The Crossing Hour (Book 1)

Imagine if an early 19th century slave was to find herself awakened in the 21st century. What if she knew that in one year, she would have no choice but to return to her harrowing past, or else history would be forever changed.

Time travel is a naturally occurring phenomenon, and the aged scientist, Stanley Graf, has discovered it in a planetary black hole in northern Delaware. Only those in his inner circle know of the existence of time travel. He appoints his granddaughter, Leigh, a psychology doctorate graduate, to await the latest black hole event. When the traveler turns out to be a 28-year-old runaway slave, Harriet, Leigh discovers there is even more to her grandfather’s theory and research than she knew. With the aid of her brother, Stan, an FBI agent in D.C., she slowly uncovers a world of secrets and mystery. Just when Leigh is certain she has uncovered all, a mysterious traveler arrives, and new secrets unravel to the end.

EXCERPT:
“So as for the other sites,” she continued, “I watched them all live. All but one were uneventful, other than some debris where nothing visual happened. Not the slightest thing. In the one where something did happen, in the Rocky Mountains, a mountain lion came through. From what we saw on the surveillance, no one was around to see it. The event was pretty amazing to witness, but I know I don’t have to tell you that. Can’t imagine what it must have been like for you in person. Your granddad watched the playback this morning, and he was excited, to say the least, to confirm what he already believed. It’s only when a living form is within it—the travelers themselves—that a visual spectacle occurs. Otherwise, the black hole event goes unnoticed.”

“So then, you’re saying there’s not many travelers living in this time?”

“There’s no way to know if we’ve found them all or how many there could be.”

“So, regardless of what happened last night, there could still be thousands here from the other events, and we’d never know it since cross-referencing police reports and hospital records can only go so far.”

“Thousands? Doubtful, but always plausible.”

“But other than that one foster home, that’s your only way of finding them.”

“I used to think so until a few months ago when I was driving to the grocery store. You’ve seen people on curbs holding signs like, ‘TRAVELLING. BROKE. PLEASE HELP?’”

“Time travelers!”

“At least the one who I gave a sandwich to. Just looking at him, I sensed something different about him. I used to walk to that intersection every day after the first time I saw him. It was one of those times that he finally admitted what I already guessed. Then one day he wasn’t there. I went back every day for a month, but I never saw him again. I don’t know if he didn’t want my help anymore or if something happened to him. But I suspected that from everything I’d said to him, he decided that he didn’t want to go back, so he was avoiding me.” Elizabeth fiddled with the stack of newspapers on the table, shuffling and reshuffling them in her attempt to abandon the subject of the homeless man.

“Eesh. This is all so unbelievable. Couples with time-travelling fetuses, teenagers fated to be multi-millionaires…this guy,” Leigh whistled. She studied the faces on the wall, now believing she understood the marking system but was still unable to believe that her mother had been involved so deeply.