“I’ve confidence you can,” her friend replied without hesitation.
“No, you don’t understand,” Patsy insisted. “This time, I won’t be carrying the crystal with me. If we end up in the wrong year, or worse, in the mists of time, I won’t be able to take us anywhere again. We’ll be trapped…”
“Then don’t let go of my hand,” Elena said. “Wherever you take us, we’ll be in it together.”
Patsy looked into Elena’s face, trying to take courage from her friend’s confidence in her abilities and faith in their friendship. Then she closed her eyes.
chapter twenty-five
he sun was shining brightly, flooding the corridors with light. Even at the top of the slope, where the sun’s rays were blocked by the supporting wall, it was bright enough for Patsy to see the features of Elena’s face clearly. They were still holding hands.
The girls simultaneously looked down the slope. Their friends had disappeared. They were alone. Patsy took out her mobile phone, hoping to be able to check the date on it, but the battery was still flat.
Patsy found she was shivering, despite the heat. She looked down at her feet, at the hole in the ground, then started patting the soil around the hole.
“What are you looking for?” Elena asked.
“The crystal…I can feel it…” Patsy moved her fingers in a circular motion around the inside of the hole. Nothing, nothing, and then…
With a cry, Patsy brushed away some loose soil and dug her fingers in. She pried out the crystal, then sat back on the ledge and hugged it.
“It was here all along!” Elena marvelled.
Patsy nodded, too filled with emotion to speak. To think she had accused Elena of stealing the crystal, when it had just been hidden by some soil!
Finally, she pulled herself together. “Elena, I—”
“No need,” Elena said, putting out her hand to preempt her. “Do you think after all we’ve been through, there’s still any need for apologies between us?”
Patsy nodded, clutching the precious crystal, her eyes filling with grateful tears.
After a while, Elena suggested it was time to go and together they walked towards the school canteen. It appeared to be either recess or lunch time as the canteen was packed with students. Everyone was in school uniform and they felt conspicuous dressed in the T-shirts and jeans Maggie had lent them, but that could not be helped. They had left their blouses and pinafores in Joyce’s flat in 1988. They looked around, trying to spot a familiar face so they could tell which year it was.
Then Elena tugged Patsy and pointed. Patsy looked up at the flat-screen TV on the wall that the school used to post messages for the students. The date on the screen was 20 October 2016. The time was 13.45.
Relief coursed through Patsy’s veins and she was finally able to relax. She had done it! She had brought them back to the same day they had left! They had lost only three hours.
“We’d better leave the school before people start asking why we’re not in uniform,” she said.
Elena agreed. “I sure don’t want to have to explain where I was. Not that they’ll believe me! Which reminds me, I’ll have to ask my mum to write a note to excuse my absence from school today. What about you? How are you going to explain your absence since recess today?”
“Oh, right. I’d forgotten about that.”
Elena thought for a bit. “How about you say that you went to look for me, then fell asleep somewhere and lost track of time?”
“I guess I just might have to do that. It’s sort of the truth anyway,” Patsy sighed. “Let me go and collect my bag from our classroom, then we should go meet Charlotte at the park.”
“Won’t she be surprised we’ve already gone and done what she wanted?” Elena said with a giggle.
That’s right, our adventure is over, Patsy thought, her heart sinking a little. On impulse, she turned to her friend. “Elena, before we see Charlotte, I need to tell you something. I’m afraid that once we get used to our normal life here, we’ll fall back into our old ways and I’ll miss the chance to tell you.”
“What is it?” Elena asked.
Patsy took a deep breath to prepare herself. “Some time in the next few months, we’ll probably get to see Wu Ji again. I just want to tell you that…I know you like him too, and I promise I won’t fight you for him.”
Elena looked surprised. “What makes you think I like him?”
“Well,” Patsy said, a little confused, “I heard you asking him all sorts of personal questions, checking on his hobbies, finding out what he likes…”
Elena laughed. “I was checking up on him for you, silly! You’re so innocent about such things. He’s your first crush, isn’t he? I didn’t want you to get hurt by falling for the wrong guy.”
