The Golden Watch

-Chapter 1-

the Walk

"Mom, I'm gonna go out now, ok?"

"Ok, Danny, just be back in time for dinner," my mom called from the other room. "You know that your Aunt Tess doesn't like to wait."

"Don't worry, I'll be back."

"Danny!" Aunt Tess called as I started to walk to the back door, "Watch out for any little trinkets you find - Nazis used to walk through there, and there's no telling what you might find." It sounded as if she was giving me a warning.

"Ok!" I yelled back, getting kind of annoyed. I wanted to go for a walk!

I walked past the old-fashioned mirror in the hall, and stared at my reflection. A 5'3" guy with blonde hair and blue eyes stared back at me. I'm nearly 13 but still kind of short, I grinned and the reflection grinned too. Then, a little girl reflection appeared behind me.

"Danny, Danny, can I come with you?" my little sister, Sophie, cried, her blonde pigtails bouncing and her little pink dress twirling. I turned away from the mirror.

"Sophie, I think I'm just going to go by myself, OK?"

Sophie looked as if she was going to cry.

"Hey, little princess," I said, smiling. "How about we play later? You can be the princess and I can be your rescuer..."

Her face immediately lit up - this was her favorite game.

"Yeah yeah!" she shouted, excitedly. "But, you promise, right?"

"Of course!" I replied. "I'll come play with you later."

I walked out the door, into the beautiful sunlit afternoon. As much as I loved my little sister, Sophie, who was only 3, I needed some time to myself. Being 10 years older than her, she adores me, and I adore her too.

My mom, Sophie, and I were all in Denmark for vacation. We were visiting our relatives who had moved to Denmark after World War II. My Aunt Tess knew some people that were actual survivors of the Holocaust. Even though I'm a science geek, I found this very interesting, because we had been studying the Holocaust in school. Most people would think I was a football player or sports person. because of the blonde hair, blue eyed stereotype, but I love chemistry and physics and all that. I really enjoy watching all of those science shows that show people time traveling and things -- SO cool. I am active -- I work out and I wrestle, but science is really my thing. I hope to study quantum physics, or time travel some day, like those T.V. shows. I usually only love science, so it was nice to find something else that I was interested in, like the Holocaust. Our History extra credit was, if possible, to talk to someone who was a survivor of the Holocaust, and ask them to tell their personal story. It was perfect -- quality time with my family, learning about something that I find fascinating, enjoying the beautiful weather -- absolutely perfect.

Aunt Tess's house was a gorgeous one, with a beautiful backyard, that had a small forest behind it. The stone stairs in the backyard wound their way down the sloping lawn to the edge of the deep-green colored forest, where you could hear the chirping of birds and wind rustle the leaves. Being the nature lover that I am, I wanted to spend as much time as possible outside, enjoying the perfecxt not-too-hot-not-too-cold weather that was unheard of in the summer time in Maryland. I loved spending time in the wilderness, preferagly alone. As much as I love Sopphie, when I'm alone I feel like I can connect with nature more than if I'm with someone else.

I made my way down the winding, stone steps, to the edge of the forest. I began walking, taking in the many sounds -- birds' songs, the soft tinkling of a stream, the nearly-silent rustling of the leaves -- and smells -- the smell of the fresh, damp earth --- and was in pure heaven.

As I followed the stream, I noticed a clearing in the woods not far off in the distance. I slowly walked, being careful not to trod on andy critters I saw, and came to the opening. It was fairly large, with a few huge rocks -- great for climbing. I walked up to a particularly intimidating gray rock, found a good foothold and started to tackle it.

"Whew!" I panted, as I finally reached the top. "Now, I can rest."

I sat down, completely enjoying the quiet peacefulness that surrounded me.

'Hardly anyone ever comes in here,' I thought. "No trash or anything. Perfect."

Just then, a glittering caught my eye.

