Chrysoprase

  “You know that doesn’t exactly keep any of the Sangre family out,” I said to him.

  “Actually, I think it does,” Ty replied. “I locked it the first day I came here, and Logan had to pound on the door to wake me. I have no idea why, but I don’t think you can time travel into this room.” That was an interesting idea.

  “Can you travel out?” I asked.

  “I dunno. Try it,” Ty suggested.

  I pictured the area outside the door. I was just looking at it moment ago. It wouldn’t take much to go back there. I could just appear there and walk back in. Well, once Ty unlocked the door. But, strangely, nothing happened. I was still inside. I thought again and waited. It should have been instant. It wasn’t.

  “Guess not,” Ty said before I could.

  “There must be places you can’t time travel from,” I observed. That had never crossed my mind. I had to be a bit more careful now. I really didn’t want to get stuck somewhere.

  “That was the first interesting thing I found here, but I thought you’d be more interested in the second one.” Ty pointed to the table.

  There was a box on the table, but I was unsure what it was. I lifted off the lid and gasped in surprise. Laying inside the box, and wrapped in clean papers as if it had been packed, was the book I had been called to. The one that wanted me to read it.

  “But,” I said without knowing how to finish my question.

  “Mr. Sangre saw me looking at it and told me I could take it to my room. He said he was surprised that they taught slaves to read, but it wasn’t uncommon for wealthier families,” Ty explained, motioning to me to open the book.

  “He thinks you can read it,” I repeated. “Can you?”

  “No,” Ty replied. “Remember how I can barely read your language? My brain isn’t wired for reading. Big, tough warrior, no need reading.” He puffed out his chest. Like he needed to be bigger to be impressive. Ty was the largest of my time traveling friends, and a lineman on our college football team.

  “But if he thought you could read it, then it must be from your time,” I deduced. Ty nodded and pointed back to the book.

  “We only have a few minutes left, but I wanted you to at least look at it. Can you still read it?” Ty asked.

  I glanced over the frail paper. I could read words here and there, but most of it didn’t make sense. I had to imagine most of what I saw were names of people or places. I couldn’t tell which, and they all looked the same to me. I kept reading further until I found something that I did recognize, my mother’s name, Hepa. I looked back at the first section. It had to be the names of a family.

  “Do you have a piece of paper?” I asked him. Ty handed me paper and pencil. “I think we just found out where my mother was from. Once we look up who these people are, we will know exactly what time to go to.” I scribbled a few of the names down and folded up the paper. We now knew exactly where to go, and hopefully the names would tell us what time period.

  I didn’t have more time to read, but I wished I did. There had to be more secrets in the text, but it had to wait. We couldn’t be late for the dinner. Ty noticed the time and quickly put the book away. He escorted me back to the dinner and didn’t leave my side, but my mind was still wandering. My mother’s life in the past became more real. It would take more searching, but we could locate her. I had a place to find her. She had to be waiting for me, and I was going to bring her home.

  We arrived at the dinner, and I did my best to ignore Logan. He watched me the whole time I ate, but I kept my head turned to Ty to talk only to him. I didn’t talk much and just nodded my head when he said something. I wasn’t really talkative as I was lost on the names I had copied down. One of them had to be the key. My mother was just steps away from us. It wouldn’t take long and we could go get her. One big practice heading back to Ty’s time, and then a little more practice and we would be ready to go. I could get my mother back.

  Ty arrived early back to my house the day of our planned trip. We would go back into the past, spend some time hiding around his village, and then head home. I didn’t know much of what we were getting into, but Ty was sure about it, and I was sure he would take care of everything. He remembered everything about living there, and was sure we could hide around the place as we waited. We didn’t know how long it would take before we could travel again, and this was the last little detail we had to get before heading back for my mother.

  Ty held my hand with the stone between our palms. We weren’t going to take any chances with this travel. I let my mind see the map and globe, and let time spin back at the same time. It was going to have to be Ty to tell me we got it right for sure, but I was getting better at it. As we looked at the Nile we followed it down through Egypt until it began to make curves. We needed to be in the past to be sure where we were going as the Nile had changed over the years, and the areas that Ty knew were flooded in the present. Time was already in the past as we moved along the scenery looking for his village.

  Once we got closer to where Ty wanted to be, I zoomed in to look around. Palm trees and agriculture lined the Nile. It was strange to me. I always thoughts of Africa as the desert that housed the Great Pyramids; I didn’t picture the lush green land we were hovering over. My views of the past were slowly changing. In the present we only had glimpses of the past, as most of the things from Ty’s time were either destroyed or in ruins. Looking at it now, it was all new. Nothing was crumbling and everything was shiny and freshly built. It would take time to get used to seeing everything that way. None of it seem strange to Ty. We traveled further south on the Nile and came across village after village.

  “Stop,” Ty told me as we passed the fourth village.

  I went back and moved even closer. I pictured Ty, and then tried to picture him as a little boy. Time moved again until it found a place to stop that would be closer to where he remembered it.

  “Where to?” I asked, looking at the world below us.

