Chapter 24
The Great Wood, Wealdshire. 1517
Josie pointed the camcorder at Chris, switched it on, and pressed the 'start/stop' button. 'Can you say something?' she asked.
'What? Oh, yeah. Okay.' He cleared his throat self-consciously. 'I . . . uh . . . I'm Chris Gardiner and, here I am in 1517. It was Friday night just now, but I don't know what day it is now. We were going to come here next week when we're off school but we couldn't wait till then. It's another nice, sunny day and Josie — that's her holding the camera — and I are on our way to meet a . . .'
'Lovely?' suggested Josie. 'Beautiful? Dazzling? Really cool?'
'A . . .' Chris continued, looking just a little embarrassed, 'really nice girl called Sarah Cooper who has a brother called Caleb and he has been accused of nicking a silver goblet but we think he's innocent and so we're going to try to prove that the real thief is the wicked Simon who has a sister called . . . um . . . Elizabeth, I think.'
Josie called out, 'And you're wondering if she's as lovely to look at as her servant.'
'No, I'm not!' Chris retorted. 'Turn that camera off now. We've done enough to check that it's working.'
As he had pulled his sweatshirt up to cover his face, Josie pressed the 'start/stop' button again to stop recording. She changed the selector to 'play', then held down the 'rewind' button. 'Do you want to look or shall I do it?' she asked.
'No. You look. I hope you remembered to open the lens cover.'
Josie checked. She had remembered. She put her eye to the viewfinder and pressed 'play'.
'Is it working?' Chris asked.
'Yes, it looks good. I don't know about the sound, of course, but I should think it's working.'
'Good. That' a relief,' remarked Chris. 'It would have been a bit of a bummer if we'd set the camera up to catch the evil Simon confessing his sins and then finding that if you go back to a time before video cameras were invented, they don't work.'
'Have you decided how you're going to use the camera?' Josie asked.
'Nope. I haven't a clue. But if we hadn't brought it, you can be quite sure that we would have needed it.'
'You're probably right,' said Josie. 'All set, then? Shall we go and look for your girlfriend?'
Chris gave her a filthy look. 'Just shut it, will you? If you keep on about me fancying her . . . well . . . you just wait till you meet a bloke.'
'All right,' Josie said with some reluctance. 'No more teasing. Okay?'
Chris sniffed and nodded. 'If my calculations are correct, we should be able to catch up with Sarah on her way back from Frogley Heath to Tatscombe Hall. Of course, that assumes that we've come back to the right time.'
Josie assured him that she'd checked the position of the sun and she was certain that they had returned to a point a few minutes after they'd last been here.
'Why did you make it a bit later?' Chris asked.
Sarah laughed. 'Because I don't want to risk us meeting ourselves. One of you is more than enough!'
Chris set off on his bike, trying to get his brain around the idea of bumping into himself. Sarah put the camcorder back in its bag, climbed onto her bike, and set off to follow her brother.
Chris thought the best plan would be to ride to Frogley Heath and wait for Sarah. If she didn't show up, then they would assume she was already on her way home. When they arrived at the hamlet, they waited at the field where they had stood before. Chris looked thoughtful. 'A penny for them,' Josie said.
Chris looked startled as his reverie was disturbed. 'What?'
'What are you thinking about?'
'What you were saying about bumping into yourself. I was thinking that some things must be impossible.'
Josie climbed off her bike, lowered its stand, and said, 'Such as what?'
'Well, one thing that would be impossible is for us to go back and meet Sarah when she was younger.'
'Josie frowned. 'I don't see why. We could do that. No problem.'
'Are you sure? She'd never met us before, right? Until today, I mean. So if we went back and met her last year — she would have known us today.'
'Yeees,' Josie said, hesitantly. 'So what?'
'So we haven't met her before.'
'No, of course we haven't.'
'So we can't meet her before — like in 1516.'
'Yes, we could. But we're not going to. That's why she hasn't met us before.'
Chris looked exasperated. 'God, this is so difficult to get your brain round. Right — try this.' He looked up at the sky as if to get some inspiration and then continued. 'If someone said they'd give you a million quid if you went back to see Sarah when she was ten years old — you'd have to turn it down.'
'Why?'
Chris ground his teeth together and looked ready to explode. 'Because she hasn't met us before!'
'Yes, well that's because no-one is going to offer me a million pounds.'
'Aaaaaargh!' Chris shook his fists in the air and pounded the ground with his feet. 'I give up! Male logic is completely different from female logic.'
