Sydney Klein has a secret. A destiny passed down through her family since the beginning of time itself. On one beautiful fall day her life changes forever when she comes face to face with her beloved grandfather who had died six months earlier. She learns what the strange birthmark on her arm really is; a key that unlocks the door to time. She alone is the new Time Doctor and no one, not even her parents, can know. She is soon faced with her first operation as Time Doctor and it will take her back to one of the most famous and bloodiest battles of the Civil War....Gettysburg. Is Sydney ready?

Sydney Klein Doctor of Time

Operation GettysburgBy Donna M. Jones

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Donna M. Jones
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-8957-0

Contents

CHAPTER ONE The Door....................................1CHAPTER TWO The Calling.................................7CHAPTER THREE North and South...........................15CHAPTER FOUR Mrs. Leister...............................23CHAPTER FIVE From Child to Adult........................31CHAPTER SIX The Battle Begins...........................37CHAPTER SEVEN The Secret Message........................41CHAPTER EIGHT The Rip in the Forest.....................47CHAPTER NINE A Heart Divided............................53CHAPTER TEN Freedom of Choice...........................61CHAPTER ELEVEN The Escape...............................71CHAPTER TWELVE Truth Be Told............................81CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Unbroken Bond......................93

Chapter One

The Door

Sydney sat at her computer staring into the blank sheet on her screen that was supposed to be the start of her English essay twenty minutes ago. Not really in the mood for homework, she looked out her window. A light breeze was blowing her curtains and the locusts were beginning their nightly songs to each other from the trees. Early September, the weather was finally turning cooler and the air conditioner had been off for a week now. Sydney's favorite time of the year.

Mr. Kraddick across the street was pulling his trash can to the curb for the garbage man tomorrow. Mr. Kraddick used to work for the railroad but was retired now. He was a nice elderly man who was always humming old big band tunes. Bum..Ba.. Bum..Ba. Sydney smiled. She has known Mr. Kraddick most of her life and he was always the same. Dressed in nicely pressed slacks, a dress shirt with no tie, and a sweater. Always happy. Always humming. Mrs. Kraddick was a nice lady too, but she didn't hum all the time. She was a little woman barely five feet tall. She loved to work in her yard. You could usually find Mrs. Kraddick kneeling in her flowerbeds weeding or adding some new rare flower to them. Sydney used to bring in their mail and newspapers when they would travel. But, they haven't been doing too much of that anymore. Mrs. Kraddick said that they were always so happy to get home, that they decided it was time to stay there, so they do not travel anymore.

Seeing Mr. Kraddick made Sydney think of her own Grandpa. The smile dimmed slightly on her face, and a shadow of sadness took its place. Her eyes wandered to the newly acquired wardrobe in her room. It was large and very old. Her mother told her that it had been in her family for so many generations, that no one really knew how old it was. Grandpa Jack insisted that it go to Sydney upon his death. So here it sat in her room, a reminder of how much she missed him. Grandpa Jack loved all of his grandchildren, but he and Sydney had a special bond that for as long as she could remember had always been. From the time she was able to follow him around, they became best friends. It has been almost six months since he passed away, and she missed him terribly. Grandpa loved history. He would pull Sydney up on his lap and tell her stories about the battle of independence, the Civil War, the great westward migration, the gold rush, and the assassination of President Kennedy. "Never forget Sydney," he would say. "There were two shooters, no matter what other people say."

"How do you know Grandpa, were you there?" Sydney would ask in a whispered voice. Grandpa Jack would never really say whether or not he was actually there in Dallas that fateful day; he would only say, "I have seen the truth."

The truth was, Sydney thought with a sigh as she turned back to her screen, was that she was going to fail English if she didn't get started on this essay. She was tired. She hadn't been sleeping very well the last few nights. She was having strange dreams that made absolutely no sense. She was always running, trying to find something. One minute she would be in one place and the next minute she would be somewhere else. Never able to find what she was searching for and always being whisked away somewhere else looking for it. Whatever IT was. She was so exhausted that her eyes were playing tricks on her. For a split second she thought she saw silver sparkles floating in the air to her right. But when she turned nothing was there but Grandpa Jack's beautiful wardrobe that now held her dresses, jackets, and her new favorite shoes she bought at the mall this weekend. She looked back at her screen and typed SYDNEY KLEIN, ENGLISH 2ND HOUR. THE FALL OF.... "There it is again!" she said, seeing the silver sparkles reflecting on her screen. Sydney turned quickly and looked at the wardrobe, but what caught her eye were the few silvery sparkles dancing around in front of her bedroom door. She watched as they floated celestially in the air. A few more would appear and then fade out. Sydney looked out her window to see if something was reflecting into her room. Mr. Kraddick was gone now, having gone back into his house, and dusk was settling on the quiet neighborhood. She could see nothing that would be causing the sparkles in her room. Slowly she rose from her chair and started toward the door. She had taken only two steps when a knock on the door stopped her. He mother opened the door slightly and popped her head in.