“You mean…” Patsy stuttered.
“I don’t have feelings for him at all! He’s not my type— too bookish. But he’s perfect for you. You like the same stuff, and I could see that you two really connected.”
These truths I swear shall not prove false
Even when snow dots my brows and hair.
Patsy thought of those lines from her uncle’s poem. It was Wu Ji’s message to her. It might not mean anything beyond telling her where the crystal was hidden, but what if he’d meant more than that? The nervous fluttering in her belly told her that she hoped it was more, and now Elena’s words had made everything possible again.
She suddenly noticed that Elena was pointing her mobile phone camera at her.
“What,” she said, flinging her arm up to cover her face.
“I’m taking evidence of how love-stricken you look!”
“Hey!” Patsy cried, though her heart glowed with pleasure. She snatched at the mobile phone, then remembered that it had run out of battery.
Elena laughed and ran away, leaving Patsy to chase after her all the way to their classroom.
The adult Charlotte was sitting on the wooden bench near the top of the hill when they arrived at Mount Emily Park. Her hands were folded on her lap, her long skirt flapping in the gentle breeze. Although it was two in the afternoon, the weather was comfortably cool, the sun hidden behind overlapping swathes of white clouds. Charlotte didn’t notice Patsy and Elena at first, her face turned towards a group of girls practising cartwheels on the grass a short distance from her. One of them toppled over and the girls broke out in giggles.
Patsy recalled Wu Ji saying Charlotte was a single mum. Now that she knew the truth about Raine, she wondered at the sacrifices Charlotte must have made to bring up her sister. Looking at the lonely figure seated on the bench, Patsy felt her heart go out to her. No wonder she envied children with carefree childhoods.
Patsy pointed out Charlotte to Elena, who gave a little cry of pleasure when she realised that the elegant-looking lady sitting by herself was her old friend.
Charlotte’s eyes brightened when she saw Patsy and Elena. “Patsy! Elena! It’s great to see you again!”
They hugged, exclaiming over each other for a bit, then Charlotte made the two girls sit on either side of her and got down to business. “Patsy, you managed to get the crystal? Good! Tell me later how you found it. First, let me tell you what’s going to happen and how you’ll rescue me and my mum.”
“Done!” Patsy replied cheerily, enjoying Charlotte’s look of puzzlement.
“What? You mean…” Understanding slowly dawned on Charlotte’s face.
“Yep, we went back in time and did it already,” Elena said, giggling.
Charlotte beamed. “Oh…why, thank you!”
“And Patsy is now a true Keeper of Time!” Elena said, looking at Patsy with pride. “You’re not going to believe how powerful she is…”
“Of course I believe it,” Charlotte said gently. “I was there, remember?”
“Oh yes…” Elena said, laughing at herself.
“Which reminds me,” Patsy said, rummaging in her bag. “Here—the Crystal of Time. I think it should be kept by you and Raine fo
r now.”
Charlotte turned solemn. “Yes, Raine. And now you know—Raine is actually my sister.”
Patsy nodded. “When can we get to see her? We heard she’s a really powerful Keeper.”
Charlotte looked hesitant. “Not now,” she said. “She doesn’t know about her parentage yet. I’m worried about how she will react when she finds out the truth.”
“It’s all right, Charlotte,” Patsy said quickly. “We don’t have to meet her now. You can introduce us when you’re ready.”
Charlotte nodded, relief showing on her face. “By the way, Patsy, my mum wanted me to pass you a message.”
“Me?” Patsy asked.
“Yes. She told me you were worried about something back in 1988 and she wanted to put your mind at ease, so I was to tell you this when we met again in 2016.”
Patsy held her breath in anticipation.
Charlotte continued, “It’s about Raine. You see, my mum decided not to have the baby at a hospital, since she never planned to register her birth in 1989. She asked Auntie Yvonne to let her give birth at her home instead.”
