Class of '59 (American Journey Book 4) by John A. Heldt Read Free Book Online Page A

says it is not. I just don't know whether I can trust my senses. People can create illusions. They can create a lot of things. This is Hollywood, after all."
    "Then why are you spending time with me?" Mark asked.
    "I'm spending time with you because you're nice and interesting."
    Ben looked at Piper and saw her flash a self-satisfied smile. He had no doubt she found him mean and boring.
    Mark sighed.
    "What would it take to convince you we're real? What can we say or do to convince you that you really did travel through time and that 1959 is just a glowing tunnel away?"
    Mary Beth offered a sheepish smile.
    "I suppose we could see more of your world."
    "Be specific," Mark said.
    "We could walk around the neighborhood or drive around the city," Mary Beth said. "We could even take a road trip to someplace like San Diego or Las Vegas."
    "We could."
    Mary Beth tilted her head and looked at Mark thoughtfully.
    "I don't need much proof."
    Mark nodded.
    "OK then. Let's do it."
    "Let's do what?" Ben asked.
    "Let's take a road trip. Let's go to Las Vegas," Mark said. "I'm sure we could find a lot of interesting things to do there."
    Piper stared at Mark.
    "We have parents coming back at six, Mark. We don't have time to run off to Vegas or San Diego or any other place. We have to pack for our return trip. We leave on Sunday."
    "You still can," Mark said. "I thought I made that clear. You and Mary Beth can spend as much time as you want in 1959 and return to 2017 as if you had never been gone."
    Mary Beth turned to Piper. She looked at her sister with pleading eyes.
    "You haven't had fun all week," Mary Beth said. "Let's change that. Let's have some fun. Let's do something crazy!"
    Ben laughed. He wondered if the girls could do anything crazier in the next day than he had done in the last hour. Then he looked at the street and decided they probably couldn't.
    "OK," Piper said. "I still think there's a chance these two are putting us on, but I'll go. I want to see if there's more to that mansion than smoke and mirrors."
    "Then it's set," Mark said. "Let's go back to the house, pack a bag or two, clean up, and take off. We left 1959 at nine thirty in the morning. We could be on the road by ten."
    Ben looked at his brother.
    "Where are we getting the money to take this trip?"
    "I have money," Mark said.
    "You have a hundred bucks in your dresser drawer. You told me that the other day. That's not enough to go to Vegas, Mark. At least it's not enough to have fun."
    "We'll manage."
    Mary Beth looked at the brothers.
    "There's no need to manage anything. I have money. I can help out."
    "You're forgetting something," Mark said. "Your debit card is no good in 1959. Neither is your cash. I've seen the currency here. It's different. The last thing any of us want to do is go to jail for passing what merchants will consider counterfeit bills."
    "You're right," Mary Beth said.
    "Don't feel bad. I appreciate the offer. We'll just do something else."
    Mary Beth turned away and looked at a bookstore across the street. She stared at the store for several seconds. When she looked again at Mark, she did so with lively eyes.
    "There's no need to do something else."
    "I don't follow," Mark said.
    Mary Beth grinned.
    "I just thought of a way to make money."
     

CHAPTER 10: PIPER
     
    Baker, California – Saturday, March 21, 1959
     
    Piper needed only five minutes to realize that Mark and Ben Ryan did not work for a movie studio or the producer of a new Candid Camera . Not even two enterprising brothers could give a city the size of Los Angeles a complete 1950s makeover.
    She thought about her conversion from skeptic to believer as she stared out the right rear window of Mark's 1958 Edsel Citation and gazed at the arid fields along Route 91. She would no longer be quite as eager to dismiss fantastic claims out of hand or staunchly defend the laws of physics. Nothing, she thought, was impossible.
    Piper directed her eyes to the front of the car and saw Mark