Chapter 4 Dorset, England, 1774

Phineas Bogg leaned against the stone wall, about 30 feet from where Jeff stood with Gretchen. He could see the light dancing off of her auburn curls. It was easy to understand Jeff's infatuation with her. Bogg hated to end it, he could understand how Jeffrey felt, but the omni had been green for half a day, it was definitely time to go.

She kissed Jeff shyly, on the cheek, and then turned and walked down the narrow path.

Jeff's face turned red and his heart raced. He fought down an illogical urge to race after her, to give up voyaging forever. He held up his hand in a silent farewell, as the girl turned and waved sadly. Then she was gone.

Bogg waited a few moments before he spoke. "So, are you ready to go?"

Jeff sighed and the red vanished from his face. He turned and walked over to Bogg "yeah."

"I know it's hard," his partner said, "but you still have me."

"It's not exactly the same thing," Jeff started, then remembered who he was talking to, and smiled.

Bogg laughed, "I know kid," he said sympathetically.

"Does it get easier, the more girls you meet?"

"Depends on the girl. I think Gretchen would be hard to leave even after you've known a hundred girls."

"She sure is special," Jeff admitted, then put his hand on Bogg's arm, indicating his readiness to leave, and Phineas pushed the button.

The trip through the cosmos was not a normal one. Their speed was erratic, seeming to be faster than normal at first, then slower. The direction too was not smooth. Jeff could feel himself pulled first in one direction, then in another and when he finally felt himself dropping, he felt stomach sick.

They landed harder than usual, on the side of a steep hill, and rolled down, landing in the middle of a dirt road.

Jeff sat up slowly and reached up to rub his head where he had bumped it on the hard ground. He looked around, still feeling a bit sick, and finally saw his partner, laying behind him, flat on his back and not moving.

"Bogg!" he whispered and quickly crawled to him.

"Yeah," Bogg answered as Jeff approached him, but he still didn't move to sit up.

"Are you hurt? What's wrong?" Jeff asked as he laid one hand on each of Bogg's shoulders and squeezed.

"I don't think hurt... just sick...dizzy," he paused, "you okay?"

"Yeah, I feel sick too. What happened? It's never been like that before."

Phineas shook his head slowly, "I don't know. I've never felt anything like that. It felt like we were being pulled, or dragged somewhere." He unhooked the omni and held it up, above his face as he lay in the dust.

"Where are we?"

"Dorset, England, 1774. Green light."

"Why are we in a green zone?" Jeff asked. "I thought we only go to green zones if we're hurt, or sick or something?" he paused, "course after that trip, I guess we are."

"Does this date and place ring any bells?"

Jeff thought for a minute, then shook his head, "no."

"There's something about this place I should remember," Phineas said in a far off voice, "I just can't think."

"Can you sit up? I'll help."

Bogg nodded and Jeff helped him sit up. To his surprise, he felt better in an upright position. He got to his knees, then cautiously stood up straight and took a deep breath. He felt better, and kept his hand on Jeffrey as the boy cautiously stood up too."

"Are we okay?" Bogg asked and Jeff nodded and looked around.

"I didn't think people decorated their yards with scarecrows in 1774," Jeff remarked and started walking toward the only house in site. A scarecrow stood in front of it, held up by a long pole with a shorter pole stuck across at shoulder height for the arms.

Phineas glanced where Jeff had pointed out the straw man, then suddenly lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Jeff's middle, pulling him back.

"Hey, let go of me," Jeff yelled, incensed at being so roughly treated.

"Stay away from that," Bogg shouted too loudly into his ear.

"What's wrong with you?" Jeff yelled back, struggling out of his partner's grip.

"That X on his chest," Bogg said, pointing.

Jeff looked more closely at the scarecrow, and this time he noticed a large black X over its chest. "Okay, what about it?"

"That's the sign for smallpox. Someone in this house has it, or died of it recently. It's not safe to touch anything."

Jeff stood still and glanced up at Bogg, ready for instructions.

Phineas stood staring at the scarecrow, his stomach was still upset, but now his heart and his mind were racing too. This was a dangerous place, especially for Jeffrey. "We've gotta get out of here," he said as he opened the omni and prepared to turn the dials. He stared at it in shock.

"What's wrong?" Jeff asked.

"It's not working," he whispered and turned it to face Jeffrey so the kid could see that there were no lights. The omni was completely dark. After another few seconds, Phineas spoke again. "We have to find dairy cows. Come on, and don't touch anything." They walked in the center of the road toward a steeple that stood above the tree line in the distance. "Churches are usually in the center of towns," Phineas told Jeff as he pointed out the steeple.

"Do we want to be in the center of a town with smallpox in it?"