"Sweetie, remember you said you would pick Erik up after school for me tomorrow. My training class is finished at five, so I should be home around five forty-five. I will have dinner in the crock-pot, so all you will have to do is set the table. OK?"

Mrs. Klein looked at her daughter, quite aware that she did not have her full attention. Sydney looked a lot like her mother. Barbara Klein was slender with light brown hair, which she wore in a medium length bob. At age forty, she could easily pass for her early thirties. Sydney's dad, Kevin, only a year older than her mother, had dark hair and an olive complexion that her brother Erik inherited. It always frustrated Sydney how her father and brother could tan so easily in the summer, but she and her mother would have to burn at least once before they started to tan. "Sydney, did you hear me?"

She opened the door and stepped into the room turning to look in the same direction as Sydney. Mrs. Klein looked up at the ceiling and around at the door she had just entered. "What are you looking at?" Mrs. Klein asked, trying again to get her daughter's attention.

"Don't you see them?" Sydney asked, "Where are they coming from Mom?"

"See what?" Mrs. Klein answered. "What are you seeing?"

She walked over and stood by Sydney staring at the bedroom door and not seeing anything except the wardrobe to the left that her father had given her daughter upon his death last March.

"The sparkles floating in the air, that's what!" Sydney exclaimed waving her hand in the direction of the silver sparkles. Slowly they started dying out, until only one was remaining and it twinkled out. They were gone.

"Sweetie, I don't see a thing." Mrs. Klein stated. "You probably saw headlights reflecting from a car or something. Did you hear me about Erik?"

"Yeah, I'll pick him up." Sydney said absentmindedly. "But no Mom! It wasn't headlights. I checked!" She added quickly. "They were just floating around in front of my bedroom door all by themselves!"

"Well, I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for whatever you saw. Sometimes if I get up too quickly, I see sparkles. There are so many things that can cause us to see things." Mrs. Klein kissed her daughter's forehead and gave her a little squeeze. "Now don't stay up all night doing homework. I want you to get to bed at a decent hour tonight."

Sydney just nodded her head and headed back toward her computer. She couldn't explain it, but she knew that what she saw was not caused by headlights. And why couldn't her mother see the sparkles? They were right there in front of her plain as day.

And that is why they did not succeed. Sydney typed the final sentence of her essay. She took the USB drive out of her computer and put it in her backpack. She shut down her computer and looked at the clock. It was 11:10 p.m.

"Well at least I'll make it to bed before midnight tonight!" she thought to herself. She started to reach for her pajamas when a silver glow reflected off the face of her watch. Sydney inhaled sharply and spun around. The silvery sparkles were back! And this time the door was surrounded by hundreds of them! Taking a few deep breaths, Sydney looked around and thought wildly about what she should do. Should she call her parents? No. She already knew her mother couldn't see them. They might start thinking she's a total nut case or something. Slowly she advanced toward the door. She was standing right in front of it. The sparkles were all around her. She couldn't feel them. They were like leftovers from the fourth of July, just hanging in the air. It was as if they were guiding her, showing her the way to go. But the only thing in front of her was the bedroom door. She tentatively opened the door to see if the sparkles were also in the hallway. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide then quickly squinted shut. A blinding light coming from the hallway illuminated Sydney's whole bedroom. Sydney shielded her eyes and carefully peered into the hallway. The normal hallway was gone! In its place was a hallway with a door at the end. Sydney could feel her heart pounding hard against her ribs. Her senses were on high alert. She couldn't really say she was terrified. Afraid—a little. Awestruck—for sure. Astounded—absolutely! But mostly she was very curious as to where that door led.

She stood there for a few minutes, nervously twisting her class ring on her finger, a habit she developed soon after she received it on her birthday last year. The gold band with her initial on the inside and the name of her high school engraved on the outside that encased the ruby stone that was her birthstone. It was beautiful. Sydney battled with herself contemplating what she should do.

Not knowing where the courage was coming from, she slowly stepped into the narrow hallway and walked toward the door at the other end. Just before she turned the handle on the door, she looked back and could see her bedroom small off in the distance. Would she ever return? She turned the knob and opened the door.

Chapter Two

The Calling

Sydney slowly turned the handle and peeked into the room. She let go of the handle in pure amazement. She stood there in total astonishment, with her mouth open and her eyes transfixed on the sight before her. It was her Grandpa Jack's living room! Sydney stepped tentatively through the door. Sure enough, there she stood smack dab in the middle of a room that she was very familiar with. How many times as a little girl had her mother repeatedly told her not to run through Grandpa's house when she and Erik would play hide and seek in this room. Just earlier this year she had helped her parents clean out the house after Grandpa's death so that the realtor could put the house on the market.

Sydney turned around quickly to see if her bedroom was still in view and her heart gave a jolt as she saw that the door was gone and she was standing in front of Grandpa's coat closet. Quickly she reached for the doorknob to go back the way she came when a very familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't be afraid, Bug," the male voice said behind her.

