Chapter 4
Austin Confides
Wednesday 3rd November 2010
Austin’s first lesson of the day was Science. Mr Jones told them to write up an experiment from the previous lesson. As he sat down at his desk, he noticed Austin was looking nervously at him, rotating his pen in his hand.
‘Are you okay, Austin?’ he asked.
Austin swallowed hard. ‘You know the other day, Sir?’ he began, tears coming to his eyes.
‘Do you want to talk outside?’ said Mr Jones, gently.
Austin nodded, and they both stepped outside the classroom. Mr Jones handed Austin a tissue he had taken from the box on his desk, and Austin dabbed at his eyes, fighting off the tears.
‘What about the other day?’ asked Mr Jones.
‘It’s happened again,’ continued Austin, ‘and this time Jordan followed me.’
‘What happened again?’
‘You know,’ whispered Austin, ‘I got here 13 minutes before I left.’
Mr Jones’s demeanour changed from concerned to exasperated in a split second. ‘For God’s sake, Austin, I thought something was wrong!’ he said. ‘I don’t take kindly to students winding me up during my lessons!’
Tears came back to Austin’s eyes. ‘I’m not winding you up, Sir, honest! It really happened, and this time Jordan followed me, and now he’s not here. He never arrived.’
‘What do you mean, never arrived? And what happened exactly?’
‘I went through this abandoned house - it’s a short cut to school - and I arrived here 13 minutes before I left! But I had to hide in the toilet so Jordan wouldn’t catch me ‘cos he was going to beat me up for getting him excluded, and then he didn’t arrive at school.’
Mr Jones stood there for a moment. Austin wondered what was going through his mind. You know I don’t make things up, he thought, as if Mr Jones would be able to read his mind. Austin went over what he’d just said, and tried to imagine if someone had told him that very same thing a few days ago. This made him feel a hundred times worse, so he stopped.
‘Austin, I was only joking the other day, as I thought you were. And Jordan’s probably off sick. You really mustn’t make up these stories. People will think you’re mad.’
Maybe I am, thought Austin.
‘But, Sir, when I arrived this morning, I phoned myself at home. How d’you explain that?’
‘I’m going to pretend you never said that, Austin,’ Mr Jones replied. ‘We’re going back in the classroom, and we’ll pretend this conversation never happened. All right?’
Austin opened his mouth to protest, but realised it was useless. Mr Jones’s mind was made up. Reluctantly, he returned to his seat and began writing. When the bell went, Mr Jones dismissed the class but kept Austin behind.
‘Look, Austin, I’d like to think I have an open mind, but this time-travel thing..? I’m going to prove to you that it’s not real. Be here tomorrow at eight, and we’ll phone your home. All right?’
Austin grinned, and nodded vigorously.
‘Now off you go,’ said Mr Jones, and went back inside the classroom.
Jordan Eavesdrops
Friday 3rd November 2023
The distant sound of voices from outside brought Jordan back into the room from his reverie. He opened his eyes and wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. He strained his ears to try and make out what the voices were saying. There was a man and a woman talking. No, wait, there were two women and a man talking, and yes, there was a dog, too; a dog barking. A small dog.
Jordan rose to his feet. What are they saying, he thought, maybe they know what’s going on? He made his way through the kitchen door, which led into the living room. It shouldn’t lead into the living room. It should lead into the hallway. The living room was carpeted, but apart from an aerial lead sticking out of the wall, it was empty. The voices immediately became louder, and Jordan noticed that the top window was open. They were talking about the house.
‘Nobody’s lived there more than a few weeks,’ said one of the women, ‘Folks just couldn’t stay.’
She sounds quite old, thought Jordan.
‘Who is it haunted by?’ This came from a younger female voice.
Haunted? Jordan shivered. That’s all I need.
‘A boy,’ said the first woman. ‘I was walking Chipper one night, when I heard a voice coming from inside. I thought it was odd, ‘cos it was empty, like now.’
‘Did you see it?’ Now it was the man’s turn to speak. There was something about the voice that made Jordan frown. Do I know that voice?
The older woman answered, ‘No, dear, I only heard it. It called out a boy’s name. Over and over again, like it was looking for him.’
Like I was doing just now, thought Jordan.
‘What name?’ asked the man. He sounded excited by the idea. Jordan continued to listen. The older woman said she couldn’t remember, but the man was impatient to know. That voice, thought Jordan. There’s something about that voice. Then the younger woman said something that made Jordan’s eyes bulge open in surprise.
‘Come on, Austin, she can’t remember.’
Austin! The man’s called Austin!
Austin’s Lie
Wednesday 3rd November 2010
That evening, Austin had finished his homework and was watching television with his parents, when the doorbell sounded. His dad rose from his armchair and went to the door. Moments later, he called for Austin. Reluctantly, Austin rose from the armchair, and sauntered down the corridor. When he reached the front door, he met two policemen holding a photograph of Jordan.
‘A lad from your school’s gone missing,’ said Austin’s dad. ‘Have you seen him?’
