The History Channel

by S G Read

  He walked back to his door into the future and now he could mark the position on his controls, he needed to bring the time forward to make sure that James was still in there and alive before he decided on his next move. It took time and a lot more swearing but then he had all the time in the world, he was controlling it, albeit haphazardly.

  Four hours later and with a lot of complaint William had moved forward by two weeks although the controls ended up exactly where they had been for the previous time. He knew it was two weeks because the cook in the house he revisited, told him.

  Now William needed to know that James was still inside. He crept through the bushes, trying to keep out of sight until he was close to the house James had been taken into. He looked in each window downstairs but saw no one except James’ captors. He listened for an hour to learn what was going on and knew that when Tom Barber arrived he was going to have the pleasure of killing James. William had two courses of action, go in now and free James or go and get help and hope that James was still alive when they returned.

  He elected to involve Goliath and Gus and hurried back to the door to the future, he figured that if they failed he could come back through the door and free James before he was killed. He took a taxi from the workshop to his flat and hurried through into Victorian Tooley Street. He was puffing when he arrived at the tavern.

  ‘Tom Barber’s men have James out in the Kent countryside, I know where he is but I need your help to free him.’ He announced when both men were present.

  ‘Let’s go.’ Goliath cried and picked up his pistol and the club he always kept under the bar beside it.

  Gus and William followed Goliath out of the tavern and climbed into the chaise. Seconds later they were on the way out of London. They had a long journey ahead of them but William knew just how to get there, he was following the cook’s directions.

  The journey was long and the road was not the best road Gus had ever travelled on but there were no complaints, apart from the odd massaging of parts they needed to massage. As they trundled through the countryside, William told Gus which way to go when they came to each turning and finally William nodded to the drive to their right.

  ‘That’s the house James is being held in but we need to approach it carefully. Keep going for a few hundred yards, there is a track which leads back toward the house.’ He said quietly, more to keep the other’s voices at the same level.

  Gus nodded and drove on and Goliath said nothing on the matter, they both knew his feelings, he was for going up to the front door, kicking it open, which they knew he could do, and go in fighting. William was for a more stealthy approach. The cart stopped when William tapped Gus on the shoulder and all three climbed out of the chaise and were glad to do so. They stretched and generally loosened up ready to move on, then William led the way up to the window he had first looked in. There was no sign of anybody so they moved on to the back door. As they moved, they heard a scream from the rooms above, it was unmistakably James screaming.

  ‘Well at least we know he is still alive.’ Gus whispered.

  The back door was locked. Goliath soon had it open but he used the jemmy he had with him instead of his boot, to keep the noise down. Now they moved through the house looking for the stairs, ready for action should they run into one of Barber’s men but they all appeared to be upstairs watching what Barber was doing to James. They moved up the stairs slowly, William in the lead and trying each step to see if it was going to creak before he put his weight on it.

  James screamed again, a long agonising scream and William used the noise to reach the top of the stairs with the other two close behind. The landing was clear and they started to move toward the room they thought the noise was coming from. Goliath took the lead and peered round the next corner, there was an armed man there watching what was going on even though he was supposed to be keeping guard. Goliath waited for the next scream and then moved forward in a hurry, as he had the jemmy in his hand he used that to render the guard unconscious or worse, he did not hold back on the blow. He caught the guard and the gun, then dragged him away. With a clear hall they arrived at the room James was being tortured in. They stopped at the doorway to listen to what Barber was saying.

  ‘It’s easy, tell me where Just is and it will all be over.’ Barber said in what was a gentle voice for him.

  ‘That sounds easy but he could be anywhere in any year.’ James answered truthfully.

  ‘There you go again, ‘Barber complained, ‘talking nonsense will not help you.’

  The three men outside the room exchanged glances and moved forward as one, their weapons ready. The only person to see them come in was James but he did not let that show on his face, it remained a mask.

  ‘If you must know where William is, look behind you.’ James said when it looked like the three men were ready in his estimation. It was a controlled a little by the pain he had already suffered. He did not want any more.

  One man looked round and froze but did not drop the gun he was carrying. The other four men looked round when the man who had looked round cleared his throat. When Barber saw William the action started, he wanted Just dead at all cost. His pistol was tucked in his belt and he did not hesitate in drawing it. William fired as soon as he started to draw and this time he was aiming to kill. Barber felt the impact of the bullet but still drew his pistol as William shot another man with his second pistol. Gus shot the first man to look round and Goliath shot the last man, leaving them with unloaded pistols. Barber took aim at William and fired but James had his feet free. He managed to land a kick as he fired and the shot missed. Barber screamed in anger and charged but Goliath was having none of it. The two met head on.

  They were two big man and despite being shot Barber was not holding back, they traded blows and then wrestled. Goliath was no light weight and he was angry, each time he managed to hit Barber, it was with his full might.

