The Time Spell Read online

  All I wanted was not to be right there, right then.

  Just as the first hot tears were filling my eyes, I heard a distinctive, hoarse miaow. I turned round to see a small girl standing in a line, a little bit away from me. She had a pale, round face and tiny, dark eyes. She had long, blonde curly hair and was wearing a silk dress with a big lace collar. She looked a lot like the china doll my granny gave me for my seventh birthday. In her arms was a hairy white bundle.

  ‘Saturn,’ I whispered with relief.

  I ran towards them. ‘Hey,’ I said. ‘Sorry, but that’s my cat.’

  The girl stuck her tongue out at me and shoved Saturn into the basket she was carrying. Saturn blinked at me once with his green and blue eyes and then curled up, as if a nap in this little girl’s basket was exactly what he had been dreaming of for years. The girl stuck her tongue out at me a second time and covered Saturn with a pink fluffy blanket.

  She sooo wasn’t getting away with that.

  As I reached to put my hand into the basket, the woman standing next to the girl turned round. She looked at me like I smelled bad, which might have been true since it was nearly a hundred years since I’d had a good hot shower.

  ‘Go away, you nasty little thief,’ she said in an icy voice. ‘Or I’ll call the police.’

  ‘But she’s got my cat,’ I said.

  ‘I’ve never heard such an outrageous lie. I don’t see any cat,’ said the woman haughtily. ‘Now come along, Ernestine, before you catch something nasty from that dirty girl.’

  Ernestine gave me a sly smile. ‘Yes, Mother,’ she said.

  Before I could say anything else, the woman showed some papers to a man. He looked at them and then handed them back to her.

  ‘There you go, Mrs Jones,’ he said. ‘Have a safe journey.’

  Then Ernestine and her mother made their way along a wide, wooden walkway, leading towards one of the small boats. They sat on a bench on the deck of the boat, and the girl turned back and gazed at me with a small smile lurking at the edges of her pale, thin lips.

  I raced towards the walkway, but the man stepped forward to stop me.

  ‘Not so quick,’ he said. ‘Let’s see your ticket.’

  ‘I don’t have a ticket. I don’t want to go anywhere. Well, actually, I do want to go somewhere, but not anywhere the boat can take me. I just need to talk to that little girl over there – just for one second. She’s got something that belongs to me.’

  Ernestine quickly turned her back towards me and snuggled closer to her mother.

  The sailor looked at their fancy clothes and then at my shabby brown dress.

  ‘A likely story, you young ragamuffin,’ he said. ‘Now run along before I call the police.’

  That was the second time in a few minutes that I’d been threatened with the police. I was turning into a one-girl crime wave. Tilly would laugh when I told her – if I ever saw Tilly again, or got the chance to tell her anything.

  I could see two sailors beginning to unwind the rope that was holding the boat tied to the dock. I could hear the grinding noise of the engine, and then the boat pulled off from the shore.

  I stood and watched in horror. Second by second, the boat was getting further and further away. It was taking Saturn, and with him, any chance I had of getting back to my future.

  Suddenly it was all too frightening for me. Tears poured down my cheeks and I began to sob loudly.

  ‘Dear, dear me. You really are having a bad day, aren’t you?’

  I turned to see the kind old man who had helped me when I fell.

  ‘May I do anything at all to assist you?’ he asked.

  I pointed out to sea. ‘I have to get to that boat. My ca–’ I stopped suddenly. He seemed like a very kind man, but would he help me if I told him I had lost my cat?

  I couldn’t take any chances.

  ‘My mother,’ I corrected myself. ‘My mother has gone on that boat. I have to get to her. It’s very important.’

  ‘Now, now,’ he said. ‘Surely your mother wouldn’t leave without you?’

  I had to think quickly.

  ‘Of course she wouldn’t. But you see, she thinks I’m on the boat. And I was on it for a minute. But then I ran off for a second to say goodbye to my friend. That’s when you saw me – when I fell down. But when I came back, the boat was gone.’

  The man stared at me through his small, gold-rimmed glasses.

