Page 69 of The Uprising
‘It’s a bit of a walk to Sylvia’s, but it’s turned into a lovely day, hasn’t it? We must have just missed the rain. It’s good to feel the warmth on my skin,’ said Cara, tilting her face skywards in search of the pale sun’s rays.
They walked hand in hand in peaceful silence admiring the city’s ancient beauty until George said, ‘What’s the latest from Tudorville?’
‘I made it to Willow Manor after nearly freezing to death on the Great North Road. Sorry, I thought I told you yesterday.’
‘No, no, you didn’t. That’s good you arrived. How are Thomas and May?’
‘They’re in fine form—they were surprised to see me, and the very first thing Thomas asked was for news of you. I daresay he’s heard mutterings of the uprising.’
‘It’s strange—but from that one brief period I was aware I was in Tudorville, I recall just about enough to miss them, but not enough to have much in the way of anything to hold onto. I hope at some point I’ll be able to remember more of our lives together. It’s a shame to have such beautiful children and not to know more about them.’
Cara saw the pain on his face and her heart lurched.
‘You do spend time with them whenever possible. You’re a brilliant father and they adore you. Even if we weren’t buzzing back and forth between timelines, we wouldn’t be with them as much as we would like, given our positions at court.’
‘That’s some consolation, I suppose.’
‘I will tell you more about what’s going on. I forget how odd it must be for you. Talking of children, I wanted to ask you something.’
He looked at her expectantly.
‘Is there any particular reason you know of that we didn’t have any in Victoriana? It occurred to me that in those days it must have been much more unusual than it would be nowadays.’
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘Um, perhaps we do go on to have children. I don’t know, but we’re still quite young.’
‘Yes, but you said it’s now 1848, which means we’ve been married for around eight years. That seems like an awfully long time not to have children if we wanted them, doesn’t it?’
‘When you put it like that, I suppose it does,’ he replied, and then deftly changed the subject.
Still curious, Cara sensed there was more to it and decided she would ask Eddie what he knew about their childless state when she got the chance. George avoided telling her anything he thought would upset her. He did it to protect her. When they first met in the present day, his behaviour was the source of much tension between them because he would regularly withhold details which she would later somehow discover, and they would plunge headlong into a brutal battle of wills.
Cara was relieved there was no longer any need for complex layers of secrets between them.
‘Here we are,’ said Cara as they approached Sylvia’s office. ‘Would you like to go in first?’
George pulled a face. ‘Can’t we go in together? I feel naked with her knowing so much about me. I’ve never even met her before.’
Cara laughed at his panicked expression. ‘Yes, I suppose we could. Don’t worry—I’m sure she’s used to knowing some very odd things about all kinds of people. This is what she does for a living.’
They entered the building and sat down in the waiting room for a few minutes before Sylvia opened the door to her office wearing a big, welcoming smile.
‘Sylvia, I hope it’s all right, but we thought we’d come in together,’ said Cara.
‘Ah, what a pleasure to finally meet you,’ Sylvia said, her cat-like eyes sparkling as she gazed at George. ‘You look exactly as I saw you in my visions.’
Despite the startling nature of her words, there was something about Sylvia that immediately put people at ease, and within a few minutes they were all chatting and laughing like lifelong friends.
‘Okay, so what may I do for you both?’ said Sylvia once they were seated. ‘On the phone you said something unusual had happened.’
Cara coughed and cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. ‘So much has happened—I don’t even know where to begin. And it’s never anything but unusual.’
Cara told Sylvia about the Pilgrimage of Grace, and her visit to The National Archives.
‘I’m afraid if we don’t course correct, George will die with the rebels next year, and who knows what awful consequences for the timeline there will be. Do you recall on my last visit I told you that Eddie said we’re in danger of creating a quantum time loop because we’re making too many changes to the past?’
Sylvia nodded. ‘Shall we start with what’s on the cards for George? That should be interesting because we’ve only ever seen his journey through your cards.’
Now it was George’s turn to look nervous again.
