Chapter 9
The Prodigal Son
Thursday 18th November 2010
It lay there in a pool of congealing blood, and Austin thought that he could still see the little finger twitching. He shivered, and tried to tear his gaze away from the grizzly sight, but he couldn’t. He was mesmerised by the horror of it all. It’s that man’s hand, he thought, and it came through the time hole with me. He saw that the wrist ended not in a stump, with protruding bone, but in a clean cut. It was as if he was looking at a cross-section in a medical text-book instead of a real hand.
Austin rose unsteadily to his feet. That gets worse each time I do it, he thought to himself. He looked about him, trying to ignore the hand, as if it might go away if he didn’t look at it. It’s definitely not 13 minutes ago, or it’d be dark still, so is it 13 hours ago? he wondered. He gazed up at the sky, but the sun was no help; it was hidden behind a bank of clouds, and they were threatening to rain on him. He thought about Mr Baxter, and how he’d still be in the clutches of Mr Pilgrim and his thugs. Austin cursed himself for running. I should’ve stayed to help him, he thought. I always run away, and other people suffer because of it. He resolved there and then never to run from trouble again, no matter what other people said. He would, from now on, always try and work things out, even if it meant more trouble. But for now, he thought, I’d best figure out when I am. Perhaps if I’m 13 hours ago, I could warn myself not to come here?
In the instance he thought it, he realised that he hadn’t gone back to warn himself not to go, so either he was going to be stopped from going, or he was in the future instead of the past. He rushed over to the gate and checked to see if it was damaged. There was evidence that the gate had indeed been kicked open, but someone had repaired it, and there was a thick chain and padlock on it now. He realised that he must be in the future after all… but how far?
With mounting panic, Austin climbed up and over the fence, his adrenalin giving him the extra strength to do so. What if I’ve travelled years into the future, he thought. Everyone I know could be dead! He hit the ground running, and the cold air rushed into his lungs, making him gasp. He quickly ran across the street and then alongside the houses on Oak Road. He could see his reflection in each of the windows, and realised that there were no net curtains, and inside each house everything was dark despite it being daytime. Where’s everybody gone? The idea that everyone had been moved out of the nearby houses gave Austin pause for thought. The Department of Missing Persons must have quite a lot of power, he mused, to enable Mr Pilgrim to evacuate people from their homes.
As he rounded the corner of Oak Road into Hawthorn Avenue, he passed Neville Young, his neighbour, who was out walking his dog. He ran on past him, smiling gingerly as he did so, but the look on the man’s face made Austin turn his head.
‘Austin?’ said Neville, ‘where’ve you been, lad? Everyone’s out looking for you!’
Oh, crap, thought Austin, I’m in a world of trouble now! He turned to face his neighbour, whose dog was barking excitedly at Austin, and tried to keep running backwards. This was a disaster, and Austin nearly fell over. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Young, but I’ve gotta get home!’ he said, stumbling, then turning back to a full forwards momentum.
As he sped towards his turning, his mind imagined the worst. It was bad enough that he’d been involved with Jordan’s disappearance, but for him to go missing, too? How could you put us through this? He could hear his mother saying. You knew what it was like when Jordan disappeared. Where were you?
Austin approached the junction with Blackberry Crescent when a car drew up beside him, and he turned to see a policeman looking back at him from the vehicle.
‘Are you Austin Baker?’ he asked.
Austin stopped running and leant against a tree beside the verge. He nodded, trying to catch his breath. The policeman opened the passenger door and stepped out beside him. Austin recognised him as the copper who had visited his home only a fortnight ago. He could see that the constable recognised him, too.
‘I thought so. Do you realise what trouble you’ve caused by going off like that?’ He held the back car door open and signalled for Austin to get in. Austin obediently sat in the back seat and the constable shut the car door and got back in. The driver moved off and immediately signalled left.
Almost pointless me getting in, thought Austin. The constable pulled up his walkie-talkie and spoke briefly into it. There was a crackle and a voice replied, but Austin couldn’t make out what it said. The police car turned into Blackberry Crescent and pulled up outside Number 13. There was another police car next to it, and in the driveway, he could see his dad’s car. It was unusual for him to have it in the driveway. Normally, it would be put straight away when he arrived home.
‘What’s the time please?’ he asked, as the driver put the handbrake on and turned off the engine. The constable looked at his watch, then said, ‘Ten forty-five. No, wait… make that a quarter to trouble.’
The constable laughed at his own joke as he opened Austin’s door, and Austin got out. As he did so, his parents opened the front door, and his mum rushed down the path when she saw him. Austin braced himself for the onslaught he expected, but instead his mum just pulled him close and hugged him, as if she hadn’t seen him in years. He could hear her heart beating furiously, and he thought for a moment she had hiccups, but quickly realised it was sobbing that made her chest jerk. Then she pulled him back so she could see his face. She tried to speak, but couldn’t quite get the words out, so his dad put a hand on her shoulder and said, ‘Don’t ever do that to us again, Austin.’
Austin could tell by his father’s tone that he was as angry as he could be. His father had a controlled fury that was more scary than his mother’s outbursts. He had only seen him like this once before and that was when he had stepped off the kerb without looking for traffic and had been a nanometre away from getting knocked down by a passing car. It had only been his father’s quick reaction that had saved him, but this was not what had etched this into Austin’s memory; it was the look on his father’s face, and the tone of his voice. It was the same tone of voice that he employed now.
‘I’m sorry, dad. I really am.’
‘Get inside.’
