He knew she’d make a mess of things, but if Chloe hadn’t been in the Jurassic era, they wouldn’t have accidentally warped Nelly into the future, and if Nelly wasn’t in the future, Jacob wouldn’t have had the idea to use the crazy dinosaur to defeat Luger.
But even as Jacob set things up one by one, there was still something that wasn’t quite right. The present was still a mess of tangled jungle. Dexter was still one year older. It wasn’t how things were supposed to have unfolded.
In order to set things truly right, he had to fix the original mistake that set everything in motion: Mick’s battle against the Strangers.
If Mick hadn’t started messing with the past, Jacob wouldn’t have gone and seen dinosaurs and accidentally warped Nelly to the future. Dexter wouldn’t have gotten stuck in France and set things off course. Luger wouldn’t have gotten his hands on a time machine.
It all started with Mick stranding Jacob’s dad in the past. That’s what set off the craziness.
If Jacob could stop Mick’s plot, everything would go back to normal. Instead of chasing dinosaurs, Jacob would go home and go back to school like a normal kid. The Astrals might never be out of danger from the Strangers, but instead of getting his hands on a time machine and blowing up a spaceship, Luger Smythe would just live out his life in the Tower of London.
Jacob warped back to the clearing down the street from his house the night his dad left home.
He found Mick and his dad arguing in front of his next-door neighbor’s house. His dad raised his hands in panic. “Don’t do this, Cracken. You don’t know what you’re messing with. You have to let the past just happen.”
Mick shook his head and gave Jacob’s dad a cocky grin. “You’ve gone soft, old man. I’m not going to try and make friends with people who want us all dead. I’m going to beat them once and for all.”
“Mick,” Jacob’s father pleaded. “Don’t leave me here. You don’t have the experience. You can’t try and alter history like this. It will be a disaster.”
“It won’t be a disaster for Jacob,” Mick said. “Maybe you can go be the dad he wanted this time.”
Jacob knew better now. His dad was right. It really wasn’t going to work. Despite his good intentions, Mick’s attempts to rid themselves of the Strangers was destined to backfire. Even though he’d kept insisting he had a plan, he didn’t have much of one beyond enlisting Jacob for help and hoping he could talk and prank his way to success.
And Jacob had to give up on wishing for a different childhood. He had to accept the one he had, as painful as that was. He had to give up the past he wanted for a future he knew would be promising. The pain he felt when his dad left had made him strong. It gave him the strength to do what was right.
Jacob stepped out into the open. “I come from the future,” he said ominously, smiling as he remembered from so long ago when he heard Chloe say the same thing in the Jurassic era.
“Jacob . . .” his dad sputtered. Jacob shook his head. It wasn’t the time for a reunion. Instead he turned his attention to the space pirate.
“Mick,” Jacob said. “You can’t do this. It’s not going to work.”
Jacob patted Mick on the shoulder and enjoyed his startled expression.
“The past is the past.”
Jacob, Sarah, Chloe, Dexter, Catalina, and Mick sat on a blanket on a hill overlooking a magnificent, ramshackle steel spaceship. The past had been set right. History had unfolded as it should. The Astrals weren’t in danger from Luger Smythe, and the neighborhood where the houses looked the same had the gray sidewalks and messy lawns that Jacob had known all his life.
Jacob’s dad had let them borrow the time machine to watch this one amazing event as long as they didn’t talk to anybody and change anything that would happen.
“So . . . let me get this straight,” Dexter said. “We didn’t go back to see dinosaurs. And I never met Bonnie. And I’m a normal age now.”
“That’s right,” Jacob said.
“Then how come I can remember it?” Dexter asked.
“Because you did do it once,” Jacob said. “You just didn’t do it in the history we’re living in now.”
Dexter rubbed his eyes. “My head hurts.”
They all stood up and huddled closely together to listen when Father Albert gave his speech about the future of the Astrals, and watched the Astrals climb excitedly into the spaceship. The Astrals weren’t safe from all the people who wished them harm in the universe, but the children had to trust that good would ultimately prevail in the end.
They counted down as smoke emerged from the rockets, and stood up and cheered when the spaceship shot like a bullet into the sky. The Astrals left Earth safely to start their magical civilization. They weren’t out of danger from the Strangers, but Jacob was hopeful the reasonable people on both sides would continue to find a way to make sure they all lived in peace.
The kids sat there for a moment in the darkness, watching the embers in the grass burn down. Jacob lay back onto the hill, shoulder-to-shoulder with Sarah, and stared up at the stars, hoping he’d soon have a chance to return to them.
“New idea,” Mick said. “What if we warped back and put maggots in Luger Smythe’s bed?”
Chloe groaned. “Mr. Wonderbar said we could warp back to watch the Astral launch, and that’s it. Final. End of story.”
Mick was quiet for a moment. “But I’m president of the universe!”
“Too bad,” Sarah said. She leaned over and winked at Chloe.
“Here’s what I still don’t get,” Jacob said. “I understand there were actually three time machines, but how did you warp us and Praiseworthy fifty years into the future?”