“So she told Auntie Yvonne everything?” Elena asked.
“No, she just said that she wanted to give away her baby for adoption since her marriage had fallen apart. Auntie Yvonne was a nurse before she switched to become a secondary school science teacher. In fact, she was a midwife in a hospital for several years. My mum was confident she would be able to deliver her baby.”
“And I saw her…” Patsy said, trying to wrap her mind around what she was hearing.
“She was in labour in Auntie Yvonne’s room when you appeared out of nowhere, just across the staircase landing.”
It was the third scene…the third terrifying scene… Auntie Min Ling had looked straight into her eyes and screamed…
“She said she smiled at you, to tell you that she was all right,” Charlotte said.
So she did, Patsy thought, a great weight lifting from her. So Min Ling had not been in danger because Patsy had failed somehow in her mission to save her. I’m not a failure after all, Patsy thought with relief. Not a failure at all.
After parting from Charlotte, Patsy and Elena sat together for a while more, unwilling to leave each other after what they had been through.
“Where are you going now?” Elena asked at last.
Patsy looked at her watch. “Home, I guess, to shower and change. Then I’m going to town. My uncle has a book launch today and I promised my mum I would be there. Want to come along?”
Elena looked wistful. “I wish I could, but I think I should go home. I need to talk to my mum.”
“Will you be okay?”
“I guess. I’ve been thinking…I think I should tell my mum that I support her divorce after all.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“It’s what Min Ling said about Ye Kang…it made me look at my parents’ relationship in a different way. My mum has been unhappy for so long. Maybe she’ll really be better off on her own.”
Patsy squeezed Elena’s hand. “Let me know how it goes, okay? I’ll be there for you no matter what.”
chapter twenty-six
y the time Patsy arrived at the bookstore, her uncle had already started giving his talk. The bookstore was about the size of four classrooms, and a quarter of the space had been allocated to Patrick’s event. There were about forty people in the audience, mostly adults, sitting on the rows of foldable chairs in front of the book-signing table and spilling over into the aisles and back. A poster advertising the talk was pasted on a board propped up at the front. For the first time, Patsy realised what book her uncle was launching that day: the 25th anniversary edition of his collection of poems entitled That Pair of Eyes, after one of the poems in the compilation.
I’ve got to get a copy of that book, she thought, and memorise that poem, just in case!
She glanced around and spotted her mother standing near the back of the crowd, looking through a sheaf of papers.
Mabel looked up and caught her eye. She smiled at Patsy, gesturing for her to come over.
“What’s that?” Patsy nodded towards the papers in Mabel’s hands.
“Oh,” Mabel said. “Your uncle just passed them to me. It’s my flight itinerary and other information for the New Zealand trip.”
What? Patsy’s heart skipped a beat, remembering the favour Maggie had done her twenty-eight years ago. “Are you sure it’s your name in the flight details?”
“Of course!” Mabel shuffled the papers until she found the first page.
The name printed at the top of the itinerary was “Mabel Seng”. Patsy’s heart sank. “But he was supposed to bring me! So much for promises,” she muttered.
“How did you know about that promise?” Mabel asked, looking surprised.
“Huh? Uh…you mentioned it before?” Patsy stammered.
“Did I? Oh well, anyway, your uncle did keep his promise. You were too young to remember, but he took you to New Zealand when you were two.”
“What?” Patsy exclaimed.
Mabel nodded. “He was going there for a literary festival, and decided to take us with him. I remember telling him not to waste his money since you were too young to fully appreciate the trip. He insisted though. He said he’d promised. I told him that a promise made so long ago shouldn’t count anymore, especially since he was so young. But he’s such a hopeless romantic, you know. He said the promise was made to the first girl he had ever loved, and he wanted her to know he was a man of his word even after so many years.”
“The promise…was to the first girl he ever loved?” Patsy stuttered.
