off and was, surprisingly, able to reattach it. Zack and I saw him tighten something around the tube and then it stayed in place.

P was now able to stay on the ground. We could tell that he was still a little afraid. He seemed to shuffle as he walked, not picking up his big boots into the air, likely in fear of drifting into space again.

I turned to the astronauts. "Thank you so much for your help."

"Yes, thank you for saving me!" Polite P chimed in.

The men made sure that P was safe, but then they remembered their confusion at seeing the three of us.

"So who are you?" Neil asked.

"Yeah, are you from Russia? You don't have a Russian accent." Buzz added. How did you get here? Where is your lunar lander?"

As they asked these questions, the crackling noise came through our headsets again. "What's going on up there? We lost you for a while. Is everything okay? Over."

Neil spoke first. "Um, Houston, We are all right. We ran into a little trouble, but, I think everything is okay now."

As I listened to their conversation, I realized who they were talking to. Houston wasn't the name of a man but the name of the city they were in. It was NASA, mission control for America's space flights. I laughed to myself, then stood in amazement as it donned on me that we were talking to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first men on the moon. Michael Collins must still be in the orbiter.

Zack nudged me, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Do you know who these guys are? Wow!"

I came out of my dream state as I realized that these two men were staring at US in disbelief and had asked us many questions that we could not answer. We had a lot of explaining to do from their point of view.

P interrupted my thoughts. "Emma, I know who these guys are. I learned about them in school!"

The five of us stood there staring at each other, not sure what to do next. Suddenly, P's flapping arms caused the tubing to flop off his back again, and he started to slowly drift upward. My mind worked fast this time, and in a split second, I pulled the bag from my shoulder, yanked out the book and threw it onto the ground.

A word quickly began to form on the cover. "DREAM" appeared in heavy black print. At first nothing else happened. Zack was in the process of grabbing the tubing at P's back and holding him still when the breeze started. The pages fluttered gently at first, then the book flopped open to reveal its blank sheets. A faint lowercase "a" materialized in the right upper corner of one of the open pages. It hopped down to the center, similarly to how P was hopping across the moon. An "e" formed in the left upper corner and slid down to the center to rest near the "a". More letters began to appear in the corners and along the sides of the page. Each letter hopped or slid to its final position.

When all the letters were in their appropriate spots we could read the quote. "Never give up. Strive to achieve your dreams. If a man can make it to the moon, YOU can do anything you set your mind to. Following your dreams and desires will bring you closer to home."

Then the wind picked up and sand began to whip into the air. The astronauts were stunned. The air on the surface of the moon was definitely not supposed to do this.

Sandy dirt began to spin in a circle on the ground. Sand lifted upward and the center of the circle began to look like an eddy in a river, coming to a point at the center. The ring continued to lift off of the moon's surface and slowly spun until the opening stood in front of us.

The wind then became a gale, and sand and small rocks flew through the air. The debris obstructed our view of the astronauts. I could see them holding their gloved hands up to their helmets to try to see through the flying rocks. They were so stunned they couldn't even speak.

Suddenly, the spinning sand fell to the ground and only a filmy swirling mist remained. The center opening began to enlarge from a small circle, to kid sized, then to teenager sized. It was time. Zack suddenly took charge, pulled P's tube closer to him and grabbed his hand, then grabbed my left gloved hand. As he dragged us toward the mist, I reached down and grabbed the book and bag in one sweep and held them tight to my chest. Well, as close to my chest as I could through my thick spacesuit.

Zack leapt first, and P and I trailed slightly behind, both of us grasping Zack's bulky gloves firmly. As we travelled toward the silent abyss, I heard the familiar crackling of the radio from mission control.

"We lost contact with you for a while. Is everything okay? What is your status? How are the other astronauts?"

"Um, Houston..." Neil replied in a confused tone. "It's actually just the two of us. I really can't explain what we just saw. I think we were both hallucinating. The combination of the stress of the trip and the atmosphere of the moon must be playing with our minds. Things are back to normal now. Well, Houston, that's one small step for man......"

The familiar silence engulfed us before Neil completed his famous quote. As we floated, I began to feel the warmth of Zack's hand as the thick gloves seemed to melt away. I was thankful that he was there with us. He was a true friend to P even though he was much older, and he was probably the best friend I had since we moved into the new house. I wondered if he knew how much he meant to me, then the blackness of the abyss surrounded me and my thoughts drifted away.

Chapter 12

Bump...bump...bump. I landed...then P landed...then Zack landed, on something gray and hard. I came to my senses and looked down. It was concrete. As I glanced around to take in my surroundings and figure out where we were, I saw a small patch of bright green grass right next to where we landed. Why do we never land on something soft? Zack and P started to get up. They were also looking around the area.

We had landed on a sidewalk that ran alongside a busy two lane street on one side, and was bordered by a narrow stretch of grass on the other. Cars whizzed past us and we could hear the high pitched beeps of horns in the background. People scurried past quickly. No one stopped to see if we were okay. In fact, no one even noticed that we were there.

One man walked past P and almost knocked him down. "Wow, Emma, where are we? It's so busy here!"

"I'm not sure P. It looks like a busy city." I looked up at the tall building across the street to our right. I could see our reflections in the shiny mirrored windows. Men and women dressed in gray or black suits walked in and out through the revolving door at the center of the high rise. A quieter one way street ran along the other side of the grassy area.

On the other side of the one way street sat smaller older buildings. Many appeared to be shops with colorful awnings over their single doors. One shop had block letters painted over the brick wall above its light blue awning. "Cobbler." Another building had fancy script letters painted along the top of its wide window. "Bakery." These shops seemed so quaint and quiet compared to the bustling structure across the street.

Zack spoke as I was thinking about the shops. "Hey, guys, look! See there." He pointed to the top of a building in front of us. "See that tower rising from behind the building. It looks like it has a small pyramid for its roof, and I can barely make out a clock face beneath it. I think that's Big Ben. I think we're in London!"

"Oh yes, and look over there." I pointed to a bus stop down the street ahead of us as a large, red bus pulled up to the curb. "There's a double decker bus! I think you're right."

P chimed in. "I remember reading about this place in school. Wow! Maybe we'll meet the Queen!"

"I don't know, P," responded Zack, "Maybe we will." He smiled and raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure we'll meet somebody here, but there are so many people walking around, I can't believe that no one saw us land."

"I did!" a squeaky young voice drifted out from the grassy area behind us.

We all turned abruptly and saw a young girl, about eight or nine years old, sitting on a metal bench at the far end of the patch of grass. She was swinging her feet, covered in black patent leather Mary Janes, back and forth underneath the bench. She wore a green and blue plaid jumper with white socks that almost touched her knees. Her light brown hair was parted in the middle of her head and hung in thick braids on either side. Each braid was secured with a neatly tied blue bow.

She sat on the bench and calmly smiled at us as her gray blue eyes twinkled. "I saw you, um, land. I was watching the people go in and out of the door across the street and, all of a sudden, you were on the sidewalk. It was like there was a hole in the air and the three of you fell out of it."

Zack, P and I stood there stunned. No one had ever seen us arrive before and we had never had to explain ourselves. Would she believe us? Would she call the police?

P must have felt comfortable with the little girl since she was close to his age and he spoke first. "Um, hi, I'm P, and this is my sister Emma and our friend Zack. We're from Ohio, in the United States. Are we really in London?"

"Yes you are," she replied. "My name is Olivia. My mum owns that bakery over there." She pointed across the street to the building with the red awning. "She's pretty busy right now, making some special cakes for a very important person. I was trying to help, but first I spilled the flour on the floor, next I knocked over some food coloring and stained the counter pink, then I accidently brushed the eggs onto the floor. That was a sticky yellow mess. My mum was trying not to get angry. I came out here to sit because I kept getting in the way. And then I saw you three suddenly roll onto the sidewalk." She smiled at us. "So where did you come from?"

Zack had decided to tell the little girl the truth. She seemed innocent enough and besides that, he could not think of a good tall tale to tell. Just as he started to open his mouth to try to explain our story, a thin woman in a suit brushed past me so hard that we both bounced off each other and landed on the ground. The woman had her hair parted in the middle and secured at the back of her head in a tight bun. When she got up strands of hair fell out of place and she stuck out her bottom lip to blow them out of her line of vision. Then she squatted down on the ground again and frantically started to grab at the books and papers that she no longer had in her hands. The four of us also crouched down to help her gather her things. After she had piled her papers in her arms again, she apologized for running into me, thanked us for our help and quickly walked off.

