The Chronos Files Quotes

“Things settled into a lazy pattern. School, chores, and long hours down by the river. Kiernan talked about the books he read sometimes, even loaned me a few. But I liked it better when he read to me or just told me the stories. The words were more real that way, more exciting. Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, Ragged Dick, and all the others seemed flat and dull on the page, but Kiernan was good at making them come alive.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“The manager rolls his eyes. “Sorry, miss, already picked my dozen—”
“So make it a baker’s dozen,” someone yells from the back.
“Bet she can’t hit the bloody nail anyway. Give us somethin’ to laugh at.” That voice is clearly Kiernan’s, and most of the men chuckle.
-
Kiernan comes back about ten minutes later and takes his seat. “Good work.”
I snort. “Don’t give me that. I heard you back there.”
“Just seeding the crowd. A time-honored practice among showmen and politicians alike.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“I toss the formal dress from 1905 onto the chair next to him. He glances up, removing the headphones.
“Did you decide to do a bit of shopping in London?”
I give him a wry smile. “Does this look like something I’d buy? Your great-grandfather picked it out.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Kiernan, the less you know, the better. You’re always telling me to just trust you and do what you’re asking, and I do—”
He snorts. “When it suits you.”
“Okay, but I do when it seems important. And this is really, really important.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“I’m not following any of this, you know. Beecher who?”
“Henry Ward Beecher.” Another slug from the bottle. “He’s a preacher. Hey, that rhymes.”
Well, that answers any questions about whether the alcohol is working.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Victoria Woodhull and her sister were the 1870s equivalent of the Kardashian sisters.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“The manager is busy, and our policy is absolute. No respectable establishment—” The man breaks off in midsentence about the time I feel a hand on my elbow.
Kiernan leans in and plants a quick kiss on my cheek. “So sorry to leave you stranded, dearest. You were right—my notecase was lying on the bed, right where I left it. Don’t they have a table?”
The maître d’ lets out a relieved sigh. “My apologies, sir. Your . . . wife . . . failed to tell me you would be joining her. Please follow me.”
“I do hope she wasn’t battering you with the whole women’s rights routine. If so, you have my sympathies. I hear it day in and day out.”
Two middle-aged men at the table we’re walking past seem to find Kiernan’s comment amusing. One barks out a cloud of foul-smelling smoke as he laughs.
There’s this scene in an old martial arts film I watched with Charlayne once upon a time in that faraway reality where the Cyrists and CHRONOS were of no concern. Jackie Chan, or maybe it was Bruce Lee, single-handedly took out every man in the restaurant. While I’m under no illusions that I could actually do that, the feminist inside me would dearly love to try right now.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Kiernan reaches to pull out my chair, but I beat him to it and then nudge the chair across from me out about six inches with my foot.
He pulls it out the rest of the way and says, “Thank you, dearest,” in a droll tone before retreating behind the menu.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Kiernan leans forward. “I’m guessing that’s because you can make it work, Mr. Houdini. Maybe that’s how you manage . . .” He pauses when my kick lands on his shin, but finishes the sentence anyway. “. . . some of your more elaborate escapes.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“You see, I’ve read Mr. Grumbine’s treatise on auras, and while it does depend on the shade, a green aura can be a mark of deception or dishonesty.”
I shoot Kiernan a smug glance. While I’m certain this aura stuff is total bunk, he and Prudence both see the light as green. “Does this Mr. Grumbine say anything about blue auras?”
“Again, it depends on the shade. But it’s usually associated with truth.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Kiernan gives him a suspicious look. “You performed at the Expo?”
“Yes,” Bess answers. “Along with his brother, Dash. They headlined as The Brothers Houdini on the Midway Plaisance.”
“Really?” Kiernan shakes his head. “I was there as well. For the entire run. I knew every headliner on the Midway.”
Houdini eyes shift slightly. “Well, we weren’t exactly headliners, but yes, we did perform at the Fair.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“I pull my T-shirt over my face and am about to plunge in when it occurs to me that I’m approaching this, as Kiernan would say, far too linearly.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“An annoyed huff when he sees Trey suggests Max considers him an add-on rather than true Fifth Column. But he probably thinks the same about me. Too bad we can’t just step aside and let Max save the day.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“He pushes his chair back and goes to the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. I’m thinking Kentucky Fried Rooster.”
There’s another chorus of cock-a-doodle-doo just as I finish speaking, and he laughs. “Henry’s just doing his job, love.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“I nearly miss it, given Tate’s need for speed, but as we zip by the guy in the alley, I catch a brief glimpse of his face.
It’s Kiernan. How did he get out before we did when he was behind us?
A few seconds after we pass, Kiernan darts out of the alley, but he can’t keep up. Usain Bolt couldn’t keep up with Tate.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Do you still have the tux you wore as Boudini?”
“It’s in the loft at the cabin. Why?”
“You’ll need it in order to pose as a server. Unless you’d rather be a male companion?”
“No thanks.”
An evil little part of me is dying to say he has more experience as a companion, given his time with Prudence, but I bat it down.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“I don’t know anything for certain. You and I could both explode in the next two seconds. Or the swimming pool over there could have a clone of the Loch Ness monster swimmin’ about on the bottom, ready to spring out and have us for a midnight snack.”
He’s trying to make me laugh, but I’m tired enough and jumpy enough that I cast a wary glance at the pool before looking back at him.”
― Rysa Walker, Time's Divide

