were being watched. I turned my head and the last thing I saw was someone’s head dart back inside the classroom, someone with long dark hair and a flash of blue.
Chapter 2
T he trip through the time portal was like jumping through a hoop. Instantaneously, we landed in Holland. I quickly surveyed the geography and discovered we were in a field not far from the small Dutch port of Delfshaven. Thankfully, we were alone. Wildflowers with yellow and maroon blossoms buzzed with honeybees. An apple orchard was not too far to our left.
“Oh, look, apples!” Liberty said. “My favorite!” He started trotting toward the nearest tree. “You know that apples are an excellent source of dietary fiber—and vitamin C, too?” he said. “Of course, apples also have plenty of essential minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium—”
“Liberty, my brilliant friend,” I butted in. “Your nutritional understanding of an apple is impressive, but we’re here on a historical quest. Let’s gather some apples and stick them in your saddlebag, quickly. We need to head over to where that ship is.” I pointed to the harbor.
“Oh, all right,” Liberty sighed as we began plucking apples.
I opened the saddlebag and we both dropped them in. After about twenty apples, we journeyed over to the port. I could smell the salty sea, watch the water push up and back along the beach, and hear the sound of seagulls as they soared above us. Liberty trotted toward a large gathering of people near the shore. I noticed their colorful and bright clothing.
“Pardon me,” I said to a young woman wearing a long green woolen dress and a linen cap that came down over her ears. She was walking toward the shore and carrying a cat that seemed very curious about Liberty. I smiled and continued: “I’m looking for the Pilgrims, I mean, the Puritans. I understand their plan is to sail to the New World.” For a split second I worried that I might have missed them. I added, “They’re probably wearing dark, drab clothing. I assume the men have tall, black stovepipe hats.”
The woman turned in my direction but didn’t stop walking. She stared at me as if I were some strange animal at a zoo. She quickly replied, “If you’re looking for the Puritans, you’ve found us.”
These? The Puritans? I had always imagined the Pilgrims in clothing that was black, white, and gray. However, these people wore clothing that was dyed every color of the rainbow! A yellow shirt, blue breeches, green stockings, a red dress, a purple knitted stocking cap . . . I was sorely mistaken to think that I knew what the Pilgrims wore every day. It was time to get my class involved.
“Class,” I said, “these are the real Pilgrims.” I pointed the lens of my smartphone toward the large group that had gathered. “In the year 1620 they were known as Puritans or Saints or Separatists. Many of them separated themselves from the Churchof England and escaped to Holland, where they could practice their religion without being bullied by King James and his bishops.” I pointed toward the big ship in the harbor. “I can see that several men, women, and children are boarding smaller boats to take them to that larger ship anchored in the harbor. Let’s go find out the truth.”
Liberty and I approached the large gathering. I called to the first man we approached and said, “Excuse me, sir, but is the ship out there the Mayflower ?”
The man turned in my direction. He looked about thirty years old and could have passed as a movie star. He was tall with brown hair and a cleanly trimmed beard. He wore a leather hat that shaded his face from the sun, a long-sleeved light blue shirt, blue breeches, and green woolen stockings. I could see he was comforting a woman in a long woolen red dress. He had his arm around her and I could tell she was crying. I quickly said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”
The man looked at Liberty and then to me and said,