Time pirate 2, p.1
Time Pirate 2, page 1
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Cast of Characters from Book 1:
Francis ‘Frankie’ Johnston: Human. Main Character. Brown hair. Blue eyes. He works as a security guard at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where he discovers a time traveling pocket watch.
Joan Giles: Human. Love Interest. Short stature, dark hair, and has a love of sundresses. She works as a researcher, and she meets Frankie through her late night trips to the research lab.
Emily Forrester: Human. Love Interest. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Emily comes from the past, the year 1814, to be exact. Frankie helps her escape from her unfortunate betrothal and brings her to live in the modern day.
Lance Thomson: Human. Frankie’s best friend. He’s lanky with red hair, and he works as a researcher at a museum down the road from Frankie.
Craig Thomson: Human. Lance’s husband and DC detective. Cropped hair and broad shouldered. No nonsense kind of guy.
Harrison Riggs: Human. Frankie’s boss. Short and broad with a receding hairline. He’s former military, and he has an unexplained hatred for Frankie.
Benjamin Arkland: Human. He was a politician who struck up a deal with Emily’s father to marry her in exchange for money. Middle aged and portly. Frankie stole a tie pin from him and plans to sell it in the present day.
Marcus: Human. He hangs around Frankie’s neighborhood selling stolen goods. Short black hair. Brown eyes. He has some connections to help Frankie get illegal documents.
Chapter 1
“Frankie? Hello? Fraaaank?”
I snapped back to the present as my lanky researcher friend Lance Thomson waved his hand in front of my face.
“Sorry, yeah, I’m here,” I said, but I couldn’t get rid of the giddy smile that was plastered on my face.
My whole life had just changed. I was about to become a millionaire.
My eyes fell on Emily Forrester, the gorgeous blonde woman I’d just traveled through time with. Not too long ago, I discovered what looked like an ordinary old pocket watch in the research lab of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, where I worked as a security guard. The pocket watch ended up being anything but ordinary. Instead, it was a time traveling device that, with the twist of a couple dials, could transport me through the years to any time period I wanted.
I assumed, at least. I’d only used it so far to travel back to the year 1814, where Emily was from. The first time traveling trip had been an accident, but all of the ones after were deliberate, so I could get back to her.
And snatch up some high value items in the meantime.
Emily excitedly flipped through the dozen copies of her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, that I’d bought for her in exchange for her copy of the book. The blonde was wearing a long, ankle-length dress with a petticoat underneath that would be perfectly appropriate in her time, but it looked super out of place in the modern living room. Her copy of the book, a first edition from the year 1814 signed by Jane Austen herself, was worth millions of dollars at auction, which my good friend Lance had just informed me about.
I turned back to see him watching me with a grin.
“So?” Lance’s eyes were wide with excitement. “What are you going to do with all of your riches?”
“Buy a lot of books,” I said with an amused shake of my head as Emily squealed in delight at another copy of the exact same book.
“And what else?” Lance pressed.
“A very big gift for you, my friend,” I said as I clapped him on the back.
“O-Oh, no, I wasn’t fishing for anything--” Lance stammered.
“I know you weren’t.” I waved him off. “But I owe you a lot for helping me out with this whole time travel thing. Not many people would keep such a big secret, so I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. And Emily. And Joan.”
“Speaking of Joan,” Lance said with a pointed glance at Emily. “Does she know about your new housemate yet?”
“Not exactly,” I sighed as I followed Emily’s movements again, which were still focused on the several copies of Pride and Prejudice.
Joan Giles was a researcher who, on occasion, conducted her work in the basement of the museum where I worked. In fact, it was her research lab where I’d first come across the pocket watch. It had been a difficult conversation when I informed her that I took the pocket watch, but she’d gotten over that, and we’d become very close in the past few weeks. She’d even allowed me to move into the apartment above her garage to get out of my shitty living situation. Although, I did help her out with a little stalker situation she had going on, so it worked out for us both.
I’d already asked Joan if I could have a friend stay with us for a while. Joan, being the sweetheart she was, agreed to let Emily stay with us, but she didn’t know the whole situation yet. Joan was currently at work, so I had a bit of time to get Emily used to the environment before the two women met.
“Well, she’s a graceful woman, I’m sure they’ll get on just fine,” Lance said as he glanced at Emily again.
“Let’s hope,” I said with a nod.
“Oh, and the tie pin,” Lance said suddenly as his eyes lit up. “Almost forgot about that.”
“Oh, yeah, me, too,” I said with a sheepish smile. I’d managed to steal a diamond-encrusted tie pin from Emily’s would-be suitor from 1814. I’d given that to Lance, along with the signed book, to be appraised and valued. I knew it wouldn’t fetch anywhere near what the book would, but hey, cash is cash. “What’s the news with that?”
“He had to pass it on to a jeweler to get the exact value,” Lance explained. “There were a lot of diamonds on it, he said, so he wanted to make sure they were all real. He also thought there was an interesting maker’s mark. He should get back to me soon with a number, and he apologizes for the wait.”
