

Today our three time travels land in Florence but end up somewhere else completely! What’s going on?
This is part of K.L. Caley’s #writephoto: Gondola.
After checking into their rooms the three of them went to a little trattoria Merlin knew for coffee and a discussion about why they were there.
They sat dunking their biscotti in delicious coffee. Merlin opened his record bag and took out a folder… Some tickets fell out onto the table. “Oh!” Squealed Gail , “what are these?”
These are our tickets for the Cathedral, Duomo Museum, and Baptistery Tour. I have booked it for this afternoon.”
Gail was so excited , “are we going on a guided tour oh! wow Merlin you are spoiling us.”
Morgarna choked on her coffee,put her cup down and then lit a cigarette, “Calm down lady, Merlin never does anything without there being a reason!”
Gail looked at Morgarna and helped herself to one of her cigarettes and lit it….”Is that true Merlin do you have an ulterior motive?”
Merlin coughed and trying to change the subject said “Do you ladies have to smoke you know how much I hate the habit!”
Gail went to put her cigarette out but Morgarna stopped her, “Yes we bloody do, now what’s the catch here?” Morgarna scowled.
Merlin shifted in his seat looking uncomfortable then clearing his throat he said.
“Well yes there is a problem here , there are strange goings on at the Baptistery.”
“I knew it” Morgarna said raising an eyebrow brow at the waiter and requesting a bottle of Cabinet-Savenogn and three glasses.
While Morgarna and Gail did the tour Merlin slipped away from the others and walked the exterior walls checking for time fractures and space anomalies. It was a pleasant afternoon not too hot or crowded, and he was enjoying the beautiful decoration of the outside walls of the building. He was particularly interested in it’s three sets of artistically important bronze doors with relief sculptures. The south doors were created by Andrea Pisano and the north and east doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti. Michelangelo dubbed the east doors the Gates of Paradise. These were the doors he was particularly paying attention to.
After circling the building several times he found the tiniest of cracks in the space continueum. He checked and checked again and yes there was a tiny space portal …from the reading on his machine he could see it was small and no time was involved. It was definitely there though…. The second in a week, and it was growing.
When the tour was finished the ladies joined Merlin at the east doors .
Gail was full of the sights of the tour especially the dark, which is divided into a lower part with columns and pilasters and an upper part with a walkway. She could see that those who had built it spared neither trouble nor expense in decorating the baptistery. The walls were clad in dark green and white marble with inlaid geometrical patterns. The niches are separated by monolithic columns of Sardinian granite. The marble revetment of the interior was begun in the second half of the eleventh century. Gail was just besotted by it.
Morgarna and Merlin decided to let her talk herself out and decided to ake plans over dinner.
Sitting outside a very plush Ristaunté in one of the squares Merlin explained what he had found .
“Are you sure it’s a definite space portal it sounds so tiny…not like the one at the dig which was definitely a time and space portal.” Morgarna asked.
“Yup definitely it obviously won’t go far but we cannot let it stay there a child or even an adult could slip through the portal. So ladies if you are ready we need to go and deal with it now. “
Finishing her wine and stubbing out her cigarette Morgarna got up to go followed by Gail and Merlin.
When they got back to the Baptistry the place was dark and empty. Merlin led the way around the building to the East Door. He soon found the portal. He checked around the square to see that there was no one watching them when he was sure they were alone he said ” Right ladies through we go ” he said, for once actually leading the way.
They all had to bend down and almost crawl through the invisible rift..
“This isn’t like the one from the Dig to the Galleon” Gail said.
“Nor the one from the fort from summer to winter !” Replied Morgarna.
Merlin chimed in..”No it’s the smallest one I have ever seen!”
After what seemed Iike hours crawling through cobwebs, dust and huge drops on either side they finally arrived at a turning…in front of them they saw a crack of light. They all hurried towards the light.
With a collective sigh of relief they all emergered to the most unexpected sight.

They had been crawling through the night and now in the light of dawn the had arrived in Venice! Standing there they saw gondolas anchored outside some beautiful but old buildings surrounded by green water.
Gail rubbed her back and asked, “Why couldn’t we have used the Anomaly and jumped it would of been much quicker?”
“Because ” said Merlin ” we had to go through the rift to seal it!”
“Oh! I see” said Gail sighing and not seeing at all.
Morgarna said “okay who’s for breakfast I am starving and I need a ciggie! We can sort all this out later. Merlin what have you forgotten? “
Merlin thought then with a wave of his hand he sealed the rift from this side.
“Right let’s have breakfast and a break before anything else happens”.