Howzat! (17 page)

Saturday—evening

‘Hey!’ I almost ran over Ally as I burst through the door. She and the others had been waiting just outside. ‘Any news?’

She shook her head.

‘We were told not to disturb you,’ Rahul said, staring at Freddy as he passed us with a smile and a wave.

‘Is he the guy you threw the ball at?’ Jay asked. ‘What were you thinking?’

I explained the situation as briefly and as quickly as possible. A worrying thought had been nagging away at me ever since Ally had first mentioned that Georgie was missing.

‘Georgie came out onto the field,’ I explained. ‘And that’s where the Grubber was. Maybe there was another one of them out there?’

‘Surely someone would have seen him?’ Rahul said.

‘No, that’s the whole point. I think I’m the only one who can see them. And Jim, of course.’

‘That’d be right,’ Jay said, sullenly. ‘It’s always just Toby. You’re the time traveller; you’re the kid who gets to…’

‘Oh, shut up, Jay,’ Ally snapped. ‘It’s the way it is.’

‘It’s not as if I went looking for this,’ I explained. I sensed that Jay had always found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that I’d stumbled upon Jim and the time travel. Perhaps his sudden outburst wasn’t that surprising.

Ally rested a hand on my forearm. ‘What do we do?’ she asked, steering me towards the other side of the room.

‘Are you sure Georgie’s nowhere about?’

‘We’ve searched the whole place.’

‘We’ve been doing nothing else for the entire afternoon,’ Jay said, turning from the window.

‘Even the security people have been searching,’ Rahul added.

‘I got around to most of them and showed them the picture I have of her on my phone,’ Jay added.

‘What about her mum? Does she know?’ I asked.

Ally looked down, avoiding eye contact. ‘We wanted to wait until we’d told you. We thought maybe there was a special place here.’ Her voice trailed.

‘I’m going to go and check on Jim. I’m a Cricket Lord now, so it doesn’t matter as much if I revisit a place I’ve been before.’

‘Toby, are you sure?’ Ally looked horrified, obviously recalling the frightening experiences she’d had seeing herself in the past.

‘I’m a Cricket Lord. Jim explained it to me. I can stay for unlimited periods of time and won’t be harmed if I meet myself.’

‘What good is that going to do?’ Jay asked.

I took a deep breath. ‘Jim might know where a Grubber could have taken her,’ I explained.

‘If that’s what’s happened,’ Jay said, looking doubtful. ‘She probably just got bored watching the cricket here and went into town to go shopping.’

‘So why isn’t she answering her phone?’

‘I told you—the battery’s probably flat. Or she’s watching a movie and turned it off.’

I looked at Ally. She was shaking her head.

‘No way. She would have told me.’ She glanced at me. ‘How long will you be?’

‘Not long. Just long enough to check on Jim and give him an update.’

‘Toby, we’ll wait here, okay?’ Rahul gave me an encouraging pat on the back.

‘Are you sure? Aren’t you due home soon?’

‘Leave it to us,’ Rahul smiled.

‘Can you tell Jimbo what’s happening? He might be wondering where the heck I am. Oh, yeah. I’ll need someone to guide my eyes to a zero in the
Wisden
.’

‘I’ll do that!’ Rahul said quickly.

‘Yeah, that’d be right. You got to go to India. You…’ Jay complained.

‘Hey!’ Rahul threw his hands up. ‘It’s okay, Jay. You can. It’s not like I’m going to time travel again.’

‘Come on, Jay. You do it.’ Maybe letting Jay help would settle him down a bit and make him a bit more pleasant to be around.

Ally smiled. ‘Don’t be long, okay?’

I had a moment of panic when I pushed at the locked library door, but then remembered that I had a
Wisden
upstairs in the room Jimbo and I were sharing during the cricket camp.

‘Any zero?’ Jay asked, opening up the
Wisden
.

‘Yep. Just make sure it’s from a cricket score and not a nought or something in writing.’

