Anachronist
Page 17
‘This is a penthouse suite in Chelsea. You like it?’ Sim asked. ‘Dad added it when the chance of you showing up spiked.’
‘You knew I was coming?’
Sim glowed. ‘I was the closest by two hours. Don’t be offended — it’s what we do.’
Josh found it a bit creepy that they were planning out his life.
‘We can change it if you don’t approve?’
‘No, it’s great,’ said Josh. ‘I like his style. But doesn’t someone own it? Won’t they, like, come back and wonder why I’m here?’
Sim suppressed a chuckle. ‘There are a few things you need to understand about chronostasis before my explanation would make any sense.’ He held his hand up as Josh began to protest. ‘I’m not saying you’re stupid — it’s just temporal mechanics is not one of the colonel’s specialities, so I’m guessing he hasn’t really taught you much about the science behind our abilities?’
‘No. He’s more of a doer than a thinker,’ Josh agreed.
‘OK. Think of it like this is all frozen in time like a photograph, on a kind of loop. No one but us can interact with it, although obviously in other parts of its timeline it continues to function as normal. I can draw you a diagram if it helps.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
‘OK. So do you want to change out of those robes?’ Sim asked, pointing to a mirrored wall. ‘There are some new clothes in your cupboard. If you don’t like them, we can ask the Antiquarians to send something else. They can do it retrospectively so it takes no time at all.’
Sim closed the door behind him as he left. Josh went to the wardrobe door and slid it aside. He smiled to himself as he looked at the rails of classic brands: Burberry, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren and many, many more — compared to the colonel their fashion sense was at least in the same decade.
He spent the next hour or so trying on various outfits until he found the right combination of understated cool, and then lay back on the bed and laughed. He tried not to do it too loudly, but it was unstoppable. Something inside him couldn’t stop thinking how insanely ridiculous the whole situation was, that nothing in his wildest dreams had ever come close to this: hanging out in a Chelsea flat wearing Issey Miyake with a bunch of geeks that could travel through time.
Josh seriously considered whether he might be in some kind of coma and this was just all some drug-induced hallucination. It was unlikely; he couldn’t have made this kind of stuff up — not in a million years. He wondered what his mum would say if she could see him now. If he told her about it, she’d never believe him, and if she didn’t there wasn’t a chance in hell anyone else would.
Just have to go with the flow, he thought. The colonel’s away for a few days, Mum’s in care for at least another week and Lenin is off his back till Saturday, so just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
There was a knock at the door.
Josh sat up, conscious that his laughter may have been a bit too loud.
‘Hello?’ Caitlin’s voice came through the door. ‘Josh. It’s Caitlin. Can I come in?’
His heart skipped a beat.
‘Yeah, one second,’ he said, getting up and checking himself in the mirror before opening the door.
‘I’ve been instructed to look after you,’ she said with a look of grim defiance.
‘It’s OK. Sim can do it if you don’t want to,’ Josh replied, trying to sound disaffected.
She chewed her lip as though she was holding something back — he didn’t like the way she kept avoiding looking him in the eyes.
‘I have to give you the tour,’ she insisted after an awkward silence. ‘Sim has work to do. Come on.’
He went to follow her, but she raised a hand to stop him. ‘I suggest you put your robes back on.’
As they made their way up another set of stairs, the silence between them was deafening. For the first time in his life, Josh was at a loss as to how to start a conversation. He watched Caitlin’s long hair sway as she walked up the steps ahead of him and tried to find the right word for the colour: auburn, brunette — it was a kind of gingery-brown, not a term you could use about a girl’s hair without getting a slap.
Caitlin stopped on the next landing. There were numerous corridors leading off from it, each one reminiscent of a museum with glass cases running down each wall.
‘There are currently fifteen storeys attached to this house; each floor is based in a different era, except this one. These are our collections,’ she started to say. ‘We use them for —’
‘Your mementoes — the colonel has one just like it,’ he interrupted, a little too eagerly — he was still trying to impress her.
