The History Channel

by S G Read

  Back in the tavern he sat there deep in thought, thinking about the problem but the only answer he could think of was that it had rained hard during the night and the television was now useless. He now needed money to be able to live but he had to face facts that he was stuck in the nineteenth century. It depressed him, not because he was there but because he no longer had the choice of where he wanted to be.

  When he went to his room in the tavern he saw his bag, he had brought it with him to save it from the fire, and in it were the sporting results he had copied. That made him smile, a trip to the races was in order and he was going to take Goliath and Gus with him to deter anyone who thought he was an easy touch. This time he was going to make a lot of money and buy a house with it, he needed somewhere to live, as the house across the road was no longer an option. He found Goliath and Gus in the bar talking, while Mary was cleaning the kitchen.

  ‘I need to go to the races again Gus but a long distance, too long for the cart. Instead of you taking me I want you and you Goliath along as bodyguards,’ he announced, ‘the fee will be fifty pounds each to make sure I come back alive and hopefully with some winnings.’

  The two men looked at each other, fifty pounds was not to be sneezed at.

  ‘Fifty pounds each?’ Gus asked, making sure he had heard correctly.

  ‘Fifty pounds each.’ William answered.

  ‘Who’ll run the tavern?’ Goliath asked, not easily swayed by money.

  ‘Me and Sarah can run the tavern where there is fifty pounds involved.’ Mary called from the kitchen.

  On Saturday they boarded a train to go to the races. They were all armed and the arms were obvious to anyone who cared to look in their direction, it was more to discourage would be footpads, than wanting to fight. The found a seat and waited for the races to get underway. William knew which horses he wanted to bet on but made sure the odds were worthwhile before he placed his bet.

  He showed the other two his slip and they were all cheering for the horse when it won. William did not hurry up for his money but when he went both Gus and Goliath went with him. They sat back down looking like a formidable trio. This went on right through the meeting and when the last race was about to start they left for the station; the odds were not good enough to tempt William to bet although he knew which horse won.

  When they arrived in London they walked along the high road and then turned down a side street to wait to see who followed them, as William had won a lot of money. Three men turned down the same side street a few seconds later. The three men had boarded the train when William did. They saw the three armed men standing there waiting and chose to walk past them on the other side of the street.

  William and his bodyguards walked back up the street they had just walked down and turned the corner out of sight but a few seconds later they stepped back into sight. The three men had started back up the street, now they turned to talk to each other. Gus walked away while William and Goliath watched the three men who were still some way down the street. When Gus returned he had his chaise but he kept it out of sight of the three men in the other street.

  When William and Goliath walked out of their sight, the three men started up the street but when they reached the corner there was no sign of William and his bodyguards. They stood looking at all the different carriages that were moving along the street and the carriages turning from or into the street but they could not see them.

  Back at the tavern the three men laughed as they drank ale and recounted the tale to Mary and Sarah. William had bet wisely and placed his bets with several bookies which won him seven thousand pounds altogether, now it was safe in the bank up the road. He had had no intentions of opening a bank account before but now he was stuck in the nineteenth century, he thought that it was advisable to have one. He now had to buy a house and earn enough to live while he still knew the outcome of the races he went to. Seven thousand was a good start to his new life; he had paid Gus and Goliath and still had one hundred pounds in his pocket. He needed a wardrobe as he was wearing Gus’s coat and trousers at the moment and they were not a good fit.

  Over the next few days William looked into buying a house, bought clothes to wear and invested in worthy ventures. Across the way the house was just as he had found it in the morning when he hoped to return to his own time, nothing had been done. He did make an effort and looked for his opening again, just in case but there was no sign of it.

  He went house hunting but this time with a view to being fairly close to the tavern as he had grown to like Goliath, Gus, Mary and Sarah. The latter two were now living in the tavern and Mary was busy planning the wedding. She had pictured a low key affair to keep costs down but William was having none of it, it would be in a church and the reception would be at the tavern with anyone they wanted there, invited, he was paying for it all.

  The lessons continued and Mary showed a distinct talent for sums whereas Sarah was more at home with spelling. They helped each other out during the lessons and each improved as time passed. Mary took over the accounts and made changes, showing Goliath what she was doing each time and talking him though each price increase, that way she was able to start teaching Goliath some maths and spelling without him noticing.

  William bought a house a few doors away but this house had a garden. It was far too big for him but he thought that if he was stuck here he would have to make a life for himself and he did not see it as being celibate.

  One day while he was sitting in his garden Sarah arrived, he had had the grass scythed and then kept it short like a lawn and was sitting admiring it when she walked round the corner into the garden.

  ‘There you are, I was looking for you Mr. Just,’ she still called him Mr. Just despite his arguments, ‘when we escaped the flames and went into your other house, I saw a newspaper in there with the date July 2010 on it. That means you came from the future and I have been there without seeing what it was like.’

  ‘Is that why you follow me every time I go over to the house across from the tavern, Sarah?’

