When the professor introduces Johnny and his friend Fergie to a talking falcon statue named Brewster and says they are going on a trip together, Johnny and Fergie are worried. But when the vehicle turns out to be a time trolley and the destination is Constantinople during the Turkish Invasion in 1453, Johnny and Fergie are convinced that the professor is insane. But all too soon the professor proves that the time trolley is real. And as the Byzantine Empire prepares for battle, the professor gathers flares and a raft, planning to save the people who flee to the Church of the Holy Wisdom from being killed or enslaved. Can Johnny and Fergie stop the professor or will he too perish in the seige?

The Trolley to Yesterday (1989), by John Bellairs, is the sixth book in the Johnny Dixon series.

"Crackling dialogue adds extra zip to the companions' already spine-tingling adventures." - Publishers Weekly

"The professor rowed, and the little boat nosed in and out past the tall, gloomy pillars. The torch that Fergie held went on flickering, and they steered in the direction of the draft. Soon the professor's cheerful humming died, and every now and then he put down the oars and held a wet finger up in the air to see if he could tell where the draft was coming from. Then he would pick up the oars and row grimly on. Johnny noticed that Fergie's torch was burning straight up -- it wasn't wavering at all.

"Professor?" he asked in a tiny faltering voice. "How . . . how come the draft isn't blowing anymore?"

"I don't know," muttered the professor through clenched teeth. "There is something very odd going on in this place, but I don't know what. . ."

The professor's voice died. Out of the darkness straight ahead of them, a boat was drifting. It looked just like the one they were in, but it was empty. Or was it? The boat moved closer, and now it was alongside them. Johnny, Fergie, and the profesor looked. There were three bodies lying slumped in the other boat. The bodies looked like the three of them, pale and cold and dead.