Hamelton (Dr. Paul) (6 page)

"You know I finished William's book don't you?" I broke the silence.

"Yes, thank you for putting everything back the way it was," she said with a finality tone. I watched the gardeners for a few more minutes thinking I had better break the ice with Maggie before Handy came down.
I lightly slapped my hands on the table. "I just don't understand why your attitude toward me keeps changing. Did I do something wrong, or something?"

Maggie said kindly, "No, that's not it at all. I'm in a very difficult situation myself.” After a thoughtful pause, “Let me try to explain it to you without trapping myself. I think I know what has, may or will happen. If I interject my opinions, will I cause myself to be wrong? I can't afford to be wrong." Well, that little riddle had me lost on what subject we were even talking about. Footsteps could be heard skipping down the stairs. Maggie looked relieved that someone was ending our private conversation.

Handy's smiling face appeared in the doorway. Not knowing that Maggie had some knowledge about what was going on; he filled the air with all kinds of busy conversation. Hanna, who I'm told usually wakes up at the crack of dawn, slept in because she had the week off. She came in from the direction of the servants' quarters. She looked well rested. She wore jeans and a tank top. Her hair did not seem fully combed. She plopped into a chair and joined in the conversations. Jeff and Cindy came in even later looking flushed. Cindy had one of those looks that said 'I wasn't just having sex or anything.' Of course anyone who has that type of look was just having sex.

Maggie said over her shoulder to Jeff, “You could at least mess up your both beds in the mornings so I would think you slept in your own beds.”

Handy was controlling the conversation during breakfast for the most part. He said we should all go up stairs to talk about what to do today, and we did.
Handy ushered them, including Hanna, into my room where he continued to sit them down and very convincingly told them my story. I was feeling a little left out, but I occasionally made a correction here and there. No one seemed to doubt the tale the way Handy laid it out. Everyone wanted to try the experiment, so I told them in detail what to expect and how to do it. I recommended using a different room because someone was sleeping here last night. Handy convinced the group that the "gate" is more open in this spot because of last night.

We locked the door to the room. I laid down on my back; Hanna was on my right and then Handy, Cindy and Jeff. I spoke directions at first to maintain a common speed. Then just continued focusing on myself. The same experience happened except during the "limbo" stage, I could feel the tunnel with my body and I felt more controlled flying through the tunnel.

I was lying on my back. I opened my eyes to see the sun coming in the window. The walls were bare. I looked at the bed and slowly rose to see an empty bed. Relieved, I looked down to notice all five of us made it. Jeff was the next to start moving. Then everyone sat up.

They could not believe the walls had changed. I felt that I was in charge since I had at least done this once before. I decided, "What are we doing here if we don't go exploring to see where we are?" I opened the door slightly and looked down the hall. Realizing that no one was there we proceeded into the hall way. Now standing on the same thin carpet that I had last night, I smelled the strong aroma of spices. Looking at the floor beside the rug, I saw potpourri scattered around, later I learned this is to prevent stale smells. We, single file behind me, went down the hall to the main stairs. Another flight of stairs went up to the third floor from a bridge that went between the top of the second floor stairs. This was interesting because I had not even thought much about how they got to the closed parts of the house. I looked up to the third floor briefly. This did tell me that we are definitely sometime in the past.

We went out the front doors to see some carriages on the stone driveway. Behind them was the front garden as opposed to the lawn that I expected. Plainly, due to the low cost of labor, they had a large staff to take care of things. A dozen gardeners looking engulfed in their work could be seen. The fish foundation was gone and a stone pond for horses to drink from in its place. The time of day seemed to be late afternoon. Off to the right I could see a small group of men sitting around a well dressed very energetic man. We looked at each other, gave a mutual, "why not" symbol to each other then proceeded toward the group of men. As we walked I looked back to the house and I noticed a meek looking man standing against the wall of the mansion watching us. We must have walked right past him without noticing him. He was dressed all in white with loose fitting simple clothes. His shirt was unbuttoned half way down. His arms were folded. Maybe just the maintenance man. He seemed not to have any intention to contact us so I focused on the group of men.

