A dozen questions surfaced as I grappled with the information. What had she changed? The fire, of course. But if Sam had started it, as history claimed, what had Bess done differently to make sure he didn’t? And what other time did she occupy? It must be in the future, since she knew that this event was going to happen.
Did Sam know his wife had been a time-crosser? Was he privy to any information she might have had?
I quickly finished preparing her body and then slipped out of the bedroom.
Sam still sat at the table, but the room was empty.
“Where is Hazel?” I asked, my heart filling with fear.
“Paddy brought the children outside to occupy them.” Sam leaned back in his chair and sighed. “I didn’t think it was good for them to stay inside with all that’s happened.”
I opened the back door, relieved when I saw Paddy sitting in the dusty yard, stacking kindling with the children, making a small fort.
“He is the most trustworthy man I know,” Sam said. “You have nothing to worry about. He will protect those children with his life.”
Slowly, I closed the door, relieved but still uneasy. I wanted to know what Sam knew about Bess’s time-crossing. “Your wife is ready for burial.”
He lifted his troubled face and shook his head. “Bess wasn’t my wife.”
My mouth parted in surprise. “But they called her Mrs. Kendal.”
“She was my brother’s widow.”
I stared, speechless, as he stood and moved past me to return to her room.
Before he stepped inside, he said, “Thank you, Miss Adams. I don’t know what we would do without you.”
I was so surprised by his revelation, I didn’t respond.
“I know you didn’t expect to end up in Sydney Town.” He shifted on his feet. “But I’d be obliged if you stayed and helped with the cooking, and Johnnie. Paddy and I will make sure you and the girl are safe.”
I wasn’t even sure what I was doing as I found myself nodding.
All I could think about was Bess. She was a time-crosser.
And she wasn’t his wife. What else had the movie gotten wrong?
6
August 31, 1929
Hollywood, California
It was harder than ever to keep my lives separate as I sat in Soundstage1the next morning, waiting for filming to start. After I had learned the truth about Bess and Sam’s relationship, I had not interacted with Sam for the rest of the day. He had come out of Bess’s room and then disappeared. Hazel, Johnnie, and I had slept in the kitchen, while Paddy slept in the front room near the door, ready at a moment’s notice if we needed help.
I wasn’t sure where Sam slept. And I hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to him about Bess’s time-crossing.
Tomorrow, we would hold Bess’s funeral, and then I wasn’t sure what would happen. I had agreed to stay and help, but it wasn’t a permanent solution. I needed to figure out how I would take care of Father and Hazel and make enough money to support us.
I also wanted to understand how Bess had changed history—and why. If she wasn’t married to Sam, then why did he hate Cole? Why had he tried to trap Cole in a burning building in the original history? Was that even what had really happened? I wanted to know more details, but now that history had changed, there was no record. I needed to see if Cole had gone on to write a bookand if he had included anything about Bess in it. As soon as I had the chance, I planned to go to the library to look. Mama had cautioned me not to search for answers in my other path because I might learn something I’d be tempted to change, but history had already changed. How much more could I mess it up?
“Ten minutes to places,” Papa called into a megaphone. His voice was already hoarse. After all our work yesterday using sound for the first time, he had rewatched the footage last evening, only to realize the sound had not been done correctly. It was muffled in some places, scratchy in others, and almost nonexistent for several minutes.
We would need to redo everything, and it would cost more time and money. Desperate not to lose another day’s work, he had brought in more sound technicians from RCA Photophone, the sound system he had licensed to create the movie, further increasing the cost of production.
Spencer entered the soundstage, a script in hand. He was dressed as Laurie, his hair combed back and styled differently from how he had worn it to the Academy Awards ceremony.
He was a stunningly attractive man.
