Once Found: The Pocket Watch Chronicles Read Online Free PDF Page A

given. Then for every day that person is in the past, only a second passes here.”
    “That didn’t happen?”
    “Nay, it didn’t. The watch is here with ye, and time is equal. One day here is the same as one day in yer own time.”
    “Exactly where am I?”
    “Ye’re over seven hundred years in the future. It is about three o’clock, none that is, on the twelfth day of February in the year of our Lord, two thousand and six.”
    “Seven hundred years?”
    “Aye, pet. Ye’re in hospital, in a city called New York, across the sea from Scotland, in a place called America.”
    “In Elizabeth’s body?”
    “Aye. Elizabeth Quinn. She’s a very skilled doctor. I will tell you everything I can, but there is one thing you must know first. Even as far in the future as we are, most people are unaware of the possibility of soul exchange. The people who are caring for ye don’t know what has happened.”
    Panic rose in Elsie. “How do I explain not knowing anything about who I am? They’ll think me possessed or a witch.”
    “Nay, lass, they won’t. Most people here don’t believe in such things. What’s more, ye were in a bad accident and hit yer head. Head injuries can result in complete memory loss. It’s called ‘amnesia.’ Other things can cause it as well. Time travelers have faced this for years, and when they encounter doctors, the doctors always manage to find a satisfactory explanation.”
    “Gertrude, I want to go home. Can’t we just switch back?”
    “Elsie, ye said ye would have accepted Laird Macrae’s punishment rather than lie to the MacKenzies about who ye were.”
    “Aye, I would have.”
    “Well, the reason Elizabeth was sent into yer body was because she is a very special kind of doctor. She knows all about pregnancy and birth. She didn’t refuse Laird Macrae’s command because she has the knowledge and skill to possibly help Lady MacKenzie. But she hasn’t had a chance to yet.”
    “So we must wait until she does?”
    “The choice is yers, pet.”
    Elsie didn’t know what to think, but her heart went out to the woman who had lost so many bairns. “If Elizabeth can help, I want her to.”
    “I was certain ye’d feel that way. So, ye must stay here, at least for a while, and pretend to have amnesia.”
    Elsie tried to nod again. She became aware again of how much she hurt. She raised her right hand to touch the thing around her neck. There were clear flexible tubes attached to that arm. “You said I was in an accident. What happened? What is all this?”
    “In this century, they have conveyances that people use to move from one place to another very quickly. But sometimes, those conveyances run into each other. It’s called a motor vehicle accident or a wreck. People can be very seriously hurt when that happens. You were in a car that wrecked. Ye’re left arm is broken. The doctors have splinted it to keep it still until they can put a cast on it and allow the bones to knit properly. This tubing,” Gertrude motioned to the thing on her right arm, “is attached to a much smaller tube that goes directly into yer vein and the other end goes into a bag of fluid, see?” Gertrude pointed up and behind Elsie.
    Elsie looked and saw the tubing went into a strange box. Hanging above the box was what looked like a clear wineskin full of liquid.
    “This machine is called a pump. It pumps the fluid directly into yer body. Doctors in the twenty-first century have wonderful medicines that they can give ye this way.”
    “Why does my voice sound so odd?”
    “Because it’s Elizabeth’s voice.”
    “And everyone here speaks Gaelic?”
    “Nay. They speak English, but even it has changed a lot.”
    “How will I understand them?”
    “Even though ye have yer soul and memories, some of Elizabeth’s memories are still in her body. The language she speaks is one of them. Ye understand, and are able to speak English because of that. It will feel no different to ye than Gaelic. We’re