CHAPTER 44: CODY

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, April 5, 1944

The pitcher, a lanky boy of eighteen, showed no mercy. For the fifteenth time in as many tries, he brought his hands together, started his windup, and struck out a hapless batter with a blazing fastball that even the catcher had difficulty handling.

Cody smiled as Rory Tanaka, the ace of the Gila Monsters, waited for his next victim to step to the plate. He had not seen a pitcher dominate a team this thoroughly since watching Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals strike out twenty Detroit Tigers in a televised Major League Baseball game in 2016.

"This guy is good," Cody said. He turned to Naoko Watanabe, who sat next to him in the bleachers directly behind home plate. "He's more than good. He's amazing."

Naoko smiled.

"The whole team is amazing. The Monsters have won thirty-six of their past forty games, including some against outside competition. They even beat Tucson Central, the state high school champions, last May. You're looking at the best baseball team in Arizona."

Cody did not doubt that for a minute. What he could not believe was that the best baseball team in Arizona, comprised entirely of internees, had risen and flourished inside a camp where material resources were almost as scarce as the opportunities to succeed.

"Who created all this?"

Naoko turned her head.

"Do you mean the league?"

"I mean all of it."

"A lot of people contributed time and money, but Mr. Yamada, a former Fresno high school coach and a longtime friend of my family, chipped in the most. He organized the leagues and built this entire stadium almost singlehandedly using wood he claimed from the camp's fences and some of the living quarters. He even planted the outfield."

Cody stared at Naoko.

"One guy built all this?"

Naoko nodded.

"He built the press box in two months and the bleachers in six. Because of Mr. Yamada and his assistants, people here have an outlet. They have a reason to smile and cheer."

Cody pondered the comment as he returned his attention to the game. Though he did not need another reason to admire the residents of the Gila River War Relocation Center, he had one now. He shook his head as he wondered, yet again, why these people, loyal citizens, were considered a threat to the national security of the United States.

"How often do you come out here?"

"It depends. I try to watch at least three games a week," Naoko said. She cheered as Tanaka struck out another batter to retire the side. "I like baseball. I like it almost as much as reading smutty medical books on my lunch break."

Cody smiled.

"I thought so."

Naoko grinned but did not reply. Like Caitlin Carson, Emma Bauer, and a few other girls Cody had known in his eighteen years, she understood the power of silence.

Cody let the good feeling linger for a few minutes as the Block 38 Bombers claimed their positions in the field and the Monsters took their turn at the plate. Though he wanted to continue the light banter for the rest of his lunch break, he also wanted to explore a potentially serious matter that had troubled him since his last visit.

"Naoko?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"No," Naoko said. "What do you want to know?"

Cody hesitated before speaking.

"I want to know if your mother is all right."

Naoko did not reply right away. She instead stared blankly at the Bombers hurler as he prepared to throw the first pitch of the inning. When she did speak, she did so in a calm and measured voice that made her companion wish he had stuck to baseball.

"No, Cody, she is not all right."

Cody frowned.

"What's the matter with her?"

"She's dying," Naoko said.

Cody closed his eyes as he absorbed the shocking words. He thought Kyoko Watanabe might be seriously ill, but he never in a million years suspected she was dying.

"I'm sorry."

"It's OK."

"Does she have an illness?"

Naoko nodded.

"She has stage two ovarian cancer. A specialist examined her in February and gave her six months to a year to live. My father doesn't think she'll survive the summer."

Cody took a deep breath.

"I don't know what to say."

"There is nothing to say," Naoko said. "People get sick all the time. They die. Their survivors move on and live their lives. It's the way of the world."

Cody looked at his friend and saw tears build in her eyes. Though he wanted to comfort her and take away some of her pain, he did not know how. In the grand scheme of things, he was as ineffective and powerless as the batters facing Rory Tanaka. Or was he?

"Naoko?"

"Yes?"

"Did you say the cancer was at stage two?"

Naoko nodded.

"The doctor in Phoenix told my mother that the disease has spread from her ovaries to her fallopian tubes and uterus. He was able to remove some of the cancerous cells but not all of them. He said he could do nothing more at this point."

Cody turned away, stared at the fans in the adjacent bleachers, and began to entertain thoughts that were once unthinkable. Though he did not know a lot about ovarian cancer or the state of oncology in 1944, he did know that many cancers, including ovarian cancer, were routinely cured in 2017 in the early stages. He knew that hope and a cure for Kyoko Watanabe might be one nearby portal away.

As Cody checked for eavesdroppers and others who might be interested in his unlikely conversation, he thought about his promises to his family, his moral obligations as a human being, and his responsibilities as a time traveler. He thought about them long and hard before deciding on a course that was as comforting as it was predictable.

"Naoko?"

"Yes?"

"Could you ever leave camp?"

"I could, in theory."

"Could your family leave?"

"Do you mean all of us?"

"I mean all four of you," Cody said. "Could you ever leave Gila River as an entire family and spend the day or even a few days in Phoenix or elsewhere?"

"We could with advance permission."

"I see."

Naoko looked at her friend.

"Why do you ask?"

Cody again inspected his surroundings.

"I can't tell you now. I need to think about a few things and explore some possibilities before I take this any further, but trust me when I say I'm asking for a good reason."

Naoko smiled sweetly.

"Do you have something cooking in your head?"

"I do."

"What?"

"It's something good or at least something potentially good," Cody said. He smiled at Naoko and took her hand. "You might even say it's something great. In the restaurant of crazy, wonderful, and exotic ideas, it's a ten-course meal. It's Thanksgiving in April."

CHAPTER 45: NATALIE

Glendale, Arizona – Friday, April 7, 1944

Sitting atop the bottom left wing of a PT-17 biplane, Natalie Carson picked up a wet sponge, gently scrubbed away a thin coating of grime, and hummed a song she had heard on the radio coming to work. She hummed it not only because she liked the tune but also because she loved annoying her sister when things got slow in the maintenance hangar.

"Will you stop it?" Caitlin asked.

Natalie smiled.

"Don't you like songs about apple trees?"

"I don't when you hum them a hundred million times in an endless loop. If I hear that song one more time, I will spray you with a hose."

"What hose?"

"I'll find one," Caitlin said. She stopped scrubbing the fuselage of the same training aircraft and glared at Natalie, who, like Caitlin and every other woman in the building, wore denim overalls and her hair in a bandana. "I'll borrow one from the fire crew if necessary."

Natalie laughed.

"Then I'll stop."

Caitlin sighed.

"Thank you."

"How come you're so grumpy today?"

"I'm not grumpy. I'm preoccupied."

"Oh," Natalie said. She grinned and resumed scrubbing the wing. "Are you preoccupied with anything in particular? Or are you just generally preoccupied?"

Caitlin frowned.

"I'm thinking about June."

Natalie stopped scrubbing. She didn't need to hear another word to know that her sister's foul mood was rooted in more than obnoxious humming.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Caitlin nodded.

"I think I need to."

"All right then, let's talk," Natalie said. She set her sponge to the side, turned to face Caitlin, and sat cross-legged on top of the wing. "What about June?"

"I'm dreading it," Caitlin said. She dropped her sponge to the concrete floor and walked a few feet to the edge of Natalie's wing. "I'm dreading the whole month."

Natalie gazed at Caitlin with empathy, admiration, and affection. She understood her sister's frustration and fear. She battled the same feelings every day.

"You love Casey, don't you?"

"I do," Caitlin said. "I know it's crazy, but I do. I love him so much. I can't get through an hour without thinking about him. I don't know if I can leave him. I don't."

Natalie smiled sadly.

"I can relate."

Caitlin returned her gaze.

"Do you love Nick?"

"Yes."

"Have you told him that?"

"No. I don't plan to either."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to complicate things," Natalie said. "I'm not staying here. He's not coming with us. I see no point in developing a relationship that has no future."

"How do you know he wouldn't leave?"

"He has aunts and uncles here, Caitlin. He has friends. He has a career and a legacy and a burning desire to fight in this awful war. I couldn't compete with that if I tried."

"I suppose," Caitlin said.

Natalie did not argue the point, though she was not entirely sure that Nicholas Mays, man of surprises, would not surprise her again by leaving his world behind. She had long stopped making assumptions about the people she had met in the past.

"Is this just about your separation?"

"It's about a lot of things. I'm worried about Casey's safety," Caitlin said. "I'm worried that he'll die fighting a war that's already been decided."

Natalie frowned.

"That's the problem though. This war hasn't been decided. We don't know if Casey or even Nick still has a role in beating Germany and Japan. We don't know anything."

Caitlin glared at her sister.

"You're not making this easier."

"I know. I want to make it easier," Natalie said. "I want to tell you that everything will work out in the end, but I can't. In all probability, Casey will get his wings, see combat, and fulfill his destiny as an aviator and as a man. He will live the life he was meant to live."

Caitlin persisted.

"Why can't I be a part of that life? Why can't I do what Adam and Greg have already done and change the past? Nothing is set in stone. You of all people should know that."

Natalie did too. In nearly sixteen months as a time traveler, she had changed the past in countless ways. She had influenced events, befriended people she was never intended to meet, and watched her older brothers marry and start families. She and her siblings had altered timelines that were now as fluid and unpredictable as a mountain stream in May.

Even so, she could not justify raising Caitlin's hopes. She knew that wanting something and making it happen were two different things. She looked at her sister.

"Do you really think Casey would give up his parents, his sister, his home, and everything he has ever known for an uncertain future with you?"

Caitlin lowered her eyes.

"No."

Natalie straightened her legs, slid off the wing, and joined Caitlin near where the wing met the fuselage. She gave her sibling a supportive smile.

"I hope you know this is killing me."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked.

"I mean I've waited years for the chance to offer you guidance on boys, love, and serious relationships. Now that the opportunity has come, I can't do a thing. Or at least I can't do anything that will make a difference. You need to pick less problematic boyfriends."

"I'm sorry. I'll try to do better."

Natalie laughed, stepped toward Caitlin, and gave her a hug. Though she did not feel any more useful than she had when the conversation began, she did feel better. She felt like a person who was finally more than a foil or a potted plant. She felt like a sister.

"Do you have any firm plans tonight?"

Caitlin shook her head.

"Casey and I talked about seeing a movie, but we can't agree on one. He wants to see Destination Tokyo at the Uptown. I want to see Casablanca at the Coronet."

"Then don't see either one," Natalie said.

"What?"

"Come with us. Come join Nick and me at Riverside Park. We can grab a quick dinner after the boys get off work and dance until midnight. How does that sound?"

Caitlin smiled.

"It sounds like my sister knows me."

CHAPTER 46: CAROLINE

Flagstaff, Arizona – Tuesday, April 11, 1944

The department store offered everything. From wall to wall and floor to ceiling, it offered everything from clothing, appliances, and furniture to jewelry, books, and toys.

Caroline liked Morgan's, a retail giant on the corner of Beaver and Birch, because it sold brand merchandise at discount prices. She visited the store because it provided welcome relief from her humdrum routine as a misfit in the age of Rosie the Riveter.

Starting in the men's section, which featured thick cotton dress shirts for the not-so-pricey sum of two dollars, she worked her way toward the shelves and racks set aside for women, teens, and children. Though she did not need more clothes and had no intention of buying any for her husband, she wanted to browse. She wanted to do one of the things she used to do and do a lot in her previous life as a twenty-first-century woman.

Caroline missed those things. She missed pestering Adam about leaving jackets on chairs, Greg about playing music until two in the morning, and Natalie about using the upstairs bathroom for hours at a time. She missed reminding the twins they had school tests and dental appointments and soccer practices. She missed being a mother .

She still believed she would have a chance to pester them again and perhaps develop close relationships with her daughters-in-law, but she was not as confident of that as she used to be. With the slow but steady passage of time, she began to succumb to skepticism, pessimism, and doubt. She began to think her current life was also her future life.

Caroline set aside these thoughts for the time being and continued down the wide middle aisle, which was surprisingly busy for a Tuesday morning. As she walked past old men trying on hats, slender women comparing dresses, and harried young mothers trying to soothe infants in carriages, she pondered her own immediate concerns, including the search for seven young adults who might or might not be roaming the halls of 1944.

She and Tim had learned little from James Wesley Zane, the private investigator they had hired exactly two weeks earlier. They knew only that a Mr. and Mrs. Carson had spent the night of March 20 in Flagstaff and that a couple by the same name had spent the next several days at the largest lodge on the Grand Canyon's South Rim.

Neither couple had left behind a home address. Neither had made a lasting impression on desk clerks, cleaning staff, or other guests. Whether by accident or design, they had left fewer footprints in Coconino County, Arizona, than a ghost in slippers.

Ten minutes later, after admiring the latest fashions for women, teens, and children, Caroline approached a section for toddlers and infants. Slowly but surely, as if guided by a divine or magical force, she stepped toward a rack filled with outfits for girls.

When she arrived at the rack, she briefly inspected the attire, reached for the third hanger on the left, and retrieved a frilly pink dress. Suitable for a girl eight to twelve months old, it was exactly what she would select for a granddaughter if she had one.

"Are you shopping for someone special?"

Caroline turned her head, looked in the direction of the friendly voice, and saw a woman in her forties smile at her from about six feet away. She returned the smile.

"I'm just admiring the inventory."

"Oh. I thought for a second you were shopping for a granddaughter or a niece or another little lady. You have a spark in your eyes that I've seen a hundred times."

"Do you work here?"

The woman shook her head.

"I just shop here. I come here once a week to admire the inventory, as you say, and see what's new in Flagstaff. I even buy something once in a while."

Caroline laughed.

"That's how I operate. I look, I admire, and I occasionally buy. I came in today because I saw the sale signs out front and because I didn't have anything better to do."

"Are you new to Flagstaff?"

"You could say that. I moved here with my husband last month, but I've been to this town and this part of Arizona many times. It's like home to me."

The woman tilted her head.

"Where did you live before?"

Caroline paused before replying. She did not think 2017, 1888, 1889, and 1918 would cut it as answers, so she offered something more plausible and less unsettling.

"We lived in Tucson."

The woman smiled.

"I've been there many times. I travel there twice a year with my husband on business trips. He's an attorney, a rancher, and a former legislator."

As Caroline listened to her new acquaintance speak, she looked at her more closely and noticed that she was a strikingly attractive woman. A slim redhead with arresting green eyes and a porcelain face, she looked more like a model than a rancher's wife.

"Do you live in Flagstaff?"

The woman shook her head.

"I haven't lived in town since I worked at the library years ago. My husband and I operate a ranch about halfway between Flagstaff and Williams."

Caroline chuckled.

"That sounds like work."

"It is."

"Do you have any children?"

The woman nodded.

"I have three sons. How about you?"

Caroline spoke with clarity.

"I have three sons and two daughters."

"Good for you. I always wanted a daughter. Perhaps one of my boys will bring home a girl I can adopt as my own. All three are in the Navy now."

"Then give them time."

The woman, wearing a green velvet dress, laughed at the comment. Then she glanced at her watch, sighed, and looked at Caroline with sheepish eyes.

"I've done it again. I've lost track of time. I told my husband I wouldn't spend more than an hour in the stores. So I better leave while I can."

Caroline smiled.

"Don't let me keep you."

"Oh, I won't."

The woman closed her silk purse, offered Caroline a half-hearted wave, and moved toward the front of the store. Ten steps later, she turned around and beamed.

"My name is Cecilia Baines, by the way. See you around."

CHAPTER 47: NICK

Phoenix, Arizona – Friday, April 14, 1944

Sitting at a patio table with his back to the Carson house, Nick Mays sipped a glass of wine, gazed across the table at a young mother holding her child, and felt a mixture of sadness, regret, and longing. The instructor, a father wannabe, did not have to try hard to imagine his wife doing the same thing in a world that was kind and just. On what would have been Dolores' thirtieth birthday, he did it with ease.

"She's a beautiful girl," Nick said.

Bridget Carson smiled.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Did you enjoy dinner, Mr. Mays?"

"I did, ma'am. I did a lot. You prepare meatloaf and squash a lot like my wife used to prepare them. I haven't had a meal this fine in a long time."

"Get used to it, Nick," Adam said. "There are a lot of good cooks in this family, including my oldest sister, who has been known to burn a roast every now and then."

Natalie glared at Adam.

"I did that once ."

Nick chuckled.

"Brothers never forget those things, do they?"

Natalie turned to Nick.

"Mine don't anyway."

As Natalie and Adam exchanged nasty glances from opposite sides of the table and Bridget continued to soothe eight-week old Camille, Nick thought about how much he liked the Carson family and the way it operated. He wondered what it would be like to have brothers and sisters and children . He wondered about a lot of things.

Nick did not wonder why Adam and Bridget, the family heads, had asked him to dinner on a night when Greg, Patricia, Cody, and Caitlin were out doing other things. He knew they wanted to take a closer look at the man who had captured Natalie's mind and heart.

That did not trouble him the slightest. What troubled him on this warm spring evening was the likelihood he would disappoint them at one point or another.

Nick pondered that prospect for a moment and then turned his full attention to the only other male on the dimly lighted patio. Though he still viewed Adam Carson as something of a mystery, he liked and respected him. He respected him a lot.

