The History Channel

by S G Read

  William was in no state to do anything by the time they got round to talking about it and he knew it, so he said he would look at them in the morning as he was now the proud tenant of the house opposite, number 41 Tooley Street, he would walk across the road when he woke the next day.

  He unlocked number 41, walked in, locked up again and walked through to where his door to the future was. Unfortunately he was unable to climb up through it. Even though he was drunk he did not want to damage the television and therefore be stuck either in the past or back in the future. He sat on the floor with his back against the wall to wait until he could climb through and promptly passed out.

  Chapter 4

  When he woke it was early morning, light was just breaking through the window. William climbed to his feet shakily and now found the wherewithal to climb up very carefully into the future. He pulled off his clothes and had a long shower. Once he was dry he had to dust his clothes down as where he had sat down was very dusty and it was now all on his clothes. As these were all he had to wear in Victorian times, he needed them clean. He cleaned them as best he could.

  His next move was to check the electricity meter and feed it the last two pound coins he had, he would have to do get more money to keep it going although if the electricity ran out while he was in the future it no longer mattered. To let it run out while he was in the past was an entirely different thing and he knew it.

  While he was sitting on his bed cleaning his father's old suit William thought about his life in the future and what he wanted to happen. To live it how he wanted, he needed money and the obvious way to do that was to bring Victorian goods through to the future and sell them. To that end he started studying on the Internet to see what was selling and how much it was selling for, to give him an idea what to bring back, to make the most money. In his mind he also thought about causality, his actions in the past could not affect the future too much or he could come back and find a different future that was something he did not want to happen.

  What he brought back had to be inconsequential or to have been destroyed soon after he bought it, if he could find out where a fire took place in a house and then go in and buy something from them the day before, that should be safe enough. The problem was, who in their right mind would sell things to a door to door shopper. He needed to find something which had a catastrophic accident as close to today's date as he could but as he had no idea what shops were about, that would be difficult. Going for a long walk and looking to see what was about, seemed to be his best option, although now he could afford to pay Gus to drive him round and show him the sites.

  He needed somewhere to buy things to sell in the future but he had no real idea what sort of shop would help and where one was. The best thing to do would be to ask Gus and Goliath about it, and if that failed go for a walk up to the shops by the bridge just up the road.

  When his clothes were ready he laid them on the bed but did not put them on instead he threw his old clothes on, hurried out of the flat, only to return 20 minutes later with a short ladder one which was small enough to pass through the television and onto the floor thus saving him having to climb up each time. Now he could climb down the ladder and climb back up thus saving him from spending the night on the dirty wooden floor again, or so he hoped. He climbed down to look at the bolted door. If he was out a cleaner might come into this room by mistake. If they did and found the door to the future, it would be problem. He had to fit a lock as well one that used a key. He stopped what he was doing and went out to buy a lock, this time he did not worry about it being post Victorian, as long as it was the same type of lock as the front door. They were easy to fit. When the door below sorted a new lock, he was satisfied.

  With the ladder in place and enough money in the meter, he put on his father's old clothes and climbed down the ladder into the past. He walked across the road and found Goliath cleaning, most of the time Goliath was cleaning, it seemed that was all he had to do apart from cooking.

  ‘Good morning Goliath,’ William greeted, ‘I came to look at the books as I said I would.’

  Goliath reached under the counter and pulled up a battered old book, it was dog-eared from a lot of use but its leather cover had protected it over the years. William picked it up and walked to the table he usually sat at to read through the entries. As he sat there Goliath brought over a tankard of ale and stood it on the table next to him, William saw it but decided not to drink any until he had looked through the books as it was quite potent stuff.

  He looked at sales and then he looked at costs of raw materials, the vegetables he bought for his food, the meat he bought for his food and the ingredients for his beer. It was hard work and a calculator would have been a great help but to bring one through was not a possibility and to take his book away, again, was not a possibility. In the end William walked up to the bar collected the slate which sat behind the bar and a chalk which lay next to it then returned to his table. Now he wrote it all down, listed the ingredients of the food and the sale price then listed the ingredients from the beer and the sale price and came to a conclusion. Goliath was losing money every time he sold anything, which was why he was poor.

  He closed the book wiped the slate clean and walked back to the bar without touching the ale. He slid the book onto the bar and motioned Goliath over to him so that the two customers who were sitting at another table did not hear what he said.

  ‘Every time you sell some food you lose money,’ he announced quietly, every time you sell a tankard of ale you lose money.’

  Goliath opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

  ‘You must charge three pence for a meal with a tankard of ale or sell the meal for what you charge now but take away the tankard of ale.’ William added before he spoke.

  ‘Three pence for a meal.’ Goliath echoed.

  William just nodded and walked back to his table to enjoy his pint, Goliath put the book out of sight and joined him.

  ‘Is that why things don't add up?’ He asked.

  ‘It is.’ William answered.

