Chapter 41
Blackfriars Wood, Wealdshire. Wednesday 27 May 1998
'Here they come — at last!' Chris announced as he saw three people making their way through the trees from the road. 'Are you ready for this?'
Josie gulped. 'As ready as I'll ever be. I still can't decide whether we ought to tell him what we plan to do — or just grab him and take him back a few years.'
'Let's play it by ear,' Chris suggested.
'Okay.'
The twins studied the man who was walking towards them. In his smart suit, and with his short, neatly- parted hair, Mr Starling couldn't have looked more different from the two pixies who were escorting him — Shadow with his long hair flowing over his shoulders, white T-shirt, ripped jeans, and battle-scarred, brown leather jacket — and Misty with her long black hair and calf-length suede coat covered with strange, painted signs and symbols. They looked relaxed and carefree — he looked impatient and stressed out.
'Hi ya kids,' Shadow called. 'Been waiting long?'
'No,' Josie lied. 'We only just got here.'
Starling looked nervously around him, as if dreading that someone might see him, and then glanced at his watch. Shadow took the hint. 'Let's be quick. Mr Starling is a busy man and doesn't really want to be seen here. Do you want to start, Misty?'
'Uh . . . yeah, okay. Mr Starling — this place is special. Three leys — lines of earth energy — intersect at this spot. This place is —'
'Special,' Starling interjected. 'Yes, you just said that. So what? How is it special? What's it got to do with a road being built here?'
Misty, realising that she was going to have a hard task persuading this man of anything, tried again. 'It's a sacred spot. Some people can feel the power here — and put it to good use.'
'With all due respect, Misty, I can hardly tell the Roads Department that the bypass can't run through Blackfriars Wood because a load of mystics and pagans will have to go somewhere else to hold their rituals and God-knows-what.'
Shadow tried. 'It's got nothing to do with that. It could be dangerous building a road here.'
Andrew Starling started to laugh. It wasn't a particularly appealing sort of laugh.
Now I know why Jaine-Marie and Gerard are so obnoxious, thought Josie. I almost feel sorry for them.
'Dangerous! What are trying to say? That pagan gods will leap out of the ground with their spears and puncture the tyres of passing cars? That the ghosts of Roman soldiers will be seen by the side of the road trying to hitch a lift? That fairies will perch on car bonnets and stick their tongues out at drivers? No, I don't think you'll be able to convince me that this place is dangerous.'
Misty felt her anger rising. 'What about if cars and lorries were suddenly to disappear and find themselves hurtling into the past! Wouldn't that be dangerous?'
Andrew Starling stopped laughing. He turned on his heel and marched off.
'Sorry,' Misty said meekly, looking at the others from beneath lowered eyelids. 'I lost my rag. I blew it.'
'What do we do now?' asked Chris.
'He'll never come back,' said Josie.
Shadow narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. 'Oh yes he will!' he said, quietly but firmly. 'There are four of us. There's only one him — and he's out of condition. Let's get him.'
Andrew Starling heard the sound of four pairs of feet racing after him. Instinct told him to start fleeing for his Scorpio as fast as he could. But he'd feel such a fool if all they wanted to do was carry on with their whingeing. No, he'd just carry on walking (and praying that he wasn't making a major blunder in his assessment of the situation).
When Shadow raced past him, whirled round and blocked his way — he stopped. Giving Shadow a withering look, he stepped to the side and tried to walk on. Misty, having caught up, stood shoulder-to- shoulder with Shadow. The twins arrived and took up positions on either side of the other two. Faced by a wall of four people, Andrew Starling quickly tried to think of a plan which would allow him to escape with minimum damage to his dignity. He stayed where he was and demanded to know what they wanted.
'We want you to turn round and walk back to where you were before,' demanded Shadow. 'We need to demonstrate something to you.'
'No. You had your chance. You've wasted enough of my time already. I have far more important things to do than stand here being intimidated by . . . you people.'