“Tell him not to worry about it, and I appreciate all of his help,” I said with a wave of my hand. Then my face cracked into a smile again. “Honestly, with the news about the book, the tie pin could be worth a hundred bucks, and I wouldn’t care.”
“It’s sooo exciting!” Lance squealed and clapped his hands together. “I wish I could tell Craig the good news.”
Craig was Lance’s detective husband, who had helped me out with Joan’s stalker situation. I owed him a lot, too, but I wasn’t quite ready to bring another person in on the time traveling secret.
“Not yet,” I said in a warning tone. “I have a few things to figure out before I spill the beans about the watch.”
“Your secret’s safe with me. And I think I’ll leave you to it.” Lance jerked his head at Emily. “I’m sure she’ll need a lot of help adjusting.”
“Hey, thanks again for all your help,” I said, and I pulled my tall, curly-haired friend in for a hug.
Not only had Lance helped me get my old artifacts appraised, he’d just picked Emily and me up after we crash-landed from the past in a fancy steak restaurant. I cringed at the memory, and I knew I needed to sort out a better system for my time traveling. I’d been using Lance’s office at the Smithsonian library as a safe space to transport back to, but sometimes shit in the past happened that prevented me from getting back to the exact right spot. Like the Burning of Washington. I could still smell the smoke on my clothes from the battle I’d just rescued Emily from.
“Don’t even worry about it,” Lance said, and he clapped me on the back before he pulled away from the hug. “Let me know if you need anything else.”
“I will, thanks again.”
Lance shot one more curious look Emily’s way, and then he slipped out the door of Joan’s house quietly. The sound of the door clicking shut caused Emily to glance over my way.
“Oh, your friend is gone,” the blonde woman commented with a frown.
“Yeah, he had some work to do,” I said vaguely, and I joined the blonde woman at the coffee table in Joan’s living room and gestured at the books. “Do you have a favorite?”
“This one makes me curious,” Emily said as she lifted the book that had Keira Knightly on the cover. “This woman is very beautiful, but this is not Jane Austen.”
“No, that’s an actress,” I said. “She was in the movie adaptation of the book.”
“Movie adaptation?” Emily repeated with a confused expression. “What does that mean?”
“Oh, man, you have so much to discover,” I said with a wide grin, and then I waved my hand at the books. “We’ll get to movie adaptations soon. But are these satisfactory enough for you? We could get you a few more if not.”
“Are you crazy?” Emily asked, and she tipped her head back and laughed. “This is incredible. I can’t believe you can purchase books so easily in the future.”
“Wait until I take you to a bookstore.” I chuckled at the thought of the early nineteenth century woman walking into a modern day, four-level bookstore. She might faint from excitement.
“Can we go now?” Emily asked with wide blue eyes, and she was practically vibrating with excitement.
“Not yet, but we’ll go soon,” I promised the blonde woman.< br />
“Okay, good,” Emily agreed. She turned her gaze back to the books on the table, but suddenly her face fell, and her eyes became clouded with sadness.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked as I gently laid a hand on her elbow. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I feel great,” Emily said as she forced a smile, but I could still see the sadness in her blue eyes.
“Come on, you can tell me,” I prompted. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just thinking about how much Rachel would love these,” Emily murmured as she gestured at the books.
Rachel Davis was Emily’s best friend from her own time period. I felt a twinge of sadness at everything Emily had left behind, but I was pretty sure we both knew it was for the best.
“Well, maybe we can go back and visit her some time,” I said slowly.
“Oh, could we, Francis?” Emily gasped as she turned her wide, blue eyes on me. “Could we please? And maybe…”
“Maybe…?” I prompted.
“M-Maybe my father, too,” Emily said before her face twisted in pain. “Maybe not. But definitely Rachel.”
Emily’s father had attempted to marry her off to this jackass named Benjamin Arkland back in 1814, but luckily I’d arrived with just enough time to beat his ass up before he could do anything sinister to my Emily. I could imagine she was having some mixed feelings about leaving her conniving father in the past.
“I’m sure we can figure out a trip to the past at some point,” I said in a soothing voice. “How about we get you settled in here first? Come on, I have a place just for you.”
I grabbed Emily’s suitcase, and I led her through Joan’s house and up to the apartment above the garage. This was originally where I was going to stay, but after I told Joan about a ‘friend’ who needed help, we agreed that the ‘friend,’ Emily, would stay in the garage apartment, and I would stay in one of the spare rooms in the house. I figured this was a good arrangement because I also didn’t want to put too much pressure on Emily. The nineteenth century woman and I had been, ah, intimate already, on more than one occasion, but I knew the rules about courtship were different in her time, and I didn’t want to be too presumptuous or pushy with my modern day stance on dating.
Hell, I wasn’t even sure what the situation was. I’d just ripped her from everything she knew, but she was more than happy with the change. In Lance’s car, she’d been upset that I’d only referred to her as a friend, so we’d landed on the old-fashioned term of ‘beloved’ for now.
“Whoa,” Emily gasped as we entered the garage apartment.
