When the colors flying around them died down, Reed and Mary felt rather dizzy.
"Oh man... Father, are you okay?" Mary woozily asked with a little concern.
"As fine as I will ever be as soon as the usual effects of time travel wear off." Reed responded sternly.
Once the dizziness faded away, Mary began to take stock of her and Reed's surroundings. They had apparently appeared in an alley, for walls surrounded them on three sides. Mary then glanced through the alleyway's opening at the street beyond. There were hundreds of people along with horse drawn carriages making their way through the street. These people were clad in some of the most peculiar clothes Mary had ever seen. The majority of women she saw wore incredibly elaborate dresses made out of a variety of materials. Some of the women Mary witnessed wore bloomers. She also saw that the men were wearing rather fancy suits, with ties unlike any she had ever seen. Mary also made note of how every single one of the men wore a round bowler hat, or derby. She crept closer to the alley's entrance to view some of the stores embracing the street. The stores she saw included an apothecary's, a tobacconist's, a Chinese Laundromat, and even a bowery where men could enter to get high off of opium. It was then that Mary realized what era her and her stepfather were stuck in. She could recognize it from the very book of stories and their illustrations that had caused them to end up there in the first place.
"Father! Do you know what time we are in? We are in..." Mary blurted out excitedly.
"Yes Mary, we are in Victorian London. I already figured it out." Reed solemnly interrupted.
Sensing her father's slowly weakening, but still intense anger, Mary gingerly crept to where her book stood sprawled out on the very page she had it opened to a few minutes ago on the ground a few inches away. She picked the book up, brushed the dirt on the cover from it lying on the street off, and turned to the very first page where a map of Victorian London was printed.
"Father, unless you have some sort of device to get us out of here, here is a map that might definitely come in handy." Mary meekly said as she handed the book to Reed.
"Thank you Mary. It will most certainly come in handy because I do not have a device that will take us back to our own time. Thanks to you and this, we may be trapped in this time for the rest of our lives. Unless Ben, Sue, or Johnny can somehow figure out how to work the space/time apparatus, which is more than unprobable the way they hardly understand what I am talking about during our meetings."
The tone in his voice indicated to Mary that Reed was cooling down, but still had a bit of rage in him. She asked.
"Father, what are we going to do about clothes? We cannot walk around London, especially during this era in our uniforms!"
"We are not in our uniforms my child. Look at yourself!"
Mary looked down, and saw that she was wearing a typical Victorian style dress a girl her age would wear. It was not as fancy as what a fully-grown woman would wear, but it was on up there. Mary then glanced at her stepfather, and noticed he was then wearing a suit along with a hat just like the men she had seen a few minutes earlier. In his hand was a parasol typical of what all Englishmen had possession of during that time.
"F...f...father, how did we get into these clothes? How did you get that?" Mary asked in a voice of astonishment.
"That's one of the more nifty features of the space/time apparatus Mary. It not only transports you to the time or dimension you want to be in, but it appropriates the clothes you are wearing. We are still wearing our uniforms, what you and I see on one another will be what everyone will see. The umbrella just happened to be part of my outfit." Replied Reed in a calmer tone than what he had been using. He continued.
"We might as well find a place to stay at for tonight, seeing that Ben, Sue, or Johnny will not find out about our disappearance for at least a few hours, maybe even until tomorrow."
Mary was getting ready not to say anything as a way of being in agreement with her stepfather, until suddenly, an idea came to her.
"Wait Father! Before we find a place to stay at, I want to go somewhere."
Reed looked at his stepdaughter in somewhat puzzled.
"Where could you possibly want to go in this filthy city right before sundown?!"
Mary stared back at Reed with disbelief.
"Oh come now Father. London is filthy? This is clean compared to Manhattan."
As she said that, Mary grabbed the book from her stepfather's hands. She took a quick glimpse at the map on the very first page, turned her head to Reed, and let out.
"Alright, if we want to make it to the very destination I want to go to in less than an hour, we need to start heading this way."
While saying that, Mary pointed to the right. And from there on, even though Reed did not appreciate how Mary took charge of the situation, he was quite curious to see the destination Mary wanted to be at, and did not say anything as they treaded through the streets of London in the late 1800's.
