Emperors of Time Read Online Free Page B

see
Julie’s face by the light from the cut out moon and stars, which were about at
eye level from their vantage point.  Julie mouthed for Tim to “Get down!”,
which made sense, given that it would hardly do for someone to see them through
the carvings in the wood.  Tim got down.  The wardrobe was big enough
so that both Tim and Julie were able to sit comfortably on its floor.
    The person who
had opened the door spoke, soft and cooing, addressing the baby in the
crib.  Tim still had a hard time thinking of this baby as Julie, but it
didn’t sound like the baby’s mother did, “Little Julie, Julie-kins,” she
cooed.  “Already awake from our nap?  Why didn’t you call?  You
should call ‘mommy! mommy!’  Just like that…  ready?”
    The baby, who
could hardly be old enough to talk at all yet, apparently was not ready, but
simply made some nonsense sounds.  The baby’s mother laughed with pleasure
anyway.
    The other Julie,
the one not in the crib, was clearly upset.  Tim could see her in the dim
light, crying silently as she peered through the small crack between the
wardrobe’s doors. 
    Tim wished there
was something he could do to help her, but he couldn’t talk to her, not with
the baby’s mother still in the room.  In the meantime, he had an idea for
how he might be able to answer a question or two of his own.  He pulled
out the pen that he still had in his pocket from that day at school and used it
to draw a small question mark on his side of the wardrobe.
    If Julie
noticed, she didn’t say anything.  It took her a full ten seconds to peel
her eyes away from the crack in the door.  When she did, she grabbed Tim’s
hand.  For a second, he thought she did this for comfort, and he suddenly
felt bad that he hadn’t reached out to her first.  Then he saw her other
hand balled up into a fist and knew she must be holding the medallion. 
    He braced
himself for the journey then realized this was pointless.  Quicker than
changing the channel on a television set, and without any feeling of movement,
they were sitting on the floor, not inside, but directly outside the wardrobe,
in the exact spot they had been standing when they had left. 
    The desk was
back, the baby gone, but Julie was still there.  She sniffled a little as
she wiped a couple of tears away from her eyes.
    Tim was glad they
were now alone now, so he could talk to Julie, but he still couldn’t think of
anything useful to say.  “What’s wrong?” he finally asked, lamely. 
For a second, she didn’t answer.  She seemed to be gathering herself, but
Tim couldn’t resist filling the silence by saying, “Is there anything I can do
to help?”
    Julie shook her
head, smiling sadly.  She said, “No, sorry, it’s just…  That’s the
first time I ever remember seeing my mother.”

Chapter 3
The Pink Bicycle
     
    “Oh, I’m… 
I’m sorry,” said Tim, just now beginning to realize how little he knew about
Julie’s family.  She had vaguely mentioned having a stepmother, sure, but
plenty of people had stepmothers…  Tim had had no idea that Julie’s mother
was gone.
    “It’s… 
well, it’s not as bad as it sounds, maybe…  I mean, it’s bad but…” she was
stammering, clearly shaken up.  “She died when I was about a year
old.  Can’t have been much later than when we just were…  I was an
only child, so it was just me and my Dad for a while. My aunt came in to help
for a bit, after that, and then my Dad met Stacie.  She married my Dad
when I was 4, and she’s great, seriously…  I mean, I call her Stacie most
of the time because she was never comfortable with me calling her ‘Mom’. 
She didn’t want to try to replace my real Mom…  Still, you can tell she
loves me…  maybe just as much as she loves my brother, Mike, who they had
together…  He’s 9, by the way, so he gets home at…  shoot, what time
is it?” she was momentarily snapped out of her reminiscence.
    “It’s, ah…”