Austin did as he was told, and walked straight back into the house. On the hall table was a copy of the local newspaper that came out every Thursday. He quickly looked at it to see what the date was. It read Thursday 18th November 2010. Austin breathed a sigh of relief. It can’t be 13 days then, he thought, so it must be 13 hours. Just then, Austin heard some muffled conversation coming from the lounge, so he removed his shoes and coat and opened the door.
‘Ah, there he is,’ said another copper, talking to an older, stouter, suited gentleman who had his back to Austin. ‘The prodigal son. Just as PC Grimes said.’
‘Good,’ said his companion, with a voice like liquid metal, which oozed over the ‘O’s in good, making the word last far longer than it should.
Austin shivered involuntarily. He recognised the voice immediately, but the thunderous thumping in his head threatened to drown it all out. No, not in my home. Not him, he thought. But as the man turned, Austin realised that there was no escape this time.
It was Mr Pilgrim.
Arrival
Monday 3rd November 2036
Jordan sat quietly as the tube train rattled along inside the tunnel. His dad sat next to him, and Jordan listened to his quiet snoring. Austin and Zoë sat opposite him, with Aurie curled up on both their laps. Even the gruff sergeant had settled into the seat on the other side of the doors, although he never took his eyes off his prisoners for a moment.
Jordan’s thoughts were trying to absorb what Austin had told him about his last journey through the time hole. He wasn’t entirely sure about Austin’s meeting with his dad. He had to admit to himself that he felt a little jealous, apart from when they had been cornered by Mr Pilgrim and his thugs. Jordan was quite relieved he’d missed that outing, b
ut he’d started to feel a little suspicious about Austin again. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was hiding something from everyone. Something important. If he’s trying to protect me, he thought, then he can stuff it.
Without warning, the train suddenly slowed and then stopped with a judder. Jordan immediately shook his dad’s arm in order to wake him.
‘Wossat?’ Ron said, looking startled.
‘Time to get off, people,’ said the sergeant as he quickly moved to the doors.
Jordan stood up and offered his dad a helping hand. Behind him, he could hear Austin and Zoë gently trying to wake Aurie. If I was her age, he thought, I certainly wouldn’t want to wake up to this.
‘C’mon, Aurie, sweetheart,’ said Zoë, as she picked her up in her arms.
Together, they made their way off the train and onto the dimly lit platform. Jordan looked about him nervously; whoever built the tunnels were not concerned with finishing things off well. It reminded him of an old mine in a western film he’d watched recently with his dad. Only it ain’t recently, is it? He reminded himself, it was twenty-six years ago. He’d expected concrete or metal at least, but he could see earth and rocks between the wooden struts that held the tunnel roof up. It made him feel claustrophobic. The roof looked like it could cave in at any time.
They walked over to a wooden door, and the sergeant fiddled with a set of keys, finally finding the correct one for the lock. He cursed under his breath as he turned the key and opened the door. They all stepped through into a short, narrow corridor that widened into a lobby about thirty feet away, which contained a double set of fire doors with no visible opening mechanism and a pair of metal lift doors.
‘Now that’s more like it,’ said Austin, with false joviality, ‘a bit of modern technology.’
Jordan saw the look on the sergeant’s face as he pressed the button to call the lift. It looked as if he was ready to punch Austin in the face. Zoë must have glimpsed it, too, because Jordan smiled to himself when she poked Austin in the ribs, then shook her head silently.
The lift door opened and they all filed in.
‘Thank God there’s a bloody light this time,’ said his dad.
Jordan sniggered despite himself, but as the door closed and the lift started its upwards journey, the humour of the situation was soon lost to the quickening feeling of uncertainty, and fear of what was to come. Nobody talked in the lift, and Jordan assumed, quite rightly, that everyone was lost in their own private thoughts. He tried to imagine what they were all thinking about, but quickly gave up and became wrapped up with his own opinions. Austin knows more than he’s letting on, I’m sure of it, he thought. I hope they let us go. Who am I kidding? They might lock us up forever, or worse… shove me through the time hole again.
The lift’s brakes screeched and the small tin box they were all packed inside came to an abrupt halt. The doors slid open painfully, and the sergeant stepped out into a brightly lit corridor and saluted the guard, who returned the salute. Jordan stepped out next and turned to help his dad.
‘It’s alright, Jordie,’ said Ron, ‘I’m not quite an invalid yet.’
Jordan’s face reddened with embarrassment. ‘I’m sorry, dad, I just thought…’
‘I know, I know,’ he replied, his expression softening, ‘I look old and decrepit.’
Jordan backed away from his dad, and was surprised to see that on either side of the lift were arched windows that started at floor level and curved upwards and over him. They sported shiny metallic frames at regular intervals, which disappeared round a curved inner wall. We must be in a circular building, he thought. He could see that the lift had brought them up pretty high, and he walked over to the right of the lift shaft to gaze out at the view. They appeared to be floating over an enormous lake, with small islands dotted here and there, which Jordan assumed were originally hilltops. Further away, he could see larger land masses, and evidence of small villages in the distance. The sky had cleared since he last saw daylight, and the sun was shining.
‘I think I know where we are,’ said a voice from behind him. He turned to his dad, who had followed him over to the windows. ‘I often wondered what this building was. They built this about five years after the floods came. It cost billions of pounds.’
‘Blimey,’ said Jordan.
‘This way,’ barked the sergeant, and beckoned them to follow him. Jordan took up the rear, and followed a few steps behind everyone else. He kept looking out of the windows to see where they were, but the scenery had changed so much, he couldn’t see any landmarks that he recognised. In fact, Jordan was so busy looking out at the view that he didn’t realise that the group had stopped, and collided with Austin.
