Chapter 10

 

Darkness evaporated as I stirred, chilled. I reached around for blankets but my grasp found none. I opened my eyes but my blurry vision made out nothing but clouded green blobs in my surroundings. A dank feeling filled my nose and throat, and it wasn't until I was peeling pieces of frosty grass off my face that I remembered that I had been sleeping outside. Reaching into a fold in my bodice, I successfully withdrew my glasses and shoved them onto my face. The last thing I remembered was drifting off to sleep around midnight, the sweet taste of chocolate on my tongue.

Sitting up, I realized how cold I really was, and why. My dress was soaked through to my skin, and I wasn't lying on a tarp or even one of our million blankets. In fact, there wasn't a single one in sight. Just cold, empty ground. Focusing my gaze upon the sky, no sunlight met my eyes through the condensed, blue clouds.

Then it hit me.

No blankets, no tent, no laptop case full of shampoo.

"Talan!"

Getting upright first thing in the morning was not my forte to begin with, and struggling against slick ground and water weighing down my skirts did not improve my performance, but I still managed to rise.

No telephone wires, no 1910 house.

I was beginning to wonder if I was off to History Land again by myself, but turning around I got my answer.

Talan stood there soaked, eyes wide, clutching the canvas handle of the haversack he had borrowed from me. His breath billowed around his frame with each exhale and he looked unusually pale against the backdrop of dark green trees.

Talan looked at me, toward the sky, then back to me again, "Um," he said. "It was an accident."

I was confused for a moment, but I followed his gaze to see a second figure in our presence. Along the edge of the creek stood an equally pale, extensively more bewildered, and soaked Walter.