The Last Timekeepers and the Dark Secret

A Call to Action

Jordan Jensen stared at the hurdles lined-up before him. He checked his wristwatch. 8:15. Good. Got time to do another lap, then head for the showers and get to class. He inhaled, shook out his legs and arms, and proceeded to stretch. He allowed the late September air to cool him down, before he took his mark on White Pines High School’s track. There he spied an enormous acorn, the size of a ping pong ball, in front of him. Strangely, Jordan felt drawn to it as if the acorn allowed him a glimpse of the blueprint of an oak tree, with its deep roots, strong branches, and large leaves.

He frowned, thinking back to the day that changed everything. The day when Jordan and his classmates, Amanda, Treena, Ravi, and Drake, were chosen to become Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep Earth’s history safe. Drafted along with them were Melody—a recent transplant from England and now their motherly influence—and his Uncle John.

Jordan sighed. Now it seemed like a blurry dream to him, remembering how Ravi had plowed into the time portal in Melody’s backyard. All they were supposed to be doing was serving out their detention doing yard work for her. Instead, the seven of them had been suddenly sucked through that arch and into another dimension where Lilith had acknowledged them as the ‘Last Timekeepers’. Jordan bit his bottom lip. It was tough enough keeping all his sports’ schedules straight and getting his homework assignments done, let alone being a Timekeeper. His shoulders sagged, feeling the added pressure of being responsible for the world’s future.

Laughter from across the field infiltrated his thoughts. Jordan glanced up to see a group of boys tossing a football back and forth. On the scoreboard above a new set of bleachers sat a turkey vulture, perusing the green. It spread its wings, stretching them to welcome the sun, and then took off into the sky toward the line of tall trees. Jordan turned his attention back to the acorn. It’s still hard to believe time travel is even possible. He plucked up the acorn and stood. He let it roll around on his palm. “Guess you can’t imagine being a mighty oak a hundred years from now, can you?”

Jordan grunted. He was wasting too much time with trivial thoughts. He tossed the acorn aside, set his jaw, and then squatted between the white lines on the green track. A large, light blue stone on the end of a copper-colored necklace around Jordan's neck rolled out from under his T-shirt and clipped him under his chin, reminding him once again of his responsibilities as a Timekeeper. His necklace was the same as those worn by the rest of the Timekeepers. Lilith called them Babel necklaces. They allowed the wearer to communicate in any language and also conveniently let Lilith summon the Timekeepers to the Arch of Atlantis when she needed them for a mission.

Jordan stuffed his Babel back underneath his shirt. He looked forward and cleared his mind. Immediately, Coach clicked on in his head. You have what it takes inside of you to remove any barriers that will confront you.