along the crowded sidewalk. It wasn’t easy. He’d walked invisibly through a crowd before—in the fifteenth century—but people hadn’t seemed packed in together so tightly then.
Maybe because they were all afraid of catching lice or fleas or the creeping crud from each other? Jonah thought, remembering how grotesque the people in fifteenth-century London had seemed to him.
The people around him here seemed clean and healthy and orderly—and that was the problem. They were always stepping politely out of the way for someone: “After you.”“Oh, no, by all means, you go first.” And that meant that Jonah was constantly in danger of bumping into one of them.
“Let’s just walk in the street,” he whispered to Katherine. “It’ll be easier.”
“They still have some horses and carriages out there, along with the cars and trolleys,” Katherine whispered back. “And that means we might step in some—”
“We’ll just have to dodge it,” Jonah insisted.
He tugged on her arm, pulling her out into the street with him. And it was easier to dodge the occasional car and carriage and horse dropping than all the people on the sidewalk. He had space to look around now too.
So this is Switzerland in the early nineteen hundreds? he thought. He stared up at rows of neatly tended, interconnected buildings, all with window boxes at every window, overflowing with flowers.
Mom would love this, Jonah thought. She’d be saying, “Oh, it’s so picturesque! It’s beautiful!”
He swallowed a lump in his throat that he probably couldn’t blame on the dry bread he’d eaten without anything to drink. He never liked thinking about his parents when he was in a different time period, because those thoughts always had an echo: What if I never see them again? What if this is the time period I get stuck in?
They had to get the Elucidator back from Mileva.
“There! We caught up with Albert and Mileva!” Katherine whispered, looking over to the sidewalk beside them. “They’re turning the corner—”
“We can’t lose them!” Jonah hissed. “Hurry!”
He grabbed Katherine’s arm and pulled her along with him. In the rush he forgot to watch the street beneath his feet.
Squish.
“Ugh, Jonah, did you just step in—”
“I’ll scrape it off. No big deal,” Jonah muttered back. He hurriedly rubbed the side of his dirty Nike against a bare spot in the street, but it wasn’t a perfect method. He could still smell a rather unpleasant odor rising from his shoe.
This is why people invented cars, Jonah thought. He’d had a nasty encounter with horse manure in the fifteenth century too. It was kind of depressing that they were in the twentieth century now, and it was still a problem.
Jonah and Katherine managed to keep up with Albert and Mileva—and stay out of any more horse droppings—the rest of the way to the train station. It was a huge, cavernous building, and Mileva kept glancing around as if something in it frightened her.
Or is she looking for me and Katherine? Jonah wondered.
She couldn’t be. They were invisible.
Albert and Mileva stood in line to buy a ticket, and then he walked her to her platform, with Jonah and Katherine right behind them. The train wasn’t there yet.
“You should go now,” Mileva said, touching her husband’s cheek. “You can’t be late for work.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” Albert murmured. “I don’t want you to leave me.”
He drew her into a hug. Katherine leaned closer and sighed dramatically, as if she were watching some stupid romantic movie. Jonah wondered if he was going to have to look away.
But then Mileva pulled away from Albert.
“Albert—I have to do this,” she said. “I have to go. I couldn’t live with myself if—”
Albert touched a finger to her lips, silencing her.
“I know,” he said. He studied Mileva’s face, his expression oddly analytical, as if he were watching a lab experiment instead of saying good-bye to his
Maybe because they were all afraid of catching lice or fleas or the creeping crud from each other? Jonah thought, remembering how grotesque the people in fifteenth-century London had seemed to him.
The people around him here seemed clean and healthy and orderly—and that was the problem. They were always stepping politely out of the way for someone: “After you.”“Oh, no, by all means, you go first.” And that meant that Jonah was constantly in danger of bumping into one of them.
“Let’s just walk in the street,” he whispered to Katherine. “It’ll be easier.”
“They still have some horses and carriages out there, along with the cars and trolleys,” Katherine whispered back. “And that means we might step in some—”
“We’ll just have to dodge it,” Jonah insisted.
He tugged on her arm, pulling her out into the street with him. And it was easier to dodge the occasional car and carriage and horse dropping than all the people on the sidewalk. He had space to look around now too.
So this is Switzerland in the early nineteen hundreds? he thought. He stared up at rows of neatly tended, interconnected buildings, all with window boxes at every window, overflowing with flowers.
Mom would love this, Jonah thought. She’d be saying, “Oh, it’s so picturesque! It’s beautiful!”
He swallowed a lump in his throat that he probably couldn’t blame on the dry bread he’d eaten without anything to drink. He never liked thinking about his parents when he was in a different time period, because those thoughts always had an echo: What if I never see them again? What if this is the time period I get stuck in?
They had to get the Elucidator back from Mileva.
“There! We caught up with Albert and Mileva!” Katherine whispered, looking over to the sidewalk beside them. “They’re turning the corner—”
“We can’t lose them!” Jonah hissed. “Hurry!”
He grabbed Katherine’s arm and pulled her along with him. In the rush he forgot to watch the street beneath his feet.
Squish.
“Ugh, Jonah, did you just step in—”
“I’ll scrape it off. No big deal,” Jonah muttered back. He hurriedly rubbed the side of his dirty Nike against a bare spot in the street, but it wasn’t a perfect method. He could still smell a rather unpleasant odor rising from his shoe.
This is why people invented cars, Jonah thought. He’d had a nasty encounter with horse manure in the fifteenth century too. It was kind of depressing that they were in the twentieth century now, and it was still a problem.
Jonah and Katherine managed to keep up with Albert and Mileva—and stay out of any more horse droppings—the rest of the way to the train station. It was a huge, cavernous building, and Mileva kept glancing around as if something in it frightened her.
Or is she looking for me and Katherine? Jonah wondered.
She couldn’t be. They were invisible.
Albert and Mileva stood in line to buy a ticket, and then he walked her to her platform, with Jonah and Katherine right behind them. The train wasn’t there yet.
“You should go now,” Mileva said, touching her husband’s cheek. “You can’t be late for work.”
“I don’t want to leave you,” Albert murmured. “I don’t want you to leave me.”
He drew her into a hug. Katherine leaned closer and sighed dramatically, as if she were watching some stupid romantic movie. Jonah wondered if he was going to have to look away.
But then Mileva pulled away from Albert.
“Albert—I have to do this,” she said. “I have to go. I couldn’t live with myself if—”
Albert touched a finger to her lips, silencing her.
“I know,” he said. He studied Mileva’s face, his expression oddly analytical, as if he were watching a lab experiment instead of saying good-bye to his
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