The House That Jack Built by Robert Asprin & Linda Evans

Jenna bit her lip. If—no, when, it had to be when—they finally did rescue Ianira, she would come to this house expecting a joyous reunion with her family, only to learn that three years had passed in her children’s lives . . .

Jenna, herself, wasn’t over that shock, yet.

Noah had been forced to stay down the Wild West Gate’s timeline long enough to catch up to the Britannia Gate’s timeline, which ran three years later than Denver’s 1885. Would Ianira’s little girls even remember their mother? If they could even find Ianira . . . London was a depressingly immense and sprawling city, teeming with more than five million people crammed in cheek-by-jowl, inhabiting everything from spacious palaces to ramshackle staircase landings and stinking gutters. The number of places to search would’ve overwhelmed even a die-hard optimist.

Outside, angry voices in the street were shouting what sounded like abuse at their neighbors. Jenna’s startlement gave way to the beginnings of alarm as she stared from the window to Noah. “What’s happening?”

The detective moved to look outside and scowled. “Bastards.”

“What is it?” she asked sharply, trying to rise.

“A gang of unemployed dock rats, hassling Dr. Mindel.”

Ugly taunts and anti-Semitic slurs slammed against the window like hailstones. At least it wasn’t the pack of up-time killers looking for them. Jenna sank back down against the pillows and shivered. “But why? Dr. Mindel’s one of the kindest men I’ve ever met.”

Noah’s jaw tightened above the collar of the outdated dress. “Annie Chapman was just found murdered, over in Hanbury Street. Along with a leather apron in a basin of water. Half the East End now thinks a Jewish boot finisher killed her this morning.” The detective glanced around at Jenna’s involuntary sound and met Jenna’s shocked stare. “Get used to it, kid. The East End is set to explode. Anti-Semitism’s running wild, because everyone’s convinced it has to be a foreigner killing these women. Which is another reason I don’t want you outside. You’re disguised as a man, Jenna, a foreign-sounding man. Those dock rats down there are going to make life damned dangerous for foreigners in these parts during the next several months. Believe me, it’s just too risky out there.”