‘Hey, I know what to do. Here we go.’

‘Yeah, well just put my finger exactly on the spot and then let go, okay?’ I looked into the grey swirl of numbers and letters, just managing to make out a round zero next to my finger. ‘Okay?’ But Jay wasn’t letting go.

‘Are you sure you’ve got it?’ he asked.

‘Jay!’ I felt his hand release my finger as the rushing sound whooshed into my head. But as I sensed myself drifting away, he grabbed my hand again.

‘Nooooo. Jay?’ In slow motion I spun around, desperately trying to shake off his grip, but he held firm and I knew suddenly it was too late. If I did let go of him, who knows where he’d end up? The whooshing sound ebbed away slowly and I was left with that numb, empty feeling of being somewhere, but nowhere.

I pushed Jay off me and got to my feet. I immediately felt the coldness pressing in, and the mist made it hard to see past the clump of trees we’d arrived next to.

‘Just shut up, Jay, and do as I say, all right?’

Jay held up his hands in surrender. ‘Hey, no worries. You didn’t tell me we were coming back here.’

‘Jay!’ I snapped, glaring at him angrily. ‘I…’ And then my voice was sucked away and I was gasping for air.

‘Toby?’ Jay’s voice sounded miles away. My feet lifted off the ground slightly, and suddenly I was flying backwards through the air, my arms outstretched, fingers clawing at nothing but empty space.

‘Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!’ My voice was lost, drifting into nothingness. I caught a glimpse of Jay’s horrified face; he was too shocked to even move. Swinging my arms and legs to try and get balanced, I managed to glance around, just in time to see another Toby, standing alone, a cricket ball in his hand.

‘Oh no,’ I muttered, closing my eyes. ‘TOBY!’ I roared, trying to make my other self aware of what was about to happen. I was 10 metres away and closing in fast. Then my body swung upwards, and I spun around slightly, adopting the exact same position and stance as the Toby from only hours before.

Bracing myself, I waited for the two bodies to meet, but instead of a bone-crunching collision I felt nothing but a weird, melting feeling as I stopped,
merging into the Toby Jones standing there, arm outstretched, about to throw the ball.

Was I me? Or was I now the Toby of earlier today?

‘Jay!’ I called, looking back up the hill towards the group of trees near the spot where we’d arrived. If I was me, surely Jay would be there. There was no answer. I set off in the direction I’d come from. There was also no sign of any Grubbers. ‘Jay, can you hear me?’

‘Toby?’ Jay appeared from behind one of the deadlooking trees, shivering.

‘Thank God,’ I said. I ran up to him and then stopped suddenly. His mouth was hanging open. ‘What?’ I asked.

‘Toby?’ He took a step backwards, his eyes wide with fright.

‘What?’ I gasped as I looked down at myself. There was nothing to see! I put my hands in front of my face; I was only just able to discern their outline.

‘Oh no,’ I moaned, a feeling of dread washing over me. Of course it was too good to be true that nothing would happen. ‘Come on, we’ve got to find Jim.’

‘Does that mean we’re going over there?’ I followed Jay’s gaze towards the oval. There didn’t appear to be any Grubbers anywhere.

‘Come on,’ I said, jogging across an open area. We ran for a few minutes, climbing a small rise, and then picked up a track that wound down to the oval on the opposite side of the scoreboard, which loomed over
the ground, casting an eerie shadow of darkness on the far side.

‘Hey, there he is!’ Jay shouted. A solitary figure was slowly making his way up the grassy hill beneath the scoreboard itself.

‘Are you sure?’ I asked as we both sprinted around the rows of seats.

‘Jim?’ I called. The figure stopped and turned. Slowly he raised an arm in the air. Relieved, I rushed forward, Jay just behind me.

‘What?’ I asked, seeing the look of anguish on Jim’s face. ‘Am I going to be all right?’

