at her fully, instead allowing his eyes to
settle on the bell beside them. 'So what if you're right…' his
voice was quiet, 'and we are back in the past… what does that even
mean?'
'It means we
have to try to get home before we get stuck here for good,' she
scaled back her anger, not wanting to scare off the flicker of
reason she saw in his eyes.
'How did we
even get here though?'
'The storm…
there was something different about it, the way those clouds were
circling above you – I've never seen anything like that
before.'
Pembrake
seemed to frown at a memory, his eyes moving around gently as if
tracking some mental ghost, 'I see.'
She was pretty
sure he didn't see, but wasn't about to tell him during this random
break in his irrational petulance. 'Okay.'
The small
muscles around Pembrake's forehead moved slightly as if he were
trying not to frown. 'So what do we do now?' he asked
eventually.
Abby was
surprised at his sudden change in allegiances. So was this him
trusting her now? Or was this some kind of prelude to another
fight? She decided to play it safe. 'I guess we find out…' Abby
found herself staring at the bell too, not sure, when pressed, what
it was that you did when you were stuck back in time. Try and get
home again was an easy one to figure out, but how exactly
was she supposed to do that? 'I guess we look for…
information?'
Though it was
clear he still hadn't forgiven her for whatever transgression he
blamed her for, he smiled wanly. 'Good plan.'
Abby bit into
her lips and returned the wan smile with, she hoped, friendly
hostility.
'We could,'
Pembrake pulled on his too-small shirt, trying to make it stretch
further over his shoulders, 'go and ask someone.'
'That's your
plan,' Abby chuckled sharply, 'good plan. Let's go and ask someone
in the past how it is that you get back into the future. Do you
know what the inside of a prison cell looks like, Pembrake? Because
I'm pretty sure that's where they'll stick us if we go around
spreading crazy stories.'
'They don't
take you to prison for being insane, they take you to an asylum.
And yes, it is a good plan, because what other option do we have?
You said yourself that the storm was strange, that the break in the
clouds was the likely cause of our current temporal
displacement-'
Abby frowned
at his easy transition into scientific language, another reason to
hate him she was sure.
'So why don't
we go and ask if it's ever happened before? If something as benign
as a storm with unusual meteorological phenomenon can send you
skipping back in time, then don't you think we might not have been
the only people to succumb to it?'
Abby tried to
follow his words through the dull thump of her headache. He was
annoyingly arrogant, how on Earth was he Mrs Hunter's son?
Pembrake was
looking at her expectantly, obviously waiting her for 'oh of
course, you are so smart'.
'Hmmm,' was
all she could manage.
'I mean,
because it doesn't seem to be so hard to go back in time, don't you
think it's happened before? And if it has happened before, there
may well be someone in this city who knows something about it, who
can help us out.'
Was he
deliberately using small words so her apparently small mind could
catch up? Gah! Who did he think she was? 'Yes, Pembrake, I
understood you the first time,' she lied, 'but we can't very well
just go around asking people if they've ever gone back in time, and
if they have, could they possible give us some pointers on how you
get back home again. They'll think we're crazy!'
Pembrake gave
her a look that quite obviously said people would already think she
was crazy, then rolled his eyes in exasperation. 'I wasn't
suggesting we go up and ask the fishmonger for his theories on
temporal displacement. I was thinking more along the lines of
a witch actually.'
She stared at
him. He always said that word with dripping resentment, and it made
her want to pull his eyes out. She didn't go around saying Naval
Commander like it was the
settle on the bell beside them. 'So what if you're right…' his
voice was quiet, 'and we are back in the past… what does that even
mean?'
'It means we
have to try to get home before we get stuck here for good,' she
scaled back her anger, not wanting to scare off the flicker of
reason she saw in his eyes.
'How did we
even get here though?'
'The storm…
there was something different about it, the way those clouds were
circling above you – I've never seen anything like that
before.'
Pembrake
seemed to frown at a memory, his eyes moving around gently as if
tracking some mental ghost, 'I see.'
She was pretty
sure he didn't see, but wasn't about to tell him during this random
break in his irrational petulance. 'Okay.'
The small
muscles around Pembrake's forehead moved slightly as if he were
trying not to frown. 'So what do we do now?' he asked
eventually.
Abby was
surprised at his sudden change in allegiances. So was this him
trusting her now? Or was this some kind of prelude to another
fight? She decided to play it safe. 'I guess we find out…' Abby
found herself staring at the bell too, not sure, when pressed, what
it was that you did when you were stuck back in time. Try and get
home again was an easy one to figure out, but how exactly
was she supposed to do that? 'I guess we look for…
information?'
Though it was
clear he still hadn't forgiven her for whatever transgression he
blamed her for, he smiled wanly. 'Good plan.'
Abby bit into
her lips and returned the wan smile with, she hoped, friendly
hostility.
'We could,'
Pembrake pulled on his too-small shirt, trying to make it stretch
further over his shoulders, 'go and ask someone.'
'That's your
plan,' Abby chuckled sharply, 'good plan. Let's go and ask someone
in the past how it is that you get back into the future. Do you
know what the inside of a prison cell looks like, Pembrake? Because
I'm pretty sure that's where they'll stick us if we go around
spreading crazy stories.'
'They don't
take you to prison for being insane, they take you to an asylum.
And yes, it is a good plan, because what other option do we have?
You said yourself that the storm was strange, that the break in the
clouds was the likely cause of our current temporal
displacement-'
Abby frowned
at his easy transition into scientific language, another reason to
hate him she was sure.
'So why don't
we go and ask if it's ever happened before? If something as benign
as a storm with unusual meteorological phenomenon can send you
skipping back in time, then don't you think we might not have been
the only people to succumb to it?'
Abby tried to
follow his words through the dull thump of her headache. He was
annoyingly arrogant, how on Earth was he Mrs Hunter's son?
Pembrake was
looking at her expectantly, obviously waiting her for 'oh of
course, you are so smart'.
'Hmmm,' was
all she could manage.
'I mean,
because it doesn't seem to be so hard to go back in time, don't you
think it's happened before? And if it has happened before, there
may well be someone in this city who knows something about it, who
can help us out.'
Was he
deliberately using small words so her apparently small mind could
catch up? Gah! Who did he think she was? 'Yes, Pembrake, I
understood you the first time,' she lied, 'but we can't very well
just go around asking people if they've ever gone back in time, and
if they have, could they possible give us some pointers on how you
get back home again. They'll think we're crazy!'
Pembrake gave
her a look that quite obviously said people would already think she
was crazy, then rolled his eyes in exasperation. 'I wasn't
suggesting we go up and ask the fishmonger for his theories on
temporal displacement. I was thinking more along the lines of
a witch actually.'
She stared at
him. He always said that word with dripping resentment, and it made
her want to pull his eyes out. She didn't go around saying Naval
Commander like it was the
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