The Timekeeper

by Emily Rodda

  The studio was in sight now, but Patrick couldn’t see the doorway. It was hidden by a moving mass of people, some of them carrying roughly painted signs.

  “Oh, Max, there are more of them!” Boopie slowed to a walk. She pulled at the hood of her coat, covering as much of her face as she could. Patrick could see that she was trembling.

  “Who … who are they?” he stammered.

  “Barrier-combers,” said Max. “Keep your voice down. We’ll have to take this very slowly and quietly.” Patrick glanced at him. His voice was steady, but his face was grim. “Patrick, stay between us and keep your head down, like Boopie. We don’t want to stir them up.”

  They walked towards the crowd.

  “Who’ve we got here?” someone called. “Oh dear, some Channel 8 bods trying to get to work, is it?”

  “Don’t answer. Keep walking, sweetie-pie,” Boopie said.

  Patrick did as he was told, although his legs felt like jelly. He kept his eyes down and let the others lead him through the maze of bodies that blocked their path.

  “Don’t say much, do they?” croaked a voice behind them. “Think they’re too good for us, because they work for a TV station, I suppose.” The crowd murmured, but no one touched the three friends. They moved on, a few steps at a time.

  “Your bosses should be ashamed!” someone shouted. “Taking the food out of our mouths! And for what? A game! Ban the Finders!”

  “Ban the Finders! Ban the Finders!” chanted the crowd, pressing in around them.

  Patrick risked a quick look ahead and his heart leaped. The door was just in front of them now. Boopie and Max guided him towards it.

  “Ban the Finders! Ban the Finders!” shouted the Barrier-combers.

  Boopie pulled a card out of her coat pocket and slipped it into a slot on the door. It clicked, and she pulled the door open a crack.

  “In!” she breathed to Patrick, and pushed him through. As she did, her hood was caught by the wind and blew back, showing her blonde curls. She grabbed at it in panic, but it was too late. There was a second’s shocked silence, then …

  “It’s her!” someone roared. “It’s her! Boopie Cupid! Get her!”

  7

  Fast Forward

  The crowd surged forward. Boopie and Max flung themselves through the door and slammed it, just in time.

  Inside they leaned against the wall, panting. Muffled shouts of rage and the sounds of angry fists and feet thudding against metal reached their ears.

  “My fans!” joked Boopie weakly.

  “Stupid fools!” raged Max. “As if it’s your fault!”

  “They blame Boopie?” said Patrick slowly. “For what’s happening to the Barrier? For the fence, and the Agents, and everything?”

  “Oh, yes,” said Max. “But not just Boopie – everyone connected with Finders Keepers. It’s just Boopie they recognise, because they’ve seen her on TV. If they’d known I was in charge of the computer it would’ve been me they’d have gone for. I’m the real villain, as far as they’re concerned.”

  “He’s a ma-ad scientist,” sang Boopie in a spooky voice. She waggled her fingers at Max, then gave a laugh that was more like a sob. “He’s been destroying the Barrier for years by bringing Finders here from the other side, you know, Patrick! Everyone’s saying so, so it must be true, right?”

  “Shut up, Boopie,” Max said. “Don’t even joke about it. They really believe it.”

  “I know,” said Boopie quietly. “And the trouble is, they’re not the only ones any more.”

  There was a final ringing thud on the door, and then silence. The Barrier-combers had given up.

  “Thank goodness!” Boopie groaned. She pulled out a packet of chewing gum and put two pieces in her mouth. “Anyone for gum?” she asked, trying to smile.

  “No thanks!” frowned Max. “Vile stuff! And don’t let me find it round the computer either, Boopie.”

  Boopie rubbed at her face, leaving grimy smears on her cheeks. She looked at him reproachfully.

  “You’re right. Sorry I spoke,” said Max, though she hadn’t said a word. “OK. Let’s get to the computer room. Now Patrick’s here we might have a chance of getting somewhere.”

  Patrick took a deep breath. “Max,” he said, as firmly as he could. “What can I possibly do to help?”

  Max looked at him patiently. “You’re going to tell us what’s wrong, so we can try to fix it, of course.”