‘Toby, my dear boy, of course you are,’ he said, trying to smile. He was looking past me. I turned around suddenly.

‘They’re not playing!’

Jim nodded slowly. The two old umpires were standing in the middle of the pitch. Some fielders were slowly making their way towards a small green gate and the batters were standing with the rest of the fielders.

‘Are they real?’ Jay asked.

‘This game is the spirit of cricket. They are real enough, but when a player leaves the field, he disappears forever. He never returns.’ Jim turned to me.

‘Toby, have you got the ball with you?’

‘Jim, what…’

‘Give me the ball.’ I took it from my pocket and passed it to him. ‘You won’t feel anything, Toby. Just
don’t catch the ball.’ Before I knew what was happening, Jim had thrown it firmly in my direction. I ducked instinctively, raising an arm to my face, but the ball followed me. There was a hissing sound as it connected with my shoulder, then nothing.

‘No way!’ Jay gasped, staring from me to the ball a few metres behind me.

‘That cricket ball, Toby, is your protection as a Cricket Lord.’

‘I ran into myself,’ I said. I bent down to retrieve the ball and noticed that I could now see my arm again. I looked down to check that my body and legs were also clearly visible.

‘Yes, and because you are now a Cricket Lord, there were also no unfortunate consequences.’

‘But what about when I was here before? How come I didn’t sense or see the later me?’

Jim sighed. ‘Because you are different, Toby,’ he said, finally.

‘You mean different as in three hours older?’

‘No, I mean different. You have taken on powers that your former self could not have seen. But listen, you need to return.’ He glanced up at the enormous scoreboard.

‘What’s going to happen?’ I asked.

The umpires were now walking towards the far set of stumps. From high above us came a creaking, groaning sound. Another ‘0’ was being put up on the scoreboard.

‘As long as I am here all will be well,’ Jim said.

‘But you can’t stay here forever, Jim.’ I couldn’t imagine leaving him in this cold, desolate place.

‘For the good of cricket, Toby, I can stay here forever.’

‘C’mon, Toby,’ Jay muttered, pulling on my sleeve. ‘You heard him. Let’s get out of here.’

‘Jim, will Father Time stay up there?’ I braved another glance up at the scoreboard, wondering about the being working the numbers inside it. Was he a man? Could he see us now?

‘Father Time has been stripped of all his powers. But now that the game is stopping he’s becoming a threat again. It was once thought that one of the Grubbers here was his younger sibling, who unlike the rest of the Grubbers remained loyal to him. But years and years have passed and nothing has changed.’

‘Until now.’ I turned again to look out over the ground. No one appeared to have moved since I last looked.

‘You must leave now!’ Jim ordered.

‘I know,’ I muttered. There was not a Grubber in sight. The stands around the ground were empty. Dark clouds rushed across the sky and I could feel drops of rain. Beside me, Jay was shivering.

‘Toby, take this and return to the MCC library.’

Jim had taken the scorecard from his pocket. Jay whistled softly. It was the ticket that enabled anyone to travel back in time. All they had to do was place it inside a
Wisden
; any
Wisden
. ‘Find David and ask him
for the first edition of
Wisden
. Toby, are you listening?’

‘Yes, of course,’ I said. I refused to believe that this was the end, yet there was something very final in Jim’s voice.

‘Father Time requires only three things to restore himself to the way he used to be. Two of these items we can destroy now.’

‘The first
Wisden
and the scorecard?’ I asked.

‘Yes. Placing the scorecard anywhere inside the first
Wisden
restores time for the person holding the card. Of course, if the scorecard is destroyed, so too is any chance that it might save us from Father Time.’

I was finding it hard to follow Jim. ‘What’s the other thing?’

Jim looked at me, as if weighing up whether he wanted to tell me. Finally he spoke. ‘A Cricket Lord. This is why it is imperative that you return and remove yourself from his clutches.’

‘But you’re a Cricket Lord too. If you come back as well then he’ll never get all three things.’

