Chronicles of Time: Book 2

By J.C. Allen

Alex and her friend Kaylie travel back in time to Salem, Massachusetts. Once again, they must outwit Bignose and find the second crystal in their quest to save the future. Will they have time?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Allen
• Release date: May 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476332758

J.C. Allen

Born and raised in the Charleston, WV area, this young single father started writing when unimaginable circumstances thrust him into a situation beyond his control. As a way to stay connected to his beloved daughters, he began writing stories to entertain them - first a fantastical, magical adventure, the Edge of Knight series.What started as entertainment for his daughters evolved into a coping mechanism to maintain his sanity as he waged a monumental battle against injustice. The battle continues, and as his daughters have grown into teenagers, the stories have changed to more mature fiction. M.O.D. is the first book to be published.

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2012 J. C. Allen

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be stored, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the author.

Published by Smashwords

ISBN: 9781476332758

DEDICATION

This series is dedicated to Kate, who not only inspired it, but drove it with her boundless curiosity, unique imagination, and indelible personality.

The history behind this novel is completely disputable. Although based on years of factual research, it is fiction. So, if you take literally, or seriously, any of the concepts, ideas, representations, inferences or conclusions contained herein, try Valium! I simply followed my own conscience and mind through the trail of evidence I compiled over the years. It was conceived to inspire interest in history and promote exploration — of your surroundings and soul — in every generation, not mindless, sheep mentality or blind faith. I hope it encourages others to make their own determinations about everything… or at least try to.

I would also like to thank the following for making this book possible: My mother, Shirley, for… everything! Kate, Kristen, Carrie, and Olivia for giving me insight into the thoughts and feelings of this newest generation of girls as well as planting most of the ideas in my head for many of the characters (they're sneaky like that). Rich, for encouragement. Scott, for hashing out the intricacies involved and for trying to tear apart every theory I had and eliciting controversy at every turn. I would also like to thank everyone who has, and continues, to stand by me through everything! And a special thanks to you, the reader, for supporting me!

Nobody is to blame except myself for any errors, screw-ups or omissions, although I'll try to blame whoever I can, if I can (those pesky aliens).

Part III — Injustice in Salem

Chapter 17 — The Search Continues

Rick struggled from the depths of a dream. In his mind’s eye he could still see the infectious smile of that adorable, precocious Roman girl, Vespasia. Or was it a dream at all? As he felt the surreal slipping away to consciousness, he realized it wasn’t just a fantasy.

His older daughter, Alex, really had found an obscure and intriguing artifact. His younger daughter, Jessica, really did decode its clues with her own unique brand of curiosity. Most startling of all his revelations was that it really had turned out to be the key to a time machine. They had actually located the machine, unlocked its mystery, and uncovered an evil plot to destroy the world. They were given a riddle to solve if they wanted to try to stop the process.

They had deciphered the first part of the riddle and recovered one of the four crystals which would enable them to stop this disastrous event. They had traveled back to ancient Rome and met Vespasia, who helped them find the missing piece. Along for the ride had been Alex’s soccer-loving friend Kaylie, and gymnastics-obsessed Christy.

They had been mesmerized by the beautiful, rolling landscape of the time, taken in by the sights and sounds of the bustling city of Rome, and captivated by the young girl they now considered family. Each had performed an important part in the quest for the first piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately Bergamiser — better known as Bignose — the mastermind behind the plot, had tracked them to Rome and they narrowly escaped with their lives. Rick sported two nasty crossbow wounds from the encounter, and they feared the vile Bergamiser now held their new friend captive.

When they discovered Vespasia could be in peril, it had taken a toll on them. They had been given only a week to complete the tasks necessary to restore the missing time from the time machine, and with his injuries, Rick feared they would have no chance to finish it.

Or save the girl.

He had gone to sleep thinking about the second part of the riddle and how they could possibly accomplish the tasks ahead of them with his injuries. He couldn’t imagine any scenarios where his girlfriend could recover the three remaining crystals with only the help of his children and their friends.

Dad! Wake up! I’m going to practice, Dad!

Rick rolled over to see Abby sleeping beside him. He smiled contentedly before realizing someone was poking him.

Dad! You gotta get up, I have to go.

What time is it? he asked, his mind still foggy with dreams.

It’s 6:30, you have to wake everyone up. I couldn’t get Kaylie up and Christy is in Jessie’s bed.

Wow, Jess actually cleaned off her bed enough so someone else would fit in there with her? he mumbled.

No, she looked at him strangely.

How am I supposed to get upstairs to wake them up, honey? Why don’t you just skip morning practice for once and help me out?