‘Sorry,’ he said, and saw that they had come to a halt in front of some double doors. The sergeant went to a panel on the right hand side of the doors and put his eye to it. There was a hum, and the doors slid open.
‘Retina scan,’ said Austin. ‘I reckon they spent all their money on this malarkey, and didn’t have enough left for the transport!’
Jordan followed everyone through into what looked like a waiting room. It was sparse, with only three sofas arranged in a ‘U’ shape and a single potted plant in one corner. At the far side of the room was another door, and alongside it a large mirror. It looks unfinished, thought Jordan, maybe they did run out of money!
The sergeant waved his hand at the sofas, and everybody took it to mean that they should sit down. As they did so, the sergeant went to the other door, performed the retina scan again, and walked through into an antechamber. The door shut behind him and none of his guests were any wiser about where he’d gone. Jordan sat next to his dad again, opposite the mirror.
As he sat there, he felt as though he were being watched. He looked at Austin, but he was busy keeping Aurie occupied, as was Zoë. His dad was watching them, too. As the minutes wore on, the feeling that he was being watched grew ever stronger, and the hairs on the back of his neck began to prickle. He shivered, and saw that Austin had shivered, too. Then, Austin looked towards the mirror and frowned.
‘Do you feel that, Jordan?’ he asked.
Jordan nodded, and looked at the mirror, too. Whoever’s watching us is on the other side of that, thought Jordan, and to creep us both out, it must be someone who’s had something to do with a time hole.
The door at the far side of the room suddenly opened, and a woman in a red suit walked in, followed by two soldiers. She had short black hair, and the most piercing crystal-blue eyes. A strange sensation went through Jordan, as if the woman was seeing right through him into his soul. He shivered again.
She walked over to him, and held out her hand. Jordan rose to his feet and held out his hand, too. When they touched, he felt his arm hairs stand on end, just as they did when Aurie touched Alice’s face back at the farmhouse.
‘You must be Jordan Baxter,’ she said, smiling broadly at him. ‘We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. I’m Amy.’
‘It’s you!’ exclaimed Austin. ‘The girl in the waiting room!’
Jordan looked at Amy to gage her reaction. She frowned. ‘Well, yes,’ she said, ‘I am in the waiting room, as you can plainly see.’
‘No,’ replied Austin, ‘not this waiting room. Dr. Jones’s waiting room. Twenty-six years ago. You told me I glowed funny!’
All The Way From Whitehall
Thursday 18th November 2010
‘Well now, young man,’ said Mr Pilgrim, taking a sip from one of Austin’s mother’s best china mugs, ‘you’ve been causing quite a few people a lot of bother, haven’t you?’
Austin gulped, but couldn’t say anything. His mouth suddenly felt dry and sticky. He noticed that when Mr Pilgrim said ‘haven’t you’ his eyes seemed to add and you know who I mean, don’t you? Not your mum and dad, or even these policemen, but myself and especially my colleague who lost a hand last night. Have you seen it?
Austin wanted to run back out the front door and keep on running unti
l he had reached the time hole. Then, he would go through it and through it until he was back at the beginning of this whole mess, and he would be able to tell himself not to go through it in the first place and prevent all of it from happening. But of course I can’t and won’t, he thought, because otherwise I would have already met myself and I wouldn’t be here. I hate time travel.
At that moment, his mum and dad came through the door. He looked at his mum, whose red-rimmed eyes and unkempt hair betrayed a sleepless night, and then at his dad, whose eyes were still angry, but whose composure was calm. They don’t deserve any of this, he thought. If only I’d joined in Jordan’s game of football that day, none of this would’ve happened.
‘Would you like another cup of tea, Mr Pilgrim?’ said Austin’s mum.
‘Thank-you, Angela, but no,’ he replied, handing her his now empty mug and smiling ingratiatingly. He showed off what his mum liked to call a wrap-around smile, and Austin wondered how much it had set him back, and why he’d needed it in the first place. Was it because you didn’t brush your teeth, or was it ‘cos you got them knocked out in a fight?
‘Thank-you so much for taking a personal interest in this case,’ said Austin’s dad, as he shook Mr Pilgrim's hand warmly.
‘That’s quite all right, Anthony. It was a pleasure meeting you and your dear wife.’
‘Mr Pilgrim is very high up in the Department of Missing Persons, Austin,’ said his dad, as Mr Pilgrim went over to the lounge door, closely followed by the Constable. ‘He came all the way from Whitehall in London to make sure everything possible was being done to find you.’
I bet he did, thought Austin, then had an idea. ‘Have you found Jordan yet?’ he asked.
Mr Pilgrim turned to face Austin, his expression dark and menacing, but only for a fraction of a second. Then, the same sycophantic smile spread across his face.
‘I’m afraid not,’ he replied. ‘But rest assured, no matter how long it takes, we will find him, even if it takes 13 years.’
He knows, thought Austin, otherwise why would he pick that number? But how much does he know? He looked at his dad, who registered the faintest flicker of interest in the number Mr Pilgrim had come up with, but it faded almost immediately.
‘I think you do a wonderful job,’ said his mum, ‘and rest assured we will take your offer under serious consideration.’
Austin looked alarmed. ‘What offer, mum?’ he said, and noticed Mr Pilgrim's smug smile. What have you said?
‘I’ll tell you later, dear, but it’s very exciting!’
