Aleca Zamm Travels Through Time by Ginger Rue

Author:Ginger Rue
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

8

Spry and Resolute Aunt Zephyr

I kind of wished I had kept that joke to myself. Because just when we’d finally started getting somewhere, Aunt Zephyr stopped walking.

I tugged at her hand gently. “This way,” I reminded her.

“It’s not a matter of knowing the way,” Aunt Zephyr said with irritation. “It’s what you just pointed out, and in the nick of time too! We can’t simply traipse into the Prophet’s Porch from my past! What if I can’t exist in two realms at once? What if I somehow damage my past self by trying to cram two Zephyrs into one realm?”

I didn’t know what to say exactly, but I figured she had a good point. One Zephyr was probably about all any time period could handle. “Well, what are we supposed to do, then?” I asked. “Forget the whole thing?”

“Aleca,” Ford cautioned. “Your aunt is right. It’s possible that her theory of damaging her former self could have merit. Or what if attempting to exist twice in the same time period were to harm this Ms. Zephyr? It might cause a cosmic blow to her health in some way. And she’s not exactly in the prime of her life at this point—she might not be able to withstand it!”

Ford hadn’t meant to, but he had managed to say the perfect thing to get Aunt Zephyr to come over to my way of thinking.

“Are you suggesting, young man, that I might be too old and frail to do this?” She scoffed.

“I meant no offense, Ms. Zephyr,” Ford replied. “But the facts are the facts.”

“Here are the only facts you need to know,” Aunt Zephyr said. “First of all, I may not be a young whippersnapper like you, but I am in excellent physical health for a woman of my age. And second, I am spry. And third, I am resolute. Do you know what it means to be resolute?”

I’m not sure if Ford didn’t know or if he was too scared to answer, but he didn’t say a word.

“ ‘Resolute,’ ” continued Aunt Zephyr, “means I have made up my mind, and there is no point in trying to change it. I have decided that we are going to cross that bridge, young man, and we are going to cross it right now, and I don’t want to hear any more lip about it! Does everyone understand me?”

Ford and I nodded. And I tried really hard to keep from grinning, because I didn’t want to remind Aunt Zephyr that only a moment before, she had been the one trying to talk me out of doing this.

We walked across that bridge so quickly—so resolutely, you might say—that we barely even got a good look at the steel zigzags as we whizzed past. But I didn’t mind. I couldn’t wait to get across and see . . . whatever we were going to see.

Just as we got to the end of the bridge, Aunt Zephyr suddenly stopped again.

She took a deep breath. “Here we go,” she said.

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