What historical event was about to take place that I had to keep intact? I looked around, hoping for a clue, but a second later I heard footsteps and a door being unlocked behind me. I barely had time to duck behind a large iron anvil before the door burst open and a tall man tumbled inside, quickly turning to lock the door behind him. That job done, he turned and looked around the dimly lit room, his blue eyes flashing in a pale frightened face. I slouched even lower, praying that the shadows would hide me. Apparently they did, because he sagged in relief before walking over and picking up a large crowbar. He tested the weight in his hands before discarding it for a smaller option. He moved around the space uneasily, and I had the distinct feeling that this wasn’t his blacksmith shop. So why was he here? And what was with the crowbar?

The man turned back to the door and stared at it expectantly. The white shirt he was wearing had large dark splotches of sweat under his arms, and he fidgeted from foot to foot. Man, this guy was twitchy. What was he up to? Thankfully he didn’t have to wait very long before a knock came at the door. Three short taps, a pause, and then three more taps, like it was some kind of code.

The man quickly opened the door so that more men could enter, bringing a cold gust of air in behind them. The group had a nervous energy that seemed to hum around them, and I scrutinized each of the men carefully, looking to make sure that none of them was just a cleverly disguised Regan. She was not going to mess up this test for me.

“He gave the signal,” said one of the men, taking off a thick wool coat and throwing it onto a chair. “The time to act is now, while the meeting is still underway.”

“You’re sure?” asked the first man who’d come in. “There is no doubt?”

The man turned to glare at him. “I was there, wasn’t I? I heard him say ‘This meeting can do nothing further to save the country,’ and if there is one man we can trust in all of this, it’s Samuel Adams.”

Then I knew. I was in Boston, Massachusetts, and it was December 16, 1773. The men in front of me had to be part of the secret society called the Sons of Liberty that was formed to protect the rights of the colonists from British taxation. In my time, these men would be some of the most well-respected in history. But tonight, they were nothing more than criminals about to commit a crime so extreme that it would change history forever. All the information about the event was as fresh in my mind as though I’d just read about it in one of my textbooks.