D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

“So you want to give up on Mark?” she asked.

“No!” I shouted. “It may be too late to undo the damage he’s done, but we still don’t know why he did it. That’s not about Halla. Or dados. It’s about our friend. According to Patrick’s computer, Mark Dimond disappeared sometime in November 1937. Disappearing is bad. Mark is an innocent victim in all this. If something bad is about to happen to him, we’ve got to try and stop it.”

Courtney walked over to the couch and sat down next to me. She held my hand and said, “No, I’ve got to try and stop it. You’ve got to go to Ibara.”

I’m finishing this journal while Courtney is sleeping in Gunny’s bed. I’m lying on his couch, writing. I can’t sleep. My mind is going in too many directions. My plan is to finish this journal and leave it with Courtney. She’ll find a safe place to keep it. From now on, I’ll send my journals to her through the rings.

Courtney is going to stay on First Earth to track down Mark. If anybody can do it, she can. She’s as much a part of this now as I am. She’s been together with Mark from the beginning. They are a team. Or, they were a team. Though I’m worried about both my friends, this feels right. I’ve made loads of sacrifices since becoming a Traveler in the name of saving Halla from Saint Dane. Now I’m abandoning my two best friends. It’s a hollow, dark feeling. But what else can I do? I honestly believe that there’s nothing we can do about the dados. The real concern here is Mark. Where is he? What happened that he knowingly changed the course of history? Is he okay? I believe that Courtney’s mission here on First Earth is not to try and realign Halla. It’s to save Mark’s life. Knowing that I won’t be here to help is killing me, but it’s a sacrifice I have to make. While Courtney tries to save Mark, I’ve got to try and save Halla. I’ve got to face Saint Dane on Ibara. It’s about him and me. It’s about proving the Travelers aren’t the bad guys.

I’ve got the same queasy feeling I always have when I’m about to go to a new territory. What will I find? What kind of culture will they have? Will it be modern? Ancient? Civilized? Primitive? Or will I land square in the middle of a society run by robots?

Anything is possible. There’s only one thing I know for sure.

Saint Dane is there waiting for me.

END OF JOURNAL # 28

Courtney was alone.

More alone than she had ever been In her life. At least that’s what it felt like to her. Even when she was lying in the hospital after having nearly been killed by Saint Dane, there were people watching out for her. But that was on Second Earth. On First Earth she had no one. Nobody knew she even existed, because technically, she didn’t. She was out of place, out of time, and feeling a little bit out of her mind. She wanted to cry. She wanted to go home in the worst way, but that was impossible because to use the flumes without a Traveler would mean disaster. No, she was stuck. She wanted to lie in Gunny’s bed, pull the covers over her head, and pretend she was at home with her mom and dad.

Instead she focused on her mission. She didn’t resent Bobby for leaving. She agreed that he had to go to Ibara. But it didn’t stop her from wishing that he was still around. What kept her going was the hope that she would soon find Mark. History said he disappeared and she knew that couldn’t be a good thing. She needed to find him before whatever was going to happen, happened. She even held out hope that in spite of what Bobby thought, finding Mark and learning why he’d done what he did might somehow realter the course of history and put Halla back on track. But there was another reason she had to find Mark. She needed him. She needed her friend. She needed to hold on to him and cry and hear his dumb stutter and be back together with the only person in Halla who had traveled the same road she had. Mark had become her best friend, her support, her confidant. He saved her life. She needed to return the favor. She needed to get Mark back.

Her first order of business was to get new clothes. She hated the flowery dress from the flume. It didn’t matter what the current cultural standards dictated, girly dresses and Courtney Chetwynde did not go together. After a quick meal in the hotel restaurant of bacon, eggs, potatoes, and orange juice (that cost a whopping thirty-two cents) she went looking for Dodger, the bellhop. She found him at his same post, standing outside the hotel, greeting guests. When Dodger spotted her, his eyes lit up. Courtney wasn’t sure if he was happy to see her, or terrified that she’d start yelling at him again.

“G’mornin’,” he said cautiously. “Everything okeydokey?”

“It’s all good,” Courtney answered. “But I need a favor.”

“Name it.”

“I need to buy some clothes. Are there any shops nearby?”

“You kiddin’?” Dodger chuckled. “We got the greatest shops in the world just steps away. Pendragon knows that.”

Uh-oh. Courtney hadn’t thought of a plausible story about why Bobby was gone.

“Right, she said, trying to buy time to think. “He went home to Stony Brook. A family thing.”

Dodger nodded. “Everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine. Could you tell me where the shops are?”

“I’ll do better than that. I’ll take you there myself. I got a break comin’ up.”

“That’s okay. Just tell me where to go.”

“Tut-tut,” Dodger said, trying to be gallant. “Pendragon and I go way back. I gotta give the red carpet treatment to his sister.”

“Sister?” Courtney asked a little too quickly. “How do you know Shannon-” Oops, she stopped herself. She’d forgotten about the setup. “Right! Sister. I’m his sister. For a second I thought you meant his other sister, Shannon. Who of course is my sister too. We’re all sisters. And brothers. Bobby is our brother. Right?” She giggled nervously.

Dodger gave her a strange look. Courtney smiled innocently. A few minutes later they were walking along Fifty-seventh Street headed for the shops on Madison Avenue.

“Here’s a swell place,” Dodger suggested as they walked by a small boutique with posed mannequins wearing flowered dresses like the one Courtney was wearing.

Courtney kept walking.

They came upon another storefront that displayed lacy clothes and large, straw hats with oversize flowers on them. “Lots of gals like this place and-“

Courtney kept walking. Dodger shrugged and followed. They passed by several other stores that catered to women and girls. Courtney didn’t want anything to do with them.

“What exactly are you looking for?” Dodger finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Courtney admitted. “Something less… Barbie.”

Dodger frowned. “I got no idea what that means, but maybe you should go someplace that’s got a little bit of everything.”

“Is there a place like that?” Courtney asked.

Fifteen minutes and a short subway ride later, Courtney stepped up to the entrance of “the World’s Largest Department Store” on Thirty-fourth Street. Macy’s. The same Macy’s she knew from home, that had all sorts of everything, including a parade on Thanksgiving. Dodger didn’t make the trip because his break was over. That was fine by Courtney. He asked too many questions. She felt that he meant well, in an old-fashioned, “I’m a smart guy who knows best how to take care of a helpless little gal” sort of way, but she didn’t need that. Her plan was to avoid Dodger like the plague.

Walking through Macy’s was an alien experience. It looked nothing like the Macy’s of Second Earth. The clothes were heavy and dark. There was no music. The lighting was dim. The floors were made of wood. Even the escalators had wooden steps. But it was still Macy’s, and Courtney knew she’d find what she needed.