Chapter 34
T am and Mary lunged for Edmondson, sending his henchmen scattering. Edmondson turned to face them, his eyes wide and confused. Sandy rushed forwards, reaching for Brigid. His hands were surprisingly soft as he eased the ropes away from her, then sawed through them with a small knife. Impatient, Brigid pulled free as soon as the last strands of rope fell from her body.
She gasped at the scene in front of her. Mary had grasped Edmondson and wrapped a stocking around his neck. He grabbed at it, struggling to breathe. A lot of his men hung back, clearly unwilling to risk themselves on his behalf. When one moved forwards, Tam stabbed at him. Another man lunged at Mary, but Sandy was quicker, jumping forwards to push him away.
Another man grabbed at Brigid. She was ready for him and dodged, twisting to trip him. He fell face first onto the table with an audible thud. Brigid massaged her wrists, still sore from the earlier ropes, then punched the nearest man.
Most of Edmondson’s team were backing away now, apparently not wanting to risk a fight. He couldn’t be much of a leader.
Brigid felt a flash of triumph. Maybe they could finally do this after all! Edmondson had still not managed to throw Mary off, even as his face went purple and his claw-like hands clutched at the stocking. It looked like Sandy and Tam would win their own fights.
Then something bright and metallic flashed in the hand of the man fighting Tam. He thrust forwards. Time seemed to slow as Brigid reached for her friend.
Tam screamed in pain, clutching at his side. The sound cut through all the shouting and chaos. Then he fell, almost in slow motion. Sandy and Mary reached for him, but they were too slow. He hit the ground, hard.
Mary screamed as well. The sound was full of such pain that it gripped Brigid’s heart like a vise. Tam lay still on the ground, a knife protruding from his side. There wasn’t much blood, not yet, but Brigid could already see a red trickle leaking out from around the knife.
Thrusting Edmondson aside, Mary collapsed onto the ground beside Tam. Sobbing and whispering, she stroked his face. Sandy stood over them, trying to fight off three of Edmondson’s men at once. Brigid grabbed at one man’s legs, knocking him off balance, and punched at another.
On the ground, Tam groaned once, a horrible, burbling noise. Then he was silent and still.
Mary screamed again, even louder. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the little knife from Sandy’s hand, shoving her brother out of the way.
She stood there, with her hair curling around her face and a mad look in her eyes. All of Edmondson’s men backed away a step. Silence fell, abrupt and unsettling.
Mary’s gaze locked on Edmondson.
“You,” she hissed. “This is all your fault.”
Then, with a bloodcurdling scream, she launched herself at him.
No one moved fast enough to stop her. She crashed into him - and her knife sank into his chest. He screamed and stumbled backwards, fighting to push her off. But Mary was relentless. She hung on grimly, pushing him back against the cross, and twisting the knife in his chest. The rest of his men scattered, running for their lives. Not one stepped forward to save him.
Mary shoved him back against the cross, even harder. He moaned a little, the sound full of agony.
“Please,” he groaned. “Spare me. I can help you.”
“Mary, let him go,” Brigid called out, beginning to panic. This had gone too far.
“I will not,” Mary growled. “Tam is dead, and it’s all his fault.”
Edmondson met Brigid’s eyes over Mary’s shoulder.
“Help me,” he gasped. “Brigid, only you can help me.”
Brigid suddenly realised what he was asking for. A trip to the twenty-first century, where modern medicine could save him.
Mary eased back a little, the anger already lifting from her eyes. She was starting to come back to herself. Brigid knew she would regret it if she watched Edmondson die.
But Edmondson’s own eyes were already starting to cloud over. Brigid didn’t have long to make her decision.
“You could go back,” Edmondson whispered. “Further back. Together, we could change things. I could change things so that Finn never works for me. He could meet you and fall in love. Brigid, I can show you how to have everything you’ve ever wanted. But you have to work with me.”
Just a few days earlier, Brigid might have agreed. But she knew the truth now - the Professor could not give her anything she truly wanted. Not love, not respect, not self-esteem.
She went to stand beside him, her fingers lightly brushing the stone. After the brute force of the Professor’s equipment, this was more like a whisper at the back of her mind. She could still feel the threads of time though, all tangled up at this point, flowing through the stone and tugging at her blood.
And she let the stone do what it wanted. She stepped back and fed it her strength, letting the power choose its own course. Something inside her flew open as the power unfurled, and the world around her once again blurred.
“Get back!” she shouted at Mary, who staggered away.
The Professor grabbed at the stone. For a moment, there was triumph on his face. Then, Brigid saw the very second he realised that it was not the twenty-first century materialising around him. He stretched out one bloodstained hand to Brigid, pleading - but he had already vanished into the whirlwind of time, and she could not hear him.
Then he was gone, and the world stopped spinning.
Gasping, Brigid got back up to her feet. She couldn’t even remember collapsing to the ground. What had happened?
Sandy and Mary were staring at her with awe on their faces. Then Mary began to cry.