I looked down in the craacks of the rock, and saw a watch. Not a very big one -- just the size of a thick bracelet. I wedged my hand down into the crack, took a hold of it and pulled the watch up. It was a nice, solid, gold colour -- kind of like one of those old fashioned watches you'd picture someone wearing years ago. But, it looked fairly new -- like it had hardly ever been worn.

"I guess I'll keep it," I announced to the trees, putting the watch on. But then I noticed something else.

"Whoa, what is up with the face?" The watch was not like a normal watch -- instead of numbers to tell time, there were 4 digit numbers....

"Years!" I realized with surprise. Where each number should've been to tell the time was a year instead. In place of a 1, there was 1901; instead of a 2 there was a 1912; 1933 replaced the 3; 1942 was there instead of the 4; then 1950 for the 5; 1969 instead of a 6; 1975 instead of the 7; 1988 and not an8; where a 9 should've been, a 1999 was; and where the 11 should've been there was the word Future, and where the 12 should've been was the word Present. And, instead of having 2 hands, it had only 1. Was this the kind of trinket Aunt Tess was talking about?

"This is too weird!" I announced to the wilderness. "Maybe I should go and show this to Aunt Tess."

I put the watch in my pocket, realizing that I also had my History extra credit inthere. I'll do that later, I thought. First, I need to deal with this watch.

Thinking the watch was broken, since there was no ticking, I decided to take it back to Aunt Tess to see if she knew what was up with it. Just as I was about to jump off the rock, I stopped in my tracks. Ticking.

I stared down at the watch, which was now glowing red. The hand was pointing to 1942. Some how I knew this was not a good sign.

"Uh oh," I said one last time to the trees.

Just as I had gotten those words out of my mouth, I felt an almighty WHOOSH as my entire body was lifted in the air.

"AAAHHH!!!" I screamed, as I was whirled around and around. I could see nothing except swirling colors all around me -- I had no idea what was happening. My ears pounded as the wind, or what I thought was the wind, swirled around me, flinging me in different directions, the booming howl of the wind never ceasing.

"What the he--"

CRASH. My feet slammed into solid ground, and I was thrown forward. I crumpled to the floor.

I'm dead,I thought. I fell off the rock, hit my head and died. This is not happening to me!

I waited until the dizziness had passed, and then I slowly opened my eyes, hoping that maybe I had somehow just fallen, hit my head, and someone had come and found me, bringing me back to Aunt Tess's house.

I was in the middle of a small, cluttered room, with little furniture, with a menorah perching on a lonely table.

Oh, they must be Jewish, I thought.

The room was cramped and dull, with little decoration. There was a door on one wall in the room, but no windows -- very different from Aunt Tess's big and spacious rooms.

This is not Aunt Tess's house, I thought to myself.

"Where am I?" I said out loud.

"Ma, I think I heard something," I heaard a voice say from far off. " I'm gonna go check it out."

Oh no! I thought. I'm in the middle of someone else's house, not knowing who the heck it belongs to...

I heard footsteps coming closer... whever was coming was going to walk right in here and see me, a stranger, in their house.

I got to hide! I frantically thought. But where? There was no furniture to hide under.

Oh, God, PLEASE, what am I supposed to do?

I heard the turning of the door knob, as my heart started beating full force against my ribcage. The door cracked open, and a girl stepped into the room.

She had shoulder-length brown hair, and looked about my age -- kind of short like me. For a split second, her eyes met mine. She stood silently, the shock and disbelief keeping her from reacting. But that wore off.

"Who the heck are you!?" she cried. " And what are you doing in my house?"

"Well, I um... ah..." I couldn't find anything to say.

" You're here to take us away, aren't yoou?" A look of horror spread over her face.

"What?" I cried. "What are you talking about? Take you where? "

"I'll fight you!" she yelled. "You can hurt me, but you won't hurt my family!"

"Wait what's going on?" I shouted in anguish.

The girl, thinking that she was protecting her family from who knows what, was in a fighting position, fists up, feet spread apart. And then she charged.

