by J. C. Allen
She sat back quickly, “So???” she demanded an answer.
Rick smiled broadly and winked, “So… when can we go haul your stuff over?”
“You have to ask me first…” she was fighting to maintain her aloofness, doing a pretty good job of hiding her excitement over the prospect.
“Oh, if you’re still not interested, I can wait another two years to work up the courage again—”
“Tomorrow!” she blurted.
He blinked a couple times, “That was too easy; what’s the catch?”
“No catch,” she insisted.
“Why are you suddenly so eager now? Not that I’m complaining!”
“A little birdie made me realize some things today...” she said, glancing over at Kaylie.
“Does that little birdie have jet black hair?” he asked.
“Maybe...”
“A thirteen-year-old, soccer-playing, history buff, video game nut birdie?”
“Sounds like the same birdie,” she giggled.
“I need to adopt that little birdie,” he said, looking at that little birdie as she excitedly helped Alex search ancient Rome.
“She’s not the only one. Your girls always make me feel at home and loved — like a mother. Kaylie really loves you too, though… and she’s really smart and mature,”
He smiled and turned back to Abby, “She’s a great little friend, too. But let’s plan this move… you wanna take the van and your car in the morning as soon as the girls leave for school?”
“Sounds perfect. Should we tell them?”
“I think we need to surprise them,” Rick quickly decided.
“Yeah. Besides, we need to focus on this right now,” she agreed and started sifting through coins again, watching them scatter as they fell back into the box.
“I’m going to see how they’re doing,” Rick suddenly said, getting up and laying his hand gently on her shoulder for a moment.
She turned and smiled at him as he left. It felt right. Perfect. Finally. Abby now wondered why she had waited so long.
“Well, how’s it going?” Rick asked as he wormed in between Alex and Kaylie, putting an arm around each of them.
“I feel like a thief, searching through people’s homes like this,” Alex admitted with a slightly scrunched up nose.
“It’s not that bad, we’re just looking. I think we found a good home, too,” Kaylie said.
Rick raised his eyebrows, “Oh? Show me”
“Well, this family seems to be just a woman, two boys and a girl, but they have several men’s tunics and uniforms that we could use. But we don’t know where the father is…”
“We think he could be a soldier, traveling abroad or in a war somewhere. That worries me,” Kaylie said.
“Why does that worry you?” Rick asked.
“In those times it was often considered bad luck to disturb any belongings of a man while he was away at war. They may not be willing to part with anything or they might be beaten by the man when he returns…”
“I think we should just bribe one of the kids to do it. They’re about our age,” Alex suggested.
“Hmm... so we really don’t know anything for sure, except what we observe. Perhaps we should go in and learn on our own. If we fail, we can go back and try something else,” said Rick.
“Groundhog Day!” Alex giggled.
“Practically, yes. Good analogy. Good plan too, I think.”
“Crude, but effective,” Kaylie concurred.
“Well, see if you can find out how much money they have so we’ll know how much we might need. I’d rather go twice than three times, if you know what I mean. This could take days if we don’t prepare right—”
“Rick?” A tug at his shirt accompanied the address. He turned to find Anna, Christy and Jessica all wearing their creations.
“Wow! Very nice looking!” he commented.
Jessica came forward, “We found some silk dress that looked like a cow wore it, so we used that.”
“I did,” Anna claimed.
The shirts were very well-cut and tied with ribbons of green twisted with blue.
“You girls did an excellent job. I think we should be able to go really soon if we continue making such progress,” he said, leaving five smiling, happy children to go back to helping Abby sort the loot.
Twenty minutes later, Alex came and wrapped her arms around her father, staring over his shoulder at the coins he had piled in front of him. “They only have a few coins, no jewels at all. It looks like they’re really poor, Daddy, but Kaylie thought of a problem,” she informed him.
“What’s that?”
“How do we talk to these people? They speak a different language, don’t they?”
Rick pondered a moment, wondering why they could understand speech when they were watching the display. He faced the machine, “T, how are we to communicate with the Romans and why are they speaking English?”
“I translate the language both here and in the other time-space, Rick,” she answered.
They let out a collective sigh. “That’s good, I’d hate to have to learn a new language overnight,” a very relieved Christy announced.
“OK girls, let’s get ready. We’ll leave after we eat,” Rick said, looking at his watch. It was 6:30 already.
While they ate, the talk was excited, vibrant, focused on the mission ahead. Rick smiled inwardly at how interested and helpful the girls were as they planned the whole mission with exacting details.
“...that’s why we think we should go in to buy your clothes,” Alex concluded after Kaylie explained that children were generally not permitted to speak to adults.
“You see, Rick, the mother isn’t home until twenty minutes before we need to be in town. That wouldn’t give you much time to persuade her, and she probably wouldn’t part with it anyway,” Kaylie opined.
“OK. We’ll try that. How far ahead are we going in?”
“One hour, 45 minutes,” Alex said.
“That’s when the kids are coming back from playing in the stream and washing their clothes Kaylie added.
“Why don’t you just go in while they’re gone and take them?” Anna asked.
“That’s dishonest.” Rick replied.
