Jackson Heart's Journey Home

A Layover in Doppelganger-Ville
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4835-6609-2
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 258 Seiten

Picking up where The Heart's Journey Home: California Blend Summer Vacation leaves off, book two in the series follows seventeen-year-old Tori Logan as she and her best friends, AJ and Kalea, accompany Tori's archeologist father to Israel. Adventurous and fiercely independent, Tori leads her friends into an excavated quarry where small rumblings turn into big quakes and the walls start to crumble around them. Kalea and AJ escape, but the site collapses before Tori can get out. When she comes to, Tori realizes she's traveled back in time to ancient Jerusalem. There she finds shelter with a widow woman named Judith-who looks exactly like her father's girlfriend, Rachel. As Tori encounters others who are spitting images of loved ones back home, she must reconcile truths about herself with the hard realities of her present situation. Will these lessons last once she's back home? Will she even make it home?

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jackson, Nikki

Leseproben

Chapter Two

Tori allowed Yudith to convince her to come into the house as far as the small room with the low tables laid out in a square U-shape. Situated just behind the tables were couches with rectangular cushions at the head. From traveling with her father over the years, Tori recognized this to be a dining room. As opposed to sitting at a table in regular chairs, these Ancients reclined on low couches. They would lean on their left side and eat right handed. The couches were the height of the table so the food was within easy reach.

The home itself was on the far right of the courtyard. There were two other equally sized homes that shared the courtyard; one in the middle and the other to the far left. From what Tori could see all the homes were constructed of cut stone blocks. Each home was stretched ranch-style with an upper floor. There was a barn-like structure to the rear or the side of each house. The large shared courtyard had a large well in front of the center home. There was a brick fire pit in front of the house Tori was in, and another in front of the house on the extreme left. Just outside the door was a bamboo woven overhang with a long bench underneath.

The home itself was constructed of quarried stone and mortar nearly two feet thick. Limestone blocks were cut and finished, expertly masoned to leave room for a front door and spaced windows. The first floor interior ceilings were ten feet high while the second floor ceilings were eight feet tall.

The interior walls appeared to be covered with a layer of plaster that was white-washed and painted. The room they sat in was painted a light rose. The open door was made of cedar; clearly hand-crafted because the thick planks were cut the same size and had iron fittings and edgings. The floor was made up of large square blush-colored tiles.

There were tables on both sides of the room made of fine dark wood with marble tops. Tori guessed they were for food, and on either side were low back chairs, made of dark wood with thick burgundy padded seats. There were four spaced glassless windows running along the back wall that had open shutters. Though paneless, each window was covered with a cast iron type grate; Tori supposed to deter burglars.

On the other side of the hall was a large room, and to its left were a set of stone stairs leading to a second floor. From what little Tori had seen, these people were wealthy, which meant she was in the upper section of Jerusalem.

The lower section of the city was where the poor people lived. Their homes were typically one story and made of mud bricks.

Tori was sitting on the edge of one of the couches while the woman sat in a chair. Tori touched the clothes she was wearing. It was a simple green tunic but the material was smooth, not coarse. She was wearing a lighter white tunic under it. She was barefoot and bare-headed. Yudith had on a silk scarf covering her hair and was wearing expensive looking sandals. Yes, Tori thought, these people are rich.

Yudith sat calmly, giving this strange young girl who seemed to appear out of nowhere, time to settle down. She started to cry when Yudith led her into the women’s dining room so she decided to let her cry a bit until she felt better. Her mother-in-law Martha had gone to the nearby Market for ointment for the dark ugly bruise on Tori’s forehead.

“What is the name of this place?” Tori had asked this before, numerous times, and Yudith had told her. Now she was asking again.

“Yerushalayim.”

“Yerushalayim.” Tori whispered. “And you are…?”

“Yudith.”

“You Hebrews don’t do ‘Js’, I know that much.” Tori said in English. “So what you’re really saying is Jerusalem and Judith.”

Tori looked at her.

“You are Judith.” She said in Hebrew. “And this place is Jerusalem.”

Judith nodded and smiled.

“You are Tori.”

“Is this your house?” Tori asked slowly.

“It is the house of my mother and father-in-law.”

“You are married then?”

Something came over her face.

“I am widowed.”

“Oh, sorry.” Tori touched her head. It was beginning to throb again.

“Martha, my mother-in-law has gone for medicine.”

“That’s right, you guys don’t really do doctors or hospitals, so if I’ve got a serious concussion or blood clot, too bad for me,” she said in English. “This is nuts. You have Rachael’s face, including the same red hair; just longer and your skin is tan, but other than that you have Rachael’s exact face. Even your voice is just like hers, how is this possible?”

Before she could continue thinking out loud a voice came from the door,

“It is I, returning,”

“What? That voice…” Tori whispered.

When the woman stepped in the doorway Tori jumped up and backed away.

“What is this?!” Tori said in English.

“Tori, this is my mother-in-law,” Judith said quickly. “I told you about her.”

Standing in the doorway was an exact replica of Awinita, even down to the sound of her voice.

Awinita Kingfisher was a full-blooded Cherokee. She became friends with Rachael after meeting her at an art gallery where both of their artwork was being displayed. With her Native American background, she was a wonderful resource for Rachael as she tried to establish a relationship with Tori. It was primarily due to Awinita’s diligent work that Rachael and Tori had recently begun bonding together before the cave-in.

Tori backed up all the way to the wall.

“Calm down, this is my mother-in-law.”

“What’s happening to me?! Wake up! Wake up!”

“Enough!” Martha shouted. “Silence!”

Tori shut up. She was shaking like a leaf and making little whimpering sounds.

“Come and sit.” Martha said softer, motioning to the spot she’d just left. “If you want your head to stop hurting then come and sit.”

“Awinita is that you?” she asked in English.

Then she asked again in Cherokee and Lakota. Martha stood looking at her, then she motioned to the couch.

“This is a nightmare.” Tori whispered, stepping away from the wall.

“Come, come,” Martha said. It was Awinita’s face smiling at her.

Tori sat and Martha unwrapped a small package. Then she removed the lid from the small container and Tori backed away.

“For your head,” Martha told her.

Tori gave her an unsure look. Martha put the small container under her nose and sniffed, then held it out to Tori. Tori leaned over, giving it a quick smell.

“Sulfur, camphor, some type of oil,” she mumbled, trying to decipher the ingredients. “Old school,” she said to herself.

Tori nodded and Martha smiled. She dipped her fingers into the tin and gently covered Tori’s bruise with the paste. It tingled then stung a bit. Tori frowned but didn’t say anything. She looked at Martha then reached up and touched her face.

“You feel real,” she whispered.

“I am real.” Tori snatched her hand away. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken in Hebrew.

“How did I get here?”

“What do you remember,” Martha asked, replacing the lid. She took a seat beside Judith.

“I was in the cave when suddenly there was a loud noise. The floor and walls were shaking. I was running to get out. Then I woke up here.”

“My husband Simeon, and a kinsman Eli were in the lower city delivering flour. Eli owns a mill. While they were there the cave-in occurred. Men quickly gathered to dig for survivors. They brought out a few dead bodies and you.”

“Simeon made the decision to have you brought here. Because of your strange dress he knew you were a foreigner. He felt you would be safer here than being left alone in the lower city,” Judith added.

“Where is Simeon?” Tori asked.

“Once you were safely here, he and Eli went back to the lower city.”

“Where are my clothes?”

“In the other room. They were covered in dirt and mud. Martha and I changed you.”

“This is yours?” Tori asked, tugging at the...