A girl discovers a time-traveling elevator and joins a girl from 1881 to change the past and future.
Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases
The Elevator Beyond Time
Susan lives in New York in 1998 and inadvertently enters an altered elevator. The elevator transports her to the same location in 1881.
Key Events
Susan's 1998 Apartment Building — Susan lives in New York in 1998 and encounters the building's unusual elevator. Characters: Susan ShawsonLocation: New York apartment building
The Elevator Is Altered — The elevator has been altered into a secret time machine. Characters: Susan ShawsonLocation: Apartment building elevator
Susan Travels Through Time — Susan inadvertently travels backward from 1998 through the apartment building elevator. Characters: Susan ShawsonLocation: Apartment building elevator
The 1881 Arrival Point — The machine transports Susan to exactly the same location in 1881. Characters: Susan ShawsonLocation: The same spot in 1881
Susan Meets Victoria — Susan meets Victoria Walker, a girl her own age. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: 1881 arrival area
Victoria Reveals Family Trouble — Victoria explains that she needs help with serious problems affecting her family. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: 1881
Victoria's Historical Trouble
Susan meets Victoria, a girl her age who needs help with family problems. Cyrus Sweeney's scheme creates the central threat in Victoria's era.
Key Events
Victoria Reveals Family Trouble — Victoria explains that she needs help with serious problems affecting her family. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: 1881
Cyrus Threatens Victoria's Family — Cyrus Sweeney schemes to take advantage of Victoria's widowed mother. Characters: Victoria Walker, Cyrus SweeneyLocation: 1881
Susan Chooses To Help — Susan becomes involved in helping Victoria resist the threat posed by Cyrus's scheme. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria Walker, Cyrus SweeneyLocation: 1881
Susan Returns To 1998 — Susan returns from 1881 to her own time through the elevator. Characters: Susan ShawsonLocation: Apartment building elevator
The Search For Susan — Susan discovers that her disappearance triggered an urgent search in the present. Characters: Susan Shawson, Edward OrmondroydLocation: New York
Edward Joins The Search — Edward Ormondroyd assists with the search for Susan after she returns. Characters: Susan Shawson, Edward OrmondroydLocation: Susan's neighborhood
Searching Across Eras
Susan returns to the present and discovers that a search followed her disappearance. She and Victoria gradually learn that the elevator's time-travel power can connect their lives.
Key Events
Edward Joins The Search — Edward Ormondroyd assists with the search for Susan after she returns. Characters: Susan Shawson, Edward OrmondroydLocation: Susan's neighborhood
The Time Machine's Power Emerges — Susan and Victoria gradually discover the extent of the elevator's time-travel power. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: Apartment building elevator
A Return To 1881 — Susan and Victoria use the time-travel connection to move between their eras. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: The same spot in 1881
The Family Scheme Continues — Cyrus's attempt to exploit Victoria's family remains the central obstacle in 1881. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria Walker, Cyrus SweeneyLocation: 1881
Susan And Victoria Cooperate — The girls work together as Susan continues assisting Victoria with her family problems. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: 1881
Changing Past And Future
Susan and Victoria use their connection across time to oppose the family threat. Their actions ultimately change both the past and the future.
Key Events
Susan And Victoria Cooperate — The girls work together as Susan continues assisting Victoria with her family problems. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: 1881
The Eras Become Connected — Repeated travel links Susan's present with Victoria's past in an increasingly consequential way. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: The apartment building and 1881
The Past Can Be Changed — Susan and Victoria realize that their actions can change events in the past. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria Walker, Cyrus SweeneyLocation: 1881
Cyrus's Scheme Is Countered — Susan and Victoria succeed in opposing the circumstances created by Cyrus's scheme. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria Walker, Cyrus SweeneyLocation: 1881
The Future Is Changed — Their actions alter not only the past but also the future. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: New York and 1881
A Changed Future — Susan and Victoria complete their effort to change both historical periods. Characters: Susan Shawson, Victoria WalkerLocation: New York and 1881
Story Breakdown
Life in 1998 — Susan's present-day life establishes the setting for the unexpected time-travel event.
New York Setting — Susan is a thirteen-year-old living in New York in 1998.
Unusual Elevator — An altered elevator exists inside Susan's apartment building.
The Time Crossing — The elevator unexpectedly transports Susan from her own era to the same location in 1881.
Accidental Journey — Susan inadvertently travels backward through the elevator.
1881 Arrival — She arrives at the same spot more than a century earlier.
Meeting Victoria — Susan's arrival leads to a relationship with Victoria, whose family needs assistance.
A Girl in 1881 — Susan meets Victoria, a girl her own age.
Family Problems — Victoria explains that her family is facing serious difficulties.
Cyrus's Scheme — Cyrus Sweeney creates the main threat by trying to take advantage of Victoria's family.
A Calculated Threat — Cyrus is presented as a schemer pursuing his own advantage.
Susan Takes Action — Susan becomes involved in helping Victoria confront the situation.
Searching Present — Susan's disappearance has consequences in 1998, where Edward assists in the search for her.
Return to 1998 — Susan comes back to the present through the elevator.
Edward Helps Search — Edward Ormondroyd assists with efforts to find Susan.
Changing Two Eras — Susan and Victoria gradually learn to use time travel and succeed in changing both historical periods.
Travel Between Times — The girls travel back and forth between 1998 and 1881.
Altered Future — Their actions change the past and produce a different future.
14-year old Susan Shawson travels back in time in her building's elevator. As altered by a retired physicist living in her building, it transports her from Philadelphia of 1998 back to the same place in 1881. There she meets Victoria Walker, a girl her own age in need of assistance with her own family problems. Gradually discovering the power of her time machine, Susan, Victoria, and her young brother Robert travel back and forth in time and succeed in changing both the past and the future.