“Hello? We’re trying to save the world. Do you want to say, ‘No, we couldn’t save the world honestly, so we just let everyone die?’ That doesn’t sound right.”
“Anna, if it comes down to saving the world, I’ll steal a uniform, but if we can do it with a clear conscience… well, I’d prefer to be responsible.”
Anna rolled her eyes, “Always gotta set a good example, don’t you? Like you’re my father!”
“I don’t see your father trying to set a good example!” blasted Jessica.
Anna got up in a huff, heading toward the other side of the table, obviously intent on doing harm to Jessica.
“Anna! Sit down now!” Rick ordered.
Anna stopped, considering her plans for a moment. Jessica was still taunting her, shaking her head around wildly with her tongue sticking out, flopping around. She finally decided it would be in her best interests to behave, and stomped back to her seat while Jessica continued to tease.
“Jess, you want to take a swim with me?” Rick threatened.
Jessica ceased quickly, “No!”
Rick added a menacing glare.
“Sorry, Anna,” Jessica added as she got the hint.
“OK. So we go there and wait for them to return?” Rick asked.
“Yeah, about a hundred yards from their house is some brush you can hide in while we go make friends and, hopefully, bring you a nice soldier’s tunic. That should allow us to get close enough to Octavian. A fellow soldier would be able to get closer,” Alex said.
“And as soon as we find out where he gets the necklace, we stop and return, then we can go back and intercept it,” Kaylie finished.
The group continued to finalize their plans while they finished eating.
“Can we w
atch them from here, T?” Abby asked nervously
“No, Abby, they will be gone only one minute and you must not interfere with their return.”
“One minute?” Alex asked.
“Yes, Alex, there is always a return time of one minute, no matter how long your trip is. That is the default setting. Do you wish to change that?”
“No,” Rick answered, “that’s perfect. I’m glad, actually; I was worried it would take all night.”
He held three necklaces out after slipping the gold one around his neck. “Pick one,” he told the girls.
Alex picked the blue one because that was her favorite color, Christy chose the silver one, and Kaylie took the red one.
Chapter 15 — A Little Trip to Rome
“Do you confirm this destination and location, Rick?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to put any time limits or any other restrictions on your journey at this time, Rick?”
“No.”
“Do you wish to disable safety protocols, Rick?”
“No,” he answered that question much quicker than the others.
“Everyone who is not traveling, please step well outside the red crystal circle,” T intoned as the area started to flash.
Abby, Jessica and Anna all stepped back after giving everyone a quick hug.
Rick nervously stood with his arms crossed; the girls all held hands firmly.
Suddenly anxious, Alex croaked, “What if we get scrambled or something?”
“Even before safety protocols were installed, Alex, in 10,127 trips nobody has ever been scrambled,” T said calmly.
“We’re ready when you are, T,” Rick tried to sound confident, looking at Abby and the other girls, wondering if he would ever see them again.
“Destination confirmed safe, initiating displacement,” T answered.
“They just vanished, no fancy lights, no countdown? How un-dramatic!” Jessica complained, disappointed.
Rick didn’t remember traveling. T had mentioned a slight, brief orientation period upon arrival. He looked around to see the girls standing with him in the exact positions they were in the room, but now amidst a clump of trees and brush. The view of the land gradually faded in. It took about five seconds before he was able to move, and noticed the girls moving simultaneously with him. They all gathered and locked arms around each other, taking in the view.
Christy finally spoke, “You know, I expected a more eventful journey, and a more exciting arrival.”
“We chose this spot because it was not exciting,” Kaylie reminded her.
“What did you expect? Flying through worm-holes with lights streaking by?” Alex teased.
“It certainly wasn’t what I thought it would be, either, but we’re here and we have a mission, don’t we?” Rick reminded them.
“Yeah!” they answered, eager to be trusted with their task. He gave them each a hug and headed for his hiding place, offering final words of encouragement. The girls casually strolled toward the house, occasionally glancing back where Rick was crouched, commenting on how he tensely watched them.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. The fresh, new green grass rolled for half a mile past the farm house. The temperature was in the low seventies, but felt chilly in the clothes they wore — the steady breeze whipped through the open sides, removing all the trapped body heat their normal clothes would have afforded them. In the distance, past the farm, they could see the edge of the city — they were literally on its doorstep. They were less than a mile to the east and could clearly see the main thoroughfare leading into it just a few hundred yards to the north, crossing into the heart of Rome. The road they needed to take soon.
“It looks just like North Carolina,” Kaylie said, “I expected something a little different.”
“Yeah, me too, it’s so isolated, but so close to town…” Kaylie agreed.
Rick felt like it was Halloween and he was standing on the sidewalk as he sent his excited kids to a stranger’s door for candy. He also felt useless. Here he was, just observing, as the costumed trio headed toward their quarry. Alex carried a pouch Anna had made from the sleeve of one of the shirts and Christy and Kaylie each had one filled with coins and gems. Rick smiled broadly at the thought of three young girls being entrusted with enough money to buy several small countries and broke into a chuckle when it really hit him. And that was just a handful of the hundred or more pounds that remained in the boxes. He mused that it was probably enough to buy the United States. The coins weren’t so valuable because they were gold, as most were not; they were valuable because they were so old and in nearly perfect condition. Some of the gems also made the Hope Diamond look like a $99 engagement ring. He decided after seeing all the coins and jewels, he could easily afford to send Rob that Spanish coin. He felt his own pouch, which he carried, since he had no belt… yet, and then remembered he was supposed to watch the girls.