"Okay...so where did you come from and how did you get here?" The persistent little girl asked again after the commotion had died down.

We turned our attention to Olivia again. "Well," said Zack, "It's a long story, but the main gist is that we found this magic book and it takes us through time, and we're just trying to get back home now."

"Wow, that's so cool!" sang out Olivia. "Can I see the book?"

Zack turned toward me.

"I guess so." I replied and reached up to my shoulder to grab the strap of the bag that carried the precious book.

I pulled the bag to the ground, but it was empty. Oh no, not again. My heart sank. I had lost the book again.

P saw the expression on my face. "Oh, Emma, I see it. There it is!" he pointed to the edge of the grass then ran over to grab the book.

He brought it back and handed it to me. I was relieved, until I read the words on the cover. "Economics." Ugh. It wasn't our book. Where did ours go?

Olivia saw the confused look on my face and spoke up, "Oh my goodness. I bet that lady that bumped into you has your book. Everything went flying and I bet she accidentally picked up yours instead of hers. Uh oh!"

We have to get it!" Zach said excitedly. "Or we'll never get home!"

"Did you see which way the lady went?" I asked to everyone. "We'll have to follow her!"

Olivia responded, "I think that's her getting on the bus down the street."

We all watched a thin woman with a bun, dressed in a gray suit, standing amidst a group of people at the nearest bus stop. As we watched, we heard the "screeeech" of the red double decker bus as it came to a stop on the side of the street. The business woman was at the back of the line.

"Come on!" yelled Zack. He grabbed my hand and started running.

I grabbed P's hand and he in turn grabbed Olivia's hand, and the four of us ran down the sidewalk to the bus. As we neared the bus, the woman was stepping up onto the last step.

"Wait!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The bus doors closed behind the woman with a loud creak and the bus pulled away from the curb with a loud "rrrrrrr". Zack let go of my hand, stopped abruptly and placed his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. I was running with too much momentum and slammed into him with so much force that he fell over onto the sidewalk. P and Olivia came tumbling after me and landed on top of the pile.

It took us a few minutes to recover, then Zack spoke first. "What are we going to do now? We can't catch up to the bus. It's going way too fast and we're already worn out."

Olivia looked dejected. "I'm sorry guys. It's my fault you lost your book. If I hadn't been talking to you, Emma wouldn't have been run into by that woman."

"It's okay," I replied. "We've been in worse situations. I'm sure there's a solution to our problem." I gave her a hug.

"Olivia," interrupted P. "Do you know where that bus goes? Where is the next stop?"

"It stops again about three blocks over." She replied.

Zack interjected, "When is the next bus?"

Olivia racked her brain. "I think another bus comes shortly after this one. It goes the same way until Mulberry Avenue. Then it veers in another direction."

"Let's see..." replied Zack. "I wonder if we have a chance of seeing the lady after she gets off the bus. Maybe we can scan the streets to see if we pass her by."

"It's worth a try." I said. "I don't really know what else to do."

"Hopefully she'll get off the bus at a stop before the next one changes course." P added.

We all nodded and began to wait for the next bus. P and Olivia sat on a small wooden bench while Zack and I stood behind them patiently waiting. The next bus approached about ten minutes later. As it came to a screeching stop, I instinctively held tightly to the bag over my shoulder, then I remembered that the prized contents were no longer in the bag. I sighed as I followed Zack, P and Olivia up a short set of stairs through a door at the rear of the bus.

Olivia yanked on Zack's shirt as she climbed the stairs. "Let's go to the top level. We'll probably be able to see better from up there."

We followed her up another set of stairs that curved ninety degrees at the last three steps and directed us to the upper level. I had been on busses when my family lived in the city but I had never ridden on anything like this. We had always entered the bus at the front, to the side of the driver, and our busses never had a second level. It was a strange feeling to be up so high. We could see the tops of the cars that passed by. Surely we would be able to see the lady, that accidentally took the book, from up so high. Hopefully she would still be out walking on the sidewalk.

We shuffled toward the seats. Olivia and P shared a seat on the left, and Zack and I veered to the right. We scanned the sidewalks as we rode by. There were so many people walking back and forth across the cement. Men and women poured out of shops with packages in their hands. We passed a few cafes with tables and chairs placed in small courtyards, just outside the entrance doors. Most chairs were filled with people gabbing and enjoying tea and pastries.

"Zack," I whispered in his ear. "What time is it?"

"Almost four o'clock, why?" he retorted.

I nodded to him but did not answer his question, and I wondered out loud, "Olivia, why are there so many people out eating at this time? It seems awfully early for dinner."

"Oh, why it's tea time. That must be why my belly is growling. Mum usually makes me a cup of tea with milk and sugar and lets me choose a yummy pasty from the bakery shelf. I usually chose a scone. Oh, they're my favorite."

"That's why there are so many people out right now. It makes it harder to look for the lady and the book." And I frowned and wrinkled my nose.

We continued to scan the sidewalks. I had lost track of all the turns the bus had made, but it didn't really matter since I didn't know where we were anyway. The bus had slowed in heavier traffic and I was beginning to think our efforts were fruitless.

Suddenly, P yelled out, "I see her. There she is!"

Zack and I ran to P's side of the bus and leaned over the two small children as we looked through the window. We saw the young woman sitting at an outdoor café, sipping tea while she perused a book in her lap. She had brushed her fly-away hair tightly back up into the bun to appear more presentable, but she had taken off her high heeled pumps and folded her legs underneath her, in Indian style, to be more comfortable. She looked younger than I had thought when she had run into me. She didn't appear to be more than a few years older than me and Zack.

We waited as patiently as we could until the bus came to a complete stop about a block away. Once it stopped, the four of us raced through the aisle and clamored down the stairs. We were a good ways away from the café at this point.

Zack grabbed my hand as soon as we landed on the sidewalk. "Come on! We need to run! We need to catch up to her before she leaves the café."

I grabbed P and P grabbed Olivia's hand, and we dodged oncoming pedestrians as we sped down the sidewalk. I looked for the red and black awning above the café's doorway that we had seen from the bus. Finally it came into view. As we came closer I could make out a table with a pile of books on top and a chair pulled out from underneath it.

"She's not there!" shouted P and he stopped behind the chair.

Olivia reached P and panted from running, "Is that your book? The one with the really thick spine and rounded edges?"

We could all see the heavy book sticking out from under the pile of newer more modern books.

P turned to me, "Em, give me the economics book and I will make a trade. I'll have her book back on the pile and our book back in the bag before she gets back!"

He grabbed the book from my hand and scooted closer to the table. He slowly pulled our magic book out from underneath the pile, then gently placed the lady's book on top. He turned around with a big triumphant smile on his face just as a policeman rounded the corner in front of us.

"Stop thief!" the policeman yelled as he raced toward us.

P was stunned and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Arms up where I can see them, now!" the policeman yelled. Instead of a gun, he raised a black wooden baton over his head as he came toward us.

P dropped the book onto the ground and put his arms up over his head. The four of us stood there in shock.

The policeman bent down to pick up the book. "I saw you steal this book. I'm taking you down to the station!"

He grabbed P's hand tightly and yanked him forward as he began walking down the sidewalk.

"Wait!" I yelled. "He wasn't stealing. This is our book."

"Do you expect me to believe that this little boy is reading this big book? I saw him take it with my own eyes."

"You don't understand sir," I interjected. "We were giving this," I paused and pointed to the Economics book. "Back to its rightful owner. She accidentally picked up our book, and I, accidentally, picked up hers."

"Then why didn't you wait until she came back to the table?" He scowled. "I don't think I believe you. I'm taking you down to the station!"

"Wait! Noooo!" I stammered. "You can't take him...er...um...I'm his sister."

"Well then, you're coming with me too!" and the policeman grabbed my arm and pulled me along with them.

I looked over my shoulder as I was dragged, "Zack, find the lady who took the book! She's our only hope. She's the only one he'll believe."

I watched Zack and Olivia get smaller and smaller as the police officer pulled us toward his car down the street. When we got there, he opened the door of a boxy car painted a blue-green color with white doors that had Police printed on them in black. It was quite different from our black and white police cars back home. He then gently asked us to sit in the back seat. I had been waiting to be tossed into the seat like they do on all those cop shows, and I was surprised, but thankful, that the man was not harsh.

He muttered to himself, "I don't know why all these kids have gone wrong. I've seen way to many ones turn bad so young." He shook his head back and forth, then turned to us in the backseat. "Kids, I'm Officer Durham. I'm taking you down to the station. I'm turning you over to Sergeant Newcastle when we get there, because I have to get back on my beat. I'm going to let him decide whether we're going to keep you or just call your parents."