  ‘Yes, just so I can see what it is like, when are you going back?’

  ‘Never unless something spectacular happens, I was looking for the ladder the next morning but there was no ladder and no door.’

  ‘I thought that that was what you were doing but when you couldn’t find it and was all unhappy I realised something was wrong but tell me, what happens if the door closes with that ladder through it?’

  ‘The ladder gets chopped in half...,’ William stopped talking when the realisation that there was no half a ladder laying there and no ashes either, ‘so what happened?’

  ‘I know I am only thirteen and of no consequence but can the future be changed by what goes on in the past, Mr. Just?’

  ‘I think it can.’

  ‘Then if the house remains a ruin, surely you can’t live in it in the future?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘So if I didn’t live there then my door would be wherever I did live!’ William cried and leapt out of the chair he was sitting in. ‘That means all I have to do is to find where I was living and I will find my door.’

  ‘Surely, if you rebuilt the house then you would change the future back to how it was?’

  ‘But that would take time and the thing that creates my door runs on something that would run out long before then. If I can work out where I was living and find my door I can make changes and hopefully sort it all out.’

  Sarah did not answer.

  ‘If I do get to go back, it will be thanks to you and I will take you with me for a trip but you must never mention it to anyone or they will lock you away in Bedlam.’ William added.

  Sarah smiled.

  ‘My mother won’t talk about it, she knows something was odd about it but she likes to keep to what she knows, I want to learn more now that I have started.’

  ‘So now I have to go back to when I was searching for a flat.’ William acknowledged.

  ‘A flat what?’ Sarah asked.

 
‘A set of rooms in a house is called a flat in the future and I could not afford to live in a house then. I was looking for a place and found a flat in the house across the road from the tavern.’

  ‘So which other flat would you have chosen, if you did not take that one?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Now that is a good question, I will try to remember which flats I looked at and then visit each house to see if the door is in there.’

  They put their heads together and made a list of places that William had visited until the new clock chimed and Sarah had to run back to the tavern to do her chores. This left William to finish the list and work out where the house was in the past.

  He finally walked to the tavern for a meal and a pint, Sarah served him with a cheeky smile but said nothing. He sat there talking to Goliath and Gus during the evening to see what was going on over the road. The answer was nothing, it was not being rebuilt, not yet anyway. Sarah cleaned tables, moving closer and closer, listening what they were saying.

  William could see her listening as they talked and turned the conversation to the search for the flat he might have moved in to, if the flat he ended up in was not available. It was a long shot but it was worth looking into just in case he could find it before the money in the meter ran out, if it was on a pay-as-you-go meter.

  ‘I need to hire you tomorrow, Gus, to go and look at some places I might be interested in.’ He declared loud enough for Sarah to hear.

  ‘But you bought a house!’ Goliath pointed out.

  ‘I am only looking, but property is always a good investment.’ William answered.

  ‘If I am taking you I can’t be taking anyone else can I and that is how I earn my living.’ Gus answered dryly.

  He knew he would be well paid for his trouble.

  ‘Do you fancy a ride in the chaise tomorrow, Sarah?’ William asked, as she was quite close by now.

  ‘I don’t know if I can, Mr. Just, I have chores to do all day.’ Sarah answered.

  ‘Do you want to go, Sarah?’ Goliath asked.

  Sarah nodded her head.

  ‘Then I will sort it out with your mother, you will have to be up early to do some of your chores but we will do the rest of for you.’ Goliath continued.

  ‘Thank you, Mr. Flint.’ Sarah said gratefully and continued with her work.

  William smiled, it was the outcome Sarah wanted and William wanted her with him rather than back in the tavern fretting. She had seen where he came from and had taken note, unlike Mary who had brushed the whole thing to one side.

  The next morning he had no need to walk to the tavern, Sarah was there in the chaise with Gus, waiting to take him wherever he wanted to go. William had a list of flats he had looked at but he did not know if some of the houses had been built yet.

  ‘Do you know where Snow Fields is?’ He asked.

  ‘I do.’ Gus answered.

  ‘Then take us to Snow Fields please, Gus.’

  ‘What number?’

  ‘No number, just go along Snow Fields so that I can see what it is like, I am thinking of buying a house there if I like the area.’

  Gus shrugged his shoulders and they were on their way. Sarah and William talked as they travelled through the streets of London, until Gus turned into Snow Fields.

  ‘Stop here.’ William ordered.

  Gus stopped the chaise obligingly, after all William was paying. William looked about and then crossed off the address he had on his list.

  ‘I’ll try Long Lane next.’

  Gus did not argue, he moved the chaise and turned round in the street, to go back the way they had come. Five minutes later they were in Long Lane, he casually looked at the house he wanted to look at but the part where the flat was, had not been built yet, it was another failure.

  ‘We’ll go to Potters next, if you’ve heard of it?’

  ‘I know where Potters is.’ Gus answered.