"We don't know where the disease is, and we need to find cows. I'm betting there are farms on the other side of this village."

Jeff walked in silence. Privately, he wondered if Bogg was still feeling some odd after-effects from their journey. His sudden interest in cows was strange. He had never talked about cows before, and Jeff couldn't see any connection between cows and their malfunctioning omni.

As they rounded a bend, they came upon a small farm, and as they approached, a girl walked out of the barn carrying a jug.

"Hello," Phineas said as they approached.

She smiled at him and Jeff could see her eyes travel up and down as she looked at his partner.

"G'day," she greeted them.

"Is that milk?" Bogg said, pointing to the jug she carried. Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Aye," she answered.

"We just arrived and saw the sign for the smallpox over yonder," Bogg motioned in the direction they had just come from.

The girl nodded, "it's hit a few families."

"Are the cows healthy?" he asked.

"Now what would you be askin that for?' she queried him in surprise.

"I need to find some cowpox."

She didn't answer right away. "No one believes that old tale, they call us crazy."

"I believe it," he answered, "I need it for the boy." Bogg paused and waited, holding his breath.

She stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "About a mile up the track there's a farm. The herd was acting sick when last I talked to Maddie, she works there."

Phineas exhaled, "thank you," he whispered, then turned to Jeffrey.

"This is gonna sound strange," he began, "but, I want to give you cowpox."

"Everything you're saying sounds strange, and what do you mean 'give' me cowpox? What's cowpox?"

"It's a sickness, but it's not too serious."

"No way Bogg," Jeff said shaking his head. "That trip through the cosmos must have messed you up more than me."

"Will you listen to me," Phineas began angrily, in desperation, "if you've had cowpox, you can't get smallpox."

"How do you know?" Jeff challenged him.

"Because milkmaids spend a lot of time around cows. They've all had cowpox and they don't get smallpox. They all know it, but the rest of the world won't believe them for about a hundred years."

"And you know this because you spend a lot of time around milkmaids?" Jeff asked skeptically.

"Who cares why I know it, all that matters is that it's true."

Jeff didn't answer, so Phineas continued.

"Look, I'll try and fix the omni, but sometimes it gets tricky and it might take a few days. We'll have to find an infected cow, expose you, and then try to fix the omni. If I can fix it, we'll head for a green zone where you can rest until you feel better, and if I can't, you'll be sick here, but when you recover, we'll both be protected."

"Are you gonna get it too then?"

"I've already been immunized. I can't believe I didn't think to get you immunized after the trial."

Jeff paused and shook his head. "Sorry, but I'd rather take my chances with smallpox, maybe I won't get it." He started to walk away, but Phineas put out his hand and stopped him.

"Listen, smallpox was one of the major killers in history. If you get it you almost always die a horrible death."

"But maybe we can fix the omni..."

"We can't afford to waste any time. You need to get exposed and then get sick and recover, all before you're exposed to any smallpox germs. And we don't know where those germs are. It's not safe here. It's not safe for you to touch anything." Bogg stared at him for a long moment, then stood up and turned to the girl. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Sadie."

"I need a little dish of wine Sadie."

She nodded and went back into the barn.

"I thought you didn't drink?" Jeff asked in disbelief.

"I don't."

"Why would she give a complete stranger some wine?" Jeff asked as he watched her return with a shallow pottery bowl.

"Because there's a smallpox epidemic," Bogg whispered to Jeff, "that's why I remember this place. We're in the middle of one of the biggest smallpox epidemics in history. It swept through half of England." In a louder voice he continued when the girl returned with the bowl, "thank you Sadie. Is there a fire?" and she pointed to an open hearth off to the side of the barn. Bogg removed a pocketknife from his vest and started toward the fire.

"How exactly would I go about getting cowpox?" Jeff asked uncertainly as he followed his partner toward the flames.

Phineas paused, he knew the description wouldn't sound very appealing, so he tried to couch it in the most tolerable terms he could. He put the knife into the fire as he spoke, "well, some of the virus needs to get on your skin, where there's a scratch, or..."

"You're gonna cut me with that knife, aren't you?" Jeff interrupted.

"Just a scratch so the virus can get in."

"No way. I want my skin in one piece, people die of infections in this time, what if that kills me?"

"This blade is getting red hot, and we've got alcohol for when we get to the farm," it'll be as clean as we can make it."

"I can't believe this, you're really serious!"

Bogg nodded, "every minute we waste discussing it is dangerous."

Jeff shook his head, "okay, I'll go," but his tone made it clear that he wasn't convinced this was the right thing to do. "I don't want to, just so you know that."

"Good, come on," Phineas said, relieved, and immediately led the way toward the road, in the direction of the farm, carrying the dish of wine and the knife.