A House Out of Time, Page 4

  Never the less I tried to reassure my father by replying, "I can only say that in this modern world my choice of clothing is often likened to a school teacher or vicar's daughter by our friends."

  "Be that as it may Lizzy. I'm not convinced the Reverend Newcomb at Finworth would approve of his daughter so dressed. Mind you he does keep her on a very tight rein and always buttoned up."

  I decided not to mention that the Reverend 's daughter, Jane, far from being 'buttoned up' was often found 'unbuttoned' if I might be so bold, on Friday evenings at a certain Mrs Faversham's home in Midhurst. We had attended one of these soirees and afterwards and in fact for some days after, James commented that he was surprised on the variety of stockings ladies wore in my time. Despite his generous offers to pay a return visit at his expense I resisted as I thought too much exposure to such hosiery would affect his health. His suggestion that perhaps I might jealously think he would run off with one of those strumpets was denied emphatically.

  However, luckily for my modesty, for much of the promenade to the castle James distracted us by trying to understand the implications of what we were going to do.

  --------------------

  J.

  I was still having some difficulty trying to get my head around the time loop that Wells had put Elizabeth’s father in. The first time I met him was in 1873 in the court yard of Hamgreen when he said he had just come back from India after being delayed about two weeks in the Mediterranean. The second time was today, but today Hyatt is going to take him back to Hamgreen. I asked where and more importantly to 'when' he was taking him. Elizabeth's father answered instead.

  “We have decided for continuity and to minimise disturbance that I am taken back to the time I was about to go to India.”

  “But surely you would meet yourself?”

  “I thought that to," interrupted Hyatt, “but Mr Wells said that it was impossible because, if I repeat the words correctly, a person cannot occupy the same time state. I'm not sure what that means."

  I said, "Perhaps it means that if you go back or forward in time then you take over yourself at that point."

  Elizabeth said, “So you are suggesting that if I went back to say 1870 to where I was living, I would become the person who occupies myself at that time. But surely people would notice because I would appear about three years older. That does not seem logical."

  "I know but Wells went back to see Mr Hyatt at the time when Wells was only a pupil and Wells was much older."

  "So if my father returns to 1873 to go to India, what happens to my father who is already there? Does he just disappear?"

  This just didn't make sense then I remembered the time slips and the different world's we'd been in.

  "OK, how about this." I said, "We have parallel world's or time lines. Each time we travel back or forward in time there is a slight aberration and for the most part we end in a parallel world which is so similar that we do not notice the change."

  "Yes I remember," said Elizabeth, "We has long discussions with Jill on the matter for on certain occasions we ended up on a parallel world which was some distance from ours. This one for instance James which is in many ways different from the world's we left when we first met."

  "Yes, I think that is the clue."

  "So you are saying that when my father goes back in time to Hamgreen he will, oh how should I put it, oh yes, he slots into a slightly different time line where the person who is him ceases to exist at the point of his materialisation."

  "Well put.” I said. “Though I'm not quite sure what makes the other self-dematerialise as you put it but I like the theory. However, it looks like we are going to find out shortly. Here’s the church lane to the castle"

  ________________

  E.

  As we passed the nave and walked into the overgrown field where the remains of the castle lay I wondered whether the souterrain and the cavern still existed beneath us and what was now in it. But my thoughts were quickly interrupted for there, slightly hidden in the shrubbery, before us was the device. It was strangest thing I had ever seen.

  It had the shape of a pyramidal bell as described by Mr Hyatt and laying at an angle on its side. The surface seemed to be made of plates of a glass like substance held by a frame in much the same way as the stained glass in a church is held in place. Mr Hyatt walked over to it and touched the surface which caused one of the plates to open revealing a dark entrance.

  "Well here we are Mr Bicester. Are you ready to go back home?"

  My father said, " I'm afraid I do not have many options to the contrary. What little of this world I have seen although fascinating is too out of place for me."

  I felt something was wrong. It was too simple. I tried to understand what would happen. Then it came to me. I said, "Just a minute Mr Hyatt. We came here to take my father back to his home. Now you are taking him back. If we go home to Hamgreen without him what will become of him?"

  My father came up to me and holding my hand said, "Don't worry Lizzy. You will see me soon."

  "How?" I said with not a little worry.

  "We will meet at the Lodge at another time."

  And before I could express my concern he turned and accompanied Mr Hyatt into the machine.

  I looked at James. He also had a very worried expression upon his face. He saw the concern in my face and said, "I don't understand either. What does he mean, another time?"

  "I am at a loss also.” I said. “But I believe what he says. Though I must admit my belief is more in hope than conviction.”

  Suddenly the time machine seemed to shiver. Then it vanished.

  I turned to James who was still looking at the now empty patch in the shrubbery. "Do you think father will be alright?"

  "I wish I could reassure you but all I can think of doing is going back to your home and see if he turns up there. Shall we go?"

  I could not think of a better plan so I agreed but I was reluctant to leave. But as we turned and walked away I heard a faint sound behind us. I looked back.

  "James!" I cried, "The machine has reappeared!"

