Danger In The Jeweled City (Book 2 in series - Matt & Heather Thriller)

CHAPTER 1

Heather, get up, come on; they’re getting close.

Matt was pulling on Heather’s hand in an effort to help her to her feet. She looked up at him, a little dazed and confused. Was she really reliving past events of their first visit to this grand exposition, and was it possible that they could both actually be children again?

There was no time to figure out whether or not this was real. The point was, it certainly felt real. Even though she was dizzy and confused, Heather pushed herself from the pavement with her free hand, finally managing to get up. Her knees were scraped and bleeding, but she knew she had to move through her pain—two men were in hot pursuit.

Being alone with no chaperon at a huge public event made the two of them vulnerable to being kidnapped; and the sheer size of the throng allowed for a kidnapping to take place without the slightest bit of suspicion.

At eleven and a half and thirteen, respectively, Heather and Matt had been wandering through the amusement area of this world renowned fair. But, being as precocious as they were, they had decided that before their trip they should make a visit to their local library to check out some books covering the Panama Pacific International Exposition.

They had even decided to do some extensive research on the internet and had found an old map laying out the orientation of all the venues, inspiring Matt to make a list in his trusty old notebook of all the sites they must see.

Heather and Matt had been orphaned at a very young age, as a result of their parents’ death in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay area.

Their closest living relative was their Great Aunt Estelle, and after their parents’ death, the two were brought to live with her.

Aunt Estelle loved to be the center of attention and there always seemed to be an air of drama about her. She had never had children of her own, so by the time Matt and Heather had become her wards, she hadn’t a clue as to how to deal with them.

As a child prodigy, Estelle Furgeson had a demanding schedule of private piano lessons, constant practicing, many recitals and tours, and found herself surrounded only by adults. Consequently, coupled with the fact that she had no children of her own, she was uncomfortable around Matt and Heather and distant and stiff with them. Although the three of them did, at times, have quiet dinners together, there was generally no laughter, only polite conversation, with a sprinkling of prodding by Mrs. Furgeson to remember your manners.

In fact, Great Aunt Estelle’s idea of a good time for children was to take Matt and Heather to the symphony or the ballet. And, when she found the subject matter intelligent, she occasionally took them to see a children’s play. Fortunately, at the time, neither Matt nor Heather knew their aunt also had plans to introduce them to the opera when they were ‘of appropriate age.’

Because of her successful career as a concert pianist, with everyone oohing and aahing at her brilliant talent, Aunt Estelle had been in great demand, and as a result, had built up a tidy sum in her bank account before marrying.

When they met, Hubert Furgeson, Aunt Estelle’s husband was serving in the diplomatic corps. His position required him to travel extensively throughout the world, and it was on one of those travels that his untimely death occurred, some fifteen years after their marriage. He was aboard the infamous Flight 007 to Korea in 1979, when the plane went off course and was shot down by the Russians who believed it to be on a spying mission.

The news came as a severe shock to Estelle. But, after a year’s bereavement, she regained her strong will and determination, and within a short while, was her old self again, throwing and attending parties, and enjoying her life as a socialite.

Mr. Fergusen’s estate was quite huge and the inheritance Aunt Estelle received upon his death, coupled with her already significant amount of assets, left her one of the wealthiest women in San Francisco. Consequently, she had continually been courted by politicians and foundations alike for her generous donations and influential support.

Upon their arrival at their aunt’s mansion, Matt and Heather had enjoyed exploring the old house and found all the alcoves and rooms to be perfect for playing ‘hide ‘n seek’ but, as they grew older, their lives seemed to be filled only with routine and boredom and the house no longer held the same fascination as it had when they first came to live there. Fortunately, though, Matt and Heather would discover an intriguing secret that would change their lives forever.

They had been told stories of the house and how it had been built by an unscrupulous mariner whose painting still hung in a dark corner of the library, and who, it was rumored, had used indentured Chinese laborers to do the building. There were even rumors that one of the older Chinamen had some how bewitched the house.

Heather remembered the first day she and Matt saw the majestic row house perched on a rise in the wealthy Marina District. They had been driven to their new home directly from their parents’ funeral. It was a gray and dreary day, reflecting their mood. They sat in silence in the big, black limousine. Remnants of the earthquake’s devastation were still evident in parts of the neighborhood. The driver had to take a circuitous route to avoid the police barricades set up to protect citizens from the potential collapse of structures. Parts of the area looked as though they were a war zone. Their great aunt’s house, however, was one of the few that had miraculously remained untouched.

When they finally reached the home’s entrance, they were escorted to the front door by their aunt and the limousine driver. As they slowly approached the house, the two large, leaded-glass doors mysteriously opened, revealing the foyer and grand staircase. Matt and Heather just stood there looking up in awe, and they both shivered, wondering what fate lay before them.

On Matt’s thirteenth birthday, just as he thought he would go stark raving mad of boredom, the two siblings discovered the house’s secret—a hidden doorway to time travel.

