The Space Between (18 page)

Mona leaned over the see
what he was pointing at. “[That's the clutch plate,]” she said,
giving a slight smile. "
Clutch
plate.
"

Keeble eyed her
suspiciously. "
Clutch
plate?
" She was only a dwife, how would she
know?

"
That's right.
"

But he didn't trust her. He
flipped back through the pages and pointed at another part that
Colin had named earlier, covering the name with his thumb so she
couldn't read it. "
What?
" he asked.

"
Thermostat.
"

She was right. Keeble turned some more pages
and pointed again.

"
Fuel pump.
"

She was right again. Keeble
went back to the picture he'd started from. "
Clutch plate?
"

"
Yep.
"

Keeble grunted and gave a
slight nod of his head. He said nothing more as he started to work
away from the clutch plate. He didn't know what it did, exactly,
but he would ask Colin later. He was
not
going to ask Mona.

* * *

Keeble watched the ticking hands of the
machine on the wall. They'd kept a constant beat all day long. He
decided the machine was a timekeeper, one more accurate than any he
had ever seen. When the two biggest hands formed a straight line
from top to bottom — six hours past noon, he guessed — Colin packed
away his spanner, screwdrivers, and hammer and removed his work
clothes. He washed up in a sink near the shit box at the back and
came out wiping his hands on a dirty towel. Mona had left some time
ago and the telephone had rung several times and remained
unanswered.

“
[Time to go,
Keeble.]”

Keeble guessed that meant quitting time but
wasn't keen on the idea. The box he'd slept in across the alley
didn't seem all that welcoming. He loitered as Colin started to
pull the chain that rolled down the big door.

“
[You coming?]”

Keeble stayed where he was. He wound the
gears on his hand, clutching at nothing.

“
[You don't have anywhere
to go, do you, lad?]”

Keeble shrugged.

“
[Where do you
live?]”

He shrugged again.

“
[Jesus.]” Colin scratched
at his grease stained neck. “[I can't take you home. Shelly'd kill
me.]”

Keeble stood where he was and wound his hand
in and out. In and out.

“
[Jesus. How 'bout you stay
here? Can I trust you in here? I can't believe I'm doing
this.]”

The engineer led the way back to the office
where Mona had spent most of the day. Keeble followed close
behind.

“
[Once I leave, you'll be
stuck for the night, though. Understand?]”

Keeble didn't understand and said so.

“
[Jesus. I saw you looking
at the clock out there. You know a clock don't you.]” He pointed to
one of the timekeepers on the wall.

"
Clock?
"

"
Yes, clock.
" Colin nodded. “[Well,
you'll be stuck in here for twelve hours, until the little hand has
gone all the way around and come back to the six.]” He drew a big
circle in front of the clock and Keeble understood what he
meant.

"
In here for...
" He stumbled through
half the sentence in the strange language, but didn't need to go
any further.

“
[Twelve hours. Yeah,
that's right. You okay with that?]”

Keeble nodded and smiled.

“
[Yeah, I suppose you would
be. This couch was always too small for me to sleep on, though I
done it often enough. Probably about the right size for you
though.]” He led Keeble to a big, soft, shiny chair against one of
the walls. “[And there's a bit of food and drink in the fridge. But
you know where all that is.]”

Keeble remembered the fridge. It was the box
that hummed and rattled and kept things cold.

“
[And there's
coffee.]”

"
Coffee.
" Keeble liked
coffee.

Colin stood where he was and looked around.
“[Well...]”

"
Thank you.
"

“
[You're welcome, Keeble. I
suppose. Just don't touch anything. Understand?]”

Keeble nodded.
"
Don't touch.
"

“
[That's right. Jesus, what
am I doing?]” He sighed. “[Just make sure you turn the lights off
before you go to sleep.]” As he went back out into the workshop,
Colin paused by the door and flicked a little white switch a few
times.

Keeble jumped to his feet as the light in
the room came and went with each flick. He rushed over to the
switch to try it himself and was still playing when Colin locked
the workshop's outer door.

12: Coffee and Cars

Keeble tried not to touch. He sat at the
desk in the office, feet swinging above the cold plastic tiles of
the floor, and flipped through another book. He made a coffee, with
no milk or sugar to dilute the taste. He opened one of the plastic
packets and ate the crunchy potato slices inside. He lasted until
the little hand on the clock was pointing to the seven.

The cars were just outside, but he avoided
the temptation. Instead he pulled apart the little music maker on
the desk. A radio, Mona had called it. There were all sorts of
things inside. He started at the power switch, following wires to
each component, trying to work out what they might do. After that
he pulled apart the computer.

But while we worked, the cars waited,
crouching in the dark like dragons. It wasn't long before he
screwed the computer back together, made himself some more coffee,
and went out into the workshop. He spent a few minutes searching
for the light switch. He realized, eventually, that it would be by
the door. When he could see, Keeble chose the car closest to the
bookshelf, so he could read the name on the badge of the car and
look at all the books at the same time to see the ones that
matched.

Morris
Minor
. He couldn't read the letters, but
found a match and pulled it from the shelf.

"Yes." Five minutes later Keeble had pulled
the covers off the ignition. He was examining how the key fitted
and what happened after that. He knew where the starter motor was.
He knew where the electricity holder was: the battery. He shook his
head at the thought and smiled. "A little black box to hold
electricity."

In a little diagram near the back of the
book, he saw how they were linked and he followed the path on the
car.

Then he reverently took the key, closed his
eyes, and turned.

