THEDA'S TIME MACHINE
The Historical Fantasy Thriller by Alison Bull. Table of Contents.
Hello Historical Fantasy and Fun-Loving Reader:
Welcome to my serial! This is the first I’ve published on Substack, and taking a story that was in novel format and turning it into a serial has actually been a lot of fun!
Each chapter has a link to the next chapter so it’s easy to read. Reading an online serial like this is a little weird, especially if you are a novel reader. I’ve made this as easy as possible by linking to the next chapter at the conclusion of the current chapter. If there is a better way for you to see this, let me know. This will be available in book format after it is concluded on Substack. If you would like to contact me directly, email me at AlisonDBull@gmail.com. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy it.
On a Kansas military base in 1918, Theda Evora is visiting her father...and hiding from a group of anarchists who want her dead. It would be the perfect place to lay low, if only young soldiers weren't mysteriously disappearing. Then a stranger appears who knows too much about Theda’s past…and about her future. He's from the 1940s searching for a time traveling doctor with a penchant for disease. Caught between believing in reality and knowing that something is terribly wrong, Theda searches for the truth, even if it means confronting her own father.
Chapter 1
March 2020. A young man enters an abandoned building on a military base, searching for an answer that has plague his family for generations. There he finds a link to the past who may be able to save the future.
Chapter 2
March 1918. Theda Evora walks into the heart of Philadelphia with a suitcase that carries the potential death of hundreds of people. But if she doesn’t do what’s intended, it will be certain death for her…
Chapter 3
Patrick Conlin and the seriously ill Dr. Michael Andersen travel across time in search of the murderous Dr. Thrax and Theda Evora.
Chapter 4
Theda Evora and her mother and sister, Violet, are on a train bound for Kansas when it's stopped by Fort Riley police, searching for a criminal from Philadelphia, who looks very familir.
Chapter 5
Conlin and Dr. Andersen arrived at Fort Riley as Dr. Andersen's health rapidly deteriorates. In search of medicine, Conlin sees the same WANTED poster as Theda did, and the man who is on it is in the car next to him. The train supposedly carrying Theda and family arrives, but where is Theda?
Chapter 6
Theda meets Private Asa Jackson, and takes an immediate disliking to him. Violet has eyes for Private Rankin, as the family is taken off the train to be escorted to their temporary house to wait for Dr. Evora.
Chapter 7
Billy Rankin tells Asa Jackson that they've been ordered to take the Evora daughters to a dance at Army City. Before, Jackson sees the harrassment of one of the war-dissenting Mennonite soldiers and doesn't participate in his degredation and makes enemies across time.
Chapter 8
In a boarding house in Army City, Andersen begins to tell Conlin the beginning of his friendship with Thrax, and why they were chosen by the military for a secret experiment in time.
Chapter 9
Theda and Dr. Evora have a chat. Harold Evora is happy to see his favorite daughter and family, but he wants them to go home the day after tomorrow. Why in such a hurry?
Chapter 10
Dr. Andersen tells Conlin of being called into a secret mission to kill Hitler and his top men…in 1917.
Chapter 11
Billy and Jackson head to pick up the Evora sister for a night on the town, but they are cold to each other, the trust gone. Jackson worries that if he spends too much time with Billy, he'll be affecting the future.
Chapter 12
On the brink of death, Dr. Andersen hands Conlin papers from someone called The Archivist, and convinces him that he knows where Theda Evora. Conlin and Andersen finally find her…but so does another, and the result is devastating.
Chapter 13
Theda comes face to face with the man who has been following her since Philadelphia. Jackson makes more enemies and Conlin discovers an awful truth.
Chapter 14
After witnessing the murder of the man who followed her from Philadelphia to Kansas, Theda vows to keep the dark secret to herself, even as she’s asked by her father to take her ill sister to the base, exactly where she doesn’t want to go. Jackson finds a deadly message from the other soldiers and realizes it’s not over yet with them.
Chapter 15
Jackson watches the door to the Infirmary, knowing that the Mennonite soldier the others were harassing will be brought in, when he experiences a time slip and sees a forest in 1945. Violet is conveniently sick and Dr. Evora asks Theda to bring her to the Infirmary in a car that looks suspiciously like the one from last night, a car that masked men emerged from and killed the white-haired man.
Chapter 16
Theda takes Violet into the Infirmary, and sees the Mennonite, named Caleb Van Horn, be brought in. There is something odd about it all, and she notices that things aren’t adding up. Conlin cozies up to Billy by pretending to be an ambulance driver. Jackson is spotted by Theda in the Infirmary, and she confronts him, only he is the one who ends up surprised.
Chapter 17
Cops show up at the house, but they’re not looking for Theda, they’re looking for the doctor who previously lived there and disappeared without a trace. Theda accompanies Violet and Billy to see Cleopatra, where she meets Patrick Conlin. Conlin has information for Theda about the past, but also about her future.
Chapter 18
Jackson finally gets inside the General Building, but that’s as far as he goes. He remembers information his own father had given him about his own time at Fort Riley, and he remembers the last conversation he had with Dr. Andersen, who gave him his orders.
Chapter 19
Theda meets Conlin in a field, and he shows her documents that Dr. Andersen had in the folder. He tells an incredulous Theda that he’s from 1946.
Chapter 20
Jackson is sent to find Theda at the airplane field, where a major dust storm is beginning. When they get to the General Building, a grief-stricken father is there, and the identity of his son is proves to be a surprise.
Chapter 21
Jackson gets ready to do what he came to 1918 to do: kill who he thinks is Thrax. Only there is someone he doesn’t want to leave behind in the past.
Chapter 22
Theda finds something hidden in the house, something left behind by the doctor who lived there before the Evoras and one day disappeared.
Chapter 23
On the eve of Theda’s return to Philadelphia, she learns two devastating facts that leave her reeling.
Chapter 24
Conlin hides out while planning his end game. But a turn of events forces him in another direction.
Chapter 25
Theda gears up to go home and prepares to forget she ever came to Fort Riley, but even the best laid plans get derailed.
Chapter 26
Theda and Conlin form an uneasy alliance.
Chapter 27
Theda and Conlin break into the General Building with the intention of finding Van Horn. But they find someone else who has a surprising secret.
Chapter 28
Theda and Conlin find two dead men in the cellar of the General Building. But these dead men are very much alive.
Thank you for the restack! I’m looking forward to reading your Substack.