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Abby scraped her hands down her face, trying to rid herself of the feeling of dread that had firmly planted itself in her chest.
Max glanced at Abby and raised a dark eyebrow at Garrett. “Stop trying to spook us. It’s probably just another four-thousand-year-old vase.”
Abby shushed her and gave the letter to Garrett, saying, “They say they hope the piece will bring fulfillment to our lives.”
“Now they care about enriching our lives.” Garrett sniffed.
Izzy pulled out a stack of notebooks and placed them on the table beside the box. “These are their journals.”
Max squeezed between Garrett and Izzy and began shuffling through the journals.
Not bothering to move aside a little to give his sister better access, Garrett narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose at the pile as if they smelled like fresh horse manure.
He continued to read the letter aloud. “We have always been proud of each and every one of you, and we couldn’t have been more pleased that you all became successful, intelligent adults.”
“Sure. As long as we stayed out of their hair,” Max mumbled.
Garrett chuckled, but Izzy looked at her with wide, sad eyes. Abby stopped herself from going to her little sister and comforting her. She knew Izzy detested it when Max or Garrett blamed their parents for not spending more time with them. Izzy was always quick to make excuses for them.
Continuing, Garrett read, “The journals will clarify what we have been doing all these years and why our work kept us away from home so often. Please do not meddle with the time device until you have read every journal.”
“Fair enough,” Max said, and handed one of the books to Garrett.
Abigail thought for a moment her brother wasn’t going to take it, but he begrudgingly accepted it. He held the journal away from his body as if he were scared a giant spider would crawl out of the pages and bite him.
Max let out a laugh. “So, we finally find out what they’ve been doing all these years instead of, like, raising us?”
Izzy gave Max a slight shake of her head. “Our parents may not have been with us every moment while we were growing up, but they did love us.”
She gazed at Abby for reinforcement, so Abby said, “We know they loved us, don’t we, Maxine? Garrett?”
“I guess,” Max said.
Garrett’s bottom lip dropped. “If you say so.”
Abby glanced at the orb and a thrill of excitement pushed away the dread in her chest. Even without understanding exactly what it was, she knew with certainty there was something strange about the orb. For starters, it looked brand new. It was clean and smooth, and white as a fresh sheet of paper.
Her parents hated modern ornaments; their idea of decorating was displaying the oldest stuff they could find in whatever condition they could find it. Her mother had often said a chip here and there added character to an item. The white orb had no character whatsoever and looked like the opposite of anything her parents would have wanted in their house.
Her eyes swept over her siblings. Garrett had his bored look firmly in place, and Max was still wrinkling her nose as if she couldn’t care less. Izzy was the only other person who looked intrigued as she also stared intently at the orb.
Abby eyed the orb and drew in a deep breath. “Maybe we’ll find out what they meant by a time device if we actually read the journals.”
Izzy was already reading, and Max plucked a book off the table.
Garrett glanced at the journal he’d left on the table and stared at Abby.
“Come on, Garrett. This could be interesting,” Abby said. “Think about it. Something important must have had them traipsing all about the globe instead of parenting us.” He picked up the journal and Abby hid a smile. At least he was listening.
“If I’m honest and not letting my nasty side out, I do believe they loved us.” Max huffed.
Abby continued. “Remember how they made it a point to always be here for our birthdays? And remember how much fun we had chasing Dad around the house? He always let us take turns in catching him, so we must have meant something to them for them to do that.” Gazing at each of them, she raised her eyebrows in question.
“Maybe,” Max said.
Garrett flipped his book open. “Fine.”
Abby shook her head as she absently flipped through the typed journal. “Let’s just read what they have to say. But first, I’ve got to eat some of this wonderful food Garrett made for us.”
They all agreed and sat back down in their seats to eat.
After she was well and truly sated, Abby moved her plate and began flipping through the journal. Her eyes caught a bolded sentence.
Naseby, Northamptonshire, England, 1645.
