The Time Keeper (The Guardians of Time Book 1) (19 page)

‘For understanding.’

‘Aside from David, we’ve only got each other to talk about this kind of stuff with.  So when you need me… I’ll be there,’ he said quietly.

Chapter 24

Stacey answered the door at Emilia’s knock and gave her the once over.  ‘No broken bones or visible signs of illness, I see,’ she drawled sarcastically.  She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed and eyes glittering hostilely.  Stacey wasn’t exactly known for giving second chances.  ‘So how come my supposed best friend missed one of the most important nights of my life so far?’

On the drive over Emilia had finally figured out how she was going to make it up to Stace and give her a birthday present she would never forget.  The only problem was first she had to get Stace to listen to her.

‘If you’ll let me in, I can answer that question and a whole lot more.  I’m really sorry I missed your birthday, Stace, but there
is
a good reason,’ she said quietly.

Stacey stepped back and waved Emilia in, but her face was still stony.  Leading the way to her bedroom, Stacey closed the door behind them and sat cross-legged in the middle of her unmade bed.  ‘I’m listening.’

Emilia perched on the edge of the bed and licked her lips nervously.  She had decided to take a leap of faith and tell Stace the truth about what she’d been up to for the last few weeks.

‘The day after our graduation party my Dad gave me a present.’  She pulled the antique pendant out from under her shirt. 

Stacey’s eyebrows lifted disdainfully.  ‘You want to show me a present given to you?  That’s a bit off, don’t you think, considering the glaring absence of your birthday present to
me
?’

‘I’ll get to your present soon.  But first I need you to do something for me… I need you to believe what I’m about to tell you.’  She paused and sighed at the unforgiving look on Stacey’s face.  ‘It’s going to sound a little, well actually a lot, crazy, but I promise everything I’m about to tell you is completely true.’

Stacey studied her nails with a bored expression.  ‘Your promises don’t seem to mean much lately.’

Emilia ducked her head, fighting back tears.  Stacey meant the world to her and she
needed
to get through to her.  She couldn’t lose her.  ‘I know you hate me right now but will you just listen for a few minutes…
please
?’ she begged quietly.

‘Alright.  Talk.’

Popping open the pendant to make the tiny cogs visible, Emilia passed it to Stacey.  ‘It’s not jewellery, it’s a time piece.’  Taking a deep breath, she plunged in.  ‘Or more to the point, it’s a time travel device.’

Stacey’s head shot up, the indifferent front faltering ever so slightly.  ‘Huh?’

‘Sounds crazy, right?  But it’s true.  Time travelling runs in my family… but it’s not just a fun thing.  It’s kind of like a job.  In a nutshell, I work for this Society who send us back into the past to save certain people who died but need to live for some reason or another.  I only vaguely understand all the ins and outs of that part, but that’s what I’ve been doing for the last few weeks.’

Stace being Stace, she picked up on the only thing she deemed important.  ‘
Who
do you mean when you say
us
?’

‘Seb and I.’

‘So he’s a time traveller too?’ she asked sceptically.

‘No.  I mean he is, but he can’t travel without me.’  Emilia pinched the bridge of her nose.  She was explaining this so badly and Stacey was looking at her like she had an extra head.  ‘I’m the Time Keeper.  Seb is the Magic Maker.’

‘He can do magic?’

Emilia nodded.

Stacey leaned forward, finally interested in what Emilia was telling her.  ‘What can he do?’

‘All sorts of stuff.  I don’t really know the limitations yet.  He can produce flowers out of thin air, make us appear invisible, create some pretty impressive illusions, that sort of thing.’  Emilia shrugged.

‘That just makes him so much hotter!’

‘Huh.  Somehow it doesn’t surprise me you’d think that,’ Emilia responded ruefully.

‘I’m still not entirely sure you aren’t making this whole thing up, but if you’re not, what were you doing for the last few days?’

‘We were in World War Two Paris looking for a man named Henri.’  Emilia explained everything that had happened over the course of the time she’d been gone, including the crazy kiss she and Seb had shared because she knew Stace would love that bit.  ‘Being in the eternal darkness of the catacombs, I had no idea how much time had passed.  We got back a few hours ago and I still thought it was Saturday morning until Dad disillusioned me.  I’m so sorry, Stace.  I really am.’

‘Yeah, okay.  I guess saving someone’s life excuses you… but only just.’  She grinned then and Emilia drew her first easy breath in several hours.  ‘But you’re going to have to make it up to me with a truly outstanding present.’

