Parked behind one of them was the rusty white Jeep.
The GPS went nuts. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. The remote control was so close I could practically feel it in my hands.
I knocked on the peeling whitewashed door of the hut closest to the parked Jeep.
No answer.
Because there weren’t many houses in the village, I figured the vegetable man couldn’t have gone far.
We made our way along the beach, past women sweeping the small covered porches of their homes, others tending vegetable gardens, and men patching boats along the shore.
We must have stuck out like three American sore thumbs. Whenever we passed someone, they’d first give us a curious look, then smile and say, “Olá! Posso ajudá-lo?”
I speak some Spanish but it sure didn’t sound like Spanish to me.
“Brazilians speak Portuguese,” Noah informed me.
At least some of it sounded kind of like Spanish. I was pretty sure they were saying hello and asking if we needed help. I just kept saying olá back and the three of us smiled and waved. If only I knew the Portuguese words for “vegetable man” and “safari jacket.”
Just beyond the farthest hut beside the narrow river, we noticed a boy and a girl both about my age, hovering over a baby who wasn’t more than a year old.
Beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep.
“We’re definitely getting warmer.” Violet looked super excited and I was glad she was over her sulkiness.
My heart thumped faster with each beep of the GPS.
The two older kids glanced up, searching for the source of the sound.
“O que foi isso?” asked the boy, whose jet-black hair was choppy and short. He wore scruffy cut-offs and no shirt. A sleepy pet boa constrictor draped around his neck like a fat brown-speckled scarf.
He pointed to our beeping GPS and motioned for us to come closer.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
It had to be around here somewhere. I held up the beeping flashing gizmo so the snake boy could see it.
He stuck out one hand and pointed to his palm.
“Uh-oh. I think he wants us to give it to him.” Violet looked worried, as if she thought the boy might steal it.
“I’m pretty sure he just wants to check it out,” I said. “I think it’ll be OK.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling it’ll be OK too,” Noah said, which made me wonder if he had hunches just like me.
When I set the GPS down on the boy’s outstretched palm, his eyes lit up. The girl, whose long licorice-black hair was as stick-straight as mine, wandered over to watch his finger trace over the red blinking light. He held the GPS against her ear and she winced from the stinging sound. That thing was seriously loud.
When the boy darted over to the baby and showed it to her, that’s when I heard it.
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.
The baby’s eyes grew wide with wonder and she giggled at the sight of the flashing light. She immediately dropped a plastic toy she’d been chewing on and snatched our GPS.
“Madison, look!” Noah pointed to the toy the baby had thrown on the ground.
It was the remote control for the MegaPix 6000!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Baby Troubles
Before I could grab the remote, the baby beat me to it. In one hand she clutched the GPS. In the other she held my remote control. It was a little scratched up, with tiny tooth marks indenting the hard plastic.
I crouched in the sand, eye-to-eye with the baby, and tapped the remote control. “This is mine. Sorry, you can’t keep it.” I shook my head, pointing first to me, and then to her. If she couldn’t understand my words, then maybe she could figure out the universal signals for mine and no way.
I pointed to the beeping, blinking GPS in her other hand. “Yours,” I said and smiled.
“Mmm-mm,” she said, looking at one and then the other. I wondered if she was trying to figure out which one might be tastier.
“Pretty please?” I reached out my hand and tapped the remote again.
She said something in baby-speak and then dropped it in my palm. After that, she didn’t pay an ounce of attention to me. She stared at the blinking red light and giggled. Then she popped one end of the GPS into her mouth like a lollipop.
The boy and the girl both smiled and seemed satisfied that the baby had something she wanted.
We waved goodbye to the trio and headed back the way we’d come.
“You’re sure you want to let her keep that?” Violet asked.
“We’re done with it. We got what we needed.” I held up the remote for the MegaPix. Our round-trip ticket straight to the past.
The further away we got from the baby, the less the GPS would flash and beep. Soon it would fall silent. I wish there’d been a way to keep it working after we’d gone, but at least she had a brand new teething toy.
