Recap: They found the twins and Ita. A man named Mr. Sanchez shot the wolves dead. Then they all scrambled onto the carriage, and Mr. Sanchez drove the horses as fast as he could, hoping to transport them back to Sabrina’s house before the cloak of darkness gave way to sunrise.
If only I could close my eyes and find we were back in our regular time, not here in this forest in 1497.
The rocking of the carriage lulled Ita to sleep. Sabrina, Katie, and I sat there watching the woods rush by. The dark curtain of night pulled away as the first rays of sunrise splashed the sky.
A light rain began falling and then turned into a heavier rainfall.
We pulled up to the castle. Mr. Sanchez helped us carry the sleeping children inside. Sabrina’s mother rushed out and whisked them downstairs to the hidden room.
In the short time we were outside before entering the castle, we were all soaking wet.
She ushered us into the kitchen. “Come sit by the fire to warm up. You must have had quite an adventure. I was worried.” She hugged each of us.
The cook gave us hot cider to drink in mugs. The mug warmed my hands, and I breathed in the scent of cinnamon.
Mr. Sanchez strode into the kitchen. “Girls, we had a miracle tonight.”
“Baruch Hashem,” Sabrina’s mother said.
“That spot we were in was not just any spot. It’s a place I always park my carriage when I need to do a rescue. It’s the spot where a holy rabbi stood and davened. He gave me a brachah that nothing would happen to anyone in that particular place.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s really amazing. How did he know?”
“There are things in the world that we don’t understand, but we know there are great holy sparks, and Hashem is here with us always. A holy man like this rabbi I spoke of was on a very high level. That’s all that I know.”
Sabrina took off her socks and laid them on a brick by the grate. I did the same.
“I guess you don’t have any dryers here?” I asked.
“Dryers?” Sabrina asked.
Mrs. Dolar offered Mr. Sanchez a mug of hot cider.
“No, thank you. I must be off. There are more children to rescue. Good night.”
“Thank you,” I said. Katie also thanked him.
“You girls had best get up to bed. It’s quite late,” Mrs. Dolar said.
Sabrina held a small candle in her hand that lit the way up the long, winding staircase.
She handed me the candle. “Good night. Just put it out once you’re in bed.”
I slid under the covers, but I couldn’t sleep. There was a fire crackling in the grate in the room. Katie was lying in the bed next to me, staring at the ceiling.
“Katie, what should we do? We have to go back home. Our parents are going to be so worried.”
“Are we ever going to see them again? I mean, how are we ever going to get back?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t get how we got here, and I don’t know what to do. I miss my mother.”
“I miss my parents and Breindy. I don’t want to be here anymore, but we’re here in the castle. It’s so strange.” She turned away from me, and I heard a crack in her voice.
I tried to think of some way to comfort my cousin.
“Maybe we’re in a dream, and when we wake up ––”
“We’re in this same dream together?”
Katie was sobbing. I’d never seen Katie cry before. She was always the brave one.
“Katie, Hashem is with us. He brought us here. He can take us back to our time.”
“But how? How did we get here? I don’t understand it.” She was sitting up, wiping her tears with her hand.
“Listen, we need to confide in someone here. Maybe someone here can help us,” I said hopefully.
“Mrs. Dolar?” Katie asked.
“Mrs. Dolar doesn’t understand. She keeps saying I was hit in the head when I try to bring up our problem.”
“What about Sabrina?” Katie asked. “Are there any tissues here?”
“I think they just use handkerchiefs, but I don’t know where they keep them.”
“Let’s talk to Sabrina,” Katie said. “We have to go home.”
“Home?” I shook my head. “No, we need to go back to the right time in this castle.” I glanced around at the candlestick holders and the grates used for heating. I thought for a minute. “I guess we can try to explain it to her. Sometimes it’s easier to explain things to kids. I don’t know if she’ll believe us.”
“Let’s go talk to her now. I can’t sleep. I don’t want to spend another night here with all these scary people searching for Jews. I want to leave.” Katie opened the bedroom door.
“Okay. I hope she isn’t asleep already.”
To be continued…
Susie Garber is the author of 11 popular Jewish books, including her newly released historical fiction novel The Blizzard (Menucha 2026) and recently published novel Captured (Menucha 2025). She is also the current news editor of Binyan Magazine.