  Gus moved round and untied James while William reloaded his pistols in case Goliath was beaten by Barber. Barber suddenly found a lot of power and threw Goliath out of his way but by now James was free and he leapt on Barber, despite his age and the fact that he had been tied to the chair longer than he wanted to think about. Barber tried to dislodge him and while he was doing that Gus moved in and hit him with his pistol butt as hard as he could. Barber staggered back but soon recovered, he threw James to the floor and kicked Gus out of the way. Now he was free to get his revenge on William. He took two steps forward and found Goliath in the way again. The fight between to two big men continued with neither getting the upper hand but Barber was finding hard going now. Goliath suddenly took hold of him and lifted him bodily into the air. With Barber struggling to free himself Goliath carried him across the room and threw him out of the window.

  Goliath took the trouble to look out of the window and saw that Barber was still moving. He cursed and he was soon on his way downstairs with Gus and William following. The three other men in the room were dead and the man on the landing had not moved. James had returned to the chair to get his breath back.

  They arrived where Barber had landed but he was gone. All three stood looking round for sign of him and sure enough there was a blood trail leading away from the spot where he landed. They started to follow the blood trail, they turned to first corner and then the second until they were walking round the back of the house and Goliath started moving faster, he knew James was still inside and the back door stood wide open. William took the chance to reload one of his pistols as they hurried along. As Goliath hurried inside Barber swung his feet and knocked Goliath backwards into Gus and both sprawled on the ground. Goliath was unconscious and on top of Gus who was fighting to get him off so that he could get at Barber. Barber dropped to the floor and stood face to face with William.

  ‘So we meet at last,’ Barber sneered, ‘now you die.’

  ‘You first.’ William invited and fired his pistol.

  The ball hit Barber and caused him to stagger back a pace but he did
not go down, he shook himself and moved forward again.

  ‘That won’t stop me.’ He roared.

  James appeared behind him with the jemmy in his hands and hit Barber as hard as he could on the head, that had more effect and Barber fell to his knees. As Barber did not go all the way down, James hit him again. Barber caught the jemmy and stood up again.

  ‘Your turn will come.’ He warned and moved toward William who was trying to load his pistol again.

  Gus was still on the floor but he had managed to free his blunderbuss and fired it from where he lay, it was loaded with anything that would cause a lot of damage and it not only broke one of Goliath’s ribs with the recoil, it also threw Barber into the back wall of the house. He remained there upright for a few seconds, with the other three wondering if that had finally stopped him, then he fell to the floor. William continued loading his pistol while James climbed over Barber and retrieved the Jemmy. Gus continued to try to free himself from Goliath and at the same time they were all watching to see what barber did next. Goliath opened his eyes and was aware of the pain in his side when he sat up. Barber was on the ground and he realised that Gus was stuck underneath him.

  ‘What happened?’ He asked.

  ‘He did what I think was a drop kick on you and you landed on Gus but James hit him with the jemmy and I shot him to give Gus time to free his blunderbuss and shoot Barber with it.’

  ‘You actually fired that thing?’ Goliath asked.

  ‘Had to, the pistol I took from the guard was empty and I didn’t have time to reload it.’ Gus answered.

  ‘And you fired from there?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘I think I know where the stock was resting when you fired.’ Goliath complained.

  ‘Sorry about that, needs must and all that.’ Gus replied.

  ‘It was understandable but I am going to need a hand up.’ Goliath replied.

  Between them James and William managed to get Goliath to his feet, after a lot of complaint from Goliath. With him on his feet Gus could get up and he immediately started to reload his blunderbuss, just in case.

  ‘What comes next?’ James asked.

  ‘The easiest thing is to dig some holes and drop them in them,’ Goliath answered, ‘but this rib rules me out of helping you do that.’

  It fell on Gus and William to dig the holes, neither was used to hard work like it and it showed, but by digging on the garden which was easier to dig, they were able to dig holes deep enough to drop each body into. They had no idea if they were dead but then they did not really care. When a hole was ready they dragged each body to it, rolled them into it and filled the hole again, without a word.

  ‘Archaeologists are going to have a good time in the future if they should dig here.’ William exclaimed as they were burying barber.

  ‘Why should they dig here,’ Gus asked, they usually do all their work overseas, don’t they?’

  ‘I suppose they do really.’ William answered, not wishing to mention television programmes that dig in the British countryside. They levelled the ground as best they could to make them look less like graves and even transplanted plants on to the graves to help disguise them, should someone come to investigate the shooting. Then they started back for London, with Goliath complaining about every jolt and pot hole on the way.

  When they arrived back at the tavern, Mary wrapped Goliath’s chest up in a swathe of bandages and he was ordered to rest in bed while, Gus and William ran the tavern with the help of Sarah who listened intently to the story of the rescue, when all was quiet during the evening. For once William had not employed any modern weapons and it had nearly caused trouble but he was glad he had kept to the weapons available at the time. James returned to the twenty first century soon after getting back to London so that he could get some twenty first century medicine for his wounds. William had insisted in him having the same sort of health plan as he had, and paid for it. James was glad of that now.