  As we watched it materialise the door started to open and out of the hatch stepped Mr Batalia!

  "Quick! Hide!" Shouted James and pulled me quite roughly into the bushes.

  Unfortunately, at the same moment James phone sounded a bell followed by a number of words by James which would not normally be said in the presence of a lady.

  But before I could say anything he answered it. It was Jill.

  "Where are you Jim? I thought you'd be here."

  "I'm in Midhurst," he whispered forcefully.

  "Why are you whispering Jim?"

  "It's all gone to Hell! Elizabeth's father has been whisked off in a time machine to God knows where and it's just come back with Marco minus Elizabeth's father."

  "You mean Marco 's turned up again? Tell Elizabeth to stab him with that hat pin of hers for me."

  I would have gladly carried out her wishes if I had one. But I noticed Mr Batalia was now coming towards us. I nudged James to warn him.

  "I've got to go Jill." he said, "Jill, do me a favour. Drive up to Hamgreen and tell Flory what's happened."

  "Flory is here?"

  "No! She's still back in the 1870's"

  "What? You want me to travel back in time. How? Don't tell me it involves sitting in a submerged black box with a bucket for a friend again."

  I could see that this conversation between siblings was going nowhere. I grabbed the phone off James, rather rudely I confess but needs must, and spoke to Jill.

  When I had finished there was a moment of silence on the phone. Then Jill said, "OK Elizabeth. I think I’ve got it. I take some of your Victorian clothes and hiking gear from Chichester, go to Hamgreen, jump through a time portal and meet Flory in the nineteenth century and tell her what's happened. Can't see a problem. Just a normal day. Did Jim get you into this or have you been taking his pills?"

  "No Jill. I am afraid it was all the faul
t of my curiosity."

  Before I could continue, James grabbed the phone back and said, "Good luck Sis," and closed the phone.

  Mr Batalia was now no more than thirty yards from us. James said, "I don't think he's spotted us yet. Let's work our way around this undergrowth and see if we can get to that machine."

  Before I could answer James was off into the undergrowth and I found myself crawling on all fours through shrubbery which seemed to contain more than its fair share of brambles and nettles and reminded me very much of our exploits at Newgrange, except at that place I was blessed with a full covering of Victorian clothing. Here I had nothing but a light blouse and a short cotton skirt. Luckily I was not wearing stocking otherwise I would have emerged with the appearance of a trollop after a 'successful' evening in North Park. Not, I should add for anyone who may read this, have I been to North Park of an evening and seen one.

  We emerged from the bushes still on all fours by the machine. I could see Mr Batalia by an old oak towards the church but unfortunately he had also spotted our position as well and by the way he ran towards us I could see he had guessed our intent.

  "Now," said James, "Run!"

  I needed no encouragement despite the pain of the stinging nettles on my arms and legs. We clambered through the hatch of the machine and fell to the floor. James immediately grabbed the door and pulled it closed. There were two bolts which he quickly drew across the door to seal it. It was not a moment too soon for as he slid across the last bolt I heard Mr Batalia 's efforts to open the door.

  ----------------------

  J.

  After about five minutes the banging on the door stopped and there was no further sound.

  I said, "I hope he's gone away and not still trying to access or disable this machine."

  However, Elizabeth was more concerned about drawing my attention to herself. I made the mistake of asking if she was alright.

  "James, I am cut and stung to blazes and my blouse and skirt which I only bought on Saturday at some expense are now shredded. I have the appearance of a person who has had an altercation with a large cat and has come off worse."

  "Well I'm in not much better state myself."

  For some reason this attention to myself did not provoke the concern I was expecting. Luckily I have learnt with the fairer sex that the response I received was a clear signal to take a different tact quickly and dose it with liberal quantities of sympathy and humility. After adopting such a path for about five minutes my nearest and dearest eventually agreed that perhaps our actions were the best in the circumstances.

  " So what do we do now?" She said, still trying to rearrange her clothes into some semblance of Victorian modesty and accidently revealing a rather nice pair of thighs in the process which I thought it best not to compliment her on them at that moment.

  "I think we’ll see if we can get this machine working then go back to meet Jill and Flory."

  "And what of my father? You do remember the whole purpose of this adventure was to find him?"

  Her tone indicated a little more mollification was still required.

  "I DO remember Elizabeth." I said, "I can only suggest that as Hyatt said he was taking your father back to your home in 1873 he might be there."

  She thought for a minute then said, "I have to agree. For I can't think of anything else that might meet with success. And if we are wrong we might be able to use this machine to try some time else."

  "There's one problem though. If we go back to the time when we last met Flory, will the time portal still be there in the doorway?"

  "If it is we must deal with it. We will only find out by going there."

  "OK. Let's try it." Then I said with a smile, "There’s a small bonus though. We've now managed to steal two time machines from Marco and left him stranded in time twice. Not bad eh for a couple who haven't a clue what they're doing."

  -----------------------------

  Chapter 5

  E.

