The Alchemist's Key

by Traci Harding

  ‘Wade?’ Hannah requested his attention, and Wade turned to find John Ashby holding a pistol to her head.

  ‘I did ask politely,’ John advised.

  Phil immediately pulled the pistol that he’d confiscated from the warden at the asylum and aimed it at the intruder. ‘Drop it.’

  ‘Are you out of your mind.’ Hugh placed a hand on the barrel of the policeman’s gun and lowered it. ‘You could wipe Wade from existence.’

  After a second’s thought, Phil realised what Hugh was on about and refrained of his own accord.

  John smiled. ‘I would ask all you gentlemen to kindly step away from the lever.’

  ‘No.’ Wade encouraged Phil to raise his gun again. ‘At this stage of his life, John has already had Frances, and Frances has had Ernest. Therefore, I am in no danger.’

  ‘But your lady friend is.’ John rested the pistol barrel against Hannah’s temple. ‘At this range I doubt very much if I shall miss.’

  ‘It would seem we are at an impasse,’ announced Hugh. ‘You realise that if we finish John now, he will never complete the machine and there’s a good chance that all this won’t happen.’

  Wade didn’t know what to think. ‘But it is happening,’ he stressed.

  ‘This is also a good point,’ Hugh admitted.

  ‘We have a rare and wonderful opportunity here, children,’ John advised them all. ‘A chance to explore time as none before us have been able to do.’

  ‘We’ve all done as much time exploration as we care to,’ retorted Wade.

  ‘Well I haven’t.’ John got a tighter grip on Hannah, and a squeal slipped from her lips. ‘So, I would ask you all to leave my laboratory.’

  ‘Come on, John.’ Andrew attempted to reason with him. ‘You’ve made it to the twentieth century, isn’t that enough?’

  ‘It’s only the beginning,’ the aging inventor advised. ‘History is immense, and I for one want to see it all.’

  ‘But this machine is completely random. There is no controlling the destinations of these portholes in time,’ argued Wade. ‘We are all at the mercy of infinity.’

  ‘Here, in the twentieth century, I could probably fix that. Then, immortality will be mine,’ said John, again motioning them all to the ladder.

  ‘But you already possess the Elixir of Life,’ said Hugh, attempting to distract the old Baron with conversation. Louisa was edging around behind John and his hostage, a large spanner in her hand. ‘The sparkling dust contained inside the crystal keys of this machine is said to give life everlasting if ingested.’

  ‘Hogwash!’ John waved this off with his free hand. ‘It cannot be exposed to the air for even the shortest time.’

  Hugh cocked an eye as he ventured to ask the million-dollar question. ‘So what was the base metal, John?’

  John smiled broadly as Louisa brought the metal tool crashing down onto the back of his neck and the old inventor dropped to the floor, unconscious.

  Hugh let out a heavy sigh. He was pleased Louisa had rid them of their problem. It was just her timing that really sucked.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Hugh.’ Louisa realised his woe. ‘Should I have waited?’

  ‘No.’ Hugh mouthed the word, in an attempt not to sound annoyed with her.

  Hannah rushed to Wade, who comforted her momentarily. ‘Now’s our chance,’ he announced, urging his team back into action.

  ‘So what are we going to do with him?’ Andrew queried as he gripped the lever alongside the others.

  ‘He’ll just have to settle in the twentieth century, I guess.’

  Wade’s flippant comment brought a smile to Hugh’s face. Perhaps he would discover the unnamed base metal of the ‘Ghost’s Gold’ after all.

  ‘One, two, three,’ Wade cued, and all five men strained for all they were worth.

  Slowly the metal lever began to shift.

  ‘Come on guys,’ Louisa encouraged them to try harder. ‘It’s starting to give!’

  Just then something snapped within the machine, the chain to the lever mechanism was freed and the lever crunched into the ‘off’ position. As it did so, the metal cross on top of the machine, which housed the keys, turned a one-quarter rotation anti-clockwise. The waves of blue energy that encompassed the machine fizzled into nothingness.

  ‘Andrew!’ Grace cried, as she began to fade along with the power. ‘What is happening?’

