A Twist in Time

By Janet Muirhead Hill

A time-tumbling story of loss and discovery between centuries
Close your eyes and imagine it’s the year 2019 and it’s your 13th birthday. An important milestone for a young girl. You lag behind a tour group and your parents in the oh so boring Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana and are suddenly struck by an ear-blasting roar and blinding light. As the shock wave wears off and events unravel, you discover that instead of the year 2019 it is now 1919. Consider everything you take for granted; from air travel to toaster ovens; from twenty-four-hour supermarkets to indoor plumbing. “. . . er, ah, is that an outhouse? I have to do . . . what in there!? What do you mean there’s no toilet paper? And you want me to milk a cow?” And so it goes for Madison, the ultra-rich kid from New York who winds up in the middle of what she sees at first as a Montana nightmare. Asleep, she is not. Neither is Emily, the poorest of the poorest Montana girl who suddenly finds herself in twenty-first century America on the day she was expecting to be celebrating her 13th birthday in 1919. “Those are skyscrapers and I live at the top of one? Cars are way too scary fast. I have my own limo driver?”

Madison and Emily are a pair of brand-new thirteen-year-olds who have switched places and, despite each meeting their first love on the opposite end of the century, wish with everything they’ve got that they could figure out how to switch back.
This is an amazing story that’ll keep you reading from chapter to chapter as the two girls adjust to their new lives after being flipped a century. As Madison’s Grandma Ezzie described it to Emily, they time tumbled, shifted, and turned. Thank you, Janet Muirhead Hill, for another most captivating Montana adventure. I give it the full bucket of stars. — This summary is by James Paddock, Novelist and reviewer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raven Publishing of Montana
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781937849702

Janet Muirhead Hill

Janet Muirhead Hill is the author of thirteen published novels for children ages 8-18. She co-authored curriculum units to adapt the novels for use in classrooms and home schools.Hill has presented many writing and publishing workshops across the state and in Colorado and Oregon. She is available to present workshops to fit one, two, three, four, or five days of instruction depending on the needs and time schedules of her sponsors and students. She has conducted many one-day school visits in Montana and Colorado, and has plans for longer residencies. She wrote and published comprehensive workbooks for use with her three, four, and five-day writing workshops. She is listed in the Artist's Registry of the Montana Arts Council.Her published children’s and young adult novels include the award-winning Miranda and Starlight series of eight (soon to be nine) books, Danny’s Dragon, a Story of Wartime Loss, winner of the Eric Hoffer Award, and a trilogy about twins, separated at a young age and searching for each other. Kyleah’s Tree, a finalist for both the High Plains Book Award and USA Book News, Best Book Award, is the the girl twin's story. It's companion novel, Kendall's Storm, silver medal winner of the Moonbeam Award, is the boy twin's story. Kendall and Kyleah, is the third book of the series completes their story. Her book, Call Me Captain has been renamed, The Body in the Freezer, and is a story about a 13-year-old rich kid who is both smart, and smart-mouthed searching for his place in the world—and finding when forced to "volunteer" in a homeless shelter.Hill calls the writing she does “true fiction,” because, she says, “My goal is to tell the truth about the human experience, its dilemmas, natural responses, and emotions through fictional characters; characters children relate to; characters who will help them better understand themselves, giving them comfort and encouragement in their own lives.”Ms. Hill spends much of her free time enjoying the outdoors, her horses, and most of all her family, which includes eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She writes and publishes from her home office in rural Montana near the Madison River.

Book preview

A river valley in western USA

Early on a summer morning, 1819

A young Indian boy sat astride his pony beside his grandfather on his tall horse. He looked across the river where white steam wafted from the middle of the mountain. "Grandfather, look! The mountain is breathing.

"No, my son. That is the breath of the little tricksters who live inside it.

Inside the mountain?

Yes. The mountain is hollow with many big rooms and strange, stone shapes. It is deep and dark.

I want to see.

Oh, no, you cannot, for those who enter there without the blessing of the little people are never seen again.

What happens to them.

Only the little people know, and if you do not wish to find out, do not invade their sacred home.

