32
‘Are you nervous?’ Barney asks.
‘Yes, are you?’ I glance across at him.
The three of us are standing outside the brick wall between the antiques shop and the bookshop, waiting for the sun’s rays to hit the hidden building, and the shadow from the tree to hit the brass calendar held firmly in my hands.
We’ve set the calendar for a date earlier this year, to test it for the first time.
There was much discussion in the little time we had about when to set our possible first trip back in time, with the two men choosing all sorts of famous dates in history.
But we eventually decided to attempt to go back just a little way, to see if this portal actually works, and not to try anything too radical.
‘Of course I am,’ Barney says. ‘I’m bricking it.’
Adam grins at him.
The sun finally moves across onto the building. I don’t know what we were all expecting to happen when it did, but nothing unusual happens as the sun’s rays warm the honey-coloured wall and the heavy grey timbers.
‘Hurry, Eve, get the calendar in the right place for the shadow,’ Adam says anxiously.
‘All right,’ I reply calmly. ‘I am.’ I move the brass calendar around until the shadow passes over the dates that we’ve set, and again we wait.
‘What now?’ I ask when nothing happens. Everything happened so fast when we decided this might be worth a try.
The sun was moving so rapidly towards the hidden building in Clockmaker Court that there was no time to discuss what we’d actually do once everything else was put into place.
‘Should we go down to the office and see if anything has actually happened?’
‘Yes, I think …’ Barney stops. ‘Rocky, at ten o’clock!’ he whispers urgently, looking behind me. ‘You two go down there. I’ll head him off.’
‘Are you sure?’ I ask.
‘Yes, it will take too long to get me down there. Go! Go!’ He swivels his chair in Rocky’s direction. ‘Tell me what happens later.’
Adam and I rush towards my shop. This morning, we found the entrance down to the office was actually easier taken from my side than his.
Once we peeled back the wallpaper, we found the metal door was secured with the same six-digit code as the one in Adam’s shop.
But rather than the great huge bookcase that now covers the secret door in Adam’s shop, in my shop we only have to move the grandfather clock.
‘Look,’ I gasp as we pass the clock, already moved to one side to allow us quick entry down to the office.
‘What?’ Adam asks.
‘The clock’s hands are spinning … backwards!’
We stop for a moment to look at the grandfather clock, whose hands haven’t moved since we originally dragged it into my shop back in early March. The hands are now spinning freely around its face … but instead of going forwards, they’re going backwards.
‘Do you think this is a sign the portal might actually be working?’ I say, looking nervously at Adam.
He nods. ‘Let’s go before it changes its mind and stops.’
We rush down to the office and pause for a moment in front of the two wooden doors.
Which, now they’re attached to the little cupboard in the wall, make up the two halves of an ancient carving of an oak tree.
Before I can change my mind, I pull the doors open.
With my torch lighting my way, I bend down, step through the doors and find myself in the tunnel.
‘Come on,’ I say excitedly to Adam when I realise he’s not with me. ‘We might not have much time!’
Adam hesitates in the doorway and suddenly I remember.
‘Would you prefer not to?’ I ask gently.
Adam forcefully shakes his head. ‘No … I’ll be fine,’ he says with determination. He looks fearfully inside the tunnel, as though he’s trying to weigh up whether it’s as bad as he’s imagining.
‘You stay here,’ I say, making a quick decision. ‘Someone needs to make sure I can get back, in case there’s a problem.’
‘No, I can’t let you go alone,’ Adam says with annoyance, at himself rather than me. ‘I’m coming.’ But as he bends down to step inside the tunnel, I can hear his breathing immediately become far too fast.
‘I’ll be fine, Adam. You stay here and if I’m not back in ten minutes, then you can come and rescue me. I might need someone to open the door at the other end.’
Adam steps back into the light of the office and nods.
‘Good luck,’ he says, looking very sheepish. ‘Be careful, won’t you?’
‘I’m only going back to February. It’s not like I’m going to the Middle Ages.’ I smile bravely. ‘I’ll be just fine.’
I turn around and, to my enormous relief, I find that once I’m properly inside the tunnel, I can stand up straight. I call back to Adam, ‘Shut the doors, in case that makes a difference.’
Adam looks reluctant, but does as I ask.
