Flying High (6 page)

“That’s it, exactly!” Michael sounded delighted that we’d figured this out for ourselves. “And one day, I promise you, humans will freely explore the fields of Time and Space. But not yet.”

“Why?” I argued. “I mean, Dom’s just having a laugh. He’s not doing anything actually evil.”

Fierce white light rippled from the archangel’s energy field. “The child is playing with cosmic fire!” Archangels are incapable of losing their tempers. They’re way too advanced. But his sharp tone made me cringe.

“I don’t think I understand,” I said in a small voice.

The light immediately softened. “Some humans will do anything for money,” the archangel reminded us. “Sell their fellow humans into slavery, rob the Earth of her precious metals, pollute her oceans. For them Time is simply one more resource to pillage.”

Michael explained that unscrupulous humans could conceivably use the device to interfere with historical events, ensuring that certain people inherited land or property or oil wells. “Not to mention scientific discoveries, and priceless art treasures,” he added wearily. “The list is endless…”

“I guess I wasn’t thinking,” I said humbly.

“What makes you think those kids will go back to medieval Marseilles though?” Lola asked.

Michael gave one of his all-seeing smiles. “Let’s just say I have a hunch!”

I don’t know about you, but I always feel heaps more confident when I’m wearing the right clothes. So when I got back to the dorm, I forced myself to keep awake until I’d planned exactly what I was going to wear next day. And like they say in the style magazines, that little bit of extra effort totally paid off. Because when my alarm went off all of two hours later, there was my trouble-shooting outfit all ready for me to jump into.

Actually my new look was pretty cool; Skechers trainers, boot-cut denim flares and a cute hooded top in spicy orange. I quickly twisted the front of my hair into little Zulu knots, letting the rest cascade casually down my shoulders. Then I splashed on some Attitude, grabbed my tote bag and went to find Lola.

It was only just getting light by the time we arrived back at the Agency, but I wasn’t tired. I was buzzing with excitement. Thanks to Orlando, we’d scored a cool new assignment detecting time misfits, and I was determined not to screw up. This was my chance to prove I wasn’t just some little airhead.

“Hey, Reubs,” I said cheerfully, as we stepped into the time portal. “Was that Raphael or Japhiel in with Michael yesterday?”

Lola looked surprised. ” I thought it was Gabriel.”

“No it was Uriel,” said Reuben firmly. “Definitely Uriel.”

I giggled. “They should wear big gold initials on their chests like Superman.”

Lola burst out laughing. “That is so wicked!”

Reuben just said, “Who’s Superman?”

By the time we’d briefed our buddy on Earth’s major superheroes, we were coming into land.

Lola and Reuben put on their Agency sunglasses the absolute instant we stepped on to solid ground,. “Oh wow,” they said simultaneously. “Mel, you’ve got to see this!”

So naturally I put mine on too. “Oh wow,” I breathed.

To think I’d walked around for thirteen years never knowing that I had my own gorgeous wraparound rainbow!

I peered hopefully down at myself through my shades. “So where’s mine?” I said disappointedly. “I mean angels must have massive auras, right?”

“The shades were invented to detect time anomalies,” Reuben reminded me. “Not just so vain little angel girls can play ‘My energy field’s bigger than your energy field’!”

Lola laughed. “Ooooh! He told you, Boo!”

We had a brilliant time, patrolling medieval Marseilles in our Agency shades going, “Oh wow, that one is totally luminous,” and “Check that guy! Is his aura sinister or what!”

After a while I noticed something disturbing. Everyone seemed to be talking about the same thing, a huge Crusader victory in the Holy Land. People were getting really over-excited, almost hysterical.

“Hey, there’s Lucius!” said Lola. “Maybe he knows what’s going on.”

But there was no charming twinkle from Lucius this morning. The Earth angel seemed deeply depressed. “The slavers start zis rumour deliberately,” he sighed. “They think news of a crusader victory will make zese poor children even more desperate to board ze ships.”

“That’s terrible!” I gasped. “Did it work?”