As the sun warmed the canyon, the white cloud faded and died.

Look, Grandfather. It’s gone. Did they die?

Oh, no. They have only gone deeper into their abode. Perhaps to sleep. Perhaps to await young warriors like you to sneak inside. Maybe they are looking for breakfast.

The boy shivered.

Chapter 1

Montana, July 17, 1919

Emily Sorenson sat astride her pa’s cowhorse near the summit of the hill that overlooked the Sorenson Ranch. As she thought of what she was about to do, her stomach flipped, and her heart skipped a beat. She had never in all her thirteen years done anything remotely rebellious—not even slightly disobedient, at least not on purpose. She could see her father and two of her brothers like ants in the hay field farthest from the mountain. She thought of turning back, but instead, she swallowed her fear, set her jaw, and reined Dunny away from the field to climb the hill and cross the rugged mountaintop.

She’d started out to take the traditional mid-afternoon iced tea and cookies to the men working in the hayfields, but when she didn’t find them in the field she thought they’d be in, the one at the base of the hill, she had the idea. If she had not been treated like a slave on this most special of all birthdays and been scolded for an accident that wasn’t her fault, she wouldn’t have thought of disobeying. But as of today, she was thirteen, practically a woman, and no one had even bothered tell her happy birthday. She would do as she wanted. She’d likely get a whipping when she came back, but it would be worth it. She’d be doing something that even her older brother, Jack, had never dared to do.

Let’s go, Dunny. We’ll make it quick and be back before supper.

As the faithful gelding picked his way across the rugged mountain, she thought about Morrison’s Cave. Jack had told her about it four years ago, and she’d thought about it ever since, fascinated by the existence of a mystical underground would. When she said she was going to explore it someday, he’d warned her to forget about it. If you get caught trespassing, you’ll be arrested. Do you want to go to jail? But he also told her that those in authority hardly ever came to this part of Montana. He also told her that according to legends, evil spirits lived in it, and anyone who went inside would never return.

Really? she had asked. Evil spirits? What do they look like?

Like ghosts, I suppose. Mostly invisible. But if you could see them, they’d look like red-eyed monsters with flat heads and big teeth.

You’re lying. Yet, at age nine, she hadn’t been so sure.

Maybe, he said, laughing. But you don’t really know, do you? You better stay out of it, or we’ll never see you again. Or maybe you should go in, and I’d have one less pesky sister.

Now she knew it couldn’t be true if a guy named Morrison took people into it for money, even though he’s not supposed to. He doesn’t own the land. Jack had told her when she brought up the subject months later.

What’s inside? Emily had asked. And don’t tell me monsters.

All kinds of cool-looking rock formations, or so I’ve heard. Unusual enough for people to pay Morrison good money to get to see it, Jack said. They say it’s huge. People could get lost in it and probably have. Not a fun way to die, Em.

Emily had shivered at the thought of getting lost in the dark when she was younger, but she was smarter and braver now. She’d find out for herself.

She pulled Dunny to a stop when she could look down into the next valley. Beyond the Jefferson River, the steep mountainside hid the mysterious cave. Jack, had told her it was halfway up, no more than a mile past the river. Not too far. She had been waiting years to explore it, and there was no stopping now. Dunny was fast. She could go down, cross the river, and be there in little more than an hour. She squared her shoulders and urged the gelding down the hill.

Riding down the rough terrain was not as simple as it looked. She could see two railroads, one on each side of the river, but they were at the bottom of a slope so steep, she feared Dunny would fall. She tugged on the reins.

This was a bad idea, Dun. Let’s go back. But he plunged on, and Emily feared that if she tried to turn him now, he’d fall over sideways, and they’d both roll to the bottom of the hill. She braced herself to keep from sliding over Dunny’s neck and hoped the cinch was tight enough to keep the saddle in place. Picking his way down the steep hillside, the well-trained horse didn’t hesitate until they came to the first railroad track. Emily drew a shaky breath of relief, now that the steep descent was behind them.