"Wait STOP!" I screamed. She ran at me, fists poised, ready to give me an almighty whack in the nose. But I was ready -- I grabbed her wrists and twisted them behind her, so she couldn't punch me. But the feet, I forgot the feet...

"OW!" I cried, as she hit me in the worst possible place for a guy to be hit.

But I was prepared. I grabbed her, threw her on the ground, and laid on top of her, pinning her soulders to the ground. Being short, people often underestimate my strength. But I'm stronger than I look, which this girl did not know.

"Listen to me," I panted. "I am not here to hurt you. I don't know why or how I got here, but I am NOT here to hurt you."

"Then -- why -- are -- you -- here?" she cried between gasps. "You're -- not -- from -- around here -- are you?" She struggled underneath me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm crushing you, aren't I?"

"Um, yeah, just a little bit."

I got off of her and sat next to her. We leaned against the wall.

"No," I replied, catching my breath, "I'm not from around here, I have no idea how I got here. In fact, I don't even know what day or year this is."

A look of realization dawned on her face. But then she looked skeptical again.

"Do you really not know what year this is?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, you are in Denmark, and it's 1942. We're in the middle of a war."

Oh God, I thought.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"My name's Danny," I told her. "And I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm from the future." I didn't know how else to put it.

Now, if you tell a person that you're from the future, you would expect them to react as if you were completely insane. But this girl didn't. She seemed to believe me.

"You are the answer to our prayers," she told me

I blinked in astonishment.

Then I heard more footsteps.

"Emma, what is going on in here?"

So Emma was her name.

-Chapter 2-

the Andersons

Just then, a very tall, pretty girl walked into the room and looked at us, sitting next to each other. She looked at me, confused.

"I'm sorry, were you two in the middle of something?" the girl asked, looking at me in a funny way.

"Oh, uh, no," I stammered. She was very pretty.

The girl looked at me.

"Who are you?" she asked. I felt that this was starting to get really complicated.

"Well, I am, um --" I didn't know what to say, in case this girl wouldn't believe me, like the other one had.

"Charlotte, this is Danny," the girl named Emma replied. "I'll explain how he got here later." She gave me a look that clearly said, Don't tell anyone or else I'll KILL you!

"Oh. All right," Charlotte replied. She smiled at me, then left the room, her beautiful, long brown hair waving as she left. She was very pretty.

"I don't mean to sound rude or anything," I told Emma, "but I find it strange that you actually believe me."

"I know, but for some reaason I do. I'll explain it to you later. But first, we have to get you some clothes. You can't be seen with thoseon." She pointed to my baggy jeans and t-shirt. "My parents will think I brought a mad man into the house. I'll get you some of my dad's old clothes. Here, come into my room."

Truly bewildered at this reaction, I followed Emma. She let me out the door in the room, down a small staircase (I learned that this room was the attic), down a hall and into a room with only a bed.

"It's kind of small," she told m, looking aat the room, "But it's the only place I can be sure no one will come into." She looked at me. "Ok, I need to get you some clothes."

"Ok," I said as she left. I looked around at the room, thinking about how I got here. time travel! I thought. But that's impossible! Time travel... quantum physics... I shook my head. It had to be time travel, there was no other explanation for it. This object, however it was made, served as some sort of teleporter or time machine. How it worked, I could not say. It was like those shows on T.V., where the main character is thrust back in time, having to do something in order to get back to the present. But what must I do? I thought. l looked up to the heavens.

God, if you would only give me some sort of sign...

"OK, I'm back." Emma walked into the room carrying some old trousers and dull shirts. "Put these on and no one will thnk you came from somewhere strange."

I caught the clothes as she thrust them at me.

"Um, aren't you going to leave?" I asked her, feeling uncomfortable as I unbuttoned my shirt.

"What? Oh, sorry. My family changes in front of each other all the time, I didn't know it would be any different..." She blushed as she started to leave the room.

"It's ok," I replied. "Actually, stay in here. I'll change over there." I pointed to a closet in the room. I could open that door and stand behind that. "While I'm changing, I'd like it if you tell me why you believed me so quickly.

