Molly looked surprised that her dad was telling her that Charles wasn’t going to help out on the most important day that she had had in a long time. She scowled at him.
“Dad, I need his help. Can’t you see we are busy around here? He can eat something off the grill. Go, Charles.” Charles started to go, and Carson let him this time.
Charles headed to the kitchen and found his dad. Jack looked up and said, “Hi Son. I could use a hand.” Charles rolled up his sleeves and started helping.
Molly gave her parents a tour of the market. Everywhere she went customers and employees were asking her questions and making complimentary remarks. Carson and Bev took the tour. They were silent the whole time.
Gretchen saw them and joined them briefly. She could sense that Carson wasn’t happy about something. When she spotted an opportunity to help out at the register she left them. When she finished with the customers she walked back to the kitchen and saw Charles helping his dad. Jack already had several boys, who had volunteered, helping him. She went over and asked Jack if he needed to take a break since he had been so busy earlier with orders.
“Yes, I’ll take Charles to find Molly and see how things are going.” Gretchen told him to go ahead she’d stay with the boys. He and Charles walked back to where Molly and the girls were talking to Bev and Carson. Jack told them Charles had been very helpful and everything was under control now. Molly thanked Charles and gave him a hug.
Carson said, “Well, we should be going. Today was a success!”
They walked to the front of the store. Gretchen had made up lunches for them to take home. Carson went to get the truck and drove around to the front door to pick them up. They told Molly and Jack they enjoyed the tour. Bev hugged Molly and told her how proud they were of her efforts. They said their goodbyes and left for the farm.
CHAPTER 25
Carson, Bev and Charles went to the kitchen and ate lunch. After they finished Carson and Charles walked to the office. Carson asked Charles, “Are you ready to actually step through the Passageway and into another dimension?”
Charles smiled. “I’ve been ready all day!”
Bev let Airabelle and Esmond out. They all went downstairs to the clothes library and prepared for the biggest adventure of Charles’ life. Once they were dressed, Carson looked over Charles to make sure he was dressed appropriately. He made sure the clothes they changed from were folded and stored neatly on a shelf. Then, he went over and picked up his hat. “All right young man. It’s time. I can’t believe this day has finally come,” Carson said with a big smile.
They walked up the steps. Airabelle had already given Esmond a ride up the steps to the office. Esmond was in the chair waiting and Airabelle was on top of the cuckoo clock.
“We need our travel papers and wallets with our money,” Carson said as he went to get the keys to the vault. Carson went to the vault and opened it. He walked inside and the lights came on. He motioned for Charles to come into the vault. Carson showed him the drawers where the travel items were stored. He took out some papers, and then handed them to Charles. Charles unfolded the official-looking documents and read them. They were kept in what looked like a passport wallet with the seal of the Sojourners’ Community. Charles replaced the documents into the wallet. Carson checked his breast pocket to make sure it didn’t have a hole in it. Then he took the wallet from Charles and put it in the breast pocket of his suit coat jacket.
Carson withdrew two beautiful crystals from the drawer. “Here is your very own crystal. We will have to program it before we leave.” He handed it to Charles.
“Program it?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll show you. You haven’t had training on crystals yet, so you won’t understand all the uses we have for them.” Charles looked down at his crystal. “Go ahead and check your pocket, if you do not have a hole in it put the crystal in,” Carson said.
Then he took out the Sojourner glasses. “We will both need to wear these. They are helpful when reading Sojourners’ symbols. Sometimes other Sojourners will leave messages and with these you will be able to see and decode the messages. All writing in the Hub will be written in Sojourners’ symbols.” Carson put them on Charles and adjusted them. Then he put his on.
Carson turned and removed old pouches with strange symbols on them. The pouches held their Sojourner travel coins. Charles opened one of the pouches and noticed the coins surrounded by halos in different colors, because the crystals were so near. “Charles, the money you take with you is very important when you travel. Your trousers have a special pocket to store money. It zips to make sure nothing will fall out. Never put money in your sport coat. By accident you might leave a jacket somewhere, but hopefully you won’t ever have to leave your pants.” They laughed.
Charles unzipped the pocket zipper on his trousers. He inspected the pocket and put the pouch inside; then secured the pocket.
Carson reached in the drawer and withdrew his wallet. “Everything in this wallet was checked to make sure it was for the right time period. It would be a terrible mistake to take current money and try to spend it in the past. Forms of ID should also be from the time period you are visiting. Always check and recheck what you take into the Hub with you,” Carson said as he checked his back pocket before inserting his wallet. Then, he turned and locked the drawers. As they exited the vault, Carson closed and locked the door behind them.
Carson walked over to his desk and sat down. He replaced the key used in the vault and removed a different key from a tiny compartment. This key had a crystal on top. Then he leaned over, unlocked the bottom right-hand drawer and opened it. He took out an invention that resembled a music box. It was a very complex-looking contraption, which had gears and cranks. “Charles, I am going to show you how to program a crystal. This device is what we use to do that. Bring your crystal to me, please.” Charles walked over to the desk and took the crystal from his pocket. Carson said, “You will be studying the manual on crystals. The manual is very detailed and explains all about the use of them. It explains how this device helps program crystals to capture the holograms in the journals and many more things. Right now we are going to use it to program the crystal in your hand for our specific adventure.”
