attached to an equally translucent wrist and arm, covered in what seemed to be the translucent sleeve of a sweatshirt.
“Chip!” Jonah started to scream. At the last minute he turned it into a mere mouthing of the word. But he grinned at his friend to let him know how completely relieved he was to see him. Or, well, to see through him.
For Chip had also evidently been granted time-traveler invisibility.
Get Katherine and let’s get out of here, Chip mouthed back at him, pointing past Jonah as if he didn’t trust Jonah to get the message otherwise.
Jonah nodded and turned to pull Katherine through the gap between the guard and the wall. Now all three kids stood on the stairs above the guards. The guard nearestthem turned around and gazed suspiciously in their direction. Had he sensed Jonah and Katherine brushing past him? Had he heard Jonah’s barely breathed “H—”?
It didn’t matter. He couldn’t see them, so he didn’t start climbing toward them or waving a bayonet up at them.
Chip tugged on Jonah’s arm and made a C’mon motion with his hand, gesturing toward the open door above them.
Before someone decides to shut the door, he mouthed.
Jonah nodded, and all three kids began tiptoeing up the stairs.
Jonah almost felt like giggling.
Ha, ha, ha, he wanted to shout down at all the guards scanning the cellar so thoroughly. Thrust your bayonets anywhere you want—you’re not going to catch us! You’d have to be able to see us to find us!
They escaped into the sunshine outside the cellar door. They looked around and, by silent agreement, tiptoed on out toward the wooden fence at the far side of the garden, where no one would hear them.
“Great timing!” Jonah congratulated Chip as they both flopped to the ground. Katherine eased down beside them.
“I was terrified that I might be too late,” Chip said. Even though he used modern words, he still sounded vaguely medieval. His face grew serious as he turned toward Katherine. “Oh, no— was I too late?”
Jonah looked at his sister. She still had his sweatshirt tied as an impromptu sling around her arm and neck. One of the bayonets must have connected, because the sleeve of her own sweatshirt had a gaping hole in it now, right over her bicep. But no blood stained the sweatshirt, so maybe the bayonet had only gone through the cloth, not her arm.
Also, her frown looked more annoyed than pained at the moment.
“Chip, I am not some damsel in distress you had to rescue!” she protested. “Jonah and I were doing fine by ourselves!”
“No, we weren’t,” Jonah said. “Katherine may not be grateful, but I’m glad you rescued us!”
Chip looked confused. He reached out and gingerly touched Katherine’s elbow.
“But your arm—”
“Is fine,” Katherine said quickly. She tugged off the improvised sling made from Jonah’s sweatshirt and handed it back to her brother. “It just hurt a little at first, and you know, Jonah’s a Boy Scout, so he had to prove he was prepared and all. . . . It’s nothing.”
What was this—Katherine actually downplaying an injury, rather than acting like breaking a fingernail might kill her?
Jonah would never figure out his sister. Unless . . . was this all for Chip’s sake?
Chip was still peering anxiously at Katherine.
“I was so afraid you would think I was a coward when I didn’t jump up and fight when the guards started dragging you away,” he said. He shoved back his hair—an odd sight, given that it looked crystalline and see-through now, as if each of his normally blond curls had been turned into glass. “I didn’t want you thinking me a coward, but—”
“But what you did was perfect,” Jonah interrupted.
He thought he kind of saw what Chip and Katherine’s problem was, but the last thing Jonah wanted was to become their relationship coach.
“Look,” he told them. “We don’t have time right now for the two of you to work out your ‘I want to be your knight in shining
“Chip!” Jonah started to scream. At the last minute he turned it into a mere mouthing of the word. But he grinned at his friend to let him know how completely relieved he was to see him. Or, well, to see through him.
For Chip had also evidently been granted time-traveler invisibility.
Get Katherine and let’s get out of here, Chip mouthed back at him, pointing past Jonah as if he didn’t trust Jonah to get the message otherwise.
Jonah nodded and turned to pull Katherine through the gap between the guard and the wall. Now all three kids stood on the stairs above the guards. The guard nearestthem turned around and gazed suspiciously in their direction. Had he sensed Jonah and Katherine brushing past him? Had he heard Jonah’s barely breathed “H—”?
It didn’t matter. He couldn’t see them, so he didn’t start climbing toward them or waving a bayonet up at them.
Chip tugged on Jonah’s arm and made a C’mon motion with his hand, gesturing toward the open door above them.
Before someone decides to shut the door, he mouthed.
Jonah nodded, and all three kids began tiptoeing up the stairs.
Jonah almost felt like giggling.
Ha, ha, ha, he wanted to shout down at all the guards scanning the cellar so thoroughly. Thrust your bayonets anywhere you want—you’re not going to catch us! You’d have to be able to see us to find us!
They escaped into the sunshine outside the cellar door. They looked around and, by silent agreement, tiptoed on out toward the wooden fence at the far side of the garden, where no one would hear them.
“Great timing!” Jonah congratulated Chip as they both flopped to the ground. Katherine eased down beside them.
“I was terrified that I might be too late,” Chip said. Even though he used modern words, he still sounded vaguely medieval. His face grew serious as he turned toward Katherine. “Oh, no— was I too late?”
Jonah looked at his sister. She still had his sweatshirt tied as an impromptu sling around her arm and neck. One of the bayonets must have connected, because the sleeve of her own sweatshirt had a gaping hole in it now, right over her bicep. But no blood stained the sweatshirt, so maybe the bayonet had only gone through the cloth, not her arm.
Also, her frown looked more annoyed than pained at the moment.
“Chip, I am not some damsel in distress you had to rescue!” she protested. “Jonah and I were doing fine by ourselves!”
“No, we weren’t,” Jonah said. “Katherine may not be grateful, but I’m glad you rescued us!”
Chip looked confused. He reached out and gingerly touched Katherine’s elbow.
“But your arm—”
“Is fine,” Katherine said quickly. She tugged off the improvised sling made from Jonah’s sweatshirt and handed it back to her brother. “It just hurt a little at first, and you know, Jonah’s a Boy Scout, so he had to prove he was prepared and all. . . . It’s nothing.”
What was this—Katherine actually downplaying an injury, rather than acting like breaking a fingernail might kill her?
Jonah would never figure out his sister. Unless . . . was this all for Chip’s sake?
Chip was still peering anxiously at Katherine.
“I was so afraid you would think I was a coward when I didn’t jump up and fight when the guards started dragging you away,” he said. He shoved back his hair—an odd sight, given that it looked crystalline and see-through now, as if each of his normally blond curls had been turned into glass. “I didn’t want you thinking me a coward, but—”
“But what you did was perfect,” Jonah interrupted.
He thought he kind of saw what Chip and Katherine’s problem was, but the last thing Jonah wanted was to become their relationship coach.
“Look,” he told them. “We don’t have time right now for the two of you to work out your ‘I want to be your knight in shining
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