Austin wanted to tell his parents just what kind of man Mr Pilgrim was, and that they couldn’t possibly trust anything he said. But he also knew that he was only 13, and right now his actions hadn’t given his mum and dad any reason to trust anything he said. Plus, he thought, they think the sun shines out of his bum right now. My word against a man from Whitehall? No chance!
Mr Pilgrim looked directly at Austin, smiled again, then raised his eyebrows. ‘I’m glad you’re back safe and sound, Austin,’ he said. ‘Now don’t go running off like that in the future, okay? We all care a lot about what happens to you, and we need to know where you are, and that you’re safe.’
Yeah, I bet you need to know where I am, thought Austin. I’m the only one who can travel through that time hole, and you know it.
‘Austin! Say thank-you to Mr Pilgrim,’ said his dad, ‘he didn’t have to come down here personally, you know.’
Like hell he didn’t, thought Austin. Reluctantly, he said ‘Thanks, Mr Pilgrim,’ through gritted teeth. For nothing.
Mr Pilgrim narrowed his eyes just a little bit, but enough for Austin to notice. It was almost as if he could hear his thoughts. ‘You’re welcome, Austin,’ he replied, and without another word, or even a backward glance, he walked out of Number 13 Blackberry Crescent, accompanied by the constable, like an obedient dog by his side.
After the police cars had left, and the neighbours had stopped moving their net curtains, and the front door was shut against the world once again, it was just Austin and his parents. They sat him down on the lounge sofa, and his dad sat down beside him, whilst his mum stayed standing, arms folded, a cross look on her face. His dad spoke to him softly but sternly.
‘Your mother and I thought you’d been taken, like Jordan,’ he said. ‘We were beside ourselves with worry.’
You don’t know what it’s like being beside yourself, thought Austin, but I do! I’ve actually been beside myself… literally!
‘We’ve tried to be understanding about your behaviour recently, and we know it’s all just part of growing up. We understand that. You’re testing the boundaries, and that’s okay, but you have to start being a little more responsible, and thinking about other people instead of just yourself.’
‘But you don’t understand -’ began Austin, but his dad held up his hand as if to say, stop, don’t say another word. When his dad was like this, Austin knew there was no getting round what he had to say, so he gave up protesting and just listened.
‘Now, I’m afraid that your stunt last night was the final straw, Austin. You must never leave this house again without telling us exactly where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Is that clear?’
Austin nodded.
‘But you won’t be going anywhere-’ began his mother.
‘I’ll handle this, dear,’ said his dad, using the same hand signal he’d used with Austin. Surprisingly, Austin’s mum just shrugged and went silent. ‘As your mother started to say, I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere for a while. At least, not for the next month. You’re grounded.’
Austin’s heart sank. He’d never been grounded before, and it sounded horrible. I need to make sure Mr Baxter is okay, he thought, and I have to keep an eye on what they’re doing at the time hole. I can’t be grounded!
‘Do you understand, Austin?’ said his dad.
Austin nodded again. His dad smiled, then put a hand on Austin’s shoulder. ‘It’s for your own good, mate.’
‘And for our sanity,’ added his mum.
‘But why a month?’ asked Austin.
‘Be grateful it’s not two!’ she said. ‘But it’s a month for a good reason.’
‘Now dear, we haven’t decided for definite, yet. There’s a lot to discuss, and Austin should be part of the decision.’
‘Decided what?’ asked Austin, a queasy feeling starting in his stomach. ‘Is this something to do with Mr Pilgrim?’
‘Yes, dear,’ said his mum. ‘He’s made us an offer we can’t refuse!’
I bet he has, thought Austin. ‘What sort of offer?’
‘Sometimes, when families go through a trauma, what they need most is a fresh start,’ said his dad, rising from the sofa to stand by his wife. ‘Mr Pilgrim has offered us an amazing deal. He’s willing to relocate us. Lock, stock and barrel. We can get away from the whole Jordan situation, and you going missing, and start again somewhere new. Isn’t that great?’
‘We can’t!’ said Austin. ‘I have to stay here. Jordan will be back!’
‘How can you say that?’ shouted his mum. ‘You don’t know that! It’s ridiculous! Have you any idea what it’s like for me? How wherever I go I hear whispers behind my back? Oh, look, there’s that Baker woman, they say. You know, there’s something not quite right about her. I reckon she had something to do with that Baxter boy going missing.’
Austin was horrified at this revelation. He hadn’t thought what it must be like for them. They were innocent in all this. ‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ he said. ‘I didn’t realise.’
‘No you didn’t,’ she said. ‘All you can think about is your stupid time travel stuff.’
‘That’s enough, Angela,’ said Austin’s dad. ‘None of this is helping matters. And anyway, we haven’t decided for definite, yet. When we’re all calmed down, we need to sit down and talk it through as a family.’
But Austin knew better. Mum’s decided, he thought. I can tell by the look in her eyes. It won�
��t matter what I say. We’re moving house, and that’s that.
‘Now, what say we all have a cup of tea before I go back to work?’ said Austin’s dad.
‘What will you do about work?’ said Austin.
‘Oh, Mr Pilgrim says he has just the job for me,’ his dad replied, ‘and it sounds like it’s right up my street.’ He turned to Austin’s mum, and linked arms with her. ‘Come on, love, let’s have a cuppa.’ Together, they went through into the kitchen, leaving Austin sitting on the sofa alone.
Pilgrim didn’t waste any time, he thought, and now I’m well and truly stuffed. He’s got me right where he wants me, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
The Girl in the Waiting Room
Monday 3rd November 2036
Amy looked at Austin for a few moments, then a flicker of recognition came over her. ‘Yes,’ she said, moving towards Austin and extending her hand, ‘I think I remember. How strange.’