Nick considered restarting a conversation about his trip to Los Angeles with Natalie, Casey, and Caitlin, but he decided to push things in a different direction. If nothing else, he wanted to learn more about the Carson who seemed to make all the big decisions.

"You look bushed, Adam."

"I am."

"Are the citizens of Phoenix keeping you busy? I couldn't help but notice the tower of tires on Roosevelt and Seventh on my way here. Business must be brisk."

"It's insane," Adam said. He took a deep breath. "This week we handled three hundred tires, two tons of tin, a ton of paper, and enough animal fat to cook a herd of elephants."

"Fat?" Nick asked. "Why fat?"

"The military uses it to make glycerin. A pound of bacon grease contains enough glycerin to make a pound of explosives. Our pigs, it appears, are killing the Nazis."

"I believe it."

Adam sipped his wine.

"What's new at Thunderbird?"

Nick smiled.

"You should ask your siblings. They actually work there. I spend most of my time in the clouds teaching future Jimmy Doolittles the difference between up and down."

"There you go again," Natalie said. She scolded Nick with a glance and then turned to her inquisitive brother. "He does more than train pilots."

Adam acknowledged Natalie's comment with a smile and then directed his attention to the aviator at the table. He looked at Nick with thoughtful eyes.

"I'm sure you do a lot more. Greg tells me that the AAF recently overhauled its training program from top to bottom. He says some of the changes are already in place."

"They are," Nick said.

"Do you support the changes?"

"I do. I think they are long overdue."

"I guess you would know," Adam said. He took a long look at Nick. "Do you still think about changing roles and jumping into the fray? Do you still think about enlisting?"

Nick nodded.

"I do every day."

Adam offered a warm smile.

"Well, I, for one, am glad you're doing what you're doing. We need quality flight instructors as much as we need quality pilots. We need all kinds of people to win this war."

"I concur."

As the conversation hit a lull and the four diners let their meal digest, Nick considered the exchange. Though he generally agreed with Adam's comment, he did not necessarily agree that it applied to him. He knew he could help the war effort in many ways.

Perhaps sensing Nick's unease with the subject or his desire to speak to Natalie about other things, Bridget brought dinner to an end. She scooted back her chair, stood up, and looked at Nick, Natalie, and finally her husband, who seemed as content as ever.

"I'm going to put Camille to bed and then finish the dishes," Bridget said to Adam as the other adults scooted back their chairs and stood up. "Can you please collect the plates and silverware and assist me in the kitchen at your earliest convenience?"

Natalie laughed.

"That sounds like an order and not a request."

Adam chuckled.

"I believe you're right."

Bridget smiled.

"I call it guidance."

Natalie looked at Nick.

"Don't you love these two?"

"I do. They are the picture of domestic tranquility," Nick said. He glanced at Adam and then turned to Bridget. "Thank you for a lovely dinner. I hope to do it again."

Bridget returned his gaze.

"Count on it."

With that clear and succinct reply, the gracious hostess, holding her sleeping infant, took her leave. She stepped away from the table, walked into the house, and left three adults to ponder how best to spend the remainder of the pleasant evening.

Adam did not ponder long. Mere seconds after Bridget closed the sliding door to the house, he carried out her "request." He placed all the silverware on one plate, stacked that plate on top of three others, and offered his sister and her boyfriend a sheepish grin.

"I'll leave you the wine."

Natalie smiled.

"That's kind of you."

Adam answered the comment with a "behave yourself" glance. Then he loaded the dishes on his left arm, turned to face Nick, and extended his right hand.

"It was a pleasure."

Nick shook Adam's hand.

"The pleasure was mine. If you and Bridget are free next Friday, I would like to return the favor and take you out to dinner. How does the Top of the Ho sound?"

"It sounds perfect," Adam said. He looked at Natalie. "If you see Greg and Cody before you call it a night, remind them that they promised to help me clear some debris at the scrap yard tomorrow. I suspect their memories may become a bit faulty."

Natalie smiled.

"I'll let them know."

Adam thanked his sister, gave Nick a weak salute, and then carried the dishes into one of the nicest rental houses the pilot had ever seen. Though he appeared reluctant to leave, he seemed to understand that this part of the evening belonged to the lovebirds.

"Your brother is quite a guy," Nick said. He helped Natalie into her chair and then reclaimed his own. "I can see why you admire him and defer to him a lot."

"He's the rock in this family."

"I gather that."

Natalie sipped some of her wine, wiped her mouth with her napkin, and then stared at her companion like he was a rare work of art. She seemed both intrigued and baffled.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"What gives you that idea?" Nick asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it's the hints, both subtle and not so subtle, that you have been dropping all night. I can tell you have something on your mind."

"I do."

Natalie rested her chin on folded hands.

"Then tell me what it is."

Nick chuckled.

"Do I have a choice?"

Natalie grinned.

"No."

"Then I guess I'll proceed."

"Thank you."

Nick spoke matter-of-factly.

"Shortly after my last training session on Wednesday, Colonel Raines, the officer in charge of most of the changes at Thunderbird, stopped by my office for a chat."

Natalie cocked her head.

"The colonel came to see you ?"

Nick nodded.

"He came to my office with some no-name captain to discuss a plane Boeing is planning to unveil in a few weeks. He said the aircraft, a four-engine bomber called the B-29, will roll off the assembly lines in May and most likely see action later this year."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I asked him the same question."

"Well? What did he tell you?"

"He told me that the Army is currently seeking highly skilled aviators, both military and civilian, to participate in a B-29 training program this summer and fall. He said if I signed my name on the dotted line by June 10, he could guarantee a place for me in the program."

Natalie frowned.

"So there it is."

"There what is?" Nick asked.

"There's your chance. There's your chance to jump into this war and get yourself killed before Christmas. If you sign up tomorrow, you might even beat the holiday rush."

"Is that how you see it?"

Natalie bristled.

"Yes, Nick, it is. You're serving our country now . You are admired and respected by everyone I know at the base. Why do you have to rush into combat?"

Nick didn't have an answer. At least he didn't have an answer that would mollify the irritated and obviously angry woman at his table. He gave the matter some thought and finally gave Natalie the truth — or at least a version he could live with.

"You want to know why I want to enlist?"

"Yes," Natalie said. "I do."

"Then I'll tell you why. The reason's not complicated. I want to assuage the guilt and anger and frustration I've carried around for twenty-eight months."

"I don't understand."

"Then let me clear things up," Nick said. He took a deep breath. "My wife didn't just die on December 7, 1941. She died when a Japanese fighter pilot strafed her car as she was driving to a church in Honolulu. Dolores had taken an educational leave that semester to help an old friend set up a private school on Oahu and paid for that decision with her life."

"I'm sorry," Natalie said. "I didn't know."

"I know you didn't. I didn't want to burden you with a story that my family and friends and even some acquaintances, like the Hopes, know well. I wanted your friendship and not your sympathy. So I kept the details of Dolores' death to myself."

"Then why do all this now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean if you wanted to avenge your wife's death, why didn't you join the Army or Navy after Pearl Harbor was attacked? Or even after you finished the school year in Boulder? Surely your desire to exact revenge was stronger then than it is now."

"It was. It was a lot stronger, but so was my desire to honor Dolores by honoring the views and principles that attracted me to her in the first place."

"I don't understand," Natalie said.

"Dolores was a pacifist. She detested violence in all its forms. She even opposed sports like football and boxing. She was the gentlest person to walk this earth."

"I feel stupid, really stupid."

"Don't," Nick said.

"Why not? I jumped to a conclusion. I assumed your desire to see combat was rooted solely in the need to prove yourself. I didn't even consider other possibilities."

"Most people would have done the same."

"I'm not most people," Natalie said. "I'm a former reporter who is trained to see things that others miss. I'm a person who knows better. I'm a woman who loves you."

Nick sighed when he heard the words. Though he knew Natalie liked him and liked his company, he did not suspect anything more. He figured she would disappear like so many others when she got her first glimpse of the demons that tormented him.

"It appears we've misjudged each other."

Natalie placed her hand on his arm.

"How so?"

"I didn't think you held me in such high regard."

"I have for a while now."

Nick reached for her hand and clasped it.

"For what it's worth, I love you too. I have for some time. I guess I never saw a point in expressing feelings for a woman who doesn't plan to stick around."

Natalie looked at him with puzzlement.

"Who told you that?"

"Adam did," Nick said. "He told me right before dinner. He said you and your family planned to leave Phoenix in June, regardless of your circumstances."

"He had no right to say that."

"Is it true?"

Natalie frowned.

"It is."

Nick looked her in the eye.

"Do you mind if I ask why?"

"I don't mind if you ask," Natalie said. "I just can't tell you the answer. I'm not sure if I will ever be able to tell you. It's a secret I don't have the authority to share."

"I see."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Nick said. "I'm sure if you could tell me the truth, you would. If there is one thing I've learned about you, Natalie Carson, it's that you're honest."

"I only wish that were true."

"It's true enough."

Natalie acknowledged the comment with a sad smile. Like the woman Nick Mays had married in 1939, she knew how to exit a difficult situation gracefully.

"So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know," Nick said. "I suppose we continue as we have and enjoy each other's company until I head off to war or you head off to Timbuktu."

Natalie returned his gaze.

"You still want to see me?"

"I still want to see you," Nick said. He looked at Natalie with loving eyes, leaned forward, and gave her a tender kiss. "Don't ever think I don't."

CHAPTER 48: CODY

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, April 19, 1944

Walking with Cody from the north end of Butte Camp to the south, Naoko Watanabe, lover of long lunch breaks, slowed her step and looked at her new best friend. With a coy smile and a sparkle in her big brown eyes, she looked like a girl with a lot on her mind.

"I missed you last week."

Cody returned her smile.

"I missed you too."

Naoko blushed.

"How come you didn't look for me?"

"I didn't know where to look. Nurse Sales told me you had run off to give an old man some cod liver oil. She didn't know when you would return. No one did."

"Didn't you see Kana at the clinic?"

Cody shook his head.

"I didn't see anyone."

"She must have stepped out to go to the bathroom. I told her clearly that I would be back at two in case anyone came to the clinic. She obviously forgot."

"That's too bad. If I had known you had left for only a few minutes, I would have stayed in the lobby and waited for you. I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

Naoko flashed a mischievous grin.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Cody hesitated before answering the question. Though he had rehearsed several possible replies in the past fourteen days, he still could not find the right words.

"I just wanted to discuss something."

Naoko widened her grin.

"You're a man of mystery."

"I'm a man with a secret," Cody said. "I've spent the last two weeks trying to decide whether and how to share it with you. I'm still trying to decide."

Naoko frowned.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I'm not sure I trust the others in this camp, particularly the people who run it and work for the government. If I tell you what I know and that information gets out, I could find myself in a heap of trouble. I could find myself in prison."

"Then why tell me at all?"

Cody stopped, turned to face Naoko, and asked himself once again whether he had the stones to cross the line. Once again, he walked up to the water's edge.

"I want to tell you because I want to save your mother's life. I want to spare all of you the pain and misery I know is coming, but I can't do it unless I have the complete cooperation and trust of everyone in your family. Until I'm sure of that, I can't proceed."

Naoko stared at Cody.

"You can save my mother's life?"

"I think so," Cody said. "I can save her or at least improve her chances of living longer by taking her to people who can treat her disease."

"What people? I know of no one who can treat cancer successfully, much less stage two ovarian cancer. Neither does my father. He has already told Kana and me to prepare for the worst. He says there is no cure for what ails my mother."

"He's right. There is no cure — in 1944."

Naoko hardened her stare.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to keep walking," Cody said. He took Naoko's hand and led her again toward the south end of camp. "If nothing else, I need time to gather some nerve."

As Cody escorted his friend down the compound's busiest street, between rows of barracks, schools, and service buildings, he noticed a few disapproving stares. He did not need to read the minds of the observers to know they did not care much for a Caucasian boy fraternizing with a Japanese girl in the middle of a war relocation center.

Naoko did not seem to mind either the stares or the silence. She tightened her hold on Cody's hand and mostly kept to herself as the two walked through the heart of the fourth-largest community in the state. When she finally resumed the conversation five minutes later, she did so in a soft and inquisitive voice.

"Does this secret of yours have anything to do with the ten-course meal you mentioned at the baseball game? If it does, I would settle for an appetizer."

Cody laughed to himself. He wanted to tell Naoko the whole truth just to hear her wit and wisdom for the next nine weeks. He had grown fond of both.

"That's good to know," Cody said, "because I want to give you something. I want to give you the ten-course meal, if I can, but before I do, I need to obtain some clear and honest answers to several important questions. Can you give them to me?"

"I can try," Naoko said.

"I guess that's all I can ask."

"What do you want to know?"

Cody sighed.

"I need to know, among other things, if your parents would be willing to meet with us privately in the next week or two to discuss some very sensitive subjects."

"I think they would."

"Can you arrange something next Wednesday?"

"Yes," Naoko said. "I'm sure of it."

"Then let's plan to meet at two. If something comes up and one or both of your parents can't attend, then we'll reschedule for the following week."

"What about Kana? Do you want her there?"

"I don't know," Cody said. "Can I trust her?"

"I think so."

"You think so? Or you know so?"

"I know so," Naoko said. "Don't worry about my sister. If I tell her to shut her mouth or keep a secret, she will. Kana doesn't like getting on my bad side."

"Then bring her along."

"OK then, I will. Is that all?"

Cody shook his head.

"There is one more thing. I need to know if you can get permission to leave camp in the first half of June. If you and your family can't leave in June, then there is no reason to proceed with a meeting. I need to know the situation before I commit to anything."

Naoko frowned.

"I can't give you a definitive answer, but I can tell you my father has requested to leave camp many times, often with my mother, and has never been refused."

"That's good enough," Cody said.

"You don't need a guarantee?"

"No."

"That's comforting," Naoko said, "because I was beginning to think I was dealing with a lawyer and not a delivery boy. I don't trust lawyers."

Cody chuckled.

"Neither do I."

"Now that we agree we don't trust camp staff and lawyers, may I finally ask you what this is all about?"

"You may."

"Well?" Naoko asked.

Cody smiled at his friend as he gathered his courage and questioned one last time whether he had the right to proceed. In the end, he decided he did. He was trying to save the life of a wife and a mother, not win a bet, gain an advantage, or impress a girl.

"I'm not sure where to start."

"Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"That's a good idea. In fact, if I had my birth certificate handy, it would be a great idea. Then I could test your patience and your imagination with a colorful prop."

Naoko stared at him with suspicion.

"Are you saying your name isn't Cody Carson?"

"Oh, it's Cody Carson, all right. I was born in Flagstaff too. Only I wasn't born on August 2, 1926, like I told the Motor Vehicle Division, my boss, the FBI, and you. I was born five minutes ahead of my sister on August 2, 2000 — fifty-six years from now."

"You're a liar."

Cody sighed.

"I'm not a liar."

Naoko hardened her stare.

"Then you're a swindler."

"I'm not a swindler either."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm a regular guy. I'm a regular guy who likes football, pizza, and traveling to exotic places like the 1880s and 1918 and the 1940s."

"Are you serious?"

Cody nodded.

"I'm not from this decade. I'm not even from this century. I'm an eighteen-year-old who has spent the past sixteen months living out of a suitcase while chasing his parents from Arizona to Pennsylvania. I'm from the future, Naoko. I'm a time traveler."

CHAPTER 49: TIM

Flagstaff, Arizona – Sunday, April 23, 1944

The apartment on the corner of Cheery and Fine was neither cheery nor fine. With one bedroom, a small bath, a sliver of a kitchen, and a living room that looked more like a patient lounge than a place to relax, it was the least appealing place Tim and Caroline had called home in thirty-one years of marriage.

The couple had picked the unit because it was close to a grocery store, the private eye's office, and a newsstand that sold scores of periodicals. They remained in it because it was quiet, clean, and — at thirty dollars a month — less expensive than a new suit.

Tim smiled as he sat next to Caroline on their small sofa. Though he would have preferred housing on a par with the hotel rooms he had rented in Pennsylvania, New York, and California, he could not complain. This cozy flat was more than sufficient.

When he finished assessing his lot in life, he leaned forward and sifted through the magazines and newspapers that Caroline had placed on the coffee table. He found LIFE , LOOK , and the Saturday Evening Post but not his favorite read.

"I don't see the Gazette ," Tim said. He looked at his wife. "Did the paperboy forget to deliver it? Or did our neighbor's mutt steal it again?"

"The dog has it."

"Then remind me to give him a treat. I'm sure he would much rather chew on a moldy shoe from the dumpster than a newspaper. I'll leave him one tomorrow."

Caroline laughed.

"Please don't. He might bring it back!"

"Good point."

"We can run to the newsstand later if he doesn't return the paper. I need an excuse to get out of this place. I feel like we've done little but sit around."

Tim felt the same way. He and Caroline had done little but sit and wait in their tiny abode since meeting with James Wesley Zane on March 28. They saw no point in venturing beyond Flagstaff because they were certain that at least some of their children would pass through town again on their way to the portal in Sedona.

Convinced that the neighbor dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Ted, was not going to return the Phoenix Gazette anytime soon, Tim started reading the magazines. He found each as intriguing and interesting as the Fabulous Forties themselves.