‘He needs to be stopped, Toby. He will come after you, or me, and he will not give up. Ever.’

‘HELP!’ a voice called to our left. We all froze. ‘TOBY!’

‘That’s Georgie,’ I cried, sprinting towards the scoreboard.

‘Toby,’ Jim called. ‘Wait!’ I slowed as he and Jay caught up to me.

‘That was Georgie. I’m sure of it,’ I said, my heart pounding.

‘She’s been missing most of the day,’ Jay added.

‘And she came onto the oval,’ I added.

‘Georgie walked onto the oval?’ Jim gasped. He looked anxiously up at the scoreboard.

‘What’s happened to her?’

Jim glanced at me quickly.

‘A Grubber, but she is fighting. She must have seen you.’ I scanned the board but could see nothing. There were three square holes but nothing moved behind them.

‘I’m going up,’ I said. ‘We can’t just leave her there.’

‘Jay, go back to the ground. Wait over there by the gate. You must keep the game going. As long as there is one person watching, the game must go on.’

‘But hang on. You can’t leave me out here…’ he protested.

‘Jay,’ Jim said, firmly. ‘Do as I say.’ Jay muttered something under his breath and stalked off to the other side of the ground.

Saturday—evening

‘Stay behind me and don’t speak,’ Jim said, as we marched up the incline towards a metal ladder.

‘I’ll follow…’

‘Toby, do not enter the scoreboard. That is an order.’

I waited at the bottom watching Jim slowly and carefully make his way up the rusty metal rungs. He paused at the top, took something from his pocket and held it up to the door. There was a click and a small trap door swung open wide. A cloud of white dust billowed from the entrance.

Jim turned once, waved, then quickly disappeared into the scoreboard. I turned at the sound of clapping on the field. The players and umpires appeared to be taking up their positions again.

I waited for a few minutes. No sound came from inside the score box. Taking a last look around, I put one foot on the first step of the ladder.

From above came a sudden crashing sound. It sounded like something heavy falling.

‘Jim, are you okay?’ I called up, then spun around, startled by a noise to my right. Two Grubbers were swooping in towards me. Perhaps they had heard the commotion as well. I took a few paces back but they didn’t appear to notice me, as they approached the stairs. What was happening in there? Was Jim in trouble? They flew up the steps, barely touching the rungs, and disappeared into the gloom. I waited a few seconds then followed them.

The interior of the scoreboard was dark and smelled old and stale. There must have been at least three levels.

‘Jim?’ I whispered. I could hear nothing but the faint sound of footsteps moving away from the entrance. Behind me it looked like play was about to resume. Was that because of the three of us being here?

I was in a dark, dusty chamber. Huge black wooden boards were lying about the place, some covered in white names. The air was thick with chalk dust. I crept slowly along the left edge, a shaft of light from the only opening guiding me to the opposite side of the chamber and another ladder, smaller than the first, attached to the side wall.

Again I paused, listening for the slightest sound. I could hear shuffling footsteps on the floor above, or perhaps even two levels up. I stepped onto the ladder. Someone was talking.

‘Jim?’ I called softly, taking another few steps up the ladder. Something or someone crashed against a wall. The whole scoreboard shook. Shocked, one of my hands slipped and I swung out on the ladder, crashing against the side wall. Regaining my balance, I swung back and clambered up the final steps.

The room I stood in was almost empty, like the one below. This level was lighter, with more openings out onto the ground. On one side of the room was an old chair and table. A massive scorebook lay open on the table, covering most of its top. Littered about the room were black wooden squares, numbered on both sides. There were lots of 1s covering the wall to my right; which meant that zeroes were visible on the other side.

‘Get out!’ a voice screamed from the level above. Jim? Was he talking to me? I ran across the room and climbed the final flight of stairs.

