Problems in Plymouth Read online

  Praise for The Imagination Station® books

  These books are a great combination of history and adventure in a clean manner perfect for young children.

  —Margie B., My Springfield Mommy blog

  These books will help my kids enjoy history.

  —Beth S., third-grade public school teacher

  Colorado Springs, Colorado

  [The Imagination Station books] focus on God much more than the Magic Tree House books do.

  —Emilee, age 7, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania

  My nine-year-old son has already read [the first two books], one of them twice. He is very eager to read more in the series too. I am planning on reading them out loud to my younger son.

  —Abbi C., mother of four, Minnesota

  Problems in Plymouth

  Copyright © 2011 by Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-1-58997-632-0

  A Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,

  Carol Stream, Illinois 60188

  Focus on the Family and Adventures in Odyssey, and the accompanying logos and designs, are federally registered trademarks, and the Imagination Station is a federally registered trademark of Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, CO 80995.

  TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of Focus on the Family.

  With the exception of known historical figures, all characters are the product of the authors’ imaginations.

  Cover design by Michael Heath / Magnus Creative

  Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this book is available by contacting the Library of Congress at http://www.loc.gov/help/contact-general.html.

  Printed in the United States of America

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 / 16 15 14 13 12 11

  For manufacturing information regarding this product, please call 1-800-323-9400.

  To Cory,

  The day you first came through our door, I had no

  idea how many train books we would read or how

  many injuries we would incur in our wrestling

  matches, or how many pretend guys we would

  vanquish together or how proud I would be to have

  this conversation for the rest of my life:

  “Are you Cory’s dad?”

  “Yes. Yes I am.”—MY

  Contents

  Prologue

  The New Mission

  The Ambush

  The Boy Pilgrim

  The Chief

  The Shallop

  The Trade

  Kidnapped!

  The Doctor

  The Missing Musket

  The Treaty

  Thanksgiving

  Hugh Again

  The Cave

  Whit’s End

  Secret Word Puzzle

  Prologue

  This story begins with an older gentleman named Mr. Whittaker. He’s an inventor who owns a shop called Whit’s End.

  Mr. Whittaker built the Imagination Station. It lets kids see history in person. It’s a lot like a time machine.

  One day two cousins, Patrick and Beth, came to Whit’s End. They wanted to use the Imagination Station. But Mr. Whittaker said it had stopped working.

  Patrick and Beth were disappointed. Then Patrick touched the Imagination Station. Suddenly the machine lit up!

  Mr. Whittaker was surprised. He told the cousins about his last trip in the Imagination Station. He had visited a relative named Albert, who lived in England long ago.

  The men gave each other special rings. Albert gave Mr. Whittaker a ring with a rose on it. Mr. Whittaker gave Albert a ring with a knight’s head on it—the Whittaker crest.

  Then Albert got in trouble. He was accused of stealing treasures from Lord Darkthorn, his master. Mr. Whittaker found notes in the Imagination Station. The notes asked him to help Albert replace the missing treasures.

  The cousins went on four adventures to help Albert. They visited the Vikings, the ancient Romans, Kublai Khan, and an English castle.

  In England, an evil man named Hugh took the ring that Mr. Whittaker had given Albert. It seemed to summon the Imagination Station. Hugh jumped into the machine and disappeared in time.

  The cousins followed him to ancient Israel. Patrick and Beth helped stop Hugh from changing the David and Goliath story. The cousins got back the special ring. But Hugh escaped into time again.

  Now Patrick and Beth are starting a new adventure. They must follow Hugh and stop him from causing problems in history. Then they must get Hugh back to his own time.

  Can the cousins do it?

  The New Mission

  Mr. Whittaker’s eyes were fixed on the Imagination Station. He tapped a finger against his chin. He frowned. Then he placed his hands on the keyboard.

  Beth and Patrick watched. For ten minutes Mr. Whittaker had been using the Imagination Station’s computer to track Hugh somewhere in time.

  Finally Mr. Whittaker smiled. “I found him,” he said.

  Beth and Patrick stepped closer.

  “Where is he?” Patrick asked.

  He pointed to the computer screen. “Sixteen twenty-one,” Mr. Whittaker said.

  “Is that an address or a year?” Beth asked.

  “A year,” said Mr. Whittaker. “The address is the Plymouth Colony.”

  Beth recognized the name.

  “That’s where the Pilgrims landed in America!” she said.

  Mr. Whittaker nodded.

  Patrick said, “They came on a ship called the Mayflower, right?”

  Mr. Whittaker nodded again. “That’s right,” he said.

  Patrick was excited. “How do we go after him?” he asked.

  Mr. Whittaker turned to the cousins. “The same way you did before. I’ll send you to the time and place. You need to put on the ring and grab Hugh. Then all three of you will return to his time in 1450.”

  “Why can’t you come with us?” Beth asked. “We have the ring now. Isn’t that what stopped you before?”

  Mr. Whittaker shook his head. “The Imagination Station program is confused. The machine still thinks that Hugh is me. So it won’t let me in.”

