Emmie and the Tudor King by Natalie Murray

Author:Natalie Murray [Murray, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998448473
Publisher: Literary Crush Publishing
Published: 2019-06-11T04:00:00+00:00

13

My lopsided fan squeaked from the ceiling. Nick breathed deeply and rhythmically beside me, his strong arm imprisoning mine. Something inside me broke and screamed. Holy crap, it worked!

I carefully unhooked my arm and snuck into the bathroom to brush my teeth with one hand and finger-comb my hair with the other. My reflection gaped at me. Emmie, you stole a freaking king. Minty fresh breath is your priority right now?

I pressed an ear to Mom’s door. Her fluttery snores mingled with laughs from the talk show channel. Nerves tightened my stomach. Mom could sleep all day after night shift, but if she woke up and found a twenty-year-old Tudor king in my bedroom, there’d be serious questions.

When I dashed back in, Nick was sitting up, as still as a Roman statue and practically as white.

“Morning, and welcome to twenty-first century America,” I blurted, keeping my voice low. “Home of freedom, fast food, and more importantly, famous people.” His eyes veered to mine, but looked right through me.

“I told you it was real,” I said shakily. “We’re in my bedroom.”

His diamond-stitched doublet was laughingly misplaced inside the paint-chipped walls. With unsteady movements, he slowly got up and peered out the window. Nicholas the Ironheart is in my bedroom. What is air?

“Mom could sleep through a tornado,” I said, watching him suck in the view. At least I didn’t live in Manhattan. My words followed his wide, wandering eyes. “A lamp. My radio that doesn’t work. Books that cost ninety cents for a reason.”

He walked to me, reaching out. For a second, I thought he was going to embrace me, but he picked up the photo of Mom and I at Disneyland.

“This is…you.” His eyes shifted between me and the frame, blinking fast.

“It’s a photograph. It captures something that happens and preserves it in a picture. Like a painting, but…real.” There was so much he didn’t know, and I was so unqualified to explain. I touched his arm. “Try to stay calm. Why don’t I get you a slice of pie? Pie’s still a thing. Yay for pie. And England, which is also still a thing, by the way.”

“What is happening to me?” When he caught himself against the wall, it hit me that traveling forward in time was infinitely more intense than going backward. I reminded myself it was this or that executioner’s block. “I fear God is displeased with me,” Nick said into his quivering wrist.

I tried to steady him. “It’s okay, I promise. Maybe we should go back now. Before they see you’re missing.”

He glanced over my laptop, which was definitely staying off after his reaction to the photo. “No,” he said, setting his jaw. “Show me more.”

I slowly guided him downstairs. Ruby bounded through the screen door flap to meet us and smothered Nick with licks.

“It’s how I worked out two beings could travel together,” I said, tugging her away by her collar. “Ruby’s done the Whitehall tour, too. She also likes you, so you must be okay.

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