“Well, that was some pretty intense time traveling,” Mr. Hudson said. “I’m a little woozy myself. You two okay?”
Ruby shrugged. “I feel fine.”
“Me too,” Corey said.
Matt marveled at his brother and sister. He couldn’t understand how they were both still standing. They never seemed to be affected by time travel. They never got time sick. Matt wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that their parents were born in different centuries, and that somehow made them biologically fit for time traveling. It was an interesting theory. Maybe one day, there would be many more children born of parents in different centuries. They could run all kinds of studies on the effects. But Matt was getting ahead of himself.
Jia came tumbling into his view. She was crying. “We have to go back for Pike!” she said. “She jumped onto the Vermillion just before we left!”
“I’m sorry, chérie, but I’m afraid we can’t go back.”
“We have to! We have to!” Jia cried hysterically. Matt had never seen her so beside herself. “You would go back if it was Matt or Corey or Ruby!”
“This is different,” Mrs. Hudson said. “Pike very clearly chose to cross over to the Vermillion.”
“She didn’t mean it! She didn’t know what she was doing!”
“We can’t be sure of that,” Mrs. Hudson said calmly. “It could be part of Vincent’s plans. It could be another trap.”
“You mean the way I was a trap?” Jia said in a hard voice. “Do you wish you hadn’t saved me?”
“Of course not,” Mrs. Hudson said, taken aback. “Oh, Jia, I’m so sorry. That’s not what I meant. I only—”
“Hello?” said a very irritable voice. “Anybody want to help me out here?”
They all froze and looked around the boat.
“Who’s that?” Ruby asked.
Matt looked up, squinting in the sunlight. Two stout legs were dangling from the mast.
Corey groaned. “Oh no! You have got to be kidding me.”
Jia wiped her tears. “That sounds like Albert.”
“How did he get here?” Ruby asked.
Matt remembered how Albert had been reaching for Corey as he was jumping across. He must have lost control of himself and jumped across, too, just before they traveled.
“Hello!” Albert spoke in his usual haughty tone. “It’s rather rude to leave a person just hanging like this! If I fall, I could break my neck!”
“Oh no! We wouldn’t want that to happen!” Corey shouted.
“Corey, that’s enough,” Mrs. Hudson reprimanded.
“I’ll go help him down,” Mr. Hudson said, which was easier said than done. Albert was not very cooperative when it came to following Mr. Hudson’s directions, so eventually Mr. Hudson just yanked on both his legs so Albert was forced to let go. Mr. Hudson caught Albert as he fell but clearly wasn’t prepared for Albert’s bulk. Albert landed right on top of Mr. Hudson, who let out an oof! Albert rolled off him, grumbling about incompetence. He brushed himself off, straightened his glasses, and smoothed his hair. Finally, he noticed the group of people staring at him. His face drained of color in an instant.
“Oh no,” he said. “I’ve been taken hostage by the enemy!”
Corey snorted. “Are you kidding me? Us take you hostage? I’d rather cut off my right arm than be forced to spend time with you. You’re a stowaway, that’s what you are, and we’re going to discard you the first chance we get. In fact, let’s throw him overboard now.”
Albert backed away, looked around for some place to run, but seeing that he was trapped on a boat floating down a river, he decided on another tactic. He stood up straight, lifted his chin. “It doesn’t matter. Captain Vincent will save me.”
“Sure,” Corey said sarcastically. “I’m sure you’re top of mind for him right now.”
“You won’t be laughing after the captain is finished with you,” Albert said. “You’re all doomed.”
Corey rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He’s full of it.”
Albert’s eyes darkened. His nostrils flared, making him look even more piggish. “You think I’m lying? I’ve seen what Captain Vincent can do now. He’s more powerful than you could ever imagine.”
Matt thought of the time tapestry, and that strange dynamite the captain had almost used on his dad, the way it erupted beneath the train. He knew Albert was telling the truth. But there were still things he didn’t know or understand, and as long as Albert was gloating Matt decided he should try to get some information out of him.
“Who was that other man who was on the Vermillion?” Matt asked. “What was he doing for Captain Vincent?”
“That’s Al—” Albert began, but then stopped and reconsidered. He seemed to pick up on what Matt was trying to do. “That’s none of your business.” He clamped his mouth shut.
“You’d better tell us,” Corey said, “or we’ll throw you overboard, and I have a hunch you can’t swim.”
By the expression on Albert’s face Matt guessed Corey’s hunch was correct.
“Corey, settle down. We’ll do no such thing,” Mrs. Hudson said.
“But, Mom! He’s withholding information. He’s the enemy! This is war! Shouldn’t we at least torture him a little? Break a few fingers? Hold him underwater until just before he drowns?”
Albert tucked his hands behind his back and backed away a few steps.
Mrs. Hudson got down in Corey’s face and stuck her finger in his chest. “You won’t harm a hair on his head. He’s only a child.”
“I’m not a child!” Albert protested.
Mrs. Hudson turned on Albert and regarded him with a cool gaze. “Very well, then. You are free to go. You are not our hostage. We don’t take prisoners. We can drop you anywhere you wish here in the city, and you can wait for Vincent to rescue you. Is that what you wish?”
Albert’s eyes darted around. He moved his feet in a way that reminded Matt of a toddler doing a potty dance.
“I’ll take your silence as your desire to stick with us,” Mrs. Hudson said. “We will feed and protect you, but you will not be our prisoner, even though you deem
