The Power of Forgetting (8 page)

I walked that
path again; from our house to the nearby village. It was three
miles through the fields. I was ahead of the others. Marcia was
walking with Janey; Davey seemed to be getting on fine nattering
away to Sam. My parents and Karis plus new man were trailing slowly
behind. I wasn't any mood for admiring scenery, and wished that
this strange appointment would not take long. The pub. We were
going to the pub. Apart from good Yorkshire beer and really first
class meals I couldn't see why we were going there.

We came to road
between stone walls. We all had to go single file. As we got to the
cross roads we had spread out so much that I had to stop and wait.
I looked to the left. In the distance was the bridge where the road
narrowed. There were walls on either side. I looked away. Don't
think; don't remember. Don't follow that train of thought. I dug my
hands deep into my jacket. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment. A
shimmering of the landscape followed the realisation that I wasn’t
that far from the spot where I had crashed. Oh God! No… not that. I
opened my eyes. Marcia and Janey had caught up with me. Marcia
slipped her arm round my waist on my right. Janey whispered ‘Is he
for real?’ and slipped herself under my left arm. I knew she meant
Morel. She looked up at me, this time serious and enquiring; with
no trace of that teasing and girlishness she had shown back in
London.

‘Don’t worry
Angel.’ I said, and kissed her on the forehead, ‘I think Karis has
it all under control.’

‘He’s right
there.’ said Marcia softly in my ear, leaning into me so that her
bubbling chocolate curls blinded me momentarily.

‘I think the
weather might brighten later.’ said Morel, eyeing me up and down.
Marcia and Janey both shifted closer to me. Perhaps they both
thought I was still in danger of being difficult since last night.
They had been having a long conversation just before they caught up
with me.

‘You must be a
very interesting guy,’ said Janey lightly, ‘I think Karis didn’t
bring you down here to give us a forecast.’

He smiled
easily looking at me: ‘She said she came here to help her brother;
I believe her; when she said there is very good reason.’ He glanced
back to the others slowly making their way to us, ‘You are
certainly all so protective of him. I do…. envy such devotion.’

Marcia’s grip
round my waist tightened, and Janey straightened and stood up on
her toes. That reflexive movement that meant she might give someone
an ear bashing. It was usually aimed at men who annoyed her. I kept
hold of her so she didn’t have a go at him. But she just seemed
lost for words as Karis and Sam caught up with us.

‘They’re so
slow,’ said Sam, ‘I think there’s time to get a sneaky double in
before they get here.’

‘Err… who?’ I
said.

‘The love
birds….’ Said Sam, grinning at me, ‘I must say you’re not doing too
badly either.’

We all turned
to see my parents with arms round each other. I realised that we
had all come together without the forced pressure of a birthday or
something else. They looked so happy. I blinked and gasped. Janey
looked up at me again. She knew what I was thinking. Karis was
stood with her arms folded. She had that totally unreadable
expression, that underneath covered a lot of confusion. I often
felt like that myself. But today there was Morel, and there was a
growing feeling that we would all soon know something new. He was
hard to read as well. He stood in a neutral position, relaxed. But
I noticed that he never let himself be in a position of having his
back to anyone. Good instincts I guessed.

My parents
joined our waiting group with Davey trailing behind. He was in
thinking mode…. daydreaming again. He seemed oblivious to the
strange tension between me and Morel.

We followed Leo
and Laura into The Plough Inn. It was just as I remembered it.
Perhaps even as my parents had first seen it, back when they first
knew each other.

We all gathered
round two oblong tables. Sam and Davey went to the bar. The girls
disappeared into the Ladies. Laura came back with a small tray and
four glasses.

‘Leo has the
rest. I must say that Angela is still doing the lunch roast. We can
get a table in the dining area in half an hour, if we want.’ She
passed me a glass.

‘What is it?’
asked Morel, as Laura passed him something that was almost black in
colour.

‘That’s Rum and
black.’ said Davey, who had just come over with the snacks, ‘You’ve
got them mixed up Mrs Arden.’

Laura wrinkled
her nose and sniffed in an irritated way; ‘Just One thing to
remember Davey. Under no circumstances ever call me that again. It
is actually wrong anyway.’

