The Time Capsule

Chapter 21: The Insurgence

Chapter 21: The Insurgence 

The birds scattered from the trees as Angelica's scream rang through the hills swallowed by the whistling winds of Scotland. A ship was rocking back and forth on the high sea, waves splashing over the deck...or was it wind? She blinked open her eyes and groaned as she sat up on a hardwood floor, a feeling of dread washing over her. Surely this was all a horrible, horrible dream and she would wake up if she hit herself hard enough.

"Ow," she had just tried to pinch herself and it did nothing but leave a mark. 

She finally looked up to see what she dreaded, the hut in the picture of the Scottish book. And she realized what reminded her of a ship on the high sea, the wooden structure was tilting back and forth in the wind, the pots and pans in the kitchen clanking against each other as if ready to fall down and off the cliff any moment. Should she scream for help? Run away? As she got up to stretch her legs, she jumped at Gail's swift and sudden entrance with a plate of the strangest food she had ever seen. 

"Levi tells me you haven't eaten since you left the strange town of Shadowstream," Gail said, holding the plate out to her. "Please, help yourself. It doesn't bite, depending how you use it." 

Angelica slowly took the plate to see that the food was just like Gail's arrow, what should have been a hare on a stick had a shiny, ind quality and sparkled with letters that spelled out 'meat' all around the object. The bread spelled out 'garlic' and the potatoes gleamed, spelling out 'potatoes.' 

"Tell me where Jillian and Levi are or I'll scream," Angelica ordered, pushing the plate away. 

"No need for me to test you on that, the birds only just got back from your last one," Gail chuckled. "Your friends are right outside, they thought it best to leave you to collect your thoughts for a while. I, on the other hand, say different. What use is it to scream alone with the voices in your head?" 

Angelica pushed Gail aside and rushed out of the swaying tavern to see Jillian and Levi were sitting around a small fire with blue flames bursting out of the wood, a tent pitched up nearby. The Rebel Forces were laughing and singing songs as bagpipes drifted through the breeze. Their attire had completely changed, and so had hers. Jillian now wore a white sheepskin curled around her shoulders and a green patched skirt kicking up dust as she traded horse meat with a rebel next to her. Levi had changed into a Celtic prince, right out of a fairy tale. 

He wore a long, patterned kilt and his brown shirt that was padded to the extreme, as if he were about to go into battle. Someone had given him a silver sword, a very bad move on their part, Angelica thought. She looked down at her own outfit and moved her black hair out of her eyes in shock. She wore a colorful skirt with dashes of blue, red and green, and a light green shirt was tucked in with swirls of gold. A crown of golden leaves surrounded her head, and a brown tartan hung from her waist. 

"What the hell is going on?" Angelica demanded. 

The partying and celebrations stopped, the bagpipes coming to a halt with a pathetic whine. The Rebels shifted awkwardly in their positions, either gaping at her outfit or bowing to her as if she were a queen. Levi scrambled up and rushed over to her. 

"Angelica," he said. "What happened to you?" 

"What happeneed to *me?*" Angelica scoffed. "Why the hell are we wearing these ridiculous outfits? It's like we're in a bloody fairytale." 

Silence. Jillian looked at the rebels, as if all of them were debating to tell her.

"HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN HERE?" Angelica shouted. 

"A week," Jillian quickly replied, rushing to explain off Angelica's shocked look. "But you don't undersand...we're in a safe place. We're not *inside* a book, technically. We're inside a *portal* to the world of the book. This is still real life. The food is just a side effect, some items in the mortal world get stripped away and leave behind words."