The Madisons Receive an Invitation

Note: The following is a companion piece to the entry immediately below it. --KFB.

"What did you say your name was?" Dolley Madison asked.

I hadn't. "Um, Karen," I said.

Dolley and her husband, James, rose from their respective chairs in the formal sitting room. Three of their servants stood nearby, along with what would in another era be called Secret Service men. The house they now occupied was not the White House, which was currently under reconstruction after the fire, and in any case had not yet been so named. Nevertheless, James Madison was the current President of the United States, and my presence here was a calculated risk. If my next words were not sufficiently persuasive, I would be ejected from their home, at best, and arrested at worst. "And you have come to invite us to a picnic?" Dolley continued.

"Not you, exclusively," I told her. "I am inviting both of you, President and Mrs. John and Abigail Adams and possibly Mr. Samuel Adams, and President Jefferson. President Jefferson has already agreed to come, and awaits us in my conveyance outside."

"President Jefferson agreed to this?" President Madison asked. "Why?"

I smiled. "I suspect that he felt he had no choice in the matter."

"No choice? Is this an abduction, then?" Dolley asked.

"By no means," I assured her. "I have no weapons to force compliance. What I do have is a promise, and the ability to keep it. If you come with me, you will see the United States as it is nearly two centuries hence, in all its might, all its ideals and all its arrogance and other flaws. Is that not worth six hours of your time?"

"This is madness," the President said. "No one can see truly into the future, by divination or any other means."

"One can see it if one is actually there," I said. I reached into my pocket for my PDA, provoking wary reactions from the presumed bodyguards. "One can also see it in recordings of such times," I continued, "but they are less informative. If you would care to look at the device in my hand, you will catch a glimpse in moving pictures of the era I have offered to show you in person."

After a moment's hesitation, Dolley stepped forward, followed more reluctantly by her husband. I started the playback on a thirty second video clip of Independence Day festivities in New York City. "The images are a little small and grainy," I apologized, "but you get the general idea."

"Who is the woman depicted in that large green statue?" Dolley asked.

"Liberty," I told her. "She is meant to welcome people to this country, although we don't always live up to that promise."

"Is liberty still treasured?" James Madison asked.

"Everyone gives it lip service, at least," I said. "Your Bill of Rights helps us to fight any infringements."

Dolly looked questioningly at her husband, who nodded slowly. "We shall come," he said