Underground: The Time Chair Diary, Book Two

Underground is Book Two of the Time Chair Diary. These are the memoirs of a time traveler named Ell who begins her historical adventures when she is eleven years of age. In Book One, Big Battles in Trenton, Ell joins the Continental Army to cross the Delaware with Washington. In Book Two, Ell’s adventures in 1854 begin with an accidental time traveler, a runaway slave named Lamentations. She tries to get him back to his timeline, however, the time chair malfunctions, and Ell must now correct the mistake. Except an even larger error forces Ell to stay in 1854. Since she cannot return in her own timeline of 1974, Ell decides to help Lamentations, who wants to find his sister. Lamentations wants to convince Marini, his sister, to run away to freedom, with the help of the intrepid and brilliant Harriet Tubman. Marini is not keen on leaving Baltimore and her pleasant job of being her mistress’ personal maid. She is afraid of getting caught and sent to work as a field hand if she is labeled a runaway. Until her circumstances change, that is. As in Book One, Big Battles in Trenton, in Underground, Ell must put on a disguise so that she can safely interact with the people of 1854. She, sort of, obeys the rules about effecting and altering the historical narrative, except for that one little detail that causes a huge change in her. Because she didn’t lie when she needed to, Ell woke up in 1854 as a different Ell. With Plato the dog, and her German friend Martin, helping and protecting her, Ell manages to make things right. That is she sort of makes things right. But we will get into that in Book Three.