He leaned on one elbow and watched Mick try to suppress a smile. It was the trademark Mick Cracken smile that said: “I’m the world’s biggest genius.” Mick was unable to stop himself from smiling and he started laughing.
“Come on, Wonderbar, you don’t know?”
Jacob leaned back onto the blanket. “No,” he said through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you tell me what an incredible thinker you are?”
“How do you start a spaceship?” Mick asked.
Jacob thought back to the night a year ago in the forest when he traded the man in silver a corndog for a spaceship. “With . . . a key,” Jacob said.
Mick cackled. “Let’s just say I used one of the special keys for your return trip. And I programmed Praiseworthy to say the magic words.”
“I hate you,” Sarah said.
“No, you don’t,” Mick said.
Jacob stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants. “We should go,” he said, though a part of him felt hollow when he said it. He and Sarah and Chloe and Dexter had to go back to Earth and start their normal lives again, with schoolwork and extra-curriculars and chores and teachers, while Mick and Catalina were off to run the universe as president and vice president. It wouldn’t be the same. Jacob was relieved that they wouldn’t be running around through time and trying to save a civilization, but he would miss being with all of his true friends.
Everyone stood up and they joined together in a circle, their arms around one another.
Jacob thrust his hand into the middle of the circle. “Space friends forever?”
Mick, Sarah, Catalina, Chloe, and Dexter placed their hands on top of Jacob’s. “Space friends forever!” they shouted.
When they warped back into the clearing in the forest down the street, the spaceship Praiseworthy and Jacob’s dad were waiting for them. Jacob dutifully handed over the time machine to his father. Chloe and Catalina had tears in their eyes, and when Jacob’s dad saw them, he cleared his throat and said, “I’ll give you guys a moment.”
Jacob hugged Catalina, who grasped him so tight, he could barely breathe. He whispered, “Hope to see you soon.”
Catali
na broke the hug and nodded.
Then he clasped Mick’s hand in a handshake but broke it and he gave him a hug too, clapping him on the back hard enough that he hoped it hurt a little.
“My man,” Jacob said.
Mick laughed and looked Jacob in the eye. He tipped up his chin. “It’s been fun.”
Sarah hugged Mick and Catalina hugged Dexter and it felt like it was too soon, but then Mick and Catalina climbed into the spaceship Praiseworthy, waving their last good-byes.
Then, with a slight stirring and the quietest of whirs, the spaceship Praiseworthy launched into the sky and disappeared into the night.
When Jacob returned to the sidewalk on the street where all the houses looked the same, his dad was nowhere to be found.
Jacob felt a flush of anger when he remembered the peculiar expression on his dad’s face when he made his exit after seeing Sarah and Catalina crying. He had looked guilty. His dad never was good at good-byes, and once again he had slipped away just as suddenly as he had appeared. It almost felt like a dream. Jacob had only had a short period where he had seen his dad and talked to him and now he was gone.
But Jacob had gotten by without his dad for two years, and he was a stronger person. There was nothing he could do about it, but he knew he would get through it.
The children had warped back to the same night, way back, when they had blasted off so Jacob could run for president of the universe. Their parents would never know they had ever left, but so much time had passed and Jacob felt like a vastly different person. He wondered if his mom would even recognize him.
“So I guess my mom is going to be in the hospital soon,” Dexter said.
“Wait, what?” Jacob said.
“Oh!” Sarah said. “Jake, while you and Mick were who knows where in time we found out Dexter’s mom is going to be sick. But don’t worry, she’s going to be okay.”
“Thank goodness,” Jacob said. “But hey, Dexter?”
Dexter stopped. “Yeah?”
“We’ll be there. You won’t have to go through that alone.”
Dexter nodded and smiled. “I know. Thanks, guys.”
“Me too, Dexy,” Chloe said.
Dexter closed his eyes. “I just . . .” He turned away and walked toward home.
When it was time for Sarah and Chloe to turn home, Chloe punched Jacob on the shoulder. “Smell ya later!”
“Bye, Chloe,” Jacob said through gritted teeth.
Then Sarah enveloped him in a hug. “You’re the best,” she whispered. “You know that, right? The very best.”
“I’m so lucky,” Jacob said. “Really lucky.”
Sarah grinned. “I know you are.”
Sarah started walking home and she elbowed Chloe and they shared a laugh. Jacob wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the sight of Sarah and Chloe getting along.
Jacob walked home, and a part of him was nervous that one last trick had been played. The last time he had come home after a long adventure, his mom was fifty years older. He wondered if he would arrive to find her as a teenager or maybe Jacob would meet his grandparents or who knows what.
He reached their doorstep and stared at the old faded wreath on the door. He pulled it off and hid it behind a bush. It was time to get rid of that thing.
He took a deep breath and walked in the door. “Mom?” he called out.
“Hi, darling,” she said.
Jacob rounded the corner and saw his mom sitting at the dining room table. With his dad.
“Your father is in town and decided to join us for dinner,” she said. “Isn’t that . . . nice?”