She gave him another stupid look and pointed over his shoulder. He rolled over to see Anna and Jessica curled up on his other side. Oh. I see. Well, hurry up then. See ya this evening. Be careful.

Are we going back to the cave?

Probably, after Jessie’s dance class.

OK, she kissed him and sprinted up the stairs.

Rick decided to wake Abby and the girls, eventually managing that task after several attempts. He talked Abby into fixing breakfast while Anna and Jessica took their overdue baths. He asked Abby to wake the others too before he fell back to sleep.

I hope you like it, Abby said as she lowered a tray of French toast to the bed. Christy and Jessica showed me how to make it. All I know how to cook is cereal and Pop-Tarts, she laughed as he studied it.

Looks good to me, he said and bravely cut off a piece, stuffing it in his mouth. Tastes perfect, too. You thought it wouldn’t be good?

She smiled, relieved. I guess they’re good teachers.

So, Rick changed the subject, did you make any sense of it all?

She shook her head and sat down beside him. Not really. I think we need to check it out personally. How do you feel today?

Not real good; I’m not even sure I can walk.

She was concerned by the look of anguish on his face. Should we take you to a doctor?

He waved off the idea; Rick was allergic to doctors. No, it’s just going to take a while.

She inspected the now massively bruised and swollen wounds. Ouch, that looks bad. Can I get you something for it?

Nah, I’ll live. Thanks though. He was putting on his best brave face, which didn’t seem to fool her.

She thought about arguing, and then decided against it. She knew how he was with medicine, too. Well, hurry up and eat. I’m going home to pick up more stuff. I only packed for a weekend, you know? I want to make sure you’re comfortable before I leave. You want me to take the movies back, too?

Sure, thanks, but why don’t you let me go with you?

Don’t be foolish. Rest. I should be back by 1:00 or 2:00, but if you go, it could take longer. And someone has to pick up Jessie at 3:00.

He sighed. I guess you’re right. I didn’t realize it was so late, either.

I’m taking your van; the keys to my car will be on the table if you need them.

OK, thanks again, Abby. Go ahead; I’ll just leave the tray down here. No need to wait around for it…

She considered that and agreed. After kissing him softly, she rushed up the stairs.

After he heard the kitchen door slam, Rick finished eating and turned on the TV. It wasn’t long before he faded back off to dreamland.

Kaylie had spent nearly ten minutes explaining the slight variations of dress she had seen in Rome, and demonstrated how they were made with a piece of paper and scissors. But when she pulled out an authentic Roman tunic and put it on, she caught everyone’s full attention. So you see, she said as she slipped the tunic over her head and started to tie it, it’s really simple to wear, too. She smiled and turned around, modeling her tattered garment for the class.

Even old man Anderson’s eyes lit up when he saw the worn fabric.

Feeling she had completed her assignment, she looked expectantly at the aged teacher, checking to see if she were excused.

Wait just a moment there, Ms. Monroe. How, exactly, did you happen to acquire such an ancient artifact? He posed the question with a slightly threatening look.

Kaylie was unsettled and glanced at Alex, who was now white as a ghost. Um, she stammered, well, Alex’s dad has a girlfriend who’s an archaeologist and she let me borrow it…

An item such as this would be priceless, shot back the old teacher, it should be in a museum, being preserved!

She lost her tongue, absently starting to play with a hole in the cloth. Uh, like umm, I don’t think she would give me something like that, it’s probably like a replica or something. After seeing his reaction and the deep concentration in his old, knowing eyes, she sensed he knew it was real — like he had seen it before.

Very good reproduction! Very good. You may sit down, Ms. Monroe. Thank you very much for your wonderful presentation. You leave us all feeling as if you’ve actually been to ancient Rome. His words had a certain menacing quality to her.

Christy leaned over to Alex and whispered, I wish I had brought back a soccer ball.

I don’t think… I’ll tell you later, Alex cut off her words because Anderson called on her make the next presentation.

Kaylie held out the tunic to Alex as she passed her desk, trying to strengthen her story about the origin of the garment. As she paused, Kaylie whispered, That’s him – Bignose. I know it!

You think so, too?

Kaylie nodded, barely perceptible, and handed her the ancient shirt.

Explain to Christy what’s going on, Alex murmured as she put the tunic on her desk and headed toward the head of the class.

Alex stood in front of the teacher and steeled herself. She was a natural speaker, but now was apprehensive. Should I give away too much? Does he suspect we were there? Was that him? How could it be? Should I play dumb and only tell things that could be found in history books or should I… The thoughts raced through her head as she stood silent.

Ms. Williamson? Anderson snapped her out of her thoughts.

