The Time Rip (18 page)

Four steps led down to a corridor that looked as though it were between floor levels. The building was a rabbit warren of rooms, with passageways leading off from one another, and Greg led her around corners and up stairs until she was thoroughly lost.

The whole place reeked of decaying grandeur. High ceilings were finished with intricately designed coving and ornamental centrepieces that framed bare bulbs supporting dusty webbing. The walls, sans paper, were simple pastel shades with streaks of dirt here and there along with some interesting patterns of flaking paintwork.

Freya tried to imagine how it might have looked back in 1908. Someone had added plasterboard walls at some point, to divide the space, which added to the bizarre nature of the place. The combination of grand old house and modern dirt filled office was strangely unsettling, making Freya anxious to stay close to Greg as he strode along. She felt like she could be lost in here for days if she weren’t careful.

Eventually, he led her to a galley style kitchen. A huge window dominated the room, looking out over the grey London street and the sink was piled high with empty coffee cups.

Greg pulled a first aid box from a cupboard and said, “Wait here a minute, I’ll just go and grab him.”

Freya leaned her elbows on the kitchen top and looked down at the pavement outside. The sun was making an effort to beat back the clouds, giving a more cheerful aspect to the street, but Freya’s thoughts were miles away from London.

A shrill ring replaced silence in the farmhouse. Jeremy stirred from where he was slumped at the kitchen table. He patted down his pockets; reached for his time device and slid it open.

“Sanders.”

“You sound terrible. Don’t tell me you were still asleep.”

Jones. Jeremy ran a hand through his hair and blinked to bring the kitchen into focus. “Jones,” he slurred and then cleared his throat, “Any news?”

“Yeah, she’s here. I made contact today.”

Jeremy straightened up in his chair. “She’s all right?”

“Yeah, she’s at the office here. I left her in the kitchen, so I can’t be long on the phone. I’m gonna have Bronson take a look at that cut, and then she’s requested to learn some Karate moves so she can beat you up next time she runs into you.”

“Are you serious, Jones?”

“Absolutely. I know you’ve always shunned Karate in favour of Judo, but I think she may take you by surprise.”

“Jones...”Jeremy used his most threatening tone, but only heard laughter in response.

“She’s safe, I promise you. She’s safe and well and in the kitchen here waiting for us to improve on your shoddy first aid.”

Jeremy felt the tension leave him. In its place, unsurprisingly, came a flash of anger. He squashed it. It would do him no good to blame Freya for what had happened. The situation was entirely his fault and he should be grateful that she had found her way home safely.

How she had managed to get home was another matter entirely. If he were ever to find out, he would need to think with his head in future, rather than allowing his emotions to make the decisions.

He blew out a breath. “Go ahead and teach her your best moves. I will happily demonstrate the rival merits of Judo should she decide to try any on me. Why does she want to beat me up anyway? I was most helpful to her, patching up her cuts, kissing her better and offering to bring her dry clothes. It must be your unhappy influence.”

Greg laughed, “Yeah, Matt told me about that and about your little strip search. I guess you were too busy admiring the view to pay attention to looking for a device huh?”

Jeremy grinned in spite of himself, “Believe me, Jones, there was no time device. She must have had an accomplice who came back to collect her.”

“It’s a possibility,” Greg mused, “I gave her the time rip rumour to be going on with. We’ve been getting along famously. She is bound to slip up and say something eventually that’ll lead me to her device. Then I guess I’ll nab it from her hot little hands and the experts will show you how the job gets done.”

“Right. Well, good luck with that. I wonder who it was that came back for her. Where did you find her anyway? She was running from someone when I last caught up with her.”

“Some chap named Martin, no doubt. I came across the pair of them in the Market today. She was easy to spot. Five foot of slim blond, squaring up to this lanky bloke. He was giving her a hard time so I got to play the hero, dusting down the villain and rescuing the girl. It’s only a matter of time before she falls for me, you know, you may as well give up.”

Jeremy laughed, “Keep telling yourself that, Jones, but I would be willing to bet she will be back here again before long.”

“Honestly, Sanders, I don’t know what she sees in you. When I told her we would get the time rip closed, she looks up, blinks these big headlights at me, looking like the world had come to an end, and says how then she won’t be able to see you again.”

Jeremy laughed softly, “It is obvious she would prefer my company to yours.”

“Sanders, you’re a caveman, and before you get too carried away, she also said you were a sneaking rotten pig.”

His eyes lit with laughter at the insult. “Many wish for that in their partners. You only have to look at Matt’s choices.” Jeremy could imagine Greg rolling his eyes, but before he could answer, continued, “All this is beside the point. What did you think of Martin, could he be our felon?”

“Unlikely. An angry youth with some amount of intelligence, as he chose not to make a scene, but coming from 2100? I can’t see it, unless he was faking the anger and has me completely duped. You get a feel for these things after a while and Martin didn’t smell like 2100.”

Jeremy sighed. “Someone came back for her.”

“Or someone who lives nearby is going under your radar.”

Jeremy grimaced, “That’s not something I want to hear.”