He continued to shake his head sadly as P and I looked at each other. We road silently to the station, afraid that if we said something we would get into more trouble. When we reached the station, Officer Durham got out of the right side of the police car, where the steering wheel was, then opened the back door for us. P got out first and I crawled across the seat behind him. The officer gently grabbed both our shoulders and guided us up a set of stairs and through a single glass door into a rather dingy room.

"Here, you two. Sit on these chairs and Sergeant Newcastle will be with you shortly." Officer Durham pointed to two hard wooden chairs in front of a small wooden desk, piled high with folders and papers. He smiled at us under a thick black mustache that extended all the way to his laugh lines. "Thanks for being so cooperative kids. Please think about what you are doing!" He turned on his heels to step over to the sergeant's office and I heard him mutter under his breath, "Maybe I've saved them before they really get into trouble."

While he was gone, we looked around the station. There were about ten desks. Half had people sitting at them and the others were empty. Most had piles of papers on them like Officer Durham's. As I looked around the room something appeared to be missing. I had seen a police station when I was younger. P had gotten lost when we lived in the city. Luckily he didn't get far before a policeman found him and brought him to the nearest station. My mom had to bring me along when she picked me up. I remember a lot of hugging and tears, and a little bit of scolding for P running off.

As I sat and thought about my surroundings to try to figure out what was different, P spoke up. "Hey Emma, there are no computers here. Wow! This isn't anything like the police stations on T.V. Look, there are lots of filing drawers over there on the wall, and men keep going over there to pull out folders. The men have awfully shaggy hair, too, and everyone seems to have a mustache." P moved his upper lip as if he was moving his own mustache.

Some men were wearing neatly buttoned blue uniforms with really wide lapels. Others wore white dress shirts with huge collars. Their clothing reminded me of some clothes I found in the back of my dad's closet, once. He had told me they were from a long time ago, when he was young.

P was right. Not a single desk had a computer on it, but each one had a small square phone with a round dial on it. The numbers one through nine, and then zero, showed through each of ten holes on the rotary dial. An ear piece shaped like a banana with two half lemons attached to each end sat atop each square phone. Each was attached to the base via a long cord that resembled a very thin slinky.

I turned to P and shook my head, "I'm not sure what time we're in, but I think we still have a few decades before we get home."

Just as P began to frown, the sergeant strode out to see us. He was tall with a big belly that hung over his belt and obstructed the belt buckle. His chin and cheeks were covered with a thick bushy beard. "Ahh, kids. Getting into trouble today? I'll make a deal with you. Tell me where your parents live and I'll have Officer Durham drop you off on his way back to the beat."

P spoke up quickly. "Oh that's easy. We live at 204 Oak Tree Lane in Ohio!" He was so proud of himself for remembering his new address.

"You're from where? Ohio? That's clear across the Atlantic Ocean son. Are you a tourist? Where are your parents? Ugh, why don't those American blokes watch their own children?" He turned to me. "Okay, Miss, you're the older child. I hope you can tell me where your parents are."

The wheels started turning in my head. What could I tell the sergeant that would make sense, and that he would believe? Luckily, just as I opened my mouth to speak, Zack and Olivia pushed open the glass door and entered into the station. They were followed by the lady we saw at the café. Sergeant Newcastle looked up as they entered. The three of them ran over to us as soon as they spotted us by the desk at the center of the room.

The lady spoke first. "Excuse me sir, my name is Eleanor Hartley. Here's my card." She held out a business card.

The sergeant took the card in his hand. I strained to read it from behind his elbow. It read, Eleanor Hartley.....Professional Nanny.

"These are my wards, sir." She shook her head, "I'm sorry if they caused you any problems."

She reached into a leather satchel and pulled out an Economics book, then our special book.

"Are you missing this?" she asked P and me.

"Oh thank you." We both replied at the same time.

"I'm sorry about the misunderstanding. These kids had accidentally picked up my economics book, while I had inadvertently picked up theirs. This little man was just trying to return my book, not stealing it." She turned and smiled sweetly at the policeman.

"It really is just a misunderstanding, sir."

The large man seemed to growl under his breath, "I don't have time for this nonsense. Please Miss, get these kids out of my hair!" He turned toward Officer Durham with a scowl on his face. "William! In my office now!" And he walked off.

Zack and Olivia came up and hugged us.

"Phew," I said. "We were making him so mad, he might have changed his mind and made us spend the night in jail!"

"I'm just glad you guys are all right!" Zack hugged me tighter.

"Okay dears," Eleanor interjected. "We need to get out of here before he changes his mind again!"

The five of us walked out of the station into the evening air, and Zack and Eleanor started to explain.

Zack spoke first. "So, just after you guys disappeared around the corner, Eleanor came out of the café to sit back at her table, and we talked to her. I think we scared her a little bit because we were waiting for her."

"Yes," Eleanor began to speak. "I am so glad you kids found me. I needed that Economics book badly. I have a test tomorrow. I am studying finance at Mitterby College. Mostly night classes now. I was lucky enough to get an internship with a firm in town and they will probably offer me a job when I'm done with school. But....I have to make good grades on all my tests. My boss was nice enough to let me have the afternoon off to study."

"But your card said you were a nanny." I interrupted.

"Oh, I was a nanny before I went to college. I took care of lots of children. Boy, did they keep me busy. I loved it though. I would still be doing it if I could, but my mum really wanted me to go to school. I think I'm the only one of her five kids that she expected to make something of herself. She sent me to the city to live with my Aunt Ellie, who I'm named after, so I would be closer to the college."

"Well thank you for helping us out." I added.

"Yeah, thanks a bunch!" added P. "I thought we were going to jail. Boy that would have been an interesting story to tell."

As we stood there talking, we didn't realize how late it had gotten. The sun was beginning to set and a faint orange glow had developed over the cityscape in the distance.

Olivia looked up at the sky. "Oh no! It's almost supper time. My mom will be worried sick if I'm not back soon. She's been so busy lately. A friend of hers is getting married tomorrow and she has been making pastries for the event. She wasn't allowed to make the cake, though. The groom's family has some royal baker doing that."

Zack and I looked at each other. I whispered, "A royal baker? Interesting. You don't hear about things like that back in Ohio."

Olivia pulled at my sleeve. "Hurry guys, we need to get to the nearest bus stop!"

We said our goodbyes to Eleanor and started to follow Olivia down the street. Then Eleanor waved us back.

"Hold on kids. I have a better idea. I can borrow my Aunt's car and drive you home. It will be quicker if you don't have to sit through all those bus stops. Then you won't be late."

"What a marvelous idea!" replied Olivia. "Thank you very much!"

"My Aunt's flat is about a block down the street. Oh dear..." she paused and her nanny instinct kicked in. "You kids know that you should never go off with strangers. I want to help you but I don't want to teach you bad things... it's your decision." And she chewed at her lower lip in frustration.

Olivia and P looked at us pleadingly. Zack turned at me then pulled me towards him so my back would be toward Eleanor. He spoke in a low voice. "She's right, but honestly Em, what do we have to lose. We're stuck in the past. We don't know when we're going home. I think different rules apply here, and we need her help. The book wants us to learn something or help someone. What if Olivia doesn't get home and the book keeps us here longer...or even forever?"

I shivered at the thought of being stuck in time forever. "You're right, we need her help. I think we'll be all right if we stick together! Let's follow her."

Zack spoke to Eleanor, "Okay, we need to get Olivia home, so we'll go back to your house with you."

We followed Eleanor down past the next two streets. We cut over through a short cross street, then zigzagged back in front of a group of shops and soon came to a long, narrow, two story building with a row of red doors. Eleanor stopped at the second red door and pushed a button to the right of the doorknob. Bzzzz.

She then spoke into a black metal box on the wall by the doorframe. "Aunt Ellie. It's me Eleanor. Can you buzz me in? I forgot my key this morning."

"Oh dear, said a sweet voice through the black box on the wall. "Of course I will sweetie. I'm looking forward to hearing how work went today."

The black box made another buzzing sound then went silent. We heard a click, then Eleanor turned the knob and gently pushed the door open. We followed her up a flight of wooden stairs to a lone white door. As soon as we reached the top, an older lady poked her head out from behind the door and peered through the opening.

As soon as she saw Eleanor her eyes twinkled, then she pulled the door open all the way and smiled kindly at all of us. "Hello dear, who have you brought to visit us tonight?"

