Elevators Through Time - Book 1

Part 4: Changes

Part 4: Changes

Kat and I became good friends. I decided to stay with him for a few years to help him get on his feet. I even helped teach him some English and a bit of Mathematics, which was tough to teach as it is to learn.

I had found a nice place to stay at a the house of a lovely old lady, named Edna Crawford, a little ways away in the country only a few minutes ride on a horse and cart, with the help from Jackob. I helped Miss Crawford with chores around the house in exchange for the spare room upstairs. It had a nice view over a wheat field and a creek.

Kat and I played together, ate together, jumped on the back of freight trains together, and had the most wonderful time we had never experienced before.

Seriously, I had not experienced this kinda fun in my childhood.

I was a kid of the class. This meant I ended up really smart and in a lab for a job. The only thing with labs is that there are labels making it obvious what is what.

This fact was brought to a mood point one day while I was with Kat on a hill.

Year: 1909

Time: (Clock function in repair)

Location: Hill on outskirts of New York City, New York, America

Level: Ground

It was a cold summer morning and we were out on out favourite hill getting ready to race each other with an all-out sprint down the hill.

Kat was now 15 and I was officially 17.

Kat was almost the same height as me.

I was out on our usual starting line, between two tall wood poles: a telegraph pole and a flag pole, psyching myself up for an exhilarating rush of adrenalin and pure fearlessness, then I turned back to see Kat looking around, not at the line.

He had always loved running and it was amazing to see him suddenly rush from way behind me to the finish in long swift strides...but today was different.

"Kat, what's the problem? Got a tummy ache again?"

Kat shook his head. He wasn't clutching his tummy, he was holding himself a little higher.

"I can't run with you today...or maybe not ever again," he whispered. Something seemed different about his voice.

I reached out to touch his shoulder, "Tell me what's up and I'll see how I can help," I mentally slapped myself, 'what's up' doesn't belong in this era.

Kat shook his shoulder.

"Get off me!" He shouted all of a sudden.

It was only then that I realised. His voice wasn't like it was before. There was a reason why he had always worn a thick outer coat and a leather cap.

Kat started sobbing when she knew I knew. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She was a girl and she was trying to be a boy.

I gently put a hand on her head, a gesture that I always gave to her to let her know she could trust me.

She opened her eyes as I slowly took off the cap that covered her hair.

It glided down over her shoulders like a cascade of waters over pebbles in a pond. Brown streaks amid a raven-black backdrop surrounded her face and caressed her cheeks.

Until now I have no idea how she managed to hide all that hair, AND keep it all straight, underneath that cap.

She was still sobbing when she managed to whisper, "I just wanted to stay best friends with you forever, so I didn't tell you."