Epiworld (8 page)

‘Travis!’

Suddenly embarrassed, I run back into the house.

I
’m happy enough to stay on the farm while I recover from my seizures – I have another the next day, accompanied again by that bright, golden light – but after only two days of family life I start to feel trapped. Having my freedom is great, but I’m not used to being this happy. It’s not long before I wish I’m back in twenty ninety-nine; this place, its people, are all alien to me. In a strange way I feel imprisoned.

I don’t want to leave Mrs Fraser, though: I’m totally in love with her! I long for every minute when I’m in her company. I think about her, dream about her, and have fantasies about her. It’s because of her I can’t bring myself to leave, not yet.

Mr Fraser says I can repay my keep by helping Angus with his work. Angus doesn’t say much, but he’s all right; he’s forgiven me for pinching the eggs. Dr Mac visits sometimes. I’m sure he’s still suspicious of me, but the ‘polis’ (that’s what some of the islanders call the police) don’t come. Like Mrs Fraser says, I’m not on the run, not in this world, anyway. I haven’t broken any law. Dr Mac has stopped talking about Alexander, too, but there’s something about him that I just don’t trust.

Demi is devoted to me. She’s a good kid. I look out for her, treat her like a little sister. I get the impression by the way she acts that she wants more, but she’s not going to get it. She’s just a kid; I don’t fancy her. Anyway, her dad makes it clear I have to keep my hands off.

‘It’s all right, Mr Fraser, I’m not interested in Demi in that way,’ I assure him. I’m too busy thinking about his wife, anyway, but I can’t own up to that. ‘I already have a girlfriend; well, I had one. Her name’s Jenna.’ I sigh, thinking about Jenna. ‘I left her behind at home. You can trust me with Demi, Mr F.’

‘I hope so, son, because I don’t want Demi’s head being messed up with lads until she’s older,’ says Mr Fraser. ‘She’s far too easily led. I don’t want her getting into trouble like that lass in her school. She’s getting far too friendly with you!’

He says all this to Demi as well, but she doesn’t want to know.

No matter what Mr Fraser says, or what I say, Demi barely leaves my side. I can’t go into Crianvarich, the nearby harbour town, on an errand for her dad without her wanting to come with me. I like Crianvarich, with the fishing boats, the gulls flying around hoping to sample the catch of the day, the colourful houses, and hotels lining the harbour front, the delicious smells coming from the restaurants, and the streets bustling with islanders and visitors. I’m safe enough when Demi is at school, but otherwise my time isn’t my own when she’s on the scene.

My only other haven is the cave. I’ve been living at the Frasers’ farm for six weeks before I go back there one early Sunday morning. It hasn’t changed. The stuff in the cavern is undisturbed: my makeshift bed, and the ashes from the fire. I look out to sea, listening to the whish-whish of the waves, thinking about Jenna, Hudson, and Dr Alexander, and I wonder what’s happening back in my own time.

Then, without warning, a loud beeping noise echoes around the cavern walls. Bewildered, I gaze around. Then there’s a jolt, and my body jumps uncontrollably. I fall on my back, terrified. It isn’t a seizure. I’m awake, still aware of my surroundings. The cavern is spinning in a rainbow of colours. Something else is going on. I hear a familiar voice, Alexander’s, calling out to me eerily, like a ghost wailing in the night.

‘Come on, Travis, stay with us.’

‘I can’t!’ I shout back. ‘I can’t come back. I’m in two thousand and ten!’

Another jolt. My body shakes again, three times in succession, before I finally collapse with exhaustion on the cavern floor.

‘He’s back! Thank God!’ says the doctor, and the beeping dies away.

I roll on my back, breathing heavily. It takes a moment for me to grasp that something must be going on at the institution; but I’m
not
back there.

I sit up. The cavern has finally stopped spinning.

Is the pod working? Is Alexander using it to try to get in touch? I hold it to my chest, close my eyes, and concentrate.

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I
walk back to the farm feeling hacked off. The pod is obviously useless now, but I don’t want to throw it away; it’s a link to my ‘past-future’. It might work again one day.

Dr Mac has given me a higher dose of tablets to try to keep the big fits away, but warns me of the side effects, more frequent staring episodes being one of them. They’re starting to become a bit of a nuisance, and the bright lights come with them, too. Dr Mac can’t explain what they are. When people talk to me I look straight through them for a few seconds, before snapping out of it.