Greg laughed, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you in the loop.”

A short while later Jeremy wandered upstairs and crashed out on the bed to catch up with his sleep.

Freya fidgeted around the grimy kitchen for some time, but presently got bored and began to wander down the corridor. She got to the end and was about to turn back when a door opened to the left. A man walked out and away from her, not giving her a second glance, but a draft from the opening door caused another, opposite, to pull forward slightly leaving a gap through which she recognised Greg’s voice.

“Think I’m getting there anyway,” he said.

“What possessed you to let him go after her in the first place, Greg? We could have spared someone here, or you could have gone.” The unknown speaker sounded incredulous.

She could clearly hear Greg’s laughter. “Yeah, he messed up big time on this one. Looks like he’s in the right job after all. Good thing I’m here to sort it all out.”

“So what happens now?”

“Well, I gave her the old time rip rumour to be getting on with. If she doesn’t want to give up her device, there are other ways to get it. I’m not gonna go beating up little girls, especially if there’s a chance Sanders might involve himself.

“All I got to do is win her trust, and I’m halfway there with that. If she thinks I’m not looking for the device she’ll be friendly, and bang! Before you know it, she’ll say something that gives the game away.

“How did she manage to hide the thing from him anyway? I can’t believe he let her escape.”

Greg snorted. “Probably took his eye off the ball. You know the old saying: the hand is quicker than the eye. Well it’s especially true in this case.”

“What does he think happened then?”

“That someone came back to collect her; reckons it was some guy called Mark or Martin or something, but I met the guy today and he’s not 2100, not in a million, unless I’m losing my touch entirely.”

The other man blew out a sigh and said, “What’s going to come of all this, Greg? If Sanders has fallen for this girl he’ll want a transfer to 2008.”

“Nah, that won’t happen, he gave his word to Kitter that he’d do 1900. If he wants her, chances are he’ll get that device from her and then trap her there with him.”

“
What?
I don’t believe you, he’ll never get away with that.”

“Wanna bet? I wouldn’t cross him for any money and I don’t know anyone else that would, aside from his brothers, but they don’t count. Besides, he won’t do that unless she keeps going back to him.”

“Jesus, what a mess. I wish one of us had handled this. If he has some kind of relationship with her and it goes sour…”

“You know, if it was anyone else I’d be worried, but he is without doubt the coldest guy I’ve ever met. If she messes with him we won’t need to bother about…”

A sudden through draft down the corridor had the door pulling shut. Freya hesitated a moment and then scurried back to the kitchen, heart pounding. Going over all she had overheard, she paced off the distance. The small piece of trust she had felt for Greg splintered and she was glad she had found out the truth about him sooner rather than later.

It was incredible when she thought about it; they had given her a rumour about time rips to throw her off, and it was actually true. Now Greg was going to be friendly until she gave away the device. But she didn’t have one, and how long it would take before he got tired of waiting for her to make a mistake, she had no way of knowing.

Then there was Jeremy. It was laughable that they thought he could trap her in the past when she was using a means of travel they all considered a rumour, and why were they all frightened to cross him? Greg was easily as big as Jeremy and had not hesitated to confront Martin. It must be something else that she had not noticed.

At least Jeremy would have trouble trapping her in 1908 whilst the time doorway remained undiscovered. Then she remembered how he had handcuffed her to the bed frame and was suddenly not so sure he couldn’t keep her there if he wanted.

Not that she thought he would tie her up, but chances were good, if he wanted her to stay there, he would not take his eyes off her long enough for her to make a run for it. Greg had said Jeremy would only trap her there if she wanted him. It was a frightening thought that she did want him and he must know it.

It was after three in the afternoon when Jeremy next surfaced. He wandered down to the kitchen to think through all he had heard from Greg.

Of one thing, he was certain: Freya had not had a time device on her when he had left her. The fact that she had picked the lock on the handcuffs only underlined the point. He had been inclined to think that a friend had simply collected her, but he was still not sure.

The only person she had mentioned to him was Martin, and Greg was of the opinion it was not him. Jeremy trusted Greg’s view of this implicitly, which meant that the lie he had given Freya about a time rip could well turn out to be true.

He thought back through his last meeting with her; the bafflement in her eyes when he had demanded she give up her time device. Freya was a poor liar. She genuinely had not known what he was talking about.

He wandered outside, a mug of coffee in hand, and began to walk slowly around the farmhouse, scanning the area. He had no idea if it was possible to see such a thing as a time rip and had to consider that he could well be wasting his time, but the idea was intriguing.

The fields were drenched in sunlight and he scanned them carefully, not knowing what he was looking for. He began to wander around the perimeters of the field, passing the river and walking a little way up the lane towards the town. It was a lovely afternoon for a walk, but Jeremy barely noticed the beauty of the greenery surrounding him.

On his way back to the house, he looked over the well that supplied his drinking water. There were one or two bricks coming loose around the rim, and the wooden boarding that covered it was in need of replacing. Making a mental note to get to it in the next few days, he went back to the farmhouse. He sat at his desk upstairs and fired up his laptop hologram to do some research.