  The controls in the time machine were similar to the ones we had seen in the cavern, when dealing with the Martians. As before, there were two globes. James carefully and slowly moved the pointer on the globe that depicted the Earth and I watched the scene on the wall as we floated down the roads to Hamgreen and then into the drive.

  James said, " Right. I've got the machine into the courtyard but I think we are still in 2016. We now have to decide whether we get out now and go through the time portal in the door of the lodge or we somehow take this machine back to 1873."

  I said, "I suppose much will depend on what point in time we wish to arrive. Do we go back to just before my father left the house and stop him?"

  "I like the idea. If we stop him he can't meet Hyatt and he doesn't get into the machine."

  "But does that mean he doesn't show you the map of Mars?"

  "I don't know, Elizabeth.”

  This did seem a quandary, then something quite worrying occurred to me which helped me make up my mind.

  I said, "I have just thought. We are in 2016 still. We have not travelled in time. Mr Batalia may have concluded we are here and is on his way to find us!"

  "Damn! You’re right. If I was him stuck without a time machine, I think I’d try this place first. He could be here in minutes! Let's get back to 1873 when we left Flory."

  This conclusion made sense, if sense was allowed in this argument, and I agreed. James adjusted the chronometers to that time. As he did so the scene on the wall became a flickering blur. Trees and shrubs changed shape or disappeared. We slowed suddenly into an autumn scene. The leaves had turned and many had fallen leaving a thick yellow and orange carpet on the ground.

  James shut down the machine and the vision vanished from the wall, "Well, we've got rid of Marco. Let's go and see who's at the door."

  I was not looking forward to this, not least because of my appearance. I hoped whomever came to the door recognised us and didn't see us off as a pair of ragamuffins.

  I pulled the bell and after what seemed a long wait the door opened. There was no blank wall, just Flory.

  "Oh, Elizabeth, you are back again!"

  The way she spoke indicated that we had been here recently. James said, "Sorry, we keep on getting stuck in and out of time. When we were last here? I mean exactly, do you know the date when my sister Jill arrived?"

  This was rather devious of James but I knew what he was doing.

  "Why, it is not a week since," said Flory, "Last Saturday, you remember, don't you?"

  I realised we must be a week ahead of our last visit and said, "Oh yes, of course. Please excuse us, we have to go!"

  "Where are you going?” She said, looking rather frightened, “Did you find Father?"

  "No. I’m sorry but that is why we have to go now." I said rather sorrowfully for I could see she was in some distress.

  We quickly said goodbye to my now rather confused sister and re-entered the machine.

  "I hope you didn't mind my rudeness, Elizabeth?" said James.

  "No. I understand. Shall we go back to last Saturday and start again?"

  Once again James adjusted the controls to the previous week. The scene on the wall looked virtually the same. When the date arrived on the counting device we disembarked and went across the courtyard to the door again. I could feel the cold autumn air on my skin.

  Flory answered the door. There was still no portal. Or so we thought.

  "Oh, you are back quickly. Did you find Father?"

  I replied, "We did but we lost him. Can we come in, it is rather cold here?"

  Flory looked at me and then my clothes. "I'm not surprised. What happened to you? And why are you just in those ragged undergarments, Elizabeth?"

  Before I could answer, she said, "Wait there a minute I will be back shortly," and vanished into the house while we stood in the cold.

  She returned, just before we were about to give up, with one of my red afternoon dresses. "Put this on quick. Otherwise Henry will have a fit."

&
nbsp; While I struggled to put on the dress over my skirt and blouse she turned to James and surveyed his apparel. "I cannot do anything for you, James. You will have to do the best you can as you are."

  -----------

  J.

  We entered the hall. I was conscious, after looking at my clothes that compared to the girls I now looked like some farm labourer in one of Thomas Hardy's books. Elizabeth reinforced this impression by carefully removing some vegetation from my hair and jacket and saying,

  "There, James. You are much improved and almost as good as when you first met me at that cricket match."

  Flory looked at me and then Elizabeth and with a giggle said, "Yes, it is a mystery why you did not fall head over heels in love with him immediately on that occasion."

  "Are you suggesting that my attire on that fateful day was not sufficient to bowl a maiden over at first look?" I said pretending to be offended and at the same time, congratulating myself in getting a cricket term in.

  "I'm sure a maiden would have been," whispered Flory to Elizabeth. They looked at each other in mock horror before breaking into a fit of the giggles. Do these women have no shame? I looked at the ceiling and whistled under my breath, until they had regained control of themselves.

  Flory finally gasped out. "Cheer up, James. Henry will understand that you have been in yet another escapade which accounts for your appearance."

  We went into the study where Henry was standing by the fireplace. He looked at me with surprise then recovered.

  "It is gratifying to see you both but I notice you are without my uncle."

  We told them the whole story including our escape from Marco.

  "It is a pity you couldn't persuade him to come with you."

  I was about to protest but he stopped me with a sympathetic response. "But then often in hindsight, Mr Urquhart, the right decisions appear much easier."

  "Thanks, Henry," I said, "but this might sound a bit strange but can you tell us what's today's date is?"