Chapter 10
Miranda and I are sitting on the couch, quietly discussing theories and ideas of how to time travel back to our century, when the front door is thrown open and Eliza enters the living room.
She glances to us and gives us a tired smile. "Burr called off the duel. I also told Dr. Jacob about our plan, and he agreed. He's meeting us at the docks in an hour."
"An hour?" Philip shouts from upstairs. "Dad, we've got to hurry up with this packing thing!"
"I'm trying!" I hear Mr. Hamilton respond. "It's not my fault your mother is insisting on you bringing so much stationary!" He then directs his words at his wife. "You realize they sell paper, quills, and ink in France, don't you, Eliza?"
Eliza rolls her eyes. "Hurry up, Alexander!"
I share a brief smile with Miranda. Hearing the Hamilton family argue is one of the most hilarious things I have heard in my entire life. And I'm still not used to the fact that I'm here, in the past, actually witnessing history.
There's a sudden BANG! that rattles the floorboards.
I spin around so fast I nearly fall over. Was that… a gunshot?
I breathe a sigh of relief when I look at the bottom of the stairs. It was just Philip dropping an oversized trunk down the staircase.
Eliza groans when she looks at it. "Philip, throwing that down probably cracked the floors!"
"Sorry, Mom!" Philip responds from upstairs. "It can be kind of hard to move things around when your arm is in a cast!" He makes his way down the stairs, attempting to move the trunk with one hand, but his efforts are in vain.
Mr. Hamilton descends down the steps. Together, he and Philip struggle with Philip's things, but the trunk doesn't move an inch. Eliza watches them for a moment, amusement written across her face, before putting her own hand on the trunk. With one hard yank, she drags the trunk to the doorway.
Philip and Alexander stare at her in shock.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Alexander jokes.
Philip grins. "Seriously, Mom."
Miranda smiles at me. "Hashtag respect," she says.
We both realize her mistake at the same time.
"Hashtag?" Eliza asks us quizzically.
Mandy's eyes widen. "Um… inside joke between me and Kay," she blurts quickly. I nod enthusiastically.
The Hamiltons shrug, then go back to forcing Philip's trunk out the door.
I breathe a sigh of relief. We've already gone so long without accidentally revealing that we're from the future.
"Careful, Mandy," I murmur under my breath so only she can hear.
"Yeah, I know," she replies apologetically. "My bad."
"We did it!" I hear Eliza cheer. She, Philip, and Mr. Hamilton are all standing outside the house. They've managed to drag the trunk through the doorway. It now rests on their stoop.
"Come on, girls," Philip says to us with a smile. "Let's go."
As we walk towards the docks, Philip's trunk in tow, Eliza can't seem to stop looking around nervously.
"Eliza, act natural," Alexander reminds her for the tenth time.
"I know, I know," she says, breathing a sigh. "It's just… what if someone sees Philip? What if Eacker sees Philip? Everyone needs to think he's dead, and yet, here we are, walking down the street with him in broad daylight!"
"Mom, relax," Philip assures her. "Everyone's too wrapped up in their own business to care about us."
I nod slowly, though I'm nervous, too. The sun is shining. As we walk down the dirt path to the marketplace, I feel exposed. Besides, once we reach the marketplace, everything is just going to get harder. We'll have to push through crowds of people- making sure to keep Philip unnoticed- in order to get to the docks.
"Well," Philip says, taking a deep breath. We're on the top of the small hill that leads down into the market. "Here we go."
We continue down the road. Alexander and Eliza walk in front, Philip hobbling behind them, and Miranda and I bring up the rear. We're doing our best to keep Philip hidden from view.
We finally enter the bustling crowds of people. I can hear the comforting sounds of noise and overlapping chatter. Philip was right; everyone seems busy. Nobody will notice us.
At least, that's what I have to hope.
"Oh no," Miranda breathes.
I turn to her. "What is it, Mandy?"
She gestures vaguely to her left. "Eacker."
I follow her gaze. George Eacker is standing in front of a small fruit stand, talking loudly and boastfully to another man… recognition dawns on me. It's Aaron Burr.
I tap Philip on the shoulder, and he glances at me over his shoulder. Without saying a word, I point to Eacker.
Philip's face pales. He nods once to me, then faces front again and whispers to his parents.
"We've got to pick up the pace," I hear Eliza say. "He's right there. The man who tried to murder our son is right there."
"We can't go any faster," Mr. Hamilton responds. "We'll only draw attention to ourselves."
"It's okay!" Philip assures them, relief filling his voice. "We're nearly there!"
I stand on my tiptoes to peer over Philip's shoulder. He's right- the harbor is in sight.
As we approach the water, the smell of salt and fish nearly overwhelms me. The squawks of seagulls and the shouts of fishermen fill the air. We're standing on the very last part of the dirt road. If we take one more step, we'll be standing on the creaky wooden docks leading out into the water. Boats surround the space in front of me, and I smile. We're about to set history right.
Mr. Hamilton and Philip walk ahead, continuing down one of the docks, while Mandy and I help Eliza with the trunk. We follow Alexander and his son towards the edge of the wooden platform, where I can see Dr. Jacob waiting.
"Hello, Hamiltons!" he calls as we approach. He nods at Philip. "Ready, my boy?"
"I'm ready, Doctor," Philip says with a grateful smile. "Thank you. For everything."
"Yes, Dr. Jacob," Eliza pants, finally managing to haul the trunk all the way to the end of the dock. "Thank you so much. I don't know… I don't even know how we could ever begin to repay you."
