Time Traveler to Next Door Page 9

  "Do you th nk that's the answer? The stars?" He shrugged. "Uncle d d say that the pos t on of the planets was mportant that n ght. I f gure f I can p npo nt a date when they're n

  the exact same pos t on, I'd have a sport ng chance of mak ng the

  tr p home."

  "D dn't he also say that you too were part of the reason why t happened?"

  Rupert frowned. "Yes, of course. But I'm hardly not go ng to be there, am I?"

  "No but what f he meant t n a d erent context?"

  "How so?" "What f t me travel has someth ng to do w th your state of m nd? What I mean s, what f you're what's stopp ng you from go ng back any moment you choose? What f you're g ed w th the ab l ty to t me travel?"

  H s brow furrowed. "That s mply wouldn't be feas ble."

  I burst nto laughter. "Noth ng about th s s tuat on s feas ble, Rupert. Perhaps you should embrace the b gger p cture."

  H s brow knotted as he del berated my words. "Have you g ven th s much thought?"

  I shrugged. "Not really. To be honest, t's only just occurred to me."

  He exhaled sharply. "Uncle also ment oned Ley L nes n h s papers."

  "Ley L nes? What are those?"

  "L nes that l nk sp r tual and rel g ous s tes. For example, t's theor sed that Stonehenge s l nked n a stra ght l ne to the pyram ds n Egypt. The l nes are thought to generate energy. To me, t sounds l ke hokum, but I'd l ke to check f any of these l nes cut through Port Haven." "It's def n tely worth a shot." I stra ned my ears for any s gn that Dad was home. Hear ng noth ng, I flung open the door to the lounge and ushered Rupert ns de. For some reason, I found that I d dn't part cularly want to take h m up to my bedroom.

  "Wa t there wh le I go and fetch my laptop. Do you want anyth ng to eat or dr nk? I th nk we have orange ju ce."

  "Orange ju ce sounds splend d." I dashed upsta rs to where I'd le my laptop on the bed, check ng Dad's bedroom on the way. The bl nds were open, and the bed hast ly made—a rumpled duvet drawn up over dented p llows. At least Dad made t out of the house today.

  When I returned to the l v ng room w th the laptop and dr nks, I found Rupert peer ng at the photos on the wall.

  "Is th s your mother?" he asked, as I set the glasses down on the co ee table.

  I swallowed. "Yes." "Gosh. She s very much l ke you. Though her ha r s blonde and yours s more of a sh ny brown colour. But you def n tely have the same eyes."

  "Everyone always says we look al ke, or they used to before she d ed. Now I just look l ke me, I guess." Rupert stepped away from the photos. "When Theodore d ed n the war, people stopped speak ng about h m a er a wh le. I th nk they worr ed that ment on ng h m m ght t p us over the edge. As f they thought we'd suddenly remember that he'd gone." He turned around, h s eyes the exact shade of blue as the sky outs de the w ndow. "But t's not someth ng one forgets, s t? Because the world

  sn't the same anymore."

  A lump rose n my throat. "No. The whole world changes. Noth ng s the same." "L fe s loss," Rupert cont nued. "Some people are luck er than others, and they don't exper ence t unt l later n l fe. But then they have an even greater per od of happ ness to mourn, so t comes n equal measure for every s ngle one of us n the end. At least, that's what I bel eve."

  I stared at h m, worry ng at my bottom l p. I hadn't met anyone s nce Mum d ed who could sum t up so eloquently. I let out a breath that I hadn't real sed I'd been hold ng. "Thank you."

  Rupert sm led. "What for?"

  I shrugged. "What you sa d makes me feel better. As f someone f nally understands."

  We stared at each other for a few seconds. F nally, I mot oned to the sofa.

  "Shall we f re up the computer?"

  "Good dea."

  I placed the laptop on my knees and l ed the l d, wa t ng for the s gn- n screen to appear as Rupert s pped h s glass of ju ce. "I've been cons der ng the dea of the monstrance," he sa d, tw st ng the glass n h s hand, "and what uncle sa d about exper ment ng w th t, and t made me wonder why he chose t. Uncle wasn't a rel g ous man. I mean of course, he attended church on Sunday and owned a b ble, but he was al gned ent rely w th the world of sc ence. There would be no sp r tual reason why he chose that part cular object other than pure pract cal ty."

  I frowned as I typed n the password. "What pract cal reason can you th nk of?" "Well, a monstrance s an object des gned to hold the blessed sacrament. There s a p ece named a lunette wh ch can be removed to slot the host nto."

  I shook my head n confus on. "The host?"

