After lunch, Matt went back to work on Blossom, trying to figure out how he might repair the engine. Ruby and Corey joined him this time. Chuck sat in a camp chair near the bonfire, crocheting another blanket and singing “Do You Believe in Magic.” He didn’t think anyone could be more tone-deaf than his dad, but Chuck was definitely a contender.
Their parents and Tui were also by the fire, having what looked like a tense discussion. They were probably arguing over what to do once they got Blossom up and running again.
“Man, I thought they were going to come to blows last night,” said Corey. “Totally disappointing.”
“Maybe they will now,” said Matt, watching as Tui’s hands flew into the air and Mr. Hudson tensed up. He got in front of Mrs. Hudson.
“What do you think’s going to happen?” said Corey.
“I don’t know,” said Matt. He didn’t even know if he could fix Blossom to the point where they could all travel anywhere. He couldn’t think beyond the here and now. He was tired and his head pulsed with a dull ache.
“I think we have to steal the Obsidian Compass back from Captain Vincent,” Ruby suddenly blurted.
Matt dropped the screwdriver he’d been holding. It fell down between the starter and the alternator. He cursed under his breath. He was never going to get that back.
“What the heck are you talking about?” Corey stared at Ruby like she’d just sprouted tusks.
“Okay . . . how?” Matt asked. “We don’t know where he is, and you know we can’t go back to any time we were on board the Vermillion. Also, Mom and Dad will never go for it.”
“I know,” said Ruby, her eyes blazing. Matt knew that look. It was the look she got when she wanted to do something and would never back down about it. “But we know where Vincent was when he first got the compass, and we can make sure he never gets it at all.”
Matt’s mouth dropped open as what she was saying settled into his brain.
“Are you joking?” said Corey. “I mean, you’ve never had much of a sense of humor, I’ll admit, but this sounds very much like a joke.”
“I’m not joking,” said Ruby. “This makes total sense if you think about it, and I’ve thought about it. We travel back to the time when Mom left the Vermillion for good. We get the Obsidian Compass before Captain Vincent steals it from Tui. We travel on the Vermillion to some remote place, far in the past, discard Captain Vincent, then give the Obsidian Compass to Tui, explain the situation, and then get back home with your compass. If Vincent never gets the compass, then we don’t have to worry about him coming after us or getting the Aeternum at all.”
“But I thought we can’t change the past,” said Corey. “Right? Isn’t that basically what Captain Vincent always told us? Otherwise he would have stopped Mom and Dad from ever meeting in the first place.”
“That’s not what he said,” said Ruby. “He said it’s unlikely that you’ll change major events, things that involve uncontrollable forces and the decisions of lots of people, but we have changed our own past, or at least Matt has, and more than once.”
“Me?” said Matt. “How?”
“The message you left yourself on that island when we were discarded? We would have died there if your future self hadn’t done that.”
That was true, Matt thought. He still had yet to do that. He wondered when it would be.
“And what about when you traveled back to Mom on your birthday? I heard what she said to you the other night. You were the reason she left the Vermillion. When she found out you were her son, that’s when she changed her mind about everything. If you hadn’t traveled to see her, Mom and Dad never would have gotten married. They wouldn’t have adopted you. Corey and I wouldn’t even exist.”
Matt tried to think that one through. Could there be other reasons why his mom might have left? Could that encounter really be the only reason she became his mother in the first place? If so, that did change things. Could he have that effect on other events as well?
“It’s really quite simple,” said Ruby. “Captain Vincent stole the Obsidian Compass. But it was always meant for Tui. If we give it to Tui then everything else is essentially the same. Mom still leaves. She marries Dad. We’re still their kids. The only difference is Captain Vincent won’t have the compass and so he won’t be able to come after us.”
“Which means we’d never board the Vermillion,” said Matt. “We’d never even know about it.”
“Not necessarily,” said Ruby. “If Tui’s captain of the Vermillion, it might be an even bigger part of our lives, and not in a threatening sort of way. Mom only wanted to make Vincent believe she was dead. She might not be so secretive if he were out of the picture. Her old crew would be like our extended family. If Vincent weren’t a threat, Mom would be much more relaxed about the whole thing. We might even time-travel for all our family vacations!”
Matt tried to imagine the whole family packing up to spend their summer on board the Vermillion, traveling around the world and visiting different eras. It sounded incredible, like the kind of life he’d always dreamed of having, but there was one important thing Ruby hadn’t mentioned.
“But what about Jia? If Captain Vincent never gets the compass, she’ll never board the Vermillion, and we’ll never meet her. She’ll be stuck in China, in the orphanage.” Matt knew that to Jia that was a fate worse than being discarded.
“Don’t worry,” said Ruby. “I’ve thought of that too. We simply tell Tui to get her. We can tell her to get everyone else, too, if we want. Wiley, Brocco, Pike, Albert.”
“Not Albert!” said Corey. “That nincompoop can rot in England for all I care.”
Ruby snorted. “Nincompoop?”
“Yeah. Emphasis on the poop. He stinks, and nobody wants to be around him.”
