What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (29 page)

“That’s him.”  Bobby spoke in amazement.

Clint nodded.  “Don’t worry, he’s dead.”

Bobby nodded, he could tell that just by looking at the man.  “Good.”

When Clint was changed, he walked towards Bobby and stretched out a hand.

“Thank you.”

Bobby shook his hand and nodded.

Once Clint had left the room Bobby finally looked down at his friend.  The bullet had struck him in the centre of the forehead, he was dead, there was no doubt about that.  The tears started to roll slowly down Bobby’s cheeks.  He had come so close to surviving this and there he was, lying dead in the same room as Adolf Hitler.  Bobby had never been a religious man, and Faraday’s death was the perfect example as to why there could not be a God in his opinion. 

At times throughout his life, he had often wished that he was wrong, that maybe there was a God.  This was one of those times.  He no longer felt any resentment towards Faraday, after everything he had done to try and fix his mistake Bobby had managed to forgive him.

“God bless you Faraday.”  Bobby muttered.

He hobbled from the room and went to look for a nurse.

Chapter 72

The bullets had been removed and her wounds had been sown up, they were still incredibly painful.  She lay on the bed and despite the pain she allowed herself a smile, against all odds they had succeeded.  It was finally over.

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in.”  She shouted, it would surely be Faraday.

As Bobby hobbled into the room with tears in his eyes, she had palpitations.

“What’s happened?”

Bobby took a seat by the bed and looked into her eyes, he had no idea how he was going to break this to her.

“Jane, I’m so sorry.”

Jane was crying now too.  “Bobby what happened?”

“It’s Faraday, he’s dead.”

As the words sunk in she felt as though she had been hit by a bus.  He hadn’t even been injured.

“How?”  She asked.

“He was shot.” 

“Bobby tell me what happened!”  Jane snapped.

Bobby cleared his throat.  “We were sitting in the hall and he saw Clint Hill.  Clint was dressed in Nazi uniform and these three men were about to kill him.  We went to stop them, Faraday was trying to save him.  We managed to save Clint, but Faraday was shot.”

“Where was he shot?”  Jane managed.

“In the head Jane, he died instantly.”  Bobby offered.

Jane let out a wail of agony.  “I can’t believe this.”

“I’m so sorry.”  Bobby repeated.

“Where is he?”  Jane asked.

“The nurses took him down to the mortuary.”

“I need to see him.” 

“I can take you there.”

Chapter 73

Faraday looked around, he didn’t recognise the place at first and then when he saw the barman he realised where he was.

He walked towards Ruby and he smiled.

“Kid your tooth is still behind the bar.”  Jack spoke with a smile.

“How are you Jack?”  Faraday replied, he had never felt as happy as he was at this moment.

“Good.  You lied to me!”  Jack yelled.

“What?”  Faraday replied, suddenly scared.

Ruby began laughing.  “Take a seat.”

“Where?”

“James!”  David’s voice echoed in the bar.

Faraday looked to his left and saw a crowded table.  In the seat closest to him was David. 

Jack handed him a beer and he walked over to the table, he took a seat at the head of the table right beside David.

“How does it feel?”  David asked.

“How does what feel?”

“To be one of us.”  Nancy replied, she was sitting directly opposite David on the seat to Faraday’s left.

Faraday looked down the table and recognised many people.

Guy Fawkes, Abraham Lincoln, Lee Harvey Oswald, Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover, Abaddon Wolf, Clint Stinson, J. D Tippit, and Will Carter were all looking back at him.  Jack Ruby belatedly joined the table.

“So I’m dead?”  Faraday asked, the happiness was gone now.

“Afraid so kid.”  Ruby yelled before taking a swig of his whisky.

“It’s not so bad.”  David advised.

“I was so close.”  Faraday muttered.

“We all were.”  Abaddon replied.

“Everyone dies James.”  Lincoln advised.

“I never did anything wrong.”  Faraday protested.

“You were a good man.”  Guy agreed.

“How are you feeling Guy?”

“I wish that the statue had appeared five minutes sooner.”  He conceded.

Faraday took a sip from his beer and looked at Will Carter, he had not spoken a word since Faraday had sat down.

“How are you Faraday?”  Will asked awkwardly.

Faraday just stared at the man, time had not healed that particular wound.

“I’m so sorry, for everything.”  Will offered.

Faraday ignored him.  “So why are you all here?”

“To welcome you James.”  David replied with a smile.

“Did you know this was going to happen?”  Faraday asked.

David shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  “I suspected that it might be the case, but you did what was right.”

Faraday took a sip of his beer and sighed. 

“Faraday could I possibly have a word with you in private?”  Will asked.

Faraday was almost shaking with rage.

“You can use my office.”  Ruby offered.

Faraday reluctantly rose to his feet and both men walked through to the office behind the bar.  Faraday took his seat behind the desk and Will sat down across from him.

“What do you want?”  Faraday snapped.

Will cleared his throat nervously.  “I need you to forgive me.”

“Why?”

“I never got a chance to make things right.  When we are alive, we all do things that we regret.”

“Yes, but what you did was awful!”  Faraday yelled.

“I know that.  I regret what happened more than you could ever imagine, if I could go back and change things then I would.”