  His town was nothing like I imagined. He had shown me a few artist renditions of his people in history books in animal print clothing. I guess I assumed they would be living in thatched roof huts in the primitive country side, but that was not the city below. Ty came from a real city. There were mud brick houses reminding me of adobe houses in the southern US. They were spaced some in clumps, but not dense in other parts, and some there wasn’t much space between them. The city had to have at least fifty houses of various sizes. A larger building was off to the side between the housing and what must have been a city wall.

  “Go nearer to the palace,” Ty directed us.

  “Palace?” I asked. They all looked the same to me. And why would we need to go to a palace? We planned to just hide out in the village, not greet the king.

  Ty shrugged beside me, pulling our linked hands slightly.

  “My dad was kind of in charge,” Ty finally replied as we looked over what had to be the palace, the largest building around. Ty as a prince was news to me.

  The palace was three times the size of the largest house and made with stones along with mud bricks. The courtyard was filled with Egyptian soldiers milling about. Near one corner, darker-skinned men like Ty were kneeling with their hands tied behind them. Why were the men just sitting? I wasn’t completely sure what we were looking at as it didn’t seem like there was any struggling until I noticed several of the Egyptians there had covered wounds. Ty knew exactly what was going on.

  “We tried to stay free of them, but we lost,” Ty explained, noticing where I was looking. “We had sent too many people north to help the other cities. By the time the Egyptians got to our village, we were too small in number to defend ourselves. General Paramessu had an easy time with us.”

  It was hard to look at the men on the ground now, knowing their fate was to go to Egypt as slaves. They ranged from boys younger than us to middle-aged men, well-muscled and doomed to a life of hard labor. I tried to look away, but could not. I saw each face of each man below. I understood war, and s
poils of war, but it was nothing I had ever had to see with my own eyes. I was not prepared for it. Ty squeezed my hand.

  “Let’s go down behind the palace wall, outside it. In the north east bend there on the left.” Ty pulled me away from the scene and pointed the position out to me. “There should be enough room for us to stay in the shadows between the palace and the meeting hall.”

  I looked to exactly where he was directing me and let us float down to our location. I did one last check to be sure we were hidden, and let us appear in the shadows. I looked to be sure Ty was okay after the travel and with me, and had to stifle a laugh. He was dressed in as little as the Egyptians with just a small swatch of fabric around his waist. He didn’t look happy to be bare all of a sudden. He smiled at my quiet giggle and pointed to me. I looked down quickly. Thankfully, I was wrapped in a light white fabric that came over my shoulders and covered my chest. I couldn’t say the same about all the women we had passed, and was grateful I had my chest covered. It was nice to get a chuckle after the scene I had just saw. This was the funniest part of our travels, and always made both of us laugh. If we went back too far our clothing would change to fit the time period. Ty in a codpiece in Renaissance clothing probably made me laugh the hardest.

  When my giggle stopped, Ty took my hand and led the way around the palace wall. We kept to the shadows, hidden from view. Soon we came to a small opening. It wasn’t large enough to fit a man, but I bet that Ty was able to come and go as he pleased when he was younger. Ty bent down and looked through the hole. There was a courtyard and several people hustled about. We were still outside the palace, but now could look into another courtyard. Ty watched more, and I bent down behind him to find his focus. A young, beautiful woman sat in the shade with a small infant on her lap. Her hair was all tied up, displaying the elegant line of her neck. She sat as regally as any queen, yet something about her seemed much more real. It was her smile. She called to the children playing around, and they responded with waves and giggles.

  “My mother,” Ty explained into my ear. The noise in the courtyard alone would cover his voice, but he was still being cautious.

  We sat for at least ten minutes watching the young woman with her child. We had not traveled back far enough for Ty to be a baby. I had to assume it was his sibling. Young boys played in the courtyard, and I looked around at each of them. It wasn’t hard to see that they were all related, and none of them stood still long enough for me to compare them with Ty.

  He smiled at the scene with a heavy heart before nodding to me. We had to go back to our spot before any of the smaller children found us in their escape route. We silently went back to our original location in the shadows.

  Voices neared our hiding spot, and Ty pushed me behind him. We flatted against the palace wall as the voices walked past the narrow opening. I didn’t see the men from behind Ty, but it was obvious he did see them, and knew them. He took my hand and pulled me further between the tightly built buildings in a different direction than from his mother. Soon we had to crawl as there were openings chest high at the wall beside us. We stopped behind the building next to the palace and sat under one window. We were still hidden, but now heard what was happening inside.

  The two men that passed us before were inside the building. They walked to the window we were hidden under. We were near enough to hear the two men speak. I moved quietly to the edge of the window to get a peek and pulled my head back down immediately. There was a large, dark-skinned man that was similar to Ty; I had no doubt who he was. The second man I recognized, too. I would have recognized him anywhere in any time, especially his younger self. Without a doubt the man with Ty’s dad was a young general Paramessu. I had only met the general twenty years older, but I knew it was him. He was so similar to Seth, it made my heart ache. It had been over a month now since I saw Seth, and I was missing him terribly. The General made me feel it even worse.

