37
Adam and I both stare at the woman standing in front of us.
She’s wearing a long navy-blue dress in a heavy tweed-like fabric.
It has a full skirt and a fitted bodice, underneath which she has a white, high-necked, buttoned-up blouse.
On her feet she wears brown boots with buttons, and on her head a wide-brimmed hat with both flowers and feathers sewn onto it.
The hat is pinned to her dark hair, which is arranged in a tight bun at the back of her neck.
Her gloved hands are held neatly in front of her.
And my first thought is she looks a bit like Mary Poppins as she stands there in front of us.
‘I am indeed Dotty,’ she says. ‘And you are?’
‘I’m Eve,’ I say quickly. ‘And this is Adam.’ I give Adam a nudge – he too seems to have lost the use of his voice, like I had to begin with.
Dotty lets out a long sigh. ‘ That is very good to know.’
‘Would you like to come in?’ I ask, sounding as though I’m calmly inviting her into my house for tea, when actually my mind is in complete turmoil at what’s unfolding in front of me.
Dotty looks past me into the tunnel. ‘It’s a long time since I set foot inside the portal. I’m not sure it will let me.’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘Let’s see, shall we?’ she says. Dotty seems much more in control of herself than we do – as if she’s been expecting this moment for some time.
Adam and I stand back a little to allow Dotty to come through the doors.
She gingerly takes one step forward. When nothing happens, she takes a second. ‘Well, that’s already further than I thought I’d get,’ she says, looking pleased. ‘Shall we continue?’
‘Yes, of course,’ I say, trying hard not to stare at her. But I can’t help it. How is this happening?
Adam and I lead Dotty all the way back to the office. Again she hesitates before stepping into the room.
When she does, she lets out another huge sigh of relief.
‘You don’t know what this means to me, to be back here again,’ she says, looking around. ‘This place has so many memories.’ Dotty walks slowly around the room, occasionally stopping to touch a desk or a chair as her memories come flooding back to her.
Adam and I can do nothing but watch her.
Both of us utterly astonished at what’s happening in front of us.
How can Dotty be here in this office with us?
It’s like we’ve watched an old black-and-white photograph not only colour itself in, but turn into a completely three-dimensional moving image at the same time.
Eventually Dotty turns back to us. ‘Archie and I had many happy times here in this office,’ she says.
‘Many stressful times too, when we couldn’t figure out why our experiments weren’t working as we wanted them to.
But overall, I have wonderful memories of my times here with your great-grandfather, Adam. ’
I feel Adam jolt next to me at his name.
‘You know who I am?’ Adam speaks for the first time since Dotty arrived. ‘I mean, I know you used our names before, but you actually know who we both are?’
‘Of course I do. As I just said, you are Archie’s great-grandson.
Your grandfather was George. I remember George when he used to be our messenger boy here with his friend Ernie.
We didn’t pay him all that much and I think he spent almost every penny on comic books.
But he seemed happy doing it and we were grateful to have him. ’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ Adam says in awe.
‘You look a little like him,’ Dotty says, smiling. ‘Just around the eyes. And you’re just as handsome as your great-grandfather was.’
Adam looks pleased and slightly embarrassed at the same time.
‘There was nothing between Archie and I, of course,’ she adds. ‘Only friendship. Your great-grandfather was a fair bit older than me. He was more like a father figure to me than anything else.’
‘Of course,’ Adam says, as though the thought never occurred to him.
‘And you,’ she says, turning to me, ‘are my great-granddaughter, Eve.’ For the first time since she arrived, Dotty’s calm, almost clipped voice softens as she says my name.
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Your grandmother was my Sarah …’ Dotty’s stoic expression suddenly changes and her face softens too. ‘My baby.’
She wobbles a little and Adam immediately rushes forward.
‘Here, have a seat,’ he says, pulling one of the wooden chairs out for her.
‘Thank you, dear boy,’ she says, sitting down after smoothing her skirt carefully underneath her first. Then she reaches into the little velvet bag that’s been hanging over her arm and pulls out a clean white handkerchief with a delicate lace frill around the edge. She dabs at the corners of her eyes.
‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ Adam asks.
Dotty looks like he’s offered her the world. ‘Oh, my goodness, would I? I haven’t had a good cup of tea for … well, for far too long.’
