are quite useful for carrying large loads.”
“We all know you could carry him,” Abby agreed. “You could carry all of us put together.”
“Yeah,” Carol added. “You’re the buffest old guy I know.”
“ Old guy? ” Coach Horne said, raising his eyebrow.
“Oh . . . that was probably one of those moments I shouldn’t have just said whatever came into my head, right?” Carol said.
“Right,” Coach Horne agreed.
Grandpa carried the intruder’s briefcase in one hand, his own cane in the other. He led them down another corridor, one Abby had never been in before.
After a minute or so, Grandpa approached another large metal door with the same crossbars and gears of all the other doors in the basement. He hooked his cane over his wrist while he inserted a key and twisted. He nodded and Dr. Mackleprank, Derick, and Rafa dropped the two trespassers on the cold hard ground. In a few moments, both stirred back to consciousness.
“I designed a few rooms as a secure place to store essential equipment. Now they will have to serve as cells,” Grandpa explained.
“You will be treated humanely,” Grandpa said to the trespassers. “Which is perhaps better than you deserve, considering what you intended to do.” He looked down at the men with a look that surprised Abby. She had never seen him that furious. She had seen him stern, but the way his eyebrow bent inward and his lip slightly curled up into a snarl was so much more than stern. “Will Muns never stop?”
He glared at the two prisoners. They didn’t answer.
“Tell me what Muns has planned next before he ruins our entire existence.”
Again, silence.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have caused? Do you think about your own actions, or do you merely follow Muns blindly?” Grandpa shook his cane in the air.
Abby grinned as Grandpa lectured the men on the dangers of meddling with time for the next several minutes. Grandpa never shied away from a chance to teach, but this was more than that. Abby thought perhaps Grandpa was trying to help them understand, even scare them into telling him anything about Muns. “I must know what he plans to do, or everything is at risk,” he said.
No answer.
“I don’t know if he promised you that he would go back in time to bring your relatives back from the dead, or give you a chance you never had, or help you rid yourself of some regret,” Grandpa continued, “but it is not worth it . And it wouldn’t solve anything anyway.” Sweat glistened from Grandpa’s bald head in the dim light. “We can’t waste all our energy wishing the past were different—we must learn from it and move forward.”
The prisoners acted like they had heard it all before. Their faces were blank, looking throughout their new cell, looking anywhere but at Oscar Cragbridge.
Grandpa lifted up the briefcase he had been holding. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what’s in here.”
The two men looked at each other, but did not reply.
“No matter what it is, it is horrendously dangerous to bring anything from the future to the past.” He handed the case to Coach Horne. “Would you give this to the Trinhouses? Tell them we don’t trust it and want to make sure it’s safe before we open it. Have them keep me informed.”
The coach took the case and nodded. Abby wondered who or what the Trinhouses were.
Grandpa turned to leave, then shifted back. “Did it even occur to you that Muns’s energy bursts can only send you into the past, but cannot bring you back? There is no way he could create one in the right place to stay open long enough to retrieve you. He sent you on a kamikaze mission into the past, and you went!” He pointed at one with his cane and then the other.
Abby hadn’t thought of that before, but it was true. Muns would have left them there whether they succeeded or failed.
“Fine, then,” Grandpa said. “I will have to decide what to do with you.” He stepped back and motioned for
“We all know you could carry him,” Abby agreed. “You could carry all of us put together.”
“Yeah,” Carol added. “You’re the buffest old guy I know.”
“ Old guy? ” Coach Horne said, raising his eyebrow.
“Oh . . . that was probably one of those moments I shouldn’t have just said whatever came into my head, right?” Carol said.
“Right,” Coach Horne agreed.
Grandpa carried the intruder’s briefcase in one hand, his own cane in the other. He led them down another corridor, one Abby had never been in before.
After a minute or so, Grandpa approached another large metal door with the same crossbars and gears of all the other doors in the basement. He hooked his cane over his wrist while he inserted a key and twisted. He nodded and Dr. Mackleprank, Derick, and Rafa dropped the two trespassers on the cold hard ground. In a few moments, both stirred back to consciousness.
“I designed a few rooms as a secure place to store essential equipment. Now they will have to serve as cells,” Grandpa explained.
“You will be treated humanely,” Grandpa said to the trespassers. “Which is perhaps better than you deserve, considering what you intended to do.” He looked down at the men with a look that surprised Abby. She had never seen him that furious. She had seen him stern, but the way his eyebrow bent inward and his lip slightly curled up into a snarl was so much more than stern. “Will Muns never stop?”
He glared at the two prisoners. They didn’t answer.
“Tell me what Muns has planned next before he ruins our entire existence.”
Again, silence.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you could have caused? Do you think about your own actions, or do you merely follow Muns blindly?” Grandpa shook his cane in the air.
Abby grinned as Grandpa lectured the men on the dangers of meddling with time for the next several minutes. Grandpa never shied away from a chance to teach, but this was more than that. Abby thought perhaps Grandpa was trying to help them understand, even scare them into telling him anything about Muns. “I must know what he plans to do, or everything is at risk,” he said.
No answer.
“I don’t know if he promised you that he would go back in time to bring your relatives back from the dead, or give you a chance you never had, or help you rid yourself of some regret,” Grandpa continued, “but it is not worth it . And it wouldn’t solve anything anyway.” Sweat glistened from Grandpa’s bald head in the dim light. “We can’t waste all our energy wishing the past were different—we must learn from it and move forward.”
The prisoners acted like they had heard it all before. Their faces were blank, looking throughout their new cell, looking anywhere but at Oscar Cragbridge.
Grandpa lifted up the briefcase he had been holding. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what’s in here.”
The two men looked at each other, but did not reply.
“No matter what it is, it is horrendously dangerous to bring anything from the future to the past.” He handed the case to Coach Horne. “Would you give this to the Trinhouses? Tell them we don’t trust it and want to make sure it’s safe before we open it. Have them keep me informed.”
The coach took the case and nodded. Abby wondered who or what the Trinhouses were.
Grandpa turned to leave, then shifted back. “Did it even occur to you that Muns’s energy bursts can only send you into the past, but cannot bring you back? There is no way he could create one in the right place to stay open long enough to retrieve you. He sent you on a kamikaze mission into the past, and you went!” He pointed at one with his cane and then the other.
Abby hadn’t thought of that before, but it was true. Muns would have left them there whether they succeeded or failed.
“Fine, then,” Grandpa said. “I will have to decide what to do with you.” He stepped back and motioned for
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