"All right," she replied, "I'll tell you, although there really isn't that much to tell."

She explained how she and her family were Jewish and how they were always in danger of being taken away to a concentration camp. But, then she explained the strangest part of all.

"You see," Emma explained, "I have a knack for predicting the future."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, it's not REALLY predicting the future... you know how you sometimes get this feeling that you just KNOW something is going to happen? Well, I feel atha sometimes, like I have a strong feeling that a certain something is going to happen, and it usually does. I've been having a strong feeling that something awful is going to happen to us."

"But what does that have to do with me?" I asked.

"Well, I think you're here to help us."

I gaped at her.

"No, I'm serious. I truly believe that you are an answer to my prayers."

I was shocked. "But what about all this time travel business? You actually believe that?" If someone from the "future" came to me in my house and said that they got here by time travel, I sure wouldn't believe them.

"Yes, I do. I don't exactly know why, but I do.

I was in desperate need of time alone, to think about all of this, but that wasn't going to happen.

"OK, Emma, I really appreciate that you think I'm some sort of savior, or something, but I think you got the wrong person. I mean, I don't even know how I got here, let alone know what I'm supposed to do."

"Trust me, Danny. I know what I'm thinking." Her dark brown eyes locked with mine. I turned away.

"Emma?" A voice called in the distance "Emma, are you up there?" It didn't sound like Charlotte.

"Yes, Ma," Emma called back. She turned to me. "OK, now you can't tel lanybody about what I told you. They'd think I was mad."

"But then what are you going to tell your family? I mean, won't your parents find it odd that a strange guy just randomly shows up at your house?"

"Don't worry, I've got it all figured out."

Just then, her door opened.

"Emma, dinner will be ready soon -- oh. Hello there." Emma's mom looked at me.

""Oh, Ma, I forgot to tell you. You know, Danny, from school? I think you've met him once. But you said he could come over this weekend... I know he said he couldn't but he's changed his mind. Is that all right??"

"Oh, sure, that's fine!" Emma's mom exclaimed. "Does Danny's mom know about this?"

"Oh, of course!" Emma explained. I bet she was praying that her mom wouldn't call my "mom" to make sure. "We had planned this a while ago, but never got around to doing it. Me and Dammy hardly ever see each other any more."

"Ok, that's great!" Emma's mom said. "Oh, I'm sorry, Danny, we may have met, but if not... I'm Elise , but you can call me Mrs. Anderson."

"Hi," I said, embarrassed. I'm always bad when it comes to meeting new people.

"Well, Danny, it's certainly great to have you," Mrs. Anderson said. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes. You two can stay up here by yourselves, if you don't get into any trouble," she added, with a kind of suspicious smile.

"Maaa!" Emma cried, as Mrs. Anderson left the room. "Ugh, she can be SO embarrassing sometimes!"

I smiled. "Don't worry about it," I laughed. "My mom's the same way." I stopped. I wonder how Mom was doing? What was happening back at home? Did they know I was gone? Did time keep going, even though I was gone? Was it possible for time to all of a sudden stop? HowwasI going to get back to my time? With a struggle, I pushed all of these thoughts aside, and turned my attention to Emma, who was getting up.

"Wait, Emma." She turned around. "How is this working out?"

"Well, you actually do look like a friend from my schooll, who's name is actually Daniel, or Danny. Kind of a coincidence... But anyway, he was actually supposed to stay for the weekend, because his parents were going away, but then they decided to stay. But now we'll pretend that you're Danny from my school."

"Wow." A strange coincidence. "That's lucky."

"Yeah, it is. But dinner should be ready soon," Emma said. "Lets go downstairs, and I'll formally introduce you to the rest of my family."

As we walked into the kitchen, Charlott, Mrs. Anderson, a man that I took to be Mr. Anderson, and another little girl were gathering around the table, preparing to eat. The little girl ran up to Mrs. Anderson.