“And Captain Vincent never even picked up Pike,” said Matt. Jia had told him she had just appeared in a storage closet one day. They didn’t even know where or when she came from.
“Whatever,” said Ruby. “We can tell Tui to get Jia for sure. The rest are optional. It doesn’t really matter.”
“To us,” said Matt. “It might matter a lot to them.” He didn’t mind meddling when it came to his own life, but he wasn’t sure how comfortable he was meddling in other peoples’ lives. That didn’t seem right or fair.
“Look,” said Ruby, “I know this is risky, and maybe some things won’t work out the way we want, but can we all agree that going home and doing nothing is a terrible idea? We need to act, and I think this is the best course of action. If it doesn’t work out, then we try something else. Come on, I can feel it. Will you trust me on this one?”
Matt’s mind was spinning. There was just so much to consider. He was trying to do all the calculations, think of every possible outcome, all the risks, everything that could go wrong, but the possibilities were endless, and he started to feel dizzy. Could they really change things around? Make it so Captain Vincent never got the Obsidian Compass? And if that succeeded, what would happen to them? Would their memories be altered? Would they exist in a separate reality than the one they were living in now?
He definitely agreed with Ruby on one thing. They couldn’t sit around and do nothing. No matter what his mom said, he was not convinced that was the right course of action. Ruby’s plan was bold and certainly risky, but it was the best solution he’d heard yet. And they did have pretty solid evidence that they could change things. Matt’s visit to their mom in the past. He had changed her course back then, who was he to say that he couldn’t do it again? For the good of everyone? (Except Captain Vincent, maybe, but wouldn’t he be getting his just deserts?)
“Okay,” said Matt. “I trust you, I guess.” He put a fist out.
Ruby beamed and bounced a little. She turned to Corey.
Corey hesitated for a few seconds. He glanced at Matt, uncertain. “I have a few questions first,” said Corey.
Matt couldn’t have been more surprised if Corey had grown a second head. He was always the one
who jumped without looking. Act first, ask questions later. Ruby was always the careful one. It was like someone had swapped their brains or something.
“If we’re not going to steal Blossom, how are we going to travel?”
“Well, Matt didn’t travel with any vehicle the first time,” said Ruby. “I was thinking if we’re attached to him, we could all travel together. Would that work, Matt?”
Matt thought about it for a moment. “It’s possible, but fair warning, it might be pretty uncomfortable, and also risky. What if one of us gets lost in transit?”
“We’ll tie our arms and legs together,” said Ruby. “We’ll make sure we can’t be separated.”
Matt thought that sounded like it would be painful and possibly dangerous, but he didn’t want to argue with Ruby right now. She was so determined, and personally he was glad she was taking the lead on doing something. He admired her boldness and zealous determination. It gave him courage to take the risk. Corey, on the other hand, seemed less sure, which was surprising as Corey always wanted to do dangerous and risky things. Matt guessed that was only when it was his idea, not when someone else suggested the risky thing, especially his twin sister, who was his opposite in almost every way.
“I still think this is a little bit nutso,” said Corey, “but then again just about everything that has happened to us in the last few months has been pretty insane. This is just another drop in the bucket.” He stuck out his fist. “Okay, I’ll go along with it, mostly because I can’t think of a better plan, and I do not want to go home and be bored out of my mind.”
Ruby smiled. “Good enough for me.” She put her fist on top of Matt’s and Corey’s, and then she pulled out a wad of yellow yarn from her pocket. “Found this inside Blossom, thought it might come in handy.” She began to wrap it around all their wrists and arms.
“What are you doing?” Corey asked.
“Binding us for travel,” said Ruby.
“What, we’re going now?” Matt’s voice squeaked a little.
“Shh. . . .” Ruby looked around. Their parents and Tui were still talking and Chuck was still singing and crocheting. “No time like the present,” said Ruby. “If we wait, we might never get another chance. Do you really think once we get home Mom and Dad will let you keep your compass and travel whenever you like?”
Matt thought about it. No, they most certainly would not. Most likely they’d confiscate it until he was eighteen, and who knew what they would do with it between now and then? Lose it, destroy it . . .
Ruby wound the yarn every which way around their wrists and then up their arms, pulling it so tight Matt started to lose feeling in his fingers. He also felt a little light-headed, but he wasn’t sure that had anything to do with the yarn.
“You feeling well enough to travel, Matt?” Corey asked. He looked a little pale himself.
“I guess,” said Matt.
“Matt, you need to set the compass to March tenth, 1998, eleven p.m. Thirty-three degrees north and one hundred eighteen degrees west.”
“Whoa, slow down,” said Matt. “How do you know exactly where and when we need to go?”
“Tui,” said Ruby. “And Dad’s map. I found the symbol of the Vermillion in LA, and the date matched what Tui had said, so I memorized the coordinates. Let’s go!”
Matt fumbled to get the compass out of his shirt. “It’s kind of hard with one hand,” he said.
“Here, I’ll hold it, you turn the dials.” Ruby grabbed hold of the compass and held it toward Matt.