“Yes, it’s kind of sad actually. He fell in love with my best friend, Joyce. I still remember he first met her when our friend Charlotte’s flat was burgled. What a drama! We thought she and her mum had been kidnapped, but it turned out they had just gone to stay with a friend for a few days and their house was burgled while they were away. You won’t believe what runaway imaginations Joyce and I had when we were young.” She shook her head, as if disbelieving it herself.
“Did you know he was in love with Auntie Joyce then?” Patsy asked.
“Oh yes, he was mooning away, it was so obvious. I even tried to set them up by inviting Joyce over to my place to work on our geography project together, but somehow they never quite hit it off. We did hang out together for a bit after that, then she met her future husband and we didn’t have so much time to spend together anymore. Oh, you know that famous poem of his, ‘That Pair of Eyes’? He wrote it after meeting Joyce at Charlotte’s flat, that day of the burglary. He never said so, but I know the poem is about her. She did have the most expressive, dark brown eyes.”
So Uncle Pat had been in love with Joyce! Patsy thought. I wonder if she knew. Then another thought occurred to her. If Uncle Pat had married Auntie Joyce, she and Elena would have been cousins! All that was just wishful thinking, she knew, but it was fun imagining she could have been related to her best friend if things had just turned out differently.
Wu Ji will be so excited to learn who the mysterious lady of his favourite poem is, Patsy thought. But she wouldn’t tell him. Not even for Wu Ji would she betray the secret her uncle had kept for so long.
Patrick Seng finished his talk and Mabel went to the front to help organise the queue at the book-signing booth. Patsy was left to wander around the bookstore as she pondered all she had just learnt and lamented that she had failed yet again to get her uncle to sponsor an overseas trip for her.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts she barely saw where she was going and walked right into the path of someone near the bookstore’s entrance, knocking the books he was holding all over the floor.
“Sorry, sorry!” She turned with consternation to look at the person. Her heart skipped a beat as the boy turned to face her. It was Wu Ji!
Patsy calculated quickly—it was about three months before he was due to time travel back to 1988. He looked the same—cuter perhaps,
in a long-sleeved checkered shirt and pants. She had never seen him dressed so formally before.
She smiled to see the embarrassed look on his face as he adjusted his spectacles that had been knocked off kilter. He stooped to gather his books and she bent down to help him. As they moved to stand upright at the same time, they bumped their heads together.
“Sorry, sorry,” said Wu Ji this time.
“Why are you carrying all these books?” she asked.
He didn’t recognise her of course. He couldn’t—not yet. “They’re all Mr Patrick Seng’s works. I’m going to ask him to sign them for me.”
Patsy remembered how he used to say it. “You’re a big fan,” she said.
“I’m a big fan,” said Wu Ji at the same time.
They both laughed.
Patsy looked at him struggling to balance the pile of books and a wave of fondness swept over her. “I’ve missed you,” she said softly just as the glass doors behind Wu Ji slid open and a warm gust of wind blew in. A horn blared in the distance, and her eyes misted slightly as she recalled how they had first met, twenty-eight years ago.
Wu Ji succeeded in steadying the books and looked up. “Sorry…? Must have been the wind. I didn’t catch what you said.”
But Patsy knew it wasn’t the wind. She remembered what Maggie had told her during her first time-travelling adventure—that people without time magic could never know anything that had to do with the future since it was incompatible with the laws of time. So it was true. He couldn’t hear what she had said because it wouldn’t have made sense to him right now.
She laughed out loud—both with disappointment and relief. What had she to be impatient about? The future stretched out ahead of her. Anything was possible. “It’s nothing,” she said with a grin, then brushed past him to leave the bookstore.
Outside, she turned and saw he was still looking at her, his head slightly cocked to one side as if he was puzzled. The glass doors slid shut.
Patsy turned around to face the street again. Night had fallen while she had been in the bookstore. Cars sped by; pedestrians in work clothes hurried past her. Everyone was going about their usual business, oblivious to the fact that a magical encounter had just occurred.
Mount Emily Revisited Page 14