"Maaa, Emmy tokk Polly and she wont give her back!" she cried, her lip trembling.

"Sofie, I did NOT take your doll!" Emma cried, exasperated.

Her name's Sophie, I thought. Just like my Sophie. The thought of Sophie made me tremble.

"Emmy, who's that?" Sofie looked at me. She had straight, brown hair that was in a ponytail.

"Oh, Sofie, this is Danny. Danny this is Sofie. Sofie's only 4," she added

"Hi," Sofie said, shyly. She turned, ran, and hid behind Mrs. Anderson.

"Emma, who's this?" the man I took to be Mr. Anderson asked.

"Oh, Pa, this is Danny. He's going to be staying with us for a while."

"Oh." He looked surprised. "Well, Danny, nice to meet you I hope you're comfortable here." He gave me a warm smile.

I smiled back. I was beginning to like it here.

"Ok, everyone, time to eat."

We all sat down at the table, squeeaing together. Dinner was only potatoes -- I had learned at school that during the war there were many food shortages such as sugar and chocolate -- basically eveerything that kids love.

"Mmm, this is delicious," I said, trying to make it seem like I really enjoyed the bland potatoes.

"Why, thank you Danny, aren't you sweet."

I was hoping that the conversation at dinner would not be geared towards my sudden arrival. And it wasn't -- it was just a normal dinner conversation school, and current events, one that you would expect any family to have. During the conversation I couldn't take my eyes off Charlotte. She was so beautiful, with her long brown hare falling gracefully down her back and her rosy cheeks. Whenever she met my eyes, I'd turn away and blush. I think the same thing was happening to Sofie -- whenever I'd meet her eyes, she'd turn away and blush. Emma saw this and giggled.

"I think you got yourself a little admirer," she whispered in my ear.

I smiled.

After a while we finished dinner.

"Anything I can do to help clean up?" I asked Mrs. Anderson.

"Oh no Danny, you don't have to help. Go on upstairs."

"Oh, ok. If you're sure."

Emma and I made our way upstairs, into her room.

"So." Emma sat down on her bed. "What's the future like?"

A typical conversation to hve with someone who is from the future.

"Well, I don't want to spoil it for you!" I laughed. Immediately I wished ihadn't said that -- this was the middle of WWII and millions of Jews had died during this period of time. What if this family didn't make it?

Emma saw the look on my face. It was almost as if she could read my mind.

"I want to know because, well, um, what if..."

"I know." I sighed and sat next to her. "You'll be fine."

"Are we going to make it?" she asked me pleadingly.

"Yes." I said confidently, but in my heart I honestly did not know. How could I?

Emma yawned. "Ahh, sorry. It's been a long day. How about we turn the lights off?"

"OK."

"Emmy, Emmy!" I heard Sofie call. "Are you going to bed now?"

"Yees, Sofie," Emma said, annoyed. "Come and say goodnioght to Danny."

Oh Lord, I thought. But then I laughed -- it was cute to have a little admirer.

Sofie ran into the room. "Um, goodnight Danny!" She ran up and stood in front of me.

"Goodnight Sofie!" I gave her a little hug. I know she''d appreciate that.

Sofie let me hug her for a split second before she got too embarrassed. Then she ran out of the room. Emma laughed.

"She adores you!" she cried.

"I know!" I laughed. "Well, she reminds me of my little sister, Sophie."

"You're llittle sister's name is Sophie? Ha, that's funny!"

"Yeah, it is."

We looked at each other. I think we were more alike than we thought

"Let's go to sleep." Emma suggested again. "You can sleep in the bed if you want and I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, it's ok, I'll sleep on the floor. Don't worry about it."

"You sure?"

"It's fine."

"Ok, let me get the lights."

Just as she turned the lights off, and we were about to settle down, we heard anurgent knocking aat the front door downstairs.

"What's that?" I hear Emma get up.

"I dunno, sounds like someone's here."

"Let's go check it out."

We slowly got up in the dark, and tiptoed out of her room and stood outside her door. Her room was close enough to the stairs (which was close to the door) to barely hear what was going on.