“Okay,” said Matt, taking a breath. This was all happening so fast he didn’t have time to sort through all the details in his brain, make sure everything lined up and made sense, but Ruby was right about one thing. This might be their only chance to fix everything, including saving Jia, and he wasn’t willing to waste it. He started to turn the dials.
“Here goes nothing,” said Corey.
“Relax,” said Ruby. “We’ll be there and back before the parents even know what’s happening, and when we do return, they won’t be angry, because everything will be as it always should have been.”
Matt hoped Ruby was right, because if this mission went south, he wasn’t sure he wanted to return and face their parents anyway. He turned the last dial very slowly. The compass made a final click.
Nothing happened at first. Matt wondered if maybe it wouldn’t work with all three of them. Maybe it was confusing the compass. But then he felt a small vibration just beneath his feet. It traveled up his legs, his arms and neck, reached over his head. It felt like some invisible net was being woven around all three of them. Matt started to panic. He suddenly wanted to stop. They hadn’t thought this through. How would they know where to go after they’d taken the compass? If they succeeded, their parents wouldn’t still be on Wrangel Island, would they? Were they supposed to go to New York? When, exactly? But there was no time to answer these questions or stop the compass. Suddenly the invisible net was cinched tight. Matt was jolted forward, like someone had shoved him hard in the back. The same thing must have happened to Corey and Ruby because their three heads were suddenly smacked together and . . .
Thpt!
They disappeared.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Hudson and Tui came walking arm in arm toward the place where the children had been. It appeared they had made peace.
“Where are the kids?” she asked.
Mr. Hudson looked around. “Oh, they’re around here somewhere. I just saw them.”
“Probably just playing hide-and-seek again,” said Chuck.
Belamie Hudson’s stomach clenched. Her heart raced. She called out for her children, but they did not respond. She had a horrible feeling. . . .
14
As It Always Should Have Been
Belamie, Age 17
It was Vincent’s idea, or at least he had given the idea to her. She remembered feeling foolish for not thinking of it herself. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t thought of her parents in so long. She had buried the memory of them so deep within her, it was almost as if they had never existed at all.
She knew she had parents, of course. Everyone did, but this was only a fact. She felt no emotional attachment to it. Even when Vincent had first asked about her parents, she simply told him they’d died long ago and expected to be done with it. He never brought them up, not for a while at least.
And then one day, quite unexpectedly, he asked the question.
“Why don’t you go back and save them?”
That was all it took. That one little question unlocked something inside of Belamie, and the memories came rushing to the surface—the rich brown of her mother’s eyes, the rough warmth of her father’s hands, the sound of her name on their tongues. Her heart suddenly expanded in her chest. It ached. It was like it was beating for the first time in years. She felt light-headed. Why hadn’t she thought of this before? If she could travel through time and throughout the world, do as she wished and take what she liked, couldn’t she also change things she didn’t like? What was to stop her from making things exactly the way she wanted? Why couldn’t she change her own life? Belamie felt a surge of hope that she hadn’t felt in some time. She would rescue her parents, and then everything would be as it always should have been.
15
Fingerprints
March 10, 1998
San Pedro Bay, Los Angeles, California
Matt thought traveling on his own without a vehicle was bad enough, but time-traveling without a vehicle while tied to two other people was far, far worse. It was like being tossed around in a dryer, ripped to shreds and twisted up, all while being punched and kicked and elbowed in basically every sensitive area of your body over and over. It probably only lasted less than a minute in real time, but it felt like a torturous few hours.
Thpt!
Matt crashed down onto cement and rolled, all tangled up with Corey and Ruby, until they hit a wall. The three kids lay in a heap on the ground. It was dark outside. Matt could bare
ly discern up from down.
“You guys okay?” Ruby asked. She was breathing hard.
Matt nodded. He couldn’t find his voice yet. He was alive, at least.
“I think all my body parts have been rearranged,” said Corey. “Ruby, can you untie us, please?”
There was quite a bit of groaning and wincing as they all struggled to sit up enough for Ruby to unwind their arms. It took quite a bit more time than the initial binding. Once Matt’s arm was released, he shook it out and rubbed the raw skin around his wrist. They were all pretty bumped and bruised. Ruby’s hair was a tangled mess. She had dark smudges on her forehead and cheek.
“Ooh, you’re gonna have a black eye,” said Corey to Matt.
“Your nose is bleeding,” said Matt.
Corey wiped at his nose with his sleeve.
Matt was already dreading traveling back in the same fashion. He hoped, if things went according to plan, that Tui could give them a ride back on the Vermillion, or maybe they could borrow a vehicle themselves.
“Where are we?” said Corey.
Matt looked around. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it looked like they were in some kind of shipping yard. They were surrounded by stacks of giant crates, but at the end of the crates he saw sparkling black water and a few boats and cargo ships.
“I think we’re in the right spot,” said Ruby. “We’ve got to find the Vermillion. Come on.”
They all got up and started to walk toward the water. Ruby winced and faltered as she took a step.
Matt caught her by the arm. “You okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” Ruby said, but she was definitely limping like she’d twisted her ankle.
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