  Potters was a possible and they looked at the terraced house for some time before they moved on, he marked it as a possible, although someone was living in the house and it was not for sale. He would have to offer well over the asking price for such a house, to even get them to take notice of him. They drove on.

  ‘Tanner Street next?’

  ‘Never heard of that one, not round this area.’ Gus answered.

  ‘Leathermarket?’

  ‘No.’ Gus replied.

  ‘Gainsford Street?’

  ‘I know that one.’ Gus answered.

  They spent the rest of the morning trawling the streets without success and William could picture his prepaid electricity meter getting lower and lower. Time was important but they had to go back and eat. Gus fed and watered the horse before he ate, to save time William read out his list so that he could cross off the streets which were not there at that time. Gus did not ask questions, he just told William which streets he had heard of and if they were in their locality.

  After they had eaten they searched again. The last place was Crosby Row but that was another dead end.

  ‘So where do we go now?’ Gus asked.

  ‘Just drive us around this area and I will try to find somewhere I like.’ William answered.

  He actually hoped that he would recognise somewhere as one of his possible but on another street. He was hoping for a miracle, even Sarah had given up the thought of another trip into the future.

  Gus took the chaise along street after street, not going fast but at a leisurely pace, designed to let the occupants see what was about. The passed along Snow Fields a second time and travelled up Bermondsey Street as far as Long Lane and turned down that but Gus turned into New Western Street then into Guy’s Street, heading for the church, when he turned into Nelson Street to re-join Long Lane, they passed a tavern and William recognised the building, or thought he did. He could just be being fanciful but they stopped while he walked up to it.

  He had looked at a flat in and old building which used to be a pub but that was on Kipling’s Street and this was Nelson Street, was it the same building? At least he could go in and find out as the tavern was open, he looked back to the chaise.

  ‘Do you fancy a pint, Gus?’

  ‘Do I ever say no?’ Gus answered.

  He gave the horse some water then put on the nosebag, before he followed the other two inside. Sarah was not taking no for an answer, just in case. Inside they found a corner table to sit round. The tavern was empty apart from them, that meant the man behind the bar was pleased to see them.

  ‘What can I get for you gents?’ He asked.

  ‘Two flagons of your best ale and something for the girl.’ William answered.

  ‘The wife makes her own lemon drink when she can afford the lemons, will that do?’ The man behind the bar asked.

  ‘That will be fine.’ William answered.

  They sat and talked while they waited and William ordered food as well, then invited the tavern owner to join them.

  ‘How are things going?’ He asked to break the ice.

  ‘Fairly good,’ the tavern owner answered, ‘we are usually slow during the day but we are busy at night.’

  ‘Do you rent out rooms?’ William asked.

  He knew exactly where the flat was in the building, if this was the building and he wanted to look inside it, just to see.

  ‘Yes we do, we have four rooms up there but one is no longer used as we have had lodgers who say that it is haunted, you can hear strange noises in there.’ The tavern owner answered.

  William was immediately interested.

  ‘Haunted, you say. I am not afraid of ghosts, in fact I might spend the night here just to prove it!’ He declared.

  ‘It is the only empty room, so you would have to stay in it, if you wanted to stay.’ The tavern owner answered.

  ‘Well you can add the cost of the room for one week to the bill and I will go up and investigate this room.’ William exclaimed, coming to a decision.

  He was thinking that the noises might just be the opening back into the t
wenty first century that he was looking for, it was worth looking into.

  ‘I will tell the wife to get it ready, she is a little deaf so she doesn’t hear the noises.’ The tavern owner replied and left them to eat the rest of their food.

  Sarah waited until the tavern owner had gone.

  ‘Can I investigate with you, Mr. Just?’ She asked.

  William looked at Gus.

  ‘What do you think, Gus, would that be proper?’

  ‘Proper, no, but she is a headstrong girl now that she can read and write, I can see her coming back here anyway, so I think I would rather leave her with you than have her walking through the streets to find her way back here.’ Gus answered.

  William looked at Sarah.

  ‘If there are two bedrooms you can stay, if not you will have to come back when you have finished your chores in the morning.’

  ‘That sounds fair,’ Gus declared, ‘and I will bring you back here free of charge.’

  Sarah crossed her fingers, hoping for two rooms. If it was the opening she wanted to go through it again.

  Later the tavern owner cleared away the dirty plates and then returned.

  ‘The room is ready Mr....’ He said quietly.

  ‘Just, William Just, this is Sarah Marchant and that is Gus Wheeler, we’ll have a look at it if we may.’

  The tavern owner led them up a flight of stairs, then up another, smaller flight of stairs which seemed familiar to William. At the top there were two doors, one to the right and one to the left. The left door was the vacant room and they inspected it. It did have two bedrooms and two beds which made Sarah smile.

  Both William and Sarah walked from room to room looking for a sign of the opening but they did not find it but if it was causing the strange noises, they would hear them when they were alone and it was quiet.