I heard Mr. Anderson run to the door, followed closely by Mrs. Anderson.

"Elise," I heard him say. "Make sure the kids are in bed."

"They are," she said to him, frightened.

Not us, I thought.

Mr. Anderson grabbed the knob and thrust the door open. I heard urgent voices.

"What are they saying?" Emma asked anxiously.

"I don't know," I said. "I'm going closer. Stay here."

"OK," she said. "Tell me if you hear anything interesting.

I slowly tiptoed closer to the stairs until I was right at the top, behind a wall. I could not be seen.

"...Nazis are coming," I heard a young man whisper. "They're coming to take your family to one of the death camps in Poland - Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Sobidor or Treblinka. You will be separated and die. you and your family must leave."

"Oh, God," I heard Mrs. Anderson cry.

"When? When do we leave?" I could hear the fear in Mr. Anderson's voice.

"Tomorrow! As soon as you can!"

"But where do we go?" Mrs Anderson whispered frantically.

"A friend of mine said that there is a man who is smuggling Jews into Sweden tomorrow night. It'll be a dangerous escape, but it's the only way. You'll be safe there."

"Thank you Daniel," Mr. Anderson told the man. "You have saved our lives."

"Good luck my friend," the man said. Then he left.

I suddenly realized that this family -- this kind, generous family -- was in great danger. It suddenly hit me that this wasn't some show on T.V. -- this really was 1942 and we were in the middle of a war. I suddenly realized that I needed to help this family, in whatever way I could. I was scared. Scared that this family wasn't going to get out alive.

-Chapter 3-

the Escape

"Oh my God." Emma slumped against the wall as I told her what I had heard. There was nothing else I could say to comfort her. "Oh my God," she said again.

"Let's try to get some sleep," I said, numb from the shock of the matter.

Emma obediently laid down of her bed. She didn't say another word.

I lay down beside her on her bed, and put my arm around her. Eventually we drifted off to sleep.

The next day, I woke up early. Emma was still sleeping. She probably didn't get much... I didn't. Too much to think about.

I got out of bed, leaving Emma there, not wanting to disturb her. I made my way downstairs, and heard hushed voices in the kitchen. I walked in to see mr. and Mrs. Anderson sitting at the table, discussing something. Probably the escape.

I cleared my throat, and they looked up. "I want to help you," I said.

"What?" Mrs. Anderson asked, puzzled.

"I know what's going to happen -- I heard your conversation last night. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help it. I'm going to help hou."

"Oh, Danny, that really is sweet of you," Mrs. Anderso replied, "but we don't want to endanger you in any way."

"No," I said stubbornly. "I'm going with you."

Mr. Anderson met my eyes. He fixed his gaze on me, staring deep into my soul. Ifelt he knew something, that something about me was differeent.

"Ok. Danny will come with us to the boat, but only to the boat," Mr. Anderson said, his eyes never leaving mine. "After that you will go back to the house. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said.

"OK. We need to get the kids up. I assume that you've probably told Emma what's happening."

"Yes," I said, feeling guilty. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Mr. Anderson said, "is this: at dusk, we are going to walk through the forest behind our house. There is a trail there that leads to a dock with a fishing boat. A fisherman is hiding Jews and sending them over to Sweden, where they'll be safe.

"You see, my friend, Daniel, is in the Resistance, and he said that the boat will be leaving tonight at 10:00..with or without us. You should go back upstaairs and get some sleep. It's going to be a rough day."

I obediently went upstairs, and lay in Emma's room, trying to sleep. Finally, I drifted off.

What happened the rest of the day was kind of a blur. We walked around, somberly, getting clothes here, food there. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, at one point during the day, told Sofie and Charlotte what was happening. As young as Sofie was, she seemed to understand what was going on to some extent -- she was still wild, but she listened more, and took her parents more seriously.

Finally, it was time.

