“I can do that,” Alexander said.
“I’ll write a letter of introduction to your father for Michael,” Gray said. “What shall I tell him?”
“Make him the heir to some American fortune, throw in the name of a middle-ranking nobility from England, something credible but not that my father would be too familiar with. Their backstory doesn’t have to be that elaborate. I was almost sixteen, my father was chomping at the bit to marry me off to some wealthy American so that’s all he needs to see and he’ll be in.”
“Consider it done,” he said.
Chapter 24
Celine sat on the edge of the bed; she wanted to give Damien a few more moments of sleep. What she needed to ask him to do he would consider impossible. His mind was already struggling to wrap around what he had just seen. What he would witness her do next would break most people’s grip on reality. He would need all the strength he could muster.
She hated to send him and Michael back, to ask them to do this for her, but there was no other choice. Only they were capable of retrieving the book. Still, she worried. This was her cousin, or rather, Josie’s cousin. She was protective of him. He wasn’t like her, like Gray, like Alexander, he was different; he was normal. She felt for Michael, too, but Damien had been Josie’s family since childhood and even as Celine she had a strong connection to him.
She reached over and took his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. He began to stir, opening his eyes and looking around without recognizing his surroundings. “You’re at Alexander’s,” Celine said. “it’s okay.”
“Hey, Jos,” he said, blinking against the light in the room and squinting, “I had the weirdest dream. How did I get here?”
Celine smiled at him, at his innocence. “Unfortunately, D, that wasn’t a dream. I’m sorry I can’t break it to you more gently, but we’re running out of time and I need a favor from you.”
“A favor?”
“Yes, I need your help. Both you and Michael. I need you to get something for me, a book.”
“Like from the library?” he said, comprehension escaping him.
“I wish it were that easy, but no. I need you to get a book from a very special place. There isn’t much time to explain. I’ll fill in as many details as I can, but you’ve got to get up. I’ve got to tell Michael, too.”
Celine stood from the bed, still holding Damien’s hand and gave his arm a tug. Damien stood up, saying, “Um, okay, yeah I’ve got no idea what’s going on but I’ll help however I can, Jos.”
As they made their way to the door, it opened. Michael came in with Gray. “Hey, what’s going on, is everything okay?”
“It will be, but I need your help. Both of you. Come on, we’ve got to get you dressed.”
“Dressed?” Michael asked, screwing up his face and looking down at his body. “I am dressed.”
“Well, not appropriately for where you’re going,” Celine said. “You will travel to a very particular place and retrieve a book for me.”
“And I can’t get this book in a hoodie?” Michael asked.
“No, you can’t do it in a hoodie.”
“Okay. Where is this ‘particular place’ where hoodies aren’t allowed?”
“Martinque.”
“Like the island?” Damien asked.
“Yes, the island,” Celine answered. “In 1786.”
“So, we need to go to Martinque? Like tonight? We’ll never get a flight out that fast,” Michael said, missing the last statement that Celine made.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Damien interrupted, “did you say 1786?”
“I did, yes,” Celine said. “I need you to travel back to the year 1786 and get the book. I’m sorry, there isn’t time to explain it all but I can get you there and I think it’ll be obvious after that.”
Michael’s eyes darted side-to-side before he uttered, “This is a joke, right? You’re joking.”
“I’m not. Let’s continue talking about this while you’re changing, we’ve got clothes for you. You will pose as a rich American, an heir to…”
Gray added in, “A shipping magnate,” as he shoved clothes at Michael and Damien and prompting them toward the bathroom to change.
“Right,” Celine continued, yelling through the door to the bathroom, “a shipping magnate, we have a letter of introduction for you. Give it to the Marquis Gaspard Devereaux. You’ll find him on the outskirts of the town, he has the biggest house there, large, and white, overlooking the sea, you can’t miss it. Tell him you want to tutor his daughter in English and that you hope to have the honor of courting her. And here is a second letter, give it to the Marquis’ daughter in the library two days before her sixteenth birthday, just trust me on this. You’ll understand once you are there. And you, D,” she said, “are his brother. You’ve got a good sense of history, D, so make sure Michael doesn’t do anything… well… stupid. You’ll need to get a very special book, you’ll get it from the Marquis’ daughter, it’s called The Book of the Dead. She’ll give it to you at a suitable time and help you return to us with the book, just play along until then.”
Michael and Damien emerged, dressed in their eighteenth century finery, both of them pulling at their collars. “I look ridiculous,” Damien said.
“Yeah, I look like a clown.” Michael looked to Damien. “Is this really happening?”
“Yes, it is happening. And, no, you can’t travel to 1786 in a hoodie.”
“Well… I’m not on board with the whole time travel thing yet so…” Michael contended. “Oh, by the way, how do you know all this?”
“Well, you’ll have to get on board with it. And I just do, you’ll understand later. Now, here are the letters,” Celine said, handing him letters,