He asked for the crystal in Charles’ hand and set it inside the box. Carson cranked the handle on the right side of the box turning all of the gears. As they went round and round a beautiful sound came from the box. The inside of the crystal lit up and colors began to swirl around. Images flashed in the smoky mixture inside the crystal. When the images stopped and the crank became harder to turn Carson stopped. The inside of the crystal had hardened once more. He handed Charles’ crystal back to him. “Put this back in your pocket Charles.” Charles picked his crystal up and placed it back in his pocket.
“In order to use a crystal properly it takes training, and like all things that a person does well it takes patience and practice, practice, practice.”
Carson walked over and put Esmond back in his aquarium. Then he closed the cage for Airabelle. He went to his desk and picked up the Expedition Guide. He joined Charles and said, “In a couple of minutes the Passageway is going to open. Remember what you read in the journals. Take a deep breath before you enter and stay close to me. As we step out of the Passageway you may feel dizzy or sick to your stomach. Take deep slow breaths and try not to hyperventilate. I have a feeling you will be fine. Today we may have a lot of traffic with travelers, so keep your eyes open. Try not to let anyone get between us. If you lose me just stand still, I will find you. Don’t try to look for me until you are more experienced. Do you have any questions?”
“No, I’m ready.” Charles answered.
“Okay, then. Wait for the Passageway to open and then follow me.” Carson spun the sculpture, opening the Passageway. Charles watched. “Let’s go!” Carson said. He walked right through the wall.
Charles looked back one last time before following. It wasn’t anything at all like Charles expected to ex
perience. The Passageway itself was the size of the sculpture and softly lit. The walls had the appearance of a light gray frosted glass with darts of different colors. Carson motioned for him to touch the wall. It initially felt smooth and cold. Carson used his pointer finger and made a circular motion. The wall bent with the touch of his finger. The muted colors followed the pattern his finger made in what appeared like a ripple effect. Charles tried it. It felt and looked like nothing he’d ever experienced before. The colors were moving toward the end of the tunnel, swirling and churning. It felt like a blast of cold air. He quickly pulled his hand back and rubbed his hands together to warm his hand. Carson grinned and motioned for him to follow. Charles looked around the seamless tunnel to try to grasp what he was seeing.
Once they exited the Passageway they turned to watch the door close behind them. Carson spun the combination lock. He said, “I’m doing this as a safety measure.” Charles looked around. It was just as James had written in his journal.
Carson asked, “How do you feel?”
“I feel just fine.” Carson offered him a cookie to settle his stomach if he needed it. Charles said he was fine and didn’t need it. Charles looked around just as James had in his journal. He went over to the balcony and looked up, then down at the endless sea of people. The Hub was very busy with activity. They made their way to the Hub floor.
“This is the Sojourners’ Hub. It a big metropolis,” Carson said.
It was like being in a big city with people bustling everywhere. Everyone had Sojourner glasses on. Charles noticed how different they were on each individual. Charles took off his glasses; without them he noticed that all the signs were just symbols that couldn’t be deciphered. Signs were everywhere changing fast and frequently. The Sojourners were all dressed in clothes from different time periods. Charles thought to himself: This experience is similar to attending a costume party.
Charles looked back at the Passageway. It was fading away as they walked along with the steady stream of people. Each Passageway stall was marked from the ground floor with an identification number of the occupant. Charles remembered seeing Carson’s ID number on the envelope the Prime Minister had sent. Charles removed his glasses and saw what had once been an identification number, now became just symbols. He put the glasses back on.
“Remember you have to have the glasses to read all the symbols,” Carson said.
“Where do we go from here?”
Carson opened the Expedition Guide and took out a map. He pointed on the map where they should go first. “First we have to get out of the busy Hub. We will need to follow the signs to the Time Warp Tunnel. This way,” he said pointing with his left hand and putting his right hand on Charles’ back to guide him. They moved at a pace that seemed slower than normal because it was so crowded.
“This is going to take some getting used to,” Charles said.
Carson laughed. “It gets worse in the branches of the Time Warp Tunnel.”
“They have more than one?”
“Well, they have short cuts here and there.”
Charles was watching the Sojourners walking by him. He was looking to see if he recognized anyone. He knew he wouldn’t, but he looked anyway. The Hub itself seemed to stretch endlessly upwards and in all directions. They were in a massive clearing with vendors scattered throughout the center of the Hub. They were selling various kinds of thingamajigs. One vendor in particular was selling Sojourner tools. The gentleman stepped out in front of them but Carson paid no attention to him. He went around him.
Charles wanted to stop and look, but Carson was moving quickly. Carson sensed by Charles’ hesitation that he was thinking about the tool the man had in his hand. “Plenty of time for that later. We have a lot of tools in our collection back at the office. Sometime I will take you to meet someone that I trust. The creations he has to sell are legitimate.”
