by Nikki Young
“I’ve found out some stuff that I need to show you guys,” Nadia said as soon as Tomma opened the door. “Is Jess here?”
“Yes, she’s here and Ash is. . . right behind you. Hiya, mate.”
Nadia and Ash both kicked off their shoes and Ash hung up his coat. Nadia hadn’t even bothered to put hers on.
Tomma led them into the study where the three of them stared expectantly at Nadia, waiting to hear what she had to say. Nadia told them all she knew about Marcel.
“I knew it,” Jess said. “Didn’t I tell you this had something to do with you?”
“Yeah alright, don’t rub it in,” Nadia said. “Anyway, listen to this.” She told them about what happened with Russia. “Apparently, the UK government wanted to keep Russia on their side in case another war broke out, which I suppose is understandable after everything that had just happened. I feel so sorry for the Polish people though.”
It was hard to imagine what life must have been like at that time, worrying about the threat of another war, but it didn’t seem fair that in order not to offend Russia, Winston Churchill took away all the military titles from the Polish officers who had helped the British Army defeat Hitler.
“These men weren’t even allowed to take part in the Victory Parade,” she said. “It must have made the Polish people living in Britain feel so unwelcome.”
Nadia read testaments from some of them who said they were afraid to go back to their home country in case they were seen as enemies of the Communist state and shot. At the same time, there were people in the UK who couldn’t understand why the Polish didn’t want to go home and instead accused them of being supporters of Hitler.
“This must have been why the boys at school were so horrible to Kam,” Jess said. “And from the sound of things, it didn’t get any easier for his people.”
“No, it didn’t,” Nadia said. “Look! It says here, many people in the UK felt threatened by the Polish refugees, particularly when it came to jobs and the Polish were even banned from working in certain industries.”
Whichever way she looked at it, Nadia couldn’t see how it was at all fair for the Polish people in the UK at that time. She sat down at the large desk in Tomma’s study and stared at the ceiling wondering what sort of a world her grandad had grown up in and how hard it must have been for him. She’d never heard any stories about his early life, but supposed he must have been very young at the time of the Second World War. Perhaps it hadn’t affected him too much and things had improved eventually.
“That sucks,” Ash said. “But listen, I’ve been doing some research too.” He waved some papers around in front of them. “It’s the list of all the headmasters of our school since it opened.” He put the papers down on the desk and pointed to a name.
“Mr Fitzpatrick!” Nadia said. “He was Headmaster until 1947. Oh my God, I just remembered something.”
“What?” Ash said.
“Before we went to get the cane, Kam told me Fitzpatrick was retiring at the end of the year. So that means it must have been 1947 we went back to; Fitzpatrick’s last year.”
“There’s another thing too, look,” Ash said, turning towards the computer and pulling up a web page. “One of the coldest winters on record was 1947. It lasted well into March and was at a time when the UK was still under rationing. It must have been such a tough time back then.”
Nadia turned towards the computer and typed in a search for Polish people in 1947. She looked down the results list.
“Here we go,” she said. “On the 22nd March 1947, Parliament passed the Polish Resettlement Act. It meant Polish military refugees and their families were allowed to settle and work in Britain or within its Empire.”
“That would have meant Kam, his younger brother, and the rest of their family would have been safe and protected by the law from that moment onwards,” Tomma said. He looked at his watch. “It’s the 22nd March tomorrow. Could that mean anything?”
“If the year we went back to really is 1947, it means tomorrow is the day of the Polish Resettlement Act,” Jess said. “It means Kam and his family would be officially allowed to stay and work in the UK. We have to tell him.”
“I guess now we know why we were sent back there,” Ash said. He looked at Nadia and blew out a long, low breath. “Funny how the school keeps doing this to us, isn’t it?”
“I know, but there was something else Kam told me,” Nadia said. “He was going to take his brother, my grandad, and run away somewhere. He thinks it’s his responsibility to keep his brother safe and if that means taking him away, he’s prepared to do that. I just hope we can get back in time to tell him about all of this before it’s too late. We need to make sure he still gets to meet my Nana or I won’t be born!”
Chapter 15
What If We Can’t Get Back?
“How’s your nana?” Jess asked, giving Nadia a hug as she greeted them at the station the next morning. “We didn’t even get a chance to talk about it yesterday.”
“Oh, you know, lost, lonely. I felt so sorry for her. And she seems. . . old.”
“Well, she is, isn’t she?” Tomma said, holding up his hands innocently as Jess swung him a look.
“I know she is Tomma! But she seems older and more fragile now she’s on her own.”
“Sorry, Nad,” Tomma said. “I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s cool. I really think Nana will be fine, it will just take time. But guys, if Kam really does run away with my grandad, my whole future is potentially at stake.”
“Poor Kam,” Jess said. “It must be awful for him. It’s like he’s taking all those beatings on behalf of all the Polish people living in the area. I’m not surprised he’s desperate to run away.”
“Let’s hope we can get back in time to stop him,” Ash said.
As they went up the stairs and across the bridge to their platform on the opposite side of the tracks, Nadia could feel her stomach churning at the thought of what might happen if they were too late.
