And the Rest Is History(20)

Elspeth Grey was yet another victim of Clive Ronan. He’d snatched her and her partner, Tom Bashford, and then dropped them into Roman Colchester, only one hour before Boudicca and her hordes swept down upon the town, leaving nothing standing, and no one alive. She’d struggled ever since, unable to rid herself of the fear that it would happen again, and that this time there would be no one to save her. To give her her due, she’d tried really hard to overcome her fears, but her one and only subsequent assignment had been a bit of a disaster and I was pretty sure this would be the final straw. For her, today’s events had come too close to home and she was here to give in her notice. Now, of all times.

I braced myself.

‘Max, how are you?’

‘Absolutely fine,’ I said, the traditional St Mary’s response to any sort of catastrophe. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Chief Farrell sent me. I want to volunteer and he said that as you’re Head of the History Department, I had to clear it with you.’

Whatever I’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. To cover my confusion, I sat at my desk and invited her to sit down as well.

She was different. Everything about her was different. She sat straight in her chair. Her grey eyes were clear and direct. Given recent events, she seemed surprisingly calm.

‘Say that again.’

‘I want to volunteer to join Major Guthrie’s team. To hunt down Ronan and bring back Matthew.’

I was at a loss. She’d done everything she could to avoid getting back into a pod and now, here she was, volunteering not only to do that very thing, but to go after the man who’d abandoned her to a nasty death as well.

My confusion must have shown because she smiled sadly.

‘I don’t blame you Max, but this is something I must do. I’ve been mooning about, frightening myself to death, thinking about what could happen to me, and it never once occurred to me that it could happen to someone else. This bastard is a danger and a menace and he must be stopped. I want to help stop him. I must do this. I must go with Chief Farrell and Major Guthrie. I must get him out of my life. And everyone else’s as well. You’ve kept me on here and I appreciate it; you’ve given me every chance to be an historian again, but we both know I’m not making any sort of contribution. Now though, I think I can. May I have your permission to go with Guthrie and Farrell?’

I couldn’t think of anything to say except, ‘Subject to Dr Bairstow’s approval, yes. Thank you.’

She smiled and got up to go. ‘We’ll get him, Max. You just wait and see.’



Leon’s goodbye was brief. We stood outside Hawking in the early morning sunshine. Two black pods stood at the edge of the pan, doors open, ramps down. Waiting for our people.

He took my hand. ‘I hate to go off and leave you looking so broken.’

‘Bring him back. And stay safe yourself. That’s all I ask.’

‘Two days Max. Just two days.’

‘I know. Take care.’

He kissed my hand and my cheek. ‘See you Friday.’

‘I’ll be waiting.’

I stood with everyone else as they set off. I watched Leon, Guthrie and Grey walk across the pan together, and enter the nearest pod. Leon turned briefly and raised a hand to me. Then the ramp came up behind them, the pods blinked out of existence, and they were gone.

All around me, people were dispersing. Getting on with their day. I looked down at my feet and wondered what to do with myself now.

He held out his little arms to me.

Turning to go, I saw Peterson standing some little distance away, staring at the spot where the Time Police pods had been. He looked around, saw me watching, and turned away.

I know that in popular romances, the suffering heroine is always too distraught to eat, thus arriving at the end of the book having not only triumphed over adversity, but gained the hero and a stunning figure as well. I’d never believed it myself. How could anyone ever forget to eat? But now I realised I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten anything. Lunchtime yesterday, I think. Before jumping to the Egyptian desert. This time yesterday. When I still had a family.

I had a sudden memory of Leon, years ago, telling me how he’d lost his first family. ‘I started the week with a happy, healthy family, and by the end of it, I was the only one left.’ Tragedy is that sudden. That unexpected. This time yesterday, I too had had a happy, healthy family. And now they were both gone.

He held out his arms to me…

I went for some food.

When I returned, Miss Lee was in my office, head down, working away. I stood in the doorway and looked at her. She was actually working, but this was not the moment for sarky comments.

She looked up. ‘Max? Any news?’

I shook my head. ‘Not yet. They’ve only just left.’

‘There will be, I’m sure. What can I do?’

‘Actually, I don’t know. Nothing, I suppose. I can’t do anything. Not at the moment, anyway. Thank you for coming in so early.’

‘I can stay late, as well, if you need me. David is taking care of Benjamin.’

David Sands was a former historian with whom she lived and Benjamin was her son. Who must be doubly precious after yesterday’s events.

I sat at my desk and pulled out a mission folder, centred it carefully on my desk, took a breath and opened it.