  ‘You wouldn’t tell me a lie, would you, young lady?’

  I looked as innocent as I could and crossed my fingers behind my back.

  ‘No, sir. I swear it. I would never tell you a lie.’

  If this wasn’t so very, very important.

  He smiled as he took me by the arm.

  ‘Well, I think I might be able to help you,’ he said. ‘As you know already, that small boat is going out to the big boat. And just along the quayside here, there’s another boat that’s going to do exactly the same thing. So if you will allow me to help you to get on the second boat, you’ll be back with your mother before she even realizes that you are missing.’

  This was getting more complicated than I had hoped for. I really wasn’t sure that I wanted to go on either the big boat or the little boat. But I had to get Saturn back and I couldn’t see how I was going to manage this by staying on dry land.

  So I smiled at the man. ‘Thank you, sir,’ I said. ‘That’s very kind of you.’

  The man led me along the dock to where there was another boat, just like the first. There was a line of people waiting their turn to board. Luckily a different sailor was checking tickets, and he almost bowed as my finely dressed new friend went up to him.

  ‘What can I do for you, sir?’ he asked.

  ‘This little lady has managed to get separated from her mother, who has left on the other tender.’

  The ticket checker looked a bit doubtful, but my friend persisted.

  ‘I cannot stand by and see this poor girl stranded without her mother.’ His voice was gentle, but he sounded like a man who was used to being obeyed.

  The ticket checker still didn’t move and I could see that my new friend was getting impatient.

  ‘You must have a list of passengers so that you can check,’ he said. ‘Tell the gentleman your name, young lady.’

  I gulped. Why did there always have to be a catch?

  And then I had a sudden flash of inspiration.

  ‘Ernestine,’ I said. ‘My name is Ernestine Jones.’

  The ticket checker ran a dirty finger along a list of names.

  ‘There’s a Mrs Jones and her daughter Ernestine.’

  I grinned. ‘Yup. That’s me. I’m Ernestine Jones.’

  ‘But you and your mother are meant to be on the other boat. And you don’t have a ticket.’

  I knew he was weakening, so I dived into the argument.

  ‘That’s the whole point,’ I said. ‘You see, Mrs … I mean, my mother has accidentally gone without me. And she has my ticket in her backpa– I mean, her purse. She is going to be frightfully worried.’

  I was very convincing – so convincing that I almost believed my own story. I took a deep breath and started to cry real tears.

  The old man patted me on the head. ‘There, there,’ he said kindly.

  He glared at the ticket checker. ‘This young lady needs to be reunited with her mother without further delay. If you don’t allow her to board, I shall have no alternative than to speak to your superiors.’

  The ticket checker reluctantly stood back to allow me to pass on to the boat. I raced along the walkway and stood on the deck.

  I turned to wave my thanks to my new best friend, but he had already vanished.

  We seemed to travel for miles, and soon Queenstown was only a hazy blur in the distance. The rocking of the boat was starting to make me feel a bit sick, so I sat on a bench and closed my eyes. I
tried to imagine what I’d do when I saw Saturn again – I was torn between kissing him and strangling him.

  After a while, the gasps of the other passengers disturbed my thoughts. I opened my eyes.

  ‘OMIGOD,’ I whispered to no one in particular.

  We were next to the biggest ship I had ever, ever seen. I felt dizzy as I gazed up at the huge expanse of steel. It was like Tilly’s favourite climbing wall – multiplied by a hundred.

  The small boat pulled up beside a door cut into the side of the ship, and everyone climbed through.

  In the corridor, there was a man in a white uniform, telling people where to go. He looked at my untidy hair and Mikey’s mother’s shabby dress.

  ‘Third class, I presume?’ he said, pointing along the corridor.

  I looked the way he was pointing and saw lots of shabbily dressed people just like me. When I looked in the other direction, I could see a group of people who looked more like Mrs Jones and Ernestine.

  ‘I can see my mother over there,’ I said, and before the man could argue, I walked quickly towards a group of well-dressed strangers. Then I walked past them and continued my search.

  I was totally lost as I made my way through corridors leading off corridors in what seemed like a gigantic maze.