Dunny snorted at the railroad track. He’d probably never seen one before, but with just a little urging, he lunged across and plunged into the river. She hoped it wasn’t too deep. If it was, Dunny would swim, but Pa would not be happy about getting the saddle soaked. She wanted to drag her feet in the water to cool off, but she knew better than to get her leather shoes wet. She lifted them up, resting her knees over the pommel of the saddle, and tucked her dress between her knees as the water lapped the edge of the saddle blanket.

When they crossed the next railroad track, Emily still couldn’t see the cave, but she found a narrow, well-worn trail she was sure would lead to it. The trail was steeper and longer than she’d expected, but it stopped in front of a barrier of rough boards and branches and a closed wooden door secured with a padlock.

Oh, no! It’s blocked, Emily cried. I’ve come all this way for nothing? She dismounted and tried to pull some of the boards and branches away so she could squeeze through, but they were firmly nailed to a wooden frame.

Looking around, she spied a foot path to a spot across and higher up the hill. She tied Dunny to a tree and walked up the side hill to check it out. Another cave entrance! It must be the original opening that Jack had told her about. The cave was first discovered when hunters saw steam coming out of this hole in the side of the mountain.

She peered in, warding off a nagging worry that told her she should go home. It had taken her well over an hour, maybe more than two, to get here and would take at least as long to get home. She was going to get the licking of her life, but she couldn’t turn back now. In the gloom, she saw it was a long way to the bottom, but there was a ladder. She climbed down into the cave.

Hello? She shivered as her voice echoed eerily. Hair rose on the back of her neck. Swallowing hard, she looked around, but she kept one hand on the ladder—just in case Jack’s stories weren’t completely false. At the edge of the pool of sunlight, she found candles and a box of sulfur matches, probably left by Mr. Morrison. She lit a long taper and went cautiously forward. Following a narrow passageway, she walked down some wooden steps and continued on to a place she had to duck to keep from bumping her head. She stepped into a huge chamber where strange looking icicles made of stone hung from a ceiling so high her candlelight didn’t reach it. Similar formations pointed upward from the floor. Eerie shadows moved in every direction as she turned around with her candle. Still, she went on. Jack would be so envious when she described how big and dark and scary it was.

At a sudden rustling sound, her heart leapt, and her knees turned to jelly. Already spooked, her first thought was of the stories about evil spirits and people disappearing. Her second thought was to remember she was trespassing. She’d be in huge trouble if anyone caught her. She scrambled up a small incline to hide behind a stone column that went from floor to ceiling and was twice as big around as she was. She placed the candle on a ledge behind a rock outcropping, standing it in a puddle of wax out of sight of anyone passing by. Another flurry of sound took her breath away, it was so close. She pressed her back against the wall, palms against the cool rock as she saw several winged creatures stream away. Bats. She sighed in relief. It’s just bats.

But the relief only lasted an instant. Before she could move, a vibration shot through her hands and shook her whole body. As the jolt passed through her, a brilliant light filled the room and a ripping sound, louder than any thunder she’d ever heard, tore at her ears. Then, just as suddenly, everything was still.

But light, though not as bright as the flash, remained. The room was filled with far more brilliance than her candle produced, and it didn’t flicker. She heard voices and searched for a better place to hide. She couldn’t risk being arrested. She stood still as a statue, afraid to breathe. Finally, gaining the courage to peek around the column, she saw several people moving away from her, farther into the cave. She heard someone say, Watch your step and duck your heads.

It must be Mr. Morrison, but how had he gathered so many people so quickly? There’d been no sign of anyone only minutes before. And though she didn’t see actual torches, she thought there must be many of them to provide light that didn’t go dim, even as the people were leaving. She would take her candle and go back the way she came as soon as the people left with their light. But when she reached to recover her candle, it wasn’t there. It had simply disappeared, wax puddle and all.

Chapter 2

Montana, July 17, 2019

Thirteen-year-old Madison Clark, hungry and peeved, glanced up from her iPhone when the car slowed to make a turn.

What’s this place? she asked, even though she clearly saw the sign: Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park.