  “Me! How would I know what’s wrong?”

  Max scratched his head with exaggerated patience. “Let’s face it, Patrick, the problem isn’t on our side of the Barrier.”

  “Isn’t it?” Patrick stared at him.

  “Of course it isn’t. That’s obvious! Did you bump your head when you landed, or something? Now – what’s the story? What’s happening your side?”

  “N-nothing,” Patrick stammered, feeling completely useless.

  “Nothing! But that’s impossible!” Max looked confused. Boopie tried to say something, but he waved her away. He stared hard at Patrick. “Now,” he said, very slowly and clearly. “This is very important. Think sensibly, Patrick, before you speak. You’re telling me that everything’s all as usual over there? That the clock is running normally?”

  “The clock?” Patrick looked wildly at them both. What did a clock have to do with anything? Then a thought occurred to him. “The – um – the Chestnut Tree Village clock’s running a bit fast,” he said. “Is that what you mean? It’s funny … it doesn’t usually –”

  “Running fast? How fast?” barked Max, his eyes glittering.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Patrick. “Not much. Five minutes or so –”

  “Five minutes!” Max tore at his hair, almost jumping up and down on the spot. “Five minutes!” He advanced on Patrick. “Why didn’t you say so before? How can you calmly stand there and tell me–”

  “Max, Max!” Boopie darted forward and put her arm round Patrick. “You’re scaring him. Calm down! You’ve forgotten. Patrick doesn’t know about the clock. He doesn’t know, Max. None of them do, over there. Remember?”

  Max deflated like a punctured rubber toy. He slapped his hand to his forehead and shook his head. “Stupid,” he mumbled. “Sorry, Patrick. I’m overtired. I did forget. Mind you, I can’t understand how your people haven’t …” He looked up. “Listen – this is really serious. Even worse than I thought. If only we’d been able to contact you earlier! We’ve got to get you back. You’ve got to get that clock fixed. Right now. Or we’re all in deep trouble. Come on!” He grabbed Patrick and Boopie’s arms and began to run, dragging them, protesting, behind him.

  “Max! Max!” gasped Patrick, plucking at Max’s jacket as they thumped down the empty corridors past dozens of identical pale green doors. “What’s the matter? What’s the clock got to do with it?”

  “It’s got everything to do with it,” puffed Max, without turning round to look at him. “Clocks weaken the Barrier between our two time streams – you know that, don’t you?”

  Patrick nodded. “That’s why there are Barrier breaks sometimes, right?”

  “Right. Well, look, all clocks affect the Barrier a bit, especially big ones, and especially when they strike the hours. We’ve known that for hundreds of years over here. Every schoolkid learns it. But it’s only been in the last few years, since we’ve been able to investigate your side using computers like mine, that we’ve discovered that over there there are certain clocks that have a particularly powerful effect. And that’s because they’re not ordinary clocks at all.” Max slowed to a walk, breathing heavily. “Right. Here we are,” he said, pointing.

  The computer room door looked exactly the same as all the others that lined the corridor. Blank, unmarked, and painted pale green. If he’d been by himself Patrick could never have worked out which was the right one. Max threw open the door and hurried inside. Patrick and Boopie followed, and as Patrick looked around the small room he drew an excited breath.

  It was ju
st as he remembered it. Here he had met Max for the first time, and seen the amazing Finders Keepers computer. Here Boopie had explained how the Finders Keepers game was played, and watched Max send him back to his own time stream, to try to find one of the Seekers’ missing objects and qualify to win a prize. He remembered how confused and scared he had been then. And how thrilled, when he had succeeded – not just once, but three times, in the end.

  Boopie seemed to know what he was thinking. For a moment the worry left her face as she grinned at him. “Champion Finder returns to scene of triumph,” she said.

  Max turned to face them. “Now, be calm, everyone,” he said, tugging at his hair and looking very wild around the eyes. “Patrick, listen. We haven’t got much time.” He stopped, then laughed bitterly. “That’s truer than you know.” He tugged at his hair again and made an effort to calm down. “As I said, we now know that on your side of the Barrier there are certain clocks that are much more important than the others. They’re important because they keep time, for their area. We call them Sector Timekeepers. Now, if one of these starts to run fast – or slow, for that matter –”

  “But all clocks keep time,” interrupted Patrick, feeling stupid.

