Sand Storm (Quantum Touch Book 2) Read online

  “Well, it seems that it does,” said Lee, joy in his voice. “But you say you’ve been on a summer furlough? For what length of time, may I ask?”

  “From the end of June to now, early September, so more than two months.”

  “Mr. Russell, that is most interesting. Only two days ago, in my time, we had tea together.”

  “Really?” said Fritz. “General, that is very surprising. You remember that a day had passed the last time I visited when it was only five minutes in my time.”

  “Of course, I remember.” He unfolded his spectacles. “It was only two days ago. Your portal seems to have a watch of its own, Mr. Russell.”

  Fritz thought a moment. “General, I’m still not sure of everything about the portal. Would you be willing to be a guinea pig?”

  “A what?”

  “Sorry, General. I’m asking if you would experiment with me to determine some of the portal’s finer points.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re not thinking of turning me into one of those… guinea pigs. What do you have in mind?” Lee twisted the arm of his glasses between his thumb and finger. “Mr. Russell, your smile is saying something. What is it?”

  “General, you are twisting your glasses. I read that you did that when you were thinking. It seems the writer was correct. But let me explain what we found. Entry into the portal needs a thunderstorm, the key to my desk in the lock, paperclips on book pages, and the book placed on my desk in the proper place.”

  Lee interrupted. “You mean that the lightning and your desk key open the portal? That sounds like Dr. Franklin’s experiment. But what is a paperclip?”

  “It’s a wire that’s looped to keep pages of paper together. Ash, do you have one?” Ashley checked his pockets, a regular source of junk.

  “Here,” Ash said, and handed it to General Lee.

  “Thank you, Mr. Gilbert. How does it work?” Ashley got up, took a book from the general’s desk and clipped a few pages together.

  “Very useful.”

  “Actually, General, I think there is a patent for this already. 1867.”

  “Interesting. I’ll have to look into it. May I keep this?”

  Fritz said, “General, until we find out more about how these trips to the past affect the future, it’s probably not a good idea.”

  “Oh, well,” said the general, handing the clip back to Ashley. “Mr. Russell, when you know more, do you think you might bring me back with you? I would still like to see your automobiles.”

  “General, if we can do that without doing damage, certainly. But since we know the portal is open now, could we try to come right back?”

  “Certainly. I’ll be here. It will be interesting to see.”

  Fritz hesitated. “General, could we leave a note here? With a date and time, so we can observe any changes?”

  “That is an excellent idea. I will make a note and remind myself not to move it in case you come back at some distant time. This will be an interesting experiment, Mr. Russell. I think I will be seeing you soon.”

  Fritz and Ashley returned to Fritz’s classroom and the paper-clipped book.

  “Ash, let’s do this. I’m going to move the clip a tad to the left, and mark it with a pencil. The time is now…” He looked at his watch. “3:07 p.m., September tenth.” He noted it on the book. “Let’s try again.”

  “Mr. Russell, nice to see you. But I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”

  “Hi, General. Can you tell me what day it is, and the time?”

  “Today is April 22, 1868.” Lee removed his pocket watch. “The time is 3:08 p.m.”

  “And what day was it when we discussed our experiment?”

  “Experiment? When you were here yesterday, we discussed Mr. Lincoln’s assassination, but we didn’t discuss an experiment. But I am being rude. Would you introduce me, Mr. Russell?” The general stood. “I am Robert Lee” extending his hand to Ashley.

  “Nice to meet you, uh, General.”

  “Sorry, sir. This is Ashley Gilbert. He’s also a teacher and my friend. Actually, you’ve already met him. But apparently at a future date. General, is there a note on your desk. One that says not to move it?”

  “Why yes. I found it here this morning. In my handwriting, but I have no recollection of writing it.”

  “What is the date and time you wrote there, General?”

  “Most interesting that you know about the note, Mr. Russell.”

  “I asked you to write it, General. This is part of the experiment. We are trying to pinpoint date and time.”

  “Here’s the note. It is for tomorrow, at about this time.”

  “General, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to try again. You will know about the experiment when we see you again.”