Lucius gave a shrug. “See for yourself.”

I whipped off my shades and without shimmery auras to distract me, immediately noticed what I’d failed to see earlier; kids practically climbing over each other to get to the little rowing boats bobbing alongside the jetty.

A boatman was fending some kids off with an oar. “Go home! Forget about the crusades!” he yelled. “The ships are leaky as sieves. You will drown before you reach Jerusalem.” He obviously wanted to warn the kids off, but daren’t name the slavers openly.

But they took absolutely no notice of his warning. Hyped-up by the false rumours and terrified of missing their one chance of getting to the Holy Land, kids started diving off the dockside and swimming out towards the ships.

I caught sight of the older merchant, shaking his sleek silver hair, as if he didn’t know what today’s youngsters were coming to.

I was so upset that I put my shades back on without thinking. And then I saw them. Seven pulsating energy fields.

“They’re back!” I shrieked. “Michael’s right! Their auras are completely different!”

I whipped my glasses off again and the pulsing lights vanished.

In their place were Dom, his freckled friend and a new bunch of wide-eyed time tourists. “Isn’t this cool?” I heard Dom say. “Isn’t this worth every single penny?”

“So what do we do again?” a boy asked him nervously.

Dom broke into an infectious grin. “Mingle with the natives of course! And try not to draw too much attention to yourself.”

It was already too late for that. I saw the silver-haired merchant clock these new healthy specimens. And it was like, “Kerching!”

Then something really weird happened. Dom caught the merchant watching and I saw horrified recognition in his eyes. “Don’t look round,” he hissed. “Act like you’ve got somewhere to go and follow me!”

All seven kids sprinted down the nearest alleyway.

The merchant snapped his fingers. Four medieval heavies detached themselves from the crowd without a word and went charging after them.

“I’ll watch the kids,” I gabbled. “You guys get Orlando.” And I went hurtling after them.

This was like the ultimate cosmic chase scene, I thought, as I sprinted down the dark, extremely smelly alley. Medieval heavies chasing illegal time-travellers, hotly pursued by an angel in Zulu knots!

Luckily, I easily overtook both the heavies, and the kids and I managed to put some distance between ourselves and the thugs.

Dom produced the time device, and breathlessly zapped its tiny keypads.The familiar time FX scribbles appeared.

Dom counted under his breath with an agonised expression, as the luminous ropes became a twirling technicolour blur.

The four thugs came limping and panting into view.

“NOW!” screamed Dom, The kids dived simultaneously.

I didn’t think twice.

Behind me someone yelled, “Melanie, no!” But I totally ignored Orlando’s warning. Taking a big breath, I jumped feet first into the future.

Chapter Seven

I
was in rushing darkness, lit by fierce stabs of lightning, and filled with strange sounds. Confused snatches of conversation, ferocious battle cries, muffled sobbing, long-lost love songs.

If I’d known Dom’s device was so primitive, I’d never have risked it. Compared to this bone-rattling helter-skelter ride, angelic time-travel was a walk in the park.

At one point I was convinced I was turning inside out. That was just before all my limbs went dead. I couldn’t actually tell if my body was still in one piece, or if I even
had
a body. I was totally numb.

As I hurtled towards some unknown future century, new and deafening sounds erupted around me. Explosions, wailing sirens, crazily mixed up with canned TV laughter and dog-food commercials and pounding hiphop. And I’d thought MY century was insane!

Then everything stopped, dead.

There was a silence so total I genuinely thought I’d gone deaf. Then I realised I heard my own scared rasping breathing in the dark.

Had we fast-forwarded to the end of the world by mistake? Had some hideous future war finally exterminated everyone and everything on Earth? Was this the silence of total nothingness?

And then I heard it; the tiny liquid sound of a bird singing. A bird and a soft whisper of wind through leaves and somewhere in the distance, a small child happily laughing its socks off.

I felt my eyes fill with tears. The human race had pulled through! This wasn’t an ominous hush. It was world peace, how about that!

