Acadian Star by Helene Boudreau

Picasse Bay, stressed out about moving to Alberta. Would saving Geneviève change all that?
    No way! It couldn’t be!
    Besides, how dare Tante Perle dump this load on her? Meg never asked to be a hero. She was doing just fine living her normal life in Picasse Bay.
    Meg strained to figure out how she was being tossed from one moment in time to another. It was like magic. It had to be something linked to Tante Perle. But what?
    Magic.
    Tante Perle had mentioned something about how a small fissure could turn into a permanent crack and then the magic would be lost.
    Meg eyed the oyster shell on her lap. The small hairline crack she’d seen back in Tante Perle’s shack had worked its way up and was now halfway through the shell.
    Meg concentrated, trying to organize her thoughts. Every time she’d shifted time periods, she had been holding the shell. Then weird, red, white, and blue lights appeared. Did the shell hold the magic for getting back to Picasse Bay?
    The magic is in danger of being lost.
    Did that mean if the shell broke, her family would be plagued by a curse forever? But without magic, how would Meg ever stand a chance to get back home?
    She took the oyster shell in her hand and held it, careful not to crush it. She couldn’t risk it breaking. Not before she was safe, back in Picasse Bay!
    Marguerite and Geneviève were from the past and Meg and Nève were from the present. There was no way one thing had to do with the other. She had to shake herself out of this weird dream somehow, she decided.
    â€œCome on, come on!” Meg held the shell and closed her eyes, willing the lights to appear.
    Nothing.
    She waited for what seemed like eons, but each time she opened her eyes, it was to the same nightmare.
    â€œMarguerite!”
    Meg put the shell back in her pocket. She’d try again later. Maybe if she had a look around, she might find a clue to help her return back to her own time.
    She rose to her feet and ran out of the barn. She stood in a broad field high on the top of a hill. A few sheep grazed beyond the barnyard fence. A humble house stood at the base of the hill. Beyond the hill lay the harbour.
    Three tall ships were nestled in its basin.
    Meg brought her hand to her mouth. She remembered the horror she felt when she was trapped on one of those ships just moments ago and shook her head fiercely. This couldn’t be real. Somehow she’d wake up from this nightmare.
    â€œMarguerite, hurry!” a voice called.
    Meg ran down the hill to join Geneviève in the house. She’d play the part for now and see where it led.
    But the past was the past; nothing she did could change that, she decided. Curse or no curse, she had to figure out a way to get back to Picasse Bay.

Chapter 12

    M EG STEPPED INSIDE THE HOUSE and scanned the one-room dwelling.
    It looked just like one of those reconstructed houses she had seen during last year’s school field trip to the Fortress of Louisbourg. The rough logs of the rafters, the coarse woollen blankets on the large bed in the corner, the black pot perched over an open fire crackling in a low hearth—it was all so realistic. If this was a dream, it was the most vivid one Meg could ever remember.
    Geneviève sat on a narrow bench by the fire, holding a swaddle of blankets. A woman stood before her, facing a tall man in a soldier’s uniform who was darkening a far corner of the room.
    â€œBut their mother has passed on; they have lived with our family ever since.” The woman’s chestnut hair was swept back under a bonnet. The sleeves of her chemise were rolled up to her elbows, revealing reddened hands dripping with soapy water. “Surely you could make an exception.” She dried her hands vigorously on her apron.
    â€œAnd who is this?”
    Meg swung around to the sound of the booming voice. The soldier nodded in her direction.
    â€œThis is Marguerite.” The woman approached Meg and drew her