'Just give us two minutes,' pleaded Misty. 'I promise that you will understand why we're being so insistent.'
'I wish you to get out of my way and let me walk back to my car.'
'Sorry. I can't do that,' Shadow informed him.
'So what are you going to do? Drag me back there? Beat me up? I thought you people believed in harming no-one.'
'We have no wish to harm you, Mr Starling,' said Misty, 'but it is imperative that you come with us.'
'I'm sorry. I refuse. However, I have no wish to engage in a public brawl. If you want me to go with you, you will have to force me. I hope you appreciate that that will constitute an assault upon my person.'
'Okay,' said Shadow, 'we'll have to assault you, then. We'll do it as gently as we can.'
Andrew Starling folded his arms and waited.
'Listen guys,' Shadow addressed his troops. 'We are going to escort Mr Starling back to the . . . place where we were. We will try not to hurt him. Let's turn him round.'
This is bizarre, thought Josie as she and Misty took an arm — but very civilized.
Starling did not put up a struggle, but allowed himself to be escorted back to the spot.
'How do you want to do this, Josie?' asked Shadow.
'I think we'd all better keep holding on to Mr Starling,' she said, 'as long as you're all happy to take a little trip. I'll do a count down and then we'll go.'
'Okay, Josie, we're in your hands.'
'Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .'
Shadow saw everything around him shimmer.
Starling saw his chance and tore himself from the clutches of his captors.
Misty, Josie and Chris saw that they were alone.
'Where did they go?' shrieked Misty. 'They just disappeared. And where are we? It's so cold — and all the trees have lost their leaves!'
'This should be Christmas Day 1923,' announced Josie, 'but God knows where Shadow and Starling are. I just hope we lost them before we left home. I guess we'd better go back and see if they're there.' Josie grabbed hold of Misty and Chris and took them back to the present.
There was no sign of the two men.
'What do we do now?' wailed Misty. 'You've lost Shadow. Get him back. Please.'
Josie sat down on the ground, wrapped her arms around her knees, and let her head slump.
'Josie! Do something! You can't just sit there,' Misty insisted.
'Shut up, Misty,' ordered Josie. I'm thinking. Just give me a minute.'
Misty took Chris to one side. 'What happened? Do you know? Can you think how we can get Shadow back?'
Chris looked unconcerned. 'I think Starling pulled himself away from us but Shadow held on to him. They fell off somewhere between here and 1923. Josie's probably thinking of the quickest way to find out where they are.'
Josie jumped up. 'Okay, leave it to me. This is going to take ages but, of course, you'll only have to wait a couple of minutes — I think. I'm going to have to imagine my watch going backwards for about seventy-five years. I hope they didn't get dropped off in the dark — and I hope they stay near the time gate.'
Misty was clasping her hands together and looking distressed. 'Shouldn't you go now?'
'It won't make any difference when she goes,' Chris told her. 'She could leave it till next week.'
'What!' shrieked Misty. 'You can't leave them in another time for a week.'
Chris tried to calm her down. 'Misty, they'll be okay. They won't be lost for a week.'
Josie smiled. 'I'm going. Wish me luck,' she said. And vanished.
Blackfriars Wood sometime between 1923 and 1998
'What happened?' cried Andrew Starling. 'Where have the others gone?' He stared at Shadow with a look of sheer horror. 'They vanished. They just disappeared. My God! This just isn't possible. Where are they?' When he got no response from Shadow, he seized his arms and started to shake him.
'Wait,' cried Shadow. 'I'm trying to think what went wrong. Leave me a minute.'
Starling stumbled away from Shadow like someone in a dream. 'I've . . . got to . . . go home,' he mumbled. He turned away and started running towards where his Scorpio was parked. Every now and then he stopped and looked around him, bewildered. The trees looked different. It must be the shock, he told himself. I'll be all right as soon as I'm sitting in my car. Where did I leave it? I thought I'd followed a path. I must have wandered off it. The road must be in this direction, though. I'll go to the road and then walk along it until I find my car.