‘I’ve got one.’  Emilia swallowed nervously.  She wasn’t sure if she was allowed to do what she had planned, but since she didn’t know for certain she was going to do it anyway… plausible deniability and all that.  ‘What would you say if I told you I could take you back to the day Dex died and we could stop it from happening?’

Stacey froze, her eyes wide and vulnerable.  ‘You can do that?’

‘If it’s what you want.’

‘Of course it’s what I want, more than anything!’  Stacey scrambled off the bed, her silvery hair streaming behind her.  ‘Yes!  Let’s do it!  Can we go now?’

Emilia smiled and nodded.  ‘Pretty much.  We just need to work out the details first so I know exactly what time to take us back to.  This is probably a dumb question, but do you remember the events of that day leading up to Dex’s death?’

‘Yes, even though I wasn’t home,’ Stacey sat back down on the bed beside Emilia, her voice gravelly with pain.  ‘It was a few days after Dex had graduated and I remember it being a really hot day.  You and I had gone to the lake for a swim.  My parents were both at work, so Dex was home alone, probably playing video games or reading, that sort of thing.’

‘I remember that day,’ Emilia interrupted softly.  ‘That was the day Ian lost control of his jet ski and crashed it into the side of that really big yacht.  He was lucky he didn’t break his neck!’

  ‘Yep, that’s the one.  There must have been something in the air that day.’  Stacey’s mouth twisted into an almost smile.  ‘You know Dex; he wasn’t big on the outdoors.  I spoke to Trish, his girlfriend, at the funeral and she was wracked with guilt because she’d rung and asked him to come over, so of course he went.  Except not straightaway, because he told her he had to clean up the kitchen before Mum came home.’ 

She smiled properly this time.  ‘He was always so good like that, a regular suck up!  And look where it got him!  If he’d just left straight away he wouldn’t have been at that intersection when the truck ran the red light.’

‘If only he’d been a lazy slob like his little sister,’ Emilia teased.

Stacey stuck her tongue out at her.

‘Well that makes it super easy,’ Emilia continued.  ‘All we need to do is go back and clean up your kitchen before Dex does.  He’ll leave as soon as Trish rings and be well clear of that truck.’

‘Sounds like a plan,’ Stacey said with a conspiratorial grin. 

Emilia reached for the pendant, which Stacey had discarded on the bed, and put it back around her neck.  She swivelled the cogs to set the time and then looked back up at Stace.  ‘Are you ready for this?’

‘Definitely.’

Linking her hand with Stacey’s, she willed them back to the day Dex had died so tragically.

Chapter 25

Two years ago, Ithaca

There were dishes stacked on both sides of the bench, glasses filled the sink and the bin was overflowing with rubbish, some of which was actually growing mould! 

Emilia gazed around her in dismay.  ‘What happened here?’

‘I don’t remem… no wait, Mum was pulling double shifts at the hospital because there was some kind of nasty flu going through all the nursing staff.  She was hardly home for about a week and Dad’s always worked long hours.’  She turned in a slow circle.  ‘I would have been not quite seventeen then and clearly going through an unhelpful stage, so I guess things just got out of hand with Mum not being here.’

‘That explains why Dex suddenly decided he needed to deal with the kitchen.  It’s pretty disgusting!’  Emilia pulled up the sleeves of her jumper.  ‘How about you deal with the rubbish while I start the dishes.’

‘Okay,’ Stacey said on a sigh.  She may be two years older but she still wasn’t exactly keen on cleaning.

Emilia loaded the dishwasher until it was almost overflowing and set it going with a bigger than usual dose of washing powder.  Filling the sink with hot soapy water, she started hand washing the rest of the dishes.  There must have been at least a week’s worth of empty frozen dinner packets stacked beside the microwave, which Stacey was throwing into a bag to go into the recycling bin.  If Emilia had known back then what was going on, she would have asked Marion to cook a few extra meals for Stacey’s family.

Footsteps came pounding down the stairs and a few seconds later Dex rounded the corner into the kitchen, drawing to an abrupt halt when he saw the two girls.  He was tall and lean like Stace, with a narrow face and gentle, pale blue eyes.  His hair was darker than hers, more blonde than silver and he wore it slightly too long, which kind of suited his studious, borderline-geeky personality.

Stacey looked up from the bag she was filling and gasped.  Emilia saw her bottom lip start to tremble but was seconds too slow to intercede. Stacey had already shoved aside the bag and launched herself at her big brother.

‘Dex!’  She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug and then stepped back to inspect him.  ‘You look so good!’

