“I was wondering if you could help me out. You know, return the favor.”
The words hit me like bullets. Trinity just confirmed what I thought all along, there’s a reason she wants to be my friend. “Ah…what can I do?”
“You have access to your Dad’s office, right?”
A lump forms in my throat. “Yeah.”
“Do you think you can get into the database and change my grades?”
I swallow so hard I gag.
Trinity pats my back. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but like I said, I have to get straight A’s or my father will kill me.”
“Maybe you should have actually sat down and studied.”
“I thought you’d be cool about it. After all, I saved Jin’s ass.”
Payback is a bitch. “So you didn’t do it to help me? You did it to help yourself?”
“I did it for both of us.”
“What if I say no?”
“I’ll tell the INS Jin’s green card is a fake.”
“Really? And get Shia in trouble?”
The color drains from her face. “I thought we were friends? You wouldn’t say anything?”
Her idea of friendship is way different than mine. “You turn in Jin, I turn in Shia.”
Stalemate. Trinity looks me in the eye. “If I go down, you do too. Don’t expect to pass botany.”
The bell rings and I race for the door. I need to get as far away from Trinity as I can. For once hitting the cafeteria for lunch seems like a good idea. I glance down the food line and let out a sigh. Seems the healthy eating trend has spread all the way from California to Long Island. Gone are the days of chicken nuggets and fish sticks. Now it’s sweet potatoes, crusted zucchini sticks, and chicken coated in quinoa. Yuck.
I head to the salad bar and make sure the ranch dressing container is full. It’s a well known fact that veggies are only edible if you coat everything in a layer of ranch dressing. I pour a huge ladle full of ranch over my salad. A satisfied grin spreads across my face when almost all the green is covered in white. I pay for my salad and head over to the large outside patio area. I still get the occasional odd glance from my fellow students as I walk by a few tables but otherwise I’m invisible. Never one to join cliques, I look for a free table. I pass the ones full of techno nerds, and the Emo crowd. Ugh, the jocks are doing pushups on the benches by their table to impress the mean girls. I have to admit I’ve never been asked to join a group table. So I’m surprised when I pass the cheerleaders and see Courtney of all people flagging me down. I know I should turn the other way especially after my run in with Trinity. But curiosity moves my legs over to her table. “Hey, Courtney, what’s up?”
“Sit down, we need to talk.”
The other cheerleaders sneer at me as I sit down. This has to be some major violation of their code. I can’t imagine them allowing any academic geeks anywhere near them. Any appetite I had vanishes. I push my tray to the side. “Really? You want a sisterly chat?”
“I just want you to know you haven’t won. So Jin is back at school. I know I’ll win round two.”
I give her a smile. I have a much bigger adversary I need to worry about. “Are we done?”
“Sure. Just wanted to give you a head’s up.”
“You’ve got me sooo scared.”
“FYI, if you come home tonight and you still have blonde hair I’ll rip it out by the roots.”
It’s pointless to continue talking to her. I turn on my Sketcher heels and stride across the patio. She continues to holler after me but I keep walking. Turning the corner I practically bump right into one of the girls from the office. “Esme, I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Come quick. Something is wrong with Jin.”
She races back toward the Administration Building. I never worried that anything would ever happen to Jin. He’s supernatural. Yet, my skin prickles as I fight off an image of Jin twisting in pain as the magician actually saws him in half. My legs struggle to keep up with the office lady as she barrels ahead of me. I swallow hard and try to chase away the gloom building in my mind. I lost my grandmother; life couldn’t be so cruel as to take Jin from me too. Can it?
The office woman throws open the large wood paneled doors. Ms. Crandy races toward me. That’s all I need. I bet she wants her forty dollars. Or maybe she wants to drag me home to dye my hair. She grabs ahold of my arm. “Esme, does Jin have any allergies? He started coughing and now he can hardly breathe!”
For once I don’t think Ms. Crandy is exaggerating. A group of the women office workers are hovering around him. No wonder he can’t breathe. I push past them. “Jin, are you all right?”
