Chapter Twenty-Two
Stonehenge was our geographic destination, but our temporal location was Arweth-Cifflu, the bear place, long before Stonehenge was built. Our arrival startled red deer grazing in the new clearing created by Serren and his monks. They danced away towards the river, springing across what would one day become the A303 road. As I watched them go I noticed that the ditch and bank around Stonehenge was still unfinished. The southwest section was merely an arc of marker pegs.
‘Look Vart, the bank’s not finished. Vart looked at me dumbly, and I realised he had never see the bank and ditch. 'It means Farldant is not dead yet. Can I see him?’
Before he could answer, Tori pointed towards the hill that hid the city from our view. ‘Look, people coming.’ We saw a thin scattering of people running towards us. Stragglers were joining them. Most carried spears and bows.
Tori watched them, her face tense. She cocked her rifle, ready for the worst.
‘Don’t worry,’ I told her, ‘we know who they are. Their leader’s not exactly friendly, but you certainly won’t need the gun.’
‘We can’t stay, Jack,’ Vart said, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the gathering crowd. ‘We have to go, quickly.’
‘Why the rush? It’s only Blaith. I just want to see old Farldant before we leave.’
‘We must go now,’ he said firmly. ‘Come over here. Give me your Time Wand. I have to reset it.’
‘OK, keep your hair on. If we must, we must,’ I complained. ‘I only wanted to see Farldant once more.’
‘Think about it,’ Vart snapped. ‘Work it out.’
It came to me almost as he spoke. Glancing back I saw Farldant was there, his bulky frame at Blaith’s shoulder. ‘I’ve worked it out,’ I said. ‘I know what you mean. We have to stick to the algorithm.’
Vart reset our Time Wands. He double checked the old Mark One version, and took Sindra by the wrist so that she would leap with him. If everything went to plan, the old mark one would leap to a different location to the rest of us and quietly cease to exist, but Sindra would stay with us.
‘That’s everything,’ Vart said. ‘Are we all set?’
Tori and I nodded. I was feeling as jumpy as a foal. I saw Tori tense as she watched the approaching river-bend-people. ‘They’re almost here,’ she warned. Pointing her rifle in the air she shouted and fired several shots to scare them off. They stopped in their tracks and watched us vanish. I waved to old Farldant.
Throughout the TM Sindra struggled against her bindings. A second later the great sarsen stones of the Stonehenge circle appeared around me. A full moon shone brilliantly from a starry sky. I found myself facing a scraggy haired, bearded man. He had a crown of ivy on his head and a shabby robe belted at his waist. He was carrying a garish red and yellow haversack. Gaping he flung it at my face and screamed.
Tori stepped up to him. ‘Me Martian. Who you?’
He fainted.
Giggling she straightened his long robe to preserve his dignity. ‘I can’t wait to read about that in the papers.’
‘Come on, this is two thousand and eight. We’re nearly finished,’ Vart laughed. ‘The old Mark One has deactivated itself. One more leap to Haleakala and everything should be back in place. And you, Sindra, will be locked up.’
Sindra winced and doubled up, convulsed in agony. Tori rushed to help her. Liquid foamed at Sindra’s mouth. She was having a fit. Vart knelt beside her, wiped her mouth and passed his arm beneath her. Sindra rolled and writhed, tearing at her clothes as if they were burning.
‘Help her! Help her! What’s wrong with her?’ Tori cried.
Sindra gasped and croaked, tears streaking her cheeks as she looked into the shocked faces around her.
A wet patch formed on Sindra’s skirt as her bladder relaxed and emptied. I saw she was trying to speak but her voice was just a strange croaking sound.
‘I think it’s the cuff,’ Tori said. ‘I think she said something about the cuff.'
Grim faced, Vart reached over her convulsing body to grab her wrist. ‘I took it off her as we leapt, I don’t see how it could be that.’ He tore the gaffer tape from her wrists and checked her pulse. ‘It looks like TM sickness, some people can’t take too much time leaping.’
Tori was in tears. ‘We must do something, she’s in pain.’
Vart looked about miserably. ‘I can’t help her. I don’t know what to do.’
Sindra’s screaming stopped. Her one eye rolled showing only the white as she sagged into Vart’s arms. Suddenly springing to her feet, she snatched his rifle, grabbed Tori as a shield and took her Time Wand. She fumbled to reset it with one hand, whilst holding the rifle muzzle against Tori’s chin with the other.
‘Gimme your guns and that bag too,’ she yelled.
I found I was still clutching the old druid guy’s red and yellow haversack. I tossed it to her. She caught it with a sweep of her arm and began struggling madly to open it. She shook out its contents; some cans of beer and a pair of trainers. ‘Hurry up! Your weapons, put ‘em in this. She dropped the bag in front of her and tugged open its neck with here toe. ‘Hand ‘em over. Don’t get any clever ideas about shooting me while I’m in TM. We don’t want that, do we?’
We did as she said. We had no choice. ‘Please, Sindra, please let Tori go,’ I begged, well aware I had no bargaining power whatsoever. She held all trumps and she knew how to play them. She had fooled us all. Her portrayal of TM sickness was flawless – even to wetting herself.
