“That’s the woman who opened the door to the Presidential Palace in 1862,” Bo exclaimed. “We saw her again in New York City in 1928.”
“I remember her from Boston in 1876,” Jacob realized. “And—”
“She was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965,” Zack finished. “I think she’s following us! Or are we following her?”
“Definitely way too many coincidences.” I was bouncing on my toes, ready to run. “Let’s go get her. We have to find out who she is and what she’s up to!”
Sacagawea was still packing as we ran, fast as we could, toward the woman. She saw us coming and took off. Darting through small trees. Ducking behind bushes.
Zack was the quickest, so he was in the lead. Bo was second. I came third. And Jacob, desperately clinging to the computer, careful not to drop it as he ran, was bringing up the rear.
I slowed slightly to jump over a pile of leaves. Coming too fast, Jacob crashed into me. Arms flailing, wrapped together, the two of us plowed into Bo. He slammed into Zack. And Zack . . . well, he cruised headfirst into the woman with the yellow coat and matching hat.
“At least I managed to save the time-travel computer,” Jacob grunted from the top of our tangled-people pile. He held it high above his head. “Not a scratch on it.”
I looked at the computer in his hand. “That’s not our computer,” I said, shaking my head. “Ours is black. The one you’re holding is blue.”
“Give me back my computer!” came a shout from beneath Zack. It was the woman in yellow. Her hand shot up and snatched the computer out of Jacob’s grasp.
“Excellent. Now I have two!” she cheered. And with that, Jacob, Zack, Bo, and I were shoved aside as the woman dug herself out from under us. “So long, kids,” she said happily as she tucked our computer into her pocket and began to fiddle with the buttons on hers.
Jacob suddenly shouted, “She’s going to time-travel out of here!”
“She’s taking our computer,” Bo added.
“We have to stop her!” Zack cried.
Those three months Zack spent in tae kwon do really paid off when he gave the woman a swift side kick, forcing her to her knees. The summer he spent as a magician’s apprentice taught him how to pick our computer from her pocket. And baseball camp scored with a pitcher’s perfect toss to Jacob.
Jacob caught our computer easily and declared, “Way to go, Zack. You’re a stud.”
“I know.” Zack grinned. But he didn’t have time to take a bow because the woman was back on her feet, preparing to run.
There was no way I was going to let her escape. Without thinking, I leaped onto her back and hung on.
She couldn’t work her own time-travel computer because she was busy swatting at me. And I wasn’t going to let go. “Who are you?” I demanded to know. I wrapped my arms tightly around her neck.
Bo and Zack jumped in, grabbing the woman’s arms. Jacob kept his distance so she couldn’t break free and take our computer again.
She suddenly stopped fighting and stood defeated, breathing heavily. “My name is Babs Magee,” she coughed out. I was choking her. I loosened my grip, but wouldn’t let go or get off. “Have you heard of me?”
“No,” I said. “Should we have?”
“That’s the whole problem.” Babs sighed. “No one has ever heard of me. But someday I will be very, very famous. Everyone will know the name Babs Magee.” She straightened her back. I had to hold on more firmly so I wouldn’t slide off.