As they shook hands, Jordan noticed that Austin flinched slightly. He’s had the same reaction as me, he thought. She must be connected to the time hole somehow.
‘You were the next patient, weren’t you?’ Amy said. ‘What did you think of Dr. Jones?’
‘I only saw her the once,’ said Austin, ‘but she was pretty nice. She believed me when…’ and then his voice trailed off.
‘…You told her about the time hole?’ Amy finished Austin’s sentence for him. ‘Yes, I know about the time hole, guys. What did you think this was about? Trespassing?’ She followed her remark with a lilting laugh, which seemed out of place. Nobody else joined in, but she didn’t seem to mind. ‘These are the guys,’ she said, ‘Shall I bring them through?’
‘Who are you talking to?’ asked Jordan.
‘In this place,’ replied Amy, ‘the walls have ears.’ Then she put her hand up to her right ear, and seemed to listen to something. She nodded her head, then took her hand away. Jordan could see there was some sort of earpiece there.
‘Gentlemen,’ she announced, looking first at Jordan and then at Austin, ‘If you would like to come with me, please?’
Ron, who had been listening quietly to the conversation, now spoke up. ‘Hold on there, Amy… you’re not taking my son anywhere without me.’
‘I’m sorry, Mr Baxter, but you’ll have to stay here for now,’ Amy replied, ‘please don’t cause a fuss. He won’t come to any harm.’
‘He’s not going anywhere, and that’s final,’ Ron said, and beckoned to Jordan, who started to come towards him. ‘He’s only a boy.’
The two soldiers behind Amy started to move forwards, unholstering their weapons. Jordan didn’t recognise them. They must be a new kind of weapon, he thought, but it was enough to make him stop where he was. Ron, however, was not dissuaded, and he moved forwards towards Jordan. The soldiers raised their weapons and aimed them at Ron. Austin started to come forwards, and the soldier nearest him swiftly moved his weapon so that it was pointing towards him. Austin quickly raised his hands. ‘It’s okay,’ he said, ‘I’m not going to do anything rash.’
Aurie whimpered, and Zoë quickly stroked her hair, making soothing noises. ‘It’s okay, honey,’ she said, ‘everything’s going to be all right.’
‘Amy,’ said Austin, ‘may I speak with Ron?’
‘Of course,’ said Amy. ‘Stand down, boys, your weapons won’t be necessary.’
The soldiers re-harnessed their weapons and stood back. If they’re not necessary, why have they got them? thought Jordan.
‘It’s no good, Austin,’ said Ron, ‘I’ve not waited twenty-six years to see my boy again, only to have him removed by some private army.’
‘Ron, you trusted me to find him, and I did, didn’t I?’ said Austin.
‘Well, it wasn’t difficult, was it?’ said Ron, his voice rising a notch, ‘after all, he was only where you lost him in the first place!’
‘Boys, boys,’ said Amy, coming towards them, ‘let’s not argue, eh?’ She looked straight at Ron, and Jordan noticed that she had her hand up to her earpiece again. Somebody’s giving her orders, he thought. ‘Although it’s strictly against regulations, I think we can allow you through with your son. Is that okay?’
‘Fine,’ said Ron, and looked at Austin. ‘Sorry about that,’ he said.
Austin shook his head. ‘It doesn’t matter, Ron.’ He went over to his wife and daughter, and gave them a quick hug, then Amy went over to the doors and put her eye to the panel on the right. The doors opened, and she beckoned to Jordan, Austin and Ron. They came forward together and went through into the anteroom, followed by the two soldiers.
As the doors closed, Jordan said, ‘where are you taking us?’
Amy looked down at Jordan and smiled. ‘As I said, Jordan, we’ve been waiting a long time for you to arrive. Longer than I’ve been here, certainly.’
Another set of doors on the opposite side of the anteroom now opened, and they all stepped through into a dimly lit corridor that seemed to follow the same curvature as the outer corridor.
‘You and Austin are the most important pieces of the puzzle our scientists have been trying to solve for years.’
‘Puzzle? What puzzle?’
‘It’s difficult for me to explain,’ said Amy. ‘But I’m taking you to a man who has all the answers you could ever need.’
‘How come you were seeing Dr. Jones?’
‘I was only a little kid, then, Jordan,’ said Amy as the group continued to walk along the corridor. ‘Dr. Jones helped me to understand what I am.’
‘What you are?’
‘Yes. There are only a few of me in the world, apparently.’
‘So what are you?’
‘I’m a Chronoseer.’
‘A what?’
Amy laughed. ‘That’s the posh word for it. It means I can see time.’ At that moment, Amy stopped, and turned to face the inner wall of the corridor. ‘We’re here,’ she said.
‘Where?’ said Jordan. ‘It’s just a wall.’
Amy smiled at Jordan again. ‘Oh, no it’s not!’ she said, and stretched out her palm on the surface of the wall. A door slid back where there had been no door before, and light emanated from within. Jordan let out a gasp, and Amy chuckled.
‘So this is where all the money was spent!’ said Austin.
‘Are all these theatrics really necessary?’ asked Ron.
‘Don’t be a party-pooper!’ said Amy, and led the way into a spacious, high-ceilinged room with opaque panels all along the far side. In the middle of the room was a large meeting table, at the head of which was a high-backed chair which reminded Jordan of a throne. Down each side of the table were six similar looking chairs. Jordan looked round to see the door gliding silently shut. The two soldiers had not followed them in, and were standing guard outside. Jordan breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Have you noticed, Jordan?’ said Austin.
