Adventures In Time

By Arlene Timoney

Adventures In Time is a fun, entertaining story that takes the "What I did on my summer vacation" theme to a whole different level! How about visiting New York or San Francisco in the late 1880s...or maybe see a Florida space launch in 1969. Perhaps you actually travel into the future. All of this and much more happen when th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arlene Timoney
• Release date: Feb 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578810546

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Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously.  Other characters, places and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, places or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2021 by Arlene Timoney

All rights reserved.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact

[e-mail]

Formatting: Enchanted Ink Publishing

ISBN: 978-0-578-81054-6

Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

To my adventure-seeking

grandfather, Poppy.

Without him there would be no

Watty Watkins.

www.adventuresintime.net

The Kickball Game

The Tunnel

The Meeting

All On Board

NOVA

Time Travel Training

Exploring Springfield

Meeting Mickey

Getting Even

Lilly

Nellie Bly

They Meet Again

Harry Is Missing

Watty

1939 World’s Fair

Exploring The Fair

The Subway Ride

The Prep

Finding Harry

The Rescue

Jordan

Apollo 11

A Change Of Plans

Brandy

Researching The Mission

Oopsie

The Plan

Practice Makes Perfect

The Mission Begins

Procyon-32

The Aftermath

Acknowledgements

About the author

1

The Kickball Game

It was summer. It was hot. And there was nothing to do. Welcome to Watty’s world.

But on day two of summer break, he was actually looking forward to playing a new video game his friend Jordan had given him. He closed the blinds to make it nice and dark. Watty curled up on the La-Z-Boy chair to begin his quest as the funny, inept Knight Of The Round Table in the popular game, Sir Lance-A-Little. But before he could even finish the first cut scene, in walked his mom, Marge Watkins, a fourth-grade teacher and non-video-game fan. She looked at her son, rolled her eyes, and went over to the window to open the blinds back up.

It’s a beautiful day, Walter. Go outside and play for a while. Find some of your friends. Start a hobby. Save the world or something. Just stop playing those darn video games all day. A flower can’t blossom without sunshine, ya know. Not expecting a response, she turned and walked back out of the room.

Watty, also known as Walter Thomas Watkins, sighed heavily and reluctantly went outside. The good thing about living on a cul-de-sac in their little town of Marble Crest was there was usually someone else around to play with.

He spotted his best friends Lilly and Jordan across the street. Our parents must all have planned this—making their kids get out of their houses today, he thought.

He’d met Lilly Lopez when they’d both been in Mrs. O’Donnell’s second grade class together. Her family had just moved to the neighborhood, and she didn’t know anyone. He’d introduced her to some of the other kids and sat with her at lunch. Over the years they’d become pretty good friends, even though she was a girl. Some of his guy friends gave him grief about it, but he didn’t care. She was really smart, and he admired that. And now, all these years later, just finishing up seventh grade, he realized he didn’t know all that much about her family. He knew she had an older sister Rose and that her parents traveled a lot. And, just to be different, when she referred to her parents, she always used their first names, Charley and Evie, which made Watty laugh. Every time her folks returned from one of their vacations, they brought her back books and T-shirts from the places they traveled to. Watty remembered asking her one time if she ever went with them on any of their trips and she said she hadn’t yet and that it was fine. She didn’t want to go anyway because of all the suitcase packing.

Memories fade, but I will always have my books, Watty remembered her saying.

As he crossed the street, he noticed that today Lilly was wearing her favorite faded blue Dubai T-shirt.

Wanna play kickball or something? Watty asked.

They both nodded.

Lilly and Watty began to put out the bases, which were hidden in Old Man McAllister’s yard behind his green cable box along with the red rubber ball. They were pretty sure he didn’t know about the secret place, which was good, as he wasn’t exactly Mr. Friendly in the neighborhood. But since his house was located smack in front of home base, it was easy for them to get a game up and going rather quickly.

After the bases were put out, Jordan ran around the sac—their nickname for cul-de-sac—and knocked on a few neighbors’ doors, finally gathering enough kids to make it a decent game.

The longer they played, the hotter it got. Most of the kids paid more attention to their phones than the game, except for the pitcher and the kicker.

Watty was up. He kicked the ball and started running. Rounding the bases, he tripped over the third-base bag and sprawled on the pavement in spectacular fashion. The ball sailed toward him, hitting him harmlessly in the head.

You’re out! someone yelled.

