Time After Time

Tom awoke to the smell of sausages and bacon. Hermes had wheeled in a large trolley and was laying a table in the middle of the room. Pete and Kate were still asleep. He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed his face with his hands.

“How long have I been asleep?”

Hermes looked from his task. “Good morning,” he replied. “You have slept twelve hours solid and it looks like you needed it.”

Panic set in for a moment as he tried to clear his head. “What time is it?”

“Don’t worry, it’s only 9AM; there is plenty of time. It is more important you get some rest. I am going to rush off to school in moment. Make yourselves at home, you will find plenty of food in the kitchen.”

“Is this going to work?”

The old man smiled and looked at his watch.

“Sorry, I need to go now. You’d better wake your friends before their breakfast goes cold.”

Hermes hurried from the room.

Tom was hungry. He lifted the various metal lids on the tray. He helped himself to sausages, bacon, eggs tomatoes and toast. He walked over to the beds and shook his friends awake.

An hour later, they had all showered and dressed. Hermes had laid out new clothes for them. All were the correct sizes and in the styles and colours, they preferred. For Kate there was even a huge baggy black jumper. It looked exactly like something Robert Smith out of The Cure might wear. Their teacher had prepared for their arrival.

“I’m going to have another look at all those clocks. There’s something funny about them,” said Pete walking back into the living room.

“Hermes acts like he’s a bit senile, but I reckon it’s an act,” Kate said to Tom. “There’s something manipulative about him. We’ve assumed he is on our side because he’s our teacher, but he could have his own agenda.”

“What kind of agenda?”

“I’m not sure.” She told Tom about the conversation she had witnessed between William and Hermes.

“What do you reckon was in the box?”

“I haven’t a clue, but he made sure we didn’t see it.”

They walked back to the main room of the cottage.

“Where’s Pete?” Tom asked. “He said he was coming to have a look at those clocks.”

Pete was not in the living room. They walked through the door into the front garden. Bright summer sunshine dazzled them. Thick deep green grass and wildflowers carpeted the ground. A towering thick ancient hedge surrounded, and birdsong filled the air. They followed the path they had taken the night before, slid into the deep ditch and climbed the other side. Kate was in the lead and pushed aside a thick tangle of brambles. A couple of hundred yards away they saw the low-rise council blocks. The sky was a dreary grey and the trees were lifeless. Their brown leaves clustered in rotting piles against graffiti covered walls. They turned back to see the bright cottage garden.

“What is this place?” Tom asked.

“Pete!” Kate shouted.

They both shouted but there was no answer.

“Where’s he gone, the bloody idiot?” Kate muttered, rushing back to the cottage. Tom followed, when they were inside she shouted for Pete again.

“Something’s not right, he wouldn’t wander off. You stay at the cottage and wait for Hermes. I’m going to go and look for Pete.”

“Isn’t that risky? You could run into yourself.”

“I know exactly where the other me is all day.”

Tom did not say anything.

“What is it?” asked Kate.

“I don’t know why I forgot until now. I saw you at school that day, today I mean. It didn’t make sense at the time. We’d finished rugby practice and you were coming out of the library clutching an old book. I waved to you but you hurried off as if you hadn’t seen me. I remember thinking it was odd you weren’t in school uniform. I shrugged it off because it was you, and you’re always a bit weird. I am sure you were wearing that jumper.”

“I’ll make sure I am back in time, but even if I’m not, we only saw one figure in the woods. You must be the only one who makes it.”

“Where are you going to look?”

" I’m going to see Hermes at school.”

“Be careful Kate.”

“You too,” she kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck Tom.”

Kate rushed off leaving Tom alone. He watched her disappear around the corner.