She crossed her arms and glared at him. ‘Do you want the tour or not?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Stop interrupting, then,’ she snapped as she turned away. ‘Bloody think you know everything.’
Halfway along a corridor of some of the strangest artefacts he’d ever seen, they came to a brass spiral staircase.
‘Roof garden,’ she said coldly, ringing a small bell that hung on the railings.
Nothing seemed to happen, but after a minute of waiting another bell sounded from somewhere above them. Caitlin strode up the stairs two steps at a time and Josh followed until they came up into what appeared to be a jungle.
The garden was warm and tropical, and full of large, Jurassic Park-looking plants. It was enclosed under an elegant glass and metal dome on the roof that reminded Josh of Kew Gardens; colourful birds flew in slow circles above the large ferns and butterflies flocked around the exotic hothouse flowers.
‘This is my stepmother’s herbarium, or aviary — basically, it’s a botanical garden. She studies extinct species of flora.’
‘Extinct?’
‘Yes, like, dead forever. She’s cultivating plants and birds that were wiped out years ago.’
Josh walked a little way into the garden, and felt a warm mist wet his face. The humidity was extremely high, making his clothes stick to his skin.
‘How long ago?’
‘Oh, a hundred thousand years or more, back into the last Ice Age.’
At least she was talking now, he thought, not shouting or telling him off — this was progress.
‘How far can you go back?’
Caitlin expression changed at the question — she was obviously proud of her abilities.
‘To the end of the Quartarian period, about ten thousand years. That makes me a Tenth Millennial.’
Josh tried to look impressed, although he had no idea whether that was good or not. ‘I’ve only been back a couple of hundred so far.’
‘Then you’re just a Second-level Centurial,’ she said in a tone that emphasised that he was weaker than her.
‘So what’s the furthest anyone has gone back?’
A flicker of anguish crossed her face, but she quickly masked it. It was enough to make him wish he’d never asked; everything had been going quite well up until that point.
‘No one can go back beyond the last Ice Age, twelve thousand years ago,’ she said through tight lips, and turned away.
As they wandered through the garden, Caitlin pointed out various species of birds, ferns and trees that had been saved by her stepmother. Beneath the centre of the dome they found Alixia de Freis repotting a row of small cuttings into large ceramic jars; she looked like a Victorian beekeeper with her long leather gloves and large netted hat. There was another small bell next to her on the table.
‘Don’t come any closer,’ Alixia ordered sharply without looking up from her work. ‘This is Verbasium noctorfloris, probably the deadliest flower that ever existed.’
Josh took a little more interest in the delicate purple lily that Alixia was carefully extracting from its old container. He watched the vine-like tendrils unfurl and wrap themselves round her arm as she transplanted it into its new home. The vines reluctantly released their hold as she carefully poured what looked like blood into the soil around its roots. She pl
aced a large glass jar over the plant and stuck a label with a large skull and crossbones on it.
‘There now. Much better,’ she said, rolling back the netting of her hat. Alixia patted the glass as if the plant were a pet. ‘The extraneous feeler roots contain a deadly neurotoxin that can bring down a wild ox, let alone a human. They were the carrion eaters of the Pliocene,’ she added as she removed her long leather gloves and held out one delicate little hand. ‘How do you do, by the way? I don’t think we were ever formally introduced. I am Alixia De Freis.’
Josh took her hand carefully. It was thin and cold, as if she were made from very fine china.
‘Josh. Joshua Jones, I’m —’
‘He’s Uncle Rufius’s new protégé,’ Caitlin interrupted in a sardonic tone, making ‘protégé’ sound like a curse.
‘I know, dear,’ her stepmother said calmly. ‘I wasn’t totally distracted at lunch. You are the one that completed the challenge in Paris.’ The way she pronounced Paris hinted at her European upbringing, as a Frenchwoman would, not pronouncing the final ‘s’.
‘Yes, I was. But I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It was easy.’