The best of all your birthday surprises. Dad winked at her in the rear-view mirror.

Not a hard bar to reach, Madison mumbled. She’d been disappointed when her parents announced a change in vacation plans, and still hadn’t forgiven them.

What did you say? Her mother frowned.

Nothing. Madison turned back to her new phone, a birthday gift. After waking her early, which she hated, her dad had given her the latest iPhone, loaded with her favorite apps, which she loved. She’d had her old one since she was eleven. Mom had given her two adorable new dresses, top-brand skinny jeans with holes, two pair of shorts, two stylish tank tops, and two T-shirts with slogans. One said, They said someone amazing would come along—and here I am. The other said, If my words don’t tell you, my face will.

When Madison read that one, Mom had laughed. I just couldn’t resist. It’s so you!

Madison made a face, but secretly, she liked it best of all. One thing about her mother, she knew clothing, quality, and style. And she paid attention to what kids her age were wearing. She had to as editor-in-chief of a popular fashion magazine.

As her dad drove up a long winding road, her mother exclaimed, Madison, are you seeing this? Look. A deer!

Madison grunted but kept her eyes on the text she’d just received.

Madison, look at that.

Mom! Quit bugging me. Ty just sent me a text.

You and that phone. Mom sounded exasperated and not for the first time that day.

Dad parked, facing a long, one-story, plain-looking building that had signs for restrooms, a cafe, and a gift shop. A tree-covered mountain rose steeply behind it.

This is it? Madison did nothing to disguise the contempt in her voice.

She had not been happy that her parents chose to take a road trip across America instead the usual summer vacation to some tropical resort with at least one of her best friends along. None of them had been able to join her this year. Big surprise. Who in their right mind would want to spend a month in a stupid car? Her dad had been puffed up with pride when he came home with a new SUV. It’s the newest Range Rover, and it’s loaded with all the extras. Instead of going abroad this year, we will visit the most popular tourist destination in the world—the good old USA, coast to coast. He’d expected her to be happy about that.

A week of traveling brought them to Montana. Other than her thirteenth birthday gifts, the day had been a huge bummer. She would have had so much more fun if she’d just stayed in Manhattan with her friends. At least with her new iPhone, she had shared lots of selfies while trudging through a boring museum in Bozeman—where they’d stayed too long to have time for lunch before coming here, wherever here was.

Hold on, honey. Wait for the main attraction. Follow me. Dad got out of the car and strode to a rustic building with huge stone pillars and a breezeway that made it look bigger than it really was. A sign on the front read VISITOR CENTER.

In the blast of 100-degree heat, Madison was glad she’d worn cutoff jeans and her new favorite tank top.

I believe this is where we wait for the tour guide, and there’s the ticket booth. Dad pointed. Looks like we’re just in time. Wait in line while I pay.

We’re going there? Madison asked in alarm. She stared at a sign at the beginning of a broad trail that snaked up a hill.

WARNING

PERSONS WITH HEART, BREATHING

OR WALKING DIFFICULTIES: 2 MILE,

2 HOUR TOUR, 300 FOOT VERTICAL

CLIMB TO ENTRANCE AND 600 STEPS

IN THE CAVE. STOOPING AND BENDING

REQUIRED

I’m not walking two hours up hill in this heat. I’m already hot.

You don’t walk two hours in the heat. The brochure says it’s cool inside the cave. You’re going to wish you had on more clothes once we get inside, Mom said.

Madison stuck her phone in the back pocket of her cutoff shorts. She liked how her close-fitting tank top with the picture of her favorite rock band had colors in it that accented her current Purple Punk hair color. With the afternoon sun bearing down on her, she wished she were with her friends, swimming in Ty’s penthouse rooftop pool, instead of preparing to hike up a trail with switchbacks to conquer 300 vertical feet to some hole in the side of a mountain. She said as much to her mother.

Maddie, stop your complaining, and try to have some fun.

Fun? Why do we have to walk? Haven’t they heard of motorized transportation in this backwater place? It’s the twenty-first century! Maddie said, entirely too loudly. She pulled out her phone to snap a picture of the sign so her friends could see how her parents were torturing her on her birthday.