Ugh, Watty grunted. He stood up. I’m okay. He looked around, realizing everybody was back looking at their phones. Yup, I’m good.

As he knelt down and retied his shoelace, he noticed a bright yellow piece of paper protruding from the base bag. He picked it out of the bag, looked at it strangely, and stood back up. He shoved the paper in his pocket and brushed himself off, then went to the back of the line with his friends, who were still laughing at him and imitating his fall in slow motion.

When they were finished with their fun, he took out the yellow paper and looked at it again, this time showing Lilly and Jordan what he’d found. On it were several odd symbols they had never seen before.

It could be some kind of code, Lilly said.

Jordan joked, maybe it just says, ‘This third base bag was made in China’ or something.

That’s funny, Jordan, Watty said. "Maybe I’m making too big a deal out of it.

Lilly took out her phone and looked up the symbols. Let me see… Well, that didn’t take too long. Easy-peasy.

What’s it mean? asked Watty.

According to this site, they appear to be some kind of symbols that—

We know that, but what’s it mean? Watty and Jordan loudly interrupted.

Shh. Lilly looked around, as if she was hoping nobody else had heard them. I’m getting to that, guys, just chill. Let me check this again. After what seemed like a long moment, she finally said, It appears the symbols represent different letters, and if I’ve interpreted it correctly, it says, ‘Help Me.’

Help me? Jordan repeated, looking strangely at the other two. That’s crazy. Why would somebody write that and stick it in the third base? Makes no sense. Must be some kind of sick joke, for real.

The three looked up suddenly when several kids began yelling and arguing. Jill and Joy, resident twins, were taking sides against two older boys. Jill grabbed the ball and kicked it back down toward McAllister’s house. They heard Joy yell, Game over, and watched as the kids dispersed.

Watty said, Okay, I guess we’re done here. Looks like we’ll be cleaning up again. What a surprise.

Jordan ran and got the ball before it went down the hill as Lilly and Watty collected the bases. They walked slowly back toward McAllister’s house, deep in thought. When they were done, Lilly held up the yellow paper.

Hey, you guys, what if there’s more to this?

Jordan replied, Well, if someone really needed help, it seems like they’d just say so, wouldn’t they, instead of making us look up symbols and stuff.

Unless whoever did this doesn’t want everyone in the whole world to help, Watty commented. Maybe they’re looking for someone who would take the time to look up the symbols. Yeah, maybe there are more clues somewhere. Um, let’s maybe look in those other two base bags. You never know.

Jordan came running over, reached in his pocket, pulled out a small pocketknife, and split open one of the bags, finding another yellow piece of paper. He held it up, then did the same to the next bag and found two more, holding them all up to show the others.

They sat down in the middle of the cul-de-sac near the manhole cover and laid out the four pieces of paper. Lilly got out her device and looked up the symbolic meanings on all the papers. I’m gonna need a pencil.

Jordan, who always wore a chain around his neck, brought the chain out of his shirt, showing a small pen with a key attached to it.

Always be prepared, he laughed, as the other two shook their heads.

Gol, you’re weird, Jordan. You make MacGyver look like an amateur, Lilly said, referring to their favorite TV show.

She grabbed the pen and started writing. After a few moments of looking up symbols on her phone and scribbling a few notes on one of the base bags, she finished. Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this before. We’ve got ‘help,’ the one we found before, something about hunting vultures, traveling south, and holes in the ground. But they rhyme like they’re clues or hint at something. In other words, we have to try to figure out what they mean.

Watty snatched the yellow papers from Lilly and scratched his head. There are little numbers on the lower left corners on each paper, one through four. Maybe it’s the order we’re supposed to read them in. He slapped his head with his hand as Jordan laughed.

As if it would make any difference, Watty, Lilly said. They don’t make much sense, so—

Jordan interrupted. Maybe you didn’t do it right, Lilly. He received an icy stare.

No, these are definitely hints about something. Let me read them out loud. Okay. Here’s the first one. ‘In the street and perfectly round, there’s usually found a hole-in-the-ground.’ Watty paused and looked up at the other two, who stared back with blank faces. Next one. ‘Traveling south, please don’t fall, you will have help to make the right call.’ Moving on: ‘Is a vulture hunt a scavenger game? Will the ultimate winner face fame or blame?’ He looked up, staring at their perplexed faces.

And the last one, is just ‘Help Me’? Jordan asked.