‘Georgie!’ I yelled. Georgie stood with her back to the wall; her face was white, and her eyes were bulging. Beyond her, two Grubbers were dragging Jim towards a long, rectangular opening. There was no sign of anyone else. Maybe Father Time wasn’t here. Jim had been lifted off his feet and was being moved towards the opening.

‘No!’ I yelled, grabbing my cricket ball and hurling it as hard as I could at the nearest Grubber. I remembered the words. A stench filled the air suddenly as the Grubber stumbled and fell, but the other had a tight hold on Jim and was shoving him through the opening.

‘Let go!’ I screamed, rushing forward to pick up the ball. The first Grubber was still lying on the ground, his body twisted and curled in pain. I took hold of Jim’s shoulder, desperately trying to pull him back.

‘Georgie! Please help!’ I yelled, glancing at her briefly. She hadn’t moved. It looked as if she hadn’t heard me. Feeling my hold on Jim slipping, I lobbed the ball weakly at the other Grubber, muttering the words as it caught him on the shoulder.

Jim’s head and shoulders were protruding through the gap. His body jerked and slid further forwards as the Grubber opposite me briefly released him. The stench of burning was overbearing.

‘Hang on, Jim,’ I breathed, slowly hauling him back into the chamber. We collapsed onto the dusty floor. But as I reached out to pick up the ball, I felt a cold hand press down hard on my arm. The second Grubber leaned over me, a sickly grin on his face. A thin trail of brown smoke drifted into the air from where the ball had caught him, but the force of my throw hadn’t been strong enough.

His face moved in closer and I knew that if I didn’t do something quickly I would be overcome like Georgie and Freddy had been. Reaching out, my fingers stretched taut, I got a fingernail onto the seam of the ball, just managing to roll it backwards.

As the Grubber pressed his face into mine, I rammed the ball in front of his nose, pushing it upwards. There was a loud grinding noise and a
stream of putrid liquid steamed over me as he screamed, jerking and writhing in agony. I could hear his raspy breath and feel the jagged, pointy bones of his rib cage pressing into me. He was somewhere between spirit and body; his flesh was rotten and stinking. He was older than any living thing should be, somehow being kept alive by the mean spirit that dwelled inside him.

His face was just centimetres from mine and I watched in horror as his old, wrinkled skin suddenly shrank, twisting and screwing his face into a pinched scowl. His hair was changing colour from grey to white and falling out in clumps. A tooth fell from somewhere, then another one. I squeezed my eyes shut so I didn’t have to look into his gummy, foulsmelling mouth.

Kicking out with as much force as I could, I rolled away from beneath the Grubber, struggling hard not to vomit.

‘Get out of here,’ Jim called harshly.

‘Is Georgie okay?’

‘Who?’ Jim lay slumped against the side wall, his head resting on his shoulder. There was still no sign of Father Time. Perhaps the fight had taken its toll. ‘Jim, where’s Father Time?’ Jim looked up slowly. ‘Jim, are you all right?’ He nodded absently.

‘Father Time,’ he said, finally. ‘He has been dealt with. Go now.’

‘Were they Grubbers?’ The two beings lay shrivelled and curled on the dusty wooden floor. I’d
thought Grubbers were spirits. How had they been able to manhandle Jim? Maybe there were different types of Grubbers—spirits that could possess people and ones with a physical form.

‘They are bodily guards. They were called to guard Father Time. He obviously recruited some of the Grubbers and was able to maintain their physical form in some way. But go now, before they build up their strength again.’

‘But what about you, Jim? Won’t they try and attack you again?’

‘Toby, when you have gone I will deal with them. But not in front of your eyes.’

‘Do I still have to destroy the scorecard and the first
Wisden
?’ I wasn’t sure that Jim had heard me. Still holding the ball, I turned to face Georgie. She was rooted to the spot, staring absently at the scene in front of her. ‘It’s okay, Georgie,’ I said, drawing my arm back. ‘This doesn’t hurt at all.’