  "The bread, the wafer that Cathol cs are g ven dur ng mass and commun on. The wafer goes nto the lunette wh ch n turn s placed nto the monstrance. It holds t secure so that the whole congregat on can see t through the glass."

  I gr nned. "Oh boy. I really hope all th s comes up on my RE exam next summer. Sorry, go on." He sm led. "The ab l ty to hold an object w th n t s pretty un que. There's aren't many objects of such prec ous metal that can conta n another object secure w th t."

  "Yes, there s," I sa d, th nk ng of Mum's jewellery collect on. "There are lockets and tr nket boxes and c garette cases. There are loads of th ngs that hold other objects w th n them."

  "Yes, but objects l ke a monstrance are rare—pure gold and anc ent. But my po nt s not that t holds the object, but that there wasan object. Or at least there m ght have been. I'm wonder ng f Uncle put someth ng ns de wh ch made t me travel poss ble? An object that l nked the elements together."

  "Does he g ve any h nts n h s paper?" Rupert snorted n der s on. "He talks endlessly of metals and the earth and how they are all connected, but t's hard to p n down anyth ng of real substance. I'm beg nn ng to wonder why on earth the un vers ty were so keen to publ sh t n the f rst place."

  "If there was an object ns de t, t would be gone by now," I po nted out. "The cathedral would have removed t a long t me ago, and there would be no one around today who would remember your uncle g v ng t back."

  "Exactly. Wh ch s why Uncle would never have g ven t back w th whatever t was ns de t."

  "What are you say ng?" "I'm say ng that whatever t was must have been le . E ther t's so s mple that I'm be ng bl nd to ts obv ousness or t's an object that's eas ly found."

  "Perhaps you're m ss ng someth ng n the thes s."

  He nodded. "Maybe I am. Do you have plans tomorrow?" I thought of Adele who'd made a vague prom se to come over. But see ng as she'd spent the whole week text ng w th R ch e Donovan, I d dn't see her paus ng to accommodate v s ts to fr ends anyt me soon.

  "No," I sa d. "None." "M ght I ask you to come over and cast an eye over Uncle's papers? Two heads are better than one and all that. There m ght be someth ng at the house that I'm not see ng clearly."

  "Of course. I'd love to come over. To help you, I mean."

  He pushed h s glasses further up the br dge of h s nose. "Excellent."

  I cl cked on Internet Explorer. "Okay. What are we search ng for today, Sherlock?" He chuckled. "R ght-o, Watson, let's start w th the star charts. I need to know when Jup ter w ll next pass through Sag ttar us. On the n ght I travelled here, Jup ter had just crossed the border from West to East."

  I shook my head. "How d d you f nd that out?"

  "I already told you—Uncle's star charts."

  "But aren't those th ngs just a bunch of blobs and l nes?" "I've come to real se that my educat on at Eton, wh ch at the t me seemed utterly useless n a day to day sense, actually had ts perks. Our phys cs teacher d d a few lessons on astronomy. Batty Old Bartlett we called h m. A thoroughly decent chap but completely o h s rocker."

  I laughed as I typed the deta ls nto the search eng ne. "Batty Old Bartlett s pract cally a compl ment by today's standards of teacher n cknames." I h t enter and surveyed the results, cl ck ng on the l nk that looked most l kely to pro er what Rupert needed. "What do you know," I sa d. "A k nd-hearted geek w th too much t me on the r hands has charted the exact dates and paths Jup ter w ll take for the next four years."

  Rupert leaned closer to the screen, h s shoulder brush ng m ne.
I tr ed to gnore the t ngle that z gzagged up my arm. "By Jove, so he has."

  "I'll pr nt t out," I sa d, cl ck ng the pr nter con at the top of the screen. Next, we searched for ley l nes, though at a qu ck glance there d dn't appear to be any that passed through Port Haven. I pr nted out a map of them anyway, just n case, along w th someth ng called the Becker-Hagen's gr d. By the t me we f n shed, Rupert had a s zable p le of A4 pages to work through.

  "Oh, my word," he excla med, gaz ng at the Jup ter star chart. "Accord ng to th s, Jup ter w ll pass through Sag ttar us n a l ttle under three weeks."

  "Three weeks?" "If th s fellow s correct, and I'd have to cross reference t us ng Uncle's charts, t w ll be n the exact same pos t on as t was the n ght I t me travelled on November the second th s year."

  "November second," I muttered. It took me a wh le to f gure out why the date sounded so trag cally fam l ar. F nally, t h t me. November the second was the date of the school d sco.

  My heart plummeted. "Oh."