‘Ah, the young hero. How thrilling,’ she sneered. ‘Get back, superman or she gets it.’ She shoved Tori away from her and pointed her gun at us. ‘Get their Time Wands, Tori. Put ‘em in thr bag, like a good little girl. But one wrong step and I shoot. I’ve nothing to lose, so don’t get any bright ideas.’
Tori gingerly stepped towards us and reached out to take Vart’s Time Wand. ‘We’ll trace you, Sindra. You’ll never get away with it,’ said Vart, giving up his device.
Mine was stuck in my belt. I loosened it as Tori approached. She was shaking and glancing anxiously from me to Sindra. ‘TM wrong,’ whispered Tori.
I looked at my TM. It was not wrong. It was that one I’d used. What was she talking about? She was twitching her head and pulling faces, obviously trying to tell me something but I too stupid to get what it was. Tori gazed at me despairingly.
Sindra jerked her gun about threateningly. ‘Hurry up you little fool! Get his Time Wand.’ Tori reached out for it, but I stepped aside and held on to it, holding it up high for Sindra to see. ‘How important is this to you, Sindra?’ I asked, moving slowly between her and Tori. ‘If I keep it I can follow you.’
‘Don’t be stupid. Hand it over or I’ll shoot. I’ll give you five seconds.’
‘You can’t shoot me,’ I said. ‘If you do Vart will leap on to you before you can get off a second shot. You know how fast he is. You’ve seen him in action. You wouldn’t stand a chance.’ I inched to the side increasing the distance between me and Vart. He got the message and eased towards her, building the pressure on her.
‘You’ve got a Time Wand, and you’ve got out guns,’ I said. ‘Quit while you’re ahead, Sindra. If you don’t, you’ll lose everything. You might get one shot off and kill me, but you’ll certainly die doing it.’
Sindra looked around in growing panic. She shouldered the red and yellow haversack, stared around one last time and then operated her Time Wand. She vanished in a flash of brilliant light.
*
‘Hey Dobbin! Are you coming to the barbie? I might even dance with you a bit.’ The Beardies have smuggled us in some Scrumpy, and Professor Baldwin has gone to the pub. The coast is clear.'
'OK I'll be there in a minute.'
'What's that around your neck?'
'Oh it’s a bear tooth. That guy, Doctor Vart, gave it to me for finding the arrow head this morning. It's cool isn't it?'
'Not bad.' Tori swung away on her long legs, and this time she did look back. You know what,
I think she's beginning to – you know - like me a little bit. I told my dad when he rang. He said I shouldn't try to understand her. He said “women are an enigma”.
Enigma, huh? I'll look it up when I get to a dictionary. I've still got to check out eviscerate too. I do hope it’s sexy.
The End
For now
Glossary of Vart’s Stone Age language
Adriaf To home
Afon River
Afon Bash Pobl River bend people
Angen Want to
Arweth Bear
Arweth cifflu Bear-place
Atal Stop
Ayg Sunrise
Ayoon dar Very good
Bash Bend
Beru Spear
Blaith Wolf
Boredith Day break
Chy Dog
Chy dun Dog man
Cifflu Place
Claerder Brightness
Eflint Flint
Erutruin Eagle-nose
Ery Eagle
Esgoth Priest
Farl Flame
Golow Eye-light
Gulathol Of a country
Gwibah Adder
Halo Sun
Kadn Fox
Kafel Temple
Karu Deer
Kethin Dark
Kufth Dawn
Lued Moon
Maruth Death
Pen Chief
Pen-Esgoth High Priest
Pobl People
Sayrath Talk to
Seren Stars
Tanu Fire
Tharanu Thunder
Torlan Bank of river
Treendun Broken nose
Truin Nose
Tuprah Stupid
Ty You
About the Author
Brian Sellars was born in Sheffield in 1941 where he attended St Joseph’s primary and St Vincent’s secondary schools. Aged fifteen he started work in the steelworks as an apprentice electrician, but switched to become a sales rep, and later sales manager. He travelled extensively, mainly in the Far East, USA and Australasia, selling engineering services and capital equipment to oil companies and governments engaged in large civil engineering projects.
Brian has been married over fifty years. He and his wife live in a village near Bath, England. Now retired, he spends his time writing, doing woodwork, exploring old British towns and villages, and doing what his wife calls, “Looking at bumps in fields.”
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to the pupils and teachers at St Laurence School, Bradford on Avon, who critiqued my MSS and helped me with their ideas and suggestions.
Some great websites to check out:
A real underground city www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/underground_city
The underground factory www.chocolatechipdesign.co.uk/nettleden
Time travel www.lifesci.sussex.ac.uk/home/John_Gribbin/timetrav.htm
Stonehenge www.stonehenge.co.uk
The Stonehenge (city) www.shef.ac.uk/archaeology/research/stonehenge
Stone circles www.stonehenge-avebury.net/
Devizes Museum www.devizes-tc.gov.uk/museum.htm
Time Rocks Page 57