Although his face is beet red, he smiles when he sees me. “I just swallowed wrong.”
The school nurse arrives with an oxygen tank. She puts the mask over his head. “Here, breathe deep.”
I wonder why no one has bothered to call 911 instead of relying on the school nurse. Not that I want them to. We got lucky with the paramedics back a Weenie World. They didn’t take his vitals. This time the paramedics might figure out that Jin isn’t human.
Jin sucks in air and his color returns to normal. Genies must need oxygen just like humans. Jin takes off the mask and waves the concerned women away. “The spectacle is over. I am feeling much more myself. I must have consumed too many of Mrs. Goodman’s macaroons. The coconut tends to tickle the back of my throat.”
Mrs. Goodman throws her hands to her face. “Oh, Jin, I had no idea you were allergic to coconut.”
“Tis my own fault. I should know I can only have one.” The office women let out a collective sigh of relief as Jin stands up. “See, I am right as rain.”
I grab his hand. “Show’s over.” I put my arm around Jin as the worried office staff looks on. “I think he just needs a little fresh air.”
We slowly walk to the far side of the administration building where no one can see us.
Jin gives me a weak smile as his breathing gradually returns to normal. “Esme, I am sorry to cause you so much distress. I no longer sense the pull of Roderick’s power. He is defeated.”
Jin must be lying to spare me. The feeling of dread still hovers over me. “I hope you’re right. For once it would be nice if evil lost the battle over good.”
“Such a strong sentiment from someone so young.”
“When cancer took Grandma from me, I realized life isn’t fair.”
Jin reaches over and takes my hand. “I miss her too.”
I give his hand a squeeze. “Aren’t you breaking the rules?”
He doesn’t let go. “Mistress, rules are meant to be broken.”
Maybe there’s hope for us yet.
Jin’s pleasant smile vanishes. He drops my hand and once again gasps for air.
I look into his panic-stricken face and feel totally helpless. “You have to hang on. Don't let that jerk Roderick pull you back.”
Jin struggles to speak. “Esme… you can not sa…ve me.”
“The hell I can’t.” I grab hold of his shoulders. “My wish, Jin, is that we travel back to Victorian England and take down Roderick.”
Chapter 8
History Lesson
I gaze around the packed streets of Victorian London and instantly realize it’s nothing like what I’ve read in historical romance novels. No dreamy vision here. Soot covered brick buildings are packed together so hardly any daylight shines through. Dirt and filth are everywhere. And oh, the stench. I pinch my nose closed and try to keep from throwing up.
Jin gently takes my arm. “Mistress, we must proceed to Roderick’s domicile immediately.”
My wedges teeter on the cobblestones. Why didn’t I wear my Nikes? “I’m sorry but the odor is overwhelming.”
He breathes in deep. “Smells like home.” Jin looks down at my dad’s clothes, then glances at the gathering crowd. “We are attracting too much attention.”
I look at the people staring at me and realize how freakish my modern clothes and platinum blonde hair must lo
ok. “Right, sorry.”
Jin pulls me toward an alley and gives me a weak smile. “I should have given you Roderick’s address. We are on the opposite side of town from his residence.” He pauses. “But I didn’t see this in your future.”
My arms prickle. “You didn’t know I would wish us back to the past?”
His face grows pale. “No, Mistress. If I had known I would have surely found a way to stop you.”
“But when you told me the rules you said you could see my destiny.”
“I did. And this is decidedly not what I saw.”
“Could all our rule breaking have messed things up?”
“It appears so, Mistress.”
My goosebumps grow larger when I realize we’re in uncharted genie territory. “What are we going to do?”
“First we must get off the streets. There are appropriate garments at Roderick’s home. We also need to procure some funds. I know where my former master has the safe hidden.”
I still can’t believe I’m standing in a place I’ve only read about in books. Jin takes my hand. “I know you must be overwhelmed, but we need to make haste.”