  "Well, th s s excellent news. I mean, I could have wa ted years for the opportun ty."

  "Yes. But t also means we only have a few weeks to f gure out how to get you back." He looked at me then, w de eyed and startled, as f he'd suddenly thought of someth ng terr ble. "I'll make t back, Clement ne. I know I w ll."

  A sense of gu lt stole over me. He was r ght, and I could never tell h m how I knew.

  "Why do you look so sad? If you're r ght, then you'll be go ng home soon." H s Adam's apple bobbed n the smooth column of h s throat. He cont nued to gaze at me w th an odd express on on h s face. "It's just... I really rather th nk I'm go ng to m ss you, Clement ne."

  Chapter Fourteen

  "D dn't you say that you heard a no se? A crash?"

  He nodded. "Yes. At f rst, I wondered f t was thunder, but now I rather bel eve t was the sound of the glass break ng." I crossed the room to stand bes de h m. "So, you were fac ng the w ndow as you reached for the monstrance, and then when you p cked t up there was a crash ng no se wh ch was most l kely the w ndow smash ng?"

  "I th nk so. Thunder has a very d st nct sound, low and rumbl ng. The no se was more h gh-p tched. There was a flash of wh te, but I've always put that down to my pass ng out."

  "When you woke up, was t st ll n ght-t me?" "No, t was early morn ng. By the pos t on of the sun I'd say about seven o'clock. But that doesn't really mean anyth ng. It's qu te poss ble that I was unconsc ous for e ght hours."

  "And the monstrance had d sappeared?"

  H s l ps tw tched. "Yes, along w th my san ty"

  We fell s lent for a few moments. Sunl ght streaked through the glass, turn ng h s ha r to spun gold.

  "Do you really th nk that the monstrance m ght have had someth ng ns de t? Another object?"

  "I bel eve t's poss ble."

  "What were you wear ng that n ght?" He shrugged. "I wasn't n my bed clothes. I was dressed n my usual dayt me att re—a sh rt, jumper, trousers." He paused, a cr mson flush creep ng up beneath the collar of h s sh rt. "And of course, my undergarments."

  I had to b te my l p to keep from gr nn ng. But Rupert d dn't not ce my obv ous m rth. He suddenly gasped, h s eyes w de beh nd h s glasses.

  "My watch," he sa d, gr pp ng my shoulders. "My watch, Clement ne."

  My chest t ghtened. "What about t?" He released me to drag frant c hands through h s ha r. "I had t the n ght I travelled. I remember check ng the t me a few moments before the power cut and putt ng t back ns de my trouser pocket. Don't you see? It's sol d s lver. There m ght not have been anyth ng

  n the monstrance a er all. The watch s the m ss ng l nk."

  I shook my head n confus on. "How s t the m ss ng l nk?" He gestured to the w ndow, where the waves danced and foamed on the d stant hor zon. "It's l ke you sa d that day at the l brary. The stars, the gold and the s lver. The power of three."

  I held up my hands. "Let's not get carr ed away. That was just someth ng I heard on TV." "No, t's not just that. L ke I sa d yesterday, Uncle wrote about metals and how they're connected to the Earth. Th s makes perfect sense. The planets were al gned, I had the watch on my person, and then I touched the monstrance and completed the tr angle."

  "So, the watch travelled w th you? It was n your pocket when you rega ned consc ousness?"

  "No. I found t n my room w th my other belong ngs. But unt l th s moment, I'd completely forgotten that I had t w th me."

  "But that would mean that the objects don't travel. D d you st ll have your clothes on when you woke up?"

  Rupert reco led n horror. "Grac ous me, yes, Clement ne. What a th ng to ask."

  "So how come you got to keep your clothes but not the watch?"

  "Because cloth ng wouldn't have been part of the equat on. In h s letter, Uncle spoke of a path, remember?"

  "Yes, He sa d someth ng about a path be ng eas er to nav gate once t's open."

  "Well, perhaps the objects and the stars formed a k nd of gate, a portal, and for that reason those objects d dn't go w th me." "Okay, let's get th s nto perspect ve for a few seconds. If t's true that the gold and s lver objects along w th the al gnment of the stars formed a portal that sent you to a t me connected w th the monstrance, and that path or gateway rema ns open, how s t go ng to be poss ble to get you back aga n w thout break ng nto W ndsor Castle and steal ng the monstrance? And why d dn't you travel to a t me connected to the watch? Back to the moment your parents gave t to you, for example? Why the monstrance?"

  "That s an excellent po nt. Uncle does drone on about energ es. Perhaps the monstrance at that t me was the object w th the most sp r tual force beh nd t and so t trumped the power of the watch."