  “Young man, I can say this is most unusual, but fascinating.”

  “Then we will see you again. Soon, I hope.”

  Fritz and Ashley returned again to the hallway, then the classroom. “Let’s move the clip to the right and try again.”

  “Welcome, Mr. Russell. I see you have found your way back. But not at the time I wrote on the note.”

  “What day is it, General?”

  “Today is April 25. But you are at approximately the same time. It is now 3:24 in the afternoon.”

  “So we’re off by two days. General, did we come to see you twice in the last couple of days?

  “You and Mr. Gilbert did, but you also came alone once. It seems you and your experiment are getting fairly accurate.”

  “General, that is good news. I need to think about what it means, but we may have figured out another piece of the puzzle. Thank you for your help.”

  “I have been curious myself. Perhaps you can explain.”

  “General, we really must take our leave, for now. It is good to see you again. Maybe next time we’ll be able to stay a bit longer. And maybe I will have figured out enough of this to discuss. Let’s go, Ash.”

  “It was nice to meet you, General,” said Ashley.

  “I consider it my honor, Mr. Gilbert. Do come back again.”

  “Thanks, General,” said Fritz as he entered the portal door and led Ashley back into the hallway.

  As the door clicked shut, Ashley gaped at Fritz and said, “Wow. That was incredible. I shook hands with Robert E. Lee. And did you see the stuff in his office. I’d just like to look at it. Do you think we’ve learned anything? You should write this all down.” The staccato rhythm of Ashley’s comments told Fritz how excited but also how bewildered he was.

  “Now you know why I want to find out more about how this works. When we first went in, he said it had only been two days in his time, while it’s been three months since I tried it last. I’m guessing time isn’t a straight line, but how it works, who knows? The paperclip is clearly a time pointer as well as one for location. It seems one part controls the date, the other the time of day. I wonder which is which?”

  Ashley, still ecstatic, asked, “Can I help? Can I go with you again?”

  “So now you understand!” Fritz picked up the book and flipped through the middle. “Wanna go again.”

  “Yup. Where to?”

  Fritz showed Ashley the page he had turned to. “Gettysburg. I’ve been on the tour, but being there would be more interesting.”

  “Are you out of your mind? Going to an office is one thing. But the deadliest battle ever on American soil. You might as well shoot yourself.”

  “Ash, a lot of places are pretty safe. And we can find out how the paperclip picks the time of day. If we go to a hill, maybe one of the Round Tops, we’ll have a good view of Pickett’s Charge. What do you think?”

  “You better be exact. I want to be high and far away. And late.”

  “I’m not sure how to adjust the time. Pickett’s Charge had finished by about this time of day. So we should be okay.” Fritz turned pages looking for maps. He pointed to Little Round Top. “This is high enough for us and we can see a lot. If it’s over, we can just walk back h
ere.”

  “And if it’s not? Fritz, this is reckless. We should probably go more to the right. We’ll see better and if it’s over, that’s fine with me.”

  “Ash, if we go there, we’ll be near the middle of the Union lines. But we’ll have to stay low.” Fritz placed a paperclip over the name Hancock on the map. “Let’s go.”

  Out in the hall, Fritz looked at Ashley, they both inhaled, and one quick step later, smoke surrounded them. The volley of rifle fire from hundreds of guns bounced off the hills nearby. No more than twenty yards ahead, a gray-clad officer carrying a sword with a hat near the hilt neared the top of the stone wall, leading the remains of his brigade. The alto section of whizzing minie balls around them accompanied the bass of cannon and the tenor of repeated rifle fire. The smoke could not disguise the metallic smell of blood or the clash of metal on metal as the forward-pressing line reached the men in blue who repelled them with bayonets. With no place to hide, and unprepared to protect themselves, Fritz and Ashley dodged the blue uniforms rushing to the stone wall.

  Behind them, a bearded sergeant and a young soldier who didn’t look old enough to shave, loaded muskets. The young man looked up, scanned the lines of gray concentrating the attack, and said, “Those men are crazy.”

