Mighty Maximilian: Samuel Clemens's Traveling Companion Book #4
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
Chapter 2 ABOARD THE BELLE maximilian dreamed for the first time since he had begun his trip The cool summer breeze danced its way through the grass The glen was filled with seasonal flowers and alive with bees and butterflies Maximilian loved this time in Tanner's Glen the most He cherished the days he was allowed to play the day away and not worry about chores He sat peacefully on the bank of Farmer Tanner's winding lazy creek From his seat on the creek bank Maximilian peered into a break in the line of trees in the fence row The trees cast a dark shadow over the entire glen Maximilian could sense something was there in the darkness He strained his eyes and tried to make out what awaited him in the
forest just out of his sight He looked deeper and began to see a form take shape He could almost make out what the shape was Maximilian reluctantly opened his eyes It didn't take him long to realize he was not at home in the glen but in the time machine He still had an empty fuel cell and no way to travel home For a moment Maximilian thought about closing his eyes once again He could try to make his way back into the dream he had just left Instead he decided to think more about his fuel problem The capsule's window was tinted glass So it was difficult for Maximilian to see whether it was day or night out He carefully opened the hatch and leaned out Maximilian's long wiry whiskers fluttered in an attempt to gather information about his new surroundings He pulled himself from the pod and patted the dust from his shirt The time machine had come to rest next to a large flotation device made from some strange material The ring was tied to a heavy rope
