13 year old Opal Gomez woke up with a start. She just had to go out, out of the house, she didn’t know why. She stepped out of her uncle’s house and started towards the beach. It was a full moon night, the waters were gleaming. It was ghostly.
As she started walking through the soft sand she stubbed her toe against something. Stopping, she bent down and began to dig. Out came a small box. She opened it. It was full of rings. A sixth sense told her to keep it. She started back.
***
2 weeks later Opal was sitting on her bed going through one of her many history books, when a clap of thunder sent her cat Goldy, running under the bed. Opal came to a page titled ‘Abraham Lincoln’. She stared at the photo; the ring on his hand looked similar to one she had found in the box. The caption under the photo read ‘Abraham Lincoln died on 14 April 1865 in a theatre called Ford Theatre in Box 7. He was killed by a man named John Wilkes Booth.’ She took out the ring and wore it. On the inside of the cover she saw these words-
‘Far and forth in time you travel,
The things you see, you will marvel,
And many truths will unravel.’
She murmured these words. Things started whizzing around her and she suddenly found herself in a very crowded inn. She saw a man in a black suit and asked him, “Excuse me please, but where is this?” He replied, “This is the Merry Day’s Inn.”She looked out of the window and saw a sign that said ‘Ford Theatre’. Her heart racing, she saw the calendar on the wall opposite – it read ‘14th April 1865’ she gulped. President Lincoln was going to be assassinated. She ran out of the inn and into Ford Theatre. Up she went to Box 7. She saw the President sitting there and ran next to him,” Sir, your life is in terrible danger!”He just stared at her.” Hurry up, please…”In a daze he got up. She quickly propped his top hat on a stick and pulled him behind a curtain. “Who are you?” he finally said. “My name is Opal. I come from the future. It’s a bit complicated” she replied. “Well, why are we hiding behind a curtain?”He asked. “A man called John Wilkes Booth is going to come here and shoot you. Hopefully he’ll think that the top hat is still on your head…”Opal said. “And then?” “We wait till we see Booth and then we go to Victoria Street.” “Why?” he asked. “Because there was one more person involved…nobody knows who but there somebody was.” Opal let out a frustrated sigh. “Victoria Street was the only which was not guarded…I have a hunch the person will go there.” she finished. A moment later she tensed. “He’s here” she whispered. A man of medium height with a moustache wearing a black coat and hat crept into the box. “Go, go, go” Opal said urgently. The president crept under the curtain and paused at the stairs for Opal. “Don’t wait, he’s going to run down the steps as soon as he shoots you or rather at your hat” gasped Opal. They hurried down the steps. “Try to keep your face covered at all times.” said Opal.
They ran out of the theatre, onto the street. Opal stopped a horse buggy. “Take us to Victoria Street as fast as possible.” said Opal. They got down at the end of Victoria Street. It led into the woods. “Alright Mr. President, you’ve got to help Me.” said Opal. “What do I do?”He asked. “We have to gather a few of those thorny brambles and lay them across the the street.” she replied. “That’ll puncture the tyres of a bicycle and stop a horse.” They worked swiftly and silently. After it was all done they had to do the most difficult bit.
Wait.
They chose a nice tree and sat underneath it. Opal pulled a bar of chocolate out from her pocket and broke it in half. She gave Lincoln one half and ate the other. “What happens to Booth?”Lincoln asked, breaking the silence. “They’ll catch him in a warehouse and now they’ll arrest him with a murder attempt.” said Opal. All of a sudden the sound of a bicycle bell reached them. They hid behind a broad oak tree. The sound came closer and then suddenly there was a hiss of tires. “Wait here.”Lincoln told Opal. He charged at the silhouette leaning down next to the bike and pushed it down. “Come out, its safe now.” he called out. Opal came and saw a man that the President was holding tightly. He was wearing a mask. Lincoln took it off. “Ward Lamon!”He exclaimed. “It’s your bodyguard!” gasped Opal. “Well, well, we finally found out” mused the President.
Suddenly another buggy drew up. “Mr.President. are you alright, sir?” asked the man inside. “I’m fine Jenkins; this man is a part of the plan to kill me. Put him at the back and give me a few minutes with my friend here.” he said. “Well, my young friend, do you want to go back to the White House with me?”He asked. “Thank you sir, but no. I have to get back home.” said Opal. “Goodbye then, I’ll forever be in your debt. Thank you.” he said and climbed into the buggy.
Words started glowing on the ring and Opal read them out loud.
“My job here now complete,
I must return and my house meet.”
Things whirred around her and then she was back in her bedroom. No time seemed to have passed since then. “Opal, come down for dinner…”called her mum. “Just a minute, Mom. I’ll be right down.” She opened her book and took the page again. Nothing had changed except the last line which had changed from ‘Lincoln died…’ to ‘a mystery girl saved the President’s life’.
Opal sat back and gave a satisfied smile. She slipped off her bed and bounded downstairs thinking ‘A nice adventure. I hope I have another one.’ “So what did you do for so long?”Asked her mum. “If you only knew Mom…”whispered Opal smiling secretly.
We set off for Hampi, after a good night’s sleep. We persuaded the manager to let us keep our room an hour extra after the check out time without extra cost. Reluctant at first, he later agreed as it was a SBI account. It was another hot morning. We told the driver to take us to a nice restaurant for breakfast. He took us to a guesthouse where absolutely no one was bothered to even tell us what was available. Mom took out guide pages, printed out by a friend and told the driver to take us to a place called ‘Mango Tree’.
And what a place it turned out to be! Volcanic rock formations in the background, with a river running right in front of us! No chairs. We sat down on a cool floor, in the open air, under the cool shade of a mango tree. Steaming hot, soft scrambled eggs for breakfast for me!
We ran into some students from South America, Chile if I remember right. They could not enter the Elephant Stables, as the fee for foreigners was a two hundred and fifty rupees.Daylight robbery at it’s best. After visiting the famed Queen’s bath, and more temples, we returned to Hospet. After a long swim, we had our dinner in the only restaurant that was open, with crackers bursting at the door. We waited in the reception of our hotel for two hours, and another one and a half hour at the travel agency where the bus we were taking to Bangalore was supposed to arrive at.