The girls timed their interception well, seeming to merge accidently with the ancient youngsters as they came across the last knoll before their home.
“Hi!” an over-excited Christy shouted before they were even spotted. Alex and Kaylie shot her angry glares. She cowered slightly; they had decided Kaylie was going to speak, since she was the oldest and biggest and knew the most about Roman history.
“Hail! Who goes there?” the oldest boy yelled back angrily.
As they approached, the girls stalled, with Kaylie stepping forward slightly. The elder boy, on the right, had short, dark hair, and dark brown eyes. He stood a mere five feet tall. He appeared to be about eleven years old or younger, but they knew he was fifteen from their research.
“They look much smaller in person,” Alex whispered. Kaylie nodded almost imperceptibly.
The girl was slightly smaller than Christy, but they knew she was two years older. She looked much healthier though. She wore an infectious smile of a perpetually happy kid, and seemed to be skipping when she was walking. She had the same dark brown eyes as her brothers, but flopping from her head was a three-foot long mane of nearly blonde hair.
The younger brother was a carbon copy of his older sibling, only smaller. He looked to be a normal-sized eight-year-old kid. He was ten.
They all wore the same type tunics — off-white wool and in desperate need of replacement. The little boy’s shoulder strap was ripped and hung down across his chest. The edges of their clothes were frayed and each had a dozen or more holes, noticeable from ten yards away. The youngest was dirty as a pig, but the other two apparently bathed and washed their clothes in the stream while the little one played in mud.
As they neared, Kaylie quit studying them and put on her friendliest smile, “Hi, I’m Kaylie and—”
“This is our land, what is your business on it?” The older boy demanded.
Kaylie thought he sounded more frightened than anything. “I… um,” she stammered.
The girl shoved her brother aside, “What my vicious brother, Lucius, is trying to say is welcome!” she said with a bright smile.
She then turned to Lucius, “These girls are not wearing swords and don’t seem to be threatening.”
She then turned back to Kaylie, extending her hand, “I’m Vespasia, and this is my little brother, Titus. What brings you to our farm?”
Kaylie was much happier to deal with the friendly young girl, “I’m Kaylie, this is Christy, and this is Alex. We’re traveling to Rome, planning to find a new home,” she said.
“What odd names,” the little boy commented.
“You can’t buy a home in Rome unless you have a lot of money or are related to a senator,” Lucius said skeptically.
“Well, they must have a lot of money,” Vespasia said as she leaned forward and ran her hands across the edge of Kaylie’s homemade tunic, “I have never seen linen this fine, it’s almost like silk, who made this?” Her big, round eyes opened widely with awe.
“I did,” Christy volunteered, and then came forward to feel the girl’s fabric. She ra
n her hands over Vespasia’s garment, immediately noticing how coarse it was and recalling how Rick had said they looked like grain sacks. This felt like a grain sack.
Vespasia continued as Christy checked out her tunic, “Yours are so soft, and your belts are so pretty, they must be silk!”
The girls blushed collectively, they had thought these clothes were very simple, but this Roman girl treated them like $10,000 designer dresses.
“Yes, yes they are silk—” Christy started to say.
Lucius, becoming even more suspicious, interrupted, “Wait, if you’re wealthy, and traveling to Rome, where’s your chariot? Where are your horses? You don’t even smell like you’ve been near a horse! And who do you travel with? Where are your parents and servants? Three young girls wouldn’t be coming to buy land in Rome and they wouldn’t be walking through our land — the main road is over there!” he pointed, then stood with arms crossed, impatiently waiting for an answer.
“Well, we uh, well, we’re on foot—”
“Nobody would travel that road on foot! Certainly not three kids. The next village is days away by foot—”
“We’re with our father!” Alex blurted, frightened.
“See! I’ve uncovered a plot! He plans to ambush us and take our lands!”
Vespasia shoved him to the ground, “How absurd! These girls’ clothes are worth more than our entire farm, Lucius! You think everything is an evil plot lately.”
She turned back to the girls, “You mean us no harm, right?” she seemed hopeful.
“No, of course not!” Kaylie exclaimed.
“Where is your father, then?” little Titus asked.
“He’s up there, in the bushes,” Kaylie pointed.
“See! He hides!” Lucius spat.
“No! He hides because, well, because he’s embarrassed. His tunic is ruined and he has nothing else to wear. He sent us down here to see if we could perhaps purchase one?” Kaylie said.
Alex reached for her pouch, opened it, and poured some coins into her hand. A couple fell to the ground and Lucius picked one up.
Vespasia, obviously star-struck by all the shiny coins, barked at Lucius, “Go get our friends’ father a uniform while I show them around!”