There was only one person in the whole world that called her that, and he was dead. Sydney felt as if ice water was flowing through her veins.

"This can't be real," she thought to herself. "I have got to be dreaming. Wake up! Wake up!"

Almost as if he were reading her mind, she heard her grandfather's voice say softly, "You are not dreaming, this is very real, and you are not hallucinating or crazy. It's just me, so you don't need to be afraid. Can you turn around?"

Sydney stood there motionless, hand still on the doorknob. As if she were moving in slow motion, she let go of the knob and turned around. Standing there in front of her with a smile and definite concern in his eyes was her grandfather.

"Hi Bug, are you ok? I know this is quite a shock for you."

"Grandpa?" Sydney whispered.

"Yeah, it's me," he said smiling, his eyes still trying to read her reaction to him.

"Are ... are you a ghost?" Sydney asked. Her voice sounded small and unusually high to her.

Grandpa Jack chuckled. "No Bug, I assure you I am very much alive. I know in your time, I am not. How long have I been gone?"

"Six months." Sydney answered. "I don't understand. What do you mean in my time?" She was beginning to feel her tense body start to relax and her voice coming back to her.

"It's very complicated," Grandpa Jack stated, scratching his head. "Why don't you sit down and I will try to explain it to you."

Not wanting to scare Sydney any more than he already had, her grandfather moved slowly over to the sofa and sat down. He really wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right, but was it? He well remembered when he himself took that long walk down the hallway. He knew exactly how she was feeling at this point. He also knew, just like he himself found out that fateful day, her life was never going to be the same again.

Sydney forced her legs to move and headed for the big overstuffed arm chair she always liked to curl up in when she went to Grandpa's house. She sat down and felt the familiar feeling of the chair surround her. It was enough to make her realize that she truly was in her Grandpa's house and he was alive! Alive and sitting right across from her!

Seeing her noticeably relax and sensing that she was finally accepting the reality of the situation, her grandfather smiled and nervously ran his fingers through his gray hair.

"What year did you come here from Sydney?" Grandpa Jack asked.

"September, 2003," Sydney stated. "What year is it here?"

"Would you believe 1997? You were just showing me the new bike you got for your birthday this past weekend. Do you remember that?"

"I remember that!" Sydney recalled with amazement. "I got it on my tenth birthday from Mom and Dad." Sydney smiled nervously recalling the memory. "Are you saying I traveled back in time? How—why?"

"Yes Bug, you did." Grandpa Jack smiled back. "And the reason you did is because you are one of the chosen from a long line of very special people in our family. It is now your turn to pick up where I have obviously left off by dying."

Sydney looked at him confused. "Chosen? Chosen for what? "What were you doing Grandpa that I have to finish?"

"Let me finish my story Bug, and then I will answer all your questions. I need to make sure you understand exactly what is expected of you. The last time I tried to tell you was disastrous. But luckily I was able to do a little changing of future history myself! I knew I had to add extra years to my life, but twelve years even exceeded my expectations! I figured that when you returned to me again you would be around ten. This is even better. You are in a much better position to handle the responsibility now!"

"....I, ..excuse me? I know you wanted me to wait until you were finished, ....but....returned again? Did I come to you like this before? I don't remember it," asked Sydney.

"You don't remember it because you were only four years old. Way too young for the responsibilities of .........well, I'll explain that in a minute. You came flying through that door and thought it was a fun old game coming down that hallway. It took me a while to figure out who you were, because in my time you where only five months old! But you knew me, and talked my leg off! It was then that I deducted that I had passed away when you were four and that you were to be next in line. The fates have a way of giving us a little notice of our .....well....demise."

Grandpa looked at Sydney and could tell that she was not understanding.

"Of our death Sydney. I knew from talking to you that I had only four years left to live. So, after I had sent you on your way home, I took myself off to the doctor right away. I hadn't seen a doctor before that I bet in twenty-five years. It was then that I found out that I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and a serious weight problem, all of which I took great pains to correct. I guess it worked! Look at you now. I knew you would grow into a beautiful young lady. I needed to live long enough for you to grow old enough to handle the job." Grandpa Jack sighed and looked down at his hands that he was nervously folding and unfolding.

"Grandpa?" Sydney said softly. "What am I supposed to do?"

Grandpa Jack looked at Sydney, took a deep breath and said, "Our family, as far back as time has been in existence, has had the responsibility of maintaining and repairing it." I walked down that very same hallway when I was twenty and sat listening with the same disbelief as you, while my Uncle Henry, who had also died about three months earlier explained what my new responsibilities were going to be. We are Time Doctors, Sydney."

"Time Doctors?" Sydney repeated slowly. "Does time get sick?"

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Sydney Klein Doctor of Timeby Donna M. Jones Copyright © 2011 by Donna M. Jones. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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