"Goodbye, my darling," he said.
"Goodbye! What—"
He let Martin Pinzon take it from there. "Hello," said Martin Pinzon. "I mean, hello forever, darling."
She laughed. "Goodbye to your bachelorhood, you mean."
"Yes," he said. "Yes."
But it was Martin Pinzon talking now. Completely Martin Pinzon.
He was back in his grand-uncle's basement. He was in the trunk and he felt stiff. Mostly, his right arm and the right ribs felt stiff. He felt his shirt. It was caked with blood.
Proof, he thought. If I needed proof. What happened to Pinzon happened to me.
He stood up. He felt weak, but knew he would be all right. He knew about Columbus now. At first, a weak drunkard. But after the first voyage, thanks to Martin Pinzon and Nina, an intrepid voyager. For history said Columbus would make four voyages to the New World—and four he would make.
Danny went outside, to where the lawyer was waiting for him. The trunk was Danny's now, the time trunk. And he would use it again, often. He knew that now, and it was wrong to deflate a dream.