Read Online A World Apart (The Hands of Time: Book 3) by Irina Shapiro - Free Book Online Page B

raised the alarm.  They had no way of knowing at exactly what time Finn transported himself.  Valerie thought she heard him on the stairs, but it could just as easily have been Minnie.  Finn obviously came home sometime after they sat down to supper, which had been a lengthy affair.  He might have been gone for as much as two hours by the time they discovered him missing.  Alec turned to Valerie, trying to appear much calmer than he felt.
    “ Sweetheart, here’s what we’ll do.  Once we get to town, I’ll find us an inn where you can freshen up and rest.  You need to sleep.  I’ll search the town.  Someone must have seen him.  Are you hungry?”
    Valerie just shook her head.  She was exhausted and terrified, her stomach revolting against even the sip of cider she took a few moments ago.  She’d like to have argued with Alec, but at the moment, sleep was the only thing she craved, aside from the sight of Finn.  She needed to lie down, if only for a short while.  Alec must be exhausted too, but arguing with him would be futile.  He wouldn’t stop to rest for fear of allowing Finn to get even further away.
    “Why don’t we go over everything you remember about 1775?” Alec suggested.  “I know they are in the middle of the Revolutionary War, but what else can you tell me?  I must know as much as possible.” 
    Alec would never admit it to Valerie, but he was excited about finding himself in the future.  This wasn’t the future he dreamed off, but it was still one hundred and fifty years past his own time, and he was more than curious to see how life had changed.  The idea that the colonists could take on the might of Britain and win boggled his mind, making him strangely proud of the future citizens of the United States.  He only hoped that Finn would stay clear of the conflict, and not set himself up as a target for the revolutionaries.
    Valerie suddenly stopped walking and turned to face Alec.  Her eyes looked even more panicked than they did a few moments ago, although as far as Alec could tell nothing had changed. 
    “Something’s been niggling at me all night, and I finally remembered what it is.  It’s been a very long time since I’ve studied American history, but I seem to remember that at some point during the seventeenth century the capitol was moved from Jamestown to Williamsburg.  Jamestown eventually fell into decline and ceased to exist altogether, but I can’t remember exactly when that happened.  There might not even be a Jamestown any longer, Alec.  What do we do then?”  Valerie looked at Alec, her expression forlorn.  If Finn wasn’t in Jamestown, they would have no clue where to look for him. 
    “Let us wait and see, shall we?  It can’t be as bad as all that.”  Alec fervently hoped that he was right.  What if there was no longer a Jamestown?
    Jamestown eventually came into view, bringing relief and despair .  The town had grown since their own time, but it had the distinct air of decline, especially at the outskirts.  Alec and Valerie passed several abandoned houses and the ruins of a church on their way to the center.  The buildings in the heart of the town were much grander than they were in the seventeenth century, but some of the windows were still shuttered, giving the square a melancholy air.  The sun was fully up by this time, and the place should have been a beehive of activity, but it was strangely quiet.  A few masts could be seen rising above the roofs of houses facing the docks, but there wasn’t the usual flurry of activity.  Several women, some of them colored, passed by, baskets slung over their arms, obviously en route to a shop or a market. 
    A wagon rattled past, loaded with barrels of something; the driver wearing a beat-up tricorn , which obscured the upper half of his face.   
    “What manner of hat is that?” asked Alec, looking after the wagon. 
    “That’ s a tricorn.  They were very popular during the eighteenth