Page 33 of Skullduggery
We left the shop at high speed. I could feel the man’s eyes burning into my back as I marched away and rounded the corner. Only when we were out of sight did I come to a stuttering halt.
Otis and Hester immediately began shouting into my face.
‘1994?’
‘It can’t be 1994!’
‘What happened?’
‘Daisy!’
‘This is a joke, right?’
I gazed at them both dully. ‘The cars on the street are old. The décor in Gordon’s house – which isn’t Gordon’s house – is old-fashioned. That shop sells cigarettes openly. They had Opal Fruits on the shelf! I’m sure that’s what Starburst used to be called before the name was changed.’
There was an odd roaring in my ears. ‘It all makes sense. This is why Gordon wanted the skull, why he was so sure it could give him answers about Lady Rose. He wanted to travel into the past to witness what happened to her. Perhaps he thought he could stop it. Perhaps he thought he could save her.’
Hester’s cheeks were bright red. ‘Then why the hell arewehere instead of Gordon?’
‘Athair.’ My voice was barely audible. ‘He showed up, I went into a panic and lost control of my magic, and I triggered the skull by accident. Now we’re here and Gordon’s not.’
Otis shook his head violently. ‘No. No way. I’ve only just got used to 2024 – I don’t want to have to adjust again. We shouldn’t be here. Use the skull and send us back to where we belong.’
Hester was wide-eyed. ‘He’s right. Set off your freaky magic again and let’s go home.’
I shook my head. ‘I can’t.’
Her voice rose. ‘Why the fuck not?’
Magic was starting to leak out of me. The ground beneath my feet shook and cracks appeared in the pavement. A strong wind was circling around us, whipping up my hair and making it almost impossible for the brownies to remain airborne. Otissqueaked and threw himself at me for safety; Hester did the same and burrowed beneath my coat.
‘I don’t have it,’ I muttered. Flames licked upwards from my fingertips. ‘The skull didn’t come with us – the skull is in 2024.’ A second later, the flames transformed into fireballs that blazed up into the still dark sky.
And I felt worse than ever.
Chapter
Twelve
We didn’t hang around. Between the shopkeeper’s suspicions and my accidental surge of magic, it didn’t seem wise to stay in the area.
An hour or so later, the three of us had found our way to Holyrood Park, the large city park in the centre of Edinburgh, which included Arthur’s Seat, the remains of an extinct volcano. The open space and the lightening sky had calmed me considerably, but there was still a knot of deep anxiety in the pit of my belly.
‘Things aren’t that bad,’ I said aloud.
‘Are you trying to reassure us or yourself?’ Hester asked.
I managed a tight smile. ‘Both. We need to look at the positives.’
They both looked dubious so I elaborated. ‘We’re alive.’
Otis conceded that point. ‘True.’
‘We’ve only gone thirty years into the past – if we’d travelled three hundred years, we’d have real problems.’
Hester said grudgingly, ‘I suppose Otis and I didn’t get to experience the 1990s the first time around. It might be fun.’
I nodded. ‘Nobody else that I’ve heard of has ever timetravelled. We’re pioneers. That’s exciting. Plus,’ I was warming to the topic, ‘we’re not necessarily stuck here. At this moment, the golden skull is buried beneath the Fonaby Sack Stone. All we have to do is travel to Doncaster and retrieve it for a second time.’
