Redeemed by Margaret Peterson Haddix Read Free Book Online Page A

thick and uncooperative as a slab of meat.
    Also, something slapped against his face and covered his mouth.
    Katherine’s hand? he thought. Oh—I can feel things now!
    â€œShh!” Katherine hissed in his ear. “Don’t make any noise until we know where we are, and if we’re safe. . . .”
    Was there some reason they wouldn’t be safe? And . . . hadn’t they been going to the future?
    It was so weird, how his brain couldn’t seem to hang on to a detail like that.
    â€œMom, Dad, Jordan—if you’re feeling sick, it’s just because you’re in a new time, and it takes a little while to adjust,” Katherine whispered. “You’ll feel better in a little bit. Just stay hidden and be quiet until you can think and hear and see straight. . . .”
    Jordan wanted to ask, Are we hidden now? But getting his tongue and mouth to form those words seemed about as likely as climbing Mount Everest at the moment.
    And, oh, yeah, she said to stay quiet. . . .
    â€œ Are we invisible?” Katherine hissed, probably to Jonah.
    Wasn’t it crazy that she’d ask a question like that? And sound serious about it?
    Jordan squeezed his eyes shut and opened them a second time, and finally they started working again. He could see Katherine and Jonah and Dad lying beside him. He turned his head the other direction, and there was Mom. All four Skidmores—five, if you counted Jonah—were lined up on some hard floor.
    Like corpses, Jordan’s brain told him, and he felt himself start to shiver.
    Belatedly, his brain also told him that Jonah had been shaking his head no. Every single Skidmore was completely visible, the red of Dad’s T-shirt and the purple and pink of Katherine’s sweater as bright as neon.
    The Elucidator in Jonah’s hand hadn’t been able to turn any of them invisible.
    â€œIs there, like, crazy-strong air-conditioning in the future, or are we someplace really cold, like Hudson’s ship in 1611?” Katherine asked, still in a whisper.
    Was she talking about the year 1611 like it was a time she’d actually lived through?
    â€œShh,” Jonah replied. “You have to be quiet, too.”
    â€œUnhhh . . .” That was Dad.
    â€œDo you think Mom and Dad are having even worsetimesickness because of that whole un-aging thing?” Katherine asked anxiously.
    Jonah shrugged and drew his fingers across his lips. Evidently that meant zip it! in all dimensions.
    And then Jordan saw Jonah struggle up into a sitting position. If Jonah could sit up, Jordan could too.
    Jordan started pushing himself up on his wobbly arms. The vague shapes above and around him swung in and out of focus. Sterile-looking tables . . . colorful projections that glowed like a computer or TV but without any sort of actual screen or wall behind them . . .
    Jordan’s best guess was that they were in some sort of futuristic lab.
    Maybe it’s empty, he thought. Maybe it won’t matter that the Elucidator couldn’t make us invisible, or that our whispering might have been too loud. . . .
    At the edge of Jordan’s range of vision, Jonah had not only managed to sit up, but was now twisted around and peeking over the top of the nearest lab table.
    â€œWhat do you think an Elucidator might look like in the future?” Jonah whispered, turning his head toward Katherine. “Maybe . . . like the thinnest credit card ever?”
    Jordan watched as Jonah glanced around, then slipped his hand over the edge of the table and picked up something.
    Just then Jordan’s elbows buckled and his chest slammed down against the floor. Pain shot through his body, and he screamed, “Ahhhh!”
    The sound echoed in the silent lab.
    A moment later, a strange face loomed over him.

SEVEN
    â€œGet us out of here!” Jonah hollered. “Take us all . . .