'Mr Starling! Come back!' Shadow called. 'You'll get lost. You have to stay here. You don't understand what's happened.' Shadow was only slightly less shocked and frightened than Starling. He could see, by looking at the scene around him, that he was no longer in his present time. But in which time he was, he had no idea. I have to stay here — at the time gate. Josie will come back and find me. But how she will know where — no, when — I am? How can I help her to find me? She'll have to make her way slowly through weeks and months and years. That might take her ages. Can I leave some sort of marker so that it'll be easier for her to spot me? I don't know which way Josie will be looking so I need something all the way round the time gate.
Shadow didn't want to move far away from the time gate in case Josie turned up, so he searched for what he wanted in as small a circle as possible. Thank God we dropped off in the summer, he thought. If this was the winter — he shuddered at the thought. There weren't many stones on the floor of the wood but there were lots of fallen branches. Selecting the largest ones, he began dragging them back to the time gate. Very slowly, the wall of branches around the time gate grew higher and higher. When he was satisfied that it was probably big enough to attract the attention of a passing time traveller, Shadow sat down on the ground and began his vigil.
Andrew Starling, wondering if he was asleep in bed and having a nightmare, fought to retain his sanity. Nothing that he saw around him was familiar. Kids had disappeared before his eyes. This couldn't be happening. Had those dropouts somehow managed to give him an hallucinogenic substance — some of those toadstools that he'd heard about?
He pushed on through the wood, no longer aware if he was still heading towards the road. Then — he saw it. A short distance in front of him he could see the roof of a car. Confident that the end of his nightmare was in sight, Starling jumped across a drainage ditch, hobbled around a stand of holly trees, and found the unofficial car park. He didn't notice that the litter bins had been removed. He was more concerned about the fact that his car had gone. The only vehicle in the car park was an Austin A40, in such good condition for its age that, despite the loss of his own car, he felt drawn towards it. He peered in through the window and saw that it had less than 20000 miles on the clock. Incredible, he thought. I wonder where that's been for the last forty years.
Starling crossed the car park to the exit and stepped into the road. He looked in both directions and, although everything looked slightly different from how he remembered it, there was no other place where he could have left his car. Better call the police, he decided. Then I'll call the office and get someone to come out and collect me. He took his mobile from his inside pocket and punched the '9' button three times. Nothing happened. He checked the battery. It seemed okay. He tried the office number. Nothing again. Damn and blast! Why do mobile phones play up when you really need them? What shall I do now? The nearest phone box will be in Frogley Heath. Hold on! The car in the car park. Maybe the owner is nearby and has a phone.
Starling strode back into the car park and walked up and down studying the paths which entered the wood. He was looking for the one which would give him the best chance of finding the driver of the A40. He took the path which appeared to be the main route for dog walkers and whoever else came to the wood. He didn't have to walk far before he heard the faint sound of music. He broke into a trot and followed the sound of the music. It seemed to be coming from a spot just off the path. He made his way past a few trees and then spotted a young couple sitting on a blanket having a picnic. For a moment he just stood and stared. The boy was wearing a long sports jacket and skin-tight jeans, his swept-back hair appeared to be held in place with a liberal smearing of Brylcreem, and his sideburns were longer than Elvis Presley's had ever been. The girl was wearing a gingham dress with a wide belt, and there were so many petticoats beneath it that sitting on the ground was almost impossible. The tinny sound of Rock 'n' Roll was coming from a tiny transistor radio which she was holding in her hand. Starling was baffled. There was something strange going on here. Then it hit him. The A40 — of course. These two are fifties freaks. Oh well, it takes all sorts, he mused. I wonder if fifties freaks carry mobile phones. Only one way to find out.
'Excuse me. Sorry to disturb your picnic. Someone has stolen my car. I wondered if you had a mobile phone that I could borrow.'
