Time and Again (4 page)

The next thing they knew, they were staring at each other in surprise across the kitchen table, feeling strangely disorientated.

‘Come on, you two, eat up,' Mum told them, bustling by to go into the store and help serve the customers. ‘You must both be starving after all that running about, playing football.'

Becky looked down at her half-eaten meal
of sausages and beans on toast and pushed the plate away. She had lost her appetite.

‘What are we doing back here?' she said.

‘Having our tea – again,' Chris replied through a mouthful of food. ‘If you don't want yours, I'll have it.'

‘How can you eat at a time like this? The farm's on fire!'

Chris shook his head and reached for her plate. ‘Not yet, it isn't, sis,' he corrected her, jabbing his fork at the kitchen clock and dropping a few beans onto the floor, which Tan licked up. ‘Got plenty of time.'

‘Hi, guys!' Zoe greeted them, before throwing more wood onto the small bonfire in the farmyard. ‘What brings you here?'

‘Er…' Chris began lamely, not quite sure how to respond, having arrived at the farm a little early. ‘We were just out walking the dog and … er…'

‘And doing a bit of jogging to keep fit,' added Becky in support.

‘A dog jog!' Zoe cackled.

‘Not exactly,' muttered Chris. ‘Er … so where is everybody?'

‘
Everybody
?' repeated Zoe. ‘Everywhere, I guess. Why?'

‘Just wondered who's supposed to be looking after this bonfire.'

‘What's it look like, Jacko?' she sneered. ‘Me!'

‘Do your folks know?'

Zoe stared at him. ‘Course they do. They don't call me zany here, y'know.'

Becky attempted to come to his rescue. ‘I'm sure you know what you're doing, Zoe,' she said. ‘But isn't it dangerous having a bonfire so close to the barn?'

Zoe lost patience with their questions. ‘Clear off, will yer,' she snapped, striding away towards her bike which was propped up against the barn. ‘I'm busy.'

The twins left the farm but did not stray far.

‘So what do we do now?' asked Chris.

‘We wait,' said Becky. ‘I mean, we know what's going to happen, if we just leave her to it. We'll wait a while and then move in.'

‘I don't want to hang about here in the cold. Let's go and sort it out now.'

‘Hold on!' Becky cried. ‘What will we say to Zoe? Tell her she's going to set fire to the whole place? She'll just laugh at us.'

‘So what? Better than frying the pigs. Come on!'

Chris marched back into the yard and was relieved that he did not have to say anything. Zoe was nowhere to be seen – and nor was her bike – but the fire was still burning brightly.

‘Right, you wait here with Tan, Becky,' he said, ‘and give me a shout if you spot anybody.'

‘What are you going to do?'

‘Put out that fire while I still can,' he said over his shoulder.

Chris trotted over to one of the outbuildings where he saw a hose connected to a tap on the wall. Checking again that no one was about, he seized his chance. He turned on the tap and ran towards the bonfire, the length of hose unravelling behind him, slithering across the yard like a giant snake.

The water began to gush out of the nozzle even before he reached the fire, drenching his jeans until he aimed it at the flames and soon extinguished them. He soaked everywhere thoroughly, trying to make sure the fire could not be relit, and then dropped the hose to the ground.

‘Turn off the water!' Becky called to him, as loudly as she dared.

Chris stopped, hesitated, and then went back to the tap, expecting at any moment to be confronted by an angry Zoe or, even
worse, a furious farmer. ‘Done it!' he yelped in triumph. ‘Let's get out of here!'

As they made their way home, they saw Zoe on her bike. At first they assumed she must be coming after them, but she turned off into one of the side streets towards the market square.

‘Phew! That was close,' Chris breathed in relief. ‘Bet she's on the warpath, looking for us.'

‘Well she knows where we live,' Becky said. ‘And it's not up there.'

‘Must be going somewhere else, then,' Chris replied, realising the significance of what he'd just said. ‘Hey! Bet that's how it happened before. She rode off and left the bonfire burning and – well, we know the rest.'

Becky nodded. ‘Yes, but nobody else does, so let's just keep it to ourselves.'

‘Sure,' he grinned. ‘My lips are zipped!' He made a quick motion with his hand across his mouth as if to seal it, but then immediately spoke again. ‘Pity we can't tell her what we did, though…'

He was cut short by screams and shouts in the distance.

‘I think they're coming from the market square,' said Becky, changing direction. ‘C'mon, let's go and check it out.'

Becky and Tan reached the square well before a more-reluctant Chris, who had no wish to run into Zoe again. Unfortunately, somebody else had already done so.

Becky recognised Zoe's bike, even though it was now buckled and lying in the gutter. She could see no sign of Zoe herself because of the milling crowd, but she soon found out what had happened.

‘Zoe's been knocked over by a car!' she gasped as Chris caught up with her. ‘Use the watch. We might be able to save her.'

Click
!

Nothing changed. They were still in the square and could hear the wailing siren of an approaching ambulance.

‘Try again!' urged Becky.

Click
!
Click
!

‘We're already locked into extra time, remember,' he said, shaking his head. ‘Maybe it can't repeat the same hour twice.'

The twins stood by, helpless, as the ambulance arrived in the square and it wasn't
long before they saw a stretcher being carried into the back of the vehicle.