"Yes," Alexander agrees. "If there's anything we can do, please-"
"Nonsense," Dr. Jacob says kindly. "You gave me the chance of a lifetime. I've always wanted to visit France."
Suddenly, there's the loud honk of a foghorn. I flinch as a huge ferryboat pulls into the dock beside us.
"There it is," says Alexander. He lifts his hand to his face, checking his wristwatch. "Right on time."
From the boat's deck, a man dressed in white lowers down a thick wooden plank. Dr. Jacob picks up Philip's trunk and begins dragging it up the plank.
"I'll wait for you on deck, Philip," he says. Once he's disappeared onto the boat with all the stuff, Philip turns to his parents.
"Bye, Mom," he says, leaning forward and hugging Eliza with his good arm. "Bye, Dad." He gives Alexander a hug as well.
Eliza smiles at him, tears in her eyes. "Don't forget to write," she says softly.
"I'll remember," Philip assures her.
"Goodbye, son," Mr. Hamilton says. "We'll visit during the holidays, okay?"
"Okay," Philip nods.
He then turns to me and Miranda. "Thank you, Kay," he says. "Thanks, Miranda. You've saved my life more times than I can count."
"I'm pretty sure it was just twice," I say with a grin.
Philip laughs. "Anyway, thank you."
He steps onto the wooden plank leading up to the ship.
"Goodbye, everybody," he says, waving.
He hobbles lopsidedly onto the ship.
The boat begins pulling out into the harbor. Philip stands on the edge of the deck, waving at us.
We all wave back at him, but make sure not to call too much attention to ourselves. The boat soon disappears, fading to a tiny dot on the horizon.
I sigh in satisfaction. We did it. We set history right again.
"Well, girls," Eliza says. "Let's go home."
We turn and begin to walk back towards the marketplace. Eliza's words echo in my ears.
Home.
What home? Mandy and I may never be able to go home ever again.
As we enter the marketplace and wiggle our way through the crowds of people, Miranda elbows me in the ribs.
"Kay, look!" she exclaims.
I spin around, my breath catching in my throat when I see what she found. A small, red tent, nestled between different vending stalls and small shacks. A red tent… with a sign nailed to the ground outside the entrance.
The Traveller's Hub.
I exchange elated glances with my best friend.
Hope swells inside my chest. This is it! I'm sure of it! This has to be our way home.
"Eliza," Mandy says. "I think… I think it's time for Kay and I to go home."
Eliza looks at us for a moment and smiles. "Girls… you've done so much for us. Thank you."
"Get home safely," Mr. Hamilton adds. "And feel free to visit us whenever you'd like."
I can't help but beam. The Hamiltons are telling us that we could visit them? It would be perfect… except for the fact that we live in a different century.
"Goodbye, Eliza," I say with a wave. "Goodbye, Mr. Hamilton!"
"Please," he says, "call me Alexander."
I grin so widely my face hurts. Miranda takes my hand. Together, we back away from the Hamiltons and into the crowd, waving all the while.
Together, we make our way to the red tent.
Miranda pushes aside the tent flap. "After you."
I flash her a thumbs-up and enter the tent. She enters behind me, and the tent flap swings shut.
The tent is dim and cool. It's completely empty except for a small wooden box lying on the ground.
I kneel down and pick up the box. It's smooth, but plain, with not a single carving or decoration.
Miranda kneels down beside me. "What's inside?"
I pull of the lid of the box and lay it on the ground. Then I peer inside… only to see a small, pink bar of soap.
"Soap?" I ask in disbelief, examining the soap in my hand. "How's this going to get us home?"
"Hey, we got here with a sink," Mandy reminds me. "Why not get home with soap?"
"Okay…" I hold out my hand, and she puts her hand on the soap as well. "Ready?"
"Ready," my best friend nods.
"History is happening…" we sing together. Our voices trail off. There was no explosion, no flash of light. We're still kneeling in the darkened tent, holding a bar of soap.
"It's not working!" Mandy's voice is panicked. "What do we do?"
"Um… try other lyrics!" I suggest.
"Okay…" I can see Miranda thinking hard. "What about… uh… look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now!"
Once again, nothing happens. We try a few more lines from different Hamilton songs, but in vain.
"This is pointless," I say, frustrated tears welling in my eyes. "We're never getting home. History is going to be fine, because we sent Philip on a ship to a new land, and, and, and all we want to do is get back to New York…"
It hits me.
"Alexander Hamilton, the first song in the musical," I tell Miranda.
"What about it?"
"Plannin' for the future, see him now as he stands on the bow of a ship," I begin to sing.
Miranda's eyes light up and she joins me. "In New York you can be a new man!"
I feel wind begin to stir around us, picking up speed as it swirls around.
Mandy grips my hand and the soap tighter.
"In New York you can be a new man!"
A roaring noise echoes in my ears. I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for it to end.
When the wind dies down, I open my eyes. Miranda and I are holding hands in a dirty old bathroom, our reflections appearing in the dusty mirror that hangs over a sparkling sink.
"Kay," my best friend breathes, looking at me.
"Miranda," I respond. I'm pretty sure my eyes are as wide as hers, if not wider.
We're both struck literally speechless. We can't say anything else; what else can we say?
"Well…" Miranda says, a grin splitting her face. "I guess we should probably go back out to the restaurant. I mean, our pizza is probably getting cold."