The Door Into Time Read online

The Door into Time

  By Kathleen Pennell

  Copyright 2015

  Adventures in Time Series

  By Kathleen Pennell

  Artwork and layout for Covers

  Lauren Pennell

  The Door into Time

  Rescued in Time

  The Pony Investigators series

  By Kathleen Pennell

  Artwork and layout for Covers

  Lauren Pennell

  The Case of the Missing Money

  The Case of the Phantom Stallion

  The Case of the Midnight Stranger

  The Case of the Mysterious Circus

  The Case of the Secret Passage

  The Case of the Mirror Image

  Chapter 1

  What shocked Reece and Sean the most was that, against all the rules, they left the safety of their backyard to run after a strange, very odd looking man? He reminded them of someone they’d seen pictured in a story book, but they couldn’t remember who it was until much later. What happened in the next few hours changed the course of their entire summer, perhaps their entire lives.

  The day started out hot promising to be unforgivingly long. Reece and Sean had been invited to spend a day at the beach, but their friends had baled on them at the last moment. They’d swallowed their disappointment since there was nothing they could do about it anyway. They’d played in their rooms, played with their toys, played with their dog, Bear, and now they were completely played out. Mama took one look at them sprawled under the tree and said she’d make chocolate chip cookies. The first batch would be out soon, so they moved their hot, miserable, unhappy selves to the porch steps resting their elbows on their knees and their chins on their cupped hands.

  Bear lounged beside the long, tall fence at the back of the yard. In the fall, when the leaves gathered in large fluffy brown piles, you could hardly tell where the leaves ended and Bear began.

  The children’s eyes wandered over the flower beds they’d helped plant in the spring then stopped briefly at the watering cans waiting to be filled. Later, they decided. Their focus continued to drift until they spotted a small, blue, jellylike Frisbee float over the top of the fence. It wafted through the air and landed right in front of Bear’s nose. His eyes crossed as he stared at it, then he stood, flipped his ears forward, and shuffled his hind end in a complete circle sniffing its edges. Finally, he opened his gigundus jaws and gobbled it down in one bite. That’s Bear for you. . .eats everything in sight.

  The children slowly rose from the porch steps and took one step forward. Then, stood helpless paralyzed as Bear’s body lifted slowly off the ground. It was as if thirty helium balloons were attached to him, and he rose five feet into the air. There he remained his eyes half closed until long, skinny arms slipped over the top of the fence and grabbed him. They heard someone moving rapidly along the other side of the fence. How could someone with two such skinny arms possibly run carrying a ninety pound dog?

  The very strict don’t leave the yard without telling Mama or Daddy rule wasn’t even a consideration. Without a second thought, which they would later regret, the two children raced to the door in the middle of the fence.

  Their next-door neighbor stood six feet six inches, but still cleared the branch of a tree along this path. Whoever the dognapper was, ducked to get under the limb. And his strides! Each one covered over three feet. Two of their running steps didn’t equal one of his walking ones. Well, they couldn’t stop to worry about things like that now. They ran as fast as their young legs would stretch.

  He stepped off the path and veered into the thicker, darker part of the woods. Reece and Sean stopped and caught their breath as they peered into the dimness of the underbrush and rethought their situation. Maybe they needed a little help. But, that would take time, and he might be long gone by the time they got back. Perhaps they could tippy toe a bit further and see where the thief’s crashings took them.

  Within seconds of entering the woods, everything became still. This was worse by far, because now they had no idea where he was. Was the Crasher now watching them? Careful not to step on any crackling twigs or dry leaves, they proceeded with grave caution. They found themselves doing something they hadn’t done in many, many months. . .they walked shoulder to shoulder clinging to each other’s hand.

  Around the next bend, they glimpsed the faint flickering of various colored lights peeking through the leaves. Curiosity overrode their nerves, and they moved ever closer. They took a dozen more steps and realized they were suddenly inside a cave-like structure, except when they looked down, there was an actual floor. What happened to the grass and pine needles? They tilted their heads back, but couldn’t see the trees overhead. Instead, there was a rounded dome-like structure that looked like the inside of a large igloo, but the walls were completely smooth. The ceiling was at least four times taller than they were. Why had they never seen this place before? And, why hadn’t they seen the dome shape from the outside? It was like they were walking in the woods towards some mysterious lights, then suddenly they were inside a rounded room.

  Once their eyes adjusted to the dimness, they looked around. The thief stood with his back to them in front of a panel of blinking lights that took up the entire far wall. Behind him was a long, narrow table piled with odd bits of material shoved to one side as well as strange plastic objects they couldn’t identify. And, of all things, there was a teapot, a teacup and saucer, a small jug of milk, and a plate with a half-eaten sandwich. Finally, there was a long cot pushed against the right wall, and above the cot were knobs sticking out of the wall that looked like drawers would slide out if you pulled on them.

  Bear left the man’s side, staggered around the table with his head lowered and his eyes still half opened then wagged his tail weakly as he approached them.

  “Come on, Bear. Let’s go home,” said Reece.

  But, they both jumped and turned at the sound of the thief’s sharp voice.