  I shook my head. "Rupert, I want to get exc ted about th s, but the fact of the matter s, t's a whole lot of maybe." He shook h s head v gorously. "I understand your trep dat on, Clement ne, I do, but I know I'm on the r ght track. And we won't have to break nto W ndsor Castle because I feel strongly that f the monstrance was that v tal, then Uncle would have found a way to lead me to t. I'm not say ng we don't need an object—on the contrary, I th nk we m ght need someth ng gold—but I'd stake money that the watch s the answer. Don't you see? If the watch formed a portal, then t st ll harbours the energy of that n ght. The watch's most s gn f cant event w ll be creat ng the path that sent me here. If the planets al gn and we can f nd another object powerful enough to complete the tr fecta, the path back to that n ght w ll open."

  I opened my mouth to protest, to f nd another log cal explanat on as to why t wouldn't work, but I couldn't th nk of one. The newspaper art cle about the a r plane crash flashed through my m nd. Suddenly, I longed to tell h m that go ng back to h s old l fe would be l ke waltz ng nto the arms of death.

  But as I stared nto h s exc ted blue eyes, I couldn't bear the thought of h m know ng I'd betrayed h m. Instead, I swallowed my gu lt and pr de l ke po son.

  "I hope you're r ght," I sa d, star ng through the grubby w ndow at the churn ng sea.

  But I d dn't want h m to be r ght for the s mple reason that I d dn't want h m to leave.

  What w ll I do, a vo ce n my heart wh spered. What w ll I do when he's gone?

  Chapter Feen

  For the rest of the day, Rupert rema ned exc ted about h s watch revelat on.

  "I can't bel eve I d dn't see t before," he repeated for the hundredth t me. We were s tt ng on the back porch, watch ng a p nk and orange sun s nk rap dly beneath the hor zon. The t de was out, and the sand gl stened l ke burn shed gold. I'd never seen the v ew from the rear of Port Haven House before and was pleased that the shrubbery at the edge of the cl d d l ttle to hamper the v ew.

  "L ke I sa d, t's an easy overs ght to make. Thank goodness I managed to talk you out of sell ng t the other day." He gazed at me w de-eyed, the sunset gl nt ng n the reflect on of h s glasses. "Gosh, I know. I m ght have spent the money on worker's trousers and undergarments for a su t of armour."

  I sm led and shook my head. "There are other alternat ves. I th nk you could rock the geek ch c angle."
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  He k cked at a loose stone. "I've never been much nto clothes. But then, I suppose most chaps aren't."

  Draw ng my knees up beneath my ch n, I asked, "What are you nto?" "Sports," he sa d. "I l ke any k nd, not just cr cket. That surpr ses most people. I mean, I don't exactly look athlet c—too w ry. That's not to say I don't enjoy academ a. I love to read and wr te, but I've never mag ned myself work ng n an o ce. I'm not sure how my father copes cooped up l ke a ch cken n a hen house all day long. It wouldn't be for me."

  An nv s ble hand clawed at my ns des as I remembered the newspaper art cle. "What d d you want to do w th your l fe back n the twent es?" I asked, unable to help myself.

  He cons dered the quest on for a few seconds, head cocked to one s de. "Th s s go ng to sound utterly bonkers. I mean, I can barely row a boat. But I've always fanc ed try ng my hand at fly ng."

  I closed my eyes, bl nded by regret. Now there wasn't a sl ther of a chance that the acc dent nvolved another Rupert Holt of Port Haven.

  "Are you alr ght, Clement ne?" he asked, lean ng close. "You've turned rather pale." I hugged my knees to my chest. "I'm f ne. Just surpr sed that's all. I thought a er your brother and everyth ng that you detested the dea of war."

  H s brow furrowed. "What does war have to do w th t?" "Well, because commerc al a rl nes weren't around unt l the f es, so the only way you could fly would be to jo n the RAF," I expla ned rather hast ly.

  He gazed at me, express on unreadable n the fad ng l ght. "R ght, yes. Well, I suppose I would n that case. I hadn't really thought of t l ke that. It's just someth ng I fancy hav ng a go at. Though I probably wouldn't even pass the phys cal, not w th these." He mot oned to h s glasses and gr nned.

  "Perhaps not," I muttered.

  "What about you?" he sa d, a er a t me. "What w ll you do when you leave school?"

  I shrugged. "I can barely dec de what to have on my toast each morn ng, let alone th nk about a career."

  "D d you know, before n neteen twenty, women weren't even allowed to graduate from un vers ty?"