‘Noticed what?’
‘There are 13 seats, and 13 panels on that wall.’
‘It’s no coincidence,’ said Ron.
There was a click and a hum from beyond the table and another door opened in the wall. A bright light emanated from behind the figure who entered the room, so Jordan couldn’t see who it was. He walked slowly, with the aid of a walking stick, over towards the throne-like chair at the far end of the table. As the door behind him closed, and the bright light faded, Jordan began to see more of the figure. He was very old, but still had a presence about him that was unnerving. He had white, wispy hair, and gaunt, pale skin. He was dressed entirely in black, and as he approached the chair, Amy walked forward and pulled it away from the table for him.
‘Thank-you, dear,’ he said, with a thick, metallic voice. It made Jordan shiver. The old man sat down gratefully, propping his stick against the table, then looked up at his audience. ‘You must be Jordan Baxter,’ he said. Jordan nodded. ‘I’ve waited so long to meet you, young man. Take a seat, and you, Austin, my boy.’
‘Thank-you, Sir,’ said
Austin.
Jordan looked at Austin with alarm upon his face. ‘You know him?’ he asked.
Austin nodded, and then sat down on one of the chairs. Ron followed suit. Jordan, not wanting to be the odd one out, took the next chair and sat down. Only Amy remained standing, just behind the old man’s chair. Jordan looked at Austin, then at his dad, and finally at the old man again. I knew something wasn’t right, he thought, I just knew it.
‘Don’t blame Austin,’ said the old man, as if he’d overheard Jordan’s thoughts, ‘he was merely acting under my orders. But where’s my manners? Let me introduce myself. My name… is Mr Pilgrim.’
The Longest Night
Tuesday 21st December 2010
Austin sat in the back of his parent’s car, and gazed out of the window. His breath made the glass mist up, and he kept having to wipe it clear with the arm of his winter coat. He’d asked his dad if he could start the engine, so the interior of the car could begin to heat up, but he’d muttered something about the car being almost out of petrol, so he didn’t want to start it until he had to. He’d added, quite caustically, that if Austin was that cold, he could get out of the car and help carry the final few boxes to the removal van, but Austin was in no mood to help anyone do anything that would help him move away from his home. Secretly, Austin wasn’t that bothered about moving from Number 13 Blackberry Crescent; he was more bothered about moving away from Number 13 Oak Road, or at least, the building site that had once been Number 13 Oak Road.
It had been a tumultuous month since he had last met Mr Pilgrim, but the man’s influence over his life had become more and more apparent as the days and weeks had passed by. ‘Isn’t it amazing how quickly these government types can get things moving when they want to?’ said his mum, when she received notification that their move had been confirmed, and their house had been sold, a mere two weeks after Austin’s last time travel escapade. ‘Goes to show,’ added his dad, ‘that all the bureaucracy is only put there to slow us down so that more people can make more money out of us.’
Neither of his parents had seemed to notice the black van parked opposite their home, or if they had, they’d not paid any heed to it. Austin knew why it was parked there, of course, and he’d been dying to cycle off down the road to see if it would follow him. But, he’d been grounded for a month, which meant that he could only sit by the window sill and imagine cycling off instead of doing it for real. Of course, this enabled him to be a lot braver than he would have been, should circumstance have allowed it. For instance, he wouldn’t have cycled round and round the black van, doing wheelies, and sticking his middle finger up at the driver if he’d been allowed out. But that’s what daydreaming is for, he’d thought to himself.
So now he sat in the back of a freezing car, watching his last few possessions being stacked into a bulging removal van, and wondering how on earth he’d ever be able to return to rescue Jordan, and when that might happen. Would it be 13 weeks, 13 months, or 13 years? Living round the corner from the main event was easy; all he had to do was put the date in his diary and wait. But living hundreds of miles from where he was now would be another matter. But I promise I’ll do it, Jordan, he thought. I won’t let you down.
The doors of the removal van slammed shut. Austin watched as the driver climbed up into his seat and started the engine. His dad came out the front door, a bunch of keys swinging in his right hand. He looked back and called to his wife.
‘Come on, love,’ he said, ‘let’s get moving… we’ve got a long way to go.’
His mum came up to the entrance carrying a small cardboard box, the top of which didn’t quite close.
‘I’m coming, I’m coming,’ she said.
‘Why you couldn’t let the removal men take that, I really don’t know,’ said his dad.
‘They’re too delicate,’ she answered, ‘and I don’t want them getting lost.’
She started walking towards the car, and his dad pulled the front door shut for the last time. He ran to reach the car before his wife, and opened the passenger door for her. She looked up at him and smiled, then gave him the box as she dipped her head down to get into the front seat. He bent down to give her the box back, and she kissed him on the cheek.
‘Thanks, darling,’ she said, ‘you’re not so bad really.’
‘Cheers for that,’ said his dad, and shut the passenger door.
As his dad sat down in the driver’s seat, he turned back to address his son.
‘Take one last look at the ol’ place, Austin,’ he said, ‘cos we ain’t never comin’ back!’
Austin looked at him for a moment, deciding whether to say anything or not. His dad was deliberately speaking in a corny faux-American accent, which would normally elicit a call of ‘double negative!’ from both him and his mum, but this morning he just wasn’t in the mood, so he looked away.
‘Still sulking, eh?’ said his dad. ‘Well, you’ll change your mind when you see the new place. It’s fantastic! It’s got a hot-tub and everything!’
