that Malcolm guy said we shouldn’t be doing?”
“It’s easy for you to say,” Robbie retorts. “You just don’t want to screw up our chances of getting back to Mallory. But what about me? I have family I love right here.”
“You all have lives back there too,” Blake says. “Our lives are in 2009, not here.”
“He has a point,” Carson says. “I mean, I like your grandpa a lot too Robbie, but he was never around when we were all growing up. What happens if he is now? How much of all of our lives are we going to change? I like my life the way it’s going. What happens if we get back and everything about us is different?”
“Yeah, but we don’t know if we can even get back yet,” Francesca interjects. “Are we supposed to just let him die? He’s letting us live in his house. We’re eating his food every morning for breakfast. How can you guys be so cold as to just say you’re not going to help him if he’s dying?”
“We didn’t say we wouldn’t help him if he’s dying,” Carson counters.
“It sure sounded like you did,” Francesca says.
“Hey, guys, I think we’re getting out of our depth,” I say. “I didn’t mean to start an argument. I was just trying to figure out if we could learn something useful from this whole experience of Robbie’s this morning.”
“Have we?” Robbie asks.
“I don’t know,” I say.
We sit with our thoughts for a few moments , then I decide to take the conversation in a new direction. “I say we form a new plan. I think we should contact Malcolm at the Temporal Studies Society and see if we can get a meeting with Dr. Quickly sooner. Monday seems like a long way away right now, especially since Robbie’s family leaves Saturday. We don’t know what day we need to worry about in particular with Mr. Cameron, so every day counts. The sooner we figure out if we’re screwing up the universe, the better.”
“Do you think he’s going to be upset about us contacting him there when he told us not to?” Blake asks.
“We have extenuating circumstances. He should’ve had time to check out the softball field and our story by now. If he’s mad, I guess he’ll just have to deal.”
The others all seem agreeable and Francesca volunteers to be the one to call him. We file downstairs to the roll top desk and crowd around the phone as Francesca dials. “Hello. May I speak to Malcolm please? . . . Okay.” She covers the mouthpiece and turns to us. “She’s going to get him.”
I gr ab a pen and pad of paper from the desk to be prepared. Francesca straightens up as someone picks up on the other end. That was fast.
“Hello, it’s Francesca, from the Pier. Oh . . . Hello.” She looks confused for a moment. “Yes. I know. But we have a situation. We would like to meet sooner . . . yes. It is very important . . . okay.”
She grabs the pad of paper and pen from me and starts scribbling. “Okay. We’ll be there. Thank you.” She puts down the phone and tells us the news. “He’ll meet us tomorrow.”
“Malcolm?” Carson asks.
“Quickly,” Francesca replies. “I was just talking to Harold Quickly .”
Chapter 7
“ Cheating on a woman is always a bad idea. If your girl happens to be a time traveler, that’s worse. And if her father is a time traveler too . . . well, now you’ve really messed up.”
-Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Harold Quickly , 2010
The St. Pete Shuffleboard club is as busy as I’ve ever seen it. The 1986 crowd seems a good bit older than the young demographic I’m used to in 2009, but the enthusiasm is the same. A squat, middle-aged woman named Annie greets us in the main building as we walk in, and asks if we’ve been here before. It occurs to me that technically we have been here after, and not before, but I simply nod and say yes. She points us to the tangs and I root through a couple, trying to find one with solid tips.
“Are we actually going to play?” Carson asks.
“We
“It’s easy for you to say,” Robbie retorts. “You just don’t want to screw up our chances of getting back to Mallory. But what about me? I have family I love right here.”
“You all have lives back there too,” Blake says. “Our lives are in 2009, not here.”
“He has a point,” Carson says. “I mean, I like your grandpa a lot too Robbie, but he was never around when we were all growing up. What happens if he is now? How much of all of our lives are we going to change? I like my life the way it’s going. What happens if we get back and everything about us is different?”
“Yeah, but we don’t know if we can even get back yet,” Francesca interjects. “Are we supposed to just let him die? He’s letting us live in his house. We’re eating his food every morning for breakfast. How can you guys be so cold as to just say you’re not going to help him if he’s dying?”
“We didn’t say we wouldn’t help him if he’s dying,” Carson counters.
“It sure sounded like you did,” Francesca says.
“Hey, guys, I think we’re getting out of our depth,” I say. “I didn’t mean to start an argument. I was just trying to figure out if we could learn something useful from this whole experience of Robbie’s this morning.”
“Have we?” Robbie asks.
“I don’t know,” I say.
We sit with our thoughts for a few moments , then I decide to take the conversation in a new direction. “I say we form a new plan. I think we should contact Malcolm at the Temporal Studies Society and see if we can get a meeting with Dr. Quickly sooner. Monday seems like a long way away right now, especially since Robbie’s family leaves Saturday. We don’t know what day we need to worry about in particular with Mr. Cameron, so every day counts. The sooner we figure out if we’re screwing up the universe, the better.”
“Do you think he’s going to be upset about us contacting him there when he told us not to?” Blake asks.
“We have extenuating circumstances. He should’ve had time to check out the softball field and our story by now. If he’s mad, I guess he’ll just have to deal.”
The others all seem agreeable and Francesca volunteers to be the one to call him. We file downstairs to the roll top desk and crowd around the phone as Francesca dials. “Hello. May I speak to Malcolm please? . . . Okay.” She covers the mouthpiece and turns to us. “She’s going to get him.”
I gr ab a pen and pad of paper from the desk to be prepared. Francesca straightens up as someone picks up on the other end. That was fast.
“Hello, it’s Francesca, from the Pier. Oh . . . Hello.” She looks confused for a moment. “Yes. I know. But we have a situation. We would like to meet sooner . . . yes. It is very important . . . okay.”
She grabs the pad of paper and pen from me and starts scribbling. “Okay. We’ll be there. Thank you.” She puts down the phone and tells us the news. “He’ll meet us tomorrow.”
“Malcolm?” Carson asks.
“Quickly,” Francesca replies. “I was just talking to Harold Quickly .”
Chapter 7
“ Cheating on a woman is always a bad idea. If your girl happens to be a time traveler, that’s worse. And if her father is a time traveler too . . . well, now you’ve really messed up.”
-Excerpt from the journal of Dr. Harold Quickly , 2010
The St. Pete Shuffleboard club is as busy as I’ve ever seen it. The 1986 crowd seems a good bit older than the young demographic I’m used to in 2009, but the enthusiasm is the same. A squat, middle-aged woman named Annie greets us in the main building as we walk in, and asks if we’ve been here before. It occurs to me that technically we have been here after, and not before, but I simply nod and say yes. She points us to the tangs and I root through a couple, trying to find one with solid tips.
“Are we actually going to play?” Carson asks.
“We
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