Many thoughts tumbled through Austin’s head at that moment, mostly echoes of feelings and reactions he’d been agonising over since that morning. What can I tell them? They wouldn’t believe me anyway. I don’t believe me! If I let on that Jordan followed me into the house today and then disappeared I could get into all sorts of trouble, especially if the only explanation I can give is that he vanished through a hole in time! They might arrest me, or put me in prison, or something.
‘That’s Jordan,’ said Austin. ‘He wasn’t at school today.’
‘So you haven’t seen him?’ asked one of the policemen.
Austin shook his head. ‘Not at school,’ he said, then added hastily, ‘but I think I saw him briefly on the way.’
‘You think you saw him?’ said the other policeman, ‘why do you say think?’
‘Well,’ said Austin, ‘he was sort of far away, at the corner of Hawthorn Avenue? He must’ve gone round the corner, ‘cos when I got there, he was long gone.’
‘Which way did he go?’ said the first policeman.
Austin shrugged. ‘I didn’t see. Sorry.’
The policemen thanked them and went on their way. His dad closed the door, said something about the ‘state of the world today’, and went back to the living room to watch their programme. But Austin wasn’t in the mood for watching television any more. He was too busy beating himself up inside for lying. At times of stress, Austin argued with himself inside his head, taking both parts, playing ‘devil’s advocate’. But this time, both sides lost.
Where the hell is Jordan?
Another Austin
Friday 3rd November 2023
Austin! The man’s called Austin! Jordan’s heart thumped in his chest so loudly he thought the voices on the other side of the wall would hear it. Then the woman said, ‘That’s it! That’s the name! It was calling out Austin! Isn’t that odd?’
Odd’s not the word I’d use to describe it, thought Jordan. This is beyond odd; beyond weird. This is well creepy! Maybe the old woman heard me? But that can’t be. I’ve not been here before now and she said she’d heard it before.
Jordan crept silently up to the edge of the window to peek at the people outside, but he had to duck back out of sight quickly, as the man had come forward to
the window to look in. Jordan waited for a few seconds, but then his curiosity overcame his desire to remain hidden, and he walked in front of the window to put faces to the voices. The other Austin was walking away, but the woman saw him immediately, and her face registered a look of shock. The man stopped still. For a few seconds he didn’t turn round, but when he did, Jordan thought he recognised his face. The man looked surprised at first. Then, Jordan was surprised to see the man display an intense look of relief.
Jordan watched as the man mouthed his name. He tried to move, but found that he was totally transfixed. He couldn’t tear himself away from that face.
‘Jordan?’ the man repeated, only out loud this time, and phrased as a question.
How does he know my name? thought Jordan, as he watched the woman come forward and hold hands with this other Austin. A thought began to niggle at Jordan’s mind. It couldn’t quite form itself properly yet, but it was working itself into existence with every passing moment: This man is called Austin. He knows you. You recognise him; sort of. The kitchen changed when you walked into it. Jordan knew that all the fragments of his situation went together, but his mind wouldn’t let itself see the whole picture yet.
When it did, Jordan would never be the same again.
The Consequence
Thursday 4th November 2010
After a fitful night’s sleep, Austin rose at the usual time and went downstairs for breakfast. At eight o’clock the phone rang, and his mother answered it.
‘It’s for you, Austin,’ she said, ‘It’s your Tutor.’
Finally, thought Austin, reaching for the receiver, someone who will believe me.
‘Hello, Mr Jones,’ he said.
‘Austin,’ replied Mr Jones, ‘I’m phoning as promised.’
‘Thank-you, Sir. Am I there?’
‘Don’t be absurd, Austin, I’m here at school, and you’re there, at home. How can you be here too?’
‘I’m not there?’ said Austin. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Positive. Now when you get here, I want you to come and see me, all right?’
Austin sighed. Why are things going wrong again? I’ve had enough of this. ‘Yes, Sir,’ he replied.
He left for school at quarter past eight and arrived at eight thirty. The journey took longer than usual, as he’d dawdled at Oak Road because he was debating whether to take the short cut again. Now Jordan had disappeared, it didn’t seem quite as appealing. What if I disappeared too? He decided to avoid it and turned left instead of right.
He went to see Mr Jones immediately, who took him straight to the Head’s office. Once inside, he saw the same policemen who’d called at his house the previous night. His face went pale; he was sure the policemen recognised him. The Head was looking at Austin, his face grave.
‘Do you remember these policemen, Austin?’ he asked.
Austin nodded.
‘They have a question to ask you,’ continued the Head.
The taller of the two policemen handed him the photo of Jordan.
‘Are you sure you didn’t see where Jordan went?’ he asked. ‘Think carefully. He’s been missing for twenty-four hours now. His life could be in grave danger.’
Austin felt his face give himself away. His cheeks burned with the heat of shame and embarrassment, and his eyes filled with tears. He had to bite his lower lip to stop himself from crying.
Mr Jones lightly touched Austin on the shoulder, and when he turned, he saw that his tutor had brought up a chair for him to sit on.
