Accidentally transported back to 1558, two friends must survive for 36 hours until they can return to the present. The plan goes awry when one of them falls in love and the other is left stranded in the past.

SYNOPSIS:

William Markham is an engineer. Although he enjoys his work, Eric Gilroy, his area manager causes problems for him whenever he can. William is also an inventor and in his spare time has created a time machine. He also has a plan on how to test it. His former professor is trying to write a book on the Spanish Armada but suffers from writer’s block. William plans to test his machine by going back to 1588, but before he’s ready, his best friend accidentally turns on the machine and they find themselves in rooms belonging to Katherine, a seamstress to Queen Elizabeth.

Katherine and her brother Percy discover them and there is instant chemistry between Katherine and William. Percy has reservations about hiding strangers for two days, the time it takes for the machine to recharge, but she overrides his objections. She convinces Queen Elizabeth to allow them to stay in the servant’s quarters by telling her that William is a tutor on his way to serve a wealthy family in the North, and was a friend from Katherine’s childhood. The Queen is not fooled. She asks Walsingham, her spymaster, to keep an eye on William and Anthony and invites both of them to court so that she can look them over herself.

Katherine and William grow closer as the two days pass. William charms Queen Elizabeth when she meets him, but Walsingham is not taken in. He orders his assistant Faraday, a dead ringer for Gilroy, to find what he can about the two of them. Seeing him is quite a shock to both men.

Fearing Faraday will search their chambers, William has Anthony hide the time travel device. Unfortunately, he hides it in Katherine’s workroom and she discovers it. She turns on the machine as William enters and the two of them are brought back to 2009. Anthony is shocked that he’s been abandoned. Percy hides him when Walsingham has the guards searching the palace, convinced that they haven’t left. Hidden in a secret room, Anthony becomes lost in the secret passages and ends up out in a hallway where he is captured, interrogated by Walsingham and thrown in the dungeon.

In 2009, Katherine finds herself at William’s condo in a world she doesn’t recognize. Soon her curiosity overcomes her fear, but they are being watched by a man hired by Gilroy to spy on them. William introduces Katherine to his teacher who recognizes that she is not from this time. He convinces William to take her back, something he does want to do.

Coming back to the past, William returns Katherine to her brother, helps Anthony to escape and makes a decision that will change his life.

STYCH IN TIME