‘Ha,’ Alixia scoffed, ‘you are too modest. Two candidates died trying to solve that particular conundrum and many others have failed entirely.’
‘Including Dalton,’ Caitlin added dryly.
There was a moment when he saw a glimmer of satisfaction in Caitlin’s eyes.
‘And you will be staying with us for a while I think?’ said Alixia, changing the subject. ‘It will be good for you to be around people of your own age. Rufius Westinghouse is a crazy old man who has spent far too long by himself!’
There was a rustling in the bushes behind them. A large bird with short wings and a huge beak burst through the foliage and careered down the walkway, almost knocking Josh over.
‘Lentement! Maximillian! Slowly!’ Alixia chastised, as it disappeared into another bush.
‘Dodo,’ observed Caitlin, ‘stupidest bird that ever lived.’
Josh laughed and so did she. It made her eyes shine.
Alixia produced a thin sliver of fish from a small metal bucket and held it between finger and thumb. ‘Would you feed Max for me, Josh? He’s hiding in that thicket of Rhacophyton.’
Josh nodded, took the fish by the tail and wandered over towards the giant ferns that the dodo had disappeared into.
‘Caitlin, a word,’ Alixia said softly when they were alone.
‘Yes, ma’am?’
‘Aren’t you being a little harsh on the boy?’ Her voice was hard but maternal.
‘But he attacked Dalton.’
‘He failed — this is true. But it was not a fair test. Master Eckhart made it impossible for him to pass, did he not?’
Caitlin shrugged.
‘You will learn that men are simple creatures, my dear. It is unfortunate that we must endure their faults, but he is not such a bad boy and he could be a great man — with the right guidance.’
Alixia kissed Caitlin on the cheek and gave her a hug. ‘Now stop this petulant act and be yourself.’
Josh returned looking pleased with himself and with an obedient dodo chirping merrily behind him.
‘So have you shown Joshua the baths?’ Alixia asked as she began to cut up raw steak and feed it to the largest moth Josh had ever seen.
‘Not yet no,’ Caitlin groaned as if it were the last place she would have thought of taking him.
‘Take him to the baths,’ Alixia said, waving her hand. ‘They are by far my favourite place in this crazy puzzle-house, and where I keep my most interesting specimens,’ she added with a wink.
The baths were down in the basement, a subterranean spa filled with warm blue pools that steamed slightly in the flickering light of the oil lamps.
‘Don’t tell me,’ Josh said as he admired the mosaics of sea horses and nymphs that lined the floor of the nearest pool. ‘Roman?’
‘Close enough — Byzantine,’ Caitlin said with a smile. She apparently enjoyed being the know-it-all.
The cavern was a series of vast brick-lined vaults that seemed to tunnel out in different directions. Every ten metres there was an arch with a sculpture of an aquatic god or leaping dolphin. Along the central chasm, Josh could see a large fountain enshrined in sunlight and spouting giant flumes of water.
‘They certainly knew how to build a swimming pool,’ he observed, thinking how good it would be to swim over to the fountain — if he’d had a swimsuit.
There was a splash behind him, and he turned to see Caitlin in the water — naked.
‘So. You coming in?’ she asked, and there was that smile again.
‘I don’t have a costume!’ he protested.
‘Really? Didn’t have you pegged as such a wuss! Don’t worry no one’s watching.’ She dived under the water.
He turned his back to her and threw off the robes. The air was cool on his skin and he jumped in before he could check whether she had kept her end of the agreement.
‘Nice abs,’ she said, swimming away from him giggling.
Josh dived down into the deep blue water. The floor fell away sharply, and Josh could make out vague structures deep below him that looked like old buildings. A large shadow moved between them, and he came back up to the surface with a gasp.
‘What’s down there?’ he asked, trying not to sound too concerned.
‘Oh, fish mostly — Alixia has been known to keep aquatic mammals in here sometimes. They’re usually harmless.’
‘Like whales?’
She had swum off, and he couldn’t hear her reply. He ducked his head back in to check there wasn’t a prehistoric shark or something equally nasty coming to get him and then swam off towards the fountain.