We hiked back toward Tanini Lodge. It must have been nearly noon. The sun was smack dab above the dense grove of towering trees.
“I’m starving,” Noah said.
“Triple-starving,” moaned Violet.
We’d left so early that we’d skipped breakfast. My stomach was grumbling too. I dug into my backpack and found three packets of Fruity Monkey Poop I’d stuffed in there before we’d left.
“Fruity Monkey Poop?” asked Noah. “What the heck?”
“Costa Rican delicacy,” I said.
Violet grinned. “Sounds disgusting. I like it already.”
Except it wasn’t disgusting. It was gooey, sweet, and yummy.
Violet peered inside her packet. “Oh man! They’re gummies!”
“You were hoping for the real thing?” I asked.
“Sure. I mean, how cool would it be to tell my brother that I ate genuine monkey poop?”
“There are tons of monkeys around here. If you really want some, I’m sure we could find you a nice fresh pile,” I joked.
Violet screwed up her face. “Gross,” she said and made a gagging sound. I guess she decided that the idea of eating real monkey poop was way more entertaining than eating it for real.
As we continued our trek, I noticed a cluster of bubblegum-pink flowering trees I hadn’t seen before. “Hold on, guys. This place doesn’t look familiar. Are we lost?”
“You might be right,” Noah said. “We must have messed up. Let’s turn around and go that way.” He pointed back toward the village.
“Uh, hello? That’s the wrong direction.” Violet stared at Noah as if he were nuts.
“I know,” he agreed. “But if we go back to the small river near the village and follow it, eventually it will lead us to the Amazon. Then we should be able to find the lodge. Or that’s the theory anyway.”
“You’d better be right. I’m not in favor of spending the night out here with poisonous snakes and piles of real monkey poop.”
“If we’re going to trust anyone in the great outdoors, it’s Noah,” I told Violet.
Noah grinned.
We followed him to the narrow river by the village and walked downstream along the shore for what seemed like forever.
“You guys sure this is right?” Violet asked.
I’d started wondering the same thing when we spotted the mouth of the river. It emptied right into the lazy wide Amazon.
We followed Noah along the river’s edge, scrambling over vines and roots until, miracle of miracles, we caught sight of the Tanini Lodge.
“Brilliant! You did it!” I said, and the three of us high-fived.
“So you’re a brain and a nature boy?” Violet looked impressed.
Noah’s cheeks flushed red from the compliment. “My dad and I used to camp a lot.”
Violet didn’t know that before Noah and his dad won the million dollars on Stranded in the Amazon, they’d been dirt poor. To save money on rent, they’d camped every summer. It was bad news back then, although what Noah had learned during those summers was sure coming in
handy now.
We raced back to the lodge to find Rosalie Claire up in our cabin, her swollen ankle packed in fresh ice that Fabian had brought. He’d also made her a pair of bamboo crutches.
“Any luck?” she asked.
I dug the remote from my backpack and held it up like a solid gold trophy.
“Well, well,” Rosalie Claire said. “I’m not surprised. I had a feeling in my bones you’d find it.”
Violet and Noah told her how I’d made a bargain with the baby. When they’d finished, I said it was time to go.
“Uh, any clue how we’re getting back?” Violet asked.
I wasn’t absolutely sure, but I had a pretty good idea. Or at least I hoped I did. “I think we’re traveling by remote control.”
OK, maybe I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. I’d only zapped in and out of the MegaPix from a TV show, never from real life. I told my friends that we’d never know unless we tried.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Into the MegaPix
We pulled into a tight circle and held hands. Noah, Rosalie Claire on her crutches, Violet, and then me. With my free hand I positioned my thumb over the silver return button and the purple button.
“Hold on tight. Don’t let go.” I breathed deep and pushed.
Nothing happened.
“Uh, newsflash. We’re still standing here,” Violet said, pointing out the obvious.
