Mercer Street (American Journey Book 2)

by John A. Heldt

  Even before Elizabeth got the words out, Amanda realized that she had no choice but to fall into line. She had many adventures ahead of her. Elizabeth did not. She had an obligation, if not a responsibility, to honor the grandmother who had done so much for her.

  Amanda looked at Elizabeth and smiled.

  "I have to admit, Grandma, that going to New Jersey in the thirties is not at the top of my list of things to do, but if going there is important to you, then I'll do it."

  Elizabeth put a hand on Amanda's arm.

  "Thank you, dear."

  "I have one request though," Amanda said.

  "What's that?"

  "If we go to Princeton, I want to drive there. I want to drive on Route 66 and the Lincoln Highway. I want to see the whole country."

  "You have a deal!" Elizabeth said.

  Amanda turned to face her mother.

  "What about you, Mom? Are you OK with 1938?"

  Susan sighed.

  "It's not my first choice, but it's one I can live with. I don't want to travel with a miserable mama and a grumpy girl," Susan said. "If you two want to go there, then I won't stand in your way. I think we'll have fun no matter where we go."

  "Then everything is settled," Amanda said. "So what do we do now?"

  Susan smiled warmly.

  "We fill out these forms. Then we contact Professor Bell and let him know we've reached a decision," Susan said. "He said he would need at least a week to prepare a trip. That leaves us just two days to spare before we head home."

  "Then I guess we had better get busy," Amanda said. She paused for a moment to study her mother's face. "Are you really OK with this, Mom?"

  "I'm really OK with it. I'm looking forward to it."

  "So am I."

  "That makes three of us," Elizabeth said.

  Amanda looked admiringly at the two most important people in her life and then reached for her soda. She lifted the can and encouraged the others to follow suit.

  "Here's to road trips, depressions, and dust bowls!" Amanda said.

  The three women laughed and clinked cola cans.

  Susan smiled and raised her can again.

  "Here's to a beautiful daughter."

  CHAPTER 9: SUSAN

  Los Angeles, California – Thursday, September 15, 2016

  Susan looked at the floral print dress in the bedroom closet and decided she had all the proof she needed. No one would ask another to wear a frumpy thing like this unless she was sending her to a different time.

  The author pulled the dress from its hanger and walked toward the others in the spacious room. When she reached them, she held the garment high and grinned.

  "I guess I won't be turning many heads," Susan said.

  Her hostess laughed.

  "You're wrong," Jeanette said. "You're going to turn a lot of heads, but you probably won't turn them until you buy a new wardrobe. At least I hope you won't."

  "You want us to keep a low profile. Is that it?"

  "Yes. I want you to keep a very low profile, at least while you're traveling," Jeanette said. She stepped toward Susan. "Geoffrey told me that you intend to drive to New Jersey. He said you plan to take your time getting there."

  "He's right," Susan said. "We may take five or six weeks."

  Jeanette nodded and stepped back.

  "I thought that might be the case. That's why I picked out modest attire for all of you. I want you to blend in as much as possible. When three attractive women drive across the country on rural roads during hard times, they tend to stand out."

  "Are you saying I'm a dish?" Elizabeth asked.

  Jeanette laughed.

  "Oh, you're much more than that."

  Susan laughed at the question and the reply. She wondered if her mother would ever act her age and secretly hoped she wouldn't.

  "Thank you for doing all this," Susan said to Jeanette. "I admit I would never have thought about the effect my clothing might have on others."

  "That's because you're a product of the modern age," Jeanette said. "You've been told your entire life to flaunt the goods and push boundaries. We all have. In this particular instance, though, I believe modesty is the best policy. If you do nothing else on your journey to New Jersey, you want to arrive safely."

  "I can't argue with that."

  Susan glanced at the others and saw they had already started to remake themselves. Elizabeth and Amanda straightened their dresses in front of a full-length mirror.

  "What do you think?" Susan asked her daughter. "Do you like your new look?"

  "I do. This is kind of fun. It's like playing dress-up," Amanda said. She smiled at Susan. "All I need now is a vintage hat and a long strand of phony pearls."

  "You'll find them over there, on the sofa, next to your purses," Jeanette said. She laughed. "I thought you should have at least a few 'extravagances' on your trip."

  Susan looked again at a woman she had come to admire. She made a note of staying in touch with the inspiring Mrs. Bell when her time-traveling days were over.

  "I see three suitcases by the door," Susan said. "I assume they are filled with things we'll need and maybe things we won't need."

  "They are filled to the gills," Jeanette said. "I've packed several items for each of you, including more dresses, undergarments, makeup, spendable currency, and documents that may come in handy if you're asked to provide identification."

  "Do you really think we'll need ID in 1938?"

  Jeanette nodded.

  "You'll need it if you want to purchase a vehicle and drive it legally. With the papers I've placed in your bags, you should have no trouble obtaining licenses with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Your permanent address, by the way, is 156 Sea View Lane in Santa Barbara. You might do well to memorize it."

  "Is that a real address?" Susan asked.

  "It is. It's the address of a beach house built in 1930. The owner is a sixty-year-old man who does not drive and who visits the place only five or six times a year. Geoffrey and I made his acquaintance during a brief trip to 1938 on Tuesday."