He started with the April 17, 1944, edition of LIFE , which featured swimming star and actress Esther Williams on its cover, and quickly moved on to the other publications, which chronicled the times as well as any history book or newsreel.

Most of the publications covered the war, of course. Though many paid lip service to Hollywood, the culture, and fashion, most dedicated the lion's share of their pages to a conflict that was now in its fifth year. They seemed to understand that little else mattered when dictators from Tokyo to Berlin threatened to eradicate freedom and liberty.

Since traveling with Caroline to September 1943 and then to March 1944, Tim had tried to set the war aside and focus on other things. He did not want to acknowledge the very real possibility that one or more of his sons — his draft-age sons — had been somehow sucked into the conflagration sweeping the globe.

When he finished perusing the periodicals, Tim settled into the couch, stared at the peeling paint on the far wall, and pondered the weeks ahead. Though he and Caroline had no plans to leave Flagstaff, they did not intend to remain idle. They planned to visit local libraries, records offices, and newspapers as often as they could to improve their odds of finding their children before the solstice sun rose once again over Sedona.

Tim thought about the search for a few minutes. Then he turned to a matter that had grown in importance since his stomach had started to growl.

"What can we do for lunch?"

Caroline did not reply right away. She continued reading a feature about a major movie star and his recent marital difficulties. When she finally answered her husband, she did so in a voice that suggested extreme indifference to his question.

"We can finish the cabbage salad."

Tim smiled.

"Shall I repeat the question?"

Caroline tilted her head.

"What's wrong with cabbage salad?"

Tim chuckled.

"That's like asking what's wrong with eggplant pie. If it's all the same to you, I would rather eat a cheeseburger or something fit for human consumption."

Caroline glared at the carnivore.

"Give me twenty minutes."

"You're the best," Tim said.

Caroline hardened her glare.

"Keep the flattery."

Satisfied that the danger had passed in the war over lunch, Tim resumed his thoughtful study of the peeling paint. He did not give anything or anyone another thought, in fact, until Caroline, absorbed in a celebrity magazine, gasped at something ten minutes later. He sat up straight when she pointed to a large black-and-white photo with a shaking hand.

"It's them!"

"It's who?" Tim asked.

Caroline turned to face her husband.

"It's our daughters ."

"What?"

"Take a look."

So he did. Tim pulled the magazine to his side of the table and inspected a photograph taken at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles. He needed only seconds to realize that two young women pictured in the background of the photo of dining celebrities were the daughters he had not seen in person in almost sixteen months.

"It's them!"

"I know it's them," Caroline said. "I would recognize those two in a crayon sketch. Our girls are in this time, Tim. That means the rest of the family is too."

Tim took a moment to digest the discovery. The photo was more than a departing car at a time portal or a "Mr. and Mrs. Carson" entry in a hotel guest log. It was clear proof that at least two of his children existed in this time stream. It was the smoking gun.

"What about the article?" Tim asked. "Does it shed any light on the photo, the people pictured, or the event? We need to learn more. We need to build on this."

"I know. I know."

"So what about the story?"

Caroline sighed.

"It doesn't offer any clues."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I read the whole thing before I saw the photo. All I learned from the article was that a lot of entertainers are raising money and morale on the home front."

"When was the dinner?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. I suspect it was sometime in the past month. The magazine prides itself on staying current with Hollywood. Does it really matter?"

"It might. If we can determine the time and the circumstances of the dinner, we might be able to learn where the girls are living now. We might be able to learn everything."

Caroline looked at Tim.

"Do you think they live in California?"

"I do," Tim said. "I think they all do. I think the kids went straight from Sedona to a state with jobs, nightlife, and countless recreational options. They did what a lot of young people will do for decades to come. They went to Los Angeles. I think they live there now."

"Then what can we do? Los Angeles, even now, has three million people. We can't just go there and expect to find a few needles in a haystack."

"We can if we enlist some help."

Caroline frowned.

"We have help, Tim. We're paying him twenty dollars an hour. We can't expect him to do more than he has already done. He's the expert, remember?"

"He's also an expert who probably hasn't seen this picture. I would bet my bottom dollar that Mr. Zane hasn't even seen this magazine ."

"So what should we do?"

Tim put his hand on Caroline's knee.

"We should show him the photo, share a little more about our 'relatives,' and turn him loose. If he's worth even half of what we're paying him, he'll find our kids in a week."

CHAPTER 50: CODY

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, April 26, 1944

Cody sank in his seat when he saw the frown. He knew the second he saw the sour expression on Hideki Watanabe's face that he would have to do more than present the particulars to make his case. He would need to offer a mountain of proof.

"You're skeptical," Cody said.

Hideki stared at the delivery boy.

"I'm more than skeptical. I'm disbelieving. I would sooner believe that pigs could fly than believe you are a time traveler from 2017. I'm afraid you'll have to do more than tell me a fantastic story to convince me of your claim. You'll have to do much more."

"He will ," Naoko said. "Just give him a chance."

Cody looked at his friend and then at the others gathered around the table in the rarely used hospital meeting room. He saw a suspicious man, a perplexed woman, and a fourteen-year-old girl who looked like she had better things to do on a weekday afternoon.

"I understand your position," Cody said to Hideki. "I would react the same way if someone told me a crazy story and expected me to believe it. That's why I brought a few things that I hope will bolster my claim. I want you to view them with an open mind."

Hideki brought his hands together.

"What are these things?"

Cody opened a leather pouch he typically used for work and retrieved a coin, a driver's license, and a photograph. He placed each item in the center of the hardwood table, closed the pouch, and then returned to the resident skeptic.

"The first thing I want to show you is a coin," Cody said. He placed his hand on an uncirculated 2017 Native American dollar and pushed it in front of Hideki. "I took this from my brother Adam three days ago. He doesn't know I have it."

Hideki picked up the coin, which bore the image of Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark, and gave it a look. When he finished inspecting a prop Adam had used to win over Bridget, he placed it on the table and looked at Cody.

"I have never seen such a coin."

"That's because it won't be minted for another seventy-three years. It's one of two things I brought today that doesn't officially exist," Cody said. He collected the license and handed it to the surgeon. "The other thing, which I also took from Adam, is that."

"What is it?" Hideki asked.

"It's an Arizona driver's license from 2017. Adam renewed it in Flagstaff a few weeks before we left our time. Note the dates on the front, the photo of my brother, and the watermark embedded in the card. Have you ever seen anything like it?"

"I have not."

"I didn't think so."

Hideki handed the coin and the license to Kyoko, who sat to his immediate left at the round table and seemed transfixed by the exchange. He returned to Cody.

"These objects are interesting."

"There's more," Cody said. He picked up the last item, a five-by-seven-inch black-and-white photograph, and gave it to Hideki. "That's a picture of my graduating class."

Hideki studied the photo of Cody and seven other members of the Conemaugh Valley High School Class of 1889. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked at the alleged time traveler like a man who had just seen a ghost.

"This is really your class?"

Cody smiled.

"That's really my class. I'm the handsome guy on the left. The girl in the middle, the one holding the class sign, is my twin sister, Caitlin, the valedictorian. The girl at her right is Emma Bauer Jackson, a dear friend who died last fall at the age of seventy-two."

"I am impressed," Hideki said. "I still can't say I believe your claim, but I am impressed and more than willing to hear what you have to say. The floor, as they say, is yours."

Cody sighed when he heard the words. Though he admitted he still had much to do in making his case to a skeptical family, he knew he had cleared a major hurdle.

"Thank you, Dr. Watanabe. I appreciate the opportunity. I know that all of you have better things to do this afternoon, so I'll try to be quick."

"I'm in no hurry."

"Unfortunately, I am. I have to make several more deliveries today and be back in Phoenix by five thirty, so I'll get right to the point and go from there."

"Please continue."

"All right then, I will. As I told Naoko when I visited last week, I believe I can save Mrs. Watanabe's life or at least give her a fighting chance to beat her cancer."

"How so?" Hideki asked.

"I can do it by taking you and your family to a place where doctors can give your wife the care she needs. Though cancer is still a very serious disease in my time, it is treatable, particularly in the early stages, and even curable. It's not a death sentence."

"Can you give me details?"

"I wish I could," Cody said, "but I'm not that knowledgeable about medicine. All I know is that doctors in 2017 have more knowledge and tools than doctors today. They have the ability to isolate and kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. I personally know several people who have lived ten, twenty, and even thirty years with the disease."

Hideki nodded at Cody and then looked at Kyoko, the quiet member of the group and the unlikely center of attention. He gazed at her with eyes that reflected affection, admiration, and the kind of hope people usually did not possess in these situations.

From Kyoko, his wife of twenty years, the surgeon turned to his oldest daughter and then to his youngest. Apparently convinced that no one in his family had any questions or comments, he returned to the boy with the incredible claim.

"Naoko tells me you are looking for your parents."

"I am, sir," Cody said. "Along with my two brothers and two sisters, I've been looking for them for almost sixteen months. We haven't seen them since they left our home in Flagstaff in September 2017. When we learned a few months later that they had led a second life as time travelers and were stuck in the 1880s, we went looking for them. We used information my father had compiled and traveled through time ourselves."

"I see."

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. I haven't seen my time, the twenty-first century, in more than a year. I spent six months in the 1880s, six more months in 1918, and the last four months in the 1940s. My siblings and I hope to find our parents before the summer solstice in June, but if we don't, we'll continue looking for them in 1972 and 1983, the last two years in a travel itinerary we have all followed since the start."

Hideki leaned forward.

"What is special about the solstice?"

Cody took a deep breath.

"It's when the time portals, or at least the portals my father discovered and has used several times, are active. They come to life on the solstices and equinoxes."

"What do these 'portals' look like?"

"They look like giant translucent sheets. We've entered a portal in Sedona, Arizona, three times and exited one in New Paris, Pennsylvania, once. We plan to visit the one in Pennsylvania in June because we think our parents will return to it. We know for a fact that they accessed that portal when they tried to travel from 1918 to 1943."

Kyoko interrupted.

"So you would take us to Pennsylvania?"

Cody turned his head.

"Yes, ma'am. We would take you there first. Whether we would travel directly to 2017 or stop first in 1972 or 1983 would depend on whether we found my parents."

"It sounds very uncertain."

"It is, Mrs. Watanabe. I don't know how my siblings would react if our circumstances changed in June. I don't know in part because I haven't discussed the subject with them. I haven't even told them about today. I asked Naoko to set up this meeting because I wanted to see if you were at least interested in exploring possibilities."

"I understand," Kyoko said.

Cody looked at her with empathy.

"Are you interested?"

Kyoko glanced at her husband, who seemed deep in thought, and then turned to her daughters, who appeared eager to follow her lead. She rubbed her chin for a moment, as if considering everything she had heard, and then offered Cody a motherly smile.

"I am interested. Like my husband and perhaps my daughters, I am impressed by your story and your desire to save my life. I would give many things for the chance to see my girls become grown women, wives, and mothers. I would be willing to take risks."

"I'm glad to hear that," Cody said, "because you would take risks. You would take a lot of risks. So would I. I'm risking a lot even by coming here, which is why I have to ask you — all of you — to keep this matter to yourselves. I have to insist on it, in fact."

Kyoko smiled.

"I won't breathe a word."

"Neither will I," Hideki said. "I admire your courage and conviction, Mr. Carson, even if I have trouble believing your story. You can trust us to keep this conversation secret."

Cody sighed.

"Thank you."

Hideki smiled.

"Now that we agree on maintaining confidences, how would you like to proceed with 'exploring possibilities,' as you say? I would like to at least know that."

"Let me discuss this with my family and get back to you. If they support my idea, we can make some tentative plans. If they don't, then none of this will matter."

CHAPTER 51: ADAM

Phoenix, Arizona – Thursday, April 27, 1944

"You did what ?"

Cody frowned.

"I told them about us."

"Have you lost your mind?" Adam asked. "Gila River is a federal institution. If the feds even suspect we are time travelers, they will be crawling all over this place."

"I was careful."

"There's no such thing as 'careful' in wartime."

"Calm down," Natalie said. "Let's get the facts before running Cody out of town. I'm sure there is much more to this story, and I, for one, want to hear it."

Adam scanned the faces at the patio table and saw that Natalie was not the only one who wanted to hear Cody's story. He could see from Greg's smirk, Patricia's smile, Bridget's frown, and Caitlin's pointed glare that four others wanted to hear it too.

He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts. Then he turned again to the brother who had told an entire Japanese American family that he and his kin were time travelers in a time when knowledge of the future was worth a shipload of platinum.

"All right, Cody, have at it."

Cody hesitated before replying. Like Adam, who tapped his fingers on the table, he glanced at the others before saying his piece. Apparently convinced that the smiles around the table were friendly smiles, he proceeded to explain why he had done the unthinkable.

"As I said a minute ago, I was careful. I told them I was a time traveler and showed them a few items from 2017 and 1889, but I didn't reveal any state secrets. I didn't even mention the war or any of the big events, like D-Day, that are coming up."

"Why did you tell them anything ?" Greg asked.

"I wanted to help them," Cody said. "When Naoko, my friend, told me that her mother had ovarian cancer and only a few months to live, I knew I had to help. So I told the family about medicine in the future. I told them I could improve Mrs. Watanabe's chances of beating her disease by taking her to doctors and hospitals that could treat it."

"What else did you say?"

"I said we could take them to Pennsylvania in June. I told them we could take them to the twenty-first century, either directly or indirectly, and go from there. I didn't promise them anything else. I was careful not to promise anything I couldn't deliver."

"That was smart."

Patricia jumped in.

"How would they leave camp?"

"They would drive out," Cody said. "Dr. Watanabe is a surgeon who travels here often to work in one of the hospitals. He can leave Gila River any time he wants, with advance permission, and take others with him. He has taken his wife out of camp five times in the past ten months alone. I have no doubt he could do the same in June."

Adam kept his anger in check. Though he was furious at his brother for sharing even a little information with strangers, he saw no point in berating him now. He instead focused on managing a situation that was still, from all appearances, very manageable.

"Tell me about your friend," Adam said.

"Do you mean Naoko?" Cody asked.

"Yes, I mean Naoko. Tell me why you decided to invest your trust and our family's fate in a girl you see no more than an hour or two every Wednesday afternoon."

"I'll tell you why. She's smart, kind, and honest. She's the smartest, kindest, and most honest woman I have ever met — after Mom, Emma, and my four sisters, of course."

Adam sank in his seat. Though he knew Cody meant every word, he also knew his brother had deftly courted the support of the four women at the table. He knew that Natalie, Caitlin, Bridget, and Patricia would devour his praise like an ice cream sundae.

"That's something," Adam said.

Caitlin grinned.

"Naoko is also very pretty. Cody showed me her graduation picture. She is a beautiful girl with big brown eyes that could set half the state on fire."

Greg cocked his head.

"You have her picture?"

Cody squirmed in his seat.

"Yes."

Greg smiled.

"Way to go, sport."

Several people laughed.

Cody sighed.

"She's just a friend."

"Of course she is," Greg said. He glanced at Patricia, his pregnant wife of four months, and then grinned at his younger brother. "They all start out as 'friends.'"

Bridget, Natalie, and Caitlin laughed. Patricia glared at Greg like a woman who would exact her revenge at an opportune date. Adam frowned and tried to stay focused.

"I'm sure she's lovely," Adam said. "The question is whether she and the rest of her family are trustworthy and responsible. I don't like this situation at all."

Greg nodded.

"I have to agree with Adam. I don't like the idea of strangers knowing who we are and what we're capable of doing. The FBI has already paid two visits to this house."

"I agree too," Bridget said. She looked at Adam and then at Greg. "Though Cody hasn't done anything you and Adam haven't done many times, he has opened a door that was probably better left closed. I, for one, would like to know more about this family."

Adam gazed at his wife with pure admiration. Though he knew Bridget was one of Cody's biggest cheerleaders, he also knew she was a straight shooter. He knew he could count on her support if push came to shove in making difficult decisions down the road.

He was not as confident he could count on the support of his sisters. He found Natalie's and Caitlin's silence on the matter both revealing and troubling. He had little doubt they had their own plans to carry souvenirs from the 1940s to the 1970s and beyond.

"I second Bridget's comment," Adam said. He looked at Cody. "I'd like to know more about your new friends before we make any decisions. If you can convince me that the good doctor and his family are worth the trouble, I'll consider this scheme of yours."

"What do you want?"

"I want a second opinion."

Cody furrowed his brow.

"I don't understand."

"I want someone at this table to join you on your next trip to Gila River. I want someone else to see the camp, meet the Watanabe family, and make some judgments. Can you bring an assistant on one of your rounds on short notice? Or am I asking too much?"

"You're not asking too much."

"That's good. Then all I need is someone to give up a work day and help you deliver medical supplies," Adam said. He looked around the table. "Are there any volunteers?"

Caitlin spoke first.

"I'll go."

"Don't you have to work on Wednesday?"

"I do, but I can call in sick. Or better yet, I can have Natalie speak for me. Our boss thinks she's God's gift to aircraft maintenance. He'll believe anything she says."

Adam looked at Natalie.

"Is that true?"

Natalie nodded.

"I can cover for her."

"Then it's set," Adam said. He turned to Caitlin. "I want you to join Cody on his rounds next Wednesday, take a lot of notes, and give us an honest assessment."