Why wasn’t it working? Suddenly, I got panicky. It had been two days since Dr. Morán had run those tests on Florida and I worried she was getting worse. The clock was ticking. How would we get home?
Then Noah asked the million-dollar question. He wondered if the MegaPix needed to be switched on before we could teleport back. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that myself.
“How in the world do we turn it on from here?” Violet asked. “Do you have a magic trick for that, Rosalie Claire?”
“Sorry, I don’t, Violet. But I do have this.” She pulled out her cell phone from her fanny pack and made a call. She asked Thomas to turn on the TV.
We held hands again. This time when I pressed the buttons I heard a familiar ping. My vision blurred, ice flowed through my veins, and lightning rocketed through my body. I held on extra tight to Violet and hoped everyone else was holding on tight, too.
The next thing I knew, we’d zapped back into the lobby of La Posada Encantada. I heard the thumping of Leroy’s tail. He leaped on me as if I’d been missing in action for weeks.
“Holy cow, that was insane!” Violet bounced from foot to foot.
“And so cool. It was like an ice storm and a wildfire in my body all at once.” Noah patted his arms and legs, as if he was making sure his body had returned to normal.
When Thomas walked in wearing his food-splattered apron, his eyes twinkled at the sight of Rosalie Claire. “Thank the Lord you’re back!” He hugged her tight and gave her a big kiss. “Holy mackerel, darlin’! What happened to your poor ankle?”
“It was just a silly accident. I’ll be fine.” She waved it away with the sweep of her hand.
“How’s Florida?” I asked.
Thomas sighed. “Her fever spiked. One-hundred-and-four. I’ve been trying to keep it down with cold compresses and Tylenol.”
Rosalie Claire took my hand and laced her fingers through mine. “The sooner you kids go see Grandma Daisy, the better.”
“You’re not coming?” I asked.
“With this poor ankle I’m afraid I’m out of commission. Besides, now I look twenty years older and if the folks I knew back then saw me, they might be terribly puzzled. And have no fear, my grandma will take excellent care of you.”
Yes, maybe Grandma Daisy would take good care of us, but I knew we’d have to be extra careful to take good care of each other, too.
The three of us hurried to our hotel room to pack. It was hard to concentrate because I had only two things on my mind: meeting Grandma Daisy so she could fix the magic, and my mom. Would I see her in the past? I wanted that more than anything, so I triple-hoped I wouldn’t be going back to a time when my grandmother had grounded her from going next door. According to my mom, that had happened a lot.
We gathered back in the lobby. Rosalie Claire unclipped her fanny pack and handed it to me. I slipped it into my backpack.
“Good luck, kids.” Her brown sugar eyes sparkled. “You’re going to do great.”
“Thanks,” I said, hoping she was right.
“Well? What are we waiting for?” Violet rubbed her hands together, excited enough to make sparks.
I was just as eager to go as Violet, but I told her there was one thing I needed to do first. I hurried to the yellow bungalow to see my grandmother.
She lay in the bed in my room. Her breathing was slow and raggedy. Her forehead was dotted with fever sweat, and she looked as if she was on death’s doorstep.
“I’m going to get Rosalie Claire’s fanny pack fixed so we can help you. Please hang on, Florida. Don’t die on me like my mom, OK?” I whispered in her ear, even though she probably couldn’t hear me. “Maybe things haven’t been perfect between us, but I do love you. I really do.” And then I kissed her goodbye.
Back in the lobby, Noah had already connected the video player to the MegaPix 6000.
When Violet slid Grandma Daisy’s tape into the slot, I felt a swirling in my stomach. Even though Mike wasn’t sure that we’d be able to travel into the past through the videotape, I crossed my fingers it would work the same way it did when I’d zapped into those TV shows. Besides, it had to work. How else could we save my grandmother?
“Rosalie Claire, what if we run into you in the past?” Noah wondered. “I’ve read a lot of sci-fi books and time travel can be tricky.”