Aunt Ellie looked to be in her early 60's. She wore her shiny straight gray hair in a bob that angled towards her chin and accented her rouged cheekbones. She was about 5 foot 4 inches tall and had a slim figure, but carried herself proudly, as if she were 5 foot 10. She wore a long double strand of pearls around her neck and a thick row of gold bracelets around her right wrist. She reminded me of a flapper from the 1920's.

Eleanor introduced the four of us and explained our situation as we crowded the threshold to the small apartment. As she spoke, Aunt Ellie listened attentively, nodding her head as she grew to understand our circumstances. Eleanor ended her story with "and that is why I need to borrow your car so we can get Olivia back home in time for supper!"

"I see dear. Of course you can borrow my car, Eleanor." Then Aunt Ellie looked at us. I know you kids have to go but at least take a treat before you do!" She ushered us inside towards a coffee table and lifted up a rectangular box. She lifted the lid to reveal small chocolates positioned in ruffled paper cups. Each chocolate piece was topped with a curlicue S. "Ahh, Sutherly's Chocolates are my favorites!"

We each took a piece. It was wonderfully sweet, creamy milk chocolate, and I felt revived. It was just what I needed.

Eleanor finished her piece of candy then looked at her watch. "Okay kids, we don't have any more time to waste. We need to go so Olivia can get home in time. Follow me, the car is out back in the alley behind the flat."

She rushed out of the back door of the apartment, and the four of us followed her like little ducklings following their mother. We ran down a rickety metal staircase attached to the back of the building and saw Aunt Ellie's car. It was a small shiny yellow Volkswagen Beetle, with a rounded top and rounded fenders that stuck slightly outward over the car's wheels. I knew what it was because my grandmother drove one when she was younger and I had seen photos. The car looked like a bug just about to crawl across the floor, no wonder they named it a Beetle.

Eleanor opened the passenger door for us. P, Olivia and I crawled into the cramped back seat, and Zack sat in the front passenger seat. Eleanor slipped into the driver's seat and put her seatbelt on. I saw P looking around the backseat frantically. I was able to look him straight in the eye as he was sitting on the hump created by the edges of the two backseats and appeared taller.

I realized what he was doing. "Oh P, I don't think there is a seatbelt in the middle there." I whispered, "I think this car was made before they started putting seatbelts in the middle of the back seat. In fact, you're not even sitting on a real seat. Here, switch places with me and use this seatbelt." I was impressed that P wanted to wear a seatbelt. He had actually listened to mom and dad.

We were tired after our day's adventures and rode in silence as Eleanor drove us around the city back to Olivia's mother's bakery. I watched the fast moving scenery as the car rounded bends and turned corners. It was funny how old brick buildings were mixed with new shiny windowed structures. There was still a lot of history in this city. I thought it would have been so interesting to visit on a vacation, but I was not enjoying it as much as I could, now, considering our circumstances.

The trip soon came to an end and Eleanor pulled the car close to the curb in front of Olivia's mother's shop. "Okay kids. We're here. Have a great supper!"

She stepped out of the car and folded the driver's seat down so the three of us in the back could crawl out. Zack stepped out carefully from the passenger side. Olivia and P ran over to Eleanor and gave her a hug.

"Thank you!" Zack and I said simultaneously.

Eleanor gave us all a sweet smile as she hopped back into the car. She waved and called out through the window, "Good luck with the rest of your adventures!" I saw her wink and then she was off.

"Come on guys!" Olivia beckoned us to follow her.

We trailed behind her into the bakery just as her mother was cleaning up the counters. "Why, hallo dear. I was just about to go upstairs and start supper." She looked at each of us inquisitively, "And will these chaps be joining us?"

Olivia's "mum" untied her apron and placed it on a hook behind the counter, then we all followed her upstairs to a little apartment that sat above the bakery. In the kitchen she pulled out pots and placed them on the stove. Water began to bubble under the closed lids and the stove became a stage for a kitchen orchestra, as lids bounced and clanged creating clever music. She then pulled a baking sheet covered with tiny half-moon shaped pies out of the refrigerator. She placed it in the oven, closed the door then reached up to twist a small timer on the back of the stove. It began to make a ticking sound. There was nothing digital in this kitchen.

Olivia's mum turned around. "Supper will be ready in a few minutes. You can snack on the crackers and cheese that I left on the table."

We snacked on the cheese and crackers and soon supper was ready. Olivia's mum brought bowls of wonderful smelling foods to the table, and I realized how hungry I had become. She turned her back to us to retrieve the tray from the oven and then placed golden brown meat pies in front of us. We dug into steaming potatoes, Brussels sprouts cooked with salty bacon and enough creamy gravy to top all of it. The food was delicious and we were all very full by the time we were done.

Olivia's mum added, as she turned to walk away from the table, "Okay kids, now that you're done with your supper, it's time for dessert!"

I gave Zack a funny look and patted my stomach. "I don't think I could eat another bite."

P giggled. "I always have room for desert!"

Olivia added, "Oh, everyone should have room for my mum's desserts! She makes the best biscuits."

P's eyes grew wide as Olivia's mother returned with a plate full of cookies. We all took one despite the filling dinner we just enjoyed. I bit into a buttery shortbread cookie that filled my mouth with sweetness. It was probably one of the most delicious cookies I had ever tasted. I could see why Olivia's mother had her own bakery.

After we had all finished eating, Zack spoke up, "Well I guess we should be going. Thank you for the wonderful meal."

P and Olivia began to whisper to each other, then Olivia spoke aloud, "Mum, can my friends stay the night?"

"Oh dear, well... only if everyone stays quiet. I have to get up early tomorrow to finish an order. We can let them sleep in the extra room. There are only two single beds. P is it okay if you sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor?"

"Sure!" P replied. '"It will be like camping."

P, Zack and I piled into the extra room. I was exhausted and felt like I hadn't slept in weeks. P was tucked into a soft sleeping bag in the center of the room, between the two narrow beds that Zack and I had crawled into.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard a quiet knock at the door. The door creaked at it swung forward into the room and Olivia poked her head inside.

"Hallo, are you asleep?"

"Not yet!" P sat up quickly.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to wake up. Zack arose from his sleeping position. We all looked at Olivia.

"So, I was thinking. Can I see that magic book that you were so worried about losing? Do you think it will work now?"

I looked at Zack. We were so used to being in danger when we tried the book that I forgot to even attempt it. "Well, we did accomplish something today. We saved P from being arrested."

Zack laughed and nodded. "I know. It wouldn't hurt to try."

I grabbed the bag from the foot of the bed and drew out the magic book. I took a deep breath then placed it onto the floor. The four of us sat there and stared. Nothing. The book just sat there, like a regular book.

Olivia was disappointed. "I'm sorry guys. I thought, maybe, I could see it work. I'll let you guys sleep then. Goodnight. See you in the morning." With that she returned to her own room.

I must have gotten my hopes up that we were getting closer to home, and I was disappointed, too. I felt my eyes get a little wet with tears and decided that I just needed sleep. I crawled back into bed then slept soundly without dreaming.

Chapter 13

I awoke the next morning refreshed and not knowing what the day would bring. As soon as I opened my eyes, I could smell the wonderful aromas from the bakery below. As I was coming to my senses, Olivia came bounding into the room.

"Good morning! It's time for breakfast!" she cried. "My mum always has something yummy and warm to eat."

She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs. P and Zack groggily arose and followed us to the top of the stairs. Olivia let go of my hand, when she saw P, and grabbed his hand as he came closer.

P and Olivia bounded down the stairs to the bakery. Zack and I followed a little more slowly but were drawn to the sweet smells emanating from the oven and counter. We had slept later than I usually would, and Olivia's mum had already baked a large number of goodies. As we approached the bottom floor, I saw Olivia's mother speaking to a young blonde lady who was leaning on the counter.

The lady's flaxen hair was cut in a wavy bob that came just below her ears. It was combed away from her face in a way that resembled a silky bird's wing. I remembered seeing a photograph of our mom with a similar haircut when she was a young girl, and she said her hair was feathered. Funny, it did resemble feathers. The lady's flower-covered dress had puffy short sleeves and came down to the middle of her calves.

The lady spoke to Olivia's mother. "Do you think I'm making the right choice? I do love him, but I am afraid of the responsibility. I will be royalty. I will always have to be on my best behavior and answer to the Queen. I can't tell you how hard I've thought about this. I thought I could do it the moment I said yes, but I think I'm getting cold feet. I drove out here to get one of your delicious scones and to get some advice, like you used to give Ginny and me when we were young."