When he saw the expression on their faces, Starling wondered if he'd somehow lost his trousers. No, they were staring at his face. What the hell was wrong with them? He'd made a perfectly reasonable request. 'A phone,' he repeated. 'A mobile? No?'
'Dunno what you mean, mate,' said the youth.
'One of these,' Starling said, reaching into his pocket for his own mobile and holding it out.
'What the heck's this?' the youth asked as he took the phone. 'New sort of tranny?' He handed it to the girl. 'Look at this, doll. What do you reckon it does?'
She examined the phone carefully, shrugged, and handed it back.
Good God, thought Starling, they're taking this fifties crap to extremes. Even pretending they've never seen a mobile phone before. 'So you don't have one?' he asked without much optimism.
'No mate. Whatever it is, we don't have one.'
'Could I ask you a huge favour?'
'Depends what it is, mate.'
'I need to get to a phone, urgently. Any chance of a lift?'
'Maybe. What happened to your car then?'
'I told you. It was stolen.'
'What sort of car was it? We might've seen it.'
'Scorpio 2.9 Ultima Estate. Metallic blue. P reg.'
The youth shook his head. 'Never heard of one of those, let alone seen one.'
Starling thought of something. 'How long have you been here?'
The youth checked with his girlfriend. 'How long we been here, doll? Couple of hours?'
'Yeah, 'bout that,' she confirmed.
Starling wondered if he'd banged his head and been unconscious for a while. 'I left my car in the car park about half an hour ago. Your car wasn't there then. I take it the A40 is yours.'
'That's mine all right. Well, actually it's me dad's. He doesn't know I've got it. He bought it new a couple of years ago and thinks I'll wreck it if he lets me drive it.'
New a couple of years ago? Were these people a sandwich short of the picnic they were having?
Starling tried again. 'How about that lift? If you can take me to Frogley Heath, I'll give you ten pounds.' He felt for his wallet and hoped he had some notes.
A tenner, pondered the youth. This square wants to give me more than a week's wages if I take him to Frogley Heath. Must be a nutter.
Starling found what he was looking for. 'Ah good, I do have a ten-pound note. I don't usually carry much cash. Use plastic most of the time.'
As the youth reached out to take the money he gave the girl a sideways look. Anyone who thinks he can buy things with plastic money really must be a nutter. Better check out this tenner of his.
'What's this then? I don't often see ten-pound notes but I've seen enough to know that this ain't one. This looks more like Monopoly money. What do you think, doll?'
She agreed. It certainly wasn't real money.
Starling was getting exasperated. They were taking this fifties nonsense too far. He took the note back and held up his hands. 'Okay okay okay. How about if I give you my watch. Here take a look,' he said as he slipped it from his wrist.
'Hey, that's more like it,' enthused the youth as he took the watch and studied it. 'Hold on, you've forgotten to wind it up.'
'You don't wind it up. It's a quartz. It uses a battery.'
The youth looked quizzically at him. 'Battery, eh? I dunno how you fit a battery in a watch. Anyway, you need a new battery.'
'Why? What's wrong with it?'
The youth twisted his wrist and laid Starling's watch alongside his own. 'Look. My watch says 3.10. Yours says 11.40.'
'Ten past three! What are you talking about?'
'He's right,' agreed the girl. 'Mine says ten past three as well.'
Andrew Starling had the look of someone who had just fallen asleep and woken up on Mars.
'Hey,' said the youth, 'What does WED 27 mean?'
'The day and the date, of course. Wednesday the twenty-seventh.'
'Yeah, well. Like I said, you need a new battery.'
Starling felt as if he was going to faint. 'What date do you think it is, then?'
'Well it's Sunday, for starters. What's the date, doll?'
The girl had to think. 'Um . . . the fifth, I think. Yeah. July the fifth.'
