We’d had a long talk the night before at home, and Papa had laid out the truth—no matter how wellLittle Womendid at the box office, with a financial panic and possible recession or depression on the way, Bennett Studios might never recover.
I felt helpless. Even if I wanted to go for gold again, it would take months for me to collect enough in 1849 to save Bennett Studios, and I didn’t have months.
I wasn’t sure if I even had days.
Sam was already in the dim kitchen warming the stove and setting the coffee to boil when I entered. We’d lost everything in the fire except the clothes on our backs, and the things we’d left at Bess’s Place. Sam had asked if I wanted a second dress, but if I didn’t stay, there was no reason to purchase expensive fabric and sew another.
“Good morning,” I whispered, shaking from the cold.
He turned at the sound of my voice, his eyes filling with affection even as the lines of his face were drawn with worry.
I walked across the room and entered his warm embrace.
Sam held me tight, as he often did, whenever we greeted one another. I had never felt such peace or known such certainty than when I was with him. It had started in camp on the Yuba River and had only grown more intense as the days and weeks passed.
“Your birthday is in three days, Ally.”
“It’s constantly on my mind.”
“And you haven’t learned anything new about November 3rd?”
“No.” I pulled back just enough to look up at him. “I’m going to San Francisco tomorrow in 1929 to see if I can find a death record for you or me, or if I can locate another copy ofThe Annals of San Francisco. I’ve looked through every book I can find about the history of San Francisco, and they all claim the fire is supposed to happen on November 3rd, but none of them mention our names.”
“Why do you thinkThe Annals ofSan Franciscowill help you?”
“Sometimes historians get their information mixed up. I want to see if the book still records our deaths on the 3rd. Perhaps history changed again without me knowing.”
“Have you tried to find the person who borrowed the copy from the Hollywood Library?”
“The librarian won’t give me the information.”
“Why don’t you try to get it without her help?”
I pulled back farther. “What do you mean?”
“Distract the librarian and then look up the information yourself. Wouldn’t that be easier than making the trip?”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” Nerves tightened my stomach just thinking about breaking the library’s rules, but it would be so much easier than going to San Francisco. With a nod I said, “I’ll try that tomorrow. Perhaps I can take someone with me to distract Miss Clampett while I look.” I hugged him again. “I wish we would have thought of this sooner.”
He was quiet for a moment and then asked, “What if I’m still supposed to die?”
The thought filled me with dread. “Then I will have no choice but to save you and lose this path.”
“How?”
“What do you mean?”
“How will you save me, Ally?”
I looked up at him. “I’ll stop the fire from happening.”
“We don’t know why or where it will start. And it’s supposed to start the day after your birthday. How will you prevent it from happening two days early? What if you can’t change it and you go back to 1929 and realize it happened anyway?”
Panic filled my chest as I shook my head. “What is my alternative, Sam? Stay here and change history, then forfeit this path, too?”
“I thought you were going to find someone who could tell you if you forfeit the second path once you’ve lost the first.”
“We have been looking, but we can’t find anyone who knows. I hate feeling helpless.”