“Verse after verse follows, her voice rising to a crescendo and then falling, only to rise again with a new passage, each echoing the same refrain. I never realized how many verses of the Bible boil down to, I tried to tell you idiots, but no—you wouldn’t listen.”
― Rysa Walker, The Gambit

“As I suspected, innuendo is even more effective at bringing on her blush, but the sly grin that follows close behind is a surprise. “You weren’t supposed to be married back when you met her in 1776. Why didn’t you arrange an invitation to her chamber?"
"Um… because that would have blown my cover as an aspiring celibate.”
"It’s your third trip to this region. If that cover’s not already blown, you must be slipping.”
Her comment almost causes me to miss a step. I’d classed her as pretty, but vapid. She apparently catches my near-stumble, because a tiny little smile sneaks onto her lips.”
― Rysa Walker, The Gambit

“Each kid got a small allowance for helping with the harvests, and Kiernan would always head straight to the tobacco shop. Not for cigarettes. At first, he even threw the cigarettes away, but later he'd save them and sell them to the older kids to get enough money for another pack.
Kiernan didn't want the smokes. He wanted the baseball cards.
When we got back to the Farm, Kiernan would sketch out a baseball diamond in the dirt and we'd stage games with the players from the cards he collected.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“He said he doesn' have it. Pick on someone your own size.” You could really hear the Irish in Kiernan's voice back then. I mean, you can still hear it, but it’s more of a lilt when he’s older. Back then, it was a full-on brogue.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“Where's Kiernan?" I asked.
"He's with Brother Cyrus. Your turn."
The blood drained from my face and I stepped back, toward the wall. One of the older women, Glory, had died from a heart attack the year before. At the burial, all of the adults patted each other on the back and said she was with Brother Cyrus now.
The key suddenly felt like a lit coal in my hand, and I dropped it to the floor.
Patrick must have realized what I was thinking from my expression. "No, stupid," he said, as he bent down to pick up the key. "He's not dead. He's with Cyrus. In the future. He's fine. You'll be fine.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“Well, I'm expecting great things from you, young man!"
"Th-thank you, Brother Cyrus.” As soon as he released my shoulders, I hurried over to the glass wall where Kiernan was sitting, frowning out at the ocean like it had done something to piss him off.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“That surprised me. Not that it wasn’t a damn good game. We saw it again, in fact, after he took up with Kate. Not that either of them paid much attention to what was going on down on the field. That was actually the day I had to accept that things had gone too far between the two of them. Otherwise, she never could have taken his mind off baseball.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“Take that and go play. I don’t care if it takes a year. Get the boy out of your system and then get back here. We’ve got work to do.”
At the time, I thought Saul meant I needed to take some time to grow up. Get the boy out of my system and come back a man.
But thinking back on that conversation a few years later, I’m pretty sure Saul believed there was something going on between me and Kier. I seriously doubt Saul ever had a relationship with anyone unless it would bring him sex or power. I’m not sure he understood anything else.
But it wasn’t ever like that with Kiernan, no matter what Saul thought.
I had all kinds of half-siblings, full-siblings, too, maybe, but I never thought of them as family. None of them ever stood up for me in the play yard, although I guess many of them were actually younger than me, so maybe that wasn't a fair expectation. None of them played “kick the cones” with me, none of them taught me about baseball. That’s the kind of thing brothers do.
There was a whole big world out there to explore, and it would be a lot more fun exploring it together.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“Kiernan and baseball—it’s like waving a carrot in front of a mule. Put tickets to a ballgame in front of Kiernan’s face and he’ll follow you pretty much wherever you want to go. After that first game we attended in 1905, it didn’t take much for me to convince him to see another game in 1912, and then one in 1924, and so on.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“You ever heard that bit about don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?”
“I’ve heard it. Although the Trojans would have fared better with Athens if they had ignored that advice.”
I had to look up that reference when I got back to Saul’s.”
― Rysa Walker, Simon Says: Tips for the Intrepid Time Traveler

“Even though I can’t hear or see it from this distance, I know that Katherine and my younger self are currently having a brief, nearly silent squabble over who goes through the window first. I’d promised Kate that I’d get her grandmother back to safety, and I took that promise seriously. On the other hand, I was used to getting my bottom whacked if I argued with my elders. And since Katherine’s expression suggested she might just toss me out the window if I didn’t go willingly, I didn’t hesitate long before following her orders.”
― Rysa Walker, Splinter

“Kate has been in here every few days for the past eighteen months or so. Helped him behind the counter on many occasions. They flirt shamelessly with each other, and threaten to leave me and Amelia behind so that they can run off to Niagara Falls together. Jess has asked about Kate each time I’ve stopped by the past few days.”
― Rysa Walker, Splinter

“Kate, please. You have to focus. I’ve pulled up a stable point, love. Just slide your fingers over it and go. I’ll be right behind you. I promise.”
That promise is a lie in one sense, but hopefully, she’ll never know it. Six will be there.”
― Rysa Walker, Splinter