Trapped in 1867

The Story So Far … Gauri has trouble with the connection from an app on her phone to the time machine controls but soon manages to fix it. With Ben inside the pod, Gauri heaves down on the interval gear, causing a loud thunderous explosion.

CHAPTER THREE Error To do list:

1. Refill freon in combustion chambers from supply stock

2. Adjust alternator and realign scanning hardware

3. Wash hair

January 16th, 1867

7:12 PM Temperature Reading: -21 C

A blast of cold air rushes over me as I push open the pod-door of the Lotus-five. I forget for a moment I’m with Ben and step out into a frigid moon-lit, snow covered field, surrounded by frozen apple-trees—and nothing else—no homes, no streets, no cars.

Nothing.

Uh oh.

I scoot back into the pod and check the interval display: Burlington, Upper Canada, January 16th, 1867. Argh.

I totally forgot to set the date to June 1st. In my calculations I figured it would take a month to get from Burlington to Ottawa by horse, (that is of course if we can’t catch a ride on the steam trains, although I question now if they are constructed yet.) Double argh.

I’m such a bozo.

“What just happened?” Ben wipes the condensation off the glass window and looks outside at the icy landscape. “Where’s your house?”

“It hasn’t been built yet. We’re in 1867,” I say to him.

I know Ben still doesn’t believe me because he checks his phone and looks back outside again. “What happened to the Wifi?” he asks.

I roll my eyes and giggle. “They didn’t have internet in 1867, silly.”

7:35 PM

The temperature in the pod begins to drop. I put on my thermal coat and woolly mitts.

7:47 PM

Ben is shivering. He has a stupid thin winter coat and no gloves. I am worried we may freeze to death and wonder if I should use the remaining freon and transport ourselves back to 2017.

“This can’t be happening. This seriously cannot be happening.” Ben tucks his face into this jacket and curls up on the bench. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. What did you do?”

I shrug, helplessly trying to get him to understand I made a small error. All I need from him is the thumbs up and we can go back. It would just mean I would bomb the assignment. But hey, we wouldn’t be dead.

“I made a mistake,” I say finally. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to get a really good mark on this project.”

“Well, now we’re not going to be alive long enough to get any marks.” Ben shakes his head and looks at me with an icy stare. “Bozo.”

8:02 PM

Ben is not talking to me. He has slipped his knees into the bottom of his coat and stuffed his head into my duffle bag.

“Why did you bring a bathing suit?” he mumbles.

I sigh and imagine it is hot and sunny outside.

8:08 PM

My nose-hairs have frozen and I can’t feel my toes. I decide it’s not worth risking my life just to get the best mark in my class. Truth be told, Shelby Reynolds gets the highest grades in everything and I hate it. The only time I ever got the same mark as her was when we were partners for the science-fair last year.

And I did like fifty-one percent of the work too.

8:17 PM

I step outside of the Lotus-five to open up the engine panel only to discover I have waited too long. The condensed air released from the combustion chambers has frozen the hinges. I have nothing to melt it.

We’re stuck.

The wind is howling through the dark gangly trees, swirling the snow around the time machine, nearly blinding me.

My face feels like it is burning—only I know it’s not. Weird.

The pod-door handle is frozen now.

I bang on the window and wait for Ben to let me in.

For a brief moment I see something moving around the apple trees. It looks like a girl, bundled up in animal fur.

“Hello?” I call out, not sure the girl will hear my voice over the blustery shrills.

I bang on the window again. The door finally opens and fall into the pod.

“I’m so cold,” Ben mutters. A dim blue light from the interval screen reveals his frightened eyes.

“We can’t stay in here,” I tell him. “We won’t last the night.”

“Where can we go? There’s no one around?”

“We’ll find help,” I say. Ben wraps my bathing suit around his head again and tucks his arms back into the duffle bag. “You seriously think we’ll find someone out there in that storm?”

For some reason I don’t tell him about the girl—perhaps because I’m not sure if she was just a figment of imagination. Besides, I heard people get delirious as they go into hypothermic shock. Maybe I’m just seeing things. “This is Burlington, there’s gotta be a house nearby,” I say— my teeth are now chattering.

“Are you kidding? Do you know what the population of Burlington was in 1867?” Ben’s voice is firm and raspy.

I shrug. “I dunno, what was it?” His quivering head lifts up—he glares at me. “I don’t know, but there probably weren’t a lot of people.”

For the first time in the height of my exceptional childhood, I am at a loss.

What would Shelby Reynolds do?

I look at Ben again.

I can see he is no longer angry, he’s no longer confused—ben Wiseman is terrified.

And to be perfectly honest—so am I.

To be continued Thursday, October 5