She knew immediately that was the site of an important battle during England’s First Civil War. She loved reading about historical events in her free time—though, to be honest, teaching a group of rowdy eight-year-olds all subjects didn’t leave her with time for much beyond marking homework and organizing the next day’s class schedule. She sat back and continued reading, curious about why her parents had included that particular event in the journal.
It was an account of the defeat of the royalists by the parliamentarians. The strange thing was that it was written as though her parents had been there for the events. Her mother wrote from her heart how she cried at the carnage and how her father risked his life to recover an artifact on the field only to have it disappear before his very eyes.
She read on and gasped. A photograph of her parents dressed in the garb of the time and holding what she was sure was King Charles’ chief military advisor’s feathered hat was pasted at the bottom of the page. From what she knew of the time, her parents’ outfits were more than knockoff costumes. And the events taking place around them, paired with their detailed written accounts, were not remotely what a normal archeologist would be documenting. Plus, photography of this sort hadn’t been invented yet. It was almost as if . . . but no. It was ridiculous to think that her parents could have actually been there.
But they would either have had to be several hundred years old or been able to travel back in time.
She scoffed, trying to convince herself it was crazy to even entertain the idea of time travel. The white orb caught her eye, and she found herself momentarily captivated by the opaque surface. Something about the orb was definitely not normal, and she wondered briefly how it was connected to the journals.
Shaking her head to clear it of the absurd notion that time travel was possible, Abby glanced up at her siblings. They were also reading intently, and by the covert looks at the orb, they seemed to be having a similar experience.
Max had a deep frown embedded between her perfectly arched brows, and her mouth hovered somewhere between a sneer and a disbelieving smile.
Izzy’s eyes were wide and excited as they scanned the words in the book, and Garrett’s hands seemed to have a barely noticeable tremor to them as he continued flipping through the journal.
“This could be a plot for one of my novels,” Izzy said. “Or with the amount of info here, I could write a never-ending series. I guess I get my imagination from our parents.”
Abby smiled at her. “I guess we all get something from them. They’ve written up the history of their destinations perfectly, just like I would have, and look, Max.” Abby flipped to a picture of the first-ever games in Olympia. “These sections are for you. They were as obsessed with sports as you are.”
Max made a face. “I’m not obsessed. I’m merely interested is all.”
Izzy laughed. “Yeah, right. That’s why you have a hundred dans or whatever black belts in every martial art ever taught.”
She laughed. “I’m only sixth dan in karate, silly.”
“That’s still pretty cool,” Abby said.
Garrett turned his journal to the side and admired the middle pages. Abby hadn’t seen him so animated since he was a child. He turned the book around so they could all see the magnificent drawing of a horse and wagon. “Check out the drawings. I guess I get my art skills from them as well.”
He glanced at Abby, and she thought just for a second that he was going to smile, but instead, his face shut down and he leaned back against the wall and returned to flipping through the pages.
Max threw her journal on the table. “This reminds me of when I was training. My mentor taught me not to believe all I read or saw. There’s always a logical explanation for everything.”
Abby regarded the white orb before standing up and moving toward it. If only it were true. Time travel, a historian’s dream come true. “I don’t know, Max. I think the least we can do is read these journals and try to keep an open mind. Mom and Dad left them for us, and they would have expected us to at least believe them.” She waved her hand over the discarded notebooks piled on the coffee table. “The photographs could have been doctored, but I doubt it.”
Garrett had artistic eyes. If anyone could spot a fake, it would be him. “Garrett? What do you make of the photos?”
He glanced up with a slight frown as if processing what Abby had asked, and then peered at a page in his journal. “If they were manipulated, then I’d like to meet whoever did it. They’re perfect.”
“See?” Abby said to Max.
“But,” Garrett jumped in, “that doesn’t mean I believe they time traveled. They could have dressed up and hired actor lookalikes for the pictures.”
