"Kit! Time for dinner!" called Mom. I snapped the chest shut. This treasure was mine! I ran down the stairs, intent only on eating dinner as quickly as possible. As soon as I’d finished our meal of spaghetti and meatballs, I raced back up the stairs, into my room, and through the secret door. I pounded up the little staircase, eager to explore my latest find. I pulled out one exquisite dress. It was a high-waisted, loose gown that seemed just my size. However, I was to regret even thinking about putting the gown on, that spring day in 2002.

The mysterious garment sparkled as the attic whirled around me. Panicking, I shouted for help, but too late as I fell back, back, back in space to another place altogether…

"Aaah!" I screamed. I was in a strange room with strange servants around me! "Who are you?" I inquired.

"Miss Katherine, you are out of your mind. Stay put and I shall fetch the doctor," proclaimed one stern woman. Her younger counterpart smiled.

"Pay no mind to that old busybody. She’s no better than I, possibly lower!" giggled the girl. "I’m Miranda," she said. "Mistress Katherine Wood, I presume?"

"Actually, I go by Kit," I said. "Where am I and why do they all assume I’m ill? I’m perfectly fine!" I exclaimed. In trying to prove this, I got up and immediately fell back to the feather mattress, a result of a combination of weak legs and blankets anchoring me down. "What year is this, anyway?"

" It is the Year of Our Lord 1802, and you are in London, England," smiled Miranda. I groaned. What had I done in putting on that dress? I looked down at what I was wearing. It was still the same seafoam gown, with matching aqua slippers. Something had transpired, all right. I had gone back in time! I lay back on the pillow and let Miranda tuck me in. I needed to think.

It was noon when I woke up again. I dared not remove the dress until I was sure of what had happened. This much I knew: that dress was my only link to home. I got up and tiptoed to the door. Peeking out, I saw three women. One was young, and beautiful, in an orange brocade outfit. Circa 1750, I thought automatically. This family must not have been the richest in the world if they were wearing gowns from fifty-two years past. The second one was more of a girl, and she was dressed as I was, only in violet and lavender. The third one was majestically clothed in diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. Not to mention the silks she wore on her dress. I gasped and ducked back in my room. I searched for a mirror. It revealed a sixteen-year-old girl, with bronze hair and fiery blue eyes, wearing a seafoam dress. Nothing had changed from 2002 except the time itself. Was I, then, someone who had really lived? Was this all part of fate? You see, I am a great believer in fate.

I could not think long, for I was immediately summoned. "Katherine Wood!" came the shout from the richly dressed woman. I skittered over.

"Yes, mum?" I said, waiting for an answer.

"You have a suitor here to see you. Go dress," she ordered imperiously. I hurried back to the chamber at the end of the long hall. A pink dress with a tight waist waited there.

"Yuck," I said. I opted to change into a green shift with a black jacket instead. I bound the whole thing at the waist with a white sash, and then shuffled downstairs. A man and a boy sat there expectantly. It looked as if the boy was a servant and the man his master. I guessed correctly that the older one was the suitor. The boy motioned to me to curtsey. I quickly complied.

"Sit," ordered the man. I sat with a flounce, indignant that I was being ordered around like this. Wasn’t I an independent girl? Oh well- defiance would get me nowhere. Suddenly I was jolted to attention by the sudden silence. Did I miss something?

"I believe the girl is shy about such matters, Sir," spoke up the boy, who had blushed a tomato red. I deduced it could be one of only a few things: pregnancy, women’s undergarments, or the dreaded curse. And guess which one would come up most often with suitors?

"No, I haven’t started yet," I answered. I never would, either. The doctors at home determined that long ago. "Now look, you’ve gone and embarrassed your boy there. His ears are burning red!" Grateful that I’d at least managed to catch the drift of the conversation, I let attention go to the manservant. Poor lad, all flustered by his master’s cold glare. Still, I was off the hook.

"Very well, then, I shall speak with your aunt," blustered the older man finally. He swept out of the room, leaving me alone with the boy, who looked about my age.

"He’s strange that way," commented the boy.

"What?" I asked, looking up from the mouse hole I’d been concentrating on.

"Sir Ralen," he said. "He is always concerned about his wives’ ability to produce children."

"Oh," I said. "Well, he won’t get any out of me, so why is he even bothering to speak with my aunt?"

"He wants to be absolutely sure," said the boy. "By the way, my name’s Edward Linden."

"I guess you know my name already," I said. "Do call me Kit."

"I shall, indeed. How old did you say you were, anyway?"

"I didn’t, and I’m sixteen, but why do you need to know?" I asked back.

"I keep track of all the wives’ ages when they are introduced, when they marry, and when they die, which they always do," replied Edward. "Most of them have died in childbirth; one, Rosetta, died while attempting to bring forth a monster."

"Do you think I’ll be sold like a pig at market to this man?" I asked anxiously. I didn’t feel like kicking the proverbial bucket just yet!

"The likelihood is high. Don’t worry, you won’t die in childbirth, likely you’ll be killed from the plague that exists in that house. It’s odd- only the wives come down with it, and only the barren ones at that!" marveled Edward with just the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. Just then I heard two sets of feet thunder down the cold stone stairs.

"Have the girl pack your bags, Katherine, you are going to be a wife," announced my aunt. I gulped and headed up, trying hard not to imagine my future as Sir Ralen’s wife.

Miranda was waiting for me in my room with my bag all packed. "Mistress, I wish you the best of luck living there. I’ve heard some terrible things about the place. I hope they’ll give you a nice female servant, just as I would be to you if not for this wedding."