The water was clearer and cleaner than any swimming pool he’d ever been to. There were no chemicals to sting his eyes and the temperature was warm and soothing, like a bath. Josh stopped after twenty metres so he could take in the view. The walls were decorated with the mythology of an ancient culture: warriors with tridents were defending yellow-haired maidens from sea dragons.
‘Classic story: girl meets dragon, boy kills dragon — not much has changed in a thousand years.’ Caitlin’s laughter echoed off the walls like silver bells.
As they swam towards the fountain, Sim’s brother and his sister surfaced. Josh couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at finding they had company.
‘Hi, Cat,’ Lyra purred.
‘Lyra, Phileas, meet Josh.’ Caitlin moved aside to give them a better view of Josh who was still a good ten metres behind her.
‘He’s cute. Which guild does he belong too?’ Lyra giggled.
‘Shhh,’ Phileas chastised his younger sister, ‘he’s still a novice.’
Lyra dived under the surface.
‘No!’ shouted Caitlin and Phileas in unison, but it was too late. Lyra was on an intercept course and was by far the fastest swimmer.
The first Josh knew of Lyra was when he felt something tugging at his ankle. At first, he thought it was one of Alixia’s pets, then he caught sight of her yellow hair as she pulled him down into the deeper, colder waters. She was strong and fast. He’d never been that interested in swimming, other than to stop himself from drowning, and as he watched the surface disappear above him, he began to wish he’d paid more attention.
Lyra’s face appeared in front of him like a beautiful water nymph, her hair framed by blonde tentacle-like tresses that drew him in. She placed her hands on either side of his face and kissed him hard on the mouth.
He felt the world turn as they moved through time. He felt her body close to his, warm in the deep, colder waters. There were memories moving between them, parts of his past were being unearthed and discarded as she dug through his timeline.
And then suddenly it stopped, and he was being pulled to the surface.
He broke through the water and sucked in air. It was as though he had forgotten he’d needed to breathe.
&nb
sp; Caitlin was next to him trying to say something, but his ears were full of water so it was too muffled to make any sense. He held his nose and tried to equalise the pressure.
‘. . . she’s a bloody nightmare. Sorry,’ was all he caught of Caitlin’s apology. Phileas was reprimanding his sister on the far side of the fountain.
It took a few minutes for him to get his breath back enough to speak. ‘Was she trying to kill me?’
‘Hardly,’ Caitlin said calmly. ‘Lyra’s a seer.’
‘Which involves drowning people?’
‘No, let’s get out and I’ll explain.’ Caitlin started swimming towards the entrance.
‘Seers are usually a bit eccentric,’ Caitlin began. ‘They’re special, they can read people — their timelines I mean.’ She was sitting by the fire drying her hair in one of the ‘caldariums’, a kind of sauna that the waters of the baths passed through on the way to the main pool. Both of them were wearing towelling robes and drinking something intoxicating that Caitlin had poured from a stone jar.
‘So she was reading my life story?’
‘Basically. She was a little over-enthusiastic in her methods, though. Lyra is very impulsive — she’s mostly just hormones.’
‘So how do you know if you’re a seer?’
‘You would know. It’s something that happens very rarely and very early. Dalton is one too. The Order treat them as if they were blessed. Virtually every one I have ever met has been an arrogant asshole or a bit bonkers. We are trying to stop Lyra from being either.’
Josh laughed. ‘Dalton is a dick.’
She smiled. ‘But a powerful one all the same. He’s ambitious, and his mother is the Chief Inquisitor for the Protectorate.’
‘The secret police?’
‘The most powerful group in our Order. They enforce the laws and govern us by them. They only report to the founder — Lord Dee.’
‘And they can send you to Bedlam?’
Caitlin looked at him quizzically, ‘what do you know about Bedlam?’
‘Not much. The colonel mentioned it the other day.’
‘The colonel?’
Josh smiled. ‘A nickname the kids use for Rufius.’