“If it’s okay with you,” his dad said.
Jacob sat down wordlessly. His mom handed him a bowl full of a mysterious green sludge and he scooped some of it onto his plate and stared at it. He couldn’t believe he was sitting at the same table as his mother and his father. They seemed somewhat tense around each other, but Jacob could tell they were making an effort on his behalf.
“Isn’t this a surprise?” his mom said. “Hopefully your father will visit his son a bit more often.” She glared at him and Jacob’s dad stared at his food as if he were trying to make a positive scientific identification of a strange and unknown life form.
Then Jacob’s dad looked at Jacob and nodded. “I’m going to try.”
“Okay . . .” Jacob said.
He stared at his plate for a moment without eating anything.
“Can I ask you guys a question?”
“Shoot,” his dad said.
“How many adults know about space?” Jacob said.
Jacob’s mom and dad exchanged a smile as if they had been expecting that question. Jacob surmised that his dad had caught his mom up on what had happened. “Lots of people know,” his dad said. “But lots more refuse to believe what’s right in front of them.”
Jacob poked at his food and thought about all those UFO videos on YouTube. He certainly never believed there was anything to those crazy rumors until he saw the spaceship in the forest down the street. Now he knew there was an incredible civilization living among the stars.
“Why were the Daisys mixed up with the Strangers?”
Jacob’s mom froze. “You know about that too?”
“Yeah,” Jacob said. “What happened? How did they even find out you’re an Astral?”
“Well . . . there was an incident,” Jacob’s mom said. “One of your father’s spaceships accidentally landed in the Daisys’ backyard. It caused quite a bit of tension between us when they found out the truth about your father. The Goldsteins spoke up on your father’s behalf and there was a big falling out.”
“But why were the Daisys involved with the Strangers?” Jacob asked.
Jacob’s dad shook his head. “There’s no easy answer. We all started out as friends, but when Sarah and Chloe were young, the Daisys started worrying that they had an Astral living down the street. They started believing those crazy stories the Strangers tell about what Astrals do to Earthers. They always thought I was up to no good. I think they felt safer thinking they had other Strangers to protect them. Sometimes people let their fear get the best of them. Even good people can get carried away.”
Jacob thought about it for a moment and swallowed a bite of his mom’s dinner. It didn’t taste very good, but he didn’t want to go hungry.
Later that night, Jacob stared out his window at the starry sky and wondered when he would again be able to fly between planets and travel through time and have adventures with Mick and Catalina. It would be difficult to go back to school and sit through math lectures and do homework, knowing that just days ago he had been trying to save the Astral civilization and seeing things his classmates could only dream of. Dinosaurs and cavemen and Napoleon’s coronation and a beautiful rocket ship blasting off into space with the dreams of the Astral civilization on board.
He wasn’t sure if he could believe that his dad really was going to be a part of his life, and he felt some part of himself steeling himself against disappointment. He had spent so long experiencing the worst with his dad, he wasn’t able to believe that things may be taking a turn for the better. He might be able to hope again.
Jacob heard a knock at his door. “Jacob?” His dad peeked through. “Oh, hey. Listen, since it’s Saturday tomorrow, I was thinking pancakes for breakfast, how does that sound?”
Jacob smiled and nodded. He had been craving his dad’s pancakes for a long, long time.
“Great.” His dad smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.
Jacob had traveled billions of miles and through thousands of years looking for his dad. And for the first time in all those years he felt like he had really found him.
It wasn’t perfect. But it was a start.
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp wouldn
’t have made it into the present without my incredible team:
TELEPORTATION: I’m incredibly lucky to have my wonderful agent, Catherine Drayton, and the incomparable Kate Harrison, my editor, who made these books real.
CATALYSTS: Thanks to Heather Alexander, Patricia Burke, Lyndsey Blessing, Alexis Hurley, Nathaniel Jacks, and Charlie Olson for their hard work on all three Jacob Wonderbar novels.
SOURCE: Big thanks to Jacob and Phil Jaber of Philz Coffee of San Francisco for their generous encouragement and for creating Jacob’s Wonderbar brew.
SCHEMATICS: Thanks to Christopher S. Jennings (illustrations), Jasmin Rubero (interior), and Greg Stadnyk (cover) for bringing the books to life.
SUPPORT: These books would not be possible without my amazing friends. Thanks to Egya Appiah, Justin Berkman, Lisa Brackmann, Holly Burns, Madissen De Turris, Christian DiCarlo, Emily Dreyfuss, Dan Goldstein, Jennifer Hubbard, Mark Kaufman, Matt Lasner, Sommer Leigh, Tahereh Mafi, Maggie Mason, Sarah McCarry, Bryan Russell, Karen Schennum, Sean Slinsky, Sharon Vaknin, Meg Wilkinson, my blog readers and forumites, and everyone at CNET.
NUCLEUS: Thanks to Mom, Dad, Darcie, Mike, Scott, and Beth for being the best family in the universe.
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp Page 14
