Out Of Time

by Oldfield, Donna Marie

  “They’re upgrading them?” Lucy asked. “I wonder what they’re doing.”

  Dylan ignored her and continued. “They also made highly technical phone bugs there, which is why we didn’t call. I’m suspicious of our phones now.”

  “Fair enough,” Neelam said.

  “Anyway, we did manage to follow Goulden as he left with Dr Rayman and they went to a workhouse called Arrowsmith on the outskirts of Birmingham.”

  “Is it the one we’re looking for?” Scarlett asked.

  “It didn’t look like it. It was only one floor, whereas the one we have plans of has at least four levels – Arrowsmith was the wrong shape too. However, the entrance did have a general sign saying “Run by Secureforce” on it, so I was thinking we could find out if they are involved with any other workhouses. It figures that Goulden would give them the contract for all the workhouses in the UK, assuming there are others, of course.” He turned to Lucy. “Do you think you could find anything out?”

  “I’ll certainly give it a try,” she said. “I’ll head to the computer room – I’m going to need my equipment to give it my best shot.”

  “Thanks, Luce,” Dylan said, before turning to the others. “I’m going upstairs. I’m so tired.” He marched out before anyone could argue with him.

  Scarlett was in two minds as she watched him leave the room. She was so angry with him for being so stubborn, but still gutted that he was ignoring her. If only she could make him listen to her and at least give her a chance to patch things up between them. She’d missed him so much while he was gone, but had he missed her? It certainly didn’t seem that way.

  A knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. “I’ll get it!” Neelam said as she dashed out of the room. As she stifled a yawn, Scarlett glanced at the clock. It was 9pm already – maybe she could excuse herself and have an early night.

  “Pizza’s here!” Neelam declared as she marched back into the room carrying three large pizza trays.

  “I’m not hungry,” Scarlett said. And it was true – she had no appetite at all. “I’m going to lie down.”

  “Oh come on...” Neelam started to say, but Scarlett was in no mood to listen.

  “Ace, can I have yours?” Jay asked.

  “Sure,” Scarlett answered before disappearing upstairs. She didn’t want to be rude to her friends, but tonight she just wanted to be on her own.

  Chapter 20

  The next morning, the atmosphere in the house still hadn’t lifted. Dylan was hiding away training, Lucy was still glued to her computer, Jay was playing video games and Scarlett was reading a book in her room.

  Desperate to pull the group together, Neelam decided to cook a roast dinner. At 11.50am, she went round the house rounding everyone up and telling them to meet her in the kitchen in the next 10 minutes. When Scarlett wandered downstairs just in time, she was surprised to find that the other three had obeyed Neelam’s orders and were now helping her in the kitchen – Lucy was putting the plates out, Dylan was making gravy and Jay was setting the table. The food smelled amazing though, so she could see how they’d all been tempted to emerge from their hiding places.

  “Hi Scarlett,” Neelam said. “Can you finish doing the vegetables while I leave the meat to rest?”

  “Leave it to rest? You sound like my mum,” she joked.

  “It makes it juicier,” Neelam said defensively.

  “Sorry, you’re such a great cook,” she said, giving her a hug. “I meant it as a compliment.”

  As the two girls chatted, Dylan turned and left the room without even saying hello to Scarlett.

  “How are you today?” Neelam asked.

  “Oh you know, OK.”

  “Dylan still ignoring you?”

  “Looks like it,” Scarlett said as she turned down the gas ring that was heating the carrots.

  “He’ll come round, don’t worry,” Neelam assured her as she picked up some condiments. “I’m just going to take these through to the table.”

  “Nearly ready!” she declared as she entered the dining room.

  “Can I eat it watching the telly?” Scarlett heard Jay ask. She could only guess that he had settled down in front of the box as soon as he’d finished the mammoth task of putting the cutlery out.

  “No you darned well can’t. Get yourself to the table now.”

