Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)(36)

Colton grinned. The smile washed over Danny’s worry, making him forget what he’d been anxious about in the first place.

They ended up standing by one of the small windows, which provided a view of Enfield to the east. There wasn’t much to look at, but Colton stared for a long while in silence. His eyes were fixed on a point Danny couldn’t see, drawn to something intangible. Going somewhere Danny couldn’t follow.

“Are you allowed to leave the clock tower?” Danny asked.

“I can’t go very far.”

“That’s a shame. There are so many interesting sights out there. You should see London, it’s brilliant.” He caught the look on the spirit’s face and could have hanged himself. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Here I am, making it all worse.”

“It’s all right. I know I can’t leave, and I can’t see anything beyond Enfield, but I enjoy it here. It’s quiet, and it’s peaceful. I see the people come and go, and learn about their lives, and listen in on their problems. Sometimes, I wish they knew I was here. Do you remember the wedding not too long ago?” Danny nodded. “I’ve wanted those two to end up together since they were children. It makes me happy, seeing these people live their lives. I like to think I’m living it with them.”

It did seem a nice way to pass time, to watch people and become invested in their lives from a distance, like God parting the clouds to observe his worker ants below.

“I want …” Colton paused, then shook his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter what I want. Still,” he said, his voice distant as he turned back to the window, “it would be something, being in another place.”

A spark of an idea caught tinder. “Where would you most like to go?”

“I don’t know. I only know the names of what’s around Enfield—London, the towns. I know nothing about the world. Enfield is my world.”

It was the saddest thing Danny had ever heard. “How about this: when I come next time, I’ll bring the world to you.”

Though he didn’t understand, Colton looked interested. “Is that possible?”

“Anything is possible.”





There were no leads about Rotherfield over the next few days. It was like Shere all over again—the endless questions, the uncertainty, then, gradually, the giving up. No one could trace the bomb back to any person or organization.

Danny skulked around the offices waiting for the Lead. He wanted to ask about Maldon and how the clock tower was coming along. As he waited, Tom and George came out of an office down the hall.

Something wasn’t right. Tom’s face was mottled, his eyes red. Had he been crying?

It sounds silly, but I thought I heard someone crying. That’s what the man in Rotherfield had said. Danny edged in closer to hear them.

“—difficult, but you know it needs to be done,” George was saying.

“I know.” Tom stared at the wall, his eyes hard. “Lord help me, I know.”

George gripped the taller man’s arm in sympathy. They turned and walked down the hall. Danny was about to follow when he heard a snort behind him.

“Eavesdropping, Danny?”

Lucas held a report in one hand, his face marred by a smirk.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Danny replied.

“Cut the act. Tell me why you were at Rotherfield.”

“I told you, I was visiting a friend.”

“Everyone knows you don’t have friends.”

Before he could think of a response, the Lead’s door opened. He saw Danny and sighed. “Daniel, I don’t have anything for you. I’m sorry.”

Danny pushed himself away from the wall and headed for the stairs. He heard the Lead ask Lucas to step into his office and paused, wondering what they could have to discuss. A telling off, he hoped.

He couldn’t get Tom’s face out of his mind. As he slowly made his way down the stairs, a young apprentice flying past him and trailing papers in his hurry, Danny wondered what Tom and George could have been discussing.

On the second floor, Danny turned down the hall. He needed to find out.

Tom’s office was next to George’s, right at the end of the corridor. Danny kept turning his head to see if anyone was around, but he only heard voices echoing from the classrooms farther down. He knocked softly, and when he received no answer, he tested the handle. It was open.

Danny stepped inside and soundlessly closed the door behind him. Tom’s office was neat, unlike Matthias’s with its precarious towers of paperwork and unorganized files. But there was no personality in this small space, no portraits or trinkets or even a kinetic toy like the Lead had.

Danny didn’t know if Tom was gone for the day or if he’d be back any moment, so he quickly began opening drawers and riffling through their contents. It was the usual sort of nonsense: pens, clips, reams of paper, loose screws and springs. Danny looked under the desk and pulled a few books from the shelves. Nothing. Not even a sign of the Maldon tower blueprints.

Then something caught his eye beside the bookshelf. He knelt and found a canvas bag that clanked when he touched it. Frowning, Danny opened the top and found pieces of metal inside. He took one out.

“A pipe?” He examined it from every angle, even looking at the desk through the hole as if it were a spyglass. It told him absolutely nothing.