Olivia's mom looked thoughtfully at her. "Oh Diana, you have always been a very smart and capable girl. I'm sure you've made the right decision. You can do anything you set your mind too."

Olivia turned to P and we listened behind him. "Oh, that's Miss Diana. She's friends with my aunt Ginny. My mum knows her from when she was a kid. Ginny is my favorite aunt. Well, she's my only aunt, and she's so much fun! Diana is getting married to a prince, just like in the fairy tales. She'll be a princess. It's so exciting! Mum was invited to the wedding but she is baking for another wedding today."

I looked at Zack. "That's Princess Diana!"

P heard me talking. "Who's Princess Diana?"

"Mom used to tell me stories about when she was young. She and her friends woke up really early one morning to see Diana marry Prince Charles. It was a beautiful wedding Mom and her friends all wanted to be princesses. She actually taped it on that VCR thing that she keeps in the basement. She let me watch part of it. She was a beautiful bride."

"Is she Prince William and Prince Harry's mother? I remember hearing the news people talking about her during the last royal wedding with William and Kate."

I nodded. "Yes, that's her. She seems so young and innocent here. She did many good things for the less fortunate while she was princess."

The young lady spoke to Olivia's mum again. "Maybe I just need one of your scones for comfort and reassurance, then I'll feel better!"

Olivia's mother handed the pretty lady a fresh steaming scone. As Diana bit into it, she seemed to relax a little and a pleasing smile came over her face.

"This may make everything better."

The two ladies laughed and spoke quietly for a few more minutes, then Diana took a deep breath.

"Okay, I guess I can do it. No, I KNOW I can do it!" She reached over and gave Olivia's mum a great big hug. "Thanks so much. I so wish you could come to the wedding, but I know how important this bakery is to you. I had better leave now or I will be late for the festivities. Tata!"

Diana turned and walked out the door. She was gone only a few minutes when she breezed back in through the door.

"My car won't start! Now I really will be late and definitely off to a bad start with the Queen! Oh, why did I have to have cold feet? Charles would come to get me, but I don't want to see him before the wedding. It is bad luck. I can't call a taxi because it will be all over the news, and I don't want anyone else in the family to know that I travelled all the way out here. They just wouldn't understand..... Oh, I feel faint."

Diana had to marry Charles. Too many things in the future depended on it. Olivia's mom's bakery van was too full of pastries and cookies for anyone else to sit. I though a moment. Then I remembered that we knew someone who had a car. I fished around in my pocket and pulled out Eleanor's business card.

"Here," I handed it to Olivia's mum. "Call this number, she may be able to help."

We could hear her on the phone in the back room explaining who she was and what she needed. She hung up and walked back to us.

"Okay, Diana, she will be here in about twenty minutes. She promised not to say a word to anyone."

We waited as patiently as we could until we saw Eleanor pull up to the curb in front of the bakery. She parked the little yellow bug, jumped out of the car and raced into the bakery.

"Hi kids!" she exclaimed. Then turned towards Olivia's mom and her friend and curtsied. "Hallo Lady Diana, so nice to meet you."

We all laughed to see the sight, then Zack spoke up. "We had better leave now or we won't make it in time!"

We started towards the car, but Eleanor turned to me and Zack. "I'm sorry kids, but I can't drive you. My test starts in twenty minutes and I wouldn't make it back in time. I have to run down the street a block to my university." She frowned. "And I don't know if Diana is in a state to drive safely."

Diana fanned her face and looked rather pale.

"That's okay Eleanor," Zack broke in. "I can drive. I got my license before we started our adventure, er um, vacation." He tried to hide the fact that we were travelling through time.

"Good enough for me." added Diana. "To the car!"

We dashed out to the car. Zack actually remembered that the steering wheel was on the opposite side of the car. As he was opening the door on that side, Eleanor was letting us in on the other side. Suddenly an "Ugh" came from the driver's side.

"I don't fit!" exclaimed Zack. "The seat is too close to the wheel and I can't seem to pull it back."

"Oh, I forgot. It's stuck. Aunt Ellie and I are both short enough that we fit just fine. I'm sorry." Eleanor apologized.

"That's okay," Zack replied, "Emma will just have to drive. Her legs are shorter and she will fit just fine, too."

My eyes grew wide. "What? Zack, you know I can't drive yet. I just have my learner's license."

"You can drive with an adult in the car, and I think Lady Diana counts for that. Besides, you were doing a great job that day I saw you practicing in front of the house."

I felt my cheeks get hot. I didn't realized he had been watching me. I felt embarrassed, then my heart started to beat fast and my palms started to sweat. They were all depending on me to get Diana to her wedding. I couldn't say no.

I slipped behind the wheel, and of course fit perfectly. The other's piled into the back seat and Diana sat on the passenger side. We all pulled our seatbelts on, except for Zack who sat on the beltless hump in the middle of the backseat, letting the two younger ones be safe. I released the parking brake then stepped onto the gas and we were off.

Squeeallll... I hit the gas a little too hard as we moved out into traffic leaving faint tire marks on the concrete behind us. Each passenger was forced backward from the force. I swallowed awkwardly, then regained a little confidence to keep the car going. Thing were going smoothly for a few moments. We were on a one way street which made things easier. I followed Diana's directions, turning left at the next road and remembering to stay on the left side. Cars passed by me on the right and I began to develop a little faith in myself.

Things were going well until Diana told me to turn right at the last minute. I got a little flustered and turned the wheel too quickly, driving onto the right side of the road instead of the left, straight into oncoming traffic.

Olivia screamed from the back seat. Diana grabbed onto the dashboard in front of her and said a prayer. Zack yelled "left, Emma, left," and P just covered his eyes.

I swung the wheel hard to the left as I saw headlights and hoods coming at me. The car lurched into the left lane, but I had over compensated and we were heading straight for the building on that side of the street. Olivia screamed again. I turned the wheel, somewhat more gently this time, and the car bounced from the left to the right, positioned itself in the center of the lane and kept moving, as if nothing had happened.

Olivia stopped screaming. P uncovered his eyes. Zack took an audible deep breath as if he had been holding it and Diana loosened her grip on the dashboard. My heart seemed to regain its rhythm and no longer felt like it had stopped.

We continued to travel on down the road. Diana had opened her mouth to apologize for the late directions last time, when she yelled, "Stopppp!"

I slammed on the brakes. A bright red octagonal stop sign seemed to come out of nowhere. Of course I usually looked for them on the right side of the road, not the left. Three of my passengers heads all nodded forward then bobbed back again. Zack's head ended up right next to my left shoulder, since he did not have a strap to stop him. Luckily, he grabbed onto both front seats and stopped himself from getting any closer to the windshield.

I let the car rest in front of the stop sign, put my face in my hands and sobbed. Diana touched me gently on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear. I forgot you had just learned to drive. I should have been a tad quicker with my directions. Please don't cry." She patted my back as she spoke. "My head is just elsewhere today."

"I can't do anything right! I can't even drive a car!" I began to sob louder and I felt like I couldn't control it.

At this point, cars were backing up behind be and I heard many high pitched English horns beeping at me.

Zack stuck his head between the seats. "I'm sorry I made you drive. It's not really fair to throw you out there on the London streets. It's a little different than driving in Ohio. But remember that we love you and believe in you. You can do it!" He patted me on the head in a big-brotherly way and smiled kindly.

I picked my head up and wiped the tears out of my eyes, then somehow pulled myself together and started to drive again. What was that "we love you" comment? Could Zack have some feelings for me? No, he probably just meant that like a big brother, as usual. I tossed that thought to the back of my head, to ponder on later, and drove on.

I had regained a little confidence, and as we continued on, we passed older, more beautiful buildings. We were entering a part of town with much more history. The remainder of the trip went well, until I drove up to a street that was blocked off by a barrier.

"Oh dear!" Diana proclaimed. "They must have blocked off the roads already. Drive around it! We're almost there. Go! Go!"

I took a deep breath and drove onto the empty sidewalk, around the barriers. I had just pulled the car back onto the road when I heard a blaring weeoo-weeoo-weeoo from a car behind me. I looked into the rearview mirror to see a police car with flashing lights. The driver was waving his hand to get me to pull over.

Diana turned her head and looked behind her, then looked down at the watch on her wrist. "No, don't pull over! I'm sorry, I know it's wrong but I need to be at the palace NOW!" Keep driving! I'll take care of it when we get there....and step on it!"

I drove a little faster to put some space between us and the police car, remembering to stay on the correct side of the road. Luckily we didn't have far to go. Finally, we came to a huge light brown, rectangular shaped brick building inside a fence. Two guards stood in front of a grand rod iron gate.