Then I realize Jin is going to break one of his own rules. “Wait a sec. You’re going to steal money from Roderick? You gave me such a hard time about taking money from my dad.”
“Esme, this is an extremely unusual circumstance. We need currency to survive.”
“I guess I should have wished for money too.”
He strokes my cheek. “One cannot remember all the details when under pressure.”
I sure wish I had, because without any money to pay for a carriage, we have to walk the four miles to Kensington-Upon-Thames. Jin pushes open a manhole grate, and leads us down a spiral staircase into an underground tunnel. I hit the bottom and the smell of raw sewage hits my nose. “Why are we going down here?”
“We will go unnoticed in the depths of the city.”
The huge vaulted space is barely illuminated by a series of wrought iron gas lamps that hang down from the ceiling. I take in the vast tunnel made from endless bricks. “You’ve been down here before?”
He nods. “Roderick used the tunnels to escape the authorities once.”
“What did he do?”
“One of his tricks went horribly wrong with an audience member. He burned the man’s mustache. Turned out the man in question was the head constable.”
“Oops”
He laughs. “Oops, indeed.” He takes my hand. “Follow me. Be careful of the edge.”
I teeter on the narrow brick pathway and look down at the brown river that flows through the main tunnel. All of London’s sewage is just a missed step away. If I thought the streets of London smelled awful, the underground tunnel takes disgusting odors to a whole other level. Once again I hold my nose to keep from throwing up. Waves of nausea keep hitting me. I’m barely able to keep up with Jin. My aching feet are thankful I didn’t drop us any further away.
A dark creature the size of a large housecat scurries along a ledge just above us. “What the heck is that?”
“That, Dearest, is one of the thousands of rats that make the tunnels their home.”
“Yuck.” I squeeze Jin’s hand tighter. “Let’s pick up the pace. I can’t get out of here fast enough.”
Jin walks so quickly I can hardly keep up. The sound of male voices echo in the distance. Jin stops dead. “We must vacate the area immediately. Some very unsavory characters dwell in the depths of the city.” He motions to a set of wrought iron stairs. “These stairs will let us out very near Kensington.”
We climb up three flights rickety stairs, the voices growing louder with every step. Jin pushes at the manhole but it doesn’t open. He has to push the cover with his shoulder to get it to budge.
From the base of the stairs, a man yells, “Eh, where you going?”
Jin gives the metal cover another shove. It finally pops open. We climb out onto the street, but I’m blinded at first. I just manage to dodge a man dressed in work clothes covered in soot. Women try frantically to keep their skirts away from the mud-covered curbs. The occasional odd glances push us to keep going. I hear strange voices from the fruit and flower vendors that line the street. One of the flower ladies reaches out to touch my shirt. “Allo, allo. What ave we ‘ere?”
I dart away from her. “Jin, what language are they speaking?”
He chuckles. “Why English of course.”
“Well, they sure don’t sound like you.”
“It is a dialect, Cockney.”
Before I can ask him why it’s so different, we turn the corner and my mouth drops open.
Jin smiles. “Welcome to Kensington-Upon-Thames.”
The tree-lined street looks exactly like what I saw in the monocle. The brownstone buildings tower over me. In person they are even more formidable. The ornaments of the buildings are so detailed. Large carved stone swags hang down from the roofline. The chimney brickwork looks like a complicated jig-saw puzzle. “It’s even more beautiful in person.”
“Yes, it is. I must admit, despite Roderick’s evil plan, I am glad to be home.”
It’s my turn to be homesick.
Jin walks past the arched doorway of Number Sixteen. “I will enter through the servants’ entrance. With luck one of the maids will recognize me.”
I stand on the curb and several people stop and stare at me. The way I’m dressed, they’re probably trying to figure out if I’m a man or a woman. I start to slink away from the house when I hear Jin calling me.
He’s holding open the large paneled front door. I wonder if someone let him in or maybe genies know how to pick locks. I work my way up the large stone steps.