  After ages I found myself out in the open air. Passengers lined the decks, leaning over the railings and waving at the distant shoreline.

  ‘Lauren,’ shouted a familiar voice.

  I turned and saw Mikey running towards me.

  ‘What on earth are you doing here?’ I asked.

  He held my fleece towards me. ‘You left this on the cart,’ he said. ‘And since it’s got the special zip thing on it, I knew it was important to you. I searched everywhere and at last I saw you leaving on the small boat. I shouted, but you didn’t hear me – so I knew I had to follow you.’

  ‘And how did you get here?’

  He grinned. ‘I met a man from Ballyboher who was coming out here to sell lace to the rich passengers. He gave me a spin.’

  Mikey had gone to all that trouble just to give me back an ancient old fleece that I’d never liked a whole lot anyway.

  Suddenly I didn’t care that it was 1912. I reached out and gave him a huge hug.

  Mikey looked embarrassed.

  ‘You know, Lauren,’ he said. ‘You seem a bit confused sometimes, so I have to tell you, this is a ship, not a train.’

  I smiled. The poor boy must have thought I was a total idiot.

  ‘I know,’ I said.

  ‘So come back with me to the shore and I’ll show you the way to the railway station.’

  I shook my head. ‘I can’t. Saturn’s somewhere on this ship and I have to find him.’

  ‘He’s just a cat.’

  Yeah, just a cat who’s my only hope of getting back to the twenty-first century, where I belong.

  ‘It’s kind of hard to explain,’ I said. ‘But I can’t leave without him.’

  ‘I’m very sorry, but I can’t wait for you,’ he said. ‘My friend told me to hurry – the ship is leaving soon.’

  ‘Here,’ I said suddenly, handing him my fleece. ‘You keep this. You can give it to your first little girl.’

  He took the fleece and tentatively played with the zip. Then he touched the logo.

  ‘I couldn’t.’

  I smiled. ‘It’s not such a big deal. They’re quite common where I come from.’

  Mikey stroked the fleece like it was the most precious thing he had ever owned.

  ‘Thank you,’ he said.

  ‘You’re welcome.’

  ‘Will you write to me when you get home – to let me know that you arrived safely?’ he asked.

  I smiled a vague smile. Who knew if I’d ever get home again? And if I did, even though our postal service is good, I couldn’t expect it to work miracles.

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ I said. ‘But don’t you worry about me. I’ll be fine.’

  Suddenly there was a series of loud whistles. Some people near us started to cheer and a few leaned on their friends and cried. I could feel the floor rumbling under my feet as the engines revved up.

  A woman near me was waving madly at the shore. ‘Goodbye, Ireland,’ she called.

  I gulped. I didn’t like the sound of this.

  ‘Where exactly are we going?’ I asked.

  The woman looked at me like I was a total idiot.

  ‘America, of course. We’re off to New York.’

  I gulped again, louder this time.

  I sooo didn’t like being stuck in Ireland in 1912 and I sooo sooo sooo didn’t want to be stuck in New York in 1912. (After all, none of the shops I liked would be open until the next century.) I had to find Saturn and get back to shore.

  I grabbed the arm of a sailor who was walking past.

  ‘My friend and I aren’t meant to be here,’ I said. ‘This is all a terrible mistake. Don’t let the ship start yet. I need to find Sa– I mean, I need to find someone important and then we need to get off.’

  The sailor laughed, but not unkindly. ‘There’s no getting off now, young lady. It’s too late for that. Next stop New York. You just relax and enjoy the trip.’

  Easy for him to say. He wasn’t stuck in the wrong time, and rapidly heading towards the wrong place too.

  Beside me, Mikey had gone pale.

  ‘I can’t go to New York,’ he whispered. ‘Granny Bridget needs me. I haven’t sown the carrots yet – or the potatoes. And Paddy will go mad if I don’t bring his cart back.’

  ‘So what are you going to do? You heard what the sailor said.’

  ‘I’ll get back to my friend’s boat.’

  ‘But what if he’s left already?’

  ‘Then I’ll have to jump off this ship.’