"I will," Caitlin said.

"I hope you do. If we take this family to Pennsylvania, we'll be breaking more laws than Al Capone on a busy day. I would rather not spend the rest of my life in prison."

CHAPTER 52: NATALIE

Saturday, April 29, 1944

The newsreel, a two-minute piece called "Blast Berlin by Daylight," began thirty seconds after the curtains rose and the lights dimmed. Short, slick, and expertly produced, it commanded the attention of nearly every person in the Coronet Theater.

Natalie certainly gave it a look. Curled in the arms of a man who wanted to blast Berlin and other targets in any light, she studied the film clip, a polished mix of news and propaganda, like a significant other who had a vested interest in its content.

"Does this make you want to enlist?"

Nick glanced at Natalie.

"It makes me want to get popcorn. I don't care much for newsreels. They provide just a glimpse of what's really happening out there."

Natalie studied his face.

"Is that good or bad?"

"It's neither," Nick said. "It just means there's a whole lot going on with those air crews and their missions that the media don't report."

Natalie considered the blunt reply as she returned her attention to the screen. Like so many things in the world of 1944, she did not know what to make of it.

She did not worry that Nick might fight in Europe, where American crews, flying B-17s from England to Germany, faced a three-in-four chance of dying in combat. She knew if he signed up to fly B-29s, he would see action, probably much later in the war, in the relatively safer skies of the Pacific Theater.

Though Natalie took comfort in that, she took comfort in little else. She knew that if Nick signed up for any Army Air Force assignment, she would never see him again.

She pondered the many possibilities as the newsreel about Flying Forts in Germany yielded to ones about prisoners of war in the United States and the capture of Nazi rubber off the shores of Brazil. No matter how hard she tried, she did not see a satisfactory outcome to a satisfying relationship that was entering its thirteenth week.

Nor did Natalie see a happy ending for Casey and Caitlin, who snuggled a few feet away in the back row of the Coronet's mostly empty balcony. She suspected that their time together, like her time with Nick, would soon be measured in days instead of weeks.

That did not stop her from hoping that she and her sister would find ways to extend relationships they did not want to end. Both had discussed their respective situations on numerous occasions. Each had promised to look out for the other.

Natalie also thought about her baby brother and his ambitious plan to liberate an entire family from an internment camp and the 1940s. She knew if Cody could pull that off without making a mess of things, then anything, even other happy outcomes, was possible.

As the final newsreel, touting U.S. Navy victories in the South Pacific, flashed across the screen, Natalie returned her attention to Nick. She saw that he was as preoccupied as ever with the pictures, the narratives, and messages they were intended to convey.

"Are you all right?"

Nick mustered a smile.

"I'm always all right with you."

Natalie laughed.

"That, Mr. Mays, is the weakest endorsement I have ever heard. I hope you are capable of something better before the night is out."

"How's this?" Nick asked. He gazed at Natalie for several seconds, brushed away a few strands of her long brown hair, and kissed her gently on the lips. "I'm in heaven now."

"That's much better."

"I'm glad to hear it."

Natalie didn't press the matter. She knew Nick wasn't in heaven or at least in a place where he wanted to explore his hopes, fears, and anxieties. She knew that men of the twentieth century were no more eager to discuss such things than men of the twenty-first.

So she turned again to the silver screen. She set aside her personal troubles and watched footage of P-40s attacking enemy warships in a congested ocean.

As she watched the last newsreel, Natalie wondered what was going through the minds of the draft-age men sitting in the theater. Were they excited? Were they afraid? Did they look forward to joining the action displayed on the screen? Or did they dread the day the Army or the Navy would call their number and send them into harm's way?

Natalie did not wonder what Casey McCoy thought. Though she knew he was eager to serve his country and make his family proud, she also knew he did not want to leave the stubborn, opinionated, and beautiful young woman nestled into his side. She knew this because she had spoken to him twice in April about subjects he could not or would not discuss with Caitlin or anyone else. She felt his pain as acutely as she felt her own.

When American planes finished sinking Japanese ships in the Coronet Theater, a musty leftover from the Prohibition era, Natalie burrowed into Nick's side, took a deep breath, and let her mind go. She set aside planes, ships, and wars and focused solely on the flickering screen more than eighty feet away. She did so because she had to.

A moment later, dramatic music blared over scratchy speakers, the names of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman flashed on the screen, and credits began to appear in small groups over a simple map of Africa. Then came a stirring rendition of "La Marseillaise," more credits, and an opening narration that Natalie had heard a hundred times.

She placed her left hand on Nick's knee, gazed at the screen, and tried to forget that one of the greatest movies ever made was a reminder of its time. In Casablanca , like nearly everywhere else on the turbulent, troubled, and violent planet, the war continued.

CHAPTER 53: PATRICIA

Glendale, Arizona – Monday, May 1, 1944

Peering through a large interior window that offered a glimpse of Thunderbird Field's largest classroom, Patricia O'Rourke Carson watched her husband teach roughly fifty Chinese pilots how to pronounce "hello," "goodbye," and "hamburger."

She knew he was teaching these words because he had scribbled them on a blackboard in the front of the utilitarian room. She knew he was reaching his students because she could see smiles, interest, and even affection on most of their faces.

Patricia waved at Greg when he looked her way and smiled when he directed his students' attention to the redheaded woman behind the window. She knew he enjoyed showing off his wife of nineteen weeks, even in situations, such as this, where the only things he had to gain were silly grins or approving nods or raised thumbs.

She watched with interest and amusement as Greg returned to the subject matter, his uniformed students, and his unusual responsibilities in this unusual time. She admired his dedication to education and his commitment to teaching foreign pilots who, according to several family members, would become adversaries shortly after the war.

Patricia watched and admired until Greg placed a stick of chalk on a metal tray ten minutes later, spoke to his charges one last time, and dismissed them. She waited for the students to collect their things and exit the scene and then stepped into a chamber that looked like the classrooms she had frequented in El Paso in the early 1910s.

"How did class go?" Patricia asked. She walked up to a desk in the front row, sat down, and grinned at her husband. "Did you teach your students anything useful?"

Greg smiled.

"I tried. I succeeded, too, for a while. Then a ravishing redhead showed her face and fifty minds turned to mush. I should insist on a windowless classroom."

Patricia raised an eyebrow.

"Would that help?"

Greg laughed.

"It might. If I had a regular classroom, I could get through a full hour of instruction and teach my students more vital words like "beer," "dame," and "trouble."

Patricia placed her head on folded hands.

"Why did I marry you again?"

"I'm not quite sure," Greg said. He stepped toward Patricia, plopped himself in an adjacent chair, and smiled. "I suspect it's because your prospects were limited."

Patricia pivoted to face her husband.

"Thanks for reminding me."

Greg leaned in and gave her a kiss.

"How did you get out here?"

"I took a taxi. I considered taking the bus, but I wanted to get out here before you finished your one o'clock class. So I called a cab."

"I'm surprised to see you. I thought you planned to spend most of the day hitting the stores with Bridget and Camille. Did your appointment with the doctor go well?"

"It did," Patricia said. She lowered her purse to the polished floor. "I'm fine. Dr. Mulligan told me that I'm in perfect health. He also said I'm almost four months along and should begin showing signs of my 'condition' in the next few weeks. He sends his regards."

"That's nice of him."

"He wants to see you next time."

"I figured he would," Greg said. He sighed and frowned. "Even in a city as big as Phoenix, fathers can't run from their responsibilities."

Patricia shook her head.

"Is it too late to trade you in?"

"I'm certain of it. My warranty has expired. Now, Mrs. Carson, what really brings you to Thunderbird? I'm sure you didn't come here to try the cafeteria food."

"I didn't."

"What's up?" Greg asked.

"The FBI paid another visit. Our old friend Agent Sawyer stopped by at eight, right after you, Natalie, and Caitlin left for work. If it weren't for my appointment with Dr. Mulligan and my desire to speak to you in person, I would have contacted you much sooner."

"What did Agent Sawyer want?"

Patricia took a deep breath.

"He wanted to know if you had ever been to Sedona. He said the Bureau is still investigating a link between that community and a wanted man named Greg Carson."

Greg frowned.

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that you had never been to Sedona, to my knowledge, and that you had no ties to the town of any kind. I told him just enough to get him out of the house."

"Did Bridget say anything?"

Patricia shook her head.

"She let me do the talking."

Greg took her hand.

"Thanks for bailing me out. I'm still not sure what the FBI is trying to accomplish, but I appreciate the fact you stepped up. I just wish you hadn't had to do it."

"I didn't mind. Like Bridget, I'm getting good at lying," Patricia said. She looked at her husband and saw concern in his typically carefree eyes. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking we can't get out of 1944 fast enough. For whatever reason, federal law enforcement is hell-bent on giving me and mine a bad time. I guess this is what I get for killing two men, shooting another, and forcing three others to leave a scene at gunpoint."

"You've done nothing wrong."

"That's what I love about you," Greg said. He massaged her delicate hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You can make even the most violent of men look like teddy bears."

Patricia stared at Greg.

"You're my husband ."

Greg sighed.

"Yes, I am. I'm also a man who hasn't had anything to eat since Caitlin put a pancake on my plate at seven this morning. Do you want to check out the cafeteria?"

"I don't know," Patricia said. "Is it as bad as it sounds?"

"No," Greg said. "It's not." He smiled. "It's much worse."

CHAPTER 54: CAITLIN

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, May 3, 1944

Sitting at a round table in a meeting room with Cody, the surgeon, his wife, and their teenage daughters, Caitlin felt like a judge, a jury, and an executioner. She knew that her take on the Watanabe family, their motivations, and their worthiness as potential time travelers carried more weight than a pack elephant trudging across India.

She did not have a problem with the grown-ups. One hour after meeting Hideki and Kyoko at their medical clinic and getting a guided tour of Butte Camp, Caitlin considered the fortyish couple as honest, honorable, and reliable as her own parents.

She also liked the girls, particularly Naoko, a smart and charismatic young woman who shared her love of literature and medicine. She could see why Cody, despite his feeble denials, liked the eighteen-year-old. Naoko was as charming and attractive as Emma Bauer at that age and as interesting as an exotic plant in a desert full of weeds.

Caitlin also understood the family's desire to leave the era — or at least travel to a time where cancer could be treated, if not cured. She would travel to the far reaches of the universe to spare her mother from a painful, premature, and unnecessary death.

Even so, Caitlin Carson, a fair-minded and compassionate person, was not entirely convinced that taking a family out of the 1940s, escorting them to the 2010s, and letting them fend for themselves in the digital age was a swell idea. She knew that even if she and her siblings provided the family with initial support and guidance, they could not and would not take responsibility for their welfare in the long run.

She pondered these things and others as the six participants settled into their chairs and prepared to discuss the possibilities. When it became clear that Cody, who had called the meeting, would not speak first, Caitlin cleared her throat and took the initiative.

"I'm sure you have a few questions."

"We have many, Miss Carson. At least I have many," Hideki said. "I have asked myself many questions since your brother told us the story of your family last week."

"Give me one."

"I'll give you two. The first has troubled me for days. If we participated in this venture of yours and traveled to the future, would we be able to return to this time?"

Caitlin turned to Cody for at least a little guidance but found none. She could see from the lost look on his face that he did not have the definitive answer the doctor wanted.

"We could not guarantee it, Dr. Watanabe. Though my older brothers have managed to take us from Point A to Point B, Point B to Point C, and Point C to Point D, they have not managed to go backward in the alphabet. They have succeeded only in following a detailed itinerary that my father, the real time-travel expert, left for us in 2017."

"I see," Hideki said.

"It's possible my father could bring you back to 1944, or even a different year, but that would require finding him in the first place. As I'm sure Cody told you last week, we haven't had the best of luck in finding our parents. In fact, we haven't had any luck at all."

"I understand."

Caitlin looked at him thoughtfully.

"Do you have another question?"

"I do," Hideki said. "I confess I am afraid to ask it, but I must anyway. It, too, is a question that has troubled me for much of the past week."

"Just ask."

"Then I will. If you and your siblings really are from 2017, then you know how the world will evolve in the next seventy-three years. You know how this war will end and what will happen to the nations fighting it. You know whether the world of the future will be a world worth living in. Can you tell us about it? Can you tell us anything?"

Caitlin sighed as she considered Hideki's reasonable request. Though she wanted to tell him something, she did not want to cross any lines. She knew if word got out that the Carson family of Phoenix knew about the Normandy invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and countless postwar events, agents and assassins from every country on earth would hunt the time travelers like foxes.

"I can't say much," Caitlin said. "I can tell you that science and industry will progress by leaps and bounds and that automation will make the lives of ordinary people easier and more enjoyable, but I can't offer specifics on coming events. If I did, I would put my family, your family, and perhaps many other people in grave danger. I can't do that."

"I understand," Hideki said.

"I hope that doesn't change things. I like you and want to help you, but I can't give away the store without consulting my siblings. Neither can Cody. We're bound by a promise we made to not say or do anything that could put our family at risk."

"You understand, of course, that this puts me in a difficult position. I cannot very well entrust the safety of my family to strangers who cannot offer more than generalities."

"What do you want?" Caitlin asked.

Hideki looked around the table before providing an answer. He saw a frowning wife, two visibly troubled daughters, and a young man who no doubt wished he had stuck to delivering medical supplies. When the surgeon finally spoke to Caitlin, he did so in a firm and serious voice — a voice the new visitor could not ignore.

"I want more proof. I want more proof that you, your brother, and the rest of your family are from the future and have the means to deliver on your promises."

"You know I can't do that," Caitlin said.

Cody jumped in.

"I can. I can at least offer the first thing."

Caitlin stared at her twin with eyes that screamed, "Are you nuts?" She could not believe he was prepared to wing something that demanded thought and preparation.

"Cody? What are you doing?"

"I'm building trust," Cody said. "I'm giving our hosts today something more than fantastic claims and dubious promises. I'm giving them something real."

Hideki leaned forward.

"What is that, Mr. Carson? Do you have another trinket to show us? Because if you do, I can tell you now that I will need more to proceed with this scheme of yours."

Cody shot back.

"I'll give you more, Dr. Watanabe. I'll give you a lot more. I'll start by giving you something that a lot of people, particularly those who like to gamble, would kill for."

"Please explain."

"Let me preface this by saying that I like horses. I like them so much that I rode them when I could and studied them in high school. I wrote a term paper, in fact, on the greatest horses of the twentieth century, including those that won the biggest races."

Caitlin briefly closed her eyes as she prepared for the inevitable. She knew now what Cody was going to say and how he was going to say it. She should have seen this coming.

"Tell me about these horses," Hideki said.

"I will someday," Cody said, "but not today. Today I'm going to tell you about just one horse, a three-year-old thoroughbred named Pensive. Pensive is going to run in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday and win going away. Then he's going to compete in another event, the Preakness Stakes on May 13, and win that too. If you have a betting pool here in camp, put your pennies on Pensive. He'll come through for you as sure as I'm sitting at this table."

Caitlin wanted to hug Cody with one arm and kill him with the other. She did not know whether his bold prediction would result in a family's trust or a lengthy term in the Arizona State Penitentiary, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

"Cody is right," Caitlin said. "I know he's right because I proofed his paper before he turned it in. I remember Pensive because he was the only great horse from the 1940s, or at least the only one Cody wrote about, that didn't win the Triple Crown."

Hideki nodded his approval.

"That is more than sufficient, Miss Carson. If this horse, Pensive, wins these races, I will regard it as proof that you are who you say you are."

"That's all we can ask."

"Then I will keep you no longer. Go back to your family and tell them the things you have learned here today. If they wish to proceed, we will consider moving forward."

"I'll tell them," Caitlin said. She looked at Hideki, his wife, his daughters, and finally the brother who could still surprise her. "We'll tell them."

CHAPTER 55: ADAM

Phoenix, Arizona – Thursday, May 4, 1944

As he paced back and forth in his living room, Adam processed the information the twins had shared, gathered his thoughts, and got to the heart of a matter on the minds of no fewer than seven people in Phoenix and four in the Gila River War Relocation Center.

He knew he could not solve the problem in one meeting, but he wanted to at least start a serious discussion before the family jumped in too deep. He owed it to himself and the others to explore the matter honestly and thoroughly.

Adam looked at Natalie, Caitlin, and Patricia, who sat on one sofa, and then at Greg, Cody, and Bridget, who occupied the other. He did not envy any of them. If he envied any member of the Carson family, it was Camille, who slept soundly in a nearby bedroom.

"Well, folks," Adam said, "we have a lot to decide. Among other things, we have to decide whether to take four strangers with us to Pennsylvania in June and potentially to other places and times in the next several months. Though I have every reason to believe that Dr. Watanabe and his family are upstanding people, I am not yet convinced that taking them with us to the future is a good idea. In fact, I think it's a bad idea."

"Why?" Natalie asked.

"Why? Here's a reason. If we take them with us, we'll have to manage them every step of the way. We'll have to educate them on the times, bring them up to speed on technology, and provide them with countless tools to survive. I want to help them as much as anyone, but I'm not sure I want to take on that responsibility. On the other hand, I don't want to help them halfway. If we escorted them to the future and cut them loose, we would doom them to life on the streets. That would be far crueler than leaving them here."