  “For a really smart machine, it’s kind of dumb,” Patrick said.

  Mr. Whittaker laughed. “The Imagination Station is a computer,” he said. “And all computers have glitches in them.”

  Beth was worried. “How can we catch Hugh?” she asked. “He doesn’t trust us. He won’t let us near him.”

  Mr. Whittaker knelt down in front of Beth. He looked in her eyes.

  “You’re going to have to outsmart him,” Mr. Whittaker said. “You did it last time.”

  Patrick lifted his head. He was ready for the challenge. “We’ll do it,” he said.

  Patrick’s courage made Beth feel better. “We’re ready,” she said, smiling.

  Mr. Whittaker stood and smiled at the cousins. He went back to the Imagination Station’s keyboard.

  “I’ll send you to the exact place where Hugh landed,” Mr. Whittaker said. “You’ll arrive only a minute after he did.”

  Patrick checked his right-hand pants pocket. The ring was there. “Let’s go!” Patrick said. He stepped toward the Imagination Station.

  “Wait a minute,” Mr. Whittaker said. “You can’t go in those clothes. You’re still dressed in Old Testament tunics.”

  Mr. Whittaker waved his hand toward the two changing rooms. “You’ll find new clothes in there.”

  The cousins knew the way it worked. />
  Patrick changed in the boys’ changing room. When he came out, he frowned at Mr. Whittaker.

  “These brown pants are too short,” Patrick said. “They stop at my knees. And this collar looks like my grandma’s!”

  Beth came out of the girls’ changing room. She was happier than Patrick was. She liked her skirt, apron, and red cape.

  “Wait a minute,” Beth said. “I’ve seen pictures of the Pilgrims. These clothes don’t look right. The men wore hats with buckles, and all the clothes were black!”

  Mr. Whittaker chuckled. “Those pictures aren’t correct,” he said. “The Pilgrims wore black only on days of worship. And there were no buckles on their hats.”

  Mr. Whittaker opened the door to the Imagination Station.

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” Mr. Whittaker said. He turned and went to the workbench. He picked up two items. “Your gifts.”

  He handed a golden hand mirror to Beth. A carving of an eagle was on the back.

  “This is beautiful,” Beth said. She looked at herself in the mirror. She giggled at her reflection.

  Mr. Whittaker handed Patrick a brown leather pouch. A long drawstring held it shut.

  “What’s in here?” Patrick asked.

  Mr. Whittaker smiled. “You’ll see when the time comes.”

  Beth put the mirror in her apron pocket. Patrick put the pouch around his neck and under his shirt. They took their places in the Imagination Station seats. Mr. Whittaker closed the door. It made a loud whoosh!

  Beth nodded to Patrick. Patrick pushed the red button.

  The Imagination Station started to shake. Beth had gotten used to it by now. She wasn’t scared anymore. But she wondered what might happen.

  The machine whirred and rumbled. It seemed to move forward.

  Then the rumbling grew louder.

  Suddenly everything went black.

  The Ambush

  The darkness faded to light. The Imagination Station disappeared around Patrick and Beth.

  The cousins sat on a large rock in the middle of thick woods.

  “Cool!” Patrick said. “Is this Plymouth Rock?”

  “What?” Beth asked.

  “Plymouth Rock,” Patrick said. “Isn’t that where the Pilgrims landed?”

  Beth shook her head. “I don’t think Plymouth Rock is in the middle of the woods. How could they park the Mayflower here?”

  There was a loud snap off to the left. Patrick and Beth turned.

  Patrick pointed and whispered. “It’s Hugh.”

  Beth gasped.

  Patrick raised his fingers to his lips. Shhh!

  The cousins crept toward Hugh.

  They ducked behind trees. They tiptoed as they came closer. The woods opened into a clearing.

  Hugh’s back was turned to them. He seemed to be sitting on the edge of a cliff.

  Now is our chance! Beth thought.

  Patrick signaled to Beth that they should come at him from both sides. Patrick got into position.

  They crept closer … closer …

  Suddenly Hugh leaped to his feet. He spun around. “Stop!” he shouted.

  Beth and Patrick stopped in their tracks.

  Hugh’s fists were in the air as if he expected a fight. Then he saw that it was the cousins. He frowned and dropped his hands.

  “You again!” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  Patrick said, “We came to take you home.”

  Hugh scowled. “Why would I want to go home? They’ll arrest me as a thief. They’ll throw me in Darkthorn’s tower.”

  “But you don’t belong here,” Beth said.

  Hugh shrugged. “This is better than a prison in England.”

  Beth wasn’t sure what to do.

  “Do you know where we are?” Hugh asked.

  Patrick glanced at Beth. She saw his hand go to the pocket where he kept the ring.

  “I can show you,” Patrick said. He took a few steps toward Hugh. “But I’ll have to draw a map in the dirt.”

  Hugh fixed his eyes on Patrick. “You have the ring, don’t you?” he said. “I don’t trust you.”