  "It looks like you've thought of everything."

  Jeanette looked at Susan closely.

  "We want you to enjoy your trip."

  Susan put on her frumpy frock, donned the pearls, and slipped her feet into a pair of two-tone cutout Oxford shoes. She then placed her hat on her head and turned toward Jeanette.

  "How do I look?"

  "You look like a woman who may turn heads anyway," Jeanette said.

  Susan laughed.

  "I suppose that's inevitable," Susan said. She sighed. "No matter what we wear or say or do, we will undoubtedly draw the attention of someone."

  "I expect you will."

  Susan smiled and then walked to a large paned window that faced the Bells' backyard. She gazed out the window and saw brick steps that rose from the basement to a plush lawn.

  "Can I ask you a question, Jeanette?" Susan asked.

  "Of course."

  "What's it like?"

  "What's what like?" Jeanette asked.

  "What's it like to travel to a different time?"

  Susan turned around the second she finished the question. She eyed the other women in the room and noticed that she had drawn the attention of all three.

  Jeanette smiled and sighed.

  "What's it like? Well, it's exciting, for one thing. It's very exciting," Jeanette said. "It's like walking through a movie set or a theme park."

  "I thought so," Susan said.

  "It's also scary."

  "Scary? How so?"

  "It's scary because you're not walking through a movie set or a theme park," Jeanette said. "You're walking through a real world where you are as vulnerable to crime, disease, and events as the people who live there. No matter what you do or where you go, you are always at risk of becoming a permanent part of a new historical record."

  "Are you trying to warn us against taking this trip?" Susan asked.

  "No. I'm just trying to
answer your question honestly."

  "Have you ever found yourself in a dicey situation?"

  Jeanette nodded.

  "I have many times. So has Geoffrey. In fact, we found ourselves in a 'dicey situation' on our last trip to 1958."

  "What happened?" Susan asked.

  "Geoffrey paid a hotel bill with a twenty-dollar note," Jeanette said.

  "So?"

  "The note was modern. It had a watermark and a large portrait of Andrew Jackson."

  "Oh, my."

  "Geoffrey realized his mistake, of course. He even asked the clerk to return the bill."

  "Did he?" Susan asked.

  "No. He held onto it and summoned his supervisor."

  "What happened then?"

  "The hotel manager examined the bill, concluded it was bogus, and threatened to call the police," Jeanette said. "He thought Geoffrey was a counterfeiter."

  "Are you saying your husband could have gone to jail?"

  "He could have gone to prison."

  "What did he do when the manager threatened to report him?" Susan asked.

  "He tried to talk him out of it. Geoffrey argued that the note, an obvious fake, was a gag gift he had received at a party, a gift he had forgotten to remove from his wallet."

  "What did the manager do?"

  "He kept the bill and picked up the phone," Jeanette said. "He asked the operator to put him through to the police. It looked bleak until Geoffrey did something unexpected."

  "What was that?" Susan asked.

  "He pulled several 1950-series bills from his wallet and made a generous contribution to the manager's favorite charity."

  Susan laughed.

  "That will do the trick."

  "It did that time," Jeanette said. She smiled and then sighed. "We were lucky though. Things could have turned out differently. You can never be too careful when visiting the past."

  Susan tilted her head.

  "Do you recommend that we walk on eggshells?"

  "No," Jeanette said. "I advise just the opposite. I encourage you to enjoy yourselves. Don't be afraid to take risks or try new things, but never forget that you are a guest of the 1930s – not a resident. If you remember that, you'll have a great experience."

  "Thanks for the tip," Susan said.

  "You're welcome," Jeanette replied. She smiled at Susan. "Can I answer anything else before we head downstairs?"

  "No," Susan said.

  Jeanette looked at the others.

  "How about you two? Do you have any questions for me?"

  Elizabeth shook her head.

  "Amanda?"

  "No," Amanda said. "I think you've covered everything."

  "If that's the case, then I believe we're ready for the professor," Jeanette said. "Please grab your hats and bags and follow me. Your adventure awaits."

  CHAPTER 10: SUSAN

  The women in the frumpy dresses and stylish hats followed Jeanette Bell to the main floor of her West Adams mansion and then down a stone staircase that screamed Tower of London.

  Susan didn't know much about Painted Ladies or Victorian architecture in Southern California, but she knew enough to realize that the Bell estate in Los Angeles was a very rare bird. She had passed just one other century-old house on the drive through the city – and that was a stucco palace that evoked more images of Santa Fe than San Francisco.

  When Susan reached the bottom of the dark, dingy staircase, she expected to walk into a dark, dingy basement. She did not expect to enter a brightly lit, thirty-by-forty-foot space that radiated purity. With white walls, a white ceiling, a plush white carpet, and two large white leather couches, the chamber looked like God's Waiting Room.

  "I like what you've done to the place," Susan said to Jeanette as she joined the other women in the middle of the room. "It's positively heavenly."

  Jeanette chuckled.

  "Geoffrey insisted on remodeling the basement when he discovered that the time tunnel really worked. He wanted the transfer point from this world to the next to be bright and airy," Jeanette said. "Isn't that right, dear?"

