Tunnels Of Time

Decisions, Decisions

10:00 PM Friday Night

A that she deserved a break after all that excitement. She sure didn't understand Ol' Scarface at all! One minute he seemed ready to hit her for bursting through the door without knocking; the next minute he was almost caressing her cheek and calling her "girlie," telling her they'd make a good team and practically demanding that she call him Big Al, as if they were the best of friends. It felt good to be appreciated, but could Andrea really trust Scarface/Big Al? Whatever she called him, he still seemed to be a person best avoided.

It was nice to think that somebody thought she could do a good job, though. Just think, she could be the number one tunnel runner. The personal helper to Big Al. She would get all of the best trips and personally escort Big Al wherever he wanted to go. She'd meet all sorts of interesting people. And make some money besides. What prestige! She smiled to herself and straightened her shoulders. Maybe she could just live with Big Al or Rosie. How exciting that would be! They both seemed to like her. And as she got to know Big Al, he'd really grow to like her and he wouldn't lose his temper at her. Maybe she could even help Vance too by asking Big Al to quit picking on him. The thought appealed greatly to Andrea. She liked to see herself as a protector. Vance would be happy that she - Andrea caught her breath and shivered. She suddenly realized that Big Al was basically offering her Vance's job!

She leaned heavily against the tunnel wall again, feeling like a low-down, double-crossing friend. She couldn't take Vance's job. That would be wrong. Why would Big Al have offered it to her? Andrea was truly puzzled unless he intended to give Vance some kind of promotion. That was it. She would get Vance's job because he was moving on to bigger and better things inside the organization. That had to be it! Oh, she just couldn't wait to tell her grandfather. He would be so proud of her!

Andrea felt the happy feeling disappear as sadness flooded her being. She had been so busy trying to fit into this time period; she had had so many adventures that she hadn't even had time to think much about her family or herself. Where were they and what were they doing? Were they all at the restaurant, frantically searching for her?

More importantly at the moment, Andrea wondered where would she go tonight when this job was done. Where would she sleep? Where would she live? A desolate feeling of loneliness crept into her heart. She supposed she could become a street person and live in a park somewhere. Did they even have street people in the 1920s, she wondered. At least it was summer and she could do that for a few months until it grew cold outside. Then she would have to make other arrangements. She could probably find a hole in the tunnels and call that home, she thought, shuddering at the idea. The tunnels really gave her the creeps and she couldn't imagine actually living in one. Tears began to form in her eyes as Andrea thought about never seeing her family again. Blinking rapidly to stem the flow, she took a huge calming breath and exhaled slowly. Maybe Vance would have some idea about where she could live. That thought buoyed her spirits and she set off in search of Vance. She would ask him the first chance she got.

Andrea scurried along in the tunnel she nicknamed Windy, constantly in fear that the strange wind might blow suddenly and choke out all of the lanterns again. She didn't have matches and sure didn't want to be alone in the total darkness if that should happen again. She could feel the slight cool breeze in the tunnel. It made a soft moaning sound, causing the hairs on her arms to stand up. Her neck felt suddenly chilled. It reminded her of the long corridors at school. There was often a blast of air that rushed from one hallway to another. It had something to do with air pressure, she remembered, and it could become quite drafty under the right conditions. Andrea supposed that that was the same thing that happened in the tunnels, although it seemed much more spooky and ghost-like down here.

She trampled on something that made a rustling sound beneath her feet and stopped short in fear. What could it be? Nervously, she bent over and peered at the ground. In the dim yellow light she could see something crumpled up, lying in the gravel and dirt in front of her. A newspaper! It must have blown in when the huge gust of air had extinguished the lights. Andrea picked it up and smoothed it out. She walked to the nearest lantern and held the news paper up to catch the weak rays of light. Her hands trembled slightly when she found what she was look ing for the date. "July 5, 1924," she read slowly.