THE PHOTO TRAVELER (THE PHOTO TRAVELER SERIES - BOOK 1)

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER SIX

Milliseconds later we’re back in their dining room, everything unchanged and unaffected. My mind is still stuck in a cloud of uncertainty and confusion. I can’t believe what’s just happened.

            Estelle places her hand over mine. “I know it’s a lot to take in. Come upstairs and I’ll show you your room.” My room?

            She leads me up the stairs and along the mint-green hallway to the second door on the left. When she opens it, I see a full-sized bed against a large bay window that overlooks the park where I met Yogi. An old TV set with a built-in VCR rests on a coral-colored dresser. The walls are decorated with paintings of dolphins.

            “This is your room,” she tells me. “It’s always been yours. We sometimes let guests use it, but really, we’ve always intended to one day have you here with us.”

            I can’t help it. I have to keep asking, digging. “Then why didn’t you come for me?”

            “We wanted to. So much! But it was just too dangerous—“

            “You keep saying that! What’s going on? What can be so dangerous and worth not coming for your grandson?”

            She sighs. “You’ve had a long day. How about we pick things up in the morning after you get some rest?”

            I let her off the hook for now and change the subject again. “So what’s up with the dolphins?”

            “Sorry.” She’s obviously relieved. “I have a soft spot for dolphins,” she explains with a smirk. “I should let you unpack,” she adds, and leaves.

            I have to admit... they’re two of the coolest and kindest people I’ve ever met. Which is why their leaving me behind still doesn’t make sense to me. I’ll keep the dolphins up if they make her happy.

            I lock the door, grab my laptop from my duffle bag, turn it on, and slide the memory card from my camera into the card reader. While I’m waiting for the images to load, I pull out the two chants. I’ve forgotten a few of the words, but I repeat them until I’m sure of them. Then I tuck the slips of paper into my black sweatpants.

            By now, my memory card has finished loading. Let’s test things out a bit. I’ll play it safe with my first attempt. I mean, hell, the last thing I want is to get stuck in some foreign place. I start scrolling through the photos I had taken in the mountains three days ago. I stop when a photo of a tree pops up. I remember this photo. I took it in between my phone calls to Melinda. This is a good one.

            I have to admit, I’m kind of nervous. But here’s to nothing. I take a shaky, deep breath and recite: “To this time, allow my travel. Take me there, let time unravel.”

            The same thundering noise rings through my ears as I’m sent spiraling through waves of intense, deafening winds. It stops suddenly. And now I’m watching myself taking the photo of the tree. Oddly enough, I don’t want to be seen by… well, by me. I kneel behind a giant boulder and keep watching. This is awesome!

            The scene is exactly as I remember it. Completely in awe about the whole situation, I hear the sound of a car and realize that Mel is speeding toward me. Us.

            I watch as the scene plays itself out again. I flinch when I see the dent my foot makes in the door. It looks bigger than I remember. Then the punch to my face and she drives off. Yep. Just as I remember.