At about 5, we set off, the Andersons wearing as many clothes as possible -- if they carried suitcases, it would look suspicious if we were stopped by Nazis, so the wore all the clothers they needto bring. Emma stepped back, looking at her house.

"Goodbye," she said, tearfully. "I wonder if I'll ever see it again."

"I'm sure you will," I replied, reassuringly.

We set off walking through the forest. Mr. Anderson lead the way, followed by pretty Charlotte, then me and Emma, and then Mrs. Anderson and Sofie bringing up the rear.

Emma and I tried to talk, breaking the silence, but there was not much to say. She told me a bit about her school, how she was banned a while ago for being Jewish, how there really was a guy at her school named Daniel (like me) who she had been friends with. I really liked Emma -- I mean, not the way I liked Charlotte, but as a friend. She was a lot like me, and I was going to miss her.

The thick green of the forest pressed around me, the silence screaming at us. Ah, my legs! I thought. We had been walking for a while, and darkness was falling rapidly. I couldn't see anything at all.

Please let us rest!

"Ok, kids, lets rest here for a minute, all right?" Mr. Anderson said, answering my silent prayer. "Now from here on out, we have to be very quiet." That wasn't hard, considering we had barely talked the entire time. "We are close to a place where there might be Nazis -- I've heard that people have seen them come through this way."

"OUCH!" somebody cried loudly. I couldn't tell who it was, it was that dark. "Mommy, I got a prickly boo-boo." It was definitely Sofie.

"Shhh, Sofie, you have to be very quiet around here," I heard Mrs. Anderson tell Sofie.

"But it hurts," Sofie said, close to tears.

Quick, Danny, THINK! I had to think of something quickly before Sofie started to cry -- then the whole world would hear her.

"Hey, Sofie!" I whispered. "You want me to make it better?" I heard Mrs. Anderson sigh in relief.

"Otay," Sofie whispered back in a babyish voice. She held up her finger in front of my face. I grabbed it in the darkness and kissed her cut. She was silent again.

We kept on walking, when all of a sudden Mr. Anderson stopped. We heard a faint muttering in the distance.

"Nazis!" Mr. Anderson cried softly. "No one ever comes in here, except for them..."

Oh, no, I thought. This was it.

"What'll we do?" Charlotte cried, somewher to my right. Their lights were coming closer.

I dashed around, using the light given off by the Nazis lamps, looking for a hiding place. Then I found one -- hidden by tall grass were two hugh logs. Even in the light they were hardly visible. I could barely even see them, and everyone always said I had great eyesight.

I ran back to the Andersons, my heart thumping.

"Hey guys!" I whispered frantically. "There are two huge logs over there hidden by tall grass -- they'll never see you in there."

"Oh, Danny! " Mrs. Anderson cried. "You're wonderful."

I grinned, blushing. But then I snapped back.

"OK, Charlotte, Emma, Danny -- get in there!" Mr. Anderson pointed to one of the logs. Emma and Charlotte got down on their knees and crawled in, while Mr. and Mrs Anderson crawled into the other one with Sofie.

"Danny, hurry!" Emma cried.

I got down on my knees, trying to squeeze into the smelly log with Emma. I couldn't fit.

"I can't get in!" I whispered. Panic was rising in me. They were coming closer.

"Come in here!" Mr. Anderson called. "There's more room!"

I quickly ran over to their log, but tripped on the long grass. I got tangled, fell, where I lay, clearly visible to the Nazis, the grass gripping me like a thousand little hands. They were going to see me.

"Danny!" Emma cried.

"Shh! Be quiet! Just stay there!" I whispered.

I tried to untangle myself, but it was too late. The Nazis were coming around a bend, coming right into the small clearing, where I lay. I held my breath, waiting for the worst.

-Chapter 4-

Goodbye

They came right up to where I was laying, looked my way, and then continued on their walk.

"WHEW!" I sighed, relief flooding through me. And then it hit me -- why didn't they see me?

Of course,I thought. Only the Andersons can see me. Who knows why -- maybe it was because I was only there for them... But what ever it was, other people couldn't see me.