  Patrick moved slowly toward him. “We’re trying to do what’s right,” he said.

  Hugh smiled. “What you think is right and what I think is right are two different things.”

  Patrick took another step. “Come on,” he said.

  “Stay back!” Hugh shouted. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. He gasped loudly and raised his hands in fear. Then he jumped over the side of the cliff.

  Beth screamed. She rushed to the edge and looked down.

  It wasn’t a cliff after all. There was a steep drop and then a dirt slope. Hugh half fell and half slid down the slope. He landed at the bottom and ran away.

  “Why did Hugh look afraid?” Beth asked.

  “He saw something,” Patrick said from beside her.

  Then they realized they should look behind them.

  The cousins turned and saw what had scared Hugh away.

  Six Native American men stood there. They had bows loaded with arrows.

  The warriors came straight at the cousins.

  The Boy Pilgrim

  Beth and Patrick raised their hands.

  “We give up!” Patrick said. “Don’t shoot!”

  The Native Americans came closer. They kept their weapons raised.

  Beth said, “Please! We’re just kids!”

  “I don’t think they understand English,” Patrick said. “Don’t make any sudden moves.”

  The warriors surrounded Patrick and Beth. They still pointed their bows and arrows at the children.

  One of the men shouted something in another language. Two of the men lowered their weapons. They grabbed the cousins.

  “You’re hurting my arm,” Beth said.

  “Don’t complain,” Patrick said. “Just stay quiet and follow along.”

  The Native Americans walked Patrick and Beth through the woods. They walked a long way. Then they came to a small village.

  Patrick recognized the teepees from his history books. The homes were like brown upside-down ice-cream cones. The sides were made of animal skins.

  The teepees circled a fire pit made from stones.

  The two men led the cousins to one of the teepees. One man lifted the tent flap. The other shoved them inside. It was dark and warm.

  Patrick tried to adjust his eyes.

  From the darkness a voice asked, “Who are you?”

  Beth shrieked. Patrick jumped. He turned and saw a teenage boy.

  The boy was sitting at the far side of the teepee. A small beam of light shone on his face. The light came from a hole in the roof.

  “You spoke English!” Beth said.

  “Of course I speak English,” the boy said. “I’m not one of them.”

  “Who are you?” Patrick asked.

  The boy leaned forward and said, “I’m John Billington Junior. Who are you?”

  The cousins introduced themselves.

  “Are you a Pilgrim?” Patrick asked.

  “I’m a prisoner,” John said.

  “Why are those men holding you?” Beth asked.

  “I was lost for five days,” John said. “They found me and brought me here.”

  “You look sick,” Beth said.

  John said, “All I’ve had to eat are berries and nuts.”

  “That must be why you look so pale,” Beth said.

  “Pale?” John said.

  Beth pulled the golden mirror out of her pocket. She handed it to the boy. “See?” she said.

  John looked at the mirror. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

  “A friend gave it to me,” she said.

  “Don’t let the Indians see it if you want to keep it,” John said. “They love trinkets like this. Indians are funny that way.”

  “Native Americans,” Patrick said to correct him.

  John frowned at Patrick. “Native what?”

  “That’s what we call the Indians at school,
” Beth said.

  John shook his head. “Indians, savages,” he said. “I don’t care what you call them.”

  John looked at his face in the mirror. Then he stuck out his tongue. “I look all right,” he said.

  John handed the mirror back to Beth. “Put this away before they steal it,” he said.

  “Steal it?” Patrick said. “Why are you talking about them like that? It’s mean.”

  John shrugged. “We don’t trust them. And they don’t trust us,” he said. “It’s rather simple.”

  The flap to the teepee opened. A native man entered. He waved for the children to follow him.

  John patted his chest as if to ask, “Do you want me too?”

  The native waved again.

  Patrick and Beth stepped into the daylight. Another native came over to the three captives. Together, the two men led them through the woods.

  “I pray they’re leading us back to my village,” John said.

  “You mean … Plymouth?” Beth asked with excitement.

  “Yes,” John said.

  Patrick had a million questions for John. “How long have you been in Plymouth?”

  “We landed almost a year ago,” he said. He slowly shook his head. “It has been very hard on us. The traders did us a lot of harm.”

  “The traders?” Patrick asked.

  “They came from all over Europe to find gold,” John said. “They stole what the Indians wouldn’t trade. Many of the Indians were killed.”

  “They were killed for gold?” Beth asked, as if the idea were crazy.

  “The Indians also died of a terrible sickness,” John added. “The traders brought the sickness with them from Europe.”

  “Whole villages—hundreds of people—were wiped out,” Patrick said softly. He remembered learning about it in school.

  Patrick heard one of the Native Americans speak angrily to the other. They began to argue.

  Patrick wondered if the men were arguing about what to do with them.

  “Why are you here?” Patrick asked. “Didn’t you come for gold?”

  “No,” John said. “We came to farm the land and to trade in peace. But the Indians don’t understand that. They think we’re like the others. The Indians don’t trust anyone with white skin.”