  For the next week life returned to normal and both Sarah and Mary smiled occasionally, with barber dead and buried they had good reason to smile. All Mary said about it was that it should have happened a long time ago.

  At the end of the week Goliath came down into the bar, he was fed up with lying in bed and his chest was a lot easier now. William slipped him some paracetamol now and then to help with the pain, just so that he could do something while he was in the bar. James arrived as well after a week of treatment at the private clinic, all paid for by his health plan.

  ‘Did I miss anything?’ He asked when he walked in.

  ‘Not a lot,’ Gus answered, ‘just that big one there whinging about his chest.’

  ‘I’m surprised that that blunderbuss of yours did not blow up when you fired it.’ James retorted and sat down beside him. ‘Still thanks for the timely rescue.’

  ‘All part of the service.’ Gus answered.

  ‘You are spending too much time with William, Gus.’ James warned.

  ‘That I am but I am not too worried about it, you are both good men.’ Gus answered. ‘How are you now?’

  ‘A lot better with a week’s R and R.’ James answered.

  ‘R and R?’ Gus queried.

  ‘Rest and recuperation, it was what I needed and a pretty nurse to sort me out.’

  ‘I could have nursed you.’ Sarah declared from the table she was cleaning.

  ‘I know that but this was slightly more than just nursing Sarah, I am getting on you know.’ James replied.

  ‘Can I get you anything, sir?’ She asked politely.

  ‘A tankard of your fine ale and a plate of whatever food is available, will be very welcome, after hospital food.’ James admitted.

  He did not go home that night, he slept upstairs the same as William and Gus, none of them were able to do more than climb the stairs and fall into bed. The morning was bright and sunny and everyone was happy, that overhanging shadow had been dispelled forever. James heard the story of the rescue from Gus and Goliath but William kept very quiet on how he found out where James was being held, simply saying that an informant told him, without naming names. James realised that there was more to it but waited until they were back in the twenty first century in the workshop before he pressed further.

  He looked through the window of the workshop when he arrived there before William but it was just as it used to be, his workshop.

  ‘So how did you find me?’ He asked, when William arrived.

  William pointed to the machine he had used.

  ‘I used that but it is certainly a pig to pinpoint a time and place with accuracy.’ He answered. ‘one minute you are in London and with a little tweak you are on the coast, I have marked all the settings I used with both time and place.’

  James examined the dial.

  ‘They are a bit close together, I need to put in secondary controls for fine tuning.’

  ‘Can you do that?’ William asked.

  ‘I have no idea but it will be fun trying if we don’t get eaten or fried doing it.’ James answered.

  William watched for a while and then returned to his flat to sort out the mass of post that had built up. He did have a business to run and he had things which needed to go to auction. By selling more he made more money to invest, he had enough money already to make sure he did not have to work again, in both the twenty first century and the nineteenth century. He read letters and filed them, either in the right file or in the bin, which is where all the begging letters went.

  With no more worries about Barber and his dead brother, life returned to what was normal. They ate in the tavern and Sarah visited. William took her to places she had never seen in England but could not take her overseas unless they used the new television but James was still cataloguing all the positions and fitting, what he called the fine tuning. Sarah had her sixteenth birthday and William realised that he had missed her fifteenth birthday. He made up for it by taking her up to Scotland and they slept in a castle up there. The second part of the treat
was to fly back to London in a private jet.

  The next year followed the same pattern with James making good progress with the television which allowed them to go and visit the pyramids in Egypt. All three went and came back well suntanned.

  The nineteenth century had a lot to offer but then so did the twenty first century, it was not easy to just choose one and stay there. He had to admit that he was now smitten with Sarah. That was why no other girl lasted more than one night. He preferred to be with Sarah but she was only seventeen and he was twenty four and he did not know how acceptable that would be to Mary and Goliath. He came to a decision, he would ask and if the answer was no he would stay in the twenty first century and try to find a girl he could love.

  ‘A penny for them.’ James said when William was oblivious to his presence in front of him.

  ‘Just making a decision.’ William replied.

  ‘It is the norm in Victorian England for an older man to take a younger wife,’ James explained, ‘I looked it up on the web.’

  William looked up at him.

  ‘I think it is expected,’ James added, ‘and you are a rich man who can give her peace and stability, oh and trips into the future.’

  ‘Is this the main topic you are talking about when I am not there then?’ William asked a little shocked.

  ‘Gus and I have discussed it. I know Sarah dotes on you and you like her, so why not make it official and get wed.’ James answered.

  ‘Have you any idea what impact it will have on the time continuum?’ William asked.