I squinted at him, trying to remember all of America’s Founding Fathers. Was that Ben Franklin? I wondered. He wasn’t wearing glasses, though, and I was almost positive that Benjamin Franklin wore those. Maybe George Washington? The man smiled grimly at the crowd, and I threw that idea out too. George Washington had lost almost all his teeth by the time he was in his forties, and this guy had a full set. They weren’t particularly good-looking teeth, but that was par for the course during this time period. I racked my brain as I stared at the man. Why did so many of them have to look the same? Same no-nonsense faces, same vests, same stupid-looking shirts.

The man started talking about the British East India Company and the taxation problems the colonies had been having, and I finally knew where I was in history. Maybe. For a half second I actually considered turning to the guy next to me and asking if we were in Boston. But, of course, I didn’t. I could just imagine the lecture I’d get for that one.

The first rule in a simulation was not to talk to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary. We were to tiptoe through history like soldiers walking through a land-mine-riddled field where one misstep could cost you life and limb. Time was that tricky. If I stopped someone to ask them a question, and that thirty-second delay caused them to accidentally get taken out by a runaway horse or something, I could completely alter history. Or it would be fine. The thirty seconds wouldn’t change anything, no one would get run down by a horse, or miss a ride, or not meet someone they were supposed to meet, and time would march on as though a trespasser hadn’t snuck in the back door.

The past was this gigantic domino game, with a billion moments all stacked end to end, and if you took just one domino out, or moved it an inch to the right or left, the whole thing came crashing down. It all made my brain throb, so I pushed the thought away. What mattered now was finding the Butterfly in the middle of what I was pretty sure was Boston. I turned back to stare hard at the man speaking. Gosh, he was familiar. Maybe John Hancock? Or Paul Revere? I made a mental note to study more.