"Oh man... Father, are you okay?" Mary woozily asked with a little concern.
"As fine as I will ever be as soon as the usual effects of time travel wear off." Reed responded sternly.
Once the dizziness faded away, Mary began to take stock of her and Reed's surroundings. They had apparently appeared in an alley, for walls surrounded them on three sides. Mary then glanced through the alleyway's opening at the street beyond. There were hundreds of people along with horse drawn carriages making their way through the street. These people were clad in some of the most peculiar clothes Mary had ever seen. The majority of women she saw wore incredibly elaborate dresses made out of a variety of materials. Some of the women Mary witnessed wore bloomers. She also saw that the men were wearing rather fancy suits, with ties unlike any she had ever seen. Mary also made note of how every single one of the men wore a round bowler hat, or derby. She crept closer to the alley's entrance to view some of the stores embracing the street. The stores she saw included an apothecary's, a tobacconist's, a Chinese Laundromat, and even a bowery where men could enter to get high off of opium. It was then that Mary realized what era her and her stepfather were stuck in. She could recognize it from the very book of stories and their illustrations that had caused them to end up there in the first place.
"Father! Do you know what time we are in? We are in..." Mary blurted out excitedly.
"Yes Mary, we are in Victorian London. I already figured it out." Reed solemnly interrupted.
Sensing her father's slowly weakening, but still intense anger, Mary gingerly crept to where her book stood sprawled out on the very page she had it opened to a few minutes ago on the ground a few inches away. She picked the book up, brushed the dirt on the cover from it lying on the street off, and turned to the very first page where a map of Victorian London was printed.
"Father, unless you have some sort of device to get us out of here, here is a map that might definitely come in handy." Mary meekly said as she handed the book to Reed.
"Thank you Mary. It will most certainly come in handy because I do not have a device that will take us back to our own time. Thanks to you and this, we may be trapped in this time for the rest of our lives. Unless Ben, Sue, or Johnny can somehow figure out how to work the space/time apparatus, which is more than unprobable the way they hardly understand what I am talking about during our meetings."
The tone in his voice indicated to Mary that Reed was cooling down, but still had a bit of rage in him. She asked.
"Father, what are we going to do about clothes? We cannot walk around London, especially during this era in our uniforms!"
"We are not in our uniforms my child. Look at yourself!"
Mary looked down, and saw that she was wearing a typical Victorian style dress a girl her age would wear. It was not as fancy as what a fully-grown woman would wear, but it was on up there. Mary then glanced at her stepfather, and noticed he was then wearing a suit along with a hat just like the men she had seen a few minutes earlier. In his hand was a parasol typical of what all Englishmen had possession of during that time.
"F...f...father, how did we get into these clothes? How did you get that?" Mary asked in a voice of astonishment.
"That's one of the more nifty features of the space/time apparatus Mary. It not only transports you to the time or dimension you want to be in, but it appropriates the clothes you are wearing. We are still wearing our uniforms, what you and I see on one another will be what everyone will see. The umbrella just happened to be part of my outfit." Replied Reed in a calmer tone than what he had been using. He continued.
"We might as well find a place to stay at for tonight, seeing that Ben, Sue, or Johnny will not find out about our disappearance for at least a few hours, maybe even until tomorrow."
Mary was getting ready not to say anything as a way of being in agreement with her stepfather, until suddenly, an idea came to her.
"Wait Father! Before we find a place to stay at, I want to go somewhere."
Reed looked at his stepdaughter in somewhat puzzled.
"Where could you possibly want to go in this filthy city right before sundown?!"
Mary stared back at Reed with disbelief.
"Oh come now Father. London is filthy? This is clean compared to Manhattan."
As she said that, Mary grabbed the book from her stepfather's hands. She took a quick glimpse at the map on the very first page, turned her head to Reed, and let out.
"Alright, if we want to make it to the very destination I want to go to in less than an hour, we need to start heading this way."
While saying that, Mary pointed to the right. And from there on, even though Reed did not appreciate how Mary took charge of the situation, he was quite curious to see the destination Mary wanted to be at, and did not say anything as they treaded through the streets of London in the late 1800's.