A Kiss in Time Read Online Free PDF

steps back. Maybe we should eat lunch first.
    Something about this place is really weirding me out. Lets wait for a while. Who knows how
     long it will take to get back to civilization . . . and sandwiches.
    Travis thinks about it and gets this worried look on his face. Okay. Then we should get
     out of here. He starts pushing through the brambles again.
    Wait! Maybe we should start looking for a different way out or at least see if anyone
     around here has a chain saw. You see any people here?
    Theres horses. And theyre tied up. That means there are people somewhere. The weird thing
     is, I sort of want to look around a little bit. This place is cooler than any- thing else
     weve seen on this trip. At least its outside, and Mindys not here telling us what to
     think. We should look for them.
    Travis glances around. If theres people here, theyre really not into mowing and weeding.
     But if you say so. . . .
    I do.
    He shrugs but follows me. We walk down the street, which is really more of a pathway with
     weeds and stuff growing on both sides. I point to the alehouse. Lets try in there.
    He nods. It doesnt look like the type of place where theyd card.
    The alehouse has steps in front of it. When I put my foot on one, it squeaks and moves
     under me. I step on a better, less rotted part, but even so, it quivers and shakes.
    This is really weird, Jack. You think maybe the whole town died or something, and theres
     nothing but a bunch of dead bodies?
    I remember when we went to Colonial Williamsburg, they told us about all the diseases
     people got in those days, like yellow fever, black plague, and scarlet fever. Meryl and I
     joked that all the diseases back then sounded really colorful. But now its kind of freaky
     thinking about some sickness taking out the whole town. Maybe Travis is right, not necessarily that everyone died, but maybe a lot did and the rest decided to get out of
     Dodge.
    But I say, Thats stupid. Theres no abandoned town in Europe. If there were, someone would
     turn it into a museum. Theyd widen the streets and bring people here by the busload and
     torture kids on tours.
    I guess youre right. Of course I am. And to prove how right I am, I walk to the door. But
     I still cant bring myself to go in, so I look through the window. Its easy because theres no glass in it, and I remember that a lot of places
     didnt have glass windows in the old days, only shutters to pull down at night or if it got
     cold. I cant see much. Theres no light inside and nothing moving. We stand there so long
     that Im almost expecting someonepossibly a ghostto come up behind us and ask what were
     doing here. So when Travis says, Come on! I jump about three feet.
    He laughs. Not afraid of dead bodies, huh? Nope. I push open the door. The room is dark.
     There are lanterns, but none are lit. It takes my eyes a minute to get used to it. Even so, I see there are people there,
     sitting on barstools, but theyre really quiet. No music, no laughter, no talking, and when
     my pupils finally dilate, I realize the people arent moving at all, like theyre dead.
    But they cant be dead. If they died long ago in some plague or massacre, their horses
     wouldnt still be tied outside, and theyd be reduced to skeletons. Unless they got mummified. I saw this movie
     once where this guy killed someone. He mummified her body and sat her in an upstairs
     window. You couldnt tell the dif-
    ference unless you saw her face. I take a deep breath and let it out real slow, prepping myself to walk around and look at their faces. Thats when it happens.
    One of them snores. What was that? Travis says. Hes hugging the door. It sounded like a
     snore. A snore? Like theyre sleeping? All of them? I think so. I walk over to the side of
     one guy. He snores, and I see his stomach moving in and out. Hes alive. Hes definitely alive. Im
     saved! I dont have to touch a mummified corpse!
    I tap his shoulder. Hey, bud.
    He doesnt answer. I