Andrew Starling felt weak. Were these two having him on, or was he really having a nightmare. He had to keep a grip on himself. 'What about it then?' he said feebly. 'If I give you the watch, will you give me a lift to Frogley Heath?'
'Course we will. Give us a sec while we pack up.'
Starling tried to turn his brain off. He told himself he wouldn't think another thought until he got to Frogley Heath and escaped from the odd couple. Shadow, he thought, never again will I think you're a weirdo. Compared with these two you're as normal as I am.
Josie was getting the hang of whizzing through time. She no longer needed to imagine a watch, but could simply go forwards and backwards as fast as she wanted to simply by thinking about it. The trouble with zipping through time this fast, though, was that it made her feel dizzy. She had to keep her eyes open to look for the two men, but the view of the wood changed more rapidly than any time-lapse film she had ever seen. The biggest problem was that she could only look in one direction at a time. If Shadow and Mr Starling were behind her when she passed through their time, she'd never see them.
What was that? Quick, go back.
There it was again. Something fuzzy suddenly appeared in front of her and then disappeared.
Back the other way. Slowly.
There. A heap of branches.
Josie stopped and turned round. 'Shadow!' she yelled.
Shadow was dreaming. He was lost in a vast forest which spread to infinity in every direction. He heard someone calling his name but he couldn't see them. Then someone was shaking him. Someone was holding him tight, kissing his cheek, dripping tears onto his neck.
'Josie? Is it really you?'
She stood up, her face still wet, and held out her hands to help him to his feet. 'Come on. I'll take you home.'
'What time is it? I mean — what year is it?'
'1959.'
A look of concern suddenly flashed across Shadow's face. 'Starling! Where is he?'
'I don't know. Wasn't he with you?'
'Yeah, he was — but the silly sod ran off.'
'Oh no! How are we going to find him? He could be anywhere.'
'Maybe we ought to go back and get Misty and Chris. It'll be easier to search for him if there are four of us.'
'Okay. Come here. And hold my hand very tightly. I don't want to lose you again.'
Blackfriars Wood 1998
Misty was getting more and more agitated. 'I thought you said Josie would be back in a couple of minutes.'
'I know, but maybe it takes longer when she does a lot of time travelling. Don't worry. She'll be back. We'll just have to be patient.'
Misty couldn't keep still. She tugged at her hair, chewed her nails and had scraped every scrap of dirt off her clothes. 'But it might take hours,' she moaned, 'or days, or weeks. We can't wait here for ever.'
'It's okay, Misty. If Josie finds that she has been away more than a few hours, she can simply bring the three of them back to now.'
'But if—'
She gasped as a friendly, familiar, lovely, wonderful, beautiful face appeared in front of her. She tried to say 'Shadow' but nothing came out. He just stood there, looking at her, and smiling, and looking so . . .
'What kept you?' Chris asked his sister. 'We were almost getting a bit worried about you — only a bit, mind.'
'Have I been away a long time?'
'Well over an hour. It looks as if the two minute rule only applies to single, uncomplicated time trips.'
'Oh well, not to worry. At least we'll know about that next time.'
'Where's Mr Starling?'
Josie blew through her lips. 'Ask Shadow. He said that—' She had turned to look at Shadow and realised that neither she nor Chris was going to get much sense out of him for a while. The two hairy people looked as if they were trying to eat each other.
'I was so worried about you,' Misty sobbed.
'I was a bit worried about me as well. I was stuck in 1959 and I kept thinking that I'd have to wait nearly forty years before I saw you again. By that time, of course, I'd be drawing my old-age pension and you wouldn't fancy me any more.'
Misty pushed him away. 'Oh yes — and what makes you think I fancy you now?'
Shadow blushed. 'I . . . um . . . well, I didn't mean . . .fancy exactly. I . . .'
'Come here,' Misty commanded, and pulled him close to her again. 'I suppose you're almost fanciable.'