Izzy gazed at Garrett. “I think they’re authentic. Look at the backgrounds. There’s no way they would have had all that built just for a photograph.”
Garrett scoffed. “You just want them to be real.” He continued reading as if he were already finished with the conversation.
Max huffed and also went back to her journal.
The doorbell rang, and Garrett raised his brows at his sisters.
Abby shrugged. “Might be Carter.” She rushed to the front door and swung it open. Before she could focus on who it was, a voice shrilled.
“Abby! How are you?”
Abby glanced over her shoulder at Garrett, who had followed her. He waved his hands as if to tell Abby not to let her in.
“Ah, good, good. What brings you here?”
“I wanted to see all of you.” Bree tipped her head back, her green eyes rolling to the side to indicate the car parked in the drive. “And I’d love a strong coffee. I’m beat.”
Abby frowned. Why would Bree turn up at that moment?
Garrett grunted and, nudging Abby out of the way, pulled the door back. “It’s good to see you, Bree.”
Bree gave Garrett a hug. “And you, little cousin.”
Garrett, never one for physical shows of affection, pushed her away from him.
Abby was still organizing her thoughts. Brianna had spent a lot of time with them during their childhood. Her own parents died when she was a teenager, and she lived with her paternal grandmother. Her mother was Abby’s mother’s twin sister, Patricia. Abby rubbed her forehead. Of course, her mom would never keep secrets from her twin. But did they let Bree in on the secret? She eyed Brianna giggling at Garrett.
“I was worried about you all.” Her flaming-red hair bounced as she bobbed in a knowing way. “And when Carter told me you were all back together here, I just had to come.” She gave them both a wry grimace. “I guess it’s all too much to take in a short time.”
“Huh?” Abby said, feeling stupid the moment the grunt left her mouth. Bree did know, and now she was laughing at them.
“What do you mean by that?” Garrett said.
“Are we going to stand out here all day, or are you going to invite me in?”
Shaking her head, Abby stepped back and sent a move-out-of-the-way look to Garrett. “Come in.”
Max and Izzy jumped up as the trio walked back into the dining room.
“Bree!” Izzy rushed to her and gave her a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
Max said, “I didn’t either.”
Bree grinned at Max and gave her a quick hug. “I’ve missed you guys.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Max asked.
Bree flicked her red locks over her shoulder and let out a loud sigh. “I might as well just come out and tell you. Your parents’ lawyer told me your parents wanted me to be here, and yes, I know all about their time traveling, and I’m supposed to make sure you all believe it.”
“Why would our parents tell you and not us?” Abby asked.
“They didn’t. Mom told me a long time ago. She also told me she made Aunt Di promise to take me back in time with them.” Her eyes teared up. “They were supposed to take me this year.”
“What a load of rubbish,” Garrett said, plonking down in his chair.
Bree swiped her eyes with the side of her hands. “You don’t have to believe me; I’m just telling you what I was told.” She pointed to the tray of food. “Is there any coffee left?”
“Of course,” Abby said, and poured her a mug of espresso. She wasn’t sure she believed everything Bree had said either, but decided they could talk about it more later. “Have you read their journals?”
“I haven’t, but I’d love to.” Bree sipped her coffee and picked up the black cloak. “This is neat. It looks like it’d fit you, Abby. Why don’t you try it on?”
Abby put on the cloak. It was too warm for inside the house, but it was soft and snuggly.
Bree held out the orb and handed it to Abby. “Do you think this is the time device?”
Abby’s hands shook with excitement as she took the orb. “I have no idea.” The top was out of alignment with the bottom. She twisted it so the gold leaf design matched up perfectly. What if it was—
She never finished the thought before a sudden rushing in her ears drowned out the sound of her siblings’ chatter. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to take note of the sensations. The feeling of falling was almost exhilarating until she realized that the landing might hurt. Before she could worry much about it, she began to slow until she felt more like she was gently floating downward. Her feet touched solid ground, and she opened her eyes.