  The sergeant’s head lifted. “Son, those men are brave. Now finish loading.”

  “Ash, let’s go.” His words sounded like a whisper, but Fritz was shouting. They walked through the portal.

  “I never want to be that close to a war again,” said Ashley. “Could hardly see anything.”

  “We just saw the high tide of the Confederacy, Ash. The soldier with the hat on his sword was General Armistead, and he’ll be shot in a matter of seconds. That’s as far as they got.” Fritz sniffed his shirt. “I don’t know if I smell like gunpowder, or if all that smoke is still in my nose.”

  “If you do smell, you’re going to have some explaining to do.” Ash smelled his jacket. “I think we both will. Did you look around?”

  “Yeah, bodies all over. I saw a bullet hit the ground no more than an inch from my foot.”

  “No, I mean did you look around—at the scenery? What a contrast. Lush greenery in the distance, the hills and farmland, and the red of spread blood any direction you look. I don’t know about you, but for me, that was terrifying.”

  “I couldn’t see past the smoke.”

  “And look.” Ashley pulled a limp shirt away from his chest. “I’m soaked. You are nuts. And the paperclip didn’t help.”

  Fritz sighed. “I better figure out where those clips need to go. Or we could have a big problem sending our guys to Naria.”

  They went to the desk and opened to the paperclip. “I put it here on Cemetery Ridge, right about where Armistead reached the wall. See.” Fritz pointed out the line of attack of Pickett’s men. “But the time was wrong. It’s now after four. We’re off by about an hour.”

  “Maybe that’s as close as you can control. No, wait. An hour you said. Fritz, daylight savings. They didn’t have it.”

  “That never crossed my mind. Pennsylvania is in our time zone, so this is right on time.” Fritz ran his finger over the paperclip. “If I move the clip to the left, we go earlier. Like yesterday. We know that. Do you want to try again? We could watch the battle on Little Round Top. Or maybe go a little further back and watch as the armies march into town.” Fritz thumbed through the book. A picture of Robert E. Lee at his headquarters at Gettysburg gave him an idea. “Ash, look. This is the Thompson house on Seminary Ridge. That’s Lee. He won’t know us, but we can tell him next time we see him that we were there. Come on.” He headed for the door.

  “Fritz, this is exciting for you, I know, but this is Gettysburg you’re talking about. I don’t think getting shot is a good idea. Maybe we should find something a little quieter to visit. Like you taking a nap.”

  “Funny. There’s no fighting here. Let’s go.”

  “Okay, but now you know the portal still works. We should just stay for a minute. And then go. This is nuts.”

  Fritz pulled the door open and all his senses were assaulted. The heat that had caused them to sweat only a moment before smacked them again as they walked through. The acrid smell of gunpowder hung in the humid morning air. Mixed with the sharp aroma of the nearby horses, their eyes and noses stung. Lee stood in the yard, gazing into the morning mist, across the field alive with cannon and horse-drawn caissons. Fritz and Ashley both followed his view to the hills in the distance, a fence, and in the center of the horizon, opaque in the mist, a tree, standing alone.

  Fritz turned back to watch the general. His momentary solitude would end shortly. Tempted to approach, he refrained, noting the guards nearby, bayonets affixed to their muskets. A slight turn to his right brought Fritz and Ashley to Lee’s sightline. When he caught Fritz’s eye, Fritz waved. The general studied the two men who did not fit the moment, lifted his hand to his hat brim, and nodded an acknowledgement. The pounding of hooves to his left turned Lee’s attention away from his future visitors. “Let’s go, Ash.”

  Stepping back to the hallway, Fritz exhaled. “Ash, I think we arrived just before the artillery started on July third. Pickett’s men were getting ready in the woods.”

  “Fritz, I’m glad we saw Lee, and I’m even happier that there wasn’t any shooting. But let’s go home.”

  Ignoring Ashley, Fritz walked to his bookcase and started reading titles. “We could go to the Alamo, or how about Martin Luther King’s speech, you know, ‘I have a dream.’ Or… how about the signing of the Declaration of Independence?”