Oh… yeah, sorry. It’s impossible to explain all the types of housing for middle class Romans, or ‘citizens,’ because they were all so different. Some, within town, lived in apartments above their shops. These were usually one-room, made of brick or stone, with wooden or tiled roofing. The floors were often dirt, but sometimes stone, and many used large wool blankets as rugs. Most of them did not have any windows, only a door, but had running water. Outside of Rome, however, most middle class citizens were farmers and had an ample supply of wood, so they built their houses of wood. Most were raised from the ground with wooden floors and had several rooms for their families. In Rome, the entire family would often live in one room; out in the country, they simply built their houses for the entire family, including grandparents, children, and other relatives. They did not have plumbing as they did in the city, usually wells, and had to carry water into the house for cooking and stuff. She glanced at Mr. Anderson, who was simply nodding along with her.

She went on to explain more differences between living in the country compared to the city. In the cities, they had bath houses, but kids weren’t allowed in them! she told the crowd, which drew several angry remarks. In the country, they either bathed in the streams or hauled water into their homes to fill small tubs because they didn’t have pipes out there like they did in the city.

They had pipes? Like we do? Two thousand years ago? A boy near the front asked.

Yeah, they used gravity to run aqueducts full of water that ran through each house. Many of the homes had pipes made of clay which they used with sinks and even showers, Alex answered.

Alex continued describing some of the furniture – how they fused the wood together using pegs, and also how dry and flammable the homes were. She told them how the city houses were built up against each other and that you could easily walk across from roof to roof throughout almost the entire city. When she finished, Mr. Anderson quizzed her about specifics, such as the color of the bricks and stones, the way they made a roof, etc. Alex tried to pretend she didn’t know the answer to some of the questions.

He finally dismissed her. Very good, Ms. Williamson, good to see you and Ms. Monroe took your assignments seriously… He motioned to her chair, You may sit.

Alex eyed Kaylie cautiously, silently asking if he was on to them. She shrugged.

Ms. Stapleton? Anderson called.

Christy jumped, Yes?

This was all your idea, are you prepared as well?

Of course! she said, bouncing up to claim center stage. She immediately dove into her report, barely taking a breath to start. Roman kids played many different games with balls. They called these ball games ‘Pila.’ All of them. Pila was played with balls of all different types; some big, some small, some hard, some soft, some even bounced. They made bouncing balls by wrapping a pig bladder in leather and inflating it – it’s kind of neat. They made some balls by simply tying several strips of cloth or leather together tightly and some were even made by wrapping up a bunch of sponges. They made balls out of hair, stone, and wood. The kids actually played a game just like soccer and simple games of catch. They played some form of stick-ball in the streets and they played games that looked like field hockey and an early version of cricket. They also played other games like kids these days play, like tag and hide-n-seek.

Did they play any organized sports, Christy? Mr. Anderson asked. That was the question, wasn’t it?

Well, the question was if they played sports, but no, the kids did not have any teams or groups, nothing organized at all, they just kind of gathered like we do to play in our neighborhoods.

Aah. He raised his eyebrows, So you did answer the question and obviously studied well for your presentation despite the fact your question could have been answered with one simple sentence. I feel as though you learned all this from an actual Roman girl your own age, he added, spooking her.

Christy felt uncomfortable as his eyes held hers for a brief moment.

Very good, Ms. Stapleton, he dismissed her finally.

Alex and Kaylie glanced nervously at each other. Each knew the other’s thoughts but neither could believe it.

Mr. Baxter, are you prepared? the teacher quickly called on the next student.

He looked at us like he knew; like he was there… it was so creepy! Kaylie said as the trio walked to the next class.

It’s not possible, though. He was stuck in 1756 with Taylor, Alex reminded the others.

Maybe he built another time machine, Christy suggested.

He’s probably Bignose’s great-great-grandson or something. He’d be close to three hundred years old by now if it is him, Alex said. Maybe he just passed the legend down to his kids or something and told them to look out for us?

Yeah, I bet that’s it! Kaylie decided.

Or maybe… maybe that’s really him! Christy still held on to the belief.

With those ominous words, they went to their next class.

At lunch time, they went to the library and leafed through books about the Salem witch trials, quickly learning what Rick had found online the night before. They checked out a few books to take with them to read later.

Are we really going to go? Christy finally asked, I’m way too scared.

They had been discussing whether to try to solve the puzzle themselves.

I have to go home after school, I can’t go missing forever, Kaylie said.

Sneak out! Christy told her.

Come on! I can’t do that, my parents would actually notice. They only let me stay Sunday nights because we don’t have homework on the weekends.

