Recap: Miri was very ill with a throat infection. Rebbetzin Sarna allowed her and the children to stay until Rav Sarna’s return from a trip. Miri tried to explain to the Rebbetzin about coming from another time, but the Rebbetzin attributed this to the fever and didn’t believe it.
I was weak and exhausted from the fever, but I couldn’t fall asleep. I pulled myself out of bed and hobbled over to the window. Outside, a full night sky of stars twinkled. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. Sabrina stood next to me. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“So many stars. Light-years away from us.”
“I’ve never heard of a light-year.”
“It’s the distance light travels in one Earth year. Imagine how many light-years away I am from my family.” I swallowed a sob. “The Rebbetzin didn’t believe me. What if Rav Sarna is the same?”
“Look!” Sabrina pointed to a shooting star that blazed a trail of shimmering light across the sky. “That’s what Hashem wants from us, Miri. He wants us to leave a trail of light wherever we are.”
“If we go back to our time, I’m going to miss you,” I said. Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.
“You must not say if. You must say when you go back.”
“Okay,” I mumbled.
“I will miss you, too, but there will be signs that we are still in each other’s hearts. Hashem will send signs.”
“What signs?”
“I don’t know, but I believe. I have emunah He will send us signs.”
We hugged, and I hobbled back to the bed.
…
I woke to Katie leaning over me. “Are you better, Miri?”
“I think so.” I opened my eyes. Like a bad dream, the conversation with the Rebbetzin and her disbelief haunted me.
“What should we do?” I asked.
Katie shook her head. “No one is going to believe us. No one goes back in time.”
Just then, there was a lot of noise coming from the next room.
Katie rushed to the doorway.
“It’s the Rav. Rav Sarna is home.”
A short while later, the Rebbetzin came into the room. “Miriam, my husband has arrived. After the noonday meal, he would like to meet with you and your cousin.”
She handed me a pretty silver robe. “Your clothing was quite torn and dirty.”
“Thank you.”
She left the room, and I slid out of bed. I was wobbly on my legs since I’d been sick for so many days. I slid on the pretty robe. I felt something bulging in my pocket. I pulled out the damaged watch from Mr. Norman.
Katie knocked. She was also wearing a silver robe.
“I still have this,” I said.
“That watch has been through a lot,” she said.
“Yeah, just like us. Funny that it’s still intact.” The face was cracked, and part of the band was missing, but it was still working. “I wonder if this is the same time in our regular time.”
Katie shrugged. “The Rebbetzin is waiting for us in the hallway.”
Together, we followed the Rebbetzin to a room on the first floor. The Rebbetzin knocked, and then we were ushered into the Rav’s study. There were many s’farim on a shelf behind him. He sat at a desk, poring over a Gemara. He looked up when we walked in. He wore an embroidered gold and silver robe and a gold turban on his head.
“Shalom,” he said. His eyes were dark and kind. He stroked his long gray beard. “You have come a long way, I heard, to see me.”
He had no idea how long!
I nodded.
“How can I help you young women?”
“We have a unique problem,” I said.
He steepled his hands and nodded.
“Well, you see, we came here somehow to this time period, but this isn’t where we belong. Our families, our lives, are way ahead in the 21st century.”
He kept nodding. His eyes were closed.
I wondered if he was sleeping.
There was a long silence.
“Time is strange, no?” he said. “Hashem has no time. He is, He was, He always will be. His very name is about His timelessness.”
I cleared my throat. “So, we need your help to…”
He lifted his hand. “I must concentrate.” He closed his eyes again.
Katie and I exchanged anxious glances.
It seemed like a very long time. The mantel clock ticked, and still he kept his eyes closed.
Katie and I fidgeted. Had he fallen asleep? What was he doing? Did he believe us? Could he help us go back to our correct time?
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.
