Step Back in Time

by Ali McNamara

  The plaque behind her head reads:

  ELEANOR RIGBY

  DEDICATED TO

  “ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE…”

  Is this it? I wonder desperately, looking around me for something more. This is a bit like the gravestone all over again. But Eleanor’s presence seems to be having a calming effect on me; I can feel my heartbeat, which has been racing at a speed it’s only ever gone at when I’ve overdosed on caffeine before, beginning to slow as I sit down next to her on the stone bench where she rests.

  I take a deep breath and reflect on the inscription behind me, think about all the different people I met on my travels into the past, remember all the people who’d been stuck in different time zones, just like me: Walter Maxwell, my overbearing boss; Stu, my teenage punk friend; Lucy the waitress, and Billy the cross-dressing pub singer. They were all lonely in their own way, because of their attitude, their circumstance, or their own choice. Many of the other people I met had reason to be lonely too, I realise now, like Penny, the single mother; Martha, our cake-baking neighbour; even Patti, the wife Harry had fallen out of love with. So many people, so many reasons to be lonely.

  And then there were my Eleanor Rigby clue-bearers. They weren’t lonely necessarily, but they had the ever-present Beatles link. How had I not noticed at the time that they were called John, George, Ringo and Paul?

  But what of this fifth clue, the love clue? The sonnets Desmond and Molly told me about – even those two names were from a Beatles’ song, I now realise. In fact, I think, did every person I’ve come into contact with have a Beatles-related name? There are just too many to try and remember right now, but there are a few obvious ones, like Penny, Stuart, Julian, Rita, Lucy, and even the children I taught in the school.

  ‘So, Eleanor?’ I ask, looking at the faceless statue next to me. ‘What do I do now? Any suggestions? I could do with a bit of help. It’s quite lonely, just the two of us sitting here, isn’t it?’

  Then out of the corner of my eye I see a tall, slim figure walking towards us down Stanley Street. He has dark hair, and he’s wearing jeans and a white cotton shirt, and, as he gets closer I can just see, in the bright afternoon sunshine, a pair of dazzling blue eyes.

  I tap Eleanor on the hand. ‘Thank you,’ I whisper to her. ‘Now I know I won’t be lonely any more.’

  As Harry gets closer I call out to him.

  ‘Jo-Jo! What on earth are you doing here?’ Harry looks genuinely pleased, and I’m glad he remembers me.

  ‘Not much, just enjoying Eleanor’s company for a bit,’ I say truthfully.

  Harry looks at the statue. ‘Do you know, I’ve walked past here loads of times when I’ve been in Liverpool before and I’ve never noticed this statue. It’s quite tucked away, isn’t it?’

  ‘Maybe she doesn’t like to be noticed too often. Maybe she prefers it that way.’

  ‘Quite possibly,’ Harry agrees. ‘Some people prefer to go through life unnoticed. Sometimes it’s better that way.’

  ‘Yes,’ I say, considering this, ‘they do, don’t they? So,’ I look up at him, ‘what are you doing here? Are you based in Liverpool now?’

  ‘No, I’m just here on some business.’ He sits down on the bench next to me. ‘Actually,’ he says, ‘just between the two of us that’s not the only reason – it’s because of this, too.’ He holds up a brown envelope. ‘It’s all a bit odd, to be honest. This was delivered to my office in London some months ago – January, I think, and the note inside said I should come to this statue, on this very afternoon at about this time, and I should bring the contents of the envelope with me. It’s all very strange.’

  I look down at the envelope in his hand. It’s addressed to a Mr Harrison Rigby. Of course he’s a Harrison, not just a Harry. That makes sense now as well. Harry is a Beatle too.

  ‘Nothing surprises me any more, Harry. I bet I can even guess what’s in your envelope?’

  ‘I bet you can’t!’

  ‘Let me see… would there be some sonnets of love in there by any chance?’

  Harry looks at me in amazement. ‘How on earth do you know that? That’s exactly right. The love sonnets of Shakespeare.’

  ‘I told you, never be surprised by anything or anyone. Of all the things I’ve learnt recently, that’s definitely one of them.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Harry asks, looking at me quizzically. ‘What’s going on here?’

  Before I can change my mind, and with Eleanor watching over us, I take my chance, lean forward and kiss him. And as a wonderful warm feeling spreads through my body, from my lips right down to the tips of my toes, nothing prevents us this time, this year, and this decade, from fully enjoying our moment.

  ‘Right…’ Harry says slowly when I’ve finished. ‘I see. I think I can definitely live with that type of surprise.’ He grins. ‘What’s changed about you, Jo-Jo, you seem… different?’

  I’m aware my cheeks are still flushed from the kiss. ‘I am. I’m a changed person. Certain recent events have taught me a lot about myself and about the person I want to be in the future. I don’t want to be the person I was in the past. Hopefully, that Jo-Jo is gone for ever.’

  Harry looks at me and takes my hand.

  ‘The past isn’t always a bad place,’ he says seriously, ‘we can learn a lot from it.’

  ‘I know. And I have. I’ve learnt what’s important in life – to appreciate my time, my family, my friends, and…’

  ‘And what?’ Harry asks.

