his chest. With the one breath he knew something was dreadfully wrong. The air was too thick, too steamy to be London. And it smelled of mud and rotting plants.
He pocketed the two halves of the gold coin and stared around him. Leafy ferns the size of beach umbrellas spread all around. Towering trees rose from massive tangles of roots, like the knobby knees of giants. Overhead, branches wove a dense emerald canopy.
Jake shook his head, trying to clear the illusion.
It didn’t go away.
Had he and Kady been knocked out? Gassed? Kidnapped and dragged off to some jungle?
Insects whirred in a rasping chorus.
“What did you do?” Kady asked.
He glanced hard at her. “ What did I do? What are you talking about? I didn’t—”
She cut him off, deaf to his words. “What happened? Where are we?”
From the fear in her voice, Jake knew she was struggling to understand as much as he was.
He craned upward. Sunlight poured through the occasional cracks in the dense canopy. A wider gap overhead revealed the sun. The moon rested next to it, like the sun’s dark shadow. As Jake stared, the moon slipped clear of the sun’s face. An eclipse was ending. But was it the same eclipse that had started in London? It had to be. Another was not due for seven years.
But if this was the same eclipse, then no time had passed.
Is that possible?
As he stared at the sun and moon, something glided across the gap in the canopy. It stretched wide with leathery wings—then vanished before Jake could get a good look at it.
Despite the heat, Jake felt his blood go cold.
Something brushed his cheek. A flying beetle had landed on a frond of a fern in front of him. It was as large as his palm and was fronted by a wicked pair of pincing hooks. It clacked at him, then spread its iridescent green shell with a blur of flapping wings and took flight.
Jake ducked and stumbled back a step in shock. His foot sank into the muck of a small creek flowing through the meadow. He stared down as something scurried awayfrom his toe. It was flat like a crab, but its oval body was segmented into ridged plates.
No way…
Dropping to a knee at the bank of the creek, Jake shrugged off his pack and picked open a pocket. He reached for an object he had stashed there.
“What are you doing?” Kady asked sharply.
Jake pulled free the trilobite fossil he had dug out of the rock quarry behind the house. He held it over the creature in the creek. It was an exact match—only the one in the water wasn’t stone. The creature scuttled away and disappeared under a rock.
Jake stood up. “It’s…it’s…” He had to force the words past his disbelief. “It’s a living trilobite!”
Kady was not impressed. She waved his response away as if it smelled bad. “What is going on?” she asked again with more force. She even stamped her foot. She wanted an answer. Now.
She got one.
A trumpeting roar.
Jake and Kady bumped against one another in shock. A second roar shook the leaves and sprinkled Jake with dewdrops. Off to the left, trees and saplings began to snap and fall. Underfoot, the ground trembled. Something massive pounded their way.
Jake squeezed Kady’s hand.
Before they could take another breath, a boy and a girlburst out of the underbrush. They raced straight toward Jake and Kady. The girl, her dark hair flying behind her like a pair of raven’s wings, was in the lead. She half dragged a taller boy along with her. He struggled with a long spear that kept getting snagged in the bushes and branches.
“Oh, just drop it!” she yelled.
“My father’s spear? I would rather die!”
“More like your father would kill you if he ever found out you lost it!”
A louder bellow roared out of the jungle. The ground trembled.
The pair raced faster.
It was only when they were a couple yards away that one of them finally noted Jake and Kady. The girl stumbled aside in surprise, then leaped past them like a fleet-footed deer. She wore a loose embroidered
He pocketed the two halves of the gold coin and stared around him. Leafy ferns the size of beach umbrellas spread all around. Towering trees rose from massive tangles of roots, like the knobby knees of giants. Overhead, branches wove a dense emerald canopy.
Jake shook his head, trying to clear the illusion.
It didn’t go away.
Had he and Kady been knocked out? Gassed? Kidnapped and dragged off to some jungle?
Insects whirred in a rasping chorus.
“What did you do?” Kady asked.
He glanced hard at her. “ What did I do? What are you talking about? I didn’t—”
She cut him off, deaf to his words. “What happened? Where are we?”
From the fear in her voice, Jake knew she was struggling to understand as much as he was.
He craned upward. Sunlight poured through the occasional cracks in the dense canopy. A wider gap overhead revealed the sun. The moon rested next to it, like the sun’s dark shadow. As Jake stared, the moon slipped clear of the sun’s face. An eclipse was ending. But was it the same eclipse that had started in London? It had to be. Another was not due for seven years.
But if this was the same eclipse, then no time had passed.
Is that possible?
As he stared at the sun and moon, something glided across the gap in the canopy. It stretched wide with leathery wings—then vanished before Jake could get a good look at it.
Despite the heat, Jake felt his blood go cold.
Something brushed his cheek. A flying beetle had landed on a frond of a fern in front of him. It was as large as his palm and was fronted by a wicked pair of pincing hooks. It clacked at him, then spread its iridescent green shell with a blur of flapping wings and took flight.
Jake ducked and stumbled back a step in shock. His foot sank into the muck of a small creek flowing through the meadow. He stared down as something scurried awayfrom his toe. It was flat like a crab, but its oval body was segmented into ridged plates.
No way…
Dropping to a knee at the bank of the creek, Jake shrugged off his pack and picked open a pocket. He reached for an object he had stashed there.
“What are you doing?” Kady asked sharply.
Jake pulled free the trilobite fossil he had dug out of the rock quarry behind the house. He held it over the creature in the creek. It was an exact match—only the one in the water wasn’t stone. The creature scuttled away and disappeared under a rock.
Jake stood up. “It’s…it’s…” He had to force the words past his disbelief. “It’s a living trilobite!”
Kady was not impressed. She waved his response away as if it smelled bad. “What is going on?” she asked again with more force. She even stamped her foot. She wanted an answer. Now.
She got one.
A trumpeting roar.
Jake and Kady bumped against one another in shock. A second roar shook the leaves and sprinkled Jake with dewdrops. Off to the left, trees and saplings began to snap and fall. Underfoot, the ground trembled. Something massive pounded their way.
Jake squeezed Kady’s hand.
Before they could take another breath, a boy and a girlburst out of the underbrush. They raced straight toward Jake and Kady. The girl, her dark hair flying behind her like a pair of raven’s wings, was in the lead. She half dragged a taller boy along with her. He struggled with a long spear that kept getting snagged in the bushes and branches.
“Oh, just drop it!” she yelled.
“My father’s spear? I would rather die!”
“More like your father would kill you if he ever found out you lost it!”
A louder bellow roared out of the jungle. The ground trembled.
The pair raced faster.
It was only when they were a couple yards away that one of them finally noted Jake and Kady. The girl stumbled aside in surprise, then leaped past them like a fleet-footed deer. She wore a loose embroidered
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