This is all just really weird, said Lilly, backing up and tripping slightly over the manhole cover. She quickly looked down. Oh my God! What was that first clue again? She grabbed the paper from Watty. ‘In the street and perfectly round, there’s usually found a hole-in-the-ground.’ She pointed to the manhole cover.

Excitedly, the boys stood up and helped Lilly lift the lid off. All three looked down in wonder.

That’s it, Watty shouted excitedly, but before he could say anything else, Jordan spun around and quickly went down the ladder of the manhole. Watty and Lilly stared down in horror as their friend disappeared into the darkness.

2

The Tunnel

Watty’s mind fLashed back to riding bikes with Jordan in the cul-de-sac a long time ago. Completely out of the blue, Jordan had stopped, gotten off his bike, and run down a hill behind one of the neighbor’s houses, leaving Watty wondering what in the world possessed his strange friend to do that. It turned out he had seen a kitten and decided to chase it. He’d gotten it too, and still had it. And even though it’d turned out to be a girl, he’d named her Joey.

Watty smiled at the memory. Yes, Jordan was a different kind of friend. Always a little crazy and unpredictable, but that was what made him fun to be around. He didn’t ever remember meeting Jordan for the first time, like he did Lilly. It was like they’d always known each other. He figured they were probably best friends because neither had any siblings. Also, what made Jordan different from Watty’s other friends was that he lived with his grandparents, Al and Nancy Sinclair, instead of his real parents. Jordan never told him why that was, but Watty figured it was none of his business. The Sinclairs were really nice and funny and told great stories about the olden days. Mrs. Sinclair always volunteered for chaperone duty on school field trips so she could keep an eye on Jordan, she said, but she really loved being out with all the schoolkids. And Mr. Sinclair even played some video games with them. It was always pretty fun over at his house.

Hearing Jordan yelling snapped Watty back to reality. He and Lilly each let out a huge sigh of relief.

Jordan’s voice echoed. ‘Traveling south, please don’t fall, you will have help to make the right call. He laughed. I think I just went south, and I only fell a few feet. He laughed again. Hey guys, you won’t believe what I just found!

A vulture? Lilly shouted back sarcastically, recovering quickly from the shock of almost losing her friend down this unknown abyss.

No. It actually looks like a copy of that game we played at Jackson’s birthday party a while ago. The scavenger hunt list, which I know sounds really strange, but—and oh my God . . .  Jordan’s voice sounded farther and farther away. Guys—you have to see this. There’s some kind of machine, er, or space-shippy-looking thing, His voice faded with each word.

Watty and Lilly both looked at each other and scrambled down the ladder to join Jordan.

It was an underground tunnel, brightly lit and cavernous. Their footsteps echoed off the walls as they caught up to their friend. Walking slowly together, they spied a large glass window to their left. Peering in, they could see a big, open area with some kind of high-tech-looking gizmos and lots of computer screens flashing lights and colored buttons. The tunnel seemed to go on forever in both directions.

What in the world . . .  Watty said, amazed at all the technology he saw.

And look over here, guys. That’s what I was talking about, Jordan said excitedly. To the right of the high-tech room was an amazing machine resembling a cross between a fancy, futuristic car and a spaceship. To the left was an office area with lots of books and papers piled on a desk. Watty just stared, trying to take it all in.

O-M-G. Who do you think works down here? Jordan asked excitedly.

I don’t know, Lilly answered, But it looks like it could be some kind of government facility or something, doesn’t it? So, do you think we might be trespassing? Should we even be down here? It’s obviously somebody’s secret working place.

Of course it’s okay to be here. It’s under our houses, isn’t it? Watty said. So, it kind of belongs to us too, I think. Just look at that cool machine thingy. Yup, it’s right under my house, so I guess it’s mine then, he joked.

Yeah, it’s probably okay. Let’s look around, Jordan said, settling it.

They all turned at the same time and walked over to the high-tech vehicle first.

Lilly was still a little nervous about being down there. Don’t touch anything!

We’re not. But this is so sick. Watty had a big grin on his face.

I don’t see any doors, Jordan said.

Or windows, Lilly added, walking around the vehicle.

Watty took out his phone. Let’s take a selfie. They all stopped in front of the machine, making funny poses. Watty checked to see how the picture turned out. Well that’s weird, it’s black. How could I screw that up? He shook his head. Hmm. Let’s try again.

You have to pwess the beeg, wed button, Watty. Lilly giggled at her baby talk.