The tunnel is now fully in darkness, so I only have the light from my torch to guide me.
It only takes ten seconds or so of cautious walking before I find myself at the other end in front of two more doors.
There’s a couple of thick wooden planks placed horizontally across the doors to prevent anyone accessing the entrance from the other side, so I lift them off one by one and lean them up against the wall.
Then, taking a deep breath, I gently pull one of the doors open.
Daylight floods into the tunnel and I find myself staring out onto the little alleyway that runs behind my shop on Clockmaker Court. It’s a dead end – probably used in the past for deliveries and such to the shops – so there’s no one passing by to see me emerge from the tunnel.
I wonder whether I should shut the door behind me – I don’t want someone stumbling upon the tunnel accidentally.
But I’m very conscious that Dotty never returned from her last trip and I don’t want the same to happen to me.
I see some abandoned pallets from a delivery to one of the market stalls at the end of the alleyway, so, rather than fully shutting the door, I quickly stack a couple in front of the opening, which allows me to wedge the door open a little – just in case.
‘Right,’ I say, taking a deep breath. ‘Let’s see if this has worked.’
I walk out onto the market square in Cambridge, which looks just like it always does on a weekday.
There are shoppers browsing the various market stalls with bored-looking stall holders waiting to see if their customer actually wants to buy something or if they’re just looking.
The only stall that looks particularly busy is the fresh fruit and veg stall.
I shiver – it feels cold. Of course it is, you numpty.
It’s supposed to be February now and you’re in a short-sleeved blouse, jeans and flip-flops!
I notice then that everyone else walking about is well wrapped up for the cold in thick coats, scarves and gloves .
I need to be quick, before I either freeze or draw too much attention to myself for wandering the streets of Cambridge in summer clothing on a cold February day.
I look for anyone carrying a newspaper, like Ben said Dotty did, but there’s no one.
I could just ask someone the date, I think, but that, along with my strange attire, might draw far too much attention.
I’ll pop into WHSmith just off the market square, take a quick look at their newspapers and then go back. That should do it.
I head quickly to WHSmith, find their stand of daily newspapers and lift one up – February 29, 2024 it says at the top of today’s edition of The Times newspaper.
We did it. I gaze at the newspaper for a moment. We only went and actually did it! I’ve travelled back in time. As I’m staring at the newspaper, someone passing by on their way to the exit catches my eye.
It’s a woman wearing jeans, a long green coat and a patterned art nouveau scarf tied artfully around her neck. Her long dark hair is twisted up into a messy bun and she’s in a hurry.
It’s me.
I realise I’ve stopped breathing for a moment and I gasp suddenly to let in enough air.
I’ve just seen myself passing through WHSmith with a brand-new notebook, just as I did before I went to get the bus to Grantchester to meet Adam that afternoon.
When we chose this date, I didn’t think of the possibility I might actually see myself.
It just seemed like a familiar and safe date we all knew what had happened on.
I quickly put the newspaper back on the shelf and follow myself to the door. Little do you know how much your life is about to change. I pause to watch my past self cross through the market. ‘Good Luck …’ I whisper out loud as my past self disappears from view. ‘You’re gonna need it!’
I sigh. Time to go back.
I head back across the market and I’m about to turn into the alleyway, with the intention of returning down the tunnel to Adam, when I pause. I suddenly feel a very strong inclination to go and see what happened in Clockmaker Court that day …
Without thinking about it any further, I quickly head around to the entrance of the courtyard. I lean stealthily up against one of the walls, where I hope I won’t be seen by any of the other shopkeepers, but where, if I peek around the edge, I can still see what’s happening within the court.
I look over to Rainy Day Antiques, with its Closed sign hanging in the window, just as I left it.
Then across to the café – where I can see Rocky wiping down a couple of tables inside.
Harriet appears from the café door, so I immediately retract my head as she passes by the entrance.
When I take another peek again, I see she has walked across to Luca’s shop, which is quite near to where I am, and they are both standing outside having a conversation.
I listen hard to try to pick up what they’re saying.
‘You know where Eve has gone today, don’t you?’ Harriet says after they’ve exchanged pleasantries. ‘To the grandfather’s.’
‘Is that today?’ Luca asks, sounding shocked. ‘I can’t believe it’s finally happening, after all these years of waiting.’