  Ty tugged on my hand to get my attention, and we moved down to the next opening on the wall. This one was further up, and we had to stand to peek into the room. We were hidden in darkness as the rest of the room had ample light from strategically placed openings. The two men stood inside talking for only a moment before children were marched into the room.

  “And you are sure the pharaoh will take the children in place of the tribute we owe?” Ty’s father asked.

  “Yes,” General Paramessu replied. “I have been instructed to bring back the tribute in food or slaves.”

  Ty’s father nodded and pointed to the line of children. I didn’t need Ty to point out which one was him now as they stood still and faced forward. I could tell. The other children played around him, but he watched his father with the strange Egyptian. Ty was young, but his eyes were knowing. The child Ty was as serious as the adult Ty. Ty’s father raised his hand and young Ty nodded, ushering all the children over to the two men and closer to our hiding place.

  “Which ones will you take?” Ty’s father asked as the forty or more children from toddler up to preteen lined up, boys and girl alike.

  General Paramessu walked down the line of children. As he pointed to each child, Ty’s father nodded and Egyptians standing at the doorway came and ushered them away. When the General finished on the line, he turned back to Ty’s father’s side.

  “The pharaoh also requests you hand over your son to be sure you will obey, and not try to revolt as the other towns have tried,” the general stated. There was no emotion in his voice. It was strange to see a man that looked so much like Seth, but didn’t have the spirit of Seth inside him. Seth would have never asked for a child to be taken from his father.

  Ty’s father reluctantly nodded, like he had been expecting this all along.

  “Taraq,” Ty’s father called to young Ty while dismissing the rest of the children.

  Young Ty moved forward and stood in front of his father. He bowed his head and waited to be addressed. He was an obedient child. Ty’s father placed an arm around his son and led him a few feet closer to us. The General moved back to his men that were now waiting for the one last child.

  “I need you to do something for our people,” Ty’s father began, keeping his arm around young Ty and bending down to be the young child’s height. Young Ty looked up at him with his big brown eyes. He couldn’t have been much older than four or five, but I could tell how much he idolized his father. “The general needs to take you back with him. You will understand one day, but I can’t explain it all to you now. If you go, our people will survive. If I keep you, we will have to give our supplies of food to them, and they will take every woman and child from our village. I need you to leave and obey the general. In time I hope to bring you home someday. Our debt to the Pharaoh will take many years to pay off, but I’ll come myself to bring you back. You will be a man by then, but you will always be my son. Our people will rejoice your return. You will be the prince everyone is waiting for, and will follow in my rule. Please be a dutiful child and learn all you can from the General. He will teach you to be a good man, and thus a good king. Now go off to your mother to say goodbye to her.”

  “Yes, Father,” young Ty replied. He bowed to his father and left. He didn’t question what he was told, and was already gone before the two remaining Egyptian army men followed behind the little boy.

  Ty moved to crawl away again, probably to follow young Ty in his saying goodbye to his mother, but I didn’t join him. The general and Ty’s father were talking again. Ty’s father moved back over to General Paramessu. They were still within hearing distance for us. Ty waited for me.

  “Will that be enough to make the Pharaoh happy?” Ty’s father asked. He was concerned about his village, and rightfully so. Seth had told me that there wasn’t a battle in the south that General Paramessu didn’t win.

  “Yes,” the General replied and turned to leave Ty’s father alone in the large room.

  “Just please don’t tell my son he can’t come home,” Ty’s father added in a quieter voice. He was k
ing, yet somehow seemed like a defeated man. He had just given away his oldest child and the son he probably dreamed about raising in his own image.

  General Paramessu nodded. “I have a son the same age back home. I understand.” It was the only hint of emotion I ever saw from him. “I’ll take him home, and he will be my son’s slave. Don’t worry. In time he will forget about you and coming home.”

  I turned to Ty in the shadows. He was sitting beneath the window on the ground. His face was set in stone. He had truly believed he was coming home when he was a man. That wasn’t the case. He was now finding out the truth. He didn’t have a home to go back to. They were not waiting for him. He was to be a slave for the rest of his life. I grabbed Ty’s hand and held on tight as he closed off his emotions, yet he was still feeling them. His world was crumbling down. I knew the feeling all too well. He squeezed my hand back, strongly, but not enough to hurt me. No matter what was in store for us, I had his back as he had mine. He was my best friend and partner in all of this time travel business.

  We sat there for quite a while as Ty forced his emotions off. When the men had finally left the building, it safe enough to speak.

  “I’m sorry,” I said quietly to him.

  I was still afraid of being caught. Not only would I stand out by not fitting in ethnically, but our language would be a dead giveaway that we were not from this time. It was nice the stones allowed us to understand and speak the languages where we traveled, but I still found myself conversing in English. I really was worried that if we got caught right now, with the village invaded by Egyptians, they would add Ty to the roster of grown male slaves they were taking back. Ty needed me to get back to the future. We couldn’t be separated now, or who knows where he would end up.

  “So am I,” Ty replied, standing up. His self-pity party was done. He had just heard devastating news, yet he was back to being my best friend Ty. He was one of the strongest people I knew, both physically and mentally. I don’t know how much crying it would have taken me to get over a blow like that.