Austin quite liked the idea of a hot-tub, but he wasn’t going to give his dad the satisfaction of letting him see any enthusiasm. So, he just continued looking out at the house they were leaving behind.
It was three O’clock, and daylight was already starting to fade. Austin’s dad started the engine and turned on the headlights. The removal van moved off ahead of them, and they followed it to the end of the crescent. It turned right towards Oak Road, and they followed again, but at the junction the van turned left to get to the motorway, and Austin’s dad turned right.
‘Where’re you going?’ asked his mum.
‘To get petrol,’ replied his dad, ‘I’m not paying motorway prices if I can help it!’
Austin sat up and looked out of the window as they drove by Number 13 Oak Road. The fences were still up, but construction work had begun on the new house, and there was no sign of any black van. Austin recalled the night he and Jordan’s dad had visited the site, and realised that he hadn’t even spoken to him since then. He won’t know I’ve moved, he thought. I don’t even know what happened to him that night! Is he even still alive?
Austin spent the next few minutes thinking about what could have happened to Jordan’s dad. Was he abducted and is even now a prisoner in some concentration camp? Was he killed and buried in the foundations of the new house? Was he brainwashed and now works for Mr Pilgrim? The list seemed endless, and the ways ever more gory and outrageous, so Austin decided that enough was enough; he didn’t know, and short of asking Mr Pilgrim outright (which he thought a very bad idea indeed) he would probably never know. So, his thoughts turned to the new house they were putting up in place of the old one. Are they putting the walls and rooms in the same place, or will the layout be totally different? What if Jordan comes through the time hole and appears in the middle of a wall or something?
As Austin wondered and worried, his dad filled the car with petrol, and bought them all some sweets and drinks for the journey. Finally, they began to make their way towards the motorway, and a two hundred mile journey. They made their way down the high street, and then followed the dual carriageway towards the next entrance to the motorway.
‘Isn’t that the road we went down to take you to see your tutor’s sister?’ asked his mum.
‘Yeah,’ he mumbled.
‘Funny her moving like that,’ said his mum.
‘What?’ said Austin.
‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? I phoned up to make another appointment with her, but all I got was an answer-phone message.’
‘You never said!’
‘I’m sorry, Austin, but what with the move and everything, it must’ve slipped my mind.’
‘What did the message say?’ asked Austin. You never tell me anything!
‘Oh, something about her parents falling ill, so she had to go to Australia to be with them or something, I don’t know.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me?!’
‘Don’t raise your vo
ice at me, young man!’ said his mum, and turned round to face Austin. ‘You haven’t exactly been the talkative type recently, have you?’
‘That’s cos you grounded me!’
‘And with good reason -’
‘Enough!’ shouted his dad. ‘Unless you want me to crash the car!’
After that, there was silence for a while. Austin’s mum glared at her husband, and then retrieved her mobile phone from her handbag, and began to text her friends. Austin folded his hands, and pulled the hood of his winter coat up over his head. It all makes a kind of sense, he thought, and cast his mind back to his last few weeks at school. What with Mr Jones leaving the school so suddenly, too.
He remembered how he’d arrived at school Monday morning and discovered a commotion going on inside his tutor base. There were several of his classmates looking in the windows as Mr Jones was being escorted out by the Headteacher and two other senior members of staff.
‘It just helps me think, that’s all. I’m on the verge of discovering something incredible!’ he said.
‘That’s as maybe, Mr Jones,’ said the Headteacher, and Austin could see he was struggling to keep his calm, ‘but you didn’t need to do it with permanent marker, did you?’
At that moment, Mr Jones noticed Austin, and called out to him. ‘I think I’ve cracked it, Austin!’ he called as they whisked him past. ‘Go and have a look!’
Austin walked into the classroom, and saw that Mr Jones had written all over the whiteboard, and had even strayed onto the walls of the classroom. What he’d written was incomprehensible to Austin, but he could guess what it might be about. These are equations about time travel, he thought. Mr Jones must’ve finally cracked. His tutor’s behaviour had been increasingly erratic since Austin had gone through the time hole and showed up before he’d left. Every time he’d chatted to Austin it was in hushed tones, and always about travelling through time. He’d become obsessed with the subject, and Austin had started to worry about him. It seems my worrying wasn’t for nothing, he thought.
He ran out of the classroom and raced as fast as he could to the front of the school, just in time to see Mr Jones disappear into the back seat of a black saloon car. The man who had escorted him from the premises shut the passenger door, and Austin saw that the windows were tinted black. As the man walked to the driver’s door to get in, Austin realised with horror that he’d seen him somewhere before; he was one of the men who had accompanied Mr Pilgrim the night he and Jordan’s dad had visited the time hole. He quickly looked down at the man’s hands before he shut the door, but he was wearing gloves. Nothing unusual about that, he thought, especially in early December. I wonder if underneath one of those gloves, he’s sporting a false hand?
‘Cheer up, Austin,’ said his dad from the driver’s seat. ‘A fresh start’s just what we need.’
Austin opened his eyes and looked out of the window. During his reverie, darkness had swallowed up the land, and they were now on the motorway, travelling towards an uncertain future. He yawned, and closed his eyes again. Perhaps it’s for the best, he thought. Perhaps Dad’s right. Maybe this is a good excuse to make a fresh start. I can put all this behind me.
‘I wonder if Mr Pilgrim will be at the new house when we arrive?’ said his mum.
‘I doubt it,’ said his dad. ‘He’s a busy man.’
Fat chance of putting it behind me, thought Austin. I’m going to have to get used to being watched.