"Here!" yelled Diana.

I pulled the yellow car right up in front of the gate. The police car whirred around the corner as we stopped. Diana jumped out as two guards dressed in bright red jackets and tall furry black hats ran toward us. Diana walked closer to them and waved them down. The men seemed to recognize her, and did not come any closer to the car. The taller of the two guards waved his hand at the policeman and shook his head as if to say "don't worry I've got this." The policeman threw his arms up in the air and got back into the car.

Diana spoke softly to the guards then turned back again to us. "Thank you so much! I made it in time." She began to run off down the sidewalk. "Oh, and please do come to the wedding this afternoon. The guard will take you to the church if you want. Just follow him."

She pointed at the shorter guard, waved goodbye to the four of us, then scurried off after the taller guard. The remaining guard nodded his head in silence, briskly waved his hand from right to left in front of him, and turned to walk down the sidewalk. We followed. It seemed like forever as we strolled down the sidewalk, occasionally cutting over to other streets as we went.

"Are we there yet?" asked P. "My legs are starting to get tired."

Olivia giggled, but the guard never turned back to speak a word to us. Finally we approached a grand church constructed of beige-colored bricks. A massive crowd stood on the grounds in front of the entrance to the cathedral. Zack grabbed my hand and I in turn grabbed P, who grabbed Olivia, as we wound our way through the throng. The church's large entrance door sat behind a row of beige columns. Another row of columns sat atop the bottom row and guarded a balcony overlooking the square below. I saw two peaked towers on both sides of the church framing a huge dome that resided at the center. It was beautiful yet ominous.

We walked up a short flight of stairs at the front of the church and walked behind the column barrier. At the main entrance door, the guard finally turned to speak to us. "Follow me closely. Lady Diana has instructed me to seat you in one of the secret balconies so you can see the service. You cannot make a sound though, and no one is to know you are there."

He put his finger to his lips, turned and walked on. We followed so closely behind that when the guard paused in front of a brown wooden door, Zack stop

ped so abruptly that I ran into him. P then ran into me and Olivia ran into P. The short line of people looked like an accordion being compressed to make its music.

The guard opened the door and exposed a narrow spiral staircase and we carefully climbed to the top. At the top of the stairs, we saw a very small circular room that overlooked the church below. We ran to the ornately carved railing at the far side of the room and looked over the side. The site below was picturesque and I felt like I had been transported even further back in time.

Our tiny balcony was positioned so we could see people entering from the main door in the back of the church, but also had a clear view of the altar at the front of the church. Rows of elaborately carved dark wood pews sat atop an intricately tiled floor. The main aisle between the pews seemed to go on forever to reach the altar. It was still early, and we watched people cleaning and making last minute improvements to the decorations.

Time went on and we waited. I sat next to the balcony so I wouldn't miss a thing. Olivia would come up to me every few minutes to see if anything was going on. Zack and P were bored out of their heads. I could hear faint whispers from the back of the room.

"I spy something red." P said as quietly as a mouse.

Zack answered, "Is it that picture on the wall?"

"No." P replied.

They kept going but I tuned them out. I got excited when more people began to enter below. Women wore beautiful dresses and men wore sharp tailored suits. I enjoyed watching the people and imagining that I was also "dressed to the nines" and sitting in the royal crowd. Olivia sat next to me as I watched.

Finally the room became full and all the pews were crowded with elegantly dressed guests. Music started from the ancient organ and the royal court began to be seated. Zack and P came to sit next to us just as the Queen was proceeding down the aisle. By the time the royal family was seated at the very front of the church, a quiet rumble arose from the crowd. The archbishop and clergy readied at the back of the church and the guests knew that the "soon to be princess" was not far behind.

We stood as the crowd stood and turned for the grand entrance. There she stood. Her crisp white veil covered her face and cascaded down her back. We could see the ruffled puffy white sleeves of her dress sticking out underneath the veil. Her dress ballooned out at the bottom, like the dresses we saw at the plantation, before it touched the floor. The music became louder and she began to walk down the aisle. "Oohs" and "aahs" arose from the crowd. She was a beautiful bride.

We watched Diana walk down the aisle, with young girls dressed in pretty tea length white dresses following close behind. Her long lacy train trailed behind her as she walked. She finally approached the altar at the front and took her position beside her prince. They exchanged vows and I felt myself get teary eyed as the wedding came to an end. I was entranced by the romance of it all and envied the bride a little bit for finding it. I watched her friends and family members dabbing at their tears with handkerchiefs. Then I thought about my family and how much I missed them.

Zack touched my hand, "Hey, are you okay?" He had knelt down next to me and I had not noticed.

"Oh...yes," I replied and I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. "I guess I just cry at weddings... and I think I am beginning to get very homesick."

Zack reached up and swept the tear off my cheek. "I know. Not the wedding part, but the homesick part. I'm tired of travelling through time. I just want to go home, too."

I sniffled. "I'm sorry I'm so emotional. I'm glad you and P are here with me. We'll get through this together."

Zack moved closer to me and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it for a few seconds in silence before he spoke. "I couldn't ask for two better friends to be stuck going through time with, and..." He paused and looked at the floor when he spoke. "I'm kind of glad that I got the chance to spend so much time with you."

He was quiet for a moment after that, then bent towards me, took my face in his hand and kissed me. Not a quick kiss on the forehead but a soft gentle kiss on my lips, and I kissed him back. I sat there dazed, still feeling the kiss, even after Zack rolled back onto his heels and away from me again. I think we were both a little stunned and didn't realize P had walked up next to us.

P interrupted sheepishly, "Um, Emma... Zack, the guard is here. He says we need to leave before anyone sees us. He left the beetle in an alley behind the church. We need to get going."

Zack grabbed my hand, as he stood up from his kneeling position, and pulled me up. I arose and followed him.

P and Olivia were at my heels as we followed the guard back down the twirling staircase. He led us out a side door and to the car.

"Oh, thank you!" I said and held out my hand to the guard. He shook it quickly, nodded his head then turned on his heels.

Zack turned to me and waved his hand toward the driver's side door. "After you, my chauffeur."

P and Olivia giggled as they crawled into the backseat. Zack sat in the passenger side seat.

"Okay guys," I spoke as I pulled myself into the car. "Now, how do we get home?"

"Oh, I can help you," spoke Olivia. "My mum and I take the bus here all the time. I remember the way back. Just follow my directions!"

I drove cautiously as Olivia told me where to turn or go straight. She was careful to give me plenty of warning before I had to change my course. We made it back to the bakery in one piece.

Olivia leaned over the seat to talk to me. "So Emma, do you have a little more confidence in yourself now. We are so proud of you!"

"Oh Olivia, you are wise beyond your years." Zack spoke as he patted her on the head.

We all laughed as we got out of the car. It was getting late and we could see Olivia's mum cleaning the counters in the bakery. Olivia was so anxious to tell her mum about the wedding, and even the adventurous trip to the wedding. She started to run inside, but stopped and turned around to the car.

"I think it may be time for you to go home." She stated bluntly to P.

"Why do you say that?" P asked her. "We are clearly not in danger right now, and every time the book has taken us out of a time period, someone was chasing us or shooting at us!"

"I don't know," replied Olivia, "It may just be the excitement from the wedding but I have a feeling. Do you guys feel like you've learned something? P told me the girl that travelled before you had to discover something personal about herself before she could get home. Now, I would say that Zack and Emma have learned something about themselves. What do you think you've learned, P?"

P thought hard for a few minutes, then imparted his eight year old wisdom on us. "Well I think I've learned a great deal. Each time we get sent to a different period in history we come out knowing something new. We see things that we may have missed before or just have not understood, whether it's about that certain period of time or about ourselves. Hmmm. What if we think about what the book has told us just before it sends us through the mist each time? I wonder if the messages on the pages could be clues to what we need to know. Can you guys remember the words that we saw?"

"That's a great idea P! The words that appeared on the paper gave us advice about the places we would go, but usually urged us to gain some kind of understanding from the places we were leaving. " Zack spoke excitedly. "Let's try to remember what we read."

Olivia was awed by our conversation, but very interested. "I'll go inside and get some paper so you can write them down." She was in and out in a flash and handed a spiral bound notebook to me. "It's for my schoolwork. Please use it!"

"Okay," Zack began. "First we went to Egypt when they were building the pyramids. I remember the book talking about believing in truth and leaving behind the gold that we saw. I think it meant to believe in ourselves but also to have confidence and accept the challenge that it laid before us."