  “I think we should go home. Or your wife will declare independence.”

  “Maybe we should get her, Ash. We could go see the Wright Brothers at their bike shop, before they invented the airplane. Then we could go see them at Kitty Hawk, and they’d already know us. That would be cool.”

  “I think we should think about what problems we’ll have with the president wanting to use the portal. Linda’s already unhappy about it. And she’s not going to be happy with you.”

  TEN MINUTES LATER, Fritz and Ashley left to pick up the dinner that Linda had ordered. Fritz said, “Ash, I wonder what the president is going to do.”

  “Linda may not like it, but it’s obvious the president finds it useful.”

  “It’s only the second day of school, and we’re back in this thing. I wonder if I’ll ever be done with it. But meeting Lee, not bad, huh?”

  “Not bad. And almost getting shot at Gettysburg, that was fun too.”

  “Let’s not tell Linda about that, okay?”

  Fritz said that using the portal might have changed the kids. They had been talking about the portal all summer. Ashley said maybe summer vacation or the stories from their friends might account for the changes. Fritz disagreed. “Ash, I think it’s the portal. I really want to see if I can use it to teach. We know how it works now, so why not try it. The kids all asked about a trip yesterday.”

  “It would be cool to use the portal, but the damage you could do is very risky, my friend.” Ashley reminded him that Linda feared he would take unnecessary risks. “You’re going to have a baby, you have a job, and you have a wife who knows you can’t be trusted with this thing.”

  “Ash, we’ve known each other a long time. You know I’m not reckless. So does Linda. I have an opportunity to see the past. I didn’t ask for it, but I think I should at least explore how the portal functions.”

  “I figured we’d have this conversation eventually, and I’ve thought about what I would say. And you just showed me something amazing and scary.” Ashley told Fritz in concise terms that the portal wasn’t a game or a toy. He didn’t care about a scientific discovery. It was a dangerous, unpredictable path that needed a No Trespass sign. “Fritz, don’t use it. We taught without it before, and we can do just fine without it now.” Ashley hurried to get it all out before Fritz interrupted. “I know you’re not reckless, usually, but you are stubborn, and I know you’re going
to do it no matter what I say, but I want to be on the record—don’t. Meeting Lee was great, but using it could be treacherous.”

  Fritz mulled over Ashley’s warning as he pulled in the driveway. He tapped on the steering wheel, and put his right hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’ve thought about this all summer. I’ve had the same thoughts as you. If I decide to do anything, we’ll figure it out together, okay?”

  “That’s not fair. You’re gonna drag me into this nightmare. I knew it. Well, okay, but I’ll be arguing with you every step.”

  “Great. Let’s eat.” Fritz climbed out of the car.

  Great, my butt, and Ashley got out too.

  Chapter 5

  NOT AT ALL happy to hear their report, Linda’s annoyance increased when Ashley told her how much he enjoyed meeting Robert E. Lee. “I shook his hand, Lin. You should come.” Fritz tried to explain the importance of discovering as much as he could, but even with his best, most logical argument, he accepted that she wouldn’t change her mind. He also wondered if Ashley was as serious about not using the portal as he had said.

  “You smell funny, like smoke. So where else did you go?” she asked.

  Ash said, “We walked through a fire to reach the store.”

  “Well, that’s not true. Ashley, I read you like a book.” She focused on Fritz. “So?”

  Fritz evaded an answer. He hated lying to Linda, but her feelings about using the portal lingered never far from the surface, and he didn’t want to fight. He not only hated fighting, he wanted to savor having witnessed an important, though sad historical event. “It must have been Lee’s office. He had a fire burning in the stove.” She glanced at Ashley, and he looked away.

  “I know you’re lying. I always know, Fritz. If you don’t want to say, then you went somewhere bad. And I don’t want to know.” She shot a scowl at him and told them to set the table.

  IT RAINED AGAIN THE next day, but the forecast did not include thunderstorms. Fritz hoped the meteorologists would be wrong again. I’ve never paid this much attention to the weather in my life. The early morning light looked like liquid silver reflected off the rain-puddled asphalt.