A Bridge Through Time: (Time Travel) by Gloria Gay

find him we must be careful how we ask him why he painted the pendant in your hand. If we cannot find the painting it’s almost certain the artist took it back. I’m acquainted with a couple of artists and I think they value their work even if sometimes other people don’t. If your father refused to pay for that portrait the artist probably claimed it as his. And if so he probably still has the painting.”
    “He may have just left it in the house and it was stored in the attic,” Jestyn said. “Father was a generous person. I think that he would have paid the artist even if he didn’t accept the portrait. In that case the artist would have left it in the house and Father stored it somewhere up here where he couldn’t see it, since he had taken such a dislike to it. We must not discard any possibility, however unlikely.”
    “We’ll contact Cannidge even if we do find the painting,” Jestyn added. “He may know more about the pendant. It’s important we gather as much information as we can, so we can return you to your time. I sent him a message and should be hearing from him soon. I told him in my letter that I wanted to meet with him in relation to the painting he had done of me.”
    “But,” he added, “Can you imagine how many secret places there are in a place as vast as this estate? There have been many additions throughout the hundreds of years it has existed.”
    “That’s the only chance I have of returning to my time, Jestyn,” Jane said. “Why don’t we look for it first, and if we can’t find it anywhere, then we’ll contact the artist. Are there any places other than the attic where it could be stored, some secret panel?”
    “If there are secret panels we’ll find them, Jane, I promise you,” Jestyn said. “We’ll go room by room and consult the journals. Parts of the estate were added at different times so we just have to find the entries in the journals and check each and every room.”
    “Thank you, Jestyn.”
    Jestyn put his hand on Jane’s cheek. “I would rather you stayed here always, with me, but I know you must return to your time.”
    Aunt Florinda accompanied them to the attic door but remained in a tiny sitting-room by the gallery.
    “Too dusty, in there, my dears,” said Aunt Florinda, taking up her embroidery, “I can chaperone you from here just as well. Especially since no one downstairs knows our exact whereabouts,” she added with her sweet smile.
    “This is the second of the two large attics,” Jestyn said as he opened the huge door and led Jane inside. The entrance was wide and high, in order that large pieces of furniture could be moved into the rooms. They used Jane’s flashlight to light their way but they had also taken a couple of candles to examine the place by candlelight. Jane didn’t want to exhaust the flashlight’s batteries.
    “There are three smaller attics,” said Jestyn. “Cedric and I liked this one better when we were children because it has many more nooks for hiding and exploring.” He settled the candle rack on a secure place and turned to Jane.
    They walked around for a while, stopping where there were beds, for a painting might be stored underneath a bed. They also looked carefully behind stacks of wooden crates filled with objects.
    After about an hour or so of stopping here and there Jane stopped before a wardrobe.
    “What’s in that vault-like wardrobe, Jestyn?” Jane asked as she and Jestyn reached a massive wardrobe. Jestyn tried the door.
    “Is it locked?”
    “This lock has no pin to hold it, so rusted it is,” Jestyn said, pulling at it. “I don’t think Cedric and I could unlock it years ago when we tried but the years have deteriorated the lock.
    “The hinges are so rusted the door hardly moves. It’s stuck, I guess.”
    “Let’s both pull at it,” said Jane, trembling with excitement.
    “No, Jane,” Jestyn objected. “You shouldn’t be making any effort. Just stay back. I’ll manage alone. If I