When Bette finished reading she looked questionably at Tina, her eyes still full of tears. Tina shrugged her shoulders and said, “It was probably somebody who didn’t want to be known, like some distant relative or maybe even the author’s creative imagination for publicity sake.”

“I wonder,” Bette said pensively, “Would all this have happened if I had stayed in my time?”

“I don’t know,” Tina answered honestly, “I don’t think you being there would save Katie’s life, though. The medicine of that time wasn’t as advanced as it is now.”

They both sat quiet, contemplating everything that transpired in the last couple of weeks. Tina’s thoughts trailed to this particular moment in time and she was wondering how it will affect them if she will tell Bette the truth about Christina. She didn’t know what Bette was thinking about and was startled when Bette made a sudden movement.

“You know what this means?” Bette asked Tina gravely, “It means the Porter family is at the end of its line. There will be no one after me, especially if I never marry.”

“Well,” Tina said gently, getting closer to Bette and slowly rubbing her back, “It’s not entirely true. That scary lady…the owner of the Planet…her name is Katherine Porter Palmer and she’s better known as Kit Porter. She is a descendant of Katie’s son David, and she has a son named David as well. The Porter line is alive.”

“But…she is…BLACK…” Bette uttered in complete disbelief, feeling that she was getting close to fainting.

“Several generations passed since 1886. Someone in the family probably got married to a black person and that line branched from that marriage. How does it make you feel?” Tina asked, trying to figure out the way to bring up Bette’s own bi-racial heritage.

“It makes me uncomfortable,” Bette answered, “I don’t have anything against black people. I have met some really nice black persons. One of my father’s closest friends was black but it is strange to me to be related to one.”

“Bette, do you know why you have darker skin than your parents?”

“Well, my mother told me that her father’s line was from Spain so when Spain acquired some of the California territories in 1819, her family settled there. They were from Andalusia so I guess this is where my darker skin came from. I never really questioned it. Why do you ask?” Bette looked at Tina curiously.