Caitlin frowned.

"What about Mrs. Watanabe?"

"What about her?" Adam asked. "You said yourself she's dying. That could be a real problem if we go to 1972 and 1983 before going to 2017. If we travel first to the earlier years to find Mom and Dad, Mrs. Watanabe won't have access to the doctors and hospitals of the twenty-first century. She won't have the very things you promised her."

"What if she doesn't care?" Cody asked.

"I care. I don't want to give her false hope. If we are going to take her to the future, we should do so with the purpose of getting her the best possible treatment."

"I agree."

Adam frowned as a pall settled over the room. Though he hated playing Mr. No at every family meeting, he felt a duty to raise uncomfortable questions and point out the most serious drawbacks of problematic ideas. He knew someone had to be the grown-up.

"What do the rest of you think?"

"You know what I think," Bridget said. She looked at Adam. "We should stick to the plan that you and your siblings have followed from the start. I would love to help this family but not at the expense of finding your parents. If we don't find your folks by the middle of June, we have no choice except to travel east — by ourselves — and proceed to 1972."

Greg nodded.

"I agree."

Patricia glanced at Adam.

"I do too."

"Well, I don't!" Natalie said. She rose from her sofa, walked to the fireplace, and turned to face the others. "I don't think our options are limited to the ones we've discussed. I think we could do a lot of things in June, including staying right where we are."

Adam looked at her with puzzlement.

"How would that help Mrs. Watanabe?"

"It wouldn't," Natalie said.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that some of us have interests that go beyond doing what's best for the Watanabe family. Some of us may want to pursue a different course."

"Do you want to stay?" Adam asked. "Is that it? Do you want to stay in 1944 and wait for your boyfriend to decide whether he wants to be Jimmy Doolittle or Pappy Boyington?"

"Would that be so awful? Would it be any worse than blindly traipsing through time in search of two parents we may never see again? Tell me, Adam, I want to know."

"I'm not judging, Natalie. I'm just saying that staying in 1944, while a world war is raging and at least two of us are subject to the draft, may not be the best idea."

Caitlin spoke up.

"Well, I think it's a grand idea."

"Let me guess. You want to wait for Casey."

"I might."

Adam stared at his sisters.

"All right, ladies, I'm listening. Tell me how this would work. Tell me how we could stay in 1944, beyond the solstice, and ever have a chance of seeing Mom and Dad again."

"I don't know," Natalie said. Deflated and no doubt depressed, she returned to her sofa, sat next to Caitlin, and stared at the floor. "I don't know how it would work."

Greg entered the fray.

"I do. I'm not saying I approve of staying put, but I think we have options that go beyond sticking to the itinerary. I thought of one just this morning."

"Oh?" Adam asked. "What's that?"

"We could skip 1972 in June, stay in 1944 for six more months, and travel to 1983 in the next cycle. Or we could skip two cycles, stay here another year, and return to 2017 when Mom and Dad will likely do the same. As long as we keep track of relative time and make our final leap a year from now, it shouldn't matter what we do in the meantime."

"Greg's right," Cody said. "We already know we can find them and they can find us if we all travel to the right place at the right time. I don't see any reason to believe they won't keep trying to find us at the appointed times. They haven't given up yet."

Adam frowned.

"What about Mrs. Watanabe?"

Cody spoke softly.

"I still want to save her life."

Adam looked at his brother.

"So what do you want to do?"

"It depends," Cody said. "If we find Mom and Dad in the next few weeks, I want to leave in June and take the Watanabes with us. If we don't find Mom and Dad, I want to consider other options, including staying here. I want to do what's best for everyone."

"I think we all do."

"So where does that leave us?" Greg asked. "It seems everyone has different priorities and timelines. What will we do next month if we don't find our parents?"

Adam eyed Greg.

"What do you want to do?"

"I want to go. I'll say it right now. I want to get out of Dodge before a local draft board sends out some notices or the FBI knocks on our door again. I see few upsides to remaining in this time or this place. I see a lot of upsides to sticking to the script and leaving.

Adam turned to his sister-in-law.

"How do you see things?"

"I agree with Greg," Patricia said. "I don't see a lot to gain by extending our stay in either 1944 or in Phoenix. When I spoke to Agent Sawyer the other day, I got the clear impression he was working on something big. As much as I would like to give Natalie and Caitlin time to develop their relationships, I don't want to put this family at risk."

Adam looked at his wife.

"I take it you agree."

"I do," Bridget said.

Adam turned to his sisters.

"I guess that leaves you two. I won't ask you to commit to a position because I know a lot of things could change between now and the middle of June, but I will ask you to be flexible and consider everyone's interests. I will do the same."

Natalie forced a smile.

"That's fair."

"Caitlin?"

"I agree."

"Then we'll put a decision on hold," Adam said. "There is no point in making any firm plans until we know all the facts. We can reexamine the situation in a few weeks."

Cody spoke up.

"What do you want me to do? What do you want me to tell Naoko and her family when I see them again? I can't leave them hanging."

"I don't expect you to," Adam said. "Tell them the truth. Tell them we have not decided on a course of action and may not for several more weeks. Then tell them to prepare for the possibility of leaving Butte Camp and the forties on short notice. If we find Mom and Dad running around 1944, they may have only hours to pack a suitcase."

CHAPTER 56: CAITLIN

Saturday, May 6, 1944

The hike to the Hole was pleasant, leisurely, and soothing. Compared to the hike to the top of Camelback Mountain, the journey to Hole-in-the-Rock, a geological formation sandwiched between Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale, was a literal walk in the park.

As Caitlin followed Casey toward their destination, she basked in the splendor of Papago Park. She considered the preserve, a twelve-hundred-acre playground filled with fishponds, gentle trails, and native flora, an ideal venue for an early morning date.

She found the Hole itself particularly appealing. When the couple, attired in khaki shirts and shorts, approached the entrance of the sandstone wonder, Caitlin caught up to Casey, put her hands on her hips, and gazed at the tunnel with awe and admiration.

"This is cool. This is really cool."

"Cool?" Casey asked. "It must be ninety degrees out."

Caitlin rolled her eyes.

"I mean the rock formation, silly. It's cool."

Casey chuckled.

"Sometimes I think I need a dictionary to keep track of your terms. You spring more words on me than a professor during finals week."

Caitlin smiled.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Casey said. He took Caitlin's hand. "Come on. Let me show you the rest of this rock. It's even 'cooler' on the other side."

"Are you sure ?"

"I'm positive. It's practically frozen."

Caitlin resisted the temptation to teach Casey 1950s slang. She figured that "cool" would make its way to Pascagoula, Mississippi, soon enough.

Whether she wanted to give Casey the chance to learn the word in this time was another matter. Since marking her turf in the contentious family meeting on Thursday, she had searched her mind for ways to take the charming airman to the future.

She followed Casey up several steps and then through the short tunnel that separated the wider south entrance from the narrower north. When she finally reached the other end of the passageway, she released his hand, lifted her arms, and greeted the day with a yell.

"Yee-haw!"

Casey laughed.

"What are you doing?"

Caitlin grinned.

"I'm scaring the wildlife."

Casey cocked his head.

"I thought you liked animals."

"I do," Caitlin said. "I'm sending them my love."

"Remind me to buy a book I saw in Glendale last week. It's called Understanding Women: A Primer for the Modern Man . I think I could use it about now."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"I most certainly am not," Casey said. He joined her on a ledge overlooking the valley. "I am merely thinking of ways to better appreciate the wonder at my side."

Caitlin laughed. She could fill a truck with Casey's B.S. and still have enough to fertilize half the cornfields of Iowa, but she didn't mind. She loved every word.

"I commend your commitment to learning."

"I do what I must," Casey said.

"This is beautiful. Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

Caitlin turned her head.

"Can we stay for a while?"

"We can do whatever you want," Casey said. He scanned the immediate vicinity, as if looking for something in particular, and then pointed to the west. "Why don't you find a place to sit on that boulder over there. I'll join you in a minute."

"OK."

"I'll be right back."

Caitlin watched with amusement as Casey marched thirty yards in the other direction to a spot where prickly pears mingled with sagebrush and wildflowers. When she was convinced that he would not return with a spider or a snake, she turned to the west, walked several feet to a boulder the size of a small car, and plopped herself on top.

As Casey wandered among cacti and weeds, Caitlin settled into her seat and gazed at the Valley of the Sun, which sparkled under a royal blue sky. Though she did not love this patch of southern Arizona as much as her brothers, she did love it. She thought the desert was as mysterious and intriguing as her Pascagoula pilot.

She pondered the mystery and intrigue of several things, including an odd collection of barracks and warehouses in the distance, until she heard and then saw someone approach from her right. She smiled when she saw Casey walk toward her with yet another bouquet of Indian paintbrush he had liberated from public land.

"You couldn't resist, could you?"

"I couldn't resist these flowers any more than I could resist a beautiful woman on a Saturday night," Casey said as he reached the scene. He climbed atop the boulder, sat next to Caitlin, and handed her the bouquet. "I give you a gift, my lady."

Caitlin took the reddish flowers, smelled them, and then kissed Casey as he settled into his rocky seat and extended his arm around her shoulders. If she was not in her element when she came to this pristine place, she was now. She was in nirvana.

"Thank you again."

"You're welcome," Casey said. "I didn't think I would find any flowers up here, much less the kind that make your toes tingle. Indian paintbrush is hard to find in the lower elevations this time of year. For a moment, I thought I might have to go to a shop."

Caitlin beamed.

"Well, now you don't."

Casey pulled Caitlin close and gazed at the desert like an art critic evaluating landscape paintings at a museum or a gallery. He seemed content and relaxed for an aviator who was only months, if not weeks, away from getting his first taste of combat.

"I like this place."

"I do too," Caitlin said.

"Have you seen any Krauts up yonder?"

"Come again?"

Casey looked at his companion.

"Have you seen any Germans walking around? I usually see at least a dozen carrying picks and shovels this time of day."

"Why would I see Germans?" Caitlin asked. "Did the Nazis invade Arizona while I was sleeping last night? If so, Mr. McCoy, we should probably find a new place to sit."

Casey chuckled.

"I guess you don't read the papers much. That facility is Camp Papago Park, one of the biggest prisoner-of-war camps in these United States. There must be three thousand Germans in that place, including more than a few high-ranking officers."

"Why bring them here?"

"I imagine so we can keep a better eye on them. It's much easier to keep track of prisoners in an isolated venue than in a populated one. At least that's my thinking."

Caitlin looked away for a few seconds as information, new information, flooded her fertile mind. She had heard about this camp. She had read about it in school.

"Have the prisoners ever escaped?"

"I don't think so," Cody said. "They would have to dig a tunnel to get out of that place, and to do that, they would need more than a few picks and shovels. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious. I'm pretty sure I read something about a prison break in Arizona in the last year or two. Maybe I read about a different place."

"You must have."

Caitlin let the matter drop. Though she was certain now she had read about this camp and not another, she did not want to discuss an event that had not yet happened. So she turned to a subject that was far more immediate and relevant.

"Casey?"

"Yes?"

Caitlin gathered her courage.

"Are you looking forward to combat?"

The future lieutenant turned again to his inquisitive friend, kissed her cheek, and gazed at her with eyes she could not read. He seemed neither surprised nor troubled by the pointed question, which had been on Caitlin's mind for weeks.

"I'm not," Casey said. He took a deep breath. "I'm looking forward to serving my country, but I'm not looking forward to shooting others or getting shot. I would just as soon go back to Starkville, get my bachelor's degree, and settle down with the woman I love."

Caitlin forced a smile.

"I thought so."

"Don't worry about me. I'm a survivor. If there is one thing I know how to do, it's how to get through a tough situation in one piece. I'll come back to you. I promise."

"Can you keep that promise?"

"Yeah," Casey said. "I can."

Caitlin frowned as she thought of all the young men, in America and elsewhere, making the same promise to their wives and sweethearts. She knew Casey couldn't guarantee he would come back in one piece any more than he could guarantee a good cotton crop.

The time traveler knew there was only one way she could save their relationship in the precious few weeks that remained to them. She would have to act.

"Can I ask you another question?"

"Of course," Casey said.

"What are your plans for June?"

"I'm going to graduate. I'm going to graduate from the cadet program, get my wings, and presumably get my first assignment. I'm also going to spend some time with my family for the first time in months. My parents and sister are coming to graduation. They know all about you and want to meet you. My mother is practically chomping at the bit."

Caitlin snuggled into his side.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them too."

Casey, visibly content, continued.

"I have some business to take care of in the meantime, of course. I have to complete my pilot training, take some tests, and attend a special school. The Army is sending me and several other top cadets to California for some advanced instruction."

Caitlin looked at her airman.

"You're leaving Thunderbird ?"

"I will for a week or so."

"When will you leave?"

"We'll fly out in about three weeks," Casey said. "Colonel Tiller, one of my superiors and the officer organizing the exchange, says we'll leave Glendale on May 29 and return from Santa Ana on June 8. Graduation at Thunderbird is still June 11."

"I see."

"You don't seem thrilled."

Caitlin forced another smile.

"Oh, I am. I'm just surprised."

"I won't be long. I'll be back before you know it. Then we can spend several days together before I run off to my next assignment."

"Then what?"

"Then I'll see what God has in store for me," Casey said. He pulled her closer. "I know this is going to be difficult, but we'll get through it."

Caitlin battled tears as she pondered the futility of it all. She wanted no part of special schools or advanced instruction or separations. She wanted a future with this man.

"I hope so."

Casey studied her face.

"You're crying."

Caitlin nodded.

"I usually do when people I love talk about going away."

Casey turned his body toward his companion, placed his hand on her wet cheek, and leaned in for a tender kiss. Then he pushed back her hair and kissed her again.

"I love you, Caitlin Carson. I love you as much as I have ever loved anyone or anything in my entire life. I will make this work. I will do anything to keep you in my life."

Caitlin wiped away a tear.

"Do you mean that?"

"I do," Casey said.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'm really glad, Casey, because the day is coming when you may have to say that again and mean it. Are you ready for that?"

"I am."

"I hope so," Caitlin said. "I really hope so."

CHAPTER 57: ADAM

Monday, May 8, 1944

For the first time in days, the Roosevelt District, the historic neighborhood Adam Carson called home, went to bed at a decent hour. Residents remained in their homes, bar patrons behaved like ladies and gentlemen, and high school students, the scourge of downtown Phoenix, took their fast cars, loud music, and wild parties to other places.

Adam welcomed the change as he walked beside Bridget and pushed Camille in her stroller down a nearly empty sidewalk. Anxious, weary, and a little depressed, he needed a pleasant and peaceful evening like a starving man needed a seven-course meal.

"It's nice out," Adam said.

Bridget nodded.

"It is. I've never seen the neighborhood this quiet."

"That's because it's May 8 and a Monday. Give the local rowdies a few more days to recover from Cinco de Mayo. They will be raising hell again in no time."

"What's Cinco de Mayo?"

Adam turned his head.

"It's the day Mexico defeated France in the Battle of Puebla. It's also the day Americans drink themselves silly in Mexican restaurants. You'll see it a lot in my time."

Bridget smiled.

"I can hardly wait."

Adam loved his wife's wry sense of humor. He loved it almost as much as her uncanny ability to adapt to new times and circumstances as a time traveler.

She had certainly faced a few tests. In the past year alone, the former Bridget O'Malley, a product of the 1870s and 1880s, had seamlessly adapted to the 1910s and the 1940s.

Adam did not doubt that his wife of nearly a year would adapt just as quickly and successfully to the 1970s, 1980s, and 2010s. He was not sure he could say the same about Nicholas Mays, Casey McCoy, or the Watanabe family of Rivers, Arizona.

Since Natalie, Caitlin, and Cody had staked their claims in the family meeting, Adam had done little but fret. Though he did not want to stand in the way of his siblings' happiness, he did not want to court trouble either. He could not imagine many things more stressful and problematic than taking several strangers from the forties to an uncertain future.

He pondered the difficult weeks ahead as he pushed Camille past a five-and-dime and a tavern that had seen better days. When he could no longer keep his thoughts to himself, he turned to the one person he could trust to provide useful guidance.

"Bridget?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think I was wrong Thursday night?" Adam asked. "Do you think I was wrong to question the actions and motives of my own siblings? I feel like a hypocrite."

Bridget reached out and touched his hand.

"You're not a hypocrite. You're a caring and considerate man who is trying to act in the best interests of his family and the people they love."

"You know what I mean."

"I do."

Adam frowned.

"So what should I do?"

Bridget offered a supportive smile.

"You should do what you said you would do. You should keep an open mind and encourage the others to do the same. You should wait a few weeks and see what develops."

"I thought you wanted to stick to the plan."

"I do. As I said on Thursday, I think we should travel to 1972 if we do not find your parents by the middle of June. That does not mean I favor leaving our friends behind."

Adam sighed.

"Do you realize how messy this could get? We're not just talking about significant others anymore. We're talking about removing entire families from the fabric of time."

"I know."

"So—?"

"So let's talk about it," Bridget said. She pointed to an unoccupied bench a short distance away. "Let's sit and discuss it some more."

Adam nodded and followed his wife to the bench, an oak-and-iron special near the entrance of a tobacco shop, and sat down beside her. When she finished attending to Camille, who had begun to clamor for her bottle, he resumed the difficult conversation.

