Double Trouble Read online

  JUDI CURTIN

  Double Trouble

  Illustrated by Sara Flavell

  PUFFIN

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Judi was born in London and grew up in Cork. She now lives in Limerick with her family. She has three children and a cat called Domino. Domino does not have any superpowers – as far as she knows. In her spare time, Judi likes to read, play Scrabble and grow tomatoes.

  Books by Judi Curtin

  FRIENDS FOREVER: THE TIME SPELL

  FRIENDS FOREVER: DOUBLE TROUBLE

  For Dan, Brian, Ellen and Annie

  1

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ I said. ‘I just can’t believe it.’

  ‘It’s not all that bad,’ said Tilly.

  ‘Of course it’s that bad. We work really hard all week, and then Mrs Simms announces that we’ve got to spend the whole weekend doing a history project. That so isn’t fair.’

  ‘Look on the bright side. We’re allowed to work in pairs, and Mrs Simms said we can work on any history topic that interests us.’

  ‘But what if there’s no history topic that interests me so much that I’d want to spend a whole weekend working on it?’

  ‘You could try explaining that to Mrs Simms on Monday?’

  I shook my head. ‘No way. She’d kill me.’

  ‘The project won’t seem like such a big deal once we’ve done the first bit. Come on – let’s go over to your place and we can get started.’

  I knew she was right, but that really didn’t make me feel any better.

  When we got to my house, I could hear loud voices coming from an open upstairs window. It was my mum and my big sister Amy having one of their daily shouting matches.

  I groaned and made a face at Tilly.

  ‘Don’t make me go in there,’ I said. ‘They’ll want me to take sides. I’ll do my best, but no matter what I do, in an hour’s time, Mum and Amy will be best friends again, and they’ll both be cross with me.’

  ‘Let’s sit out here for a while then,’ said Tilly, flinging herself on to the bench on the green outside my house.

  As I sat next to her, I wriggled free of my schoolbag and flung it on to the grass. I wished that I’d never have to see it again.

  On the other side of the green, my little brother, Stephen, and his friends were playing soccer.

  After a few minutes, my cat Saturn appeared from the bushes and came to cuddle in my arms.

  ‘I still think he’s the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen,’ said Tilly.

  I couldn’t argue with her – Saturn is amazing. He’s a Turkish Angora cat, with silky white fur and the most incredible mismatched eyes, one blue and the other green.

  ‘Guess what, Lauren,’ said Tilly, as she stroked Saturn’s soft fur. ‘I have a secret.’

  I smiled. I love hearing secrets. ‘Well – out with it.’

  Tilly shook her head. ‘No. I started this, so you have to tell me a secret first.’

  ‘But I haven’t got any secrets,’ I protested. ‘I tell you everything.’

  Suddenly I noticed that Saturn was staring at me. I love Saturn deeply, but sometimes he scares me a bit.

  Sometimes I feel he knows what’s going on inside my head.

  And while most cats probably only think about saucers of milk and rooms full of fat, lame mice, I had a weird feeling that Saturn was thinking of something else.

  He jumped out of my arms and went to lie in the shade nearby. He still stared at me, though, and I couldn’t help feeling that his huge odd eyes were accusing me.

  You see, I did have a secret. I had a very, very big secret. And I had often thought of sharing it with Tilly.

  But it was too big. It was too incredible.

  But now Tilly was looking at me too, as if she was waiting for me to say something. And she has these piercing, pale blue eyes, and when she stares at me like that, I start to feel really nervous. And she is my very, very best friend.

  So I started to talk.

  Much, much later, I realized that Tilly hadn’t interrupted once, which sooo isn’t like her. She twiddled with her hair the way she always does when she’s trying to figure something out.

  ‘Please say something,’ I said, when the silence became too much for me.

  Tilly took a deep breath. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that Saturn has strange powers and that he dragged you back to the past; and that you spent days and days there, even though no time passed here; and that you made friends with all these people who are dead now; and that you ended up on the Titanic and managed to escape just before it sank, and … you expect me to believe you?’

  ‘Well, actually, yes.’

  ‘Have you got any proof?’

  I sighed. Tilly has a very logical mind. For her, everything is about proof.

  I thought for a minute. There had to be a way of convincing Tilly that I was telling the truth. But Tilly is smart. She wouldn’t be fooled by me getting a chunk of ice from the freezer and telling her it was part of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

  She was going to need real proof.

  There was the medal that one of my friends from 1912 had given me – but I could have found that lying in the street, or picked it up in an antique shop.

  There was the fact that I know heaps of stuff about the Titanic – but I could have found all that out on the Internet.

  And there was my old fleece, which ended up in a photograph that was taken in the 1930s – but that photo was far away in a little village near Cork.

  I knew I was wasting my time. I could hardly believe this crazy story myself, so how on earth could I expect Tilly to believe it?

  I was starting to feel sorry that I’d mentioned it.