“Let’s walk to the end,” Ash said, moving ahead of them.
Nadia was waiting for something to happen, anything that would be a sign of a change, to indicate the magic was working and they would be taken back in time again. There’d been no power cut during the night and Nadia knew that couldn’t be good. That was usually the signal that set in motion a change that brought with it the old steam train. So far, this was a day as ordinary as any other—no dramas. The sun shone low and bright and the platform was packed with commuters and students.
“The train’s due any minute,” she said, fidgeting from foot to foot. “What do we do?”
“Just wait,” Ash said. “We’ll get on the last carriage and it will be fine, I’m sure.”
It wasn’t fine though. The last carriage was the same as every other, with its sliding doors and blue checked seats, all full of people studying newspapers, books or their phones, pretending not to be smug because they didn’t have to stand for the journey. The four friends looked at each other. Nadia felt sick, her stomach churning even more, this time in tune with the rhythm of the train. No one, it seemed, not even Ash, knew what to say.
When the train arrived at Hickley, Nadia was one of the first off. She scanned the station for any signs of 1947 life, but could see none.
“It didn’t work!” she said, looking at the other three in desperation.
Jess was biting her lip as she looked all around her, whilst Ash scratched his head and Tomma did one of his deep-in-thought looks that suggested he was working on a plan or an idea. Nadia hoped it was a good one.
“It might be that we don’t need to get the train to go back in time,” Tomma said. “Something could happen when we get to school.”
Nadia shook her head. “That’s not how it happened before. It’s the train. It’s always the train. And the fact it hasn’t arrived this morning means we aren’t going back to 1947 after all. There is every chance Kam is going to take his younger brother, my grandfather, and r
un away somewhere, anywhere, that feels safer than the place they are now.” She felt bile rising up her throat as the words tumbled out.
Jess’s arm linked through hers and they trudged up to school together, offering a sense of solidarity towards her best friend. Jess was like that, but also, she had been through the same thing last year when they’d encountered her great grandmother on their time-travelling adventure.
*
There was nothing magical about Hickley School. It turned out to be just another normal day. Nadia spent all of it worrying, unable to concentrate on anything. She got told off in every lesson.
“I can’t stop thinking about what might have happened to Kam today,” she said on the train home. “What if he got another beating after the stir I caused yesterday? It would be my fault.”
“Don’t blame yourself for those idiots,” Ash said. “They would probably find another excuse for starting on him. In fact, they wouldn’t need an excuse at all.”
“If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it didn’t work,” Nadia said.
Jess sighed. “What Ash means is, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything. If those boys want to pick a fight they will. You can’t be there to fight all Kam’s battles for him and I’m sure he’s been managing up until now.”
“Well, you say that, but he hasn’t, has he? Otherwise he wouldn’t have been talking about running away. What if yesterday was the last straw? And it was caused by me, and now I can’t do anything about it because I’m not there to help him.”
As they got off the train at their stop, Nadia stormed ahead. Her heart pounded in her ears and she could feel tears of rage and fear pooling in her eyes, clouding her vision.
“Perhaps we can get back there tomorrow?” Jess said catching up and throwing her arms around Nadia’s shoulders. “I’ll keep everything crossed for us. See you then.”
Jess pecked Nadia on the cheek and then loosened her grip. Nadia felt her walk away as Ash came to her side. She didn’t turn back around.
“Come on, let’s get home,” he said.
As soon as she got into her house, Nadia went straight upstairs and splashed her face with cold water. She sat down on the edge of the bath and looked at herself in the mirror. She did kind of look like her nana when she was young. She had thought the young Dorothy was beautiful, but couldn’t see herself in the same way. Neither could she imagine meeting her future husband at the age of fourteen.
It was obvious how much Nana and Grandad had loved each other and that thought made her worry even more. If she didn’t get back to 1947 to speak to Kam, it could change everything that ever happened going forward in their lives and, if it did, Dorothy and Jozef might not even meet at all.
Nadia ran downstairs and grabbed her mum’s phone.
“What are you doing?” Mrs Kaminski said.
“Looking for Nana’s number,” Nadia said scrolling through the favourites list. She found The Hollies Retirement Home and made the call, walking away from the kitchen and back up to her room.
When eventually she got Dorothy on the phone and, after some initial problems with her hearing aid, Nadia was finally able to talk to her.
“I wanted to ask where Grandad and his family lived once they settled in England,” she said.
“Well, they lived in Kirkshaw, of course,” Dorothy said.
“But what about before that, Nana? Where did Grandad’s parents and older brother work? What base?”
“Oh, that, let me think. It was over at Canon Hall. There was an army unit based there during the War.”
“Did the family stay there together?” Nadia said.
“I believe they did. There was a big community of Poles there and they had nurseries and schools for the children, things like that.”
“Thanks, Nana.”
Nadia began to worry. Grandad’s story must have had a happy ending, otherwise she wouldn’t have even been born. What scared her though was the feeling that if she didn’t get back to stop Kam from running away, her story might not have a happy ending after all.
