Page 138 of The Girl Out of Time
They had no time to focus on some time traveler’s random grudges. “We need to get out.”
“I’m working on it.” She spread the deck plans, holding them to the level of her chest.
“And get Emmeline.”
“Oh, about that. Remember how I said she was a time traveler? Yeah, she’s not on the ship anymore. Okay, if we’re on E Deck …”
“What do you mean, she’s not on the ship?”
“Up the stairs to the third class promenade.” She folded the plans and started dragging him to her right. “So, here’s the deal. You may have noticed I can time travel again. So can Emmeline. And you might think, wow, that’s a big coincidence, isn’t it? But it’s not.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “It’s all got to do with babies.”
“Babies?” He waded past a floating piece of luggage, quickening his pace to come in stride with her.
“I’m pregnant.” She gave him a quick smile. “Was hoping to break the news in a more celebratory fashion, but here we are. Congrats, Gramps, you’re going to be a great-great-great-great-grandfather.”
For a moment, he was struck in awe; then he shook his head. “And you came here, on a sinking ship? Are you out of your mind?”
“Always.”
“But your baby—”
“Is going to be fine. There were plenty of pregnant women on theTitanicthat made it out all right.” She laid a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, I’ve got this.”
“And James let you come alone?”
“He had no other choice. I needed two watches: one for me, one for you since you don’t have yours. And I’m the one who can freeze time and phase through walls.”
They headed up the stairs, and Will couldn’t be more grateful to leave the freezing water behind. “So, how do babies explain it all?”
Emily stopped briefly, peeking through the open door on the side of the wide hallway they’d turned into. Beyond it was a shaft with a submerged catwalk. Emily bit her lip, then shook her head and led them away.
“I never told you, but the first time I saw Emmeline, her finger colored blue, the way mine and yours do if we come in contact with almonite,” she explained as they neared an open space with two sets of stairs leading up. “I think you didn’t get all the almonite out of Sylvia. No offense to your methods—they were very good for the times—but I think a speck of it remained, and when she got pregnant with Emmeline, Emmeline absorbed it.” Emily paused on top of the stairs, draining the water out of her pants. “She wasborna time traveler, but a different one, perhaps because of how Sylvia’s almonite had mutated, perhaps because of the …mannerof delivery.”
“But Emmeline had never time traveled in her life. She’s never even held a watch.”
“She’s started now. And she can go to wherever she wants. Not just in time, but inspace. She could blink from your house to the other side of the Atlantic.”
“And your case?”
“The baby.” She continued to lead the way up another, narrower set of stairs, catching herself on the railing as the ship’s list angled the stairs more steeply toward them. “He’s doing the same thing Emmeline did to Sylvia, but instead of sucking up my almonite, he’s sucking up the substance blocking it.”
“I’ve never heard of that happening to anyone else.”
“The substance came from the batch we got from Sylvia, right? A few vials went missing. Maybe that one worked differently. And it would explain why it works specifically on me and Sylvia—well, Emmeline.”
They skipped the last few steps and burst through the door, out onto the open well deck. Will paused to appreciate the stars for a moment; he thought he’d never see them again. It was unbelievable how beautiful the sky could be on such a horrible night.
Emily nudged him and pointed over his shoulder. They were closer to the forecastle now, and the ocean was already licking its sides, splashing over the railing.
“Up on the promenade deck, quick.” He took charge, racing up the stairs to a deck just in front and below the bridge. To the side—around the corner—up the crew’s stairs to the enclosed promenade. Just this morning, it had been bustling with passengers, lounging on the chairs, children running along it. Now, the deck chairs had all skirted to the side, and scattered passengers milled about, strangely complacent, as if they’d given up already.
Why would they have given up already?
Then they ran to the deck above, where Will had seen his family off what seemed simultaneously an eternity and merely seconds ago, and he saw why those men were only strolling about, waiting for the sea to come take them.
Emily looked around and, her tone shifting closer to desperation, voiced his thoughts. “There are no boats left.”
Chapter 36