‘Oh?’ said
Morel who was helping to rearrange the glasses to the right places.
At that moment Karis, Janey, and Marcia all came back and squeezed
themselves in between us. Karis and Janey were arguing in a gentle
way about who should sit next to me.

‘Girls!’ said
Laura, ‘Take turns.’

To my guilty
satisfaction Morel looked slightly put out. But his expression
quickly smoothed out; ‘You are quite the most compelling person I
have ever met in this matter.’ he said, as the noise level rose and
every one was chatting amiably. Leo and Sam brought the rest of the
drinks.

‘I can’t hear
you.’ I said vacantly.

Morel leaned
over; ‘Oh, I think you can. But understand what I am doing. I am
not here just because of my high conviction rate on criminal cases.
And don’t get the idea that I cheat, in order to solve them. I am
only doing this for Karis…and so far I don’t see anything to point
to why she is so determined to let you all see this.’

‘What do you
mean?’ I was cold in tone. Davey turned and was listening to our
conversation. Marcia reached across me for her drink again. I stood
and went over to the bar. Davey followed me and so did Morel. Leo
looked up and caught my eye as if he knew everything that was
happening. He put his arm back round Laura and tilted her chin up
towards him. I watched fascinated. I had very rarely seen them be
so openly affectionate with each other. But I sensed something in
the air. Something wasn’t right. Something was here. Laura and Leo…
they were, somehow disconnected. I couldn’t explain it better than
that. The others seemed to be taking no notice, not even Karis.

‘You should pay
attention to what is happening around you.’ said Morel, ‘there are
three things that have occurred in the last few minutes which you
seemed to miss completely.’

I turned to him
waiting for the punch line.

‘Yes,’ he
continued, ‘you perhaps didn’t see what happened.’

Davey looked
annoyed, and opened his mouth to speak; but I held up a hand; ‘It
ok Davey… trust me. It’s fine.’ I turned to Morel, ‘I see what you
did. There were three things. The glass you swapped to the wrong
person. The note into Marcia’s coat pocket, and the mat you put
under Janey’s glass when she picked it up.’

Morel seemed
surprised. He indicated the barman pass him another blackcurrant
and soda. He turned towards me, ‘Interesting. You are really quite
the charming understated gentleman of mystery that Karis said you
are.’

‘Karis is a
good judge of most things.’ I said, ‘you believe her now?’

‘Yes…. I do.’
He drained the soft drink down in one, ‘Is there anything I can get
you?’

‘Some dry
roasted peanuts.’ I said, and a pint of Black Sheep.’

Morel looked at
Davey who nodded, ‘Sounds good.’ He said.

He got us the
drinks and we returned to the table, ‘you are quite the one, aren’t
you.’ he said pointing at the pint. Davey watched him intently, and
I felt puzzled. ‘What do you really do?’ I asked.

‘I have a
useful ability. Like I said; I don’t use this…. skill for just
anything. I am aware of the way it brings attention to me. I have
found it useful for solving some crimes that were completely stuck.
The ones we had reached a dead end with. It is tiring, and required
a lot of concentration. Karis has helped me focus more, so that I
don’t need as much energy to make it work. She said that I can find
it better if I think of it as putting the fulcrum in the right
place.’

‘You are a
traveller?’ I asked him quietly.

‘Yes… in a
manner of speaking. But I do not myself move through the causal
plane. That I leave to others like yourself, who are not shit
scared of one’s place in history being erased.’

‘That is not
true you know.’ I said.

‘That may be
so. But if I was you… but I’m not, I’d really try to get to grips
with the limits of my own power.’

I looked away.
I didn’t know what Karis had told him about me, but I was curious
to see what he could do.

‘Will you show
me?’ I asked at last.

‘Yes, of
course.’ He said, as if he had been waiting for me to ask this. He
turned to Leo; who nodded at Morel. I realised this had been
arranged for my benefit, and perhaps maybe Davey and Marcia’s as
well. I took Marcia’s hand. I was nervous. Karis sat down next to
Morel.

‘Do you need my
help?’ she asked him.

