And the Rest Is History(94)

I said nothing to Matthew. More than ever, I was glad I hadn’t told him about his father.

I’d been told to bring only what I stood up in, but I wasn’t going into battle in my only decent top, so I changed into blues. We were running down the stairs when he stopped dead and looked up at me.

‘What?’ I said.

‘My teddy.’

I had forgotten all about it. It must have been buried under the clutter on his bed, but I could hear voices in the Hall. They were waiting for us.

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I have to see Dr Bairstow. I’ll get teddy for you later, I promise.’

He nodded. Sometimes his quiet acceptance of everything going on around him was quite worrying.



I called in to see the Boss. Time was short but there was something very important I had to say to him.

I sat Matthew down in Mrs Partridge’s office and said, ‘Wait here a minute.’

I left the two of them staring at each other with wary suspicion, but I didn’t have the time – they’d just have to sort it out themselves.

The Boss was sitting behind his desk.

I couldn’t think of any tactful way to put it, so I just came right out with it. Making sure the door was closed, I crossed his faded carpet and said, ‘Sir, Ronan promised me he would kill everyone in my life. He’s already killed Helen and probably Leon, Guthrie and Markham as well.’ I swallowed. ‘Matthew will be safe at TPHQ, but I would be grateful if you could assure me that you have taken all steps necessary to protect yourself. I couldn’t bear it if I got back and…’

He limped out from behind his desk and took my hand. ‘I promise you, Max, when you return, I and Dr Peterson and everyone here will be safe and sound. You have my word.’

I nodded, unable to speak.

‘I shall take advantage of this moment to demand that you also, Max, take every care. You are the spirit of St Mary’s and we cannot do without you.’

‘Yes, sir.’ I turned to go and then looked back. ‘Do you think they’re still alive?’

‘I am convinced of it, Max. Now, go and bring back our lost boys.’





I stood quietly at the back of the pod, holding Matthew’s hand. He didn’t seem particularly alarmed but that meant nothing. Captain Ellis was piloting the pod. He said cheerily, ‘Hey, Matthew. Remember me?’

Matthew nodded, still not saying anything.

I squeezed his hand for reassurance although I should probably make it clear the reassurance was for me. We were jumping to the future – well, my future anyway – and that’s enough to make anyone nervous. I’m an historian. I like to know when and where I’m jumping. I like to research the time period so I know what to expect. Jumping into the unknown makes me nervous. And I was jumping to TPHQ which would make anyone nervous at any point on the timeline. And I had no St Mary’s team to back me up. It was just Matthew and me. It did cross my mind that this was all just an elaborate Time Police trap to get their hands on Matthew. I really do need to work on my paranoia issues.

Someone said, ‘Commence jump procedures.’

‘Commencing now.’

The world flickered.

That was it. Half of me was a little disappointed. Half of me was quite smug. St Mary’s does it better.

My disappointment continued.

We began well, landing in any sinister organisation’s mandatory underground bunker. I knew it was underground because I could hear the fresh-air blowers overhead. Under the pretence of straightening Matthew’s perfectly straight hoodie, I tried, surreptitiously, to have a look around, getting only a very fleeting impression of rows of black pods stretching away into the darkness before a very large officer, deliberately or otherwise, blocked my view.

Matthew, perfectly aware he hadn’t managed to disarrange his clothing in the four seconds between St Mary’s and here, stared at me reproachfully.

We were escorted through the bunker, officers on either side of us. It smacked very much of prisoner and escort but I told myself they were the Time Police and probably didn’t know any other way of doing things.

As far as sinister organisations go, however, it all went downhill from there. Once out of the bunker we were in a disappointingly normal corridor, clean and well lit, which ended in a disappointingly normal lift. Although it was circular – which did strike me as unusual.

Ellis grinned at me. ‘You’ll see.’

‘See what?’

He just grinned again.

Once out of the lift, our escort peeled away – obviously we weren’t going to be shot after all – leaving just Commander Hay, Ellis and Farenden, who was speaking into some sort of coms device.

‘Our visitors’ accommodation is ready, ma’am.’

Hay nodded and turned to us. ‘We’ll take you to your rooms in a moment, but first there’s something I wanted to show you and, selfishly, I want to see your faces when you catch your first glimpse. This way.’

We entered a small room. I looked around. Desk. Chair. Filing cabinets. Shelves. Files. A couple of screens. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. Even more disappointment. Still, I should set an example to Matthew and be polite.

‘Very … nice,’ I said.

Captain Farenden grinned. ‘This is my office.’

‘Mmmm,’ I said, having run out of positive things to say.