Chris cleared his throat as loudly as he could. 'What shall we do about old Starling, then? Leave him in 1959 — or go and find him?'
Blackfriars Wood 1959
Andrew Starling was confused when he climbed into the Austin A40. It smelled too new. How could a car that was forty years old still be in almost mint condition? During the walk to the car, he'd convinced himself that the young couple had been having fun with him by pretending that they really were living in the nineteen-fifties. He had to admit it — they were doing a damn good job. But the car? That really was freaky. Never mind. A few more minutes of this insanity and he would be back in the real world.
'Here you are, guv. There's the phone box.'
The girl got out and held her seat forward so that Starling could climb out. He strode to the phone box confident that, within the next couple of minutes, his rescue would have been organised. As he opened the door, however, he felt his stomach drop. The phone box was an old, red one. When he'd driven through the village that morning, he was sure that he had seen one of the new all-glass kiosks. Had it been replaced during the day in response to public demand for the return of traditional street furniture? Then he looked at the telephone. It had a Button A and a Button B attached to a huge black box. Those old phones had disappeared years ago. Even if the phone worked, he wouldn't be able to use it. It would take only pre- decimal coins.
Starling slapped his hand against the back of the phone box and felt as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown. He turned round and looked outside. The Austin was still there. He let his gaze wander up the road. More old cars. It was like a film set. That's it! He suddenly realised what this was all about. Someone was making a film here. He'd stumbled onto a film set. The young couple, the car, the phone box, the whole village. It made sense.
He pulled the door open angrily and strode towards the Austin. How dare they make such a fool of him. He opened the door of the car and knew that he was going to put his hands around the young man's throat.
'Everything all right?' called a voice.
Starling forced his hands back where they belonged and looked up to see who had spoken. This is too much, he thought. A bobby on a bike. Either I'm going mad or—
He saw something else. Something in the sky that had no right to be there.
'Everything's fine, thank you constable,' he called out, struggling to keep his voice under control. He waited until the policeman had moved on, and then said to the youth, 'I'm so stupid. I've just remembered where I parked my car. Could you possibly take me back to Blackfriars Wood?'
As he travelled back to the wood, Starling fiddled with his shirt sleeves. He was trying to tuck them up so that they didn't protrude from his jacket sleeves. They looked a bit untidy without cuff links. But something has to go when you run out of wristwatches to pay for taxis. I must find Shadow, he decided. He's the only one who can tell me what's going on. I nearly made a complete pillock of myself with that policeman. I was just about to tell him to go stuff himself when I saw those planes. Three Vulcan bombers. Unmistakable with those delta-shaped wings. The RAF scrapped them all before I was born.
'Mr Starling!' called Josie as she walked northwards from the time gate.
'Mr Starling!' called Chris as he strolled eastwards.
'Mr Starling!' called Misty as she made her way westwards.
'Where are you, you dozy prat!' called Shadow. We ought to leave you here, he thought. That way we might be able to stop the bypass being built. You don't deserve to be rescued. We've done you enough favours.
The plan was for everyone to search for fifteen minutes and then return to the time gate. The wood wasn't very large so there wasn't much danger of anyone getting lost. Shadow was searching to the south because he thought that the car park and road were the most likely places to find Starling although, as so many hours had passed, the man could be anywhere.
'Mr Starling! Where are you?' Shadow shouted.
'Shadow? Is that you?' came the faint response.
'I'm here,' called Shadow. 'Can you hear me?'
'Yes, yes. Keep calling so that I can find you.'
'I'm here — I'm here — keep coming this way — okay, I can see you now.'
Shadow hardly recognised the individual who was pushing his way through the undergrowth towards him. His hair was dishevelled — not that there was much hair to get dishevelled. His face was scratched. His shirt sleeves were undone. Altogether, he looked like a man who'd accidentally stumbled into a war zone littered with land mines.
'Where have you been?' Shadow asked as Starling stumbled towards him. 'Where did you go?'
