Page 137 of The Girl Out of Time
“I mean, how are you—”
“Long story,” she said. “Did you know your daughter was a time traveler?”
He nearly slipped from the cupboard. “What?”
“I’ll explain everything.” She waded to him, raising the hatchet. “Stay clear—well, as much as you can. I’m gonna break the cuff.”
“What are you—stop!” He raised his free hand. “That won’t work.”
“But it worked in the movie! And since you decided to pull a Jack after all …”
“You’re not going to break it with a hatchet. We need …” He glanced around. Nothing of use in here. “A crowbar, to wedge between it. They should have one in the engineer’s workshop. It’s down below—”
“G Deck, aft, I know.” She pulled a scroll of paper out of the almonite bag strapped around her waist. “I have ship plans. I’m getting us out of here, Gramps.”
He still couldn’t believe she was here. But she touched his shoulder, and the touch seemed very real, even if her hand was cold.
“I’ll be right back.” Before he could respond, she blinked out. Water swirled in a trail toward the door and down the hallway as if someone had waded through it moments before.
Time freeze.Emily could freeze time again. Emily couldtime travel again.
Will occupied his thoughts with that—it was preferable to watching the surface rise—but arrived at no sensible conclusion. Over the years, they’d done everything they could think of to reactivate the almonite in Emily’s body, to no avail. What had changed?
She was back in about two minutes and appeared in front of him, now holding a crowbar. “How do I do this?”
“See the crack in the cuff? Wedge it in there. No, the other way around. Now pull toward you.”
With a clink, the cuff came off and plopped into the water. Will shook out his wrist, red and sweaty from being squished within the metal. He was free.
“Oh, Gramps.” Emily hugged him tight. “Come. We have to get out of here. Wait, how did you even end up cuffed?”
“It must’ve been the officer. Kinsley. He hit me on the head. I’ve no idea why.”
“Did you steal his fiancée or his prized necklace?”
“What? No, I—I’mmarried.”
“Come.” She took his hand, and they slowly started pushing through the water. “You said you met him on the bridge beforehand? He’s one of the senior officers?”
“By the looks, yes. Why?”
“I checked the crew list. There’s no Kinsley on it.”
“Maybe the list is incomplete.”
“Or maybe he’s a rogue time traveler who wanted to witness theTitanicgoing down, and he didn’t like you trying to mess with that.”
He still didn’t understand Emily’s references, but God, had he missed her.
Emily paused with her hand on the plans and scrunched her nose. “You don’t think it could be him, do you?”
“Who?”
“The man who’d injected me, preventing me from time travel. He made a trap for me, and for you, because he thought Ross would get you. He tried messing with your parents, too.”
It was so long ago. Will couldn’t recall the sliver of the man’s face underneath the hood he wore when he injected Emily. He couldn’t match it to Kinsley. And for Mother, it’s been even longer. Besides … “Why would he want to do that? Strike again now, and in such a strange manner?”
“I don’t know.” Emily shrugged. “Maybe he really doesn’t like you.”