  Scarlett laughed. Neelam wasn’t just caring like a mum. She was bossy like one too.

  She stabbed the cauliflower, carrots and cabbage with her fork. Yep, they were almost done. She really felt like she’d grown up since she arrived here. Some days she forgot that she’d lost her old life – it just seemed like she’d left home and gone off to university or something. It was weird how quickly she had adjusted to her new surroundings.

  “I guess that’s just what you have to do in life,” she thought, “get on with things and make the most of it.”

  “How’s it going?” Neelam asked as she reappeared in the kitchen.

  “Almost done,” she said.

  “Excellent. I’ll start carving the chicken then. Can you serve up the gravy please?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks, I’ll get you the gravy boat,” she said opening a cupboard to the top left of the hob. “Argh! Who put it on the top shelf? I’ll fetch a stool.”

  “Neelam,” Scarlett said with a smile. “Let me do it.”

  She concentrated her mind and levitated the jug down into Neelam’s hands.

  “Thanks! Sorry, I always forget how useful you are around the kitchen.”

  “I forget myself,” she laughed. “There I was stirring the veggies in these three pans by hand when I could have put my feet up and used my mind.”

  “You’ll get used to it,” Neelam assured her. “You’ll be throwing elephants around without a second thought before you know it.”

  “If you say so.”

  “You know what I mean. It’s a saying you know…”

  “Yeah, right!”

  She drained the gravy into the jug while Neelam dished out the chicken and vegetables.

  “Wow,” Scarlett said. “You’re good at this.

  “I was the oldest of three siblings,” she said. “And my mum was a doctor, so she worked a lot. Can you help me bring the plates through?”

  “Of course.” she said, dutifully following her through to the dining room where Dylan, Lucy and Jay were all sat. There were two spare seats – one next to Lucy and one next to Dylan. Neelam leapt into the former.

  “Erm, mind if I sit here?” she asked Dylan awkwardly. He shrugged his shoulders, so she climbed into the seat anyway.

  “This is delicious,” Jay said as he tucked straight into the food. “Thanks!”

  “So boys, you happy to be back?” Scarlett asked.

  “We were only gone a day,” Dylan mumbled as he pushed his carrots around his plate.

  “Well, we’re pleased to have you back,” she said, trying to make the peace.

  Dylan shuffled his chair away from Scarlett as though being near her repulsed him. Feeling sick in the stomach, she jumped up from the table.

  “Sorry, I’ve lost my appetite,” she mumbled as she stood up and left the room as quickly as she could.

  “Scarlett,” Neelam whispered in her head.

  “Leave it,” she replied. “I’ve had enough of his moodiness. I don’t deserve this.”

  “He doesn’t mean it,” she insisted. “He’s hurt and confused and, most of all, overwhelmed by his huge feelings for you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I can sense it, durr!”

  “Oh… Well, I don’t care. I’ve had enough.”

  She broke telepathic contact between her and Neelam and ran out into the back garden, where the air was crisp and clear, the skies were clear blue and the temperature was somewhere near zero. Despite it being early December, the garden still looked pretty and well kept. Evergreen shrubs lined the three sides of the garden, while alstromerias and poinsettias added a splash of co
lour.

  Scarlett walked over to the pagoda in the far right-hand corner of the garden, took a seat and admired the view. Everything looked so beautiful and peaceful here – she wished the rest of this mad world was that way.

  “Scarlett?” she heard a voice say. She looked towards the house. It was Dylan.

  “Neelam said I should talk to you.”

  “You should only talk to me if you want to.”

  “I do want to.”

  “Then why do you keep avoiding me?”

  “I… I don’t know.” He hung his head in shame. “I’m sorry, but when you were so pleased to see Alex, it drove me mad. And when I knew you’d gone after him…”

  Scarlett took a couple of steps towards Dylan.

  “Dylan, Alex means nothing to me. That’s what I’ve been trying to explain.”

