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Summary: An inventor, Mr. Townsend, lived in Professor Childermass's house until 1921, when he mysteriously disappeared. When the professor, Johnny, and Fergie (Byron Ferguson) remove the shelves from a wall in the professor's basement, they find a doorway. Johnny and Fergie explore the doorway with the professor and find a trolley that can travel through time and take them to the past. Mr. Townsend, the inventor of the trolley, is the man who has disappeared. He has gotten himself trapped in another time. When Johnny, the professor and Fergie use the trolley, they end up in Constantinople in 1453, just before the Turkish siege of Constantinople. They find Mr. Townsend pretending to be an admiral in Venice's navy. When they go to look for the trolley, their ship crashes and Johnny is hurt. They are helped by knights, but they lose Mr. Townsend.
When the professor, Johnny and Fergie are set to leave, the knights give them a gift -- a Tabergan that can take them anywhere they wish to go, except through time. They encounter a group of evil monks. When one of the monks sees them, he calls soldiers to capture them and take away the Tabergan. The professor and the boys run away and go through a tunnel. When they come to the end of the tunnel, they find Mr. Townsend. They start talking to him and soon find out that he has amnesia. Turkish soldiers chase them. Mr. Townsend falls, while the rest of them get away. Later the professor and the boys find the monk and get the Tabergan back. They wish for the Tabergan to take them back to the trolley. When they get to the trolley, they again find Mr. Townsend, and they return to Duston Heights.
Amazon.com: * * * * *
Behind the Books: A Closer Look at John Bellairs: * * * * * , "Cool trolley and funny Ipswich scene highlight this excellent Bellairs book."
