OMG, how did I get myself into this?!

There was a sudden blast from two trumpeters.

“Raising the royal badges!” Mrs. Dobkins declared in a clarion voice. Two banners in the shape of a shield were suddenly hoisted. Each banner was divided into four parts with a single emblem in each. There was a rose in one quarter for the royal Tudor princesses. Then in another a falcon, another a sword, in the fourth was a cluster of arrows. “If the king were riding with us, the Tudor Rose would bear a crown,” Mrs. Dobkins noted. “Your first time in a progress?”

“Yes, yes, Mrs. Dobkins.”

“Best part of the job! And what a day we have for it, a bright summer day. Couldn’t be better.” She sighed. “See you anon!” she said cheerfully, urging her horse forward.

Then Rose suddenly heard the meow of a cat. “September!”

She looked up to the peak of the stables, and in the hayloft window she saw the tawny cat. She appeared to wink at Rose, then swished her tail as if to say, See you later.

They began to trot. Mrs. Dobkins smiled at her. It seemed to be a smile of approval. “You sit well in that saddle, Rose.”

“Thank you,” Rose murmured. There was just one thing wrong. One thing missing. The pleasant weight of that locket bouncing lightly between her collarbones.

Chapter 12

Untangling Time

It was suddenly pitch dark out, and Rose was definitely not sitting atop a horse. She found herself standing in an alley, and there, sitting atop a trash can, was September. It had turned cold. Rose was freezing, dressed only in a T-shirt and jeans. She looked up. It felt as if it could begin to snow any minute, although it was still autumn. Time—days, nights, seasons—was truly tangled. In a weak attempt to straighten things out, Rose began whispering to herself. “In Hatfield it was summer. Daytime. And it was a Tuesday.” How did she know it was a Tuesday? Of course, Franny had told her that Tuesday was butter-churning day. But she was no longer in Hatfield, and it was not day but night. And now it was cold, really cold! “What time? What day?” September meowed very loudly and looked at her fiercely, then scratched the top of the trash can with her claws. Then it came to Rose in an instant, and she remembered. My diary. My diary is in there.