by Alex Scarrow
He reached for a bag at his feet, a small overnight bag with a few personal keepsakes andmementoes.
‘Foster, wait,’ said Maddy. ‘I’m not sure I can do this. I’mnot sure we’re ready to cope on our own.’
‘You’re more than ready. I know you’ll make agreat team.’
‘How can you know? There’s still so much we need to-’
‘I know,’ he said firmly as he rose from his seat slowly, painfully, grimacingwearily from the effort.
‘Will we see you again?’
‘You have all the information you need, Maddy. It’s there in your head, in whatI’ve told you, what you’ve learned, what you’ve experienced. Anything youdon’t know… Well, there are notes on the computer’s database, answers to allthe questions you’re ever likely to ask.’
‘How do you know what I’m going to ask?’
He winked. ‘This is time travel, Maddy; what goes around, comesaround.’
She cocked her head, confused by his cryptic answer. ‘Yes, but if I needed yourhelp… could I find you out here somewhere?’
His frail, liver-spotted old hand squeezed her shoulder lightly. ‘You’ll do justfine, Maddy, so you will.’
He turned away and shuffled towards the glass front of the coffee shop with his overnight bagslung over one shoulder. He looked like the world’s oldest traveller, pulling the dooropen and stepping out on to the busy Manhattan pavement. She stifled an urge to call out, tochase after him and beg him to stay on a while longer with them.
But then he was gone from view, lost amid the busy pavement traffic. For awhile she watched the bustling street outside, pondering all the things Foster had told her.Wondering how much of that information she ought to share with the others, how much of it wasbest she keep to herself. Already she was beginning to feel the burden of responsibilitysettling all too heavily on her narrow shoulders.
‘Top you up?’
Maddy looked up at the Starbucks waitress standing beside her booth holding a decanter ofsteaming coffee in her hand. A girl the same age as her. For a moment she wondered whattroublesome dilemmas kept her tossing and turning atnight…
… Go skating with Sheena and Kayisha tomorrow? Should I acceptDanny’s invitation to Jimmy’s house party? Or shall I go out with Stevieinstead? Should I do an overtime shift Tuesday or shall I make itWednesday?…
‘Top you up?’
Maddy nodded, distracted. ‘Sure… yeah, please, fill me up.’
The waitress poured till the cup was filled and she moved on to the next booth to ask thesame question.
Maddy watched her go, envious of what she supposed was an untroubled life of petty decisions.She realized right then that if she could wave a magic wand and swap places with the waitress- she could pour coffee and Miss Starbucks Waitress could go and worry about keepinghistory the way it is — she’d do it in a heartbeat.
But, she realized, rubbing her tired eyes and thinking she needed to get a new pair of specs,someone’s got to do it, you know? Someone’s got to keep an eye on the time.
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Document ID: fbd-e4ab57-cf03-9f47-2dad-633e-d082-971c6c
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Document creation date: 19.02.2012
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Time Riders (epub)
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