Page 108 of Right Place, Right Time
‘So he never got chased by the men?’ I ask, slowly piecing this together.
Adam nods. ‘And he never ended up here in Clockmaker Court.’
‘But how can that be? We know he did?’
‘In that version of events, yes. But there’s a theory of time travel that says by travelling in time you can create new alternative timelines that branch off the main timeline and run simultaneously alongside the others.’
I frown at Adam, trying to understand. ‘When did you become such an expert on time-travel theories?’
‘I’ve been doing some reading,’ Adam says. ‘I didn’t want us to take on the responsibility of the time portal without knowing exactly what we were taking on.’
I smile at him.
‘What?’ he asks.
‘You’re so amazing,’ I tell him proudly. ‘Not only did you face your fears and go into a dark, enclosed space so you could go through the portal for me, but you’ve taken all this time-travel stuff in your stride and now you’re doing homework too! I love you so much for that.’
Adam grins. ‘I’m pleased to hear it. You know I love you too – very much.’
He leans forward and kisses me.
‘As much as I hate to stop you when you’re kissing me like that,’ I say, smiling at him as I reluctantly pull away. ‘But this time-travel theory – the different timelines one. Is it like branches on a tree? They all come from the same trunk, but branch off to be very different?’
‘That’s it exactly. Ben’s origin story started the same, but it may have branched into two different versions at the point in time Ben gave Eliza the money.’
‘He’s a sly old fox,’ I say, smiling as I think about this. ‘He told me not to mess with time, and there he is, creating new timelines for the better.’
‘If that’s what actually happened – it’s only a theory.’ Adam shrugs. ‘I guess we’ll never truly know.’
‘But at least we know Ben was able to see his mother and make sure she was OK. Above all else, he wanted to make sure his mother was taken care of. Now he can live out his final years in peace.’
Adam nods. ‘And hopefully you can find some peace too knowing that.’
‘And Dotty?’ I ask, feeling bad for doing so. Adam has already done so much for me in finding this information about Ben. But I want so much to know what happened to her too.
Adam shakes his head. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t find out anything about her. I tried – really I did. I may have only been gone for a few hours this end, but I spent days in 1904 Cambridge asking questions and searching – but nothing. No one knew anything.’
‘It’s fine,’ I say brightly, attempting to conceal my disappointment. ‘You did really well finding all that out about Ben. I’m so grateful to you.’
‘But you really wanted to know about Dotty, didn’t you?’
‘I wanted to know about both of them,’ I say. ‘Obviously, I never knew Dotty like I knew Ben. But after what we discovered about her earlier in the year, I feel a real connection to her. I want to know she was all right too.’
‘I understand,’ Adam says. ‘I did try, but—’ He stops abruptly. ‘Did you just hear that? That knocking sound?’
‘Yes, I thought I heard something, but it sounded a bit muffled. I thought it might be coming from outside in the court.’
We both listen again, and again we hear knocking.
‘Is that coming from the tunnel?’ I look questioningly at Adam.
‘I think it is,’ he says. ‘But it’s not these doors someone’s knocking on.’ He gestures to the doors with the tree on them. ‘It sounds like it might be at the other end.’
We stare at each other, neither one of us knowing what to do.
‘Should we go and find out?’ I ask.
‘I guess we’d better,’ Adam says. ‘Come on.’
