Chapter One

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As the balmy light of dusk slipped across the valley the young girl still sat on her old tree branch reading. Her young brow was furrowed in concentration and her waist long, chestnut hair swayed in the summer breeze. It had been hours now but she couldn't put the book down. It was just so gripping, on one hand it all sounded perfect yet on the other hand it was all impossible. Ironic that Utopia also meant 'nowhere.
She was still worried about the painting. Her uncle looked so hopeful that she would take good care of it. But it was such a treasure she almost didn't trust it. And what was all that talk about understanding the past? Rebecca wasn't even sure if she understood the present.

"If only I could understand!" she sighed out loud and gazed into the distance.

Suddenly there was a sickening creak from the wood beneath her and the tree she had climbed leaned dangerously over the cliff face. Rebecca screamed and tried to climb down but every movement she made just made the tree fall more. The drop wasn't that far but it could easily break a person's neck if they fell the wrong way. The dead branch she was sitting on cracked sharply and Rebecca fell with a terrified scream towards the river bank below.

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"So, what are we doing by the river again?" asked Gustav sceptically.

"Ah ha! That, my boy, is top secret!" said the cheerful old man he was with.

"This isn't going to be repeat of that stupid boat shoe incident, is it?" said the younger man.

"Patience, Gustav is a saintly virtue." Leonardo said and grinned at his new apprentice who just frowned back. "OK. I want to test my latest invention." He held up what looked like an old iron barrel.

"Let me guess, a vessel that holds liquids? Sorry to burst your bubble senior DaVinci,
but I think it's been done."

"NO! Its my prototype underwater chamber. This is just a miniature but if we made a big one we could travel under water and still be able to breath." said Leonardo excitedly.

"That! But its got a big hole in the bottom!" cried Gustav.

"Exactly. Because the pressure is different inside the chamber than it is under water so the water won't be able to get inside."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well that's exactly what Mr Whiskers here is going to do!" said Leonardo happily and held up the tiny white kitten he'd been carrying.

"Are you insane! He'll drown!" cried Gustav.

"Just trust me, lad. It'll be all right." said the older man and carried out the experiment with his new diving bell and the kitten came out of it unharmed but slightly damp.

"See. I told you it would work." Leonardo smirked triumphantly.

"That's why you're the genius and I'm the apprentice." sighted Gustav.

"Quite right. Now we'll test it out a few more times and start work on building a -
AHHHH!"

"Building a what?" said Gustav, confused. Then he looked around and saw the old man lying in a heap under what looked like a young woman in boy's clothes!

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"Who is she?" wondered Gustav. They had dragged the girl's unconscious form back to Leonardo's studio in Hautefort, and by 'they' he meant 'he'. She was obviously wealthy because she was clean and didn't smell bad like ordinary people and she wore glasses and strange jewellery that was attached to her head by hooking around her ears and were attached to a long grey chord that led to a large square of silver around here neck. She also had a bag full of books and trinkets. However her clothes were the strangest he had ever seen with blue trousers that were ripped at the knees and a small green top that left very little to the imagination. No only that but she bore a striking physical resemblance to the Princess, his childhood friend Danielle! They were obviously different people but there was something about the eyes that looked familiar along with the long mass of brown hair. If Gustav was actually interested in girls he would have found her quite beautiful.

"Where do you think she came from?" he asked his mentor quizzically.

"I don't know. It seems like she just fell out of the sky!" said Leonardo and smiled "Perhaps she's an angel."

"She certainly doesn't look like anything from this world. Do you think she'll be all right?"

"She's had a nasty bump on the head and a few bruises but otherwise she's fine."

Rebecca opened her eyes groggily and closed them again quickly because the light hurt her eyes. She heard a voice say something in French although it was highly rural and old fashioned, then a second that was heavily accented and sounded slightly Italian or Spanish. She tried to open her eyes again and immediately saw two worried faces looking back at her.

"Who are you! Where am I?" she cried as the realisation hit her that she was no longer in the woods but in a strange room that smelled of oils and turps with two strange men in strange clothes.

"You are in the city of Hautefort, Mademoiselle." said Leonardo cheerfully "I am senior Leonardo DaVinci and this is my rather lazy apprentice, Gustav."

"Funny, you've got the same name as a famous artist." Rebecca murmured, still not quite registering what was going on.

"Well, that's because I am a famous artist." said Leonardo. He always loved to surprise the fans.

"Am I dead?" said Rebecca.

"Oh, not at all, Mademoiselle! You are alive and well and you could probably live through the entire sixteenth century if you can survive a fall like that!"

"Wait a minute! Sixteenth century?" said Rebecca looking slightly puzzled.

"Yes, it is the year of our lord 1500. We're at the dawn of a new century." said Leonardo with amusement, he thought everyone knew that. The girl gave him a dazed look before passing out on the bed again.