Mighty Maximilian: Samuel Clemens's Traveling Companion Book #4
Chapter 1 WARNING When the time machine began to slow down Maximilian opened his eyes Once again he undid his restraints and carefully opened the portal with his handkerchief Suddenly a strange light came on next to the fuel gauge and a buzzer sounded overhead
Maximilian's stomach dropped He fought to make out what the lettering said He was able to see the words low fuel His head was wildly dizzy from the spinning Through the moisture on the hatch he could just barely read words outside on a partially rusted sign It read Mississippi Belle Maximilian struggled to compose himself and drew in a deep breath Think think The warning signal continued to blink in the darkness of the time machine Outside Maximilian could hear talking The accents were strange to him He was also beginning to make out music It was faint but it was definitely music and people making merry Maximilian closed the hatch and tried hard to concentrate Space was limited inside the time portal Maximilian dug through his few belongings in search of his beloved journal He did not remember making any specific notes regarding fuel or time machine maintenance but he was desperate At this point he realized his options were limited
Maximilian's tiny paws shook as he flipped through the diary's pages Occasionally he licked his finger in order to separate the pages more easily He glanced past his notes on President Abraham Lincoln past his discovery of gold in Silver Springs and past his entry on the driving of the golden spike at Promontory Point Maximilian's luck had taken a drastic change for the worse in a short time He had yet to get used to the roller coaster of emotions he experienced from one leg of his trip to the next Now he found himself in the most serious situation of his young life Maximilian carefully placed his journal back in his backpack and closed his eyes He could picture Nathaniel pacing in his workshop telling Maximilian all about the time machine Why couldn't he remember what Nathaniel had said about fuel The exterior of the capsule was an acorn shell It had been polished to help keep it
aligned during time travel but that's all he could remember Maximilian's muscles relaxed and he slowly fell asleep While Maximilian slept the large steam engine paddleboat that he had come to rest on was slowly coming to life The hydraulics began spewing steam They worked hard to turn the large wooden planked paddle from its resting position Slowly the Mississippi Belle pulled away from the port