‘Sorry, Zoe,' Chris sighed. ‘But at least we put the fire out for you.'

‘Poor lass,' Mum said while the twins were having breakfast the next day. ‘It's a miracle that Zoe wasn't killed, by all accounts. Somebody told us the driver must have been doing at least sixty. He ought to be locked up.'

The twins kept quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. They were glad to have prevented the fire, but still wondered whether they could have done something else to stop Zoe from being hurt.

There was a special assembly at school that morning to pray for Zoe's recovery, but it meant more to some than others.

‘I saw you in assembly, Jacko,' sneered Luke outside their lockers at lunch. ‘Hands tight together, eyes shut, praying like mad.'

‘So? I just want Zoe to get better,' Chris retorted. ‘Don't you?'

Luke shrugged in response. ‘She always rode her bike like a maniac,' he muttered. ‘It was only a matter of time before she got knocked over.'

Only a matter of time
.

The words stung and Chris could not stop himself. He grabbed Luke by the front of his jumper and shoved him backwards against the wall.

‘What do
you
know about time?' he demanded fiercely. ‘Nothing!'

‘What you on about, Jacko?' cried Luke, wriggling out of his grip. ‘You're as mad as her.'

Chris scowled and slouched off outside to a corner of the playground. He needed more time to think and wished he hadn't left the Timewatch at home.

He was still in a bad mood that afternoon during an art and craft session. The teacher suggested to the class that they all made or painted something that he could take into hospital to show Zoe, which would perhaps cheer her up a little.

Chris's artwork, however, would not have cheered up anybody. He painted a blood-red scene of flames with stick-like figures scurrying to and fro in panic through the smoke and sparks. Then he finished it all off by pouring water over it, just as he had hosed down the bonfire at the farm.

‘What on earth is that mess meant to be, Christopher?' gasped Mr Samuels as he walked between the tables, checking on progress.

‘Not sure, really,' Chris said, feeling more at peace with himself now, as if the water had also quenched his own anger. ‘Just putting out a fire.'

‘Well,' sighed the teacher, giving Chris a strange look. ‘I don't think it's quite the thing to give to Zoe, do you?'

Chris shrugged. He was not too bothered whether she saw it or not – but he liked to think it was the kind of thing that zany Zoe might well have done herself.

By contrast with her twin, Becky still felt vaguely guilty, as if the accident were somehow their fault. Her own artwork had taken the form of a
Get Well Soon
card, but it wasn't enough. She decided that the watch had to go.

‘Maybe Zoe's accident wouldn't have happened if we hadn't interfered,' she said to Chris when they were discussing the situation again after tea.

‘
Interfered
?' he repeated, turning up the volume on the television so that they couldn't be overheard from the store. ‘You mean, do nothing and let the farm burn down?'

‘No, course not, but…'

‘There you are, then,' he said, cutting her short. ‘Anyway, that speeding driver might well have gone and hit somebody else instead.'

‘That's just it,' she stated. ‘All these possible knock-on effects of changing things – they're out of our control.'

Chris spread his hands in a helpless gesture. ‘That's just down to chance – or fate,' he said. ‘Being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

‘Yes, like us,' she told him. ‘We've been in the wrong too, going back and trying to put things right – and perhaps making them worse.'

‘So what are you suggesting?'

‘Let's destroy the Timewatch!'

‘What!' exclaimed Chris. ‘You can't be serious.'

‘I'm deadly serious. It's more trouble than it's worth. Just imagine if someone like Luke got hold of the watch and found out what it could do…'

Chris refused to listen any further. ‘I'm going out,' he muttered. ‘On my own.'

He went upstairs to collect the Timewatch. He wanted to take it with him for safekeeping in case Becky tried to carry out her threat. He opened the top drawer of his bedside cabinet and rummaged among his socks and hankies, but the watch wasn't there. In desperation, he threw open the other drawers, and then he began to panic.

‘Becky!' he cried, thundering down the stairs. ‘Where's the watch?'

He was too late.

Click
!

Becky used the perfect escape route, slipping back in time, if not actually finding herself very far away. She was in the garden, playing ball with Tan again, while Chris was round at a mate's house.

‘Oh, well,' she sighed, realising that their argument had not now taken place. ‘At least Chris doesn't yet know that I want to get rid of this thing.'

She stared at the watch in her hand. It was very tempting to go and throw it away, but she didn't really want to do anything like that without his agreement.

‘C'mon, Tan, let's go out for a little walk,' she said. ‘We've got time.'

‘Don't be long,' said Mum when Becky told her what she was doing. ‘I'll be starting tea soon.'

Tan was in for a disappointment. It began to rain before they reached the fields and Becky decided to call on her aunt, who lived nearby, instead.

‘Hello, my dear. This is a pleasant surprise,' Auntie Jean greeted her. ‘Come in and I'll put the kettle on. We haven't had a good old chat for ages.'

Becky quite enjoyed her aunt's company – and her baking. A big tin of buns was placed on the table and Auntie Jean began to prepare the drinks, putting a bowl of water on the floor for Tan too.

‘Can I ring Mum to let her know where I am?' Becky asked.

‘Of course, my dear. The phone's in the hall.'