Timekeeper (Timekeeper #1)(50)

It took considerable courage for Danny to ask, “Have you ever kissed anyone before me?”

Colton thought, then shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’ve thought about it, though. There used to be a girl down the street who was very pretty. But that was a long time ago.”

Danny, who hadn’t anticipated this answer, took a moment to reorganize his thoughts. “So you would have kissed me if I was a girl?”

“I would have kissed you if you were a girl. I would have kissed you if you were purple.”

Danny wasn’t quite sure what to do with this information.

He brought his father’s copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When Colton stumbled over the poems, Danny laughed and said he had trouble with them as well. As he read them aloud, Colton closed his eyes and listened. Danny glanced over at him every so often, Colton’s eyelids the color of dawn, his lips curved upward like a bow.

Danny had most certainly fallen down the rabbit hole. He didn’t know if he ever wanted to return.

His mother began to notice his frequent trips. He told her he was seeing Cassie or another old friend he never spoke to anymore. Cassie sounded skeptical whenever he asked her to cover for him.

“If my mum calls your house, you have to tell her we’re busy.”

“Why? Can’t you tell her the truth?”

“You know how she is.”

Eventually, the date of his mother’s interview in Chelmsford arrived. Danny waited at the house until she returned, pale and tired. He rushed to get her tea.

“What did they say?” he asked as she sipped from her cup. The wind had ruffled her hair, which hung around her face like plump, curly vines. She would have made a good Medusa.

“They said they won’t make a decision for another fortnight at least.”

Danny sighed quietly in relief. A little more time to sort things out. Though his mother leaving would hardly be the end of the world, it still hung like an unpleasant threat, but he hadn’t the faintest idea how to convince her to change her mind.

As November rolled on, and the weather grew even colder, Danny’s suspension came to an end. He heard Lucas had gone to the new Maldon tower, but tried not to listen to any news unless it happened to be “the tower is working.”

Something pulled restlessly at him, fearful and urgent. He was losing his train of thought much more easily these days. His mind was in a summer’s haze, focused on Enfield, drawing unbidden smiles to his lips. Those small, unconscious smiles came with a price, he realized. He was losing sight of what had driven him to this point. The thing he and his mother needed most.

While he was with Colton, Maldon was still trapped.

While he smiled, his father was still lost.

His desires couldn’t seem to coexist. Desperation or relief—one or the other, they demanded. You can’t have both.

I’ll be lost without both.

To Danny’s surprise, Matthias willingly brought up Maldon as they played checkers in the park one afternoon.

“I’m still miffed the Lead didn’t consider you,” Matthias said as he glowered at the red checkers. He made a slow move forward. “I mean, of all people, Lucas. You or Daphne would have been a far better choice.”

Danny’s lips thinned at the mention of Daphne. “Can’t do anything about it now.”

Matthias registered his flat tone. “You should talk to the Lead again. He could reconsider.”

Danny fiddled with his black checker. “Maybe.” He raised his eyebrows at the pinky finger Matthias held out to him.

“Promise you’ll come to me if you need help,” Matthias said.

With a small, breathy laugh, Danny wrapped his own pinky finger around Matthias’s and shook. “All right.” He looked back down at the checkerboard. “Hey, do you mind if I take this?”



He brought the checkerboard to Colton’s tower and taught him how to play. He also taught him piquet and Beggar My Neighbor.

Running, his inner voice scolded. You didn’t get the Assignment, and now you’re running away to sulk and play card games with a clock spirit. You shouldn’t be here. You know the rules. This isn’t going to end well for either of you.

He ignored it.

Colton had his own games, such as walking quietly behind Danny as he climbed the stairs and then startling him at the top, or trying to get Danny to catch him and winking out of sight, only to reappear on a rafter high above.

“That’s cheating!” Danny called up, his voice echoing. Colton stuck out his tongue, something he had seen Danny do once and which was now his favorite expression.

The planes within Danny shifted and overlapped. Before, his world had just been I. Now it was expanding into we.

Danny knew the shape of Colton’s lips, the arch of his eyebrows, the whisper of his hand as it slid into his own. The calm measured beats of his voice. He knew the strum and twist of time, the spark of recognition instead of fear. His panic slumbered, tucking its head down.

For the first time in three years, Danny did not have to force his laughter.

But every so often, he remembered they still had to be careful.

It happened once during a game of hide-and-seek. Colton gave Danny a hard chase, standing up above the pendulum before winking out of view to reappear on the stairs. Danny cursed and ran after him, and Colton bolted. The spirit laughed, the sound like an echoing hum throughout the tower. The clock tower itself was bright, golden, filled with an energy that made the air crackle.