  ‘Dear God.’ Andrew rushed to her side, his feet passing right through the vanishing form of John Ashby.

  ‘I love you,’ she uttered and was gone, before Andrew could reach her. ‘No!’ he cried in protest, swinging around to confront the Baron. ‘Turn it back on.’

  ‘I can’t do that, Andy. She’ll only disappear again when we turn it back off.’

  ‘Then we’ll leave it on.’ Andrew took hold of Wade, whereupon Rex and Phil were forced to restrain the outraged lover.

  ‘You know we can’t do that,’ Wade regretfully informed Andrew, as he pulled on a set of gloves and moved to climb up onto the machine.

  ‘At least give me the chance to say goodbye to her.’

  The heartfelt pain of his friend’s appeal brought Wade to a grinding halt. ‘Look Andy, I’m truly sorry about Grace, but you heard what John said … we’ve shut off the power feed and shut down the machine … the huge energy stores have been wasted. Now we both know that I am not going to willingly charge them up again, so please, let me end this.’

  Andrew, who knew he was being unreasonable, hung his head and gave Wade the nod.

  The metal frame of the machine was still very hot and quickly began melting the thick rubber soles of Wade’s boots. Still, he was determined not to rest until all the keys were destroyed, thus rendering the machine useless. He went after the main key first, but upon unbolting the compartment, Wade was surprised to find it empty. ‘What?’

  Nobody could have removed the key whilst the machine was operational, or they would have been toast, and the machine obviously hadn’t been shut down at any time.

  ‘What is it?’ Hugh wanted to know.

  Before answering, Wade rushed to one of the other compartments and finding it was also empty, rushed to the next and then the next. ‘They’re all gone,’ he announced finally.

  ‘Aw, damn it!’ Hugh cursed. ‘Now I’ll never find out what the base metal was.’

  ‘But where could they have possibly gone?’ Hannah questioned, as Wade jumped back to the ground, leaving half the soles of his shoes on the top of the machine.

  ‘You don’t think they could have been destroyed in the power surge, do you?’ Louisa suggested.

  ‘Without a trace left behind?’ Hugh shook his head to dispel the theory.

  As all discussed the possibilities, Rex had a thought and left the others for a time to move deeper into the dig.

  ‘I’ll tell you something else strange,’ he announced as he reappeared, ‘the corpse is gone, too.’

  ‘You’re kidding?’ Wade moved to investigate for himself. He found the claim to be quite true.

  ‘Corpse!’ Phil repeated, alarmed. ‘What corpse?’

  ‘Chill,’ Wade advised. ‘It was the remains of John Ashby, buried here in the fire of 1779.’

  ‘Phew.’ Phil gave a sigh of relief. After this evening’s events he’d rather warmed to the new Baron Ashby, and didn’t really want to see him in more trouble.

  ‘So what do you think this disappearance means?’ Wade put to Hugh, who merely shrugged.

  ‘I think it means that this machine is no longer of concern to you, my friend … or any of us.’

  ‘Thank God,’ uttered Hannah, before considering Andrew’s feelings. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t —’

  ‘That’s okay,’ he cut her short, and moved to exit up the ladder. ‘How long can one expect a miracle to last?’ With his emotions fit to burst, Andrew departed as fast as his legs were able. He craved privacy, where he could mourn his loss alone.

  When John Ashby found himself returned from the future to his
laboratory containing his half-constructed time machine, his mind began to reel with the knowledge of all the work he had ahead of him.

  Grace was seated on the ground close by, wailing her eyes out. ‘Come, come, young Grace, there is nothing to cry about.’ He reached down and gave her the handkerchief from his pocket. ‘If you wish to see your love again, dry your eyes, child, for we have much work to do.’

  Grace looked up to the aging Baron, startled from her grief by his words. ‘My Lord wants my help?’

  John tapped her head lightly. ‘I need your memory, your experience, your expertise!’ He assisted the maid to get to her feet. ‘So, how would you like to be my new assistant?’

  Grace’s emotions soared from the pit of despair to great heights of elation. ‘Why,’ she gasped, overwhelmed by the suggestion, ‘that would be my great honour, my Lord.’