It wasn’t anything special to me, but to a woman who’d never seen a refrigerator before, I could imagine it was pretty intense. The garage apartment had a black couch and a red rug in the center of it, and there was a large television fixed to the wall. Along the back wall was a kitchenette area, and tucked away in the corner was a door that led to the bathroom. The apartment was bright from the sunlight streaming in through the windows, and it was stuffy in the DC heat since the air conditioning was switched off.
“I’m sure you’ll be comfortable in here,” I said as I placed her suitcase by the door. “But I’ll be staying just out there, so I’m close by if you need anything.”
“You mean you’re not staying here with me?” Emily asked, and she turned to me with a frown.
“I didn’t want to overwhelm you,” I said with a gentle smile. “You’ll need some time to adjust to the present, and you’re here for good now. There’s no rush.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Emily said as she slowly turned to take in the apartment again. She pointed at the television. “There’s one of those devices again. They seem to be pretty popular in the future.”
“They are.” I chuckled. “You know, I think you can call it the present now. Since you’re here and all.”
“I suppose,” the blonde woman said, and then she giggled. “It might take some time to get used to.”
“All of it will, I’m sure,” I said kindly. Then I gestured around the apartment. “Let me show you what everything in here is.”
We spent the next hour or so going through the garage apartment. It was fun explaining all the modern day appliances to her. Of course, she had no idea what an air conditioner was, so I showed her which buttons to press to adjust the temperature of the apartment. Emily giggled in delight when the unit whirred to life and started spitting out cold air, a display of magic that she could only dream of in her time.
“I can’t believe how cold it is,” Emily breathed in wonder as she held her hands over the stream of cold air.
“We have other ones that blow out hot air,” I explained. “But we don’t need them during the summer, of course.”
“Oh!” Emily said excitedly as her eyes fell on the kitchenette area of the apartment. She pointed at the sink. “I know what that is! Yay, I know something.”
“You know plenty, my beloved,” I chuckled, and I pulled her in for a quick kiss.
“Mmm,” Emily hummed as her body melted against mine, and the kiss grew deeper. Then she pulled away and blinked up at me through her long lashes. “Thanks to you. You’ve taught me so much.”
“And I’ve got plenty more to teach you.” I smiled as I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the kitchenette area. “Let me show you.”
I went over everything in the small kitchenette. Emily had another freak out over the refrigerator, and she was practically jumping up and down with excitement when I showed her the freezer. Then we moved onto the stovetop, which was a modern glass one with flat burners. I showed her how to turn them on and off, and I had to explain the basics of electricity a few times when she kept asking where the fire was.
“This is all amazing,” Emily said in wonder as she swept her arms around the room, but then her eyebrows creased into a small frown. “But…”
“What?” I prompted when she fell silent.
“Where will I sleep?” Emily asked with an uncertain glance at the couch. “Or are the beds in the future all shaped like sofas?”
“Nope, check this out,” I said.
I crossed the apartment and made my way to the black sofa in the middle of the room. Then I started to pull the cushions off it.
“What are you doing?” Emily gasped, and she rushed over to pick the cushions off the ground.
“It’s okay, watch,” I said.
I tossed the final cushion away before I grabbed the metal bar underneath, and I pulled until the hidden mattress unfolded and the sofa transformed into a bed.
“Wooow,” Emily breathed as she gaped at the pull-out bed.
“Neat trick, isn’t it?” I chuckled as I grabbed the pillows and the comforter from the closet by the door. I quickly made up the bed and then stepped back and spread my arms wide. “It’s called a pull-out bed.”
“I’ve never seen something so incredible,” Emily said in a voice full of awe as she continued to stare at the pull-out bed.
“Man, you are going to be so impressed with the actual cool stuff,” I laughed.
“Like what?” Emily asked as she turned her wide, blue eyes on me.
“Oh, I know!” I grabbed Emily by the wrist again, dragged her to the small bathroom in the corner of the garage apartment, flung the door open, and pointed at the toilet. “Ta-da!”
“What’s that?” Emily asked with a confused frown.
“It’s a toilet,” I said. “Remember what I told you about indoor plumbing?”
“Wait, so that’s what… I mean, that’s where…” Emily’s cheeks blushed a deep pink as she tried to find the words.
“Watch,” I said.
I stepped into the small bathroom, opened the cabinet behind the mirror, and pulled out a bottle of blue mouthwash. I held it up and opened the cap, and I gestured Emily forward so she could watch as I poured a small amount of the mouthwash into the toilet. Just enough for the water to turn blue. Then I made sure the blonde woman was watching as I reached out and pushed the handle down to flush the toilet.
Emily gasped as the toilet roared to life, and the rush of water flushed the blue mouthwash away. She continued to gape in amazement as the water settled and returned to its normal, clear state.
“Where did it go?” she asked in wonder.
“Oh, that whole underground system I was telling you about before,” I said with a wave of my hand as I capped the mouthwash again and replaced it behind the mirror. “But you don’t have to worry about any of that. It works just like that, every time. So you can just uh, do your business there, and then push the little lever, and it disappears.”