"I hope you understand the difference between what I did and Greg did and what Natalie, Caitlin, and Cody seem prepared to do."

"I do," Bridget said. "I also know that this discussion is premature. We don't know what your sisters intend to do. We know only that they have fallen in love with men they don't want to leave. Until we know more, we should give them the benefit of the doubt."

Adam looked away for a moment.

"What about Cody? What about his friends? Are you ready to sign off on taking a family of four to as many as three different decades? I'm not sure I am."

Bridget frowned.

"I'm not sure I am either. I'm not sure I want the responsibility of managing a family when I can barely manage myself. I would want to know more about Mrs. Watanabe's condition and her family's circumstances in June before lending my support."

Adam clasped Bridget's hand.

"I guess we're not so far apart, after all. I was sure you were going to approve half the population of Arizona for time travel. You almost always act from the heart."

"If I do," Bridget said, "it's because I believe everyone deserves a chance. Where would I be today if your family had closed the door? Where would Patricia? We are with the men we love because brothers and sisters opened their hearts and minds. I would be a hypocrite if I did not extend the same courtesy to Natalie, Caitlin, and Cody."

Adam smiled.

"Once again, Mrs. Carson, you have provided needed clarity. Thanks for reminding me why I married you in the first place. You are as wise as a sage."

Bridget grinned.

"Is that the only reason you married me?"

Adam considered the question, glanced at the happy baby in the carriage, and then gazed at the woman who still continued to intrigue. He placed his hand on her chin.

"No, it's not the only reason," Adam said. He leaned in and gave his beautiful wife the kiss she wanted. "In fact, it's not even in the top five."

CHAPTER 58: CODY

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, May 10, 1944

Cody noticed the difference right away. The moment he followed Naoko through the door of the hospital's meeting room and sat at its table, he noticed the smiles, the more receptive atmosphere, and the much lighter mood. Something, he thought, had changed.

He looked first at Kana, who grinned and fidgeted in her chair, and then at her mother, who seemed healthier and more buoyant. Then he moved on to Hideki, the most important person in the room, and noted his calm and confident demeanor.

"Hello," Cody said.

"Hello," Hideki replied. "I trust you had a good week and that you and Caitlin had a chance to discuss the particulars of our situation with the rest of your family."

"We did."

"How did it go?"

"It went as I thought it would. Some of my siblings, particularly my brother Adam, are reluctant to take on an entire family, but all are keeping open minds."

"I see."

Cody sank in his seat when he saw Hideki's smile, once the biggest in the room, morph into a frown. Realizing that he had to act fast, he searched his mind for encouraging words.

"Don't get the wrong impression. We want to help. Even Adam, my oldest brother and the biggest skeptic, wants to help. He is committed to doing the right thing."

Hideki stared at Cody.

"Then what is the problem?"

"The problem is that I can't tell you, with absolute certainty, that we will take you to 2017 when we go to Pennsylvania in June. If my siblings and I fail to find our parents in the next five weeks, we will travel to 1972 instead. Or we may not travel at all."

"I don't understand."

Cody took a deep breath.

"My sisters have fallen in love with local pilots. Neither is particularly eager to leave them behind. Our situation, to say the least, is kind of tenuous now."

Hideki smiled.

"It appears our destinies are linked."

Cody looked at the surgeon, a kind, intelligent, and thoughtful man he had come to trust and admire, and pondered his comment. He did not know what to make of it.

"With respect, sir, you don't seem very concerned."

"I'm not," Hideki said. "Like my wife and daughters, I am content to let this difficult matter run its course. If we can travel to 2017, we will go. If we can travel only to 1972, 1983, or another year with better medical facilities, we will do the same. If we cannot travel anywhere in the future, we will stay here, in this time and perhaps this place, and live the lives we were meant to lead. We are all at peace with our circumstances."

Cody looked at the man with new respect. Whatever Zen cocktail Hideki Watanabe had mixed up in the past week, he wanted to bottle it and market it nationwide.

"I admire your attitude. I didn't know how you would take the news. Now I can see I never had anything to worry about. You're amazing. All of you are amazing."

"It is you who is amazing," Hideki said.

Cody did not believe that for a second. He was little more than a messenger boy in the grand scheme of things, a middleman with a limited mission. If anyone was amazing, it was the doctor who was willing to follow a group of strangers to the great unknown.

"Dr. Watanabe?"

"Yes?"

"I have to admit I'm still a bit confused, Cody said. "You're putting a lot of faith in a person you barely know. May I ask what I did to earn your trust?"

Hideki smiled.

"You won over my daughter, Mr. Carson. You persuaded Naoko, the most skeptical member of my family, that you were a man the rest of us could trust and follow."

"Is that all?"

"No."

"What else did I do?" Cody asked.

Hideki did not reply right away. He instead leaned to his side, lifted something off the floor, and plopped that something, a newspaper sports section, on the table.

"You picked the right horse."

Cody glanced at Naoko, who grinned from ear to ear, and then reached for a section he had read three times. He scanned the headline and smiled at the surgeon.

"Well, what do you know? Pensive won!"

Hideki leaned back in his chair.

"When I read the results of the Derby, I knew I could trust you. I still have questions about time travel and the future, but I no longer doubt the stories you have shared."

"That's good to hear," Cody said. "That's really good to hear. I feel a lot better knowing that trust is no longer an issue. Have you looked into leaving camp in June?"

"I have. I've done more than that, in fact."

"I don't follow."

Hideki leaned forward.

"I have requested and received permission to leave Gila River, with my family, on two dates in June. I requested two dates to give your brothers added flexibility as they plan our unusual journey. The first date is June 6. The second is June 14. I told officials I would perform surgeries in Phoenix on each date, while my wife and daughters ran essential errands, and return to camp no later than 9 p.m. What do you think?"

Cody took a moment to absorb the information. Though he liked the idea of having flexibility and options, he did not like the idea of sneaking a Japanese American family out of an internment camp on the day the Allies invaded Normandy.

"What do I think?" Cody asked. "I think you should cancel the first trip, plan on taking the second, and keep a very low profile around here in the next four weeks."

Hideki tilted his head.

"What is wrong with June 6?"

Cody chose his words carefully.

"Something big is going to happen that day, something that will leave the military and many others on high alert. For that reason alone, I think you should go with June 14."

"Then I will. I will cancel the first date and keep the second. I will do it right away. I trust that you and your family can handle the rest."

"We can," Cody said.

"Then I will take my leave. We can discuss this matter more when the time for final decisions and actions draws closer. In the meantime, please tell Caitlin, Adam, and the others that I appreciate their concern for my family and our future."

"I'll do that."

Hideki rose from his chair and gestured to the others to do the same. Then he stepped away from the table, moved toward Cody, and shook his hand.

"Once again, Mr. Carson, it has been a pleasure. You have given new hope to all of us and restored our faith in humanity. I look forward to meeting your family."

"I'll tell them that," Cody said.

"Please do."

Hideki released Cody's hand, glanced at Kyoko and Kana, and then walked a few feet to the only door in the room. He opened the door, waited for his wife and younger daughter to exit, and then followed them through the door to the hallway and points unknown.

When he was convinced that Hideki, Kyoko, and Kana had left for good, Cody shut the open door, turned around, and stepped toward the only other person in the room. He proceeded cautiously when he saw a radiant smile form on her pretty face.

"You look happy."

"I am happy," Naoko said. "I've been ecstatic since my father read the paper on Sunday and announced we would follow your family to the future."

"Why?" Cody asked. He looked at Naoko with puzzlement. "You don't even know where we're going — or if we're going. Doesn't the destination matter to you?"

"Yes and no."

"Now I am confused."

"Then let me un-confuse you," Naoko said. She walked up to Cody. "I would prefer to go to 2017. I would prefer to go to your time because I want my mother to get the best possible care and because I want the same opportunities as your sisters."

"That's nice," Cody said, "but what if we don't go to my time? What if we go to 1972 or 1983 or stick around 1944 for several more months? Will you still be happy?"

Naoko gave him a seductive smile. Then the girl who was "just a friend" draped her arms around his neck, pulled him close, and gazed at him with pleading eyes.

"Yes."

"Yes?" Cody asked.

Naoko nodded.

"I'll be happy because I'll be where I want to be."

She kissed him on the lips.

"I'll be happy because I'll be with you."

CHAPTER 59: NATALIE

Coconino County, Arizona – Saturday, May 13, 1944

The view from eight thousand feet was like a view from heaven. No matter where Natalie looked from her passenger seat in Nick's rented Beechcraft D17S biplane, she could see something that took her breath away. She could see the very best of Arizona.

She found the Grand Canyon particularly appealing. Though she had seen the seventh natural wonder of the world many times from the South Rim, the North Rim, and even a raft in the Colorado River, she had never seen it from the air in a private plane.

As Nick completed a U-turn over the North Rim, the halfway point in their flight, and began the return trip to Phoenix, Natalie gazed at the canyon, the river, and nearby forests with envy. She decided right then she wanted to be a bird in her next life.

"I can see everything from up here," Natalie said above the thrum of the propeller and rumble of the radial engine. "It's beautiful."

Nick nodded.

"Yes, it is."

Natalie smiled at the pilot.

"Do you take all the girls out here?"

Nick shook his head.

"I used to take all of them." He turned a knob and checked some gauges on the cockpit dash. "Now I only take the ones who pester me at work."

"Watch it, mister."

"I'll try."

"You do that," Natalie said. She scolded Nick with a stare and then resumed her aerial surveillance of the canyon. "I wish Caitlin and Casey could have joined us."

"Why didn't they?"

"Caitlin wanted Casey all to herself today. She borrowed the family car and took our favorite cadet to Sedona. She left the house an hour before you picked me up."

"Why Sedona?" Nick asked.

"It's one of our family's favorite places. We drive there once or twice a year to see the rock formations, the cottonwood trees, and other attractions."

Like time portals.

"It sounds interesting."

Natalie smiled sadly.

"You have no idea."

Nick gave Natalie a puzzled look and then returned his attention to some ominous clouds that loomed in the distance. Large, dark, and shifting, the clouds formed a line that stretched almost fifty miles from east to west over central Arizona.

"I don't like the looks of that."

Natalie turned to her friend.

"Can you fly through it?"

"I can," Nick said. He chuckled. "Whether I want to is another question. I would rather drive through a hailstorm than fly through one."

"So what are our options?"

"Our options, Miss Carson, are to fly around that mess or fly over it. I think I'll choose the over option today. It's much prettier."

Natalie watched with interest as Nick pulled the yoke, or control wheel, and flew the aircraft to a much safer elevation. She breathed more easily a few minutes later when he leveled the plane at ten thousand feet and resumed their original fight path.

"That was quick."

"We lucked out," Nick said. "These storm clouds aren't very tall. I usually have to fly around soup like this. Nature is rarely this accommodating."

Natalie pondered the comment for a moment. She imagined that Nick Mays had run into all sorts of weather in more than ten years as an aviator.

"Have you ever run into serious trouble?"

Nick nodded.

"I once had to land a plane on a frozen lake. I was twenty-one at the time and as cocky as a rooster in a pen full of hens. I thought I knew more than my boss, who expressly forbade me to take out his planes, especially for recreational flights, in poor weather."

"What happened?"

"I bit off more than I could chew. I ran into a snowstorm and couldn't find a place to land. I couldn't even see the ground until my fuel started to run low and Baseline Reservoir, a small lake southeast of Boulder, came into view. So I did the only thing I could do and landed the plane on ice that was no more than eight inches thick."

Natalie eyed the pilot.

"Did you learn a lesson?"

"I did," Nick said. "I've been as humble as a horse ever since."

Natalie smiled as she turned away, looked out her tiny window, and gazed at a sea of fluffy white cotton balls. She loved Nicholas Mays' homespun similes almost as much as his homespun stories. She wondered what it would be like to hear them on a regular basis for the rest of her life. She wondered about that a lot.

"Nick?"

"Yes?"

"Have you given more thought to enlisting?"

"I have," Nick said.

"Is that good or bad?"

"I guess it depends on your perspective. If you're asking whether I've decided to join the Army and fly B-29s, I have not. I'll probably wait until the last minute to do so."

"Why wait?" Natalie asked with an edge in her voice. "If you want to enlist, why not do it now? I don't think our circumstances will change much in the next few weeks."

Nick took a deep breath.

"Are you sure about that?"

"No."

"I don't want to fight, Natalie."

Natalie frowned.

"I don't either."

"Then let's talk instead," Nick said. He checked a few gauges. "Let's talk about the subject you have been avoiding since we came back from Los Angeles."

"What subject is that?"

"I was hoping you would tell me."

Natalie paused again before replying. She wanted to tell Nick about her family's past and their plans to leave the forties, but she could not. Or at least she did not want to do so while he was controlling a small aircraft several thousand feet above Arizona.

"I will. I will soon enough," Natalie said. She looked at Nick. "In the meantime, I want to get the answer to a question that's been on my mind for weeks."

"What's that?"

"What would you be willing to do for happiness?"

Nick smiled.

"That sounds like an essay question."

"If it is, I would like your essay soon," Natalie said. "I'm serious, Nick. What would you be willing to do to have a life with me? Would you be willing to leave all this behind?"

"Define 'this.'"

"You have friends in Phoenix and family in Colorado. You have a job at Thunderbird, a home in Glendale, and a comfortable life. Would you be willing to give all that up for an uncertain future with a woman you have seen for less than four months?"

Nick looked at his passenger.

"Are you asking me to go to Timbuktu?"

Natalie laughed.

"I might as well be."

"I confess I'm as confused as ever," Nick said. "I assumed you wanted to talk about my glorious plans to see the world and not yours. Now I'm not so sure."

Natalie sighed.

"I can't tell you what I want to tell you. At least I can't do it today. I want to give myself a little more time and see how a few things develop in the next month."

"I see," Nick said.

"In the meantime, I want you to think about my question and test the limits of your vivid imagination. I want you to prepare to make a really tough call."

"You have my attention, Miss Carson."

"I hope so," Natalie said. She reached out and clasped Nick's hand. "I'm going to need it in a few weeks. I'm going to need a lot of things."

CHAPTER 60: TIM

Flagstaff, Arizona – Wednesday, May 17, 1944

The investigator's report contained more bone than meat. Two pages long and mostly free of relevant details, it shed little light on the whereabouts of two young women that Tim and Caroline Carson had seen in a photograph and identified as their missing nieces.

Tim read the report a second time; glanced at Caroline, who sat to his right in one of two chairs that faced the investigator's desk; and then directed his full attention to the man who had let him down. He had expected more from James Wesley Zane.

"It's not much, Mr. Zane."

The private eye returned his stare.

"It's a start."

"I need more than a start," Tim said. He handed the report to Caroline. "I need an address. I need to know where I can find my nieces in the next five weeks."

"I don't have an address. What I do have are statements from two waiters who saw the girls in the Cocoanut Grove in the last week of March. As the report says, one of the waiters, a man named Frank Rhine, believes he saw them one night at a table for celebrities."

"What night? What table? Which celebrities? I need to know specifics. I need to know something I can use. Doesn't the lounge keep records of its guests?"

"It does," Zane said, "but we would need a court order to obtain a reservation log or a seating chart. The Grove vigorously guards the privacy of its guests."

"What about the hotel?"

"It's the same way."

Tim huffed.

"You have to give me more than excuses. I'm paying you good money for things you haven't provided. What about the man who took the picture? Have you talked to him?"

Zane smiled.

"As a matter of fact, I have. I spoke to him by phone last week. Though he does not know the names of the women, he believes he snapped the photo on March 31."

"That's something."

"It is."

Tim did not press the matter further. As much as he wanted to turn the investigator upside down and shake loose the five hundred dollars he had paid him, he knew it would not bring him lasting happiness. He wanted hard information on his daughters.

He took a moment to collect his thoughts and then turned his attention to his quiet wife, who read Zane's report like it was a riveting novel. When he saw her lift her hand to her chin and rub it like she was deep in thought, he broke the silence with a question.

"Do you see something?"

"I don't know," Caroline said. She looked at the private eye. "I keep reading about a man named Tony Romero in your report, Mr. Zane. Is he someone important?"

Zane leaned forward.

"He might be, Mrs. Carson."

"Please explain."

"I would be happy to. Mr. Romero was the chief concierge at the Ambassador Hotel and a frequent visitor at the lounge. The managers of the Cocoanut Grove often invited him to major functions to schmooze with celebrities and other important guests."

Caroline cocked her head.

"What does that have to do with the price of beans?"

Tim laughed to himself. He didn't know another woman on the planet who could cut through the crap faster than his wife. He looked at Zane and awaited his answer.

"It may have nothing to do with it," Zane said with obvious irritation, "or it may have everything to do with it. Mr. Romero may hold the key to unlocking this mystery."

"I don't understand."

"The waiters I spoke to didn't just see your nieces that night. They saw Mr. Romero speak to one of the ladies' male companions. One remembers that the men conversed for several minutes like they were close friends. He remembers that vividly."

Caroline fixed her gaze on Zane.

"Have you spoken to Mr. Romero?"

"I have not," Zane said.

Tim jumped in.

"Why not?"