  ‘This isn’t working, Lauren,’ said Tilly in the end. ‘I know you made this whole thing up, so you might as well be honest and admit it.’

  ‘You’re right,’ I said quickly. ‘I just made it up. Good story, though, wasn’t it?’

  She grinned. ‘Great story. That’s why you always get such high marks for your English essays – you’ve got a great imagination. Now will I tell you my secret?’

  I’d managed to forget all about Tilly’s secret.

  ‘Go ahead,’ I said.

  Tilly went slightly red, and then she whispered, ‘There’s this guy who’s moved into a house near me, and he’s really kind of cute.’

  I laughed. ‘That’s it? That’s your big secret?’

  ‘OK, so it’s not a brilliant secret, but at least it’s true. Not like your makey-uppy time-travel story.’

  I knew I’d hurt her, and I felt bad.

  ‘I’m sorry, Tilly,’ I said. ‘That’s a great secret. Why do
n’t I call over to your place tomorrow, and maybe we can get to know this guy?’

  She put her arm round me. ‘Thanks, Lauren,’ she said.

  Just then Saturn jumped into Tilly’s arms. She stroked him and he purred loudly.

  ‘Your house has gone quiet,’ said Tilly. ‘Maybe it’s safe to go inside and get started on that project.’

  I nodded and stood up to go inside. I stopped suddenly, though, as Tilly cried out. I could see that Saturn was shaking like a small leaf in a very big storm.

  ‘Shhh, Saturn,’ I said softly. ‘It’s OK.’

  I bent down to rub him, but he just continued to shake in Tilly’s arms as he stared at the blank patch of grass in front of us.

  Saturn had only behaved like this once before.

  I started to feel very, very afraid.

  ‘Tilly, I think we’d better …’ I began to say, but I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  There was a familiar blinding light and a loud, loud noise. It was like a disco scene from a bad horror movie. I reached for Tilly’s hand and held it tightly.

  Tilly, I wanted to say. You have to be brave. Things are going to get very weird very soon.

  But how can you say anything when your cheeks are rattling and your eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out?

  So I closed my eyes as tightly as I could and hoped for the best.

  2

  When I opened my eyes, I was sitting on a dusty road that ran between two fields. Tilly was sitting next to me, using one hand to rub her eyes and the other to cling on to Saturn. Tilly’s schoolbag was on her back, but there was no sign of mine. I had a horrible feeling that it was still on the grass in front of our house.

  I stood up and looked around. For as far as I could see, there were only fields and more fields – but they weren’t fields like I’m used to. These were cracked, dry, yellow fields, and when I stared at them I thought I could see the air above them shimmering in the heat.

  ‘Where are we?’ whispered Tilly.

  ‘I have no idea,’ I whispered back, wondering why we both felt the need to be so quiet.

  ‘And how did we get here?’

  I had the benefit of experience. I pointed at Saturn, who was lazily licking his lips.

  ‘I’m thinking that Saturn brought us here. I told you he has magical powers.’

  ‘But you made all that stuff up. You even admitted that it was just a story.’

  I ignored her.

  ‘Saturn’s probably brought us back in time,’ I said.

  ‘Time travel is impossible,’ said Tilly. ‘I accept that something strange has happened, and we don’t seem to be sitting in front of your house any more, but there has to be a logical explanation.’

  I looked around and tried to figure things out. We were in the middle of the countryside, with no buildings to guide us, but still I was fairly sure that we weren’t in the twenty-first century.

  ‘This has to be the past,’ I said in the end. ‘There are no telephone lines and no electrical masts. There’s no sound of cars or any other kind of engines. Look up, Tilly. Why are there no planes, or white jet trails in the sky?’

  ‘Maybe because we’re in the future? Maybe we’ve skipped forward to the twenty-fifth century and all the telephone lines are invisible. Maybe cars are so fast we can’t see or hear them, and jets don’t leave trails in the sky any more.’

  ‘Wow! Do you really think so?’

  She made a face. ‘No, Lauren, I don’t think so. Like I said, time travel doesn’t make any sense. It’s impossible. I don’t know where exactly we are, but I know it’s still Friday. And the date is still the same as the one I wrote at the top of my homework diary half an hour ago.’

  Then I thought of something else.

  ‘Look at my phone,’ I said, reaching for my schoolbag. Then I remembered that my phone and my schoolbag were still on the grass at home.

  ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘I think my phone might be very far away from here. Have you got yours?’

  Tilly opened her schoolbag and took out her phone.

  ‘Try calling someone,’ I said.

  Tilly shook her head. ‘I can’t. I don’t seem to have a signal.’

  ‘You see,’ I said. ‘That proves it. We’ve gone back in time.’

  Tilly shook her head. ‘All that proves is that we seem to be somewhere remote – very remote.’