Watty wasn’t amused. Okay, guys, here we go again. One, two, three, smile. He clicked his phone and looked at it. Whoa. Watty backed slowly away from the vehicle. Let’s get away from this thingy. Someone—or something—apparently doesn’t want us to take any photos of it. It’s black again.

They all turned and stared at the incredible machine as they continued walking backward, away from it and over toward the high-tech room.

Okay, then, let’s look in here, Lilly said. She checked the glass door only to find it locked. Bummer. Strike two! She walked over to the office door and turned the knob. It was also locked.

Watty pointed down the tunnel. Hey, ya know, I saw some kind of box on the wall over there. Let me go check it out and see what it might be. He walked back and found what looked like a small mailbox with a handle on it. He pulled. A large key fell out on the concrete floor, echoing down the tunnel.

He lunged for it and ran back to Jordan and Lilly, holding it up like a trophy.

Wow, Lilly said. I’m impressed with your powers of observation. Nothing gets past you, Watty. Try it in the office door first. See if it works there.

Watty tried the key and it opened. They all walked in.

Yay. Lilly clapped her hands.

Well, this is probably the least interesting room down here, but it’s better than nothing, I guess, Jordan said.

In the middle of the office was a large desk with three drawers and two big paper piles. On the wall over it was a bulletin board with several postcard-size notes that looked like mathematical formulas, push pins, and a map of the world. To the right of that was a file cabinet with a lock on the top drawer. To the left was a bookshelf with books on history, world travel, and math. On a hook by the door was a key fob. The kids moved closer to the desk.

Looks like a typical office to me, Jordan announced.

Lilly went over to the paper piles and picked up a book.

Hey, what are you doing? Watty asked. Aren’t you the one walking around saying don’t touch anything?

Oh, yeah, well… She giggled. You know, I can’t ever leave a book untouched. Hey, you know what I thought this was for a second? Like one of those books you see all the time. It’s black and yellow, just like—wait. It is. She held up the book titled Time Travel For Dummies. That is so funny. Must be someone’s idea of a joke.

Wow, Watty said. They make them on every subject these days, don’t they?

Jordan grabbed the book from Lilly. "Oh, yeah. Time travel, as in Back To The Future, that old movie we saw on your dad’s DVD player, Watty? That kind of time travel?"

I guess it could be. Obviously, it’s just something you see in books and movies, though.

Lilly shrugged. Yeah, I don’t think it’s possible or even probable.

Oh look, Lilly. Jordan held up the book. Look what’s marking chapter two. A piece of paper with more symbols.

Okay. That’s a little creepy, guys, don’t ya think? Like someone knew we would be looking down here.

Yeah, it feels like it could be some kind of a trap, Jordan said sarcastically. We find these little pieces of paper, we follow where they lead, and the big, bad guys come down and kidnap us and we never see our families again. He made a deep, scary sound with his voice and laughed.

Lilly ignored Jordan’s antics. I do think we should get out of here before anyone sees us snooping around, though.

Yeah, I agree, Watty said reluctantly. Let’s go back up to the street. Leave the book, Jordan. Put it back exactly as you found it but take the paper with the clues on it and let’s go!

The kids climbed back up the ladder to the street, carefully replaced the manhole cover, and ran over to Watty’s house. They sat on the front stoop, not talking for a moment. Watty whistled through his teeth, a habit he sometimes did when he was a little nervous.

Whew, he finally said, capturing the moment for all of them, unsure what they had just witnessed.

Okay, Lilly said, looking intently at the others. Let’s make a pact now. We tell nobody about this. They all put their hands on top of one another’s. She made up a quick rhyme. Not a word, will we say, to keep our secret every day.

They all shouted, Yeah.

We should start a club and make up a cool name or something, Jordan said.

It’s just the three of us. We don’t need a club. That’s lame, Jordo.

We may want to talk about this to each other—secretly, you know—about what we saw today without anyone else knowing what we’re talking about, Lilly said. We could come up with a secret name so that only we know what it means. Just sayin’.

That kind of makes sense to me, Jordan said. Or do you think that’s lame, too, Watty?

No, I agree, we should. I’m really not sure what we’ve accidentally stumbled on here, but that cool machine-vehicle-space-shippy thing . . . Do you guys really think it could have anything to do with time travel?

Wouldn’t it be something if someone was just filming a sci-fi movie down there? Lilly added. It might be a movie set.

Watty jumped in. "Except