  “No, no, no!” Max shook his head. “Pay attention, Patrick! The Sector Timekeepers aren’t ordinary clocks. They don’t just tell time, they keep time. Keep it steady, keep it regular. They’re very, very accurate themselves, usually. But sometimes, just like ordinary clocks, they go a bit wrong.”

  Patrick stared at him.

  “They control your time, sweetie,” explained Boopie. “If they run even a little bit slow, time goes more slowly for you. If they run fast, time goes faster.”

  “Good heavens, boy,” exclaimed Max, infuriated by Patrick’s wide eyes and obvious bewilderment. “What’s the matter with you? Don’t you believe us? Haven’t you noticed that some days go faster than others?”

  Patrick stood motionless, while pieces of the strange jigsaw fell into place in his head. Long days that dragged, other days that flew by, for no apparent reason. This last week, which had passed so quickly. This morning, when time seemed to have gone into fast forward. The people at the shopping centre, late, busy, rushing. And the Chestnut Tree Village clock running five minutes fast.

  He looked at Max and licked his lips. “Our clock is one of those? Those Sector Timekeepers? Our time’s going fast because it’s going fast?”

  “Yes!” shouted Max, pounding his fists together. “And that means …?”

  “And,” said Patrick, working it out, “that means our time stream’s going faster than yours. We’re out of sync with each other. And so the Barrier, which is in between us, is getting sort of stretched. And that’s why there are so many breaks.”

  “All right!” Max nodded violently. “You’ve got the picture. It happens quite often that we’re a few seconds out of sync. It’s a bit inconvenient, but it doesn’t last. The clockmaker in charge of the Sector Timekeeper adjusts the clock so it’s running accurately again. We know from the records that there has been the odd Barrier disaster, presumably because of something quite serious that took the clockmaker a while to fix. That’s what the experts are saying is happening here.

  “But they must be starting to realise by now that it’s much more serious than it’s ever been before. And they don’t know what we know. If what you’re saying is true, the clockmaker’s not on the job at all! The clock’s out of control. And now we’re minutes out – five minutes, you say – oh, my aching head! And getting worse every second. The strain on the Barrier must be terrific! It’s literally breaking itself to bits.”

  “Could something have happened to the clockmaker?” asked Boopie in a small voice.

  “Almost certainly, I’d say,” Max muttered. “I hadn’t counted on that.” He stood for a moment in silence, while the others watched him.

  “What now?” Boopie said.

  Max stared past Patrick at the computer. His eyes darkened. “We’ve got to fix the clock ourselves. Slow Patrick’s side down. Before the whole thing goes up.”

  Patrick swallowed and stared at Max, not knowing what to say. His head was full of questions that he couldn’t put into words. His stomach felt fluttery. He jumped as a light tap sounded on the door.

  “Max,” called a voice. “Max, Boopie, are you in there? Let me in! It’s Estelle!”

  8

  “This Isn’t a Game!”

  Patrick watched as Boopie opened the door and Estelle slipped inside. “Did you make contact?” he heard her ask as she came into the room. “What did Patrick say?”

  Boopie whispered something in her sister’s ear and she spun around, her eyes wide. She saw Patrick smiling shyly beside Max. “Oh, no!” she cried. “Oh, Patrick, dear heart, why are you here? You shouldn’t be here! Max!” She faced Max angrily. “How could you do this? How could you! It’s so dangerous for Patrick, and for you. The Agents told you not to use the computer any more. They ordered you not to! If they find out …”

  “They won’t find out, Estelle,” said Max coolly. He looked down his nose at her. “There was too much interference to talk through the TV set. Patrick couldn’t hear me. I had to get him over here so he could fill me in. I had no choice.”

  “No choice? No choice? Oh, what rubbish,” raged Estelle, her eyes flashing. “It’s bad enough putting yourself at risk. But how could you get the child involved!” Patrick was fascinated. When Estelle had been his family’s babysitter she’d never ever lost her temper. She wouldn’t have said boo to a goose. Being back at home on this side of the Barrier certainly suited her.