Simultaneously all the feeling flooded back into my body. It was agony, the worst pins and needles ever. And with a terrifying whoosh, I landed on solid ground. Seconds later, Reuben and Lola crashed down on top of me.

“OW! What are you doing here, you morons?”

“You didn’t think we’d let you swan off to the future on your own!” Reuben gasped out.

Lola just lay whimpering softly. “Never ever make me do that again,” she begged.

We lay in a tangled heap, trying to get our breath back.

It was almost evening and I could smell a sweet fresh smell, like the smell you get in really expensive flower shops. We had crash-landed in someone’s old summerhouse. From where I was lying, I could see bright blue trumpet-shaped flowers and a glossy orange tree complete with perfect baby oranges.

I felt childish pangs of jealousy. I’ve got a v. small orange tree in my room. I grew it in ten minutes flat, when I helped in Miss Dove’s nursery class one time. But though I water it faithfully every day, it still hasn’t produced a single orange.

I dimly registered Dom’s school mates melting out of sight between some pillars. We should really follow them, but I couldn’t seem to move. Then Lola gave a tiny gasp, so naturally I looked up.

Staring down at us with stunned expressions were Dom and his little freckled girlfriend.

I was so shocked that I actually stopped breathing.

We were visible
! The device must have messed up our angelic molecules, causing us to materialise.

The girl pulled off her medieval head dress and a mass of frizzy red hair sprang out. With her looks she could have gone on as orphan Annie without a rehearsal. If it wasn’t for her suspicious scowl, that is! She jerked her thumb in our direction. “What are
they
?”

“No idea,” Dom admitted. “But if one of the teachers sees them, we’re history.”

I almost shrieked with laughter. Yes, I know it’s not cool for an angel to have hysterics, but I was in shock. Thanks to me, my angel buddies were totally exposed to human view, and I had no idea what to do.

I heard the creak of the summerhouse door and approaching footsteps.

“Dom, Lily! Do I have to come and get you?” said a friendly voice.

Dom froze. “It’s Mr Lamb.”

Lily looked appalled. “We totally forgot about Metaphysics!”

They started frantically changing back into their normal clothes, not space suits with slanting zips as you might think, but the twenty-third century equivalent of smart casuals.

“Is metaphysics like metalwork?” I whispered.

“More like philosophy,” Reuben whispered back.

Oo-er, I thought. Talk about high fliers.

“I tried to tell you,” Lily was moaning. “Twice in two days is pushing it, I said. Someone’s going to rumble us, I said, but oh no—”

“Will you just shut up, Lil! No-one’s going to rumble anyone. Let me do the talking, OK?”

“Yeah, and how’d you plan to explain the time stowaways?”

Time stowaways
? I sagged with relief. They obviously had no idea that we were angels.

Leaves rustled as Mr Lamb came nearer.

“I know you’re in here!” he called. Any minute now he was going to find our hiding place.

Lola smiled at the kids. “Don’t worry,” she said in perfect future slang. “We won’t grass. Just tell us what you want us to say.”

Dom looked panic-stricken. “Don’t say anything,” he pleaded. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”

All the tiny oranges trembled on their stalks as a middle-aged man came pushing through the foliage. He had one of those bland harmless faces, like a kids’ TV presenter. “There you are! Everyone’s waiting.”

I saw him quickly suppress his surprise. “And who’s this?” he said in a jolly, joky voice.

“It’s OK, Mr Lamb, I can explain—” Dom began.

“Don’t worry, we’re just leaving!” I interrupted airily. “Our parents are thinking of sending us to your brilliant school, so Dom and Lily kindly offered to show us round.” I dug Reuben in the ribs.

“Oh, yeah,” he said solemnly. “Great school.”

“Wow, is that the time!” said Lola. “We’d better get moving.”

But nice harmless Mr Lamb had somehow got between us and the door. “Sorry kids,” he said in his child-friendly voice. “You know the rules. No-one enters or leaves a Phoenix School unless we’ve checked your ID. You’ll have to come with me.”