Her father came back with tickets. Madison, stop making a scene. Your mother and I have tried to give you the best birthday ever. Show some appreciation.

Everyone in the small group was staring at them, but she didn’t care. The best birthday ever? That would be back in New York with my friends. They know the meaning of fun, and it’s not stuck in the backseat of a car all the way across the continent. I’ll just wait here, Dad. You and Mom go. This is your idea of a good time, not mine.

Madison Alise Lourde Clark. Stop it this minute. Mom used her low, I-mean-it voice. You will not talk to your father like that. In fact, you don’t need to talk at all. I’ll take that phone, and I don’t want to hear another word from you unless it’s an apology and a thank you.

We’ll keep this until you’re ready to join the real world and start acting civilly. Dad plucked her phone from her hand. Her mother slipped it into her purse.

Madison couldn’t believe they were serious, but evidently, she had crossed a line. Fine. She crossed her arms over her chest and clamped her mouth closed, with a defiant lift of her chin. She’d show them. They’ll be begging to hear my voice before I ever speak to them again.

With each miserable step up the long trail to the cave entrance, she fed her anger. She sat on a bench as far from her parents as she could get while the long-winded tour guide blabbed on about the cave history and some stupid rules before letting them go in. Determined not to enjoy this, she followed at the back of the crowd, making an escape plan.

Madison, get up here with us, Dad called back to her. He and Mom were right behind the tour guide. Of course!

Do you want to go ahead? the woman in front of her asked, standing aside.

It’s okay, Madison said. I can catch up with them when we stop for the next lecture. Actually, she had no intention of catching up.

Like everyone else, her parents were oohing and aahing over the weird rock formations, which, she had to admit, were impressive. The place looked like something from a science fiction movie, but her feet hurt where her flip-flops were forming a blister between her toes. She shivered in the chilly air that contrasted so sharply with the outside temperature. She made up her mind. When she lagged far enough behind that her parents were out of sight, she would turn around and go back to the car. She had a key fob. Dad had given her and Mom each one in case of an emergency. She’d have an hour, at least, to entertain herself with her iPad in the mini backpack she’d left in the car.

She eyed a column bigger than a tree trunk about six strides from the path. When everyone passed, she scrambled up behind it, then backed against the wall out of sight as voices receded.

She first felt the vibration in her hands as her palms pressed against the cool rock, but instantly, the shock wave jolted her whole body, the ground shook, and a blinding light filled the eerie chamber amid a loud roar. Then, just as suddenly, everything went deathly quiet and very dark. As her eyes adjusted, she saw the flicker of one lone candle, providing a meager glow, on a ledge behind a rock outcropping. There was no other light, and the only sound was a slow, eerie drip.

Chapter 3

Montana, July 17, 2019

As Emily peeked around the column she was hiding behind, she looked for torches to explain the light that gave her a clear view of the entire chamber. But even Mr. Morrison was not carrying one. When he disappeared from view, the light stayed. Emily couldn’t find her candle, but she had no trouble seeing without it, so she started back the way she’d come.

She had gone only a little way, though, when the lights went out. She shrieked and then clapped her hand over her mouth. She breathed deeply to slow the pounding of her heart. It was like she’d gone blind, for holding her hands two inches from her eyes, she couldn’t see them. She whimpered as panic assailed her. Without any light, she could so easily get lost. She felt lost already, but she couldn’t just stand there. She forced herself to move, feeling her way.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally saw a glimmer of light ahead. She must be near the place she’d entered. But when she got closer, she could not see the ladder standing beneath the hole. She couldn’t find it on the floor. It was completely gone. Maybe Mr. Morrison pulled it out before he brought his people in. But when she could directly view the hole, she gasped. Metal bars formed a barricade. They seemed designed to keep people out—and her in. She tried to think of an explanation. Could Mr. Morrison have made the barricade so quickly? No, that couldn’t be, and she could hardly breathe as she tried and failed to make sense of it. Finally, she willed herself to keep going in search of the other