The whole car lurched forward. Keeble almost
panicked.

He released the key and everything was still
again. He got out to make sure nothing had been damaged.

"The motor's still
connected to the wheels," he muttered once he was back in the
driver's seat. "I need the clutch." He found the appropriate page
in the book. He looked at the pictures. He looked at the pictures
that connected to those pictures. He
did
need the clutch, a little pedal
on the floor that he could hardly reach. He also needed the gears,
which were controlled by the lever, by his side. He perched on the
edge of the seat and pushed the pedal while he put the gears into
the neutral position. He also found the lever that controlled the
brakes. He tried the key again.

Keeble listened as the starter motor whined
and tried to get the engine started. It rumbled into life but died
just a second later. "More fuel," he said. "I need more fuel." But
how did he get more fuel into the engine? He remembered seeing a
picture that might explain how it was done, but that was a long
time ago. He started going through the book. "Another pedal," he
said eventually. "Of course."

So he pumped the pedal while turning the
key. The engine rumbled into life, speeding up every time he
pumped, and continued to go even when he climbed out. Keeble
cheered and did a little jig.

But the engine didn't run very smoothly. Not
as smoothly as some of the others he'd heard. There was also a
scraping sound. He turned the car off again and started to examine
the pictures in the book.

The strange Song from the magical door
between worlds started to fill his mind with its shifting rhythms
and dancing flows. He tried to make the sounds out loud, clicking
and humming and Singing. He fitted it around his work.

The 'Morris' caused problems, but when
Keeble finished that, two hours after midnight, he moved forward at
full steam. He repaired the bit between the wheels of a 'Toyota' in
a couple of hours and then started work on a 'Ford'. He was almost
done with that, but before he could get the hood reattached, Keeble
heard the rattling of keys outside the door and knew Colin had
arrived. The song of the magical gate faltered for the first time.
He worked faster for a few moments, before returning to his
regular, steady pace. He needed about five more minutes and a mad
dash now wasn't going to help. He was tightening the first bolt on
the last hinge of the hood when the engineer finally came through
the door.

“
[Keeble, how are you
lad?]”

Keeble looked up. Obviously Colin hadn't
seen him. He didn't really want to be there when it happened.

“
[What the hell? I thought
I told you not to touch anything.]” The older dwarf hurried down to
the end of the workshop where Keeble was holding the hood in place
with his metal hand and his shoulder and tightening the second, and
last, bolt with the other.

“
[Why are you removing the
hood? Lucky I got here when I did.]”

Colin took the spanner from Keeble's hand
and quickly finished the job while Keeble watched and held the hood
in place. When it was done, he jumped down to the floor and wiped
his hand on a towel.

"It's fixed," he said. Colin couldn't
understand him, though, so the anger showing on the dwarf's creased
face continued to grow as he moved about the workshop looking at
various cars.

“
[What the hell else have
you fiddled with?]”

Keeble decided the only way to halt the
dwarf's growing anger was to show him what he'd done. He went
quickly to the 'Morris' and climbed in.

“
[What do you think you are
doing?]”

Making sure the car was out of gear, Keeble
pumped the pedal a couple of times as he turned the key.

“
[Get out of
there.]”

The car rumbled into life and Colin grunted.
“[I reckon that thing hasn't sounded so good in twenty years.]”

He reached in and opened the hood. Keeble
didn't know why when none of what he'd done was going to be
visible. He turned the engine off and climbed out. When he joined
Colin, the engineer was staring at the engine and muttering
quietly.

“
[How did you do this?]”
Colin shrugged his shoulders, and Keeble got the message. He
pointed to the books on the shelf and received a shake of the head
in reply. “[You read a book and fixed it?]”

"
Repair.
" Keeble said in Colin's
language. "
Work good.
" He pointed to the other two cars he'd done as well.
"
Them.
"

“
[What?]”

"
Them. Work good.
"

Colin almost ran from one car to the other,
starting the engine of each and sitting for a moment to listen to
the smooth growl.

Sitting in the last one he asked: “[You
fixed them last night?]”

Keeble looked at him. 'Fix,' he knew, but
the rest...

Colin went to the last car in the workshop
and beckoned Keeble over with a long crooked finger. “[Can you fix
this one? It needs a new gearbox.]” Colin showed him a part sitting
near a bench, then pointed back to the car. “[Gearbox in
there.]”

Keeble smiled and set to work.

The books remained on the shelf. Keeble saw
enough engines during the night for the details to be indelibly
inscribed across his consciousness. He worked for two hours and
Colin stood close by watching his every move. When he was done, the
engineer still didn't move. He stood and stared.

“
[That's amazing. Amazing.
Bloody hell.]” He wiped his hands on a towel, though the closest he
had come to work was handing tools to Keeble when he was
asked.

Mona walked in as he muttered.

"
Hi, Colin.
" The dwife nodded to
Keeble as well.

"
Mona
," Colin said in reply, though he
hardly knew she was there.

“
[What's the
matter?]"

“
[Keeble fixed
them.]”

“
[Fixed what?]”

“
[The cars. Mister Henry's
Morris and Jackie's car and Terry Dale's. And now he fixed this as
well.]”

“
[What?]”

“
[He fixed
them.]”

“
[When.]”

Finally, Colin turned to look at her. He
tugged at his beard. “[When do you think? Last night. This
morning.]”

Mona seemed about to say something else. She
opened her mouth, gave it some thought, then snapped her teeth back
together.