Partners in Time

Partners in Time: A Meeting in Hampton Court

Marlene Mistdale. A girl like any other apart from the fact that she possessed a certain recessive gene which only shows up once every third generation. It was the reason she inherited a valuable family heirloom on her 18th birthday. Not many people knew about the secret that the family of Mistdale had harboured for so long: They had the ability to time travel, but before the creation of their family heirloom they had no way of controlling it. Who knew a pocket watch could contain so much power and who knew a young girl fresh out of school would be bestowed with it?

Marlene spent her afternoons helping in her father's antique shop or visiting her grandmother whose husband had also possessed the gene and had been the one to hand over the pocket watch to Marlene's grandmother.

"I shan't be needing it," She had said when laying the beautiful antique in the palm of her hand. After that they spent many afternoons together discussing the best times to travel to and which to avoid.

"Now every week you must set the date in the watch and keep it with you at all times. That includes at what time you will be sent there. If you look in the cellar you will find all you need to survive a few hours in the past including several books in which all those who came before you wrote down their journeys to the past. It is traditional for you to leave a letter to whoever came before you on the day they received the pocket watch. In your case that would be your grandfather. Just tell him you received the pocket watch and that you wish him a happy life." Old Madam Mistdale explained, and Marlene nodded her head, setting her watch to 11th May 1533 at 4pm. She was very curious to see Anne Boleyn in the flesh and could certainly pass as a noblewoman at court. The Mistdales had roots in the British aristocracy and the name Mistdale would be respected at Hampton Court.

"Doesn't this mean I'll also receive a letter by the end of today?" Marlene asked curiously.

"Yes, if all goes according to plan and the pocket watch reaches your grandchild. Why don't you go to the book in the cellar? It's where most of the letters are usually left." Her grandmother said with a loving smile.

Marlene almost ran down the stairs to find the letter but halted as she looked at the blue leather book laying on the lectern. It was a deep midnight blue and looked like it belonged in a museum. Inside she saw many entries as to the times her ancestors had travelled to and where. No elaborate journal entries just numbers, places and the people they met. Pages and pages of such entries greeted her eyes and she nearly forgot all about the letter until it fell out of the crisp pages. It read as follows:

Dear Grandmother,

Thank you for the beautiful pocket watch. You did in fact give it to me yourself along with grandfather who gave his wristwatch to my brother as well, though I don't know if I should be mentioning that.

All my love and best of luck

Your granddaughter Helena

Marlene stared in awe at the letter her granddaughter had sent her. For some reason, her future husband had given one of their children his wristwatch, though she had no idea what for. After all, no one had ever told her about other time-travelling families and she had no reason to believe there were any. She decided to forget about the letter for the present.

Instead, her eyes wandered around the rest of the room. The left half was lined with gentlemen's clothes from different eras and genuine, though in perfect condition. The right half consisted of ladies' dresses and accessories equally intact. Many books lined the walls as to etiquette throughout the centuries and she had only a little time before she had to go back in time for the first time. She had read enough Shakespeare to know the common way of speaking at that time and needed very little time to figure out the way of dancing at court. In a purse, she found some Tudor currency so she might afford a carriage to Hampton Court palace which she had visited before.