‘What time do you think we’ll get there?’ asked his mum.
‘With any luck, and barring any motorway hold-ups, we should get there in about three and a half hours,’ said his dad. ‘Now, fancy some music?’ His dad turned on the radio and tuned it to a station that was playing some eighties rock. He clicked his fingers in time with the beat and started to sing along. Badly.
It’s going to be a long night, thought Austin.
The Final Piece of the Puzzle.
Monday 3rd November 2036
‘What do you mean, acting on your orders?’ said Jordan, fear returning to his voice. He looked aghast at Austin, then his dad. When both of them averted their gaze, he knew he had been betrayed. ‘Dad?’ he said. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Do explain,’ said Mr Pilgrim to Ron. ‘He deserves to know the truth, doesn’t he?’
‘What would you know about truth?’ said Ron. ‘Your whole life is about lying, and cover-up.’
‘All the more reason for you to tell him, then,’ said Mr Pilgrim, in cold, emotionless tones. ‘It’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, isn’t it?’
‘Dad?’
Ron hesitated before raising his face and meeting his son’s eyes. When he did, Jordan saw tears welling up in them, and realised that the only other time he could remember his dad crying was at his mum’s funeral. He was not normally a man for tears.
‘I’m truly sorry, son,’ he said. ‘For making you think we’d all been captured, but we did it because… because we thought you’d been through enough, with the whole time hole thing.’
‘I don’t understand…’ said Jordan. ‘You weren’t captured?’
‘Well, yes and no,’ said his dad. ‘Austin came to see me a few weeks ago, and explained that you were going to re-appear very soon. Of course, I knew that already. I’ve been counting down the days for years, but there was no way for me to meet you, what with the land belonging to Mr Pilgrim's army.’
‘Mr Pilgrim's army?’ said Jordan. ‘I thought they were, y’know, the real army. The British army.’
‘Not since the big melt,’ said Austin. ‘What’s left of the british are now tribes, mostly at war with each other. The government fell in the food riots six years ago.’
‘Food riots?’
‘It’s a long story, Jordie,’ said Ron, ‘and perhaps we should stick to the pertinent facts here, Austin. I don’t want the lad any more frightened by talk of riots and stuff, okay?’
Austin put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘Okay, Ron, whatever.’
‘So, anyway, Jordie, Austin explained that he was going to be there to meet you, and that the plan was for him to be captured along with you, and taken to meet me, and would I go along with this?’
‘But why?’
‘Because you’re the final piece of the puzzle,’ said Mr Pilgrim. ‘The answer to why this is all happening, and more importantly, how to stop it!’
‘Stop what?’ asked Jordan. ‘The floods?’
‘That’s part of it,’ said Mr Pilgrim. ‘We believe that the big melt was an inevitable part of climate change, but it was exacerbated by all the time holes.’
‘What have time holes got to do with flooding?’
‘Well, that’s one of the many questions this place was built to answer,’ said Mr Pilgrim. ‘And over the past 13 years, we have done precisely that. And that’s all because we’ve been waiting for you.’
‘But how come I’m so important?’ said Jordan. ‘What about Austin? He went through first!’
‘Yes, that’s true,’ said Mr Pilgrim, ‘but we believe you weren’t meant to go through, and that when you did, you changed the whole nature of that time hole. After your disappearance, time holes started to appear more and more, and it began to get very difficult for governments to cover up people just disappearing into thin air.’
‘But to cut a long story short, Jordie,’ said his dad, ‘Mr Pilgrim needed Austin and me to be here for you, so you wouldn’t panic and be distressed. You see, there’s something very important you have to do, and you need to be calm and collected to do it.’
‘What?’ said Jordan. The full impact of what had been happening overtook him suddenly. They’ve all been making stuff up, just to get me here, he thought. Even my dad! ‘What do you mean?’
Mr Pilgrim clicked his fingers in the air, and Amy handed him a remote control. ‘Perhaps explaining isn’t the best way to make you understand,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we just need to show you.’
He pointed the remote control at the o
paque panels which lined the far side of the room. There was a faint hum and the panels began to become translucent. Jordan rose from his chair and stood before them, and watched in fascination as the view started to appear. At first, it was hard for him to discern anything other than shapes and colours, but as the panels became transparent, the enormity of what lay beyond the room became clearer.
Jordan walked slowly over to the nearest panel and looked out at the vast chamber below him. The room was truly enormous, and he finally understood why all the corridors had been curved. They all skirted round the centre of the building he was in. There was a central column that stretched right up from the ground to the dome above him. The column split up into what looked like metallic tentacles. They curved over and back down the dome, turning into smaller columns as they reached the wall. In between them appeared to be glass, because the whole place was lit by sunlight. The glass stopped when the tentacles became vertical, and the walls were studded with lights and tubes that flashed intermittently. About halfway down was a ring that extended behind the central column and back towards where Jordan was standing. The ring had panels all along it. Some were opaque, like the panels in the room where he now stood, and others were transparent, revealing other rooms which were too far away for Jordan to see clearly.
‘It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?’ said Amy.
‘You could’ve just told me,’ he said. Then he looked down to ground level, and saw that the column split into hundreds of smaller sections, which jutted out from it like roots from an enormous tree. ‘What are they?’ he asked, pointing at them.
‘They might just be the answer to all our problems,’ said Austin, joining Jordan at the windows. ‘The time holes are at the root of our predicament. And that machine out there is going to close them down once and for all.’
Chapter 10
The Right Thing To Do
Wednesday 7th December 2011
Time Holes: 13 Page 10