  "That's right," Bell said.

  The professor sat on the nearest sofa about fifteen feet away. He assembled several papers scattered across a glass-and-brass coffee table that stood between the sofas.

  "He's been preparing more documents for you," Jeanette said.

  "I see the paperwork never ends," Susan said.

  "It doesn't in this house," Bell said as he threw the documents into a manila envelope. He placed the envelope next to a book on the table, stood up, and summoned the women with a hand. "Please join me, ladies. We still have much to discuss."

  Bell eyed his guests as they followed his wife to the sitting area and set their suitcases next to the far couch. When the three took their places on the sofa and Jeanette returned to his side, Bell sat down and commenced what the visitors had been told would be the last order of business.

  "I take it that Jeanette went over some of the particulars," Bell said.

  "She did," Susan said. "I appreciate the time and effort you put into our clothes, our documents, and other preparations. I never would have thought of half that stuff."

  "You can thank Mrs. Bell for that. She has become quite adept at selecting the right tools for the right trips. I've come to depend on her heavily."

  Jeanette beamed.

  "She was very helpful," Susan said. "I know more about time travel than I did even an hour ago, but I still have a question. I thought of it as we walked to the basement."

  "Oh?"

  Susan nodded.

  "It concerns money. Jeanette said that our bags contain spendable currency, but she didn't say how much. I'd like to know how much we have on hand and how far it will get us in 1938. We'd like to stay in the past at least six months."

  "I can't answer that question definitively," Bell said. "Much will depend on whether you live modestly or lavishly. What I can tell you is that each of your suitcases contains one hundred 1928-series twenty-dollar bills. Six thousand dollars will go a long way in a depression economy if you stay away from Ponzi schemes and poker tables."

  "Did you say six thousand dollars?"

  "I did."

  "I'm not a math whiz, Professor, but even I can run the numbers," Susan said. "Six thousand dollars in 1938 would be worth at least fifty today."

  "Try a hundred," Bell said.

  Susan's eyes lit up.

  "A hundred?"

  The professor nodded.

  "That's funny," Susan said. "I remember writing you a check for only three. Are you feeling particularly generous today?"

  "As a matter of fact, I am."

  "I don't get it. If you're covering virtually all of our expenses, why would you ask for money from us in the first place?"

  The professor looked at Susan thoughtfully.

  "I did so because I needed an expression of good faith," Bell said. "Had you balked at a mere three thousand dollars, I would have withdrawn my offer."

  "I see," Susan said.

  Susan looked at Bell with awe, fascination, and puzzlement. She knew the professor, a multimillionaire, had the means to underwrite the trip. What she didn't know was why he would do it. She thought about asking another question but decided that this was not the time or the place to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  "Please don't dwell on the money or my reasons for subsidizing your journey," Bell said. "Just hold onto the cash and put it in a bank as soon as you can."

  "We will. You know we will," Susan said. She paused to look at her family and then returned to Bell. "You said a minute ago that we still have much to discuss. What more do we have to talk about?"

  The professor smiled.

  "Let's start with your arrival in 1938. When you three walk out of this house, you will walk into a Los Angeles that has not existed since Elizabeth was an infant. You will step onto an unoccupied property in the middle of a much different city," Bell said. He lifted the manila envelope off the coffee table and
offered it to Susan. "The documents in this envelope will make your transition to the past a little smoother."

  "What documents? Do you mean more ID?"

  "No. I mean bus schedules, maps, a few dollars for minor expenses, and the addresses of places you'll need to visit soon, such as car dealerships and the Department of Motor Vehicles."

  "You want us to visit those places today?" Susan asked.

  "I think you should," Bell said. "The sooner you establish yourself in the past and take care of the basics, the better."

  "OK. What else do you want us to do?"

  Bell pulled a slip of paper from his jacket pocket and gave it to Susan.

  "I want you to send me a letter to this address."

  Susan smiled.

  "Why? Do you miss us already?"

  Bell laughed.

  "I do! I will miss you charming ladies the minute you walk out my door," Bell said. "The point is that I don't want to miss you six months to a year from now. I want you to be able to communicate with me should you run into trouble."

  "I want that too," Susan said.

  Bell smiled.

  "I will periodically visit the main post office in Los Angeles in 1938 and 1939 to check my mail and, by extension, your safety and security."

  "You think of everything, don't you?"

  "I like to think I do."

  "What else is in the envelope?" Susan asked.

  "There is a list," Bell said. "Mrs. Bell calls it my Ten Commandments. I call it a piece of paper you should take very seriously."

  Elizabeth and Amanda sat up.

  "You have our attention, Professor," Susan said.

  Bell looked at each of his guests closely before proceeding.

  "You already know some of my rules, such as the ones that pertain to personal property. I trust that you left your contemporary belongings in the guest room upstairs."

  "We did," Susan said not quite truthfully.

  "That's good," Bell said. "I think you'll find time travel less problematic if you leave modern driver's licenses, cell phones, and cameras behind in the present day."

  "I agree."

  "Then let me get to the two most important items on the list. They are ones I don't want you to forget."