  “He doesn’t?”

  “No!”

  “Then why were you so happy to see him? Why did you remember him and not me?”

  She sighed.

  “You know how I remember a life before this, in a nicer world?”

  “Yeah…”

  “And how I said that, while you think I was crushed by a building here, I remember being hit by a lorry there?”

  He nodded his head.

  “And I said I was with a friend?”

  “Yeah…” Dylan looked confused.

  “That friend was Alex. Well, an Alex at least… a different Alex. We’d been friends, just friends, for years and I thought he was dead. So when I saw this Alex, I thought it was my friend. I was happy and relieved to see a familiar face.”

  “Oh…”

  “Then afterwards, I thought maybe he’d know something about how and why I got here. That’s why Neelam and I went after him.”

  “So… you wanted answers, you didn’t want him?” Dylan asked, a look of realisation and relief dawning on his face.

  “No, silly, I want you.”

  “Oh.” he blushed and stared at the floor before shyly moving the conversation on. “But you didn’t find anything out?”

  “No, when I saw this Alex with our team, I realised he was the scumbag you guys know, not my friend. I sound mad, don’t I? Taking about two different worlds and two different Alexes.”

  “No, you’re not mad! It must be confusing for you, I know it’s confusing enough for me,” Dylan said.

  “Neelam thinks I invented this other world that I speak of while I was unconscious.”

  “I know she does.”

  “Do you think that?”

  “I’m not so sure…” he said thoughtfully. “It’s a weird coincidence that you and our Scarlett were both with an Alex when you were almost killed. It’s like you somehow swapped places or something.”

  She looked at Dylan. “I thought that for a second, but it’s a mad idea isn’t it.” She remembered how Neelam had laughed off the theory.

  “Yeah,” he laughed. “And completely impossible.”

  “Plus this Alex isn’t my friend Alex.”

  “No.”

  “So we didn’t ‘swap places’?”

  “No. And I honestly don’t know how or why that could ever happen anyway. I was just grabbing at theories,” Dylan said.

  “So we’re just talking hypothetical nonsense?” she asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll be honest. I’m very nervous and just babbling right now,” Dylan admitted.

  “I see,” she said before they both burst out laughing.

  “Dylan, are we OK again now that you know all this?”

  “Of course, so long as you can forgive me for being a first-class idiot and ignoring you.”

  “It’s OK,” she said. “Neelam explained about the whole history between me, you and this Alex, so I kind of understand.”

  “Oh, right, cheers,” he said shyly, while staring up at the blue skies. “Lovely day.” he said, “freezing though.”

  Something told Scarlett nothing was going to stop him nervously babbling on about nothing.

  “Dylan.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you want to go on a date?”

  He stared at her, his eyes wide with surprise.

  “Yeah!” he said eagerly before composing himself. “When?” he added coolly.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Sure, that’d be nice. Lovely. Great…”

  He was sweet. She’d never seen him acting so shy. She must have really caught him off guard.

  “Dylan.

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re cute.”

  Chapter 21

  “Ready?” Dylan called as he knocked on Scarlett’s door.

  “Coming!” she yelled as she squirted some perfume on and grabbed her jacket.

  Scarlett checked her reflection in the mirror as she left and studied her skinny jeans, leather bomber jacket and funky scarf. She still wasn’t sure she’d picked the right outfit despite changing 11 times, but it would have to do. It wasn’t like she had much choice when it was snowing outside and Dylan had told her to wrap up warm.

  He was waiting on the landing as she left her room.

  “You’re wearing those?” he said, looking at her thin little plimsolls.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “It snowed overnight – your feet will freeze. Haven’t you got any boots?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Try the suitcase on top of your wardrobe.”

  She went back at to her room, pulled the suitcase through the air towards herself and unzipped it. Sure enough, there was a pair of red, stylish-but-practical Wellington boots stashed inside.