“What is it that you want from me Will?”

“I want you to forgive me.”

“I can’t do that.”

Chapter 74

Chase looked at his mangled hand, he almost wanted to cry.  The doctors had been unable to reattach his index finger, they had simply sown up the wound.  He had left his room and gone to look for the others, he had expected Faraday and Bobby to be waiting in the hallway but they were nowhere to be seen.

He looked through the glass on the door of the room next to his, and saw that Bobby Kennedy was sitting in a wheelchair speaking to Jacob, who was sitting upright on the bed.  Bobby Kennedy didn’t look good, but his leg was in a cast and was being propped up by a stand on the wheelchair.  Jacob looked much better than he had in the park, his face was no longer drenched with blood.

Chase moved further along the corridor and saw that in the next room, Scarlett was lying alone crying.  He gave the gentlest of knocks on the door and entered the room.

When she saw him enter, she scrambled to dry her eyes and gave a false smile.

“How are you feeling?”  He asked before taking a seat beside the bed.

“I’m okay.  How are you?”

“I’m a finger short but I’ll live.”  He smiled.  “How are you really?”

Scarlett’s bottom lip gave a quiver and her eyes began to fill up. 

“Are you in pain?”  He asked.

Scarlett nodded.  “It’s not that.  I was just thinking about Clint, I can’t believe we left him there.”

“I understand. It was awful, but we honestly didn’t have a choice Scarlett.”

“I know that.”

“Were you close?”  Chase inquired.

Scarlett nodded again.  “He was like a brother to me.  Our mum’s lived together, so we always played together when we were little.  When we got older, he told me that he was in love with me.”

Chase cleared his throat, he had no idea what to say to that statement.

“I never thought of him that way, and I told him that we could never be like that.  He said that he understood, but he always wanted more.  I feel so terrible, I snapped at him today when he tried to put his arm around me.  He was just trying to help.”

“It has been a crazy day for everyone, he knows that you care about him.”  Chase offered.

“Do you believe in an afterlife?”  She asked.

Chase smiled.  “You know the last person who asked me about religion was your father.”

“Really?” 

“Yes, it was the day we landed in Cuba.  We were trying to stop Jacob, who was attempting to provoke an international incident by staging an uprising against Fidel Castro.  Your father told me that he believed in the big bang and evolution.”

“And what do you believe?”  Scarlett asked.

“I believe that everything is part of God’s plan, we are here for a reason, we must be.”

“Why?” 

“Do you believe that all of this is a coincidence, that your parents randomly arrived in 1963 and happened to meet Bobby and David?”

“Well, why not?”

“It just has to be more than coincidence.  I mean Bobby knew Will, and he was then transported back to Auschwitz where he happened to share a cell with Will.  No, it was all part of God’s plan.”

Scarlett smiled.  “I’ve never really believed in God.  I hope there is something out there, but I can’t say that I have faith.  Can I ask you another question?”

“Sure.”  Chase smiled.

“What’s my dad like?”

“How do you mean?” 

“Well, I’ve only known him a week.”  Scarlett explained.

“What do you think he’s like?”  Chase replied.

“It is difficult to say really.  He seems to be impulsive, and he and my Mum fight a lot.”

Chase thought about Scarlett’s words for a moment.  “I think it must be very hard for him.  Your mother died, I saw him the same day.  Then out of the blue he found out that she was alive and that he had a twenty-one-year-old daughter.  Not to mention the fact that your mother is also twenty-one years older than she was when they last met.”

“No I get that, I just want to know what you think of him?”

Chase pondered as to how honest he should be.  “I was always closer to Bobby if I’m honest.  The time we spent in Cuba was the only time I have been alone with him for a prolonged period of time, and they were the worst days of my life.  I think he pretends to be brave.”

“Pretends to be?”

“I think that having spent so much time around Bobby, he strives to be like him.  But he is not.”

Scarlett almost looked offended. 

“I just mean that Bobby is quite different to most people, although he is quite similar to Jacob.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well, they both give me the impression that they are not afraid of anything.  I think Faraday wants to be like that, but he’s not.”

“You don’t think Jacob is afraid of anything?”  Scarlett laughed.

“He doesn’t seem to be.” 

“He isn’t as bad as you lot seem to think he is.  He saved my Mum’s life, he helped raise me.”

Chase did not reply, he just nodded.

“You hate him, don’t you?”

“Yes.”  Chase replied bluntly.  “I think he is the most horrible, evil person that I have ever met.”

“You barely know him.” 

“I know enough.”

“Well, from what my Mum tells me, Sarah is far worse.”

Chase felt slightly awkward at the mention of her name, he blushed uncomfortably.

“You liked her though?”  Scarlett enquired.

“No, that was just Jacob stirring shit like he always does.”  Chase snapped.

“What was so special about her?”

“Does it matter?”  Chase snapped again.

“You tell me?”

Chase suddenly thought of what Jacob had said to him, did Scarlett like him?  He looked at her and smiled, she was beautiful.

“I know this might sound weird.  Do you want to go to dinner with me sometime?”

“Like a date?”

“Yes.”  Chase blushed.

“Yes I would.”  She smiled.