Shadow couldn't remember when he'd last been hugged by a man. And he didn't particularly want to be cuddled by a man who had tears pouring down his face, saliva oozing from his lips, and something far worse trickling from his nose. He could see that all three facial excretions were likely to drip onto his T-shirt. Shadow could comfort women (and was rather good at it), but calming down a distressed man was outside his field of experience. He felt silly holding his arms to his side so he slowly wrapped them around Mr Starling and patted his back. Now he felt even sillier.
'What happened, Shadow?' Starling whimpered. 'What's going on? Have I been imagining things? Tell me that you gave me some of those mushrooms. Please. Tell me. I'm having a bad trip, aren't I?'
When Mr Starling looked at him with tear-filled eyes, and showed no sign of stopping his blubbering, Shadow couldn't prevent a feeling of anger welling up inside him. He pushed him away and let rip.
'You really are a dickhead! You get up to something that endangers your family. You want to destroy the only bits of forest that still remain around Kingsbourne. You treat us like dirt. Refuse to listen when we try to warn you of danger. Run off when things go wrong. And then you start blubbing like a baby and expect me to put things right for you. Why the hell should I? I ought to do everyone a favour and leave you here.'
Starling stopped snivelling. He took out his handkerchief and wiped away the tears, dribble and snot. He sniffed a few times, put his handkerchief away, and closed his eyes. 'I . . . I'm sorry. You're right — I am a dickhead.' He opened his eyes and looked at Shadow. 'Okay. I'm all right now. And I'm ready to listen. Tell me whatever it is you want to tell me — and I won't interrupt.'
Shadow held out his hand. He hated any sort of aggravation and he felt bad about bawling out Mr Starling — even if he really was a dickhead. Starling took his hand and squeezed it. 'Come on,' said Shadow, 'let's go and find the others.'
'The place that we showed you is some sort of energy centre. I can't tell you what it is because I haven't the faintest idea. Think of it as Wealdshire's very own Bermuda Triangle. Weird stuff goes on there. And it's not something that humans can control. It's not aliens, though, so don't go thinking that you're going to be abducted or stuff like that. Those kids, Josie and Chris, have some sort of talisman which allows them to travel through time at that place. They call it a time gate — as good a name as any. Josie wanted to take you on a little trip into the past so that you would see for yourself that we're not bulling you. When you struggled, you and I got dumped. We were dumped here. This isn't 1998.'
Shadow saw that Starling had stopped walking. He looked back at him.
'Let me guess,' Starling said. 'I would say that this is the late fifties. 1958?'
'Not bad. 1959, actually' or so Josie tells me. 'Evidently she knows exactly where — sorry, when — she is. So if she says this is 1959, I believe her.'
'So do I. God, I made a prat of myself.'
Shadow reached out to touch him. 'No you didn't. You weren't to know. From where you were standing, we must have seemed like a bunch of lunatics who wanted to—'
'No,' Starling interrupted. 'I don't mean that. I made a prat of myself in front of the people I met.'
Shadow raised his eyebrows and allowed a hint of a smile to play on his lips. 'Are you telling me you met some people here, in 1959, and—'
Starling covered his face with his hands and started laughing to himself. 'Would you believe I asked if they had a mobile phone I could borrow because mine wouldn't work?'
'Oh no! They must have thought you'd gone loopy.'
'I think they did. And they were probably completely convinced I was out of my tree when I tried to give them a ten-pound note.'
'Ah yes. Ten-pound notes looked a bit different then — uh, now.'
'And they were worth a bit more. The bloke must have thought Christmas had come early — until he saw the colour of my money.'
Shadow grinned. 'Well, Andrew — and I'm going to call you Andrew whether you like it or not — I guess you've decided that the time gate is real.'
Andrew nodded. 'Yes. I'm convinced — but I've no idea how it will affect the bypass. I'll need to have a long and hard think about it.'
'Yeah — you do that.'