"I haven't because I haven't had the chance. It appears that shortly after your nieces and their gentlemen friends visited the Cocoanut Grove, Mr. Romero received a delightful notice from his draft board. He is now serving in the United States Army."

"Can't you still speak to him?"

"I can't for six more weeks," Zane said. "Mr. Romero is completing his basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and is presently unavailable for comment."

Tim sank in his seat as he digested the news. He wondered if it were even possible to encounter more bad luck in a simple search for two people.

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait."

"Wait?" Tim asked.

"Yes, Mr. Carson, we wait. We wait for phase two to bear fruit. I have already enlisted the help of some friends in Los Angeles and placed personal ads, with photos of your nieces, in three major newspapers. If, as I suspect, the ladies are running around Southern California, we'll find them. We'll find them in weeks, if not days."

Tim stared at the sleuth.

"So you enlisted extra help?"

Zane nodded.

"I asked a police detective and a reporter, friends from my college days, to start snooping around Los Angeles. If anyone can find your nieces, they can."

Tim hardened his stare.

"How much is all this going to cost?"

"It won't cost you a thing," Zane said. He folded his hands, leaned back in his chair, and stared at his difficult client. "This one's on the house."

CHAPTER 61: NATALIE

Phoenix, Arizona – Saturday, May 20, 1944

In most respects, the second picnic in the park was like the first. The weather was perfect, the bugs kept their distance, and the food, prepared with loving care, was sublime.

In other respects, it was night-and-day different. The four diners were no longer two sisters and two pilots forming new friendships. They were two couples, serious couples, testing the limits of love and duty in the age of war, hardship, and sacrifice.

Natalie pondered that difference as she glanced at Caitlin, who sat across from her at a picnic table in Encanto Park, and then at their men, who sat in lawn chairs and monitored fishing poles thirty yards away. She could not even begin to measure its significance.

She sipped some lemonade she had made from scratch on Friday and then returned to her unusually quiet sister, who stared blankly into space. She did not need to guess what Caitlin was thinking about at eleven thirty on this warm and breezy morning.

"How are you doing?" Natalie asked. She took another sip. "You haven't said much since the boys left the table. You haven't said much all week ."

Caitlin frowned.

"I don't have much to say."

Natalie offered a sympathetic smile.

"I think we both know that's not true."

Caitlin stared at a cherry pie in the middle of the table, took a deep breath, and then gazed at her sister with eyes that reflected sadness and resignation. Like Natalie, her elder and mentor, she seemed lost. Unlike Natalie, the perpetual optimist, she seemed hopeless.

"I don't know what to do," Caitlin said. "I've searched for ways to make this work, but I can't find any. I don't see a happy outcome. I only see a sad one."

"Are you sure Casey wouldn't come with us? Are you absolutely certain he wouldn't make the leap? You won't know until you ask. You should talk to him."

"I will. I'll talk to him when he returns from California. Then I'll speak to his family when they come here for his graduation. I figure there's no point in telling only Casey about our predicament. If I can't convince his family to join us, I won't be able to convince him."

Natalie frowned as she considered Caitlin's words. She could relate to every one. She knew, like everyone knew, that time was running out on the lovebirds.

"So you're not planning to stay?"

Caitlin stared at her sister.

"Did you really think I was? I can't bluff like you can. Adam knows I'm not serious about staying here six more months. So do Greg and Cody. Greg even dismissed my relationship with Casey as 'puppy love.' That hurt. That hurt a lot."

"I know," Natalie said. "I'm sure he didn't mean to hurt you. He's just looking at the situation objectively, like the rest of them, and trying to bring you down to earth."

"I don't want to come down to earth. I want to stay in the clouds, with Casey, for as long as I can. I want to find a way to stay in his life."

"When will his family arrive?"

Caitlin sipped some lemonade.

"If they stick to their plan, they'll arrive on the train June 10, the day after Casey returns from his training in Santa Ana. That'll give me just a day or two to talk to him."

"Then speak to him sooner," Natalie said. "Speak to him now. Explain our situation as best you can. Give him more time to think about it. I'll provide support."

Caitlin sighed.

"I know you would. You're the only one who understands. Sometimes I think Bridget and Patricia do, too, but I'm not so sure anymore. I think they are worried about their own situations now and not mine. I'm just a complication."

Natalie laughed.

"Join the club. I'm causing just as much trouble. So is Cody. From what he told me this morning, he hasn't just made a good friend at Gila River. He's made a girlfriend ."

Caitlin smiled.

"I knew that when I visited the camp. Cody was almost giddy. I think he likes Naoko almost as much as you-know-who. Emma is probably spinning in her grave."

Natalie laughed again. She loved light moments like this. She loved bonding with a special young woman who still looked to her for guidance and inspiration.

"I like that smile."

Caitlin frowned.

"That doesn't mean much. You like everything."

Natalie stifled a laugh.

"That's not true. I don't like the pickle I'm in. I don't like it at all. If I don't solve my own predicament, I'll be just as miserable as my sister."

"What are you going to do?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm going to do what you're going to do. I'm going to pull my big lug aside and put all of my cards on the table. Then I'm going to tell him he can take me or leave me."

"What do you think he'll say?"

"I don't know," Natalie said. She glanced at the mighty fishermen and then returned to her inquisitive sister. "Nick is different than Casey. He's older, for one thing, and far more settled in his ways. He also has a chip on his shoulder. I don't think he will ever be happy until he settles his score with the Japanese. He's obsessed with avenging his wife's death."

Caitlin returned her sibling's gaze.

"When are you going to talk to him?"

"I'm leaning toward next weekend," Natalie said. "I need a few more days to gather my thoughts and decide how best to proceed. Like my lovesick sister, I want to do this right."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? If we stick together and tell the rest of the family that we need a few more months, we'll get our way. I know we will."

"I do too."

"Then let's do it," Caitlin said. "Let's buy some time. Let's tell the others we want to wait until December or even next year. Let's stand up for ourselves."

Natalie shook her head.

"It wouldn't be right. When we started this crazy trip, we agreed to put the family's interests before our own. We have to go with the majority. We have to leave next month."

"Then I guess that's it."

"It is for now."

Caitlin sighed.

"What do you want to do tonight?"

"I don't know, but I do know what I want to do now," Natalie said. She reached for her glass of lemonade, lifted it off the table, and looked at Caitlin. "I want to toast my beautiful, intelligent, and compassionate sister and tell her how much I love her."

Caitlin protested.

"Will you stop it already?"

Natalie laughed.

"I will if you indulge me just this once."

"All right," Caitlin said. "Go ahead."

Natalie smiled sweetly.

"Here's to a young woman who inspires me every day. May she find the answers she seeks and the love and happiness she so richly deserves. I love you."

Caitlin wiped her watery eyes with both hands. Then she lifted her glass, gazed at the sister who pushed all of her buttons, and clinked her glass with hers.

"Ditto."

CHAPTER 62: CODY

Rivers, Arizona – Wednesday, May 24, 1944

Cody held on for dear life as Naoko Watanabe — friend, confidante, and newly acquired love interest — dragged him twenty feet around the corner of a storage shed and into a shadowy alley the width of a hallway. He smiled when she finally released him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm saving your reputation," Naoko said. She threw her arms around Cody's neck, kissed him on the lips, and grinned. "Mrs. Takeda and Mrs. Suzuki were walking this way."

"So what?"

"So little old ladies like to talk , that's what."

Cody laughed.

"You're something. Do you know that?"

"I do," Naoko said. "I've known it since the third grade."

Cody smiled.

"I suspect you've known it longer than that."

Naoko stared at him.

"Are you criticizing me?"

Cody laughed again.

"Oh, no. I would never do that."

"I hope not," Naoko said. She kissed him a second time. "I would hate to turn you over to the authorities for a petty offense. Good delivery boys are hard to find."

Cody caressed Naoko's cheeks and returned her kiss. Though he conceded that the threat of discovery had probably not passed, he did not let that possibility interfere with his pursuit of pleasure. He decided he could spend all afternoon in this alley.

"Speaking of delivery boys, I put in my notice today. I told Mr. King, my boss, that I will leave my job on June 9. That gives us just two more weeks to run into alleys and hide from old ladies. Are you all right with that?"

"It depends," Naoko said. She flashed a mischievous grin. "Can we run into alleys and hide from old ladies in the future?"

"I'm sure I can arrange something."

"Then I approve."

Cody smiled.

"I thought you might."

Wearing a white cotton dress and a green ribbon in her hair, Naoko lowered her arms, took Cody's hands, and looked at him like a young woman who had just been told she had landed a starring role in a movie. She was as happy as he had seen her in weeks.

"We're really going to do it."

"We're really going to do it," Cody said. "Now that my sisters have graciously decided to put our family before their love lives, there is nothing holding us back."

"That's nice to hear."

"How is your father taking all this? He seemed kind of conflicted today when I told him that all operations are go. Doesn't he trust me anymore?"

"Oh, he trusts you," Naoko said. "He trusts you more than ever now that your second prediction, on the Preakness Stakes, has come true. He's just starting to realize that all of this is real and coming soon. He's also a little sad he will never see Japan again."

"I understand."

"For years he has dreamed of returning to Hiroshima to see his parents, his sisters, and other relatives. He wanted Kana and me to see his ancestral home, but it appears now that such a visit is not in the cards. I'm not sure it ever was."

Cody felt a pang of sadness. He did not even want to hint at the fate that awaited Naoko's relatives and the rest of Hiroshima, Japan, in a little over a year.

"I think you're right."

Naoko seemed to wallow in serious thoughts for a moment as she looked at Cody with thoughtful eyes and studied his face. Then just that quickly, she changed. She smiled at the derelict delivery boy, squeezed his hands, and addressed him in a lively voice.

"So tell me."

"Tell you what?" Cody asked.

"Tell me how all this is going to work."

"Do you really want to know?"

"Yes, I want to know!" Naoko said. "I've been thinking of little else for weeks. I want to know every detail. I want to know what you know."

Cody nodded.

"All right then, I'll tell you. As things stand now, we'll leave Arizona on June 14. We'll leave as soon as your family can join mine in Phoenix."

"Then what?"

"Then we'll drive to Pennsylvania. Some of us will travel in my family's eight-seat Chrysler sedan. The rest of us will go in a car we will buy next month. We'll need to replace the government vehicle your father usually drives on his trips to Phoenix."

Naoko tilted her head.

"Where will we stay along the way?"

"I don't know yet," Cody said. "That's a detail my brothers have not yet worked out and one that is keeping them awake at night. All I know is that we'll have to keep a very low profile and stay in remote places like mountain cabins. We can't afford to be seen traveling across the country with a Japanese family. You can't afford to be seen — period."

"It sounds risky."

"It'll be very risky."

"I was afraid of that," Naoko said. "I feel guilty about putting you and your family in danger. You really shouldn't invite more."

Cody laughed to himself as he pondered the comment. In seventeen months as time travelers, he and his siblings had done little but invite danger. They had settled in towns destroyed by fires and floods, traveled to war zones, and broken the law more times than John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson. They had also formed problematic personal relationships with natives of the times, including the one Cody was forming right now.

"Don't worry about us," Cody said. "We're used to living on the edge. What's important now is that we get your mom to doctors who can treat her."

Naoko frowned.

"Do you even know where we're going?"

Cody shook his head.

"I may not know for a few more weeks either. It all comes down to whether my siblings and I find our parents before we leave Arizona. If we do — or we find them waiting for us in Pennsylvania — we'll go directly to 2017. If we don't, we'll go to 1972."

"What about 1983?"

"It's not an option now. We'll go there only if we don't find my folks after a six-month stay in 1972. That's how it works. We follow a script."

Naoko smiled.

"That sounds limiting ."

Cody laughed.

"Don't tell me you want to go to another time."

"The thought has occurred to me. Perhaps in a few months, after doctors have treated my mom for her cancer, we can travel by ourselves. Perhaps we can see many times."

"Did you speak to Caitlin when she was here?"

Naoko nodded.

"She told me about the time portals. She said you can control them like cars and trains and other vehicles. She said you can use them to travel anywhere."

"She left out a few things."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, she didn't tell you that these portals are as temperamental as a debutante and sometimes as reliable as an old car. The first one we entered, near Sedona, Arizona, in December 2017, sent us to 1888 Pennsylvania instead of 1888 Arizona."

"Oh."

"Don't get me wrong," Cody said. "The portals are safe and mostly reliable. They are the most amazing things I've ever seen, but they aren't toys. They are things I'll be more than happy to leave behind when we return to 2017."

Naoko pouted.

"Some adventurer you are."

Cody laughed.

"You should probably know, right now, that I'm a pretty boring guy. If you wanted an adventurous boyfriend, you should have snagged my brother Greg on our last trip."

Naoko released Cody's hands and threw her arms around his neck. Then she gazed at him with eyes that had mortal danger written all over them.

"I don't want your brother. I want you ."

Cody grinned.

"Then I believe your ship has come in."

"Oh?" Naoko asked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean, Miss Watanabe, is that you're worrying about a problem that doesn't exist," Cody said. He kissed her gently. "You already have me."

CHAPTER 63: CAITLIN

Phoenix, Arizona – Saturday, May 27, 1944

When Caitlin pushed open the door, the ornate door to her home of five months, she found what she expected to find. She found an empty living room, a quiet residence, and a world of delicious opportunities. She led Casey into the house, scanned the premises a second time, and called out to her siblings and housemates. To her relief, no one replied.

"It looks like no one's home."

Casey smiled.

"Does that surprise you?"

"No," Caitlin said. She stifled a laugh. "Given that the rest of my family won't be home from a double feature for another three hours, it doesn't surprise me at all."

Casey shook his head.

"Miss Carson, you are a world-class schemer."

Caitlin grinned but did not reply. She instead went back to close the door, took her airman's hand, and guided him into the living room.

"Make yourself comfortable."

"Don't mind if I do," Casey said. He sat down on the closest sofa, extended his arms along its back, and looked at Caitlin as she backed away. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get a drink."

"Oh?"

Caitlin nodded.

"I'm going to get something I shouldn't be having." She smoothed the wrinkles from her blue swing dress, gave the future lieutenant a mischievous grin, and raised an eyebrow in a seductive way. "Would you like something you shouldn't be having?"

"Oh, Lord," Casey said. He laughed. "The devil is doing his work tonight. As for that something I shouldn't be having, I'd like a whiskey and water. Do you have that?"

Caitlin nodded.

"Do you want it with ice?"

Casey gazed at his date.

"I do. Thank you."

Caitlin smiled at her aviator, turned around, and sauntered into the kitchen, where a bottle of bourbon, a tray of ice, and a pitcher of water waited. Though she knew as much about making cocktails as a chimpanzee, she thought she could handle a whiskey and water. A few minutes later, she combined the essential ingredients in two tumblers, carried the glasses out of the kitchen, and made a beeline for the living room.

She sighed when she saw Casey rise from the sofa. She could not remember the last time one of her brothers had stood up to greet a lady entering a room.

"Here you go," Caitlin said as she approached the seating area. She handed Casey his glass and stepped back. "I made your drink extra strong. I hope you don't mind."

Casey chuckled.

"I don't mind at all."

When Casey motioned for Caitlin to take a seat, she guided herself onto the couch with her left hand, balanced her drink in her right, and waited for her pilot, dressed as usual in his olive drabs, to join her. She smiled when he sat down next to her, switched his drink from his right hand to his left, and extended his right arm around her shoulders.

"This is nice. It's comfy."

Casey gazed at his girl.

"Are you suggesting, Miss Carson, that this sofa, the pride of your living room, is more comfortable than the rigid chairs that supported our behinds at the Top of the Ho?"

Caitlin nodded quickly.

"I like rigid chairs, too, but sofas rock."

"They what?"

"They beat rigid chairs."

Casey chuckled.

"I think it's time for me to get that new dictionary or at least an updated primer on the English language. You've been spinning my head lately with new words and phrases."

"It's a bad habit of mine."

"That's all right. It's one I could live with."

Caitlin offered a playful glance.

"What about my other bad habits?"

"What about them?"

"Could you live with those?"

Casey looked away, rubbed his chin, and considered the question like he was pondering one of the great mysteries of life. Then he returned to Caitlin and smiled.

"I believe I could."

Caitlin smiled.

"That's comforting."

Casey sipped some whiskey.

"I mean it, Caitlin. I think I could live with all of your habits, even the ones I haven't seen but which your brothers have described in great detail. I really think I could."

Caitlin stifled a laugh.

"You're so sweet."

"I'm just being truthful," Casey said. He put his drink on the table, leaned to his side, and gave Caitlin a soft kiss. "I find it easy to be truthful around you."

Caitlin grinned and wiggled her toes.

"You say the kindest things."

Casey laughed.

"I guess I am laying it on thick."

Caitlin resisted the temptation to pounce on the understatement. Even if Casey meant only half of the things he said, she still loved hearing them. She loved hearing them all.

When the short lull turned into a long one, she lifted her industrial-strength cocktail, sniffed the edge of the glass, and took a big sip. She found the eighty-proof liquor extraordinarily smooth and surprisingly to her liking. She gulped some more.

"This is good."

"I like it," Casey said. He took a sip. "It tastes even better than the stuff my uncles made during Prohibition. My father's kin still make the best booze in Mississippi."