“You’re right about that, Noah. Fortunately, I was off traveling the world in 1994. Besides, I have a funny feeling once you return to present time, the people you’ve run into in the past will forget they’ve met you. And kids? Be careful. The only person you should tell you’re from the future is Grandma Daisy. She’ll understand the magic. Anyone else might get awfully confused. And please, please don’t do anything that will change the past. You don’t want to risk impacting the future.”
Noah nodded and pointed out something that sent shivers up my spine. “It’s possible that if we change even one thing, you might never be born, Madison.”
I gulped and promised we’d be super careful.
“And you’ll make sure the MegaPix stays on and the video keeps running?” I asked Rosalie Claire.
“Honey, this TV will have a permanent babysitter until the three of you pop back out, safe and sound.”
I know it sounds as if Rosalie Claire could be waiting in front of the TV for days and days, but it doesn’t work like that. The tricky thing about TV teleporting is that when you zap into it, you’re only gone for as long as the show is playing. If everything went as planned, we’d be away for no more than an hour since that’s how long Grandma Daisy’s tape took to play from beginning to end.
“Ready?” I asked my friends.
“Absolutely.” Noah’s eyes gleamed.
Violet pumped her fist in the air. “Let’s do this thing!”
Noah hit PLAY on the VCR and the tape began to whirr.
I aimed the remote at the magic TV. Violet, Noah, and I held hands. Leroy whimpered, probably suspecting something was up.
When Grandma Daisy popped on the screen in her sunny yellow kitchen, my heart beat as fast as hummingbird wings.
I positioned my fingers over the enter button and the purple button, then pushed. Ping! Familiar words popped up on the screen.
Are you sure you want to choose this channel? If “yes” push “enter” again.
“Totally sure,” I said.
“Here goes nothing,” said Violet.
“Or here’s goes everything, I hope,” and crossed my fingers.
“Tell Grandma Daisy I love her and think about her every single day. And please, kids, hurry back.”
&
nbsp; “We will, Rosalie Claire,” I promised.
Then I pushed enter again.
Ping!
The first thing I felt? My veins turning to ice. And the second thing? Leroy’s front paws locking around my ankles.
We’d just turned the TV into a time machine and my dog was coming along for the ride.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Truth or Consequences, 1994
The next thing I knew, we were standing under the scorching sun next to my house in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Dusty gray rocks and clumps of dead brown grass dotted the bone-dry dirt in the yard. In front of us was Rosalie Claire’s old sandy brown adobe house she’d inherited from Grandma Daisy. If things played out the way they were supposed to, Grandma Daisy was inside, recording her videotape.
Leroy let out a happy bark and sniffed every rock, snake hole, and scrubby weed in the yard. Then he wagged his tail. He was happy to be home.
“I think I figured it out!” Noah burst into a smile. “We must have passed through a wormhole in the space-time continuum!”
“Worms in space?” Violet looked as confused as I felt.
“No. Wormholes. Like an escape route in space from one time to another. The gamma rays in the remote and the TV caused our bodies to temporarily disintegrate. Then they turned us into a bunch of tiny molecules so we were small enough to travel through a wormhole to the past.”
Wow, so that’s how it worked? It would explain the feeling I had just before we popped into the yard. It was as if my body had splintered into a zillion little specks. Although I had to wonder … were we really in the past? So much looked the same. Rosalie Claire’s backyard. The small adobe house. The clothesline strung between two metal poles. Even the black rubber welcome mat at the back door. Was it possible that we were still in 2014?
“I need to check something out,” I told my friends. I zipped the remote control into my backpack for safekeeping and headed next door to the red brick house. That’s where my mom now lived, if we’d really traveled back in time. Was she at school? Or would she stare right at me if I peeked through the sliding glass door? Then what would I do? Was I even ready for that? Or what if we weren’t in the past after all? Would I see my present-day Grandpa Jack, scratching his head, wondering where Florida had gone?
Hello There, Do You Still Know Me? Page 6