  Max raised his chin. “It is very far from rubbish, Estelle,” he said in his most superior voice. “Patrick quite understands. Don’t you, Patrick?” He looked sideways at Patrick, and despite his lofty manner Patrick could see that Estelle was making him feel rather nervous, even guilty.

  “It’s OK, Estelle,” he said, crossing over to her. She took his hand, but went on frowning.

  “You don’t understand, dear heart,” she said. “Things here are very bad. I came to warn Max and Boopie – I managed to get away from the canteen for a few minutes, but I’ll have to get back soon, before they miss me. It’s so busy in there. Barrier Guards and Agents, as well as the usual staff. There are Agents everywhere, Max. And everyone’s talking about Finders Keepers. It’s not just the Barrier-combers any more. Now everyone’s saying it. They’re saying it’s not a natural disaster. They’re saying that Finders Keepers caused the whole thing. That the computer moving Finders to and fro across the Barrier has damaged it beyond repair.”

  “The idiots!” Max almost spat the words.

  “But they’re almost right, aren’t they?” said Estelle quietly. “That’s why you’re so worried, isn’t it, Max? I was thinking about it on my way here. All this trouble has only happened since Patrick used the computer to bring me back home from his side. It was me coming back that mucked everything up, wasn’t it? The shock to the Barrier has affected the Sector Timekeeper. This whole thing is my fault, isn’t it?”

  She faced Max defiantly, her fists clenched. He wouldn’t look at her. “That’s what you think, isn’t it, Max?” she went on. “Go on, admit it!”

  “Estelle, I brought you back,” whispered Patrick. “You didn’t even know what was happening. So, if that’s what it is, really, then it’s my fault.”

  “No it isn’t, Patrick! I sent Estelle over to your side by mistake in the first place,” shrilled Boopie. “It’s my fault.”

  “Well, it’s my computer,” said Max flatly. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.” He deliberately stood upright, straightening his hunched shoulders. “And I’m the one who has to put it right,” he said. “Obviously the clockmaker’s out of action. So there’s only one thing to do. I’ll have to go over to Patrick’s side myself, find out what’s wrong with the clock, and fix it.”

  “Yes!” Patrick was overjoyed. “That’
s right! Of course! You could go over like Estelle did, Max. You could fix the clock, and then I could show you our side, and our TV and computer shops and everything. That’d be great! And …” His voice trailed off as he noticed the expressions on his friends’ faces. They looked stricken. “What’s the matter?” he asked, confused.

  Max was silent. “What’s the matter?” Patrick demanded again. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s just …” Estelle hesitated, looked at Max and Boopie Cupid, bit her lip and went on. “People from your side of the Barrier seem to be able to move through it backwards and forwards without causing any trouble, dear heart. We’ve been bringing Finders like you over here and sending them back for years. But it looks like people from our side are different. I got over to your side without any problems. But when I came back, well, you know what happened. The computer blew up, the Barrier started cracking up, the Sector Timekeeper went crazy.”

  Patrick stared. “So …” he began.

  “So,” Boopie said passionately, “so Max can’t go over to your side, because he couldn’t get back! If he tried to come back, the whole disaster would happen again.”

  Patrick shook his head in frustration. “But we don’t know that, Boopie. It might have just been a freak accident, with Estelle. It might have been because there were two people coming back instead of one. It might … we don’t know it, Max!” He turned to Max in appeal.

  Max smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “Spoken like a scientist, Patrick,” he said. “You’re right. We don’t know it. We only suspect it. But unfortunately the suspicion, at this point, is too strong to ignore. I couldn’t risk this happening again.” He stared at the computer. “No,” he went on calmly, “if I cross over to your side I won’t even try to come back. If I go, it’s for good.”

  “You’re not going!” cried Boopie. “Don’t even think about it, Max.”

  Max shrugged. “I don’t think I have a choice, Boopie. And think of what I’d see …” His lips curved, a light appeared in his eyes, and for a moment he looked very young.