‘Huh?’  Dex was looking at her strangely.  As well he might, since Stace wasn’t usually physically demonstrative.  He glanced down at his standard faded jeans and red t-shirt, which had some kind of Einstein quote on it.  ‘Are you okay?’

Stacey nodded and seemed to realise her mistake.  ‘I’ve been pretty horrible lately and I just wanted to make it up to you.’

‘By telling me I look good?’ he asked, still puzzled. 

‘Yeah, and by doing some cleaning up around here.  I know I haven’t been pulling my weight.’  She swept her arm grandly to take in the chaos of the kitchen.

Dex followed her arm with his eyes until they landed on Emilia, who was still standing in front of the sink, her arms elbow-deep in soapsuds.  His face turned faintly red.  So Stace hadn’t been making it up when she’d said Dex had had a crush on her.

‘Hey, Em.’  He lifted his hand in a half wave and then seemed to realise how lame that was and dropped his arm back to his side.  The blush got a little deeper.

‘Hey, Dex,’ she replied cheerfully.  ‘You look like you’re on your way out.’

‘Yeah.  But hey, I don’t want you guys to have to do all the work.  I can stay back for a few minutes and help.’

‘No!’ both girls shouted at once.

Dex threw his hands up in the air, backing away towards the door.  ‘Okay, okay… no help needed.  Got it.’  He pointed in the direction of the garage.  ‘I’ll just be going then.’

As he wandered off they could hear him muttering about something strange going on in the house.  Stacey shot a happy smile Emilia’s way.

Once Dex had closed the door into the garage behind him, Stacey turned to Emilia.  ‘Now that he’s gone we can ditch the clean-up,’ she said with satisfaction.

‘No we can’t,’ Emilia admonished.  ‘Do you think Dex won’t notice when he gets home that we haven’t done it?  And then he’s going to have a go at your sixteen-year-old self, who isn’t going to know what on earth he’s talking about.  That’s going to mess with his head… and yours!’

‘I guess you’re right.’

The door into the house burst open and Dex came stomping back in, his hands covered in grease. 

‘Why haven’t you left already?’ Stacey wailed.

‘Stupid flat tyre.  I had to change it and now I’m filthy!’  He walked towards the stairs.  ‘I’m going to take a shower before I go.’

Stacey went scuttling after him and grabbed his arm.  ‘Don’t be ridiculous!  You’re not
that
dirty.  Just wash your hands and pull on a fresh t-shirt.  Trish won’t care!’

Dex rolled his eyes.  ‘Why are you so keen to get rid of me?  The tyre didn’t come off easily and I’m all sweaty.  I’d rather keep Trish waiting an extra ten minutes than turn up smelly.  When you get a boyfriend you’ll understand.’

He shook off her hand and loped up the stairs.  Stacey spun towards Emilia, who had moved to the doorway to watch the exchange.

‘What if…?’

Emilia held up her hand.  ‘Seconds make all the difference with this kind of thing, Stace.  We don’t know how long it took him to clean the kitchen, compared to how long it takes to change a tyre and shower.  We’ll just have to wait.’  She paused.  ‘If he still dies, we’ll come back again, a bit earlier, and change his tyre ourselves if we have to.’

‘You’re right.  I’m being over-dramatic.  I just need this to work so badly, Em.’  Stacey rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms, her shoulders taut with tension.

‘I know.  It’ll work,’ Emilia reassured her.  She hoped she was telling the truth.  What if there was some kind of cosmic order preventing certain people from being saved when they were supposed to die?  What if every time they came back something else would go wrong and Dex would still die?  There was no way Stacey could come out of that emotionally unscathed… and it would be Emilia’s fault.

Dex raced out the door ten minutes later.  Nervous energy had both girls cleaning frantically, not just the kitchen but all the living areas and bathrooms too.  Once everything was done, Emilia collapsed on the couch while Stacey paced up and down the lounge room.  Waiting for Dex to come home was excruciating.

Stacey’s head spun around at the sound of a key turning in the front door.

‘That will be my younger self coming home from the lake,’ she hissed.  ‘Quick, follow me.’

Emilia jumped to her feet and raced after Stacey who was heading outside through the laundry door.  They circled around the back until they were at the side of the garage, where Stacey pointed up towards the old tree house they had played in as kids.

‘We’ll have a good view of the driveway from up there,’ she whispered.  ‘And no one uses it anymore so we won’t be seen.’

Emilia nodded and followed after Stacey.  One of the wooden footholds had long since fallen off the tree trunk, but they were taller now so it was an easy stretch up to the next one.  Once inside, they settled against a wall that gave them a good view through the window opposite and waited.