  ‘Three pence it is then,’ Goliath declared, ‘I can't afford to lose money every time I cook and as long as I make something then I will be happy.’

  William nodded.

  ‘What shops are there about?’ He asked.

  ‘What you want to buy?’ Goliath asked.

  William smiled, that was the million dollar question. He thought about it through a few seconds and then said, ‘I was thinking of getting some pistols just in case someone decided to rob me.’

  ‘I have an old pistol you can borrow,’ Goliath answered, I keep it behind the bar for protection but I mainly hit people with the butt instead of shooting them.’

  ‘Thanks for the offer but I think I've rather buy my own, Goliath.’ William answered.

  ‘Cheapest place would be Ebenezer gold’s place.’ Goliath explained.

  ‘Is that on Cheapside?’ William asked.

  ‘Yes it is, have you heard of it?’ Goliath answered.

  ‘I think I have,’ William answered, ‘I'll get Gus to take me out there when he arrives.’

  ‘He's taken a fare into London but we won't be too long.’ Goliath explained.

  They sat talking while William waited for Gus to return, the only interruption to their talking was by customers who needed Goliath's attention. When he had served them he returned to the table and they talked on. He had not altered the sign which advertised his wares as it was written by his wife and William noted that.

  ‘You want me to one alter the price on your sign?’ He asked.

  ‘No, I can manage to change two pence to three pence, it is just the writing I have trouble with,’ Goliath answered, ‘I will change it for the morning.’

  Gus arrived an hour later and he and William were soon on their way to Ebenezer gold’s shop. William had no idea what type of shop it was and he was interested to find out, was it the same gold's Emporium, or was it a different type of shop altogether. The
chaise trundled along the street and William watched expectantly as they neared Cheapside, he looked to his right where he thought Ebenezer gold's Emporium should be according to him. He was surprised when there was just as semi derelict house there but on the other side of the road, the shop had three pawnbroker balls hanging outside. When Gus pulled up in front of the pawnbrokers William assumed that that was Ebenezer gold’s shop.

  It did not have the same sign as the modern shop across the street from this shop and looking in the window it was obvious that this man had everything for sale but could he buy anything? He was now thinking about causality and other things he had heard about, which were related to time travel, if he bought something here that someone else already owned it would cause a change to the future which worried him. Nevertheless he climbed out of the chaise and walked into the shop, after asking Gus to wait for him. Gus had already decided to wait, as William paid well.

  William was impressed when he walked round the shop, he could see things like paintings and Chinaware which he could sell back in modern times and for a lot more then he assumed he would pay today, if he bought anything. He looked round the shop like a child in a sweet shop, he had watched antiques programmes and knew that gold was selling well at the moment but he could not see any of that anywhere.

  ‘Have you any watch chains?’ William asked, thinking that a gold watch chain was just a gold watch chain and to sell that back in the future should cause no problems.

  The owner opened a drawer, lifted the whole drawer out and laid it on the counter in front of William. It was full of gold watch chains of various descriptions, weights and lengths. William was impressed, if he bought all the chains in the drawer and sold them back in the future, his money troubles would be over. He might even pay off his student loan if they sold for enough, but he selected just one heavy watch chain and put it on the counter next to the drawer.

  The man returned the drawer to where he got it from without appearing to take his eyes off the gold chain on the counter. William smiled, this man was just like Richard and he was going to haggle with him just to see how we could do against this man. The shopkeeper picked up the gold chain to study it closely, as if to work out its value.

  ‘That will cost you five shillings.’ He declared after a few seconds.

  ‘Five shillings,’ William echoed, ‘I could almost buy a house for that!’

  He was exaggerating and they both knew it but then they both knew that the price was also exaggerated. William intended to barter the price down as far as he could and he planned to enjoy doing it.

  ‘I'll give you thruppence,’ William offered, remembering back to some very old auntie who used the word, ‘that's about all it's worth.’

  ‘Thruppence,’ the man echoed, ‘I'm not here to lose money, I paid a lot more than that for it.’

  William doubted that for one minute but waited he knew another price would be forthcoming and wondered just how low it would go. That would decide how long these negotiations were going to last.

  ‘Four shillings is my last word on it.’ The man declared.

  ‘In that case I will offer four pence.’ William retorted, he was starting to enjoy this.

  ‘Four pence, I'll go broke.’ A man declared. ‘Three shillings and you're robbing me.’

  ‘Three shillings and you'd be robbing me,’ William retorted, ‘but it's probably worth a shilling so I’ll go up to that.’

  The bartering went on for some time and when William reached one shilling and sixpence he did not go any higher, it may have been worth more but in the end man agreed and accepted one shilling and sixpence for the chain.

  When William walked out with the chain in his hand Gus smiled, from where he was, he could hear Ebenezer's raised voice during the negotiations. He waited until William was seated before he turned the chaise round and headed for home. Back in Tooley Street William paid Gus his money and walked back into the building he was now renting. Now he was going to return to the future and take his gold watch chain Chiswick auctions to try and earn some more money and start paying off his student loan.