  “How did you know?” she asked Dylan, who was standing at the doorway. “I’ve never even seen them before.”

  “You put them back there last year. I like them.”

  She pulled the boots on, then they both made their way downstairs.

  “Hi,” she called to Lucy, as they passed her in the hallway.

  “Where are you to off to?” she asked suspiciously.

  “I don’t know…” she admitted.

  “It’s a surprise,” Dylan explained.

  “A surprise what?” Lucy asked, looking confused.

  “Well, er, we’re going on a date… type… thing,” Dylan mumbled.

  “A thing?” Lucy asked.

  “A date, a proper date,” Dylan confirmed. “Scarlett and I are going a date. Our first one. And it’s a surprise. To her, not me. I’m taking her somewhere that’s a surprise.”

  “Oh, OK,” Lucy said breezily before walking off towards the computer room.

  “Lucy!” Dylan shouted.

  “Yeah.”

  “Any luck with the workhouse research yet?”

  “Possibly...” she revealed. She spoke quickly to indicate she was excited about her progress. “I’d been hitting dead ends until about an hour ago, but now I’ve located the existence of the computer systems of Secureforce – the company who own the Birmingham workhouses. They’re located in the Kent area somewhere, but I have yet to actually hack in and snoop around their files. I’m confident that I can do it though.”

  “Brilliant. Well, good luck and let’s hope the search uncovers some useful information.”

  “I’ll find it. Don’t worry. Have a nice time,” she said as she disappeared into the IT room.

  “Well, she took that well. I was a bit worried the others might be a bit weird about us dating,” Scarlett said. “Especially Lucy.”

  “Me too,” Dylan admitted. “But she seems fine. OK my lady, step right this way.” Dylan ran in front of Scarlett and opened the door for her to walk through.

  “Well, I never knew you were such a gentlemen.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” he smiled as he shut the door behind him.

  “So, do we get to this mystery place by tube or by bus?”

  “Neither,” he smiled as he pulled Scarlett down the alley by the house.

  “This is our date?” she laughed.

  “No, I just didn’t want anyone
to see us do this.” He scooped her up in his arms and flew into the air. He kept going higher until the houses and cars looked like little toys.

  “Wow!” she said. “This is amazing.”

  “Isn’t it?” he said as he started heading over the city.

  “I can’t wait till I can do this myself. Though it is nice having you carry me.”

  “You’ll get there, I know you will.”

  Scarlett wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t want to sound all negative on their first date, so she let it drop. “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Victoria Park.”

  “In east London?”

  “That’s the one.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll see. I was going to take us to Hampstead Heath, but I figured it’s safer for us to head east. A lot of the government live in Hampstead, but they never dare set foot in the East End.”

  “You think we’re not safe to be seen out?”

  “Maybe, maybe not, but I didn’t want anyone to spoil this,” he explained as he held Scarlett tighter.

  It was nice to be held like this by a boy. It was all so new to Scarlett, but she certainly liked it. She gazed around at the stars and wondered if she was dreaming, then she pushed the thought right out of her mind, scared that if she was asleep, she would wake herself up. She felt so calm and relaxed in Dylan’s arms as he flew them across the snow-covered city. It looked beautiful and white from up here away from all the noise and the traffic.

  “Here we are,” Dylan said a few minutes later, before slowly lowering them down to the ground.

  “Wow!” she gasped. The whole park looked amazing in the dark, with the moonlit sky lighting up the snowy ground.

  “Come this way,” Dylan said, leading Scarlett towards some trees.

  “Hey, no funny business,” she laughed.

  And then she saw it. She couldn’t believe her eyes. There, by a lake, he’d laid out a picnic blanket and hamper and surrounded the area with fairy lights.

  “How did you…?”

  “Jay did it for me.”

  “Really? Blimey. And how do these light up?”

  “I used a little power supply gizmo Lucy invented for a barbecue last year. Hopefully, it’ll last for our meal.”