Portals to Wonderland 3

By Jean Young

Julia and Benjamin are back for another adventure through the portal. This time, they travel with George Washington to an alternate universe where the British won the war. The trio must race against time to save the people from an oppressive force in the alternate world. What is the dangerous menace that is lurking beneath? How will they outwit the threat this time?
Portals to Wonderland is a fantastic pair of adventure stories for kids that recall the Chronicles of Narnia and Magic Tree House books but strike their own path with relatable young narrators and an attention to science and responsibility that would make any elementary school teacher proud. Young children will enjoy the characters and worlds author Jean Young has created in this accessible and enjoyable book. - Pete Mazzaccaro, Editor of Chestnut Hill Local Newspaper

• Language: English
• Publisher: World Castle Publishing, LLC
• Release date: Jun 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9781950890132

Jean Young

Jean Young is a mother of two amazing children and a wife to a loving husband. She enjoyed reading as a child and often dreamed about traveling to faraway places. She lived in England, Africa and Nepal during her studies but she wishes she had traveled more. She loves making up stories for her children while on vacation to keep them occupied during the times waiting in line or waiting for food at the restaurants. Some of her stories were born from those times.

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Portals to Wonderland 3

by

Jean Young

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © Jean Young 2019

Smashwords Edition

Paperback ISBN: 9781950890125

eBook ISBN: 9781950890132

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, May 27, 2019

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Smashwords Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Karen Fuller

Illustrator: Stephanie Richoll

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my children and my husband. Thanks again to Alix Davatzes, scientist, who helped me with the science facts in this book. Thanks also to Robert Moyer, history teacher, for helping me with the historical facts.

Chapter 1

Julia, look out! I yelled out as the portal opened up behind my sister. A point in space gradually expanded into the familiar multi-colored, blinking swirl of the portal I’d seen before. It exposed a gap in the trunk of a large tree inside a museum. Julia had her back against the tree and was about to fall into the portal. I grabbed her outstretched hands and managed to pull her out before she tumbled backward. Luckily, the museum was empty and no one saw us. Our parents had gone ahead to the next room, and I heard my mom call for us to catch up with her.

We were in one of the rooms of the Museum of the American Revolution, and the presence of the tree filled the entire room. Various posters of the war lined the walls and decorated the room, but the replica of the Liberty Tree was the centerpiece.

My dad knew someone from the museum, so we were allowed to explore for one hour before it opened. When I first entered the tree room, I thought it was strange to see a tree in the middle of a museum. One of the posters explained the presence of the replica of the Liberty Tree. People in Colonial days had gathered near a tree and made plans to fight the British, who were the bad guys at the time.

After I kept Julia from falling into the portal, a hand came out of it and motioned for us to come in. I recognized that hand—it was the hand of the Guardian of the portal. We walked into the portal immediately.

On the other side of the portal we saw the Guardian again, and she greeted us with a hug. We had arrived in the magic travel agency, which was a place between the worlds. Many exotic travel posters hung on the walls, and travel magazines were arranged neatly in rows on the tables.

Hello, children. How have you been? asked the Guardian.

I’m doing well. We missed you. What adventures do you have for us today? I asked.

Well, I do have a mission for you, the lady said. You were just at the Museum of the American Revolution. Was there anything interesting?

I told the Guardian about the set of buttons to push regarding the movements of George Washington’s troops, and the story behind it. The American troops were about to get squashed by the British. The British army was like a giant, and the American army was like a small mosquito on a giant. The British thought that they would squish the American mosquito and go home. But on December 25th of 1776, George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River and made a surprise attack. They won a fight against the British. Within ten days, the Americans won another battle, and the tide of the war began to turn. The American rebels were not just mosquitoes anymore, but they had become a united and powerful force to reckon with. It took seven more years before America would win the war against the giant British army, but that bold decision was the turning point. That victory gave them enough hope to keep them going through the following years of war.

The Guardian said, I have a mission for you. George Washington is in his darkest hour of the war. He feels there is no hope to win against the British. I want you to go and help him, said the Guardian.

You want us to talk to the first president of the United States and tell him everything is going to be all right? my sister asked.

It’s not going to be that simple. He might not believe you. You have to convince him that it’s real, the Guardian said.

How are we going to convince him? I asked.

You’ll know when the time comes. Hurry, now. We must go through the door to start your mission, the lady said.

Which door number do we go through? I asked.

Door number seven, said the Guardian.

She led us out of the magic travel agency and into the Hallway of Many Doors. The hallway stretched to infinity, with doors on both sides. Soon we arrived in front of door number seven.

Here are your magic pouches, the Guardian said. The magic pouches created anything we imagined. We only needed to visualize what we desired, and it just took a second to pull out what we wanted.

What else would you need? asked the Guardian.

Well, we don’t need any spacesuits this time since we aren’t going into outer space. But we could use the invisible shield, I said. Immediately, we had the rings with the white buttons on our fingers. Once we pressed the white button, it would create an invisible shield around us and make us disappear.

Okay, it’s time to go now, said the Guardian.

We took a deep breath and walked in.

Chapter 2

As soon as I walked through to the other side, I realized we were inside a large tent. A big, white cloth covered the ceiling and the walls, and thick poles held up the cloth. A giant of a man was sitting on a chair with his back turned toward us. When he heard us move, he jumped up and turned around to face us. Although he was surprised to see us, he didn’t look angry. His face was familiar—he looked just like the pictures I’d seen in the history books and on the dollar bill. This was George Washington! But he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he had some tears streaming down his face. Was he crying?

Who are you children? How did you get in here? asked George Washington, wiping the tears off his face. I felt guilty for invading his private moment.

I mustered all my strength to say, Hi, my name is Benjamin.

My name is Julia, my sister whispered.

I have a good friend named Benjamin, Mr. Washington said.

Yeah, I know. His name is Benjamin Franklin, isn’t it? I asked.

How did you know that? said Mr. Washington. "I hope you aren’t spies sent