I added, "I think it also meant to avoid things that could hurt us, like riches, and things that could overwhelm us, like sadness or even just feeling sorry for ourselves."

I jotted down "Believe" on Olivia's paper.

"Wow," spoke P. "That little paragraph held that much meaning. Let me see if I can remember what we read when we went to medieval England. What was that word... oh, "Trust." Doesn't that mean that you can rely on someone? We met Sir Phillip and he helped us like a friend, even though he did not know us well. He trusted us and we trusted him."

Zack rolled his eyes and added sarcastically, "Oh yeah, I remember Sir Phillip."

I blushed a little as I spoke. "The book also said that it's important to remember old friends but also to make new ones. I think we can count Olivia as a new friend."

Olivia giggled.

I continued, "And, P, remember how sad we were to leave our old friends behind when we moved out to the country, but we met Zack."

P watched me as I wrote down the word "Trust" and gave Zack an appreciative toothy smile.

Zack blushed a little this time, but his face returned to a normal shade as he continued on. "Next, we went to Italy and met Leonardo Da Vinci. I'm pretty sure the word that time was "Imagine". It made me think of all of the inventions Leonardo created and I wished I could have a brilliant mind like him."

I chimed in, "I think the message was for us to open our minds more and to be creative. Not only in an artistic way but to create ways to help others. Which I think we did, especially when we were in the plantation south. I would like to give myself credit for that one."

Zack rolled his eyes again, "Yes... creative but dangerous. I'm still upset about that one."

Olivia sat and stared at us as we talked, taking in every detail of our adventures. I could see her eyes get wide as she heard about the perils we encountered and the people we met.

"My turn!" P exclaimed excitedly and added for Olivia's benefit. "That time I got to help Mr. Da Vinci paint the Sistine Chapel." He paused to make sure she was impressed and got the response he wanted. "Next we wound up in France during the Revolution. That was super scary. Zack was mistaken for a revolutionary and was imprisoned and almost hanged!"

Olivia's mouth dropped open, but she remained speechless.

"Yes, P, but you guys rescued me and I'm al1 right now." Zack tried to change the subject. "I seem to remember the main word being "Faith". I remember being very scared, but I had faith that you guys would save me, and believe me I prayed a good bit too. I think the message is that, even though we are faced with challenges we need to keep on going, and not give up. We need to overcome our fear."

I remembered dreading that Zack would have his head cut off and I shivered. I regained my composure and though about the next place we visited. "We met Paul Revere next, and got to participate in a part of the American Revolution. The word this time was "Courage," which I had very little of before we started this adventure. I can honestly say that I have more now, but I think that there is more to that passage then just bravery when we're in danger. We need to have the courage to try new things, and improve ourselves, as we learn from our experiences."

Zack nodded as he took in my interpretation. He smiled. "You're right. I know I have done things that I never imagined I would be doing. Some of those thing were very hazardous, but necessary."

"Yeah!" said P. "Like when you and I were slaves on a plantation and we almost got shot."

"Do you remember when the book saved us that time? It was just in time. What was the word that appeared?" Zack thought for a moment. "Oh yes, it was "Freedom". That book definitely intended to encourage us to appreciate the freedoms that we have. I have never had to live like a slave and I am very thankful for my liberties. We also need to make sure that we never treat another human being like that ever again."

The four of us were silent for a few moments as Zack's words sunk in. This enchanted book was trying to get us to be better people. We just needed to listen to what it said.

"Oh wow!" P shouted a little louder than he meant to, because he was so excited. "I didn't realize how educational each of our trips was. I feel like I've already grown up a lot since we've left home." He thought a moment then grew quiet as the excitement faded. "It seems like we've been gone a very long time." Then he paused and looked like he was going to cry.

I held his hand. "I know. It seems like forever."

"Well then," Zack interrupted trying to change the subject. "Let's get this show on the road! Do you guys remember where we visited next?"

"Ah, I remember," I sighed. "We met Julia." I turned to Olivia. "She was the girl that found the book before us. She had kept a journal of her travels and I found it in my closet, which used to be her closet."

As soon as the words came out of my mouth I knew they sounded silly, but Olivia kept listening, as only a nine year old with a vivid imagination can.

"Anyway," I continued. "We visited her house years before any of us were even born and she, along with her brother and friend, helped us get closer to home. If I remember correctly, the word on the cover was "Knowledge." "

"Yes, that was it" Zack piped up. "And I don't think it meant just facts, like from a book. I remember the message being something about life and finding yourself. I think we are supposed to gain a better awareness and understanding of our surroundings, so we can use that knowledge to make better decisions in the future."

"Wow, Zack," I added. "When did you become so philosophical?"

Zack blushed.

P posed the question, "I know I'm just eight years old, but would that be finding wisdom?"

"Why, P," I exclaimed. "What an intelligent thought for such a small boy." I patted him on the head.

"Well, it was one of our spelling words last year." He replied and smiled smugly.

Olivia chimed in, "P, can you use your newfound wisdom and figure out what the next message was?"

P laughed, "Why of course I can, dear Olivia. We travelled all the way back to World War I and we were stuck in the trenches helping the men in the army fight the enemy. It was so cool!"

Olivia's eyed opened very wide and P could see that she was impressed. Zack and I both nodded to let her know that P wasn't exaggerating.

Zack added, "And P was very brave and even saved a man's life."

P blushed ad Olivia's mouth dropped open.

"Tell me more!" she said.

"Well," continued P, "One of the men was really nice to me and he kind of started to be my friend. A bomb went off behind him and he was hurt. Somebody had to go get him and bring him to safety."

"Yes," I added. "P didn't even think that it was too hard and that he wouldn't be able to accomplish the task. He was needed and he just did it."

Zack spoke, "I think that was the book's message. I remember the main word was "Strength." Sometimes you can do things even though you don't think you can. That's when it's time to stop doubting yourself and have a little self-confidence."

"Yeah!" chimed in P. "Just like when Emma was driving!"

I felt my cheeks get red and hot, and we all laughed. Before we started our adventure, learning to drive was the scariest thing I had ever done.

Once my cheeks got back to normal, I thought about our subsequent adventure. "Next, we met the Beetles!"

"Oh wow!" shouted Olivia. "Famous Brits that I know! I bet that was amazing!"

I told her more of the tale of our visit to the theater, and she listened intently.

At the end, P spoke up. "I remember the word! It was "Harmony." In school we learned that harmony is lots of musical notes that go together and make the music sound good. What does that have to do with us?"

"There's another way to think of harmony." I interjected. "I think of it as people working together to get things done. It also reminds me of nature, the trees and plants and animals living together."

"Yes," continued Zack, "And us working with nature, like cutting down on pollution, recycling and saving some space for the animals, too. I bet that's what the book meant by harmony in the world."

I laughed to myself as I remembered the three of us singing _Row, Row, Row, Your Boat_. "That visit was kind of fun....except for the people chasing us."

Olivia looked at me inquisitively. "You were chased there too? By the police?"

P giggled. "No silly, not in that time, but we have been chased by a policeman before. It seems like we were chased or shot at everywhere we went... except when we were on the moon! Hey, that's where we went next, but I can't remember the word on the book."

"I do," I replied with a smile. "It was "Dream". I'm pretty sure that time it meant to not give up on your aspirations in life."

"Aspir what?" P asked. "That wasn't one of our spelling words."

Zack laughed this time, but added comfortingly, "It means things you want to do when you're older, whether it's just a few hours older or many years older. Like Emma learning to drive now, or the fact that I want to be a doctor when I'm grown up. Those astronauts never gave up on their dreams and they were the first people to go to the moon!"

"Ahh," P retorted, "It kind of means don't quit because you think you can't do it and keep working hard until you reach your goal."

Zack and I nodded approvingly. I think the kid did have wisdom beyond his years. As we sat there being proud of P, the pages of the book began to flutter in a slight breeze. Some sheets stood on end for a few seconds then abruptly fell to their original positions parallel to the ground.

Olivia pointed at the book. "Did that mean something, or was it just a breeze?"

Zack and I shrugged our shoulders, but we all sat and watched for a few moments. Nothing else happened.

Zack spoke up and broke our concentration on the book. "After we went to the moon, we landed here, but come to think of it, we haven't gotten a message from this time yet."

As he spoke, more pages of the book began to flutter, as a stronger breeze blew in front of the bakery. As we watched the pages stand on end, a gust of wind swooped under the book and it popped into the air like a Mexican jumping bean. When it landed again, its cover snapped shut and exposed its face to us.