"Danny?" I heard Mrs. Anderson call. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I said. I was a little scratched up, but ok nonetheless

"Danny," I heard Mr. Anderson say. "Why didn't those Nazis see you?"

"Well, um, I -- "

"I'll explain later," I heard Emma say.

"Um, OK. Mr. Anderson sounded skeptical, but didn't push the conversation any further.

"Thanks," I whispered to her, as she walked up beside me.

"Don't mention it," she said. I could feel her grinning.

"I'm glad you're all right Danny," I heard Charlotte say, as we started walking again. I then tripped on my shoelace and fell.

"Well. We're here," Mr. Anderson announced a few minutes later.

We emerged from the forest, blinking at the light in the distance.

"The dock's right over there," Mr. Anderson said, pointing to the small light. "Danny... I guess this is goodbye. You'll be able to find your way back to the house through town." He walked over and patted me on the shoulder. "Take care, my boy." He walked over to the dock, and stood there.

"Danny," Mrs Anderson said to me. "If it hadn't been for you... those Nazis..." She shivered. "I can't tell you how thankful I am. You saved our lives. Take care!" She gave me a quick squeeze, and then walked over to join Mr. Anderson.

"Bye, bye, Danny!" Sofie ran up to me and gave my knees a tight squeeze. Then she started to cry.

"Hey, Sofie!" I said, picking her up. "Don't cry! I'll see you again, don't worry." I said, lying. I hugged her and put her down. She ran and stood by Mrs. Anderson.

"Danny?" Charlotte walked up to me. "I'll never forget you!" She came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. If it had been light out, I probably would've looked darker than a ripe cherry.

Emma walked up. "Well," she said, looking uncomfortable. "I'm not really good at saying goodbye..." She looked down at her feet.

"Um, well..."

Then she ran up to me and hugged me. Shocked, I stumbled back, but then hugged her as well. As suddenly as she hugged me, she stopped, embarrassed.

"Bye," I whispered softly.

"Bye."

Then she ran over to the boat, and stood with her family.

"Bye!" they all called.

"Goodbye!" I called back. "Bye."

I felt a warmth on my wrist, and suddenly remembered the watch.

looked down at the watch. Words were appearing on it:

Your work here is done.

The words disappeared, the years coming back on. But the hand was no longer pointing to 1942 -- it pointed to present.

Suddenly, the watch glowed bright blue. I felt an almighty WHOOSH and again I was flipped head over heels. I was spinning, spinning, spinning. I shut my eyes and then --

CRASH!

My feet hit solid ground

I was back.

-Chapter 5-

Emma Anderson

"Come on, Danny, we're going now!" Mom yelled, as she piled Sophie and Aunt Tess into the car.

"I'm coming!" I called. Presonally, I would've rather stayed home than go and see one of Aunt Tess's friends -- I was exhausted after my "trip." I had had enough excitement in the past few days to last me a lifetime.

It was a day after I had gotten back. Appaarently, no time had passed since I left. I wondered how that was possible, but decided to save the science thinking for later. I just wanted to enjoy spending time with my family and enjoy life.

After a few minutes, we pulled up in the driveway of my Aunt's friend's house. The friend had a really nice garden, which really excited my mom -- she loves gardens -- and Aunt Tess said it was ok if she went to check it out. Sophie went with her. Meanwhile, Aunt Tess took me into the house to meet her friend.

We walked into a room with little furniture. I glanced around and saw a menorah standing on a small table.

She must be Jewish, I thought.

As I looked around, Aunt Tess came up behind me.

"Danny?" Aunt Tess asked.

"Yes?" I replied, not turning around.

"This is my friend Emma. Emma Anderson."

I turned around.

"She escaped to Sweden during World War II!" Aunt Tess said excitedly.

"No kidding," I replied.

"Nice to meet you Danny," Emma said, without Aunt Tess introducing me.

"Hi," I said.

Emma smiled.

I smiled back.

The End