Chapter 16
Here It Comes Again
Despite her parent’s protests, Nadia had managed to sneak her phone into her room so she could set the alarm. Her mum had been adamant the power cut was a one-off and ordinarily Nadia would have agreed. She was desperately hoping though that it wasn’t a one-off, but she couldn’t explain that to her mum.
Instead she’d used the tactic of being concerned about getting up too late and missing school because she didn’t want to get into trouble. That had gained her one night’s allowance of phone-in-room, so if the magic didn’t happen, and there wasn’t another power cut soon, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do.
When the less-than-familiar sound of the phone chiming woke her the next morning, Nadia sat up in shock. Used to the gentle wakening of the radio, it took her a few seconds to register what was happening, but one look at the flashing 03:42 of her digital clock had her bolting out of bed so fast she almost fell over due to dizziness. She grabbed at her phone and clumsily dialled Jess, then dressed as quickly as she could, her heart hammering inside her chest all the while.
After making sure her parents hadn’t over-slept, Nadia went downstairs, but could only pick at her breakfast, as a feeling of unease began to creep up her spine. If they didn’t get back to Hickley School in 1947 Nadia was fearful of what might happen.
Leaving the house, Nadia met Tomma and Ash by the gate.
“These power cuts are crazy weird,” Ash said, as Nadia joined them. “For some reason it always causes Anit’s rabbit to do a runner. It’s not as if he’s got an electric lock on his cage door. I don’t know how he does it, but Mum freaks out, Anit’s crying her eyes out and Sunil just thinks the whole thing is hilarious.”
Tomma laughed but soon turned serious. “It’s happening again, isn’t it?”
Nadia nodded. “Shall we go?”
They set off up the hill together. Nadia was glad to not be in a rush after giving herself plenty of time to get up and dressed. They didn’t live far from the station but the walk seemed to take forever.
Nadia saw Jess, who spotted them at the same time. She waved one hand above her head, a huge grin spreading across her face. Nadia wondered whether that grin was aimed at her, Tomma, or them both.
“Are we ready?” she said. “I’m actually feeling quite positive about this for a change. I think I must be getting used to all this time-travelling business.” Jess looked so proud of herself that it caused a smile to spread across Nadia’s face too.
Jess had come a long way from the panicking, nervous person she had been when they’d started Hickley School and when they’d first travelled back to 1918.
“Think so,” Tomma said. “Let’s go do this.”
Nadia couldn’t help but notice the huge soppy grin on Tomma’s face. He was proud of Jess too.
“Come on,” Nadia said. “We need to get the train. I can hear it coming.”
With Nadia leading, they went up the stairs, over the bridge and down to their platform, squeezing through the hedge so they could get to the far end. It seemed miles from where everyone else was, and it was as though an invisible line separated them from the other waiting commuters. It was no surprise to any of them that there was a steam carriage tacked on to the end of the train, as if it were waiting there just for them.
“Hi train,” Ash said, as he flopped on the seat once they were inside, patting the seat next to him. “Ready to take us back in time again, are you?”
“Let’s just hope we’re not too late,” Nadia said, staring out of the window as the train began to pull away.
Chapter 17
Back To 1947
Although Nadia was pleased to see Miss Morgan again and she was happy the young teacher seemed much more relaxed than when they’d first met her, the morning wore on as she waited anxiously for break time to arrive. As soon as the bell sounded, she jumped up and grabbed her coat.
“
Hang on,” Jess said. “We’re coming too.”
The others followed Nadia out of the classroom, where she quickened her pace towards the back of the hall, through the doors and down the corridor that led to the main yard.
“We’ll split up and look for him,” Tomma suggested.
Nadia nodded, too nervous to speak. She didn’t think she would be able to calm down until she’d seen Kam. After searching the yard and not finding him, Nadia ran up to the sports pitches, hoping he might be hiding out at the allotment again.
“He’s not here,” she said, as Jess caught her up, puffing with the exertion of trying to keep up with her friend.
“Come on, we can ask at the office if he’s registered today. Then we can check the rest of the school,” Jess said.
The assistant in the office wasn’t particularly keen on helping them, muttering something about a need-to-know basis, but Nadia was insistent and she eventually perched her glasses on the end of her nose and looked up Kam’s name on the master register before shaking her head.
“No, he isn’t in today,” she said.
Nadia looked at Jess, who was as concerned as she was. Both knew what that could mean. Nadia wasn’t giving up though. She needed to find out where he was and there was one set of people who might just know.
“Where does that gang hang out?” Nadia asked Jess.
“Oh no you’re not,” Jess said. “I’m not letting you get anywhere near them after what happened last time. Tell her Tomma.” Jess looked at Tomma in desperation and Nadia felt annoyed with her.
Nadia tutted, shaking her head, then followed it with a deep exasperated sigh. “Do I look like I care what those idiots will do to me? Let them try! If I find out where Kam is, it’ll be worth it.”
“Why would they even know?” Ash said.
“They’ve most probably tried to beat him up at least once today already,” Nadia said. “For all we know, he could be lying injured somewhere and that’s why he hasn’t registered today.”
