Page 41 of The Uprising
‘On a personal note, I’m hoping you’ll figure out how we can control if and when we time travel,’ said Cara.
‘That would be a lucky break. All this coming and going is tough—which reminds me—I wanted to bring you both up to speed on Victoriana,’ said George.
They sat around the kitchen table, a warm glow of camaraderie in the air, another round of steaming coffee cups in hands, while George told them what had been going on with the Chartists in 1848.
‘There’s been a kidnapping.’
‘What?’ said Cara and Eddie, simultaneously.
‘You won’t like it, which is why I didn’t mention it sooner. Didn’t want to upset you.’
‘What’s going on?’ said Cara, looking worried.
‘It’s Swifty; he’s afootman at Buckingham Palace. When I asked who could go on a scouting mission for me, the butler produced Swifty. I was gob smacked, and now I’m kicking myself for involving him because he’s been kidnapped. If I hadn’t recognised him, he wouldn’t be in danger now.’
‘Poor Swifty,’ said Cara.
‘It’s extraordinary,’ said Eddie.
‘What is?’ asked George.
‘Swifty is also in Victoriana.’
‘I hadn’t fully appreciated it, with the shock of hearing about him being kidnapped,’ said Cara, nodding.
‘I had the bright idea to deploy him to spy on the Chartists to see how much danger the queen is in, given the recent overthrowing of the monarchy in France and riots in London,’ said George.
‘How do you know he was kidnapped?’ asked Cara.
‘I received a ransom note. I told Queen V, but she was adamant the police must handle it. She forbade me to search for him.’
‘Thank God. I love Queen Victoria—such a sensible woman,’ said Cara, touching his hand.
‘I feel terrible though—it’s all my fault,’ said George.
Eddie stood and paced around the kitchen. ‘That’s not necessarily true,’ he said.
‘How so?’ asked George, intrigued, his eyes following Eddie as he walked.
‘Well, think about it. We have no way of knowing whether you would have done what you did even if you didn’t recognise Swifty.’
‘I don’t follow you,’ said Cara.
‘Nor me,’ said George.
Eddie scratched his head and sat back down. He waved his large hands around as he talked; and looked every bit the archetypal professor. ‘The biggest challenge we have when we cross into other timelines is to live; or more accurately, to re-live our lives in the way we would have done the first time. We don’t know what we would have done so we can only follow our gut and hope it’s the same action we took originally.’
He paused and looked first at Cara and then at George to gauge their reaction.
‘The problems start when we learn something about the future that we wouldn’t have known before. Then, I believe, we have an immense responsibility to decide whether we will choose a different course to try and change the outcome, or whether we step back and allow the future to unfold without attempting to disrupt it.’
Cara and George both contemplated his words.
‘It’s a genuine test of following your gut, and it takes nerves of steel,’ continued Eddie.
‘It makes sense, but I sometimes wonder whether the purpose of us being given thesedo-overopportunities isn’t to steer things in an alternative direction?’ said Cara.
George looked at her as she spoke, nodding agreement.