The man talking looked majestic; his outfit was some kind of velvet with pinstripes of another material. Not only did his regal outfit look hot to wear but he also had a small cape around his shoulders. He was bigger than average build and had a bit of a belly. He wore a hat on his dark hair that was well trimmed. We stood unnoticed off to one side as we listened to him talk. Luckily after listening to the people in town for a week and having read William's book I could make out much of what he was saying. His talk was about growth of self contentment. The way he romanticized every sentence reminded me of William's writings. I thought to myself, "At last I will meet William."

He suddenly noticed us and immediately pulled off his cape and ran toward us in a frantic manner. He draped his cape around Hanna and led her toward the house. All the pupils broke out talking at once, the quick slurred hysterical voices blurred together to make an incomprehensible rumble. The majestic man also rambling on led Hanna into the house. Not feeling in danger we just followed behind Hanna and the man. He was yelling that we were sinners or something.

Several other people were moving quickly around us in the entryway. A soft voice spoke behind me and instantly the room quieted. I turned to see the man in white calmly telling everyone that there is nothing to worry about. This man was unique because he did not stand tall or speak loudly but received instant respect.

He walked up to us and touched Jeff's shirt. "How far have you come?" The man in white asked.
Handy causally replied, "Farther than anyone here has been."
Turning to Handy now, the man asked, "I have never seen clothes like yours nor heard talk like your speak before."

Handy very wisely said, "Our great grandparents were marooned on a big island and they found their own way to do things."

"Do you make women go out in public in their under garments?"
Handy must have realized that Hanna's tank top was too revealing for the time, especially in a religious retreat. "Sometimes we forget the customs of the places we visit. If you have better clothes, we will be glad to conform."

The man turned to a female servant standing under the stairs. "Take proper care of the ladies", he ordered.
The maid said obediently, "Yes sir, Master Hamelton."

I caught on to the fact that our host was William! In the sudden commotion I had all but forgotten that I was in hunt for William and here he stood right in front of me. My mouth must have drop to my chest. What do I say, what do I ask, how do I ask it? I was not ready for this to have happened just then.

Luckily William, perhaps noticing our confusion, helped me out of my dilemma. "I do not know why you have come," he said, "... but you must be weary after your very long trip. I would be honored to offer your party a room for the night. We can talk over your business at dinner tonight."

He leaned his head forward and nodded as if to prompt us in to accepting his generous offer. I then looked into the face of the man I came in search of. He was skinny and meek. His openness radiated kindness. His eyes were sunk deep in his head. Short black hair slightly unkempt fell loosely down his forehead. The outside corners of his eyes were busy with lines. His mouth was lightly turned up in the corners with a gentle smile; this seemed to be the usual for him.

In the corner of my eye I could see Hanna and Cindy being ushered up the stairs by two maids. My head seemed to follow William's head nodding. I thought of Handy and looked over and noticed both my friends nodding. William lifted his hand to command some unseen servant, then turned and exited through the front door. Most of the crowed left behind him. Hanna and Cindy were nowhere to be seen. Two male servants and one female standing off to the side exchanged several words that could not be understood. Then they lead the three of us up both flights of stairs to the third floor. We were taken to the right side of the house. We were given one room to share with three simple beds in it. The room itself was also simple. Plain sheets and drapes. The maid straightened up briefly and left. One of the butlers asked where he could retrieve our wardrobes. When we said they were lost, he said they were prepared for such instances and left. Now we three boys were temporarily alone.

"Where is Cindy?" Said the wide eyed Jeff.
"Oh, I'm sure she's fine. We have to decide what to tell them at dinner tonight," I said.

Handy sitting on the bed said, "Wait just a minute. Let‟s slow down and look at this one thing at a time. Starting with how did we get here and..." feeling himself "If I traveled through time...how come my pants, my wallet...and the fillings in my teeth came with us?"