"Maybe there’s a way you can come!" I said, a sly smile slowly spreading over my face. We went downstairs, with me dressed in the seafoam dress again, and Miranda in a red woolen cast-off. Doubtless they had thought I’d attempt escape, so the scheming adults had called a parson in from the village. Indeed, he had a regretful look on his face as he pronounced us husband and wife. It was then that I prevailed upon my aunt to let Miranda come. She conceded, knowing full well the things I’d have to endure later, and that she’d have Miranda back when I died.

Then we went to Halliburton Manor. It was a cold, dreary day, too cloudy to see the sun. Rain threatened at each new cloud that appeared above. If this was England, I thought, I’d rather be in Abu Dhabi.

Miranda and I were being put up in a tower room. This, of course, was my husband’s request- as I was barren; there was no need to have relations with me. For that I was grateful, because I thought that the bedding part of marriage alone would send me to my grave. Miranda began tidying up, while I unpacked. I pondered the reason for the wedding- or weddings, from Edward’s observations. Why so many wives and not one heir? There was no possible explanation that would be legal or moral. Was there a wife that he loved? Three sharp raps on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Begging your pardon, mistress, may I enter?" asked Edward. I opened the door.

"Do come in, and sit down! I have some questions for you," I said. "This is Miranda, she’s my servant and best friend so far. Now, there’s the little matter of why so many wives and no heirs. What’s the deal?" The boy looked blank, and I realized I had committed a major faux pas. "Uh, why?"

"A dowry comes with each wife. There was one he loved, but that was over ten years past. Since then, there have been fifteen different girls, and all of them are dead," said Edward bitterly. I wondered how he knew about the wife that was loved.

"Go on," I said. "What happens to the ones that can’t bear children?"

"They are poisoned," whispered Edward. "Listen, you must not reveal any of this! Nor must you eat anything he prepares personally or has the steward prepare. Only eat what I bring you." We heard footsteps. "I must go," he said, stealing out of the door and into the great hall.

So that was why I had just been sold to the highest bidder! Auntie dearest was offered a good price for something of little or no value to her, and she got rid of a troublesome maid, too! I thought I’d uncovered the whole scheme, but there was still one piece left: my relatives and their strange ways. The only other person left was Miranda, and she knew much indeed.

"Miranda?" I asked. "Why do my aunt and the others all act so strange? And why do I get the feeling I’m not the first niece to be bargained for like this?"

"Miss, you should know. Hasn’t anyone ever told you?"

"No," I said.

"The rich aunt, she’s looking to make money off of you girls. To make you stay, she offers the latest fashions and entry to all the balls. She’s got about a hundred different mothers providing her with girls. You are one of the only blood relatives, and that means you sell for a lot. Well, I’m glad to be out of that house!" Miranda said.

"Why?"

"In times of need, she’s sold servants!"

So that was it, I thought. That was why I was now in great danger. That was why I was locked up in a tower room with no place else to go! Well, Miranda seemed nice enough, and so did Edward, for that matter. But I was still going to die! I made up my mind to tell the others who I really was. I summoned Edward and Miranda and sat them down on stools opposite the big chair.

"Friends, I have a confession to make. My name is not really Katherine Wood. It’s Katherine MacGregor, and believe it or not, I never did live in the 1800s. I’m from another time and certainly another place!" I told them.

"Wow," breathed Miranda. "You’re magic, then?"

"Not much, there’s just a few things I can do," I admitted, "but mostly I’m just too bold for my own good."

"How do you plan on getting home?" asked Edward.

"Whenever the aqua dress sparkles, that’s when I leave. Edward, in the future, the history books will say that sixteen wives of Lord Ralen died and one disappeared. That wife is I. However, the first wife, the one he truly loved, really did give birth to a baby boy. They thought it was dead, but it wasn’t. It was eighteen years ago." I paused. "I think I know who the boy is."

"It was I." Edward spoke up. "I didn’t want to tell you, for reasons I’ll explain later," said the boy. "Apart from public shame and utter humiliation, of course."

"Oh," I said understandingly. Oh well, I thought, maybe you can’t win everything. By the time Edward had gone and Miranda had begun to prepare dinner, it was dusk. Night fell quickly after that and it gave me sweet dreams.

The days went by, or dragged by, I should say. We three friends enjoyed what little time was ours. Mostly we worked. Ralen waited for me to die, while I remained stubbornly healthy. Then one warm day the aqua dress gave a twinkle. I summoned Miranda, and she found Edward. Together we three stood on the balcony. I was still wearing the aqua dress.

"Kit? There is something I must give you, and something I must say," spoke up Edward, when the dress was almost ready to let me leave. He presented a ruby ring. "This was my mother’s ring. It always had that kind of luck to it. This one symbolizes love and happiness. I want you to have it as a symbol of the good times we all had." I took the ring and put it on my own finger.

"There’s more," Edward added. "My mother was a witch. She had rings of every raw material on earth, from stone to sapphire, all set in silver and marked with her initials, CRTS, for Catherine Rose Theresa Seton. All of the rings mean something different. My dad found out she was a witch and had her killed. As she was dying, she sent the rings to the far reaches of time, space, and realms. There were exactly 176 rings! All of the rings but the ruby were sent away. 159 rings like this one still float out there. 16 special rings are hidden, with no easy way to get them." He paused, pondering what to say next. "I was afraid to tell you that Ralen was my dad because I am bewitched by you." He gave a short laugh. "Aye, it would be grand, to have a boy fall in love with his stepmother, who is in truth younger than he is!"

The dress shone bright, all of a sudden. The time was upon us. "May I kiss you?" asked Edward.

"Maybe next time we meet," I answered. But before anyone could react, the world lurched and spun. I was swirling down into an abyss, a void that would take me home…