  ‘Very good.’ John braced her shoulders to assure her she was making a sound decision, then reached for a work-coat and gave it to the maid. ‘Let’s get to work then.’

  Although Grace was a little stunned by his eagerness, she put on the coat as requested.

  John looked back to his machine, struck with pride by what he would accomplish. ‘The future is ours, young Grace.’

  Wade and company emerged from the dig site to see a couple of torches being shone around the front of the darkened house. Upon closer inspection they met with Tace Bonnell, who was accompanied by two policemen from the same station as Phil.

  ‘Where the hell did you disappear to?’ she questioned Rex.

  Rex didn’t answer straightaway, as he wasn’t too sure how to respond.

  ‘So this is your missing cameraman?’ one of the policemen queried.

  ‘Yes,’ advised Tace. ‘Tell him, Rex. Tell him what happened.’

  ‘Miss Bonnell claims you mysteriously disappeared,’ the policeman stated, rather reserved in his judgment of the claim.

  Rex shrugged. ‘I thought you got lost. One minute you were right behind us … the next you weren’t.’

  ‘What!’ Tace protested, surprised and outraged. ‘I know what I saw, and I demand to know where you’ve all been.’

  ‘I’ve been with Hugh Prescott and Lady Sinclair all evening,’ Rex sidestepped the question.

  ‘That’s absolutely right,’ Hugh confirmed, ‘he has.’

  ‘But they vanished too.’ Tace explained to the policeman in a desperate fashion. ‘Something strange went on here this evening, and I fully intend to find out what it was.’

  ‘Someone sabotaged my power supply.’ Wade offered some information.

  ‘Sabotaged your power supply! Is that what you call it?’ Tace commented, not liking being made to look the fool. ‘That machine of yours melted Rex’s camera!’

  The policeman doing the questioning looked to Phil. ‘Are you aware of anything out of the ordinary taking place here this evening?’

  ‘Not at all,’ Phil lied. ‘I’m just here to investigate the downed power line. As the Baron has already said, somebody cut down one of his poles with a chainsaw.’

  ‘I see. Well, then,’ the policeman raised an eyebrow, ‘as everything seems in order —’

  ‘No!’ Tace protested. ‘They’re lying. Something shifty has gone down, and I can prove it. In there,’ she pointed to the dig site, ‘there’s a corpse. I saw it with my own two eyes this afternoon.’

  ‘A corpse?’ The policeman appeared doubtful, although he was obliged to check out her claim. ‘May we?’ He asked the Baron for permission to investigate.

  ‘Sure.’ Wade gave them leave. ‘But I’m afriad you’ll be wasting your time.’

  ‘Another lie,’ Tace insisted, as she led the policeman to where she believed the body to be.

  ‘How do you stand working with that woman?’ Wade questioned once she was out of earshot.

  ‘I’ve never seen her this miffed before,’ said Rex, ‘but I can guarantee that after this night, I’ll be out of a job.’

  ‘If I hadn’t lost my teaching position at the college, I’d hire you, Rex.’ Wade nudged the cameraman, grateful for his covering for them. ‘I could have used a man with your expertise.’

  ‘Why are you losing your position at Glenoak?’ Phil queried.

  Wade gave the policeman a knowing look. ‘Why do you think?’

  ‘Oh,’ Phil emphasized, ‘the pot charge. Yes, well, it seems we made a frightful error there.’

  ‘What are you saying, Officer Stewart?’ Wade ventured half a smile.

  ‘Well, upon closer inspection of the goods, it would seem your chauffeur was wrongly charged, as the drugs in question turned out to be nothing but a bag of mixed herbs he’d been acquiring for your cook. And, ah, the name is Phil.’

  Wade was stunned as he took hold of Phil’s outstretched hand and shook it. ‘But what about my confession?’

  ‘That was just a man who mistakenly thought he was protecting a friend.’ Phil smiled. ‘It wouldn’t be the first time paperwork has got lost in the mess on my desk.’

  ‘I don’t want to get you in any trouble,’ Wade proffered.

  Phil waved it off. ‘It wasn’t that great a quantity of dope anyway, and we did catch the dealer, so,’ he shrugged, ‘just don’t do it again.’