  He bolted the door behind him as well and locking it and then bolted the next door as well for good measure before he climbed through the television and back into the future. He changed his clothes before he walked out to catch the Tube and was soon in Chiswick auctions, waiting for the man to pass comment on his watch chain.

  ‘It's an Albert isn't it,’ the man said idly despite knowing that fact, ‘it's quite heavy.’

  ‘I don't know if it is an Albert it was about before he was I think, you will know that from the hallmarks when you read them.’ William answered.

  The man used his eyeglass to read the hallmarks when he found them then looked them up in a book, he knew where it was assayed and he knew who made it but he had to look up to year letter. William waited patiently as he did so.

  ‘Pre-Victorian not bad,’ the man declared, assayed in 1818 and quite heavy, we'll put it in at 3 to 400 just to see how it does if that's alright with you?’

  ‘Fine with me I'll leave my number so that you can let me know how much it makes.’ William replied.

  William left his number and then headed home. He planned to have a meal in Goliath's Tavern, it was cheaper and better and you got more food than anywhere local. He changed back into his Victorian clothes but before climbing back through the television into the past he turned on his laptop. He knew that Richard Gold ran his own website and he wondered what it said about Ebenezer Gold's shop and the reason for the move. He opened the page on the website and clicked a link to show the history but it only went back as far as 1841 which was the very year he was interested in. He read through articles and journals until he came to another link. He clicked that and found a small section about Ebenezer Gold and his shop which was just where William knew it had been, on the opposite side of the road. According to the article the shop had burnt down and had taken Ebenezer Gold with it, the only thing that survived was the cast iron safe which he kept behind the counter. That was where Ebenezer put his takings at night just in case someone broke in or one of the later customers tried to rob him.

  William read on, this was interesting but he needed to find out when the place caught fire, as anything that was in there when it burned to the ground would be lost and it meant that William could buy them and sell them back in the future. It took an hour and several more links until he found the day of the fire, it was Friday night at the end of this very week. William turned off the laptop and smiled, late on Friday he was going shopping at Ebenezer Gold's and he would buy as much as he could of all perishable goods but he would include gold watches and chains as they were no good after they had been burned in a fire, apart from scrap value. William would overlook the person who delved in the Ashes and pulled out the hardened lumps of gold to sell, they would not fetch a lot of money as scrap in Victorian times.

  He climbed through the television but as it was still light he decided to investigate the rest of his building, he knew about the two rooms downstairs and the main room at the front door opened into but now he walked upstairs. It was different up there, there was a door leading into a room at the top of the stairs and if he turned to his right a corridor led to another door leading to the room at the far end at the same time the corridor turned left and led to the two other rooms. The stairs did not go any further up as some Victorian houses did which meant that he had four rooms upstairs to store goods in and the two rooms downstairs.

  He did not see a bathroom or toilet and he wondered where they were, so when he came downstairs he walked into what was his bedroom in modern times and along to the back door he knew was in there. He went outside and saw a Victorian earth toilet. He opened the door and peered inside. He then ventured as far as the hole in the ground to see soil in the bottom. There was a pile of soil in the corner ready to be dumped on whatever the occupant produced to keep the smell down. William smiled, at least he wouldn't be polluting the Thames when he went b
ut then he did not intend to go while he was in Victorian times.

  He locked the back door again, walked across the road to Goliath's Tavern and sat down at his usual table. Goliath immediately brought over a pint of ale and stood in it front of him then hurried off to look after another customer, as he was quite busy at the time. Gus walked in, he had just delivered yet another customer and was quite happy to sit next to William. The two ate together and talked, with Goliath joining in whenever he could but he had his customers to deal with. Now that his prices were higher he seemed busier than ever.

  It was late when William walked across the road and into the house, consequently it was dark and he had to feel his way across the room, to the door which lead to the entrance to the future. Luckily there was enough light pollution coming through the television screen to show him the way out but he concluded that he should have a light just inside the door to help him see but he could hardly leave a torch there. He needed an oil lamp hanging in the room, one he could turn down when he was away but turn up as soon as he came through the door to light his way through the building.

  He walked back through with a torch just to see if there was a hook already there and by the brightness of his torch he saw just how filthy the house was. It needed to be a lot cleaner before it could really take any expensive antiques. Even though in this time they did not command a great price, back in the present they would get him out of debt and rich too boot. It was mind-boggling to think that. He needed to talk to Goliath and Gus to find out if they knew anyone who would do the cleaning as now he could afford to pay someone, rather than have to do it himself.

  He walked back to the opening into the future and then climbed up into his flat. He sat on his bed, changing, getting ready for bed, the beer had had its affect and he was ready to go to sleep, he still had his student loan to pay off but with the influx of antiques he was going to get from Ebenezer Gold’s shop that would soon be gone. He smiled, snuggled under the duvet and was soon asleep.