  ‘… other things.’ My cheeks flush a little again.

  Harry nods approvingly. ‘Good, then it was very definitely worthwhile.’

  ‘What was?’ I ask him. ‘What was worthwhile, Harry, tell me?’

  ‘Excusee, we take photo with statue now?’ Some tourists interrupt us as they wait for their turn with Eleanor.

  ‘Come on,’ Harry says, standing up, still holding on to my hand, ‘would you like to see the business I was talking about before? It’s not far from here. It’s a little shop, a bit like Groovy Records.’ His face is immediately filled with sadness when he mentions George’s shop.

  ‘I know,’ I say, squeezing his hand, ‘I just found out myself. But George had a good life.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Harry takes hold of my other hand now, then he lifts them up in between us, ‘and he brought us two together, didn’t he?’

  I glance at the envelope Harry now has tucked into the pocket of his trousers. He certainly did. George must have sent that clue to Harry before he died too, just like my records and my letter. He was determined to see the two of us together eventually.

  ‘Yes, we have much to thank George for.’

  ‘We certainly have.’ Harry nods knowingly. ‘I’m sure he’s up there somewhere looking down on us.’

  ‘I know he is,’ I say with certainty.

  ‘Say goodbye to Eleanor, then,’ Harry says, turning back to look at the statue. ‘It seems she also may have played her part in finally bringing the two of us together.’

  ‘Yes,’ I agree. ‘She certainly did. Goodbye, Eleanor,’ I wave at her. ‘I hope you don’t stay lonely too long.’

  We leave the statue and walk hand in hand back down Stanley Street, then along Matthew Street, where the buskers and Beatles imitators are out in force in front of the Cavern Club on this Saturday afternoon.

  ‘The shop isn’t far from here,’ Harry says. ‘It’s a nice little place; I think you’ll like it. I could do with picking up my car, though; I really should have collected it from the parking meter by now. The time will have run out ages ago and I don’t want to get a ticket.’

  ‘No!’ I insist as we stop at a zebra crossing. ‘No, you mustn’t drive your car this afternoon!’

  Harry looks at me oddly. ‘Why on earth not?’

  ‘Because – it’s a lovely day,’ I say, and gesture up at the blue sky above us. ‘We should make the most of this beautiful weather while we can!’

  ‘It’s OK, it’s a soft-top Audi TT,’ he says. ‘W
e can have all the fresh air we like.’

  ‘No,’ I insist again. ‘I really would rather we walk.’

  ‘You are one strange cookie sometimes, Jo-Jo,’ Harry says, shaking his head. ‘However, I can let you off that because when you kiss,’ he winks, ‘you kiss like it’s the last thing you’ll ever do!’

  I smile nervously at him. If only you knew, Harry…

  ‘In fact, maybe if you show me again now how good you are at it, I might be persuaded that walking is a good idea after all.’

  I lean up and begin to kiss Harry again very slowly, and as I do, out of the corner of my eye I see a girl wearing a sandwich board stepping lightly over the zebra crossing behind us. She’s texting on an iPhone while wearing a pair of earphones and listening to music, and she really isn’t thinking about what she’s doing at all. A car has to screech to a halt to allow her to cross safely – and Lucy doesn’t even appear to notice it as she ambles over to our side of the road and continues on her way.

  I pull away from Harry, my heart racing.

  ‘Wow! My kisses have never had that much of an effect on anyone before!’ he grins. ‘What’s wrong, Jo-Jo?’ he asks, suddenly becoming serious. ‘You’ve gone very pale.’

  I’ve done it! At last I’ve actually prevented someone from being stuck in a time they didn’t want to be in. I stopped Harry from hitting Lucy with his car, and I’ve prevented her from travelling to a year where she’d be lonely and alone. I’ve saved her. I’ve saved my friend.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ I say, my words belying my euphoria. ‘It’s absolutely nothing.’ I look up at Harry who is gazing at me with concern. ‘I love you, Harry,’ I say suddenly. ‘I know that might seem sudden to you. But really it isn’t, I’ve known for ages. Years. Decades even. But I’ve only just realised it.’

  For a second I think Harry is going to run a mile; I mean, that’s what he should do. Even though I’ve known him for ages, as far as he’s concerned we’ve only really just met. But to my relief he doesn’t, he just smiles.

  ‘I love you too, Jo-Jo, and I’ve known for decades too.’

  ‘You have?’

  ‘Of course,’ he says as though it was never in doubt. ‘Anyone that can love me with blue hair must be all right,’ he winks.

  But…

  ‘Come on, you,’ Harry calls, stepping out onto the crossing and pulling my hand. ‘There’s no traffic around and we need to cross. Look, if you don’t hurry up I won’t let you listen to any more Take That records, and that would be a real shame now, eh?’ He’s grinning at me now.

  ‘But… how could you know about that?’ I ask, confused, as I allow him to lead me onto the crossing. All the times I’ve known Harry in the past suddenly flash through my mind, like photo-fits in a police line-up.

  ‘I know more than you think,’ Harry says. ‘Trust me.’

