Albert didn’t seem to know what to do with this information. He studied Mrs. Hudson with suspicion, trying to find the trick in her words.
A loud groan turned all their attention to the other side of the ship, where Gaga and Uncle Chuck were. Gaga slid down against the side of the ship, her face a pale shade of green.
“Yikes, I almost forgot she’d come along,” Mr. Hudson said. He went to Gaga and knelt down beside her. “Mom, you okay?”
Gaga shook her head back and forth with her eyes closed. “Never again. Never, never, never.”
Matt could only imagine how she was feeling. It was a terrible way to experience time travel in any case, but especially for the first time.
Matt closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. Captain Vincent popped into his mind, unbidden, pulling swaths of that time tapestry from his dad’s neck. Matt wasn’t sure exactly what the captain had been about to do, but whatever it was, Matt was sure they’d dodged a big bullet. But he wasn’t sure they’d be able to dodge another one. That had been too close. The captain was sure to take better aim the next time. But what could they do? He didn’t understand what they were up against.
“How cool is this?” Corey said. “I think Blossom turned into a Viking ship!” He was standing at the front of the ship, holding on to the carved head of a dragon. The ship was long and narrow, the single sail striped orange and white.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Ruby said. “We’re not in the Viking Age.”
No, they certainly weren’t. They were sailing down the East River, toward the Brooklyn Bridge and the bay. The temperature was cool with a slight breeze, but not too cold that they were uncomfortable. The sun shone so brightly on the water, Matt had to squint in order to see. He wished he had his Mets hat. Where was it now in the timeline? He wondered. The last time he’d had it was when he’d accidentally traveled to the Vermillion back in Chicago, 1893, when his mom was still captain. Captain Vincent had grabbed it off his head. What had he done with it? He showed it to Matt when he’d boarded the Vermillion for the first time, but it had the message about the Mona Lisa in it then, and Captain Vincent said Matt had given it to him, so that didn’t totally line up. He hadn’t put the message inside his hat yet . . .
They were closer to the Brooklyn Bridge now than when they’d been in the plane, and Matt could tell something was definitely happening. Maybe it was one of those protests about climate change, or it could be a parade. As they drew closer, though, it looked more like a battle. On one end of the bridge was an army of men in full armor, not unlike the ancient armor he’d seen displayed his entire life at the Met. They had swords and shields, spiked balls and chains and double-sided axes. On the other end looked to be a Roman army, with red tunics, gold breastplates, and feathered helmets. They had swords and shields, too, and spears and bows and arrows and chariots pulled by armored horses.
“Maybe they’re filming something?” Uncle Chuck suggested. Matt remembered they’d tried to give him this excuse when they’d traveled to the Ice Age and saw woolly mammoths, but Matt was pretty sure that wasn’t what was happening here.
“You sure we didn’t travel to the Viking times?” Corey asked. “Or Ancient Rome?”
“We couldn’t have,” Ruby said. The bridge wouldn’t be there, nor the Statue of Liberty or any of this.” She gestured to all the buildings of the city. They were definitely in New York City, close to their own present if they were judging by the buildings and bridges. But even there, when Matt looked more closely, things were different. He couldn’t say exactly what, but it seemed like certain buildings were out of place, others missing, like the One World Trade Center. He knew exactly where that building stood, but he couldn’t see it now. Maybe this was before it had been built? But after 9/11? He didn’t see the Twin Towers either.
“What’s the date, Mateo?” Mrs. Hudson asked. “Where did you set the dials?” She walked slowly toward him.
Matt checked his compass. Truthfully, he hadn’t been paying all that much attention to the date when he’d turned the dials, only the place. “It’s . . . uh . . . 2019 . . . no 1902 . . . no . . . ah!” The dials were going haywire, particularly the time dials, which were shaking back and forth.
“Let me see,” his mom said, stepping gingerly to take a look. Corey, Ruby, and their dad gathered around, too, leaning in to observe the compass spinning its dials in Matt’s hand.
“I’ve never seen it do this before,” Mrs. Hudson said, her brow knit.
“Maybe it’s because time has been disrupted,” Ruby said. “The compass doesn’t know where or when it is, because the world doesn’t even know.”
It wasn’t a bad theory, Matt thought, but he wasn’t sure how helpful it was to know. Mrs. Hudson continued to frown at the compass.
“It might be that the compass just needs some repairs,” Matt said. “I lost a piece just before we traveled. I had to add a spare part at the last minute from Gaga’s phone, but it was only a temporary fix.”
“Lucky that it got us this far, I suppose,” his mom said. “Can you fix it?”
“I’ll need some tools and materials, but yeah, I think so.”
“Corey, do you have my map?” Mr. Hudson said. Corey looked down at his hand as if he’d forgotten what was clenched in his fist. He slowly held out the crumpled map to his dad.
Mr. Hudson took it and carefully unfolded it. He set it down on the bench and tried to