One evening I catch myself staring at Mrs Fraser when we’re sitting down to a meal. She’s talking about the clock, and how it has mysteriously reappeared on the hall table. Her face is bright with laughter. Demi clicks her fingers under my nose.

‘Travis!’

‘Mm?’ I turn to her, still chewing a mouthful of pie.

‘You’re doing it again!’

‘What?’

‘Staring.’

Mrs Fraser is shaking her head at me, laughing.

‘Thinking about your lassie back home?’ asks Mr Fraser, winking at me. My face burns red.

‘Yeah.’ I can’t tell him I’m daydreaming about Mrs Fraser, can I? ‘I miss her sometimes.’

‘Why don’t you ring her?’ suggests Mrs Fraser. ‘Let her know you’re all right? I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.’

Demi gives her a glare.

‘It would only confuse things. It’s best left as it is.’

When we finish eating I help Mrs Fraser wash the dishes. I love being near her, smelling her perfume. My heart pounds when I look at her lovely face. I’m not really listening to her as she chats, I just wipe a plate dry, nodding, laughing when she laughs. I want to drop the plate on the floor, take her in my arms, and kiss her!

Someone takes the plate and the tea towel out of my hands.

‘You’re doing it again, laddie,’ says Mr Fraser, frowning at me.

‘Sorry,’ I mumble, backing away.

‘Anyway, Dr Mac is here to see you.’

Quickly I’m on my guard. ‘What does he want?’

Mr Fraser doesn’t look at me as he says, ‘He’s brought someone to see you.’

‘Who is it?’

He doesn’t answer. He looks shady.

‘Hello, Travis.’ Dr Mac comes into the kitchen, followed by a young woman wearing boots under a long skirt, a long black cardigan, pale blue top, and a kind of chain with a plastic label around her neck. She’s light-skinned, her eyes are brown and slightly slanted, and she’s quite pretty. There’s a photograph of her on the label, and a name: ‘Lucy Wu.’

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T
he attractive Ms Wu turns out to be a social worker, something I’ve never heard of, but I soon find out. She’s come to take me to something called a ‘children’s home’. It sounds like another institution to me.

‘Now come on, laddie,’ says Mr Fraser, as he blocks my exit to the back door, ‘it’s for your own good, you know. You can’t stay here.’

‘Jack!’ says Mrs Fraser. There are tears in her eyes. ‘What have you done?’

‘It was my idea, not Jack’s,’ says Dr Mac. ‘Travis, come here. Listen to me, lad.’

I’m so angry I can hardly breathe.

‘Travis, it isn’t safe for you here,’ says Dr Mac patiently. ‘It’s dangerous being around all the farm machinery with your seizures. It’s clear to me you’re homeless, you have no family. At fifteen...’

From somewhere within me I find the words, ‘I’m sixteen!’

‘We’re not responsible for you, laddie,’ Mr Fraser butts in roughly. ‘They’ll take better care of you in the home.’

‘Demi will be gutted,’ sighs Mrs Fraser.

‘I’m not goin’ to no bloody institution!’ I flare up.

‘Fiveways is a lovely place,’ says Lucy Wu. She has a soft voice, and such a slight body I’m sure I could snap her in half if she got in my way. ‘You’ll make lots of friends there. It’s only until we trace your family...’

‘They’re dead!’

‘In that case you must be properly cared for until we can place you with a foster family, or until you’re old enough to support yourself,’ says Lucy Wu calmly. ‘Come along with me, now. We’ve got an hour’s drive.’

‘Drive?’

‘Yes; Fiveways is just outside Kirkness.’

Kirkness is a town on the other side of Barrasay. I’ve been there twice with Mr Fraser and Angus. I make another break for the door, but Lucy Wu has other ideas.

‘Boys!’ she calls. ‘I need some help in here!’

The kitchen door opens, and two strong young men walk in. Between them they carry me, shouting and bawling, across the yard to a waiting van.

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F
iveways is all right. It’s clean, my room is light and airy, the bed is comfortable, the food is great, they look after me when I have my seizures, some of the girls fancy me, and I can come and go as I please. It isn’t a prison, or an institution, but it feels like one to me.

I’m not staying.

I don’t want to go to a foster home, whatever that is. I’m so disruptive I make sure no one wants me. They try to place me in a local school, but I run away. I pick fights with some of the lads in the home, and get a reputation as a bully. I hope to become that annoying they’ll give up on me, and send me back to the farm. I miss Mrs Fraser, Demi – and the cave! The weeks pass by; I’m still at the home, so I’ll have to take matters into my own hands.

