Page 14 of The Runner
They ate dinner at the table on the pale stone patio, which was decorated with vibrant coloured pots stuffed with a riot of swaying summer blooms. Several hours passed in a flash as they chatted about old times, or old timelines, to be more accurate, and demolished a couple of bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon—the connection between them tangible in the warm evening air.
When an evening chill descended, they cleared away the dinner plates and settled in thesnug that Cara and George had refurbished with cosy evenings just like this in mind.
Eddie said, ‘Okay, come on, guys. Spill the beans about the time travel on demand. I can’t wait any longer to hear your news. I could barely sleep last night, for thinking about it.’
‘I wondered how long it would take you to ask for the details,’ said Cara, laughing.
‘Why do you love to torment the good professor, so?’ said George, retrieving his wine glass from the table and taking a large swig as he settled back into the armchair.
‘All right, all right,’ said Cara. ‘Well, seriously, though I don’t know for sure that it’s time travel on demand, but it seems like it may be. I’m not sure what happened the first time, but the second time George was with me, and we both felt the vortex.’
Eddie rubbed his hands together and proceeded to quiz Cara on the specifics. His fascination and enthusiasm were palpable, and he kept firing questions at them.
Cara held up her hand after ten minutes of intense questioning. ‘You are relentless. This must be what it was like in the inquisition,’ she said, and took a sip of wine, rolling her eyes.
‘Talking of the inquisition, I’m pretty certain we have a genuine priest hole on our hands which is going to be absolutely brilliant for the centre,’ said George.
‘A priest hole time portal by the sounds of it! Probably best we don’t mention that to your visitors,’ said Eddie. He rested his head on his hands on the table.
They sat in silence for a while as Eddie processed what they had told him. George reached for Cara’s hand and squeezed it as they waited to hear his thoughts.
‘Do you think there’s a specific reason you’re travelling to this new timeline—Georgiana?’
Cara nodded. ‘Yes, although I’ve had several dreams about it, but can’t remember a thing in the normal way. I’m not getting any memory updates like I used to about Tudorville.’
‘I wonder if the reporting system works differently when it’s time travel on demand,’ said Eddie, running his fingers through his hair so it stuck up chaotically, and he looked like an archetypal mad professor. ‘It could be a positive sign we’re getting closer to what we’ve been trying to do.’
‘I don’t know, but my gut tells me it’s to do with Ralph, the karmic warrior. It doesn’t feel positive. It feels scary,’ Cara said.
‘But we handled him, didn’t we? Sylvia undid the hypnotic suggestion, and we had proof it worked because Willow Manor was restored,’ said Eddie, swinging his wine glass slowly from side to side, so the wine swirled around the bottom of the balloon glass. ‘I wonder why you would be called back to that specific time.’
‘What if I’ve been called back to make sure the timeline stays as we intended?’ said Cara. ‘It’s a critical period. If the undoing of the hypnotism doesn’t stick, it could disrupt the timelines again, and we will be in trouble.’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ said Eddie.
‘I don’t know what you’re going to say, but I’m pretty sure I won’t like it,’ interjected George, curiously sober despite their copious wine drinking.
Eddie looked at George and then back at Cara.
‘We need to run some quantum tests with you in the portal and see what happens,’ said Eddie.
‘I was afraid you’d come up with something like that!’ Cara said.
Willow Manor,York - Georgiana
The stays squeezedCaroline’s stomach and chest so tightly that she struggled to breathe. For the tenth time that day, she wished she could join the servants for supper as usual, in the warm, welcoming kitchen. Olivia had asked her to tap on her door a few minutes before dinner so they could walk down together.
‘You look beautiful,’ said Olivia when she opened her door and slipped out into the hallway. She grabbed Caroline’s clammy hand and skipped about like a carefree lamb. Caroline wished she could be as joyful.
‘Come. It’s only mother, George, you and I. There’s no need to look so terrified. I promise they won’t eat you.’
This statement, which was obviously designed to allay Caroline’s fears, had the opposite effect, and only made her more anxious. The vision of an intimate family dinner with George observing her every move filled her with dread and she shook inwardly. He would see her for the simple village girl she was, and she was certain she would make a fool of herself.
‘May I compliment you on your gown? You look as well as the ladies at court, and the colour suits you,’ said George. They were shown to their places at the long table in the great hall, and much to Caroline’s consternation, she was seated directly opposite George. His dark eyes drilled into hers, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, simultaneously electrified by his presence, and wishing she were somewhere else. She blushed and tried to find the right words to acknowledge the compliment.
‘I told Caroline it would suit her. It was one of my gowns and we altered it together. She looks beautiful, doesn’t she?’ said Olivia, oblivious to Caroline’s mortified expression.
‘You have done well, girls,’ said the countess. ‘The gown suits you perfectly.’ She nodded towards Caroline.