  ‘You can’t swim to shore, it’s miles away.’

  He waved towards the water.

  ‘There’s loads of small boats out there. One of them will pick me up. I’ll be fine. I’m hardy.’

  ‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ I said. ‘Don’t –’

  Before I could finish the sentence, he’d started to run. I watched him dart behind a group of people, towards a small door.

  He stopped and pulled the fleece on over his shirt. ‘Thanks, Lauren,’ he called. ‘My daughter will be the best-dressed girl in Ballyboher.’

  Then he ducked through the door and was gone.

  I stood on the deck, fighting back the tears.

  Maybe I should have gone with him. But if Mikey’s friend had already left, I’d have been too afraid to jump into the water. (Tilly’s a great swimmer, but I can only do two lengths of our local pool without stopping for a rest.)

  And without Saturn …

  Before I could finish the thought, there was a huge rush of smoke and the sound of the engines changed.

  ‘We’re off,’ shouted a man beside me. ‘At last we’re off.’

  It took me ages to push through the crowds, to get to the back of the ship. There were lots of boats bobbing in our wake. There was no sign of a small swimmer dressed in a bright pink fleece.

  Was Mikey safe on one of the boats, laughing as he demonstrated the zip to his friend from Ballyboher?

  Or was he …?

  ‘Mikey,’ I whispered.

  What if he was in the water? What if he had put himself in danger, and all because of me?

  I ran up to the nearest sailor.

  ‘We have to stop,’ I said. ‘I think my friend might be in the water.’

  The sailor seemed worried at first. He pulled a whistle from his pocket and stared out at the churning expanse of water.

  ‘Point to where you saw your friend last,’ he said.

  I turned round and pointed to the doorway where I’d last seen Mikey.

  ‘Over there,’ I said. ‘He went through there.’

  Now the
sailor looked more angry than worried. He put the whistle back into his pocket.

  ‘Did you see him in the water?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Did you see him fall off the ship?’

  I shook my head again. ‘No. But –’

  The sailor pushed past me. ‘I have work to do,’ he said. ‘And I have no time for hysterical girls like you.’

  ‘Please,’ I whispered.

  Suddenly the man softened. He climbed on the railing and took another good long look at the ocean.

  ‘There’s no one there,’ he said. ‘I’m sure your friend is fine. You’ll both laugh over this later on.’

  I wasn’t totally convinced, but what could I do?

  So I turned away and continued to search for the stupid cat who was the only one who could get me out of this stupid, stupid mess.

  Much later, when I felt that I had walked hundreds of miles, I found Ernestine on one of the decks. She was still carrying her basket, but I could see that it no longer contained a cat. She was crying like someone had poked their fingers in her eyes.

  ‘My kitty runned away,’ she wailed to no one in particular. ‘My kitty runned away and I can’t find him.’

  ‘Shush, Ernestine,’ said her mother crossly. ‘It’s “ran away”, not “runned away”. And you know there was no kitty there anyway. That nasty, scruffy girl just made it up. Now go and play with your dollies.’

  That made Ernestine wail even louder. Real tears poured down her round, pale cheeks. In different circumstances, I might have felt sorry for her, but not now. This whole mess was all her fault. If she hadn’t taken Saturn, I wouldn’t be stuck on this stupid ship. If it weren’t for Ernestine, I could have been halfway to Dublin by now.

  So I ran past her and continued my search.

  Shortly afterwards, I found myself on a deserted deck, near the back of the ship.

  ‘Saturn,’ I called for the hundredth time. ‘Where are you?’

  I was just turning to leave, when I heard a familiar miaow from over my head. I looked up to see Saturn staring down at me from the inside of a lifeboat.

  I scrambled on to a railing, reached up and took Saturn into my arms. I hugged him tightly and he licked my face.

  ‘You silly kitty,’ I said. ‘Look at all the trouble you’ve got us into. All I want is to go home. I don’t know how you got us both here, but you’d better start to figure out how we’re going to get back. I don’t like boats, I don’t want to go to New York and I am so fed up of being stuck in 1912.’