  Suddenly, as we reach the centre of the crossing, I see it hurtling towards us like it always does, the white sports car.

  I brace myself, knowing what’s going to happen next. I can’t believe this, just when Harry and I are finally together. But instead of feeling cold the way I usually do, all I feel is a sharp pain shoot through my right arm as Harry yanks me by the hand away from the crossing towards the pavement.

  Wrapped in Harry’s arms I watch in shock as the white sports car continues on its way and disappears into the busy Liverpool traffic.

  I didn’t get hit.

  I didn’t go cold as the white sports car smashed into me.

  Harry saved me.

  ‘They don’t always get us,’ Harry says, smiling down at me. He kisses me gently on my forehead. ‘It’s not always our time to move on.’

  ‘You know, don’t you?’ I say slowly, as the realisation of what just happened fully sinks in. ‘You know what’s been going on.’

  Harry nods.

  ‘How long?’ I ask.

  ‘Long enough,’ he says, stroking my hair now.

  ‘But why didn’t you say?’

  ‘I nearly did a couple of times, but you needed to find your own way through it. Just like I did. Just like we all do. That’s why we do it. That’s why they make us do it.’

  I take hold of Harry’s hand and turn it over so I can see the palm, and there it is, his lifeline – strong and solid, but suddenly branching off into lots of new, finer lines. I turn my own palm over and hold it next to his.

  ‘It’s the same,’ I whisper.

  ‘No, Jo-Jo, we’re the same,’ Harry says, putting our palms together and linking the fingers. ‘And now you’ve completed your journey, we need never be parted again.’

  As the same warm, comforting feeling that I’ve felt time and time again upon waking up in the past begins to spread right through me, I know now that I’ll never be alone, whatever happens to me in the future.

  ‘Harry?’ I ask him as I stand on the side of the zebra crossing wrapped in his arms.

  ‘Yes?’ he whispers, his deep blue eyes gazing back down into mine.

  ‘You don’t fancy buying a record shop on the King’s Road, do you? I know a Groovy little one that’s going to be up for sale soon.’

  Harry grins down at me. ‘Now, how might you know that?’

  ‘Let’s just say I’m very good at seeing into the future…’

  Step Back in Time ~ Back to the Beatles

  A guide to all those Beatles references!

  Now you’ve Stepped Back in Time with Jo-Jo, you’ll have hopefully enjoyed the story and picked up many of the Beatles references and links that run through the book.

  But how many of those clues did you notice as you read?

  As you know now, the main characters all have names inspired by the Beatles in some way: Jo-Jo’s comes from the song ‘Get Back’, Harry and George from George Harrison, and Ellie from the song ‘Eleanor Rigby’.

  But here’s a guide to all the Beatles links throughout the book:

  (All characters are of course purely fictional. Their names do not have any link to a person living or dead whose name they may share.)

  Ticket to Ride 1963

  •

  Brian Epstein, who passes through the foyer of EMI House, was the Beatles’ manager, and Mimi was the name of John Lennon’s mother.

  •

  Walter Maxwell – from ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’

  •

  ‘Allan from accounts’ – Allan Williams was the Beatles’ first manager, before Brian Epstein.

  •

  ‘Cynthia and Dave from accounts’ – Cynthia Lennon was John’s first wife, and Dave is from ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’

  •

  Miss Fields – from ‘Strawberry Fields’

  •

  Derek, Harry’s mate – Derek Taylor was the Beatles’ press officer/publicist.

  •

  Vera, covering reception – from ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’

  •

  Martha, neighbour – from ‘Martha My Dear’

  •

  Prudence, Mr Maxwell’s secretary – from ‘Dear Prudence’

  •

  Tony the barman – Tony Sheridan was an early collaborator and supporter of the Beatles, when they were still the Silver Beatles.

  •

  Abbey Car Hire – The Abbey Road album, and the studios where many of the Beatles’ songs were recorded.

  •

  ‘James Pepper in publicity’ – Paul McCartney’s son, James, and Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

  Lady Madonna 1977

  •

  Bonnie, the baby – from ‘My Bonnie’

  •

  Penny, Jo-Jo’s seventies mum – from ‘Penny Lane’

  •

  Sally and Sean – from ‘Long Tall Sally’ and Sean, John Lennon’s son.

  •

  Maggie, a neighbour – from ‘Maggie Mae’

  •

  Stu, the punk – Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist for the Beatles.

  •
<
br />   Rita, the shop owner – from ‘Lovely Rita’

  •

  Carol, Harry’s mum – from ‘Carol’

  Can’t Buy Me Love 1985

  •

  Dakota, George’s dog – The Dakota building in New York was where John Lennon was shot in 1980.

  •

  Zak, ‘one of my [Ellie’s] best sources’ – Ringo Starr’s son.

  •

  Rocky, the gangster – from ‘Rocky Raccoon’

  •

  Ringo, the nightclub owner – Ringo Starr

  •

  Lucy, the waitress – from ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’

  •

  Michelle, Harry’s secretary – from ‘Michelle’

  •

  Boyd, the bouncer – Patti Boyd was George Harrison’s first wife.