  I sighed. ‘Why can’t you just believe me, Tilly? It’s like I told you. Saturn can go back in time. Last time he brought me, and this time he’s brought both of us. I know it’s scary but –’

  ‘It’s not scary because it’s not true,’ Tilly interrupted. ‘Like I said before, there has to be a logical explanation. We seem to be in some faraway place, and we need to find someone who can give us a lift home, that’s all.’

  I felt a sudden burst of anger.

  ‘When I last travelled back in time, I was scared at first because I was on my own,’ I said. ‘But with you here, everything could be different. This could be an amazing adventure for the two of us, but you’re spoiling it because you won’t believe what’s happening right in front of you.’

  As I spoke, I could feel my eyes filling up with tears.

  Tilly stood up and hugged me, squashing Saturn between us. ‘I don’t want to fight with you, Lauren,’ she said. ‘But you’re not a baby. I can’t pretend to believe something just to keep you happy.’

  ‘Don’t believe it to make me happy,’ I said. ‘Believe it because it’s true.’

  She hesitated. ‘How about you believe what you want, and I’ll believe what I want, and then we’ll see what happens?’

  I wiped my eyes and nodded. I knew she’d believe me in the end. It was only a matter of time.

  Just then, Saturn jumped out of Tilly’s arms and began to walk along the road.

  ‘Should we follow him?’ asked Tilly.

  I shrugged. ‘I don’t really know.’

  ‘Well, you’re supposed to be the expert. What did you do the last time you time-travelled?’

  She used her fingers to mime quotation marks round time-travelled.

  ‘I know you’re mocking me, Tilly,’ I said. ‘And I don’t care. And, for your information, last time I did follow Saturn.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I ended up on the Titanic.’

  ‘That sounds like fun,’ said Tilly, giggling. ‘Ending up on a ship that’s about to sink into the icy ocean.’

  I had to giggle too. ‘Well, it wasn’t exactly fun at first, but it all turned out OK in the end.’

  ‘So we follow Saturn, that’s the rule?’

  ‘I don’t know anything about rules. It’s just that if we lose Saturn, I have a funny feeling that we’ll never get back home.’

  ‘So what are we waiting for?’ said Tilly as she started to run. ‘Come on, Lauren. Last one to Saturn is a dirty rotten time traveller.’

  We soon caught up with Saturn and for a while we walked slowly along the road after him. The sun was shining and it was really hot. I wished I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt instead of my warm, scratchy school uniform.

  ‘I am so thirsty,’ said Tilly for the hundredth time. ‘I hope we come to a shop or a restaurant soon.’

  I sighed. ‘We have no idea where or when we are. Maybe shops don’t exist in this time and place.’

  Tilly rolled her eyes and didn’t reply.

  Much later, we were sitting in the shade of a tree. Saturn was perfectly relaxed, curled up in a ball beside us. I was just about to drop off to sleep when I heard the distant sound of horses’ hooves. Tilly jumped to her feet.

  ‘At last!’ she said. ‘We’re rescued. We’ll be back home before we know it.’

  Suddenly I felt uneasy.

  ‘Tilly?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘What if the people here aren’t nice? What if we’ve landed in a plac
e where everyone is mean and vicious?’

  ‘Saturn wouldn’t bring us to a place like that, would you, Saturn?’

  Saturn looked up at the sound of his name and stared at us for a minute. Then he rested his head on his paws and closed his eyes.

  As the sound of the hooves came closer, my heart started to beat faster.

  Tilly picked up her schoolbag and dusted off her clothes. I wondered why she wasn’t scared. Was she incredibly brave? Or incredibly foolish?

  ‘Maybe we should hide,’ I said, but it was too late. Round the bend came two huge horses pulling a big chariot-like thing behind them. On the chariot were two men and a boy of about fifteen. All three were wearing knee-length dresses, which might have looked funny, except that I was in no mood for laughing.

  Saturn gave a whimper and scuttled up to the top of the tree. If it had been a stronger-looking tree, I think I’d have followed him.

  ‘OMIGOD!’ whispered Tilly. ‘Please say these people are on their way to a very elaborate fancy-dress party.’

  ‘Would you believe me if I did?’

  ‘I’d really want to,’ she whispered.

  But I knew this was no fancy-dress party. I’d been right all along – we had gone back in time.

  Usually, being right is nice, but at that moment I very much wished that I had been wrong. This whole thing was starting to get a bit scary.

  The chariot stopped and the three people jumped down. The boy held the horses’ heads while the two men walked slowly towards us.

  For a minute, the only sound was of the horses’ stamping feet and the rattle of their harnesses.

  One man pointed at our school uniforms and they both laughed. Then the other man spoke in a language I’d never heard before.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ said Tilly bravely. ‘We don’t speak … well, whatever language you’re speaking, we don’t speak it. You don’t happen to speak English, do you?’

  The men stared at her, then one man pointed at me.

  ‘I think they want you to say something,’ said Tilly.

  ‘Er … my friend and I are a bit thirsty,’ I said. ‘Do you know if there’s anywhere around here where we can get something to drink?’