‘Will you be all right?’ Adam asks me. ‘If I pop upstairs and put the kettle on?’
‘Of course,’ I say. ‘Tea is a great idea.’
‘I’ll be right back,’ he says.
Adam heads out of the door and I hear him climb the stairs.
‘Come sit next to me, Eve,’ Dotty says. ‘I have much to tell you.’
I pull up the other chair and position it next to Dotty.
‘You know, I never thought I’d be sitting here in this office again. Let alone sitting here beside my great-granddaughter,’ she says, looking proudly at me. ‘You’re doing a wonderful job so far, Eve. You and Adam. I’ve heard all about you and what you’ve done so far with the portal.’
‘But how?’ I ask, wondering how she knows any of this.
‘From Ben.’
‘You’ve seen him?’ I exclaim. ‘Is he all right?’
‘He’s absolutely fine. He’s living quite the carefree, relaxed life now he’s seen his mother and put things right.’
‘Oh, good. I was so worried about him.’
‘He said that you would be. He also said to tell you you mustn’t worry about him. Although he misses you all greatly, he’s happy where he is and he’s so grateful to you for helping him.’
I can’t help but let out a little sigh. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted.
‘I would like to thank you too,’ she says. She looks down at her gloves, then quickly but carefully removes them before taking my hand in hers.
The feeling that surges through me when she does is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s like a heady mixture of love, belonging and complete peace.
‘You’ve turned into a fine young woman, Eve,’ she says, looking into my eyes.
‘You’ve not had the easiest of lives so far.
You don’t need to explain. I know all about your family.
But despite all that, you’ve grown into a strong, independent, brave and deeply loyal human being.
One I’m very proud to call my great-granddaughter. ’
‘Thank you—’ I begin say, but Dotty pats my hand to stop me saying any more.
‘Let me finish, dear. It’s so important to me I tell you this while I have the chance.
People say you remind them of me. And perhaps we do look a little alike, yes.
Even I can see the resemblance.’ She winks.
‘But you are your own woman, Eve. Never forget that. You make your own decisions in this life. If you think something is right, then don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Trust your gut – that’s what the young people say nowadays, isn’t it? ’
‘Er, yes.’ I wonder how Dotty knows this.
‘I can tell you it’s always the right thing to do.
If you listen to yourself, you’ll never go far wrong in life.
’ She pats my hand again. ‘Now, would you like to ask me anything?’ She lifts a small gold pocket watch fastened with a chain to her dress, and opens up the cover.
‘Sadly, time is running short for me,’ she says, snapping it shut again. ‘But I’ll do my best.’
‘Er … yes,’ I say, trying to sort all the questions I have for her into order of importance in my mind – but instead they all just come tumbling out randomly.
‘Why did you always send people back on leap days?’ I ask, realising as I say it that this is by far the least important question I have for her. ‘That was you doing that, wasn’t it?’
‘It was. Because the twenty-ninth of February is a day when time doesn’t really count.
All bets are off, as they say. The additional time we have that day messes with the rules of time.
So it makes it much easier to move people from one year to another with fewer repercussions – that’s the simple answer, anyway.
And for your reference, when we change the clocks forward and back – that works in a similar way too. ’
‘Right, got it,’ I say, eager to ask my next question. ‘When you first got stuck in 1904, did you try to return to 1944?’
‘Of course I did,’ Dotty says earnestly.
‘I tried everything. There was no way I was leaving my little Sarah behind – she was my everything. I tried for years – different times, different days. But the harder I tried to return, the firmer the door to the portal stayed shut. Eventually I had to stop trying. It was draining me physically and mentally to the point it was making me very ill, and I almost didn’t survive.
But it’s often when we’re at our lowest points that we find the greatest strength.
And that’s when I decided if I wasn’t allowed to go back, then I would stay and help others in peril, just like I’d helped Ben.
I had to hold on to the hope that one day I would be allowed to return – it’s what kept me going. ’
‘But why didn’t you try to come back through the portal when you sent the others forward in time?’ I ask. ‘Surely the doors must have been open for them?’
‘Every four years there would be a window to help someone have a better life,’ Dotty says wistfully.
‘That sadly was the only time I ever saw the doors open. Except they weren’t open for me, they were only open for the others.
Whenever I tried to join them in the tunnel, the doors would immediately close up again and I’d find myself back in 1904 once more. ’