There was silence for the next few minutes. Finally, Chris said quietly, 'Why don't you go back to 1516 some time?'
'Why? To look for Sarah?'
'Uh . . . yeah, I suppose you could.'
'I don't want to.'
Chris brought his fist down on his saddle. 'Damn! You were supposed to say, 'I might do' and then I'd tell you that you couldn't.'
'Chris,' Josie said softly, 'why don't we give up on this topic of conversation? I know exactly what you mean — and I agree that it does seem as if some things are impossible.'
Chris wasn't sure whether to be pleased that she understood what he was trying to say or annoyed that she had been pretending that she didn't. 'Paradoxes!' he said.
'I beg your pardon, Chris Gardiner. Don't use that sort of language when there are ladies present.'
He laughed. 'I see no ladies. Paradoxes. In sci-fi books they talk about them. They're contradictions you get with time travel. Puzzles. Things that don't make sense. Things that drive you nuts when you think about them.'
'A bit like your infinity surrounded by a brick wall?' suggested Josie.
'Yeah, just like that.'
Chris looked at the church and began to pick his nails.
'Do you think we've missed her?' Josie asked.
'I dunno. I'm going to pop in the church and have a look.'
'You can't just ride through the village. Someone might see you and throw a wobbly.'
'It's okay. I'll take the back way.'
Chris jumped back on his bike and headed into the wood. Every now and then, Josie caught a glimpse of him between the trees as he made his way to a point close to the church. Leaving his bike in the wood, he raced through the churchyard and disappeared from view.
A couple of minutes later he reappeared, sprinted across to the wood, and rode back to where Josie was waiting. 'No-one there,' he said, a little breathlessly. 'She must have gone. We'd better get a move on if we're going to catch her up.'
The twins pedalled along the twisty track as fast as they could, hoping all the time that they didn't meet someone coming the other way. The chances of stopping in time were not good. After a couple of miles, however, the track widened into something which was more like a modern country lane (apart from the surface) and they were able to travel faster.
'There she is,' cried Chris, seeing a familiar figure in the distance. 'Hey! Sarah!'
He called again, a bit further on, and she stopped and turned round. Chris tried to hide his disappointment that she didn't seem to be quite so excited about seeing him as he was to see her. Then he remembered that whereas Sarah had been talking to him less than an hour ago, it had been three days since he'd last had the pleasure of her company. Another paradox, he thought.
'What strange hobby horses these are,' Sarah exclaimed when she saw their bikes. 'I have ne'er seen aught like these before. Are they magic?'
'Magic hobby horses, eh?' laughed Chris. 'No, they're not magic — but I like the name. Maybe we'll teach you how to ride one.'
'You could always give her a lift on yours,' suggested Josie.
Chris gave her a look which she interpreted as one of gratitude. Yes, she thought, you'll enjoy that, won't you.
At first, Sarah was rather reluctant to hitch up her skirt in order to climb onto the crossbar but, with a bit of encouragement from Josie, she did as she was instructed. Apart from giving a short gasp as Chris set off, Sarah made not a sound. The road was wide enough for the two bikes to travel side by side so Josie caught up and drew level with Sarah.
'Did you talk to the priest at the church?' Sarah asked.
'He was not there. My journey was in vain.'
Josie tilted her head to give Sarah a sideways look, 'Not necessarily. You met us — and we mean to help you.'
Sarah let go of the handlebars to put her hand over her mouth but quickly replaced it. 'Please forgive me,' she said. 'I did not mean that meeting you . . ..'
'Don't worry. How are you enjoying the ride?'
'I cannot tell you,' said Sarah, her face now showing a beaming smile. 'I have no words to tell you how I feel. But I wish I had a magic hobby horse of my own. I could journey to Aunt Alice's house in no time.'
'Cool,' said Chris.
'Cool?' queried Sarah. 'Why yes, it is. The hobby horse maketh the breeze to blow.'
'Now that really is cool,' Chris laughed.
'Chris is being silly, Sarah. Where we live, 'cool' means 'excellent'. It's a word used by young people.'
'Do young people have a different language in your country?' Sarah asked, obviously puzzled by the notion.
'Not exactly, but they like to have their own words for things.'
'How strange. But does that mean that older people do not understand young people?' Before anyone could think of a sensible answer to that question, Sarah asked, 'Can I say that we are cool friends?'
The twins laughed until the tears ran. 'You certainly can,' said Josie. 'We are very cool friends.'