‘If I’m honest, I wish it wasn’t. I have no desire to go back, even if they really do figure this thing out.’
‘What do you think the chances are of that?’ Luca asks, sounding worried. ‘I know that’s what the predictions said. But it’s been so long, Harriet. I quite like living here now.’
‘Well, no one is forcing me to go back down that tunnel,’ Harriet says stoutly. ‘There is no way I’m leaving my Rocky.’
‘We can’t be forced to do it,’ Luca says. ‘I was under the impression it was always optional whether we wanted to return or not.’
‘Ben wants to go back,’ Harriet says. ‘You know that, don’t you. He’s always been keen. Too keen for my liking. Why would you want to go back to Victorian times when you can live here with hot running water and central heating!’
‘It was Edwardian by then, wasn’t it, where he came from – 1904?’
‘It’s still not 2024, though, is it? It would feel primitive going back to those times again after you’d got used to living here now.’
‘He wants to see if his mother was all right after he left,’ Luca says. ‘I can understand that. I left my friends just before Hitler invaded France in 1940. I have no idea what happened to some of them. Or some of my family in Italy. It is very tempting.’
‘At least we know the truth,’ Harriet says. ‘We can make our choice if the portal ever begins working again and if they can control it. What about those who don’t know where they came from?’
Luca pauses before answering and I can only assume he’s nodding since I can’t see him. ‘Do you think they’ll ever tell him?’ he asks.
‘No idea. But I wouldn’t want to go back if I was him. It must be bad enough being in a wheelchair now, let alone back then. Probably best if he never knows. What you don’t know can’t harm you – that’s what they say. And in Barney’s case, I’d say they were right.’
My heart stops beating for a moment, like it had in WHSmith, and again I gasp. Barney is from the past too? He can’t be … can he?
I try to think quickly. Harriet said he didn’t know he was.
If so, why doesn’t he? He must have come through the portal when he was very young and he can’t remember?
That would fit with what Barney told us about him not remembering his real family, only his adoptive parents.
Was he placed with a family when he came through the tunnel by someone?
My mind is racing so much that I don’t realise Luca and Harriet have stopped talking and have retreated back to the warmth of their shops. I shiver – from the cold or from the newfound knowledge I now have, I’m not sure. But I’m suddenly desperate to get back to May 2024 and to Adam.
But as I turn, about to rush back to the alleyway, I almost bump into Ben.
‘Eve,’ he says, smiling at me. ‘What are you doing hanging around here in the cold?’
I can do nothing but stare at him.
‘Are you all right?’ he asks. ‘You must be freezing out here dressed like that. Where’s the lovely green coat you often wear? In fact, didn’t I just see you wearing it a few minutes ago as you crossed the market square?’
‘I …’ I’m lost for words. Partly at this sudden encounter with Ben and partly still at what I’ve just heard.
Ben narrows his eyes. Then, like a lightbulb going off, I see his expression change as his eyes light up.
‘Don’t worry,’ he says, tapping the side of his nose. ‘I get it. I can’t believe it’s going to happen at last, but you’ve obviously made it work. Now go. And I’ll pretend this meeting never happened. OK?’
I nod hurriedly. Then I dash off towards the alleyway.
To my enormous relief, the pallets are still where I left them and the door is still wedged open.
I clear the entrance, step back inside the tunnel and pull the two exterior doors closed behind me, replacing the wooden planks across them.
Then I step quickly, but cautiously, down the tunnel and knock on the doors at the other end.
Adam immediately pulls them open. ‘Thank God you’re back!’ he says, looking incredibly anxious. ‘It felt like you were gone ages. I was just about to come and look for you.’
‘Yeah …’ I say, not knowing quite where to begin. ‘I got a little sidetracked.’
‘What was it like?’ Adam asks. ‘Did it work?’
‘Yes, it worked. I went back to the twenty-ninth of February this year. I checked a newspaper and I saw myself.’
‘What? How?’
I tell Adam what happened.
‘And then you came back?’ he asks. ‘When you left the shop?’
‘Er, not immediately, no,’ I reply hesitantly. ‘I went to Clockmaker Court and I found out something quite interesting. No, not interesting, that’s the wrong word. Something actually quite worrying …’