Only if I turn up at the farm they’ll send me straight back here. If I want to get right away I’ll have to get off the island completely. It’s the only way.

Kirkness is on the coast, but it doesn’t have a ferry terminal; all ferries to and from Barrasay go from Crianvarich. I check the bus and ferry timetables posted in the tourist information window the next time I’m in town. There’s an early bus back to Crianvarich, and then from there a ferry to a town called Oban early the following day. I know where that is; I’ve studied the map of Scotland at school. I need money for the tickets, four pounds for the bus, and six pounds for a one way sailing. I only have the allowance the home gives me, but I’ve just spent some of it on a cinema ticket. I’m interrupted by Sandy, who puts her arm through mine.

‘Come on, Travis, we’ll miss the start of the film,’ she says.

Sandy is a nice girl. I wonder if Demi is upset about me leaving Crianvarich, and has been to the cave since. She hasn’t been to visit, although Mrs Fraser did say she would.

I decide to steal the money for the tickets. It’s the only thing to do. It makes me laugh to think I could be killed for stealing an apple in twenty ninety-nine. Here I’ll probably just get told off.

It’s ridiculously easy to get the money. One of the day carers leaves her coat and bag hanging on the banister in the hall before going home for the day, so while she’s busy saying goodbye to someone in the common room, I quickly rummage in her purse.

There’s nothing less than a twenty pound note inside. I only need about ten pounds, but then I think about buying food, so I decide to take all of it. It’s wrong, she’s a nice person, but there’s no time to leave a note saying I’m sorry. I leg it back upstairs before she comes back out, picks up her stuff, and leaves. I wonder guiltily when she’ll notice the money has gone.

I’m up very early the next morning before daybreak. The house is quiet and still. I pull my hood over my head, and run out into the rain. I have about half an hour to catch the bus.

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A
s soon as I arrive at Crianvarich I walk the three miles towards the beach. I bounce down the dunes, happy to see the cave is still there. The sun is rising, there’s no one around.

I feel safe as I climb up to the cavern. I shake my hair loose of the raindrops, take off my wet shirt, and collapse on my bed, staring up into the dark cavern roof.

All sorts of thoughts start rushing through my head.

Barrasay, the cave, and two thousand and ten are better than the institution and the children’s home, but I don’t want to stay here forever; I want to go back to my own time eventually, back to what I know. I want the chance to stick one on Chase, escape the institution, and get back to my friends. I don’t know how I’m going to return to my own time, unless a really bad seizure sends me back.

The only real problem is the probe. I’ll be a sitting duck once they start tracking that again. Maybe I shouldn’t wish myself back too soon. Maybe I should explore a little more of this world, have a bit of an adventure. I’m free to go where I please; I should grab the chance with both hands, leave the island tomorrow, and the cave, but I’m sure I’ll be back here one day.

I make up my mind. I’ll sneak back to the farm when it’s dark, while everyone’s asleep, and collect some of Cameron’s old clothes. I don’t want to steal again, but I’ll need more money; I haven’t much left out of that twenty pounds. I’ll need matches to light fires with if I have to live rough. There are plenty of boxes and candles in the kitchen drawer. The Frasers won’t miss them if I take a few, and when I run out I’ll buy more.

I’ll need more medication soon. Perhaps I could get some from a hospital. The nearest one is in Oban on the mainland.

My eyes fix on a small stone jutting out of the wall until it becomes blurred. I don’t know whether I’m dozing off, or having a staring fit. The top of my head is warm, and there’s that golden light again which keeps following me around.

‘I wish I knew what it means!’ I murmur.

Faraway the sea pounds against the rocks. I have pictures in my head, of a clean, white room, and I imagine Dr Alexander and Hudson talking to me, but I don’t hear their words. It’s like they’re willing me to return. I think I hear Demi calling my name, too. I open my eyes suddenly, shaking myself out of my daydreams.

The swishing of the sea has died away; the tide is out. I wonder if the rain has stopped, too. I grope for my T-shirt. It’s still a bit damp.

I walk out to the mouth of the cave. Demi’s right, it doesn’t get very dark at night here, even if the moon does rise. The sky is a deep turquoise blue. I’m able to see the beach clearly, as well as the red flash of a buoy out at sea, and the flickering of the light from the lighthouse on the other side of the bay. I stumble over something soft. Whatever it is has a tongue because it squeals out in surprise.