Slowly, thick black block letters began to form on the front cover. "L...O...V...E." There was a pause after the last letter appeared then the book jumped again and fell open with its inner pages exposed. On one of the pages, black dots began to appear in each of its four corners. One after the other....after the other.....after the other, until they formed a moving row across the paper. The dots kept moving, like little ants, until they crashed into each other at the center of the sheet. After they collided they appeared to fall like rain drops to the heart of the page. Drip, drip, drip, until they reached the middle then suddenly exploding into tiny specks of black as if they were small fireworks.

We were amazed as drops of black ink seemed to burst off the page and into the air before gently streaming back to the page. Letters began to form, then words began to appear. One word trailed after another until they formed an arced line. The line became a circle as more words were added. The circle of words became a spiral as the unending line formed a ring around the original circle. The spiral continued to grow as it added more loops. Sentences began to fill the page until two thirds of it was obscured.

Suddenly, the coil of moving words stopped and we were able to read the message. We all moved closer to the book and stood over it to get a better view. As we read, we had to walk around the book to be able to see the entire circle of words. We didn't dare touch the book for fear that the spell would be broken and the words would disappear. "Cherish the love that is in your life. The love of family and friends. Sometimes you must learn to love yourself before you can love another with all your heart. Knowing this feeling can lead you home."

P had tears in his eyes. "Emma, I know what it means." Tears dripped down his cheeks and in between sniffles he added. "I think we need to be more grateful for our parents. I feel bad for not cleaning my room the other day. We may never see them again. What if it's my fault for not listening? I miss Mom and Dad and I just want to go home."

"I know sweetie. I miss them too. I know I get upset when I think I should have more freedom but I know they're just looking out for me." I felt warm tears flowing down my cheeks now, and I tasted salty liquid in my mouth as I spoke.

Zack came over and hugged us both. "I miss my family too, my Mom and Dad, and my Grandmother. I know I take them for granted. I forgot how important they were to me until I started to get worried that we may never get home."

The three of us stood there holding on as tightly as we could to each other. We forgot that Olivia was still standing nearby until we heard her stomp her foot. She seemed to be getting impatient.

"What's going on? You guys have figured everything out but nothing has happened! You're still here." She pouted.

P broke out of the circle and walked over to her as he wiped his tear stained cheeks. "Maybe we just have to be patient." He spoke quietly with much wisdom. "Maybe we have to put it all together? I wonder what else we have to do."

The four of us stood in silence, thinking, then Olivia spoke excitedly. "I don't think we understood the whole meaning of the last message. We got the first part but, but what about the part about loving yourself before fully loving someone else? What do you think that means?"

I thought a minute then spoke calmly but with assurance, "You need to love yourself.... respect yourself, don't put yourself down, have confidence in yourself, know yourself. You need to do that before you can accept someone new to love, someone who's not part of your family."

I found myself looking at Zack. I felt my face flush red with embarrassment. To my surprise his cheeks turned pink too and he quickly looked down at the ground, pretending to be thinking hard.

Suddenly Olivia jumped a foot off the ground. "I bet that's it! You figured it out Emma. Now who's wise?"

I blushed again, then the four of us waited patiently for a few moments to see if the book would start anything. No wind, not even a breeze. The book didn't budge. After nothing happened for a few minutes, I remembered that I still held the notebook in my hand. I read over the words I had jotted down before. Believe, Trust, Faith, Courage, Freedom, Knowledge, Strength, Harmony, Dream. What meaningful words all together on one piece of paper. I took a deep breath and slowly added L...o...v...e to the end of the list.

At first all was quiet, kind of an eerie quieter than quiet. Then, all of a sudden, a strong gust of wind whipped the page right out of the notebook in my hand and into the air. The paper fluttered in the air briefly, rotated slowly then began to spin intensely. It spun faster and faster until it twisted into a tight spiral. It hovered momentarily then suddenly burst into tiny pieces of paper as if it was tattered into bits. Each shred fell to the ground gracefully.

Olivia clapped her hands. "Yeah! Something's finally happening."

As we gazed at the site lying on the cement, a continuous breeze began to blow the shards into an eddy. They swirled around and around, moving more rapidly and beginning to rise up again. The blowing air continued to spin and it became thicker with water droplets. The all too familiar mist was forming and growing into a large rotating cylinder. We could still see the little pieces of paper floating through the mist, but they were shrinking.

"Look at that!" P shouted and pointed to the sky.

Enormous storm clouds rolled in making the gray evening sky black. Thunder rumbled in the distance and we could see faint flashes of lightning. The wind all around us increased in force and leaves blew off the trees across the road.

My hair blew across my face and I struggled to pull it back again. I could see Zack's t-shirt clinging to his chest from the wind's pressure in front of him. The back of his shirt billowed out behind him like a flag. P was holding on to Olivia to keep them both standing up, despite the gale.

The massive cylinder of mist grew to about ten feet wide and fifteen feet tall before it started to turn on its side. It turned slowly until its side touched the ground and it looked like a giant slithering snake. As the vapor twisted toward us, the ominous mouth of the snake became visible. We peered through the gaping black hole into the abyss.

The whirring of the swirling mist became deafening. Unlike our previous trips through the mist, this time we could see flashes of lightning inside the opening. They looked like fangs in the snake's mouth, making the opening appear even more dangerous than ever before.

As we were watching the chasm get bigger, thunder roared even louder. Finally rain poured down from the dark clouds overhead. As the four of us stood amid the sheets of rain, water dripped off our clothes and puddled at our feet. My hair, heavy with water, clung to my forehead and then fell over my eyes. I brushed the damp strands back so I could see what lay before us.

Olivia looked frightened and P was holding her hand tightly. His eyes were wide with fear. Zack, who was usually the bravest of all of us, stood motionless in awe of what was in front of us. We were so eager to get home, but the passageway was different now. The tranquility of the abyss had been transformed into a menacing monster. Fear was holding us back.

Olivia's voice was barely a mouse's squeak over the tumult around us. She spoke as loud as she could. "I think it's time for you to go. You need to finally get home. Face your fears my friends!"

P turned and gave her a big bear hug and it took a few minutes for him to let go. "Thank you friend!" he shouted over the noise, then let go and walked to Zack and me.

I grabbed P's hand and pulled him close to me, then I grabbed Zack's hand and his fingers tightened around mine. I pulled Zack's hand up with mine to wave goodbye to Olivia and saw her sad smile as she waved back. We all would miss her.

The three of us walked in silence toward the swirling vapors and lightning. The vortex of mist pulled us closer to the cavity with a vacuum-like force. We couldn't turn back now. Zack put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to his chest. I grabbed P around his waist and drew him closer to me.

Zack shouted over the din. "On the count of three!"

We nodded in return.

He continued, "One...two...three!"

I closed my eyes and leapt with the boys, squeezing their hands tightly as my feet left the earth. At first I heard pelting rain and thunder claps. I kept my eyes closed in fear, but could still see the glow from the flashes of lightning around me. Eventually, the rain slowed down to what sounded like a spring shower. The flashes of light faded away. The thunder quieted, then disappeared, and I thought I could hear faint tweets and chirps in the background like the first birds coming out after a hard rain. I smelled the wetness of the remnants of that rain, but then began to feel warmth on my face like the early morning sun.

I had to open my eyes. Blackness met me square in the face as it had before. The sounds and smells vanished and I was left with the desolate stillness of the abyss. We floated together for a few minutes. I squeezed P closer to me and Zack's arm still embraced my shoulders, then we started drifting apart. I still held onto each boy's hand but I was floating by myself in the darkness. I began to feel that comforting peace from before. Could we really be going home this time? I closed my eyes again and let the blackness guide me towards the future.

Thwump...thwump....thwump. I felt the ground under me, smooth wood under my fingers. I smelled dusty air and heard the faint creak of floorboards as I slowly brought myself to a sitting position.

I was afraid to open my eyes, until I heard P running over to me yelling, "Emma... Emma, we're home!"

I opened my eyes to see the familiar light-brown knotty wood of our attic. I stood up and almost jumped for joy. P ran over to me and nearly knocked me over in his excitement. He gave me a big hug.

Zack came over and put his arms around both of us. "I think we're home!"

"I hope so!" I replied but added cautiously, "But do you think we are in our own time?"

P looked up from his hug, "Uh oh. We may be in our house in the future!"

I laughed but was still a little nervous, until I heard my Mom's familiar, sweet voice from the rooms below us, "Emmmaa, Peeeee, time for dinner. Come down and get your hands washed. Zack can stay too, if he wants. Come down before it gets cold!"

The three of us raced down the attic stairs. We were home and we made it in time for dinner!

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