‘I wish Seb was here,’ Emilia murmured.

‘Ha.  See I knew you liked him!’ Stacey crowed delightedly.

‘It’s not that.  I haven’t eaten since breakfast and I’m starving!  Seb could have waved his hand and produced us some food… whatever we felt like.’

‘Oh.  That’s pretty cool.’

‘Yeah.  But next time you see him, don’t let on that you know.  I’m not sure if he’d appreciate me sharing his secrets,’ she said guiltily.  ‘But it was kind of hard to tell you what was going on and leave him out of the explanation.’

Stacey smiled.  ‘I’m glad you’re doing this with him.  He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to the phone call one day when you tell me the two of you have taken your partnership to a more romantic level.’

‘I’m going to break up with Justin,’ Emilia blurted, keen to get it off her chest.

‘Well, about time!’  Stacey looked at her sideways.  ‘Because of Seb?’

Emilia shook her head.  ‘No.  You were right about Justin being self-centred.  I guess I hadn’t really seen it.  Probably because I was too busy being grateful he’d picked me out of everyone else at school.’  She looked down at her lap where her fingers were fiddling with a pebble she’d picked up off the floor of the tree house.  ‘I’m not breaking up with him because I want to be with Seb.  But spending so much time with Seb has made me realise how…
nice
it is to be around a guy who treats me like I matter and has an interest in me as a person.’

Stacey nodded sagely.  ‘Are you in love with Seb?’

Emilia’s head shot up.  ‘No!  I like him as a friend and I’ll admit I’m a little bit attracted to him, but we’re working partners and that’s all.’

‘Working partners who
kiss
!’ Stacey pointed out cheekily.

‘That was a one off and kind of how we dealt with the fear and stress of the situation we’d been in.  It didn’t mean anything to either one of us.’

‘Uh huh.  We’ll see about that,’ Stacey murmured.  ‘So when are you going to tell Justin?’

‘Tonight, if we get back in time.  I don’t want to drag it out, but I needed to fix things between us first.  You’re more important.’

‘Naturally,’ Stacey said with a pleased smile.  ‘We’re all good now and now I know what’s going on I’ll be a whole lot more understanding about your absences.’

‘Thanks.’

‘I had a thought while we were doing all the mind-numbing cleaning… since time travel and magic are real, what about vampires, werewolves, fairies and those sorts of thing?’

Surprise rendered Emilia silent for a moment.  ‘You know that never occurred to me and I honestly don’t know.  I’m not sure we really want vampires and werewolves roaming around Ithaca though, do we?’

Stacey grinned wickedly.  ‘Oh I don’t know.  There are certain vampires I’d be quite happy to invite into my house!’

Emilia laughed, knowing she was referring to their mutual TV love affair with bad boy vampire, Damon Salvatore.  ‘True that.’

Stacey’s grin disappeared and she stared out the window, willing Dex’s car to turn into the driveway.  ‘I just wish he’d come home so I know everything’s going to be okay.’

‘The other vehicle would have hit him roughly ten minutes after he left, right?’

Stace nodded.

‘It would have taken a while to get him out of his mangled car, then he would have been taken to the hospital and it probably took some time to identify him,’ Emilia mused.  ‘What time did the cops turn up on your doorstep to tell you all there’d been an accident?’

‘They didn’t,’ Stacey said.  ‘Mum was working at the hospital that day.  The cops found her and told her there.  I don’t know when exactly that would have been and she would have called Dad first, but she came home to tell me not long after I’d arrived home.  Probably now-ish.’

They simultaneously turned to the window, crawling forward until each sat on one side of the window frame.  Emilia reached across the gap and linked her hand with Stacey’s.

Time passed, she didn’t know how much but it felt like an eternity.  Except with each minute that Stacey’s mother didn’t arrive home a little more hope blossomed in Emilia’s chest. 

Finally, as dusk began to descend, a red car turned into the driveway.

‘That’s Dex’s car!’ Stacey breathed.  ‘He’s alive!’ 

Slowly they turned to look at each other and then they both collapsed onto the floor, laughing and crying at the same time.  Emilia had never felt as relieved as she did at that moment.

‘We did it,’ she whispered when she eventually stopped laughing.

‘Thank you,’ Stacey said around the lump in her throat as she wrapped Emilia in her arms and hugged her fiercely.  ‘Best present ever.’

Emilia chuckled and, closing her hand around her timepiece, willed them back to Stacey’s bedroom in their own time.