Closing my eyes, I shouted, ‘You’ve been caught out’; then threw the ball firmly at Georgie’s left leg. She buckled over, her face momentarily twisted in agony, then slowly slumped to the floor. ‘Georgie?’ I said, rushing over to her and helping her sit up. ‘Speak to me?’ I turned her head towards me, searching her eyes for some sign of recognition, but she stared back at me blankly.

‘Jim, it didn’t work!’ I screamed, turning on him. Jim raised a wavering arm and pointed at the square boards.

‘Score,’ he gasped, then closed his eyes. ‘Quickly.’ His voice was raspy and faint. I understood straight away what he meant. Hurling myself down the ladder, I got to the middle level then rushed over to a window. The umpire was signalling something, his arm outstretched.

‘No ball,’ I muttered, desperately searching for the extras sign. Sticking my head outside one of the open windows, I glanced back at the front of the board. I finally found it beneath the total score.

‘Here!’ I called out, drawing aside a small wooden peg. I pulled back the wooden number displayed. It was a 4. I flipped it over and slammed the board back into its spot, pushing it flat, then pushed the peg back to keep it in place.

‘Well done,’ Jim said, slowly making his way down the stairs.

‘What about Georgie?’

Jim lifted his head. ‘Go and collect the first
Wisden
and the scorecard, Toby. Hide it away somewhere that only you know about. I can help Georgie; she’s safe here with me.’

‘But you said they had to be destroyed.’ For a moment Jim looked at me blankly. His right eye was twitching. I’d never seen that happen before.

‘Please!’ he whispered. His face was grey and streaked with sweat and his eyes looked distant; empty. I leaned closer, trying to catch the words he was saying.

‘In…scorecard…first
Wisden
. Save you…first
Wisden…
’

Then suddenly his head lolled back and he fell to the floor. For ten minutes I cradled his head in my lap, whispering his name, tears streaming down my face. Slowly his breathing became more regular as his body relaxed.

I tried to make him comfortable but the movement stirred him.

‘Jim, what happened? Are you okay?’ I scanned his face, desperately hoping for a smile that would make everything all right again.

‘Toby.’ His voice was dry and hoarse. Slowly he got to his feet. ‘Go now.’

‘Why?’

‘Go!’ he roared, turning on me. I flinched, taking a step backwards. He took a deep breath. ‘Toby, I am sorry. Please, just do as I say.’ Perhaps the short battle with Father Time had affected Jim in some way.

‘How
did
you defeat him?’ I couldn’t believe that it had all happened so quickly. We both glanced through a long window, hearing the sound of ball hitting bat.

‘It is done. I will look after the scoring here and Georgie too.’

‘You were
stronger
than Father Time?’ I persisted, wanting to find out what had happened. Jim took out a zero and replaced it with a two.

‘He was much weakened because of his time in this wretched place,’ Jim said, pushing home the
number. He walked to the table where the large scorebook was and made an adjustment.

‘David won’t like me borrowing the first
Wisden
. You know how much he treasures that copy.’

‘Who?’ Jim was looking out through one of the windows at the game below.

‘David, the librarian. You know.’ Jim had become very vague.

‘Well, you’re going to have to do what you have to do. Your friend Georgie needs that
Wisden
, Toby.’

‘Will the Grubbers return to the game now?’

‘I believe they will. The ones you have hit with your cricket ball will at least ensure that the Timeless Cricket Match will continue in the short term.’ There was a shout from the field. ‘More runs, Toby. Off you go.’

I took a last glance at Jim and moved quickly to the stairs.

Jay hadn’t moved from his spot in front of the small stand on the far side of the ground. I noticed a few Grubbers watching from the hill further on.

‘Geez, you took your time,’ he snapped, jumping up.

‘Yeah, well I just happened to save Jim from being shoved out of the top floor of the scoreboard,’ I muttered, grabbing him by the arm. I spoke the two lines and suddenly the numbing cold was lifted as we vanished from the Timeless Cricket Match.