The two had both been in their favorite secret spot, a tunnel-like space behind the sofa, lying head-to-head, talking of their drab lives when Matt, who was lying very close to the wall, suddenly discovered a feature that started at the baseboard and went up the paneled wall. It looked like an opening of about two square feet. Matt had never noticed it before. It was a chink in the paneling.

His heart began pounding in excitement and anticipation, hoping he had discovered a secret trap door to a passageway, possibly added by the Chinese laborers who built the house long ago.

He had tried to pry the door open with his finger tips but couldn’t get a good enough grip to open it. It wasn’t until Heather had backed out of the tunnel-like space and ran to the desk to grab the sterling silver letter opener that the solution would be close at hand. Matt stuck the blade end in on the right side, but still couldn’t get enough leverage to pry the door open. But, as he slid the blade around the top and over to the left, they both heard a click and the panel opened, revealing a small passageway barely big enough for an adult.

Both their hearts began pounding this time. Matt poked his head through the opening, but it was so dark he could hardly see what was beyond the threshold. He decided to venture further, prodding Heather to come with him. But she was too afraid of the darkness that lay beyond, and they decided it was better that she stay behind anyway. After all, there should be someone keeping guard to make sure no one caught them.

After warnings to take care and promises that he would, Matt had finally maneuvered his body around to sit at the opening rather than have only his head poking through. He was sitting on what felt like a ledge with his feet dangling in air. As he scooted forward, to his surprise, he began sliding down a 45º ramp.

Once at the bottom of the ramp, Matt discovered he was in a counterpart library of the one he had just left.

Because of the novelty of the hidden door and because of their excitement of finding it, neither had noticed the Mariner’s clock that hung on the left-side panel just inside the opening of the secret passageway. On further examination, though, they realized it was an instrument for time travel and the passage was a portal to other times.

Inscribed on the wall just beneath the clock was a riddle.

Tic toc, Tic toc.

Time is in the hands of this clock.

Whether to go forward

Or whether to go back,

Whichever you choose

Will determine your track.

Never tarry longer

Than when the next watch is struck,

Or wherever you are,

You are sure to be stuck!

It took them a little while to decipher its meaning, but they eventually learned that the length of a ship’s watch was four hours and that they couldn’t stay any longer than four hours in one place or the consequences could be disastrous—they could be stuck between dimensions and possibly dissolve into thin air.

Matt was enthusiastic about the adventures that awaited them. But at first, Heather was reluctant to leave the safety of her familiar surroundings, even if things were a bit stuffy and boring in the old house. Once Matt had convinced her that it was safe enough, and once she was comfortable and familiar with its use, she was as eager to travel to as many places and times as the four-hour allotment would allow—and so, the two had visited the Bay Area not only in times past but in the future as well.

Everything began when Heather and Matt ventured through the passageway on their first time-travel visit to the 1915 Exposition. They found themselves close to the amusement area and began wandering through it, discovering that there were recreations and working models of the Panama Canal; the Grand Canyon; the Dayton Flood of 1913, that had killed over 300 people and prompted the advent of modern flood control; the Battle of Gettysburg; and an imaginative diorama of Creation itself, illustrating the first few chapters of Genesis in vivid detail - it was a representation of the world.

The Zone, as the area was called, also included numerous eateries, among them fine sit-down restaurants such as the Old Faithful Inn, with its working model of the geyser, and the Alt Nuremburg, with live music and dancing.

There were recreations of foreign villages and camps, including the Camp of 49, showing visitors how the early western settlers and gold miners had lived. And since Matt and Heather had been studying about different countries in their geography classes, it was fascinating to them to see the Japanese, Chinese, Samoan, Somalian, and Tehuantepec villages firsthand.

As the two walked by the mock Samoan Village, several young women and men, scantily clad in their native costumes and adorned in necklaces and strings of beads and rings, began their native dances while singing their island songs. Their voices were soft and musical and they seemingly moved every muscle of their bodies. Heather could have sworn they even moved their fingers and toes. The dancers’ skin, where it was not tattooed, glistened a beautiful golden color, and Heather enjoyed every bit of their performance.

There were representatives from many other countries too, who performed their native dances and played their unique instruments for the fair goers throughout The Zone.

Then there were the rides. The Bowls of Joy was an exciting, but considered by many people of the day, a dangerous attraction. Riders were seated in small roller-coaster cars, which spun at break-neck speeds around the inner circles of inverted cones. The Safety Racer was another popular destination that featured two roller coasters speeding against each other. And the Scenic Railway was not only part sightseeing excursion but part roller coaster too, with riders traveling through imaginary scenes that used elaborate and dramatic lighting to enhance the rider’s experience.

But Matt’s and Heather’s favorite ride was The Submarine. Foreshadowing Disney’s attractions, visitors entered through the wide open mouths of sharks, wandered through coral caves, and then visited the seven seas aboard a life-size model of a U.S. Navy submersible, as it was called. At the end, a violent storm battered the submarine before returning it and its passengers safely back to home port.

Finally, there was