Jin greets me with a smile. “Mistress, the residence is deadlurk.”
His voice echoes in the enormous marble tiled entryway, so loudly I want to cover my ears. “Deadlurk? Do you mean there are zombies here?”
He laughs. “No Esme. It means that residence is empty.”
“Good.” I look up at the grand staircase that climbs several stories. “Roderick’s place is striking. But it’s so quiet. And why isn’t anyone here? Wouldn’t there normally be at least a maid or two?”
“Certainly. I wonder if Roderick has taken the staff to his home in Italy.”
I take in the elaborately carved couches upholstered in dark blue velvet. “I always read in history books if someone left their house they would cover the furniture.”
“Tis true. I have no explanation. It is our good fortune that we are alone. We must come up with a plan.”
He’s right. “Of course.”
Jin takes my hand. “But first we must change out of our modern garments.”
I follow him up the grand staircase. Portraits line the walls as high as I can see. “Wow. Roderick has an extraordinary family.”
He laughs. “All the portraits were bought and paid for.”
“Who are they?”
“Paintings of families who have lost their fortunes. Roderick is a coal miner’s son from Wales.”
Even in Victorian times, people pretend to be something they’re not. How disappointing. I follow Jin down a long hallway lined with hundreds of antlers. So many dead animals hovering over me gives me the creeps. “I suppose all these were paid for too.”
He nods. “Most certainly.”
We walk past a row of old-fashioned photos on a long hall table. They show a short stocky man with a large round nose wearing a top hat and tails. He’s beaming next to various well-dressed men and women. I stop and point to the photograph in the middle. “Is that Roderick?”
Jin nods. “Yes, that is my former Master. He is quite proud of all the photographs he’s had taken with royalty.”
“I guess they are the one thing he didn’t have to pay for.”
He laughs. “Tis’ true. Astonishing what fame can do to elevate one’s social circle.”
Jin turns the handle on the door at the end of the hall. “This was my bed chamber.”
He walks over to a large armoire and opens the doors. “Indeed. My garments are still here.”
He pulls out a beautiful black wool suit. “Can you stand outside the door so I can change into more appropriate evening attire?”
“Sure.” I pop out the door but I have no intention of missing my opportunity to see what Jin looks like without his clothes. I peek around the doorway. Darn, he’s a fast dresser. He’s already straightening his socks and buttoning his trousers. They are much more high-waisted than modern pants. His back is even more ripped than the last time I saw it. He pulls a pressed shirt out of a dresser and I can see the ripples of a six-pack. When does he have time to work out? He puts on his shirt and straightens his starched collar. I walk back through the door.
He quickly throws on his jacket. “Esme, I was not completely toileted.”
“Oh jeez. I didn’t think you used the chamber pot.”
Jin laughs. “No, I meant that I was not fully clothed.”
He buttons his impeccably tailored jacket. “That suit looks great on you. It shows off your muscular build.”
He puffs out his chest just a bit. “I have been told I am quite the double-breasted water-butt smasher.”
I laugh so hard I almost fall over. “Wow, that sure doesn’t sound like a compliment.”
His smile fades. “It is indeed. I will have you know that I take great pride in my physique. Every evening I do a series of pushups and leg lifts.”
“So that explains what you’ve been doing while I’m sleeping. And here I thought you were sneaking off to some secret genie gym.”
Jin’s smile returns. “You are very comical, Esme.”
“Thanks.” I watch as he pulls a cravat out of the middle drawer. “Hey, I was wondering, since your clothes are still here we must be close to the time you were with Roderick.”
“You are right, we must be. Let me find a newspaper. That will answer the question.”
Jin disappears down the hallway. I don’t follow him. Instead I run my hands along his jackets and soak up the smell of bay rum. My stomach ties up in knots. Is my time with Jin almost over? Will Roderick realize we are back in Victorian London?
Jin In Time Boxed Set 1-3: A Young Adult Time Travel Romance (The Time is Forever Series) Page 14
