Matt didn’t doubt it. He could see his usually very with-it grandmother unraveling before his eyes. She was breathing hard, clutching at her chest, her face in a grimace. Her usually sleek silver hair now resembled dandelion fluff with half the fluff blown away.
“Can we go home?” Ruby asked. “I think we’d all be most comfortable there.”
“We can’t go back to the vineyard,” Mrs. Hudson said.
“No, I mean home home. Like our apartment?” Ruby nodded toward the city, the familiar skyscrapers sparkling in the afternoon sunlight.
Yes, home, Matt thought. It felt like they’d been away for ages, and Matt suddenly ached for their apartment, his own bed, the familiar things and smell.
“I don’t know,” Mrs. Hudson said. “It seems like just the place Vincent would go to find us.”
“Maybe not,” Jia said. “In all the time we came to New York, Vincent never did want to set foot in your apartment. He never even tried. I think that’s why he sent Pike to steal the letter instead of going himself.”
Jia frowned and looked away. Mentioning Pike must be painful for her, Matt thought.
“He did always try to kidnap us when we were outside, never when we were home,” Ruby reasoned. “So maybe it really is the safest place for us to be.”
“And maybe he won’t think to search for us in New York in any case,” Matt added. “He found us at Gaga’s house. I’ll bet he’d think we would think it wouldn’t be safe to go home, so maybe it’s actually the safest place we could go right now.”
“That all seems oddly reasonable,” Mr. Hudson said.
“And besides,” Ruby said. “Even if he did think we’d go home, he wouldn’t know when to go. He can’t know what date we traveled without the map.”
“Maybe, but Vincent isn’t the only risk in going home,” Mrs. Hudson said. “What if we’re there right now? We don’t know what the date is, exactly, with everything being so mixed up. We could run into ourselves, which could do just as much damage as Vincent could inflict on us, maybe even more.”
Matt thought not, but he didn’t say so. Given what he’d just witnessed, he was guessing Vincent could do quite a bit of damage. “Where else would we go?” Matt asked. “I don’t think we’ll be able to travel right now, anyway. Not far, at least. I can probably get us home, but it wouldn’t be safe to do much more than that. The compass needs some maintenance. I lost a piece. It could take a few days to fix it.”
“Can’t we at least try?” Ruby pleaded. “We’ll be careful, and if we hear anything then we’ll leave right away.”
“Belamie, everyone’s exhausted,” Mr. Hudson said. “My parents have been through the wringer. We need a place we can rest. And I, for one, would prefer to go home.”
“I second the motion,” Gaga said.
Uncle Chuck raised his hand. “Third.”
Mrs. Hudson finally relented. “All right. We can try going home, but any sign of trouble and we leave right away, agreed?”
They all nodded.
“Matt, if you hold the time dials and just set the location dials it should work.”
Gaga groaned. “Oh no. Please, no, don’t do that . . . that thing . . . whatever it is. I can’t take it.”
“It’s okay, Mom,” Mr. Hudson said. “It’s almost over.” He turned back to Matt and whispered, “Make it as smooth as you can.”
Matt did his best to make the travel smooth, and Blossom turned back into her original bus form. It was a bit cozy at first, but then Blossom, seeming to sense their discomfort, widened and stretched to create a bit more breathing room. Blossom was now more the size of a motor home.
“She seems to be getting better at transforming,” Mrs. Hudson noted.
Matt nodded in agreement. He had noticed certain similarities between Blossom and the Vermillion, the way they transformed, the feisty, almost sarcastic personalities of the vehicles. He wondered if it was just the effects of the Obsidian Compass and if it would have that effect on any vehicle. Or could it be that Blossom and the Vermillion were actually the same vehicle? It was a crazy notion, and yet it weirdly made sense. He guessed only time would tell. Only time would tell a lot of things. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it would just keep bringing more and more questions, making more and more chaos. There didn’t seem to be much order to the universe anymore.
They landed on Fifth Avenue, right near the museum and only a couple of blocks from their apartment, but there was no chance of them getting through all the traffic. Fifth Avenue was completely jammed because not only were there cars and buses and taxis, but also horse-drawn carriages where neither the horses nor drivers seemed to understand what was going on. There were policemen on the streets, trying to direct traffic with their whistles and batons, but it made little difference, and they seemed just as confused as anyone.
“This is supposed to be Manhattan?” Henry said, looking out the window as a covered wagon pulled by oxen passed by. “Did we go back in time?”
“We couldn’t have,” Ruby said. “There are too many modern buildings.”
“The timelines have been disrupted,” Matt said. “Different times and places seem to be breaking up and getting meshed together.”
They parked Blossom right in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, between a warhorse in full armor and an old Model T. Everyone tried to get out the side door at once until Mrs. Hudson yelled at the kids to calm down and let their grandmother out first. Uncle Chuck and Henry both assisted Gaga out of Blossom. Corey and Ruby were next to jump out, followed by Albert. Matt climbed out and then realized Jia wasn’t with them. He turned back to find her tucking the book Pike had been reading inside her vest.
The city was a circus. Not an actual circus, but some kind of time