‘Sit down, Austin,’ he said, gently, ‘and tell us everything.’
Austin gratefully sat on the chair, and smiled weakly at Mr Jones, who smiled back. He had a look about him that Austin hadn’t seen before; it was a look of pity, and Austin didn’t like it. Come on, he thought, just tell the truth.
‘I… did see where he went, well, sort of. It was yesterday morning, on my way to school. He wasn’t in front, he was chasing after me, so I went through an abandoned house on Oak Road to get away from him. He came in after me, but I didn’t see him leave.’
‘Blimey!’ said the shorter policeman, ‘they’re due to be demolished this morning!’
Austin’s face went pale at these words. He started to tremble, and his heart felt as if it could leap from his chest at any moment. ‘I didn’t know,’ he wailed, ‘I didn’t know. I’m sorry, but he was always following me, and calling me names, and hitting me, and throwing things at me, and -’
The policeman took his walkie-talkie off his belt and spoke into it, but Austin didn’t hear a word. All he could hear was a buzzing in his ears, then his vision blurred and he passed out.
When he came to, the school nurse was administering first aid. The policemen had left. Only Mr Jones and the Head remained in the office.
‘I phoned your parents, Austin,’ said the Head. ‘They’re coming to fetch you.’
The school nurse helped Austin to his feet and sat him back on the chair. Mr Jones crouched down beside him and said, ‘ Why didn’t you say this before, Austin? It’s not like you to lie.’
Austin didn’t answer.
‘Is it something to do with all this time travel nonsense?’
Austin still didn’t answer. He had nothing to say. He was more ashamed of himself than he’d ever been in his entire life. What’s more, Mr Jones was right. It wasn’t like him at all. And the time travel thing was nonsense. Maybe I imagined the whole thing, he thought, and now Jordan’s probably dead; buried under a ton of rubble. And it’s all my fault.
Freaked Out
Friday 3rd November 2023
Back at the abandoned house, the other Austin mimed opening a window to Jordan, as the woman came up beside him. Jordan blinked several times, and shook himself. He reached to the handle of the window and managed to open it.
‘Hello Jordan,’ said the other Austin.
‘Hi,’ said Jordan, ‘Do I know you?’
‘Yes, but you may not recognise me. It’s been a long time, at least for me.’
‘Are you an old friend of my Dad’s?’
‘No, Jordan. For me it’s been 13 years since I last saw you. I thought you were dead.’
Jordan shivered. Why would he think I was dead? It’s such a freaky thing to say! He backed away from the window, and he put the mental barriers up. This guy could be anyone. He could be a right weirdo. He made his mind up to get away from this situation as quickly as he could. I wish I hadn’t chased Austin, he thought, it’s not worth this hassle.
‘I’ve got to get to school,’ he said, and turned to go back through the living room door.
‘No, wait!’ said the man. ‘You don’t understand. It’s me, Jordan. It’s Austin.’
Jordan stopped in his tracks. The fragments of his situation reassembled themselves and new information presented itself as an explanation, but Jordan didn’t like it at all. He’s Austin; the same Austin. That’s why you thought you recognised him. That would explain why he said it had been 13 years since he saw you, cos he’s 13 years older. But that would mean...
Jordan didn’t want to finish that sentence. It would mean accepting an impossible situation, and he wasn’t prepared to do that.
‘I’ve got to get to school,’ he said, and went back into the kitchen, but the back door was locked, so Jordan found his way to the front door and tried that. The front door was only locked from the inside, so he opened it and stepped through.
‘Austin’ and the woman were waiting for him.
‘Jordan,’ said Austin, ‘listen to me. You can’t go to school. It was knocked down two years ago. There’s a housing estate there now.’
‘What do you mean? I was there two days ago!’
‘No you weren’t, Jordan. You were there 13 years ago.’
This guy is, like, totally freaking me out, thought Jordan, and replied, ‘13 years ago I was a baby!’
‘No you weren’t, Jordan. Maybe you’d better sit down for a moment.’
‘No!’ he sa
id, and started running.
Jordan had always been a good runner, but now there was an extra incentive to run fast. A mixture of fear and adrenalin pumped energy into Jordan’s leg muscles, making them work harder than they’d ever worked. He barely noticed the houses passing him by as he raced along Oak Road towards his school. For once, school offered up a sanctuary from the madness that had presented itself to him that morning. As he ran, he wiped away tears from his reddened eyes, and resisted the urge to look back. He didn’t want to know who was following him. For once, he just wanted to get to school.
As he ran past the large oak tree on the green, he breathed a sigh of relief, as he knew he was within spitting distance of the school. Any second now he would be able to see the school gates, and the bright red school sign, and the iron railings with the peeling green paint. But then he skidded to a halt. He looked around him, bewildered. The large oak tree was behind him on the green. The post-box stood guarding its letters on the verge. Even old Mr Forester’s white-washed walls and well-kept privet hedge stood proudly to his right. This was definitely the correct place. He had most certainly reached his school.
But his school wasn’t there!
Time Holes: 13 Page 5