Page 36 of Wild Oblivion

“Well, we do have our charm.”

“Apparently so.”

After a pause, I said, "About the time travel stuff. Is that all nonsense?”

She sighed. "I know at one point, he worked closely with the government on a number of top-secret projects. I suspect that was one of them. I don’t think it ever went anywhere. But I can tell you this, I've never seen anyone from the past or the future show up and sayhello.”

"I'm sure a time traveler wouldn't announce themselves.”

"If you want my honest opinion, I think it was a dream he had in his youth, but never quite figured out how to make it happen.”

“What about the Vrilkristall?”

"What's that?”

"He never mentioned it to you?”

"No.”

Seemed odd that he wouldn’t have mentioned it. "So it's all nonsense?"

"Like I said, my grandfather can have an active imagination at times.”

"Good to know. But somebody wants something from him.”

"People always have. Perhaps they are projecting onto my grandfather their own hopes and dreams. I may be a littlebiased, but I think he was one of the greatest minds of his time. It’s hard to watch that get dulled with age. It’s even harder for him, I’m sure. He still wants to be relevant. Like I said, there are glimpses of his former brilliance in there. Who knows? Maybe he could still change the world.”

“Perhaps.”

“I wouldn’t count the old guy out. He’s a fighter, that’s for sure.”

“Has he ever talked about Klaus von Markov?”

“The name has come up here and there, if I recall. There are certainly some aspects about that time he has never discussed. I know it was difficult to lose his father and see his family torn apart. I couldn’t imagine having to flee and start over like that. He was still just a child. Fortunately, he was able to escape that madness.”

“Indeed.” I thanked her for everything and said, “I look forward to seeing you shortly.”

“Thank you for looking after him.”

“My pleasure.”

I ended the call and stepped back into the salon. Jack and Henrik were still watching TV.

"When is she coming over?" JD asked.

"About an hour."

"Good, because we’ve got band practice."

"We can't just leave him here.”

“We’ll take him with us.”

I shook my head. “No.”

Jack looked at me like I was crazy. "Why not?"

"I'll be fine right here,” Henrik said. “I don't need a babysitter."