‘Err…yes,
please. I need all these other people excluded from the circle.’ He
sounded rather nervous too. I realised that he had one shot to
prove himself to me. He might be with Karis as a friend now, but
perhaps it was more than that. I began to feel some admiration for
this guy. Who was preparing to expose his secret to me and the
others. I realised what he meant when he asked Karis to exclude the
others. All the people in the bar who were just ordinary customers
and weren’t part of our group.

‘Alright,’ he
looked at me and loosened his tie, ‘I need us all to go to the
space near the fire place. No one has been standing or moving
through there for the last twenty minutes since we arrived.’

‘Can we take
our drinks?’ I asked him

‘You could. But
it might be better to not do so…. especially for you Jared.’

We all
complied, and stood waiting for him to do something.

Morel seemed to
be in some discomfort. Karis took his hand, ‘What amount do you
need me to put in?’ she asked him.

‘Can you just
be ready to catch the deceleration…. there is a lot going on in
here. But this is the only safe way for it to not leave a
trace.’

‘Everyone
ready?’ asked Leo standing straight and tall. Laura was tucked
under his left arm, and looked up at him smiling. She seemed so
small and slight. Janey wrapped her arms round Davey, who looked
surprised and a somewhat scared. Karis held Sam and Marcia’s
Hands.

‘Will you let
me?’ he asked, offering his hand to me palm upwards. I glanced at
Leo who nodded.

‘Alright.’ I
said.

David Morel
took my hand. I felt a really strange gut pulling tug. There was a
moment of fuzziness, and then we were in the bar again just as
before. I almost laughed… until I saw myself sat there across the
room. I saw Morel walking from the bar and switch the glasses. He
leaned over and slipped the note in Marcia’s pocket. A moment later
he moved the mats as Janey’s glass was lifted. He had written
something on the back and flipped it over while talking.

I started
across the room.

‘No! Jared!
Don’t move.’ That was Karis. But I was already slipping between the
tables. I glanced back at Morel who looked pale and seemed
uncomfortably warm.

‘Stop!’ shouted
Karis.

There was an
absolute silence. Karis came up to me and pulled me back slightly.
‘Little brother…. You are still impetuous. Learn from me and I will
teach you everything I know.’

‘Is it safe to
move now?’ asked Davey

‘Yes,’ said
Leo, ‘there is a stop. It is stable.’

We all wandered
round, looking at these living statues.

‘You create
images of the past.’ I said to Morel.

‘Yes,’ he
gasped, ‘they are not your real past selves. The paradox problem
would be too great. They are just images.’

We all walked
around.

‘They are
moving.’ exclaimed Davey, ‘but just very, very slowly.’

‘Yes.’ Karis
turned to the group, ‘it is a simulacrum of a time freeze state.
The images will be moving just as when you do this.’ She glanced at
me, ‘but don’t touch them.’

‘Why not?’ I
asked, ‘If they are just images.’

‘There is a
connection with the real. You can break it if you have that
connection. It is extraordinarily rare for this to happen. But
people have been known to fall into a dream state.’

‘Oh…’ I was
drawn to myself. That strange way of seeing; from the outside, the
right way round. Not in the mirror, not in a photograph.

‘Curious.’ said
Marcia, ‘It is as if they are alive. But it’s like a 3D photo
too.

‘Karis….’ said
Morel, ‘two more minutes, tops.’

‘Yes,’ she
said, ‘then we will all resume our places.’

I stared at my
pint then. I reached out to the glass. I felt a strange kind of tug
inside myself. The head of the image moved slightly. I reached out
and touched the sleeve that was the image of me. It felt completely
real.

Suddenly it was
moving. I saw myself looking at me in my memory, while
simultaneously staring down into my own eyes as I looked upwards.
My lips parted in surprise. I could not withdraw. Our… my, hands
touched each other. I felt a curious sense of peace. Somewhere I
heard shouting. It was distant. I was breaking apart then….

Suddenly
crashing backwards off the small chair; I tumbled over. Karis,
Janey and Marcia were all around me. Janey seemed the calmest.

‘Jared…it’s
alright. Just breathe… breathe slowly.’

I scrambled
backwards away from the chair I had been sitting on. People in the
pub were staring at me. I thought they were. They really were
turning and staring at me; and at the tipped over chair.