I couldn't deny Handy was probably right; however I knew we did not have the experience to start to analyze the mysteries of science. "We don't have the luxury of time to discuss it right now; we must go with the flow until we have a handle on it. At dinner tonight, I say we all stay together so we all say the same thing. Agreed?" They nodded. "What do you think would be good to say is our business with him, the Garden of Eden?"
"Then how do we know about his secret experiments? No, that won't work. I don't even know what kind of business they did in the 1600s. How about a deep inner unknown calling to this house," Handy suggested.

"It's corny, but it's all we have so far. Let‟s see what else we can think of before we have to say something," I said as a knock came at the door, "Come in." In came the two male servants with a coat rack filled with outfits suitable for dining. Plainly this is not uncommon and our gracious host is well prepared. An outfit was set out for each one of us and the servants left. One said dinner was being served soon and the rest of our party will meet us there.

We decided that Handy would do most of the talking and Jeff did not want to say anything. We thought it might be better to try to ask more questions than we answered. So we prepared for and went to dinner.

As we came down from the third floor I thought how weird it was to walk down a staircase that was a ceiling this morning. The dining room was in a room I had not been in yet in either time. It was on the right side of the house. Double doors opened into a large room that drew my attention first to the ceiling. It was two stories high with about one foot wide rafters running back and forth in both directions reminding me of a waffle. Between the wood were hand painted designs. The walls were oak with carved symmetrical designs. Two large tapestries hung in the room. On the left wall the tapestry was a colorful picture of the leaders of two armies meeting while their soldiers stood ready in the back, the one at the far end of the room was the Hamelton family crest. The table was long and dark. Benches were on the sides as opposed to chairs. The one chair in the room was at the far end of the table and it had a high extravagant back. Cloths were set periodically down the table with candelabras on them. Some people had already been seated.

William's voice could be heard from the chair at the far end of the room. "Please come and join me." As I approached I could see around the candelabras. There sat William, relaxed and surrounded by several laughing friends. "We haven't had a chance to meet properly yet, my name is William." We introduced ourselves while he seemed to take note of our names mouthing them silently to himself. "I always have my newest guests sit closest to me, their stories are the freshest." The seated gentlemen laughing at William's statement stood and excused themselves as they moved down leaving empty seats for us to inhabit next to William. We sat with Handy on his right and then me. Jeff was on the left.

"This island you come from interests me, what is it called?" William asked as he sipped his wine.

Handy answered, "California. It never rains in Southern California. You seem to have several guests tonight, a special occasion?"

William said, "There happens to be a concert tonight, but most are just some intellectuals discussing philosophy. How many people live on California Island?"

Handy said, "A lost boat of settlers landed there a few hundred years ago and there are about a thousand people now. What area of philosophy do you study?"

Handy's face focused on the other side of the room. I turned to see what he was looking at. Hanna and Cindy had just entered the room. They looked very feminine in their long dresses. The dresses were not exactly evening gowns, but the girls looked pretty. I don't mean a sudden bright light of radiance filled the room type pretty, just the "Oh, you like nice." I looked over at Handy, whose eyes were big and wide. William gave a quick uninformative answer to Handy's question then greeted toward the women. William stood and introduced all the people at the table to the women. Cindy sat beside Jeff and Hanna next to her.

During dinner Handy seemed suddenly so infatuated with Hanna that he lost the ability to deal with William, so I took over the game of words they were playing. Most of dinner had gone by and neither William nor I really answered any question.

Then William asked, "So why is it you came to see me?"

At this point I figured the game had run long enough and we didn't want to wear out our welcome so I decided to give him a decent response. "It's an unbelievable thing that happened and I hope you take what I say how I mean it." William stopped and looked right at me apparently glad I decided to give a more lengthy response. I put in every clue I could without really committing myself. "Once we found a means of transportation, the five of us had an uncontrollable desire, like winning a gold ring, to make the attempt to come here and learn from you. It was a distant quick trip but we knew it would be worth it. We could not control our floating desire to come here."