Caitlin stared at Casey.

"Let me get this straight. Your father is a fire-and-brimstone Southern Baptist minister, your mother is a progressive pacifist, and your uncles are bootleggers?"

"They were bootleggers. Now Uncle Bob and Uncle Bill are respected, law-abiding members of the Greater Biloxi business community. So is my Aunt Ethel. She distills something called Long Beach Lightning when she's not serving on the school board."

"Your family is a riot."

Casey tilted his head.

"Is that another word I need to look up?"

Caitlin laughed.

"I think so."

"Then I better get that dictionary," Casey said. "I'm going to need something to understand you in the years to come."

Caitlin slumped in the sofa when she heard the words "years to come" and realized that she and Casey did not even have weeks to come. Gripped by crippling sadness, she once again asked herself what, if anything, she could do to alter the course of fate.

"Casey?"

"Yes?"

Caitlin took a deep breath.

"Are your parents risk-takers?"

"I'm not sure I follow," Casey said.

"Then let me try again. Are your parents the kind of people who could leave home, on short notice, and move to a strange place, a place where they don't know a soul? Are they the kind of people who would do that to secure the happiness of their children?"

"Why are you asking me this?"

Caitlin studied his face.

"Because I have to know the answer."

"Why?"

"I just do."

Casey looked at Caitlin with puzzled eyes. Though he did not know what prompted her questions, he clearly understood that the reason was important.

"I don't know if they could do or would do those things. I would have to know a lot more about the circumstances. I do know that my parents would do anything to protect Sally and me from harm. They would do anything to better our lives. They are that kind of people."

"I thought so," Caitlin said.

"Do you want to ask me any more hypothetical questions? Because if you do, I would be more than delighted to answer them to your satisfaction."

"No."

Casey smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I'd rather do something else."

"Oh?"

"Yes," Caitlin said.

Casey grinned.

"What's that?"

Caitlin smiled but did not reply. She instead put her drink on the coffee table, got up from the sofa, and walked toward a console phonograph on the far side of the room.

When she reached the console, she opened a door, retrieved an album from a collection of a dozen recordings, and pulled a vinyl record from its sleeve. Then she lifted the lid of the record player, placed the disc on the turntable, and put the tone arm on the record.

Within seconds, "In the Mood," the popular swing instrumental by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, began playing. Even through the scratchy speakers of the old phonograph, the song, one of the most popular of the World War II era, sounded like heaven.

As Caitlin placed both hands on the console and soaked up the song, she thought about her paternal grandfather, who had lived and breathed Glenn Miller. She wondered what Robert Carson, now a twelve-year-old in Duluth, Minnesota, was doing now.

Then she removed her hands from the console, turned around, and directed her full attention to the only person that mattered. She gave Casey McCoy her best smile.

"Isn't it perfect?"

Casey chuckled.

"Yes, it is."

Caitlin beamed.

"Doesn't this beat asking questions?"

"Yes, it does."

"I thought it would."

Casey cocked his head.

"What are you doing, Caitlin?"

"I'm getting in the mood."

"You're what?"

Caitlin extended her upturned hand.

"I'm asking you to dance."

CHAPTER 64: CAITLIN

Caitlin switched from records to radio. When she tired of changing records every few minutes on the console's unreliable turntable, she turned on the vacuum-tube radio, tuned into the city's most popular music station, and let the station take over.

She did not mind letting a disc jockey pick the music and set the tone for the most romantic evening of her life. She trusted him. She trusted him almost as much as the producers of two movies that presumably kept her entire family entertained at the Coronet Theater and would keep them entertained until long after ten o'clock.

As she moved slowly with Casey across an open living room space she had turned into a dance floor, Caitlin quickly checked her watch, noted the time of eight fifteen, and decided she wanted her own time portal. She wanted something handy and private that would extend not only her evening but also her life with a man she adored.

"Are you having fun?" Caitlin asked.

Casey smiled.

"I would have fun scrubbing floors with you."

Caitlin laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Please do," Casey said. "It was meant as such."

Caitlin did not doubt for a moment that Casey was sincere. She knew he was the kind of man who would enjoy all sorts of mundane activities in her company. She had long decided he was exactly the kind of man she would keep — if only she could keep him.

The sadness of knowing she might have to let him go did not dissipate after nearly an hour of lively swing dancing. If anything, it became worse. Each swing and twirl and misstep reminded Caitlin that her first serious relationship might not amount to anything more than a spring fling or a time-travel dalliance — or puppy love .

"Casey?"

"Yes, Caitlin?"

Caitlin looked up at his face.

"What did you mean when you said you could live with my habits? Did you mean just this week or next month or until you leave? Or did you mean for a really long time?"

Casey returned her gaze.

"I meant forever."

Caitlin nodded.

"That's what I thought."

Casey frowned.

"What's with the gloom I see on your face?"

"I'm just thinking again, that's all," Caitlin said. "I'm thinking about how much I'm going to miss nights like this — and our time together — and you ."

"You talk like I'm leaving for good."

"You might be."

"Then you don't know me very well," Casey said. He gazed at Caitlin as they moved in tight circles on the hardwood floor. "I swear to you now I'll come back. I'll come back for it all. I'll return to you faster than Old Mac returns to the Philippines."

Caitlin smiled as she pondered the promise. She doubted that Casey would have spoken so boldly had he known General Douglas MacArthur would return to the occupied nation in less than five months. She held onto that thought and then looked at her suitor.

"I hope you do. I'm counting on it.

Casey looked at her thoughtfully.

"You just watch, darlin'. I'll do it. You'll see."

Caitlin let the matter drop. She knew that nothing mattered now except the views and opinions of Reverend Magnus McCoy, his wife Amelia, and perhaps their daughter Sally, who would probably be none too eager to trade her Bluebirds troop in Pascagoula for a fourth-grade clique in the scary and uncertain world of the future.

As Caitlin thought of these things and others, she noticed that the sun, the source of all that was good and right in Arizona, had disappeared in the past hour. She now danced with Casey in a dark and shadowy living room, rather than one filled with ambient light.

"It's getting dark in here."

Casey offered a warm smile.

"Is that a problem, Miss Carson?"

"No," Caitlin said. She smiled. "I kind of like it."

She did too. She thought the dwindling light and moving shadows added even more appeal to a room filled with the sounds of Glenn Miller's "Tuxedo Junction." If there was a god of romance in Phoenix, Arizona, he was on his game tonight.

Casey seemed to like the change as well. As darkness chased the light away and Miller's soothing music filled the room, he said less, danced more, and looked at Caitlin like she was a princess from a distant kingdom and not a local girl he picked up in a dance hall.

With one hand on Caitlin's waist and the other firmly entwined in hers, he led her around the floor like someone who had taken more dance lessons than biology classes at Mississippi State. He gazed at his partner with longing eyes and stole a kiss when the two drifted from the edge of the open floor to the darker and more spacious middle.

"I believe I'm in heaven."

Caitlin smiled and sighed.

"I've been there for weeks."

"Me too," Casey said.

Caitlin sighed again when "Moonlight Serenade" followed "Tuxedo Junction" on the hit parade from heaven. She took the change as a sign that the disc jockey at KPYT, if not the god of romance, was smiling at her tonight. She also took it as a sign that it was time to take the man she loved from the living room to a place he had never seen.

When Glenn Miller and His Orchestra finished their most beloved song and a pitchman began peddling tooth powder on the radio, Caitlin released Casey, threw her arms around his neck, and gave him a kiss he wouldn't forget. Then she took his hand and gently led him through the dark living room to an even darker hallway twenty feet away.

"Watch your step," Caitlin said.

Casey slowed down.

"Caitlin?"

"Yes, Casey?"

"What are you doing?"

Caitlin stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Cadet McCoy?"

"Yes?"

"For a bright boy, you're a little slow at times."

Casey laughed.

"Touché."

Caitlin savored the barb, payback for Casey's comment on April Fools' Day, when he professed his love on the beach, and then led her man forward. She led him into the dark hallway and down the corridor to a bedroom she had called home for months.

When she opened the door, she found the room, a twelve-by-twelve-foot space that faced the front of the house, exactly as she had left it. She saw her newest dress draped over the back of an upholstered chair, bras and underwear lying on the carpeted floor, and several entertainment magazines scattered on top of an unmade double bed.

"Sorry for the mess," Caitlin said. "I'm kind of a slob."

Casey smiled.

"So am I."

"Then we have something in common," Caitlin said. She released Casey's hand, stepped to the window, and adjusted the blinds. She wanted both privacy and a view of the driveway on this blessed evening. She turned to face Casey, who stood almost dumbstruck in the middle of the room, and smiled. "I think we have a lot in common, Mr. McCoy."

"Are you sure about this?" Casey asked.

Caitlin walked slowly toward her airman. When she reached him, she took his hand, guided him to the bed, and pushed away the cover and top sheet so that each could sit comfortably on top of the mattress. She sat on the bed when he did.

"I'm very sure," Caitlin said. She gazed at her lover. "I know I should wait, but I don't want to wait. I love you. I love you and want to show you."

Casey leaned in for a kiss.

"You're a surprise a minute."

Caitlin released Casey's hand, placed her hands on his chest, and slowly unfastened the first of the dozen or so buttons on his olive drab shirt. She savored the expression on his face as his tentative smile morphed into a not-so-tentative grin.

"Are we having a good night?"

Casey took a deep breath.

"Yes, ma'am, we are."

Caitlin did not reply. She instead gave Casey a knowing smile and continued to work on the buttons. She found the task much to her liking.

When she liberated the last of Casey's buttons, she lifted her hands, grabbed the top of his shirt, and pulled it over his bare shoulders and off his frame. Then she examined his toned, muscular, and delightfully hairy chest like it was the polished hood of a Porsche.

"Is this everything?" Caitlin asked. She leaned in for a long kiss. "Or did my mother, my sister, and all of my worldly friends lie to me all these years?"

Casey laughed.

"I believe they held something back."

Caitlin smiled.

"That's good to hear."

She gazed at her beau, a delightful mix of boy and man, with unbridled affection. Then she continued where she had left off. She reached for Casey's belt and began her pursuit of all the things others had lied about until her willing companion impeded her progress.

Casey grabbed her hands and gently pushed them away. Then he gave Caitlin a light kiss, placed his hands on the top button of her dress, and smiled.

"I do believe, Miss Carson, that it's my turn."

Caitlin smiled.

"I guess that's fair."

"It most certainly is," Casey said. He unfastened the first of ten buttons. "In fact, I believe a fair-minded person would consider it equal time and poetic justice."

Caitlin grinned.

"So tell me something, Mr. Preacher's Son."

"What?"

"Tell me something I'm dying to know. Tell me what the Good Book has to say about 'equal time' and 'poetic justice' and fooling around before marriage?"

Casey chuckled.

"I don't know. I skipped those chapters."

Caitlin laughed.

"I thought so."

"Worry not, my lady," Casey said. "The Lord instructs us to love one another. I believe He would find favor with a man who loves a woman as much as I love you."

Caitlin melted in real time. She decided then and there to postpone any hard and fast decisions on her future. She was not letting this guy go.

"I love you too."

She threw her arms around Casey's neck, kissed him hard, and triggered a button-and-buckle-unfastening free-for-all. Like her equally eager flyboy, she threw caution to the wind and addressed the matter at hand. She did all that and more until she saw a moving light outside her window and heard a familiar car approach the residence.

"It's them. I know it."

"It's who?" Casey asked.

"It's my family!" Caitlin said. She pushed Casey away, sat up straight on the edge of the bed, and began buttoning her dress. "They must have bagged the second movie."

"They what?"

"Just get dressed."

Casey frowned.

"All right."

Caitlin swore to herself as she looked out her window and saw a Chrysler Crown Imperial pull into the driveway behind Casey's coupe. She wondered whether her luck in love, which had never been good, could possibly get much worse. She fastened the last button on her dress, stood up, and turned to face Casey as he finished buttoning his shirt.

"I hate this. I hate my luck."

Casey straightened his shirt and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he stood up, stepped toward Caitlin, and took her in his arms.

"It's all right."

Caitlin sighed.

"No, it's not. You're leaving on Monday."

"Yes, I am, but I'll be back." Casey said. He lifted his hands, brushed back her hair, and kissed her tenderly on the lips. "And when I do come back, we'll find us a place that's a little more private and further our discussion on 'equal time' and 'poetic justice.'"

Caitlin looked at him with doubt.

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

"OK."

"Now let's turn on a few lights and make ourselves presentable," Casey said. He kissed Caitlin again, took her hands, and smiled. "Let's go greet your family."

CHAPTER 65: NATALIE

Tucson, Arizona – Sunday, May 28, 1944

Natalie picked a different park. She did so not because she disliked Encanto Park or any other she had visited in the past five months but rather because she wanted to tell a different story in a different venue. She wanted Nicholas Mays to get used to sights, sounds, and destinations that were as unfamiliar as the landscapes of the moon.

She settled into a shaded bench on the east end of Catalina Park, a four-acre enclave in Tucson's historic West University neighborhood, and thought about destinations both familiar and unfamiliar. Though she strongly preferred the former, she feared she would see more of the latter before her surreal and unpredictable life returned to normal.

"Thanks for indulging me today," Natalie said. "I'm sure there are at least a hundred other places you would rather spend a Sunday afternoon than a public park in Tucson."

"Actually," Nick said, "there are only five or six."

Natalie gave him a sidelong glance.

"One of these days, hopefully before my fiftieth birthday, I will make a serious comment and get a serious reply in return. That's my wish anyway."

Nick smiled.

"Then your wish is my command."

"Is it?"

"It is if you want it to be."

"I feel like I'm playing word games with a wordsmith," Natalie said. She leaned to her left, nestled into Nick's side, and smiled. "Oh, that's right. I am."

Nick put his arm around her shoulders.

"Do you have something to tell me?"

"I do."

"Then tell me. I promise to listen with an open mind. I might even offer a serious reply to a serious comment. I'm in that kind of mood today."

Natalie smiled.

"Thanks for letting me know."

Nick looked at her thoughtfully.

"I'm serious. If you have something to say, then say it. I've suspected for weeks that you've been keeping a secret. Perhaps it's time to clear the air."

Natalie knew he was right. No matter how much she wanted to avoid this unpleasant conversation, she knew she could not. She had to proceed.

"Do you know why I asked to come here?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Nick said.

"I did so for several reasons. The most important was to tell you why my family and I are leaving Phoenix next month. I know that has been on your mind."

"It has. I haven't brought it up because I suspect the subject is as sensitive for you as Dolores' death is for me."

"I wouldn't say the subject is sensitive," Natalie said. "It's just something I didn't have permission to talk about. I still don't have permission, at least from my older brothers, even though I told them why I was coming here today. Adam and Greg would prefer to see me drop the matter altogether. I refuse to do that. I refuse because I love you."

Nick frowned.

"People usually say that right before they tell the person they love something they don't want to hear. Are you about to do that?"

Natalie nodded.

"I've been rehearsing this speech in my head for weeks. Each time I try to find the right words, I fail miserably. There really is no good way to tell you what I have to tell you."

"Why is that?" Nick asked. "People break up with others all the time. If you need to end our relationship, then do so. I'm a big boy. I can handle it."

Natalie took his hand.

"That's the problem though. I don't want to break up with you. I want to preserve our relationship and spend the rest of my life with you. I just don't know how."

Nick smiled.

"I have to tell you I am more than a little confused. I was certain that's why you wanted to drive to Tucson today. I was sure you wanted to leave me among the saguaros."

Natalie laughed.

"I could have done that in Phoenix."

"Yes, you could have. You could have also written me a Dear Nick letter or told me your story over a nice dinner, but instead you brought me here. The question is why."

Natalie searched her mind one last time for an answer or at least a way to start a difficult conversation. Then she gazed at the eastern horizon and found one.

"Let me answer that question with a question."

"Fair enough," Nick said.

Natalie pointed at the houses across the street.

"Do you know what lies beyond those houses?"

Nick grinned.

"I don't know. More houses?"

Natalie smiled.

"I should quit now."

Nick chuckled.

"Please don't."

"Then I'll indulge you," Natalie said. "Yes, Nick, there are more houses. Beyond the ones we can see, there are at least seven or eight blocks of houses. There are big houses, small houses, and houses that students rent. There's even a house, which we have already passed, that I lived in when I was a student at the University of Arizona."

Nick stared at his companion.

"You attended U of A?"

Natalie nodded.

"I attended the university for four years. I graduated with a bachelor's degree and spent much of the next eighteen months working in the Phoenix media."

"I'm confused again," Nick said. "I thought you came from Flagstaff. I thought your entire family came from Flagstaff. Are you telling me that's not true?"

"No, it's true. I grew up there. I grew up in Flagstaff, attended the University of Arizona, and worked in Phoenix. Only I didn't do it in this century. I did it in the next."

"The next?"

"I didn't graduate from U of A in 1941, Nick. I graduated in 2016. I came to this time to look for parents I haven't seen in twenty months," Natalie said. "I'm still looking for them, which is why I have to leave Phoenix and the forties next month. I'm not the person you think I am. I'm not that person at all. I'm a woman who has been searching for answers and meaning and love in three different eras. I'm a time traveler."