In the 1850’s Billy Costello and his wife, Thalia, continue to help the physician, Dr. Marcel Bon, in his medical experiments to study the effects of hypnosis.

Many foreign-born newcomers are now citizens of Sacramento. Billy helps them to participate in the hypnosis studies. They remember heroes from their native lands of Scotland, China, Denmark, Italy, France, Greece, etc.

Each patient is hypnotized, and while they are in Dreamland, they find themselves with the ancient hero, or attending a special historical event in their homeland.

They are generally invisible; usually acting like the “fly on the wall” observers. Sometimes, they do participate in activities, much like many of us think that we are doing, when we have a special dream.

At times, our dreams seem so real to us that when we waken we are certain that we have just been at some certain place and doing something special. The patients here experience the same effect when they waken from their hypnotic session.

In the first session, Billy, along with Steve Keane and John Grissom, both descendants of Pilgrims, find themselves at the first Thanksgiving dinner in 1621. Billy, Steve, and John help the other Pilgrims make preparations for this event.

Next, Angus MacTavish, a native Scot, finds himself in Scotland in the late Middle Ages. He is there when Macbeth and Macduff face off in battle. Macbeth, the usurper and murderer of Duncan, loses his life at this battle between them. Macduff is leading a group that wants to put crown Malcolm as king.

The third session finds a native Chinese lady, Nancy Gui-yu Chen, in long-ago China. The hero and miracle-worker, Zhuge Liang, enables his army to outwit the enemy. Through a quick-witted ruse, Zhuge Liang, brings about a heroic miracle, quickly supplying his army with 10,000 arrows to fight against the enemy.

Next, a native Dane, Oskar Larsson, is in ancient Denmark during the time of Beowulf when that hero fights the two monsters, Grendel and his mother. Beowulf brings peace to the Danish populace. Oskar and another native Dane, Clyde Gallardy, both are onlookers during this heroic event.

The next session finds Lesley and Roy Lee, recent immigrants from Yorkshire, England. Lesley reports on the Angel of the Battlefield, Florence Nightingale. The famous nurse was a childhood friend of Lesley. She and Lesley were playmates when they were young girls. Lesley finds herself reliving those girlhood days with her strong-willed, but compassionate companion.

Then, a session follows in which John Costello, a native from Holland, and now a local contractor and builder, goes back in time to visit the workshop of Antoine Leewonhoeuk, the inventor of the microscope. He visits Holland in 1673 and gets a first-hand demonstration of the very earliest microscopes and their newfound importance.

Billy finds himself as a guard or torchbearer in Rome during the trial of Galileo in which the Catholic Church condemns the scientist. The Church disagrees with his belief that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo is told to recant his beliefs and he is condemned to house arrest for the rest of his life.

Pearl Krueger, whose lineage includes Native American Indians, is in early colonial Virginia, visiting the preparations for the marriage of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. She watches these activities and hears some of the stories about this intelligent, beautiful Indian princess.

Bob Sellards and Roger Turner, whose ancestors came from France, are onlookers, in 1347, during the siege of Calais, France, by the English king, who was recently wed to a beautiful French princess. The siege of Calais is lifted when six men, who are city leaders, agree to sacrifice their lives. They are to be hung by the English.

A highly unusual event, a beer flood occurs in London in 1814, and Bill Riley and Sam Walls, two hearty beer drinkers, are there. The brewery’s huge storage vat breaks, sending a flood of beer rushing out into the streets and the community. It turns into a tragedy in which several people are drowned.

In another chapter, Rob Merritt, in the early 1800’s, finds himself on the American frontier. Rob is a reporter for a publication, sending back reports on the activities of pioneers. He meets up with Johnny Appleseed and they travel together for some time. This allows Rob rare insights into Johnny’s odd and extremely helpful career, mainly to help others in this early American wilderness and frontier.

In another chapter, Billy Costello, in 1439, in Germany, is looking into the sale of mirrors. The special mirrors capture images of saints and relics. Then the mirrors are sold to the public, which expect that these devices will help them ease their way into Heaven. The buyers are willing to believe that if the mirror saw the relic, then that image would still be in the mirror, just as if some person saw a relic and would hold that image in his mind.

The penultimate chapter involves the death of Leonardo DaVinci in Amboise, France. Both Sheila Ferchalk, whose parents came from France, and Thalia Costello, are together on this trip to Dreamland. They are in Amboise, France, when Leonardo dies, leaving many of his paintings, including the famous Mona Lisa, with King Francis of France.

Finally, Michael Taylor and Susan Ford, both of whom are students of ancient Greek history, are present in ancient Greece when Odysseus returns home from his heroic participation in the Trojan War and his long voyage home. He has been away for twenty years! When he arrives home, he must clean his house of its intruders and convince his long-suffering wife, Penelope, that he is truly her husband.



(Note: While this book is a work of fiction, most of the data such as places (towns and countries), times (dates), and participants (names of real people) are true-to-life, due to extensive research by the author.)