Carson continued on. Charles tried to keep up with him as they followed the signs to the Time Warp Tunnel. Upon entering they came to booths with Sojourner Officials in them. Carson said, “In order to enter we must first stop and show our travel paperwork to the Sojourner Official. He looks the paperwork over and stamps our passport-like documents. Then, he will give us directions on how to enter the tunnel. Once we enter the tunnel, it will resemble a large subway. Images will flash at us as we walk along.”
Their paperwork passed inspection. The official talked to Carson briefly. They walked past the booths and entered the tunnel, which was crowded with travelers. The dates and the years were scrolling on signs. It is all kind of surreal: Charles thought. The idea of time travel was abstract, but it was about to become a reality.
“Are you still excited?” Carson asked.
“Oh yes! I’m ready for anything.”
“Okay, we have a riddle to solve Charles. Once we solve it then we can head back. This shouldn’t take long to solve if we don’t have any problems. Then, you will have your first adventure behind you.” He opened the guidebook. “This is the date we want to access.” Charles nodded.
Carson took out his Sojourner crystal. The crystal glowed with a deep emerald green light. Intermittent images kept flashing inside it. Carson asked Charles to take his out. His was doing the same thing. They smiled at each other. “That means we are headed in the right direction,” Carson said.
Charles exclaimed, “Amazing!”
“Stay focused and follow me.” They walked through the tunnel. Some of the other people had their crystals out as well. It became more and more crowded. Charles was careful not to let Carson out of his sight. Side tunnels were visible and labeled as short cuts in time. They continued on their path. Passageway Officials were scattered watching the travelers. Some were on podiums up high and some were just walking around helping people or checking documents. Money operators were in stand-alone booths changing out currency for travelers that needed more money. Sojourner travelers were stepping in and out through the tunnel walls all around them.
“We are almost there,” Carson said. The crystal started to flicker. All of a sudden it turned bright orange-yellow and then a purple-red. Carson stopped and looked up at the sign that was rapidly changing information. Images started to appear in the green glowing crystal. Carson grabbed hold of Charles’ arm and told him to take a deep breath. Charles followed Carson as he walked toward a specific doorway and turned the doorknob.
They walked through the doorway and into a deserted courtyard. Charles turned and looked at the door they had come through. They crossed the courtyard into the street. As soon as they were in the street they returned their crystals to their pockets. They looked around. Carson took out the guide and showed Charles the exact location where they stepped out of time on the map. “Amazingly accurate every time.”
“I can’t believe this,” Charles said as he reached out and touched the brick building. They blended in with everyone around them.
“Thirsty?” Carson asked.
“Yes.”
A newsstand was close by. Carson walked over and purchased a local newspaper. They went into a diner and sat down to have a drink. Carson briefly searched through the paper. When they finished he took care of the tab and they headed back to the street.
“Now off to find the coin,” Carson said. “Charles Brookfield, you are now officially a Sojourner. This is a proud day for me.” He lightheartedly ruffled Charles’ hair.
They walked for a couple of blocks. When they reached the street corner they crossed the street and stood in front of the local bank. Charles looked around. A lady came from around the corner and briskly walked right by them. He continued to watch her.
Ellie was walking faster than normal today. She was late for a business meeting because she and her secretary had been putting the finishing touches on the paperwork for her presentation. She hoped he was still waiting for her. She wouldn’t blame him if he left. Today had been nothing but crossed wires and mixed up signals. Her secretary, Gloria was overworked and underpaid. She’d have to
look into that, just as soon as she had the chance. Not the overworked part, but getting paid more. Not now Ellie: she thought to herself. She needed to concentrate on what she was going to say to Mr. Witherspoon. Why do things like this always happen to me? Lost in her thoughts her shoe caught on an uneven part of the sidewalk and down she went. The papers in her arm went flying all over the sidewalk. “Darn, darn, darn!” she said to herself.
Carson ran to her to help her up. “Are you all right?” Carson asked. Charles was gathering up the papers on the sidewalk.
“Oh, how silly of me. Oh my goodness,” she said getting to her feet. She took the unorganized papers from Charles and put them to her chest. “Thank you. I ought to just give up. I was already late and now this.” Ellie shook her head.
“May we help?” Carson asked.
“If only you could get these papers in order,” she said laughing.
“We could do that,” Charles said looking at Carson.
“Sure, we’ll help.”
“Thank you for helping me.”
“You’re welcome. Where is your meeting? I mean do you have far to go?” Carson inquired.
“It is the next block, over at the café in the hotel. I have reservations,” she said pointing to a large grand hotel.
Carson said, “All right, we will sit at a table and sort these papers, then we will bring them to you. That way you can start your meeting.”
Ellie nodded, uneasy about letting strangers sort her paperwork for her, but at this point she didn’t have a choice but to trust them. “Thank you. We have plenty to talk about before I even get to the paperwork.”
They walked quickly to the hotel. As soon as Ellie walked in the hostess breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah, Eleanor, am I glad to see you. He’s still here. Let me show you to your table.”
Ellie thanked her, “I have another favor to ask you. Would you seat these gentlemen nearby? They are going to help me by sorting some business papers.”
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 24