  ‘I’m not sure I can promise that.’ Wade pushed his luck, although he was being honest.

  ‘Wade!’ Hannah protested, but Phil motioned her to calm.

  ‘In that case,’ the policeman looked back to the Baron, ‘don’t get caught.’

  ‘I’ll be a lot more careful from now on,’ Wade assured him.

  The Contessa was most pleased to inform Glenoak’s investors of the gross misunderstanding that she knew damn well was no misunderstanding at all. Still, Wade was a good person and would make a fine teacher. As long as his work didn’t suffer, what the young Baron did in private was of no concern to her.

  The investors were pleased the young Baron had been cleared of the charges against him, especially after he had saved them from whatever it was they had experienced the night of the strange power surge. In the light of day the whole episode seemed like nothing more than a dream and although all knew the experience had been quite real, it was never spoken of again. Glenoak’s investors were people well regarded and highly placed in society, and they fully intended to stay that way. After all, who would believe such an account. Anyone brave enough to tell the tale would surely be committed for their trouble.

  Needless to say, Tace Bonnell never got her story. The police found no trace of the alleged body in the dig site, and therefore were hard pressed to believe any of the tale the reporter was trying to spin them. Outraged by her embarrassing predicament, she fired Rex on the spot.

  Rex was not overly concerned by this, however. He was tired of life as a member of the press and a teaching position with a good, steady pay cheque appealed to him a whole lot more.

  17

  The Dead Revisited

  It had taken John and Grace years to finish the time machine and discover the secret to creating the ‘Ghost’s Gold’ that would fuel the five super-conductive crystal keys. Still, this time around, the Baron created six keys.

  The spare key was not completely sealed like the others. It was made airtight by a little rubber stopper at the end of a tube which interpenetrated the round crystal container holding the substance that might bring life everlasting. John Ashby was of a mind to ingest the contents of this sixth key.

  Since her adventures in the future, Grace had found love in her rightful place in history and so had given up the opportunity to join the Baron on his eternal adventures. She had penned a note that John Ashby would deliver to Andrew, if and when he found himself back in the twentieth century.

  It was a warm summer night in 1779 that John Ashby chose to leave his birthright and title behind him.

  He’d packed a few belongings in a bag, which Grace had brought to the temple and stored there some days ago in preparation for this night. In another bag that the aging Baron had ha
d especially made, he placed the five crystal keys, his diary and a pistol. There was also a secret compartment in this bag that concealed enough cash and jewels to support John in style for quite some time to come.

  So, at long last the moment of truth had arrived. John held the sixth key in his hand, his bags at the ready. ‘Now, one more time,’ he requested of Grace, who was squirming in her seat as she awaited the outcome of all their hard work. ‘What must you do if this fails?’

  ‘I must place the four outer keys in their compartments in the machine. Then I take the main key and your diary and hide them until all the commotion has died down, whereupon I pass on the key and diary to Ernest for him to conceal.’

  ‘And most important of all?’ John queried finally.

  ‘I shall see to it, my Lord.’ Grace needed to be released from this suspense. ‘We have been over this a million times.’

  ‘Alright then.’ John held up the key. ‘To Hugh, that clever young gent in the future. Please let him have been right about this.’ John raised the glass straw to his mouth and only once it was fully enclosed in his mouth did he remove the rubber stopper, which he did with his tongue. He then sucked with all his might, looking to Grace who nodded to confirm he’d consumed the contents of the key.

  The Baron began to waver in his stance, and the empty crystal container crashed to the floor and shattered, startling Grace as it did so. ‘Is something amiss with you?’ she asked softly, although the man reacted as if she’d screamed the question.

  All of John’s senses had heightened. His dim sight was suddenly focused and clear. His hearing was so acute that, even over Grace’s mumbled concerns, he could hear people talking in the house. John looked to Grace to find she was sitting silently. It was her mind he could hear inquiring after his well-being.

  ‘Oh my God!’ He began to laugh hysterically. His body felt amazing, liberated from every painful twinge. He began to dance.

  ‘My Lord, are you alright?’ Grace inquired of the usually reserved gentleman.