More like they’re just too hung over from Saturday night, Alex joked.

Why don’t we just skip the rest of school? Kaylie dared.

No way! Dad would kill me, and the school would notify our parents immediately. We could go after school, Alex proposed.

I can’t miss soccer practice or I won’t get to play Saturday, Kaylie said.

I can miss gymnastics, but I don’t want to, Christy added.

OK. How about when Dad takes Jessie to dance? Alex thought out loud.

That sounds like a good plan; they’re usually gone for what? Two hours? Kaylie guessed.

Well, I know I can stay over any night, so any time is good with me, but I’m not sure I want to go, said Christy, wavering.

OK, I’ll go home after soccer and tell mom we’re going someplace, then we can ask her if I can stay later when I get there. She might let me, Kaylie hoped, at least.

All right, but hurry. Dad will leave at like 4:30 and be back by 6:30 or 7:00.

Rick woke at 1:00, still groggy, Wow, fifteen hours? he muttered aloud. His leg and shoulder were really aching now. He scooted to the side of the bed and tried to get up. It was a struggle, but he managed to hop over to the computer where he found several messages from Rob asking how the treasure hunt had gone.

The coin is yours, was his only reply, and then he dug into the information about the Salem witch trials again.

Fifteen frustrating minutes later, with even more confusion being uncovered, he stopped to read Rob’s reply, What did you find? Must be good if I get the coin.

You can’t put a price on what we found, Rick answered. It wasn’t really a lie, but a cover up.

Were there any other coins?

Some, yes. He didn’t bother to tell him they were worth millions. He had to downplay the find or Rob would ask more questions, possibly even demand to see the site. Mostly pre-revolution documents, Rick went on, Abby was certainly thrilled.

I bet she was. She never had the eye for the shiny stuff, but give her a piece of clay or pulverized sheet of paper with a jigsaw puzzle thousands of years old on it and she’s happy.

Rick laughed and typed, Yeah, we’re alike in that regard. You’re the gold-digger.

I’ve got needs! Like an island in the Pacific.

Ha!

Seriously though, I’d love to see what you found, besides the treasure. Be sure to send me copies, if you can of course.

That may be difficult right now, Rob – we’re going to be busy for a while getting Abby settled in here.

Wow, she’s moving in? About time!

Tell me about it. Hey, I gotta get back to work. We’ll either ship the coin or Abby will drop it off to you next time she’s out your way. Thanks again.

Rick couldn’t help feeling as if he’d dodged a bullet.

Abby arrived a little after 2:00 with a van crammed full of her things. There was a door in the back of the garage for the stairs leading to a huge room above the three-car garage. For years, it had been a playroom for the girls. Now they used the basement, so Rick had started utilizing it for storage, leaving room for Jessica’s dance studio in half of the large, open room. Abby planned on changing that some. She had grabbed clothes from her dresser and stuffed them in garbage bags, along with boxes of make-up, books, and other personal items. She unloaded a box of books and several other cartons into the kitchen to distribute to the bedroom and bathroom. The rest she lugged up the stairs to a remote corner of the garage attic. When she finished emptying the van, she carried the boxes from the kitchen to the bedroom. She merely piled most of it on the floor, hoping Rick would help decide where to put everything later, and then she carried her books downstairs.

You must be feeling better now, she said, seeing him in his comfy chair.

Rick turned his head. Worse. Much Worse. It wasn’t easy getting over here… and extremely painful, too.

Oh, I’m sorry, are you going to be able to get Jessie in thirty minutes?

Rick looked shocked. Ouch! I almost forgot—

I can go if you want me to…

He thought for just a moment. Would you mind? I just hate that it’s your first official day living here and you already have to do all the work. I should be carrying those boxes in and picking up my kids and loading your furniture and—

She waved a hand at him. I’m a big girl. I sweat every day when I’m working and I know you would do all those things if you could, but you can’t right now. So shut up and be babied!

Yes, ma’am! he saluted.

She changed the subject quickly, Did you find anything new?

No, not really, but I did talk to Rob. I promised to get that coin to him as soon as possible. Other than that, I slept. I was going to send him pictures of the caves to satisfy his curiosity, but thought he would find them suspicious, so I just told him you found some pre-revolution documents, nothing earth-shattering.

Good, I can make up something boring that he’ll lose interest in quickly.

I’m going to go back to the bed and browse the UC. Maybe I’ll luck into something there, he decided, frustrated with the confusing results of his search.

I want to watch your trip to Rome!

Maybe next week. Remember, it was about twelve hours for us even though it was only one minute to you, he reminded her.

Oh yeah. We definitely have more important things to do now.

"Yeah, I’m