The Remarkables (The Remarkable Owen Johnson, part 1) by A. D. Elliott Page A

you think I am?” Mrs Argyle asked.
    He didn’t want to reveal that he had overheard them discussing their ages earlier, so Owen made a show of looking at Mrs Argyle, assessing her features and tried to match them up with the athleticism she had demonstrated earlier in the day. He sighed. “I wouldn’t like to say.”
    “A nd nor should you!” Ken laughed. “It would be very bad form to ask a lady her age.  What about me?”
    Owen looked at Ken. “I dunno, fifty?” he offered, generously.
    “Ha!  Nice try. Times it by two and a half and you’ll be closer!” Ken was beaming back at him.
    “One hundred and twenty five?” Owen exclaimed. “You’re one hundred and twenty five years old?”  Even though he had by now had time to consider this revelation, it was still difficult to accept.
    “Actuall y, one hundred and thirty one, I think,” Ken corrected him. “Is that right?” he asked his sister.
    “Yes it is ,” Mrs Argyle agreed. “And before you ask, he’s five years older than me so you can work my age out in your head, thank you very much,” she added curtly.
    Owen looked at Mrs Argyle and Ken in turn, trying not to appear too incredulous. He would have put at least a twenty year gap between his elderly neighbour and her younger looking brother.
    Evidently his acting skills were not up to much as Mrs Argyle scowled at him and Ken’s face broke into a grin. “She doesn’t look that old!” he laughed, revelling in Owen and Mrs Argyle’s discomfort.
    “I never said she did!” Owen exclaimed. “It’s just that….”
    “…I look older.” Mrs Argyle completed his sentence for him. “Thank you, Owen Johnston. Silver tongued as ever.”
    “Cut th e boy some slack, Sis. He’s merely stating facts.” Against all odds Mrs Argyle’s scowl became more menacing, but Ken continued unperturbed as he swept his hands down the length of his body from head to toe. “These are the positive side effects, although some would argue otherwise.
    “The ability to slip into other worlds is akin to dipping one’s toe into the fountain of youth. Alas the effects are not equal from one person to another.” Ken tipped his head towards his sister, whose stern look had softened slightly.
    Owen slumped back in h is seat and looked at his hands. So were they suggesting that he can actually reach into other worlds? But only since this morning? “How come it started today?” Owen asked. “I mean, I’ve never been able to do this before. Why this morning?”
    “More good questions! You’re on a roll!”  Ken smiled. “As to why these abilities don’t manifest themselves until a certain age, we’re unsure. For us there was an obvious trigger and cause, and no delay. For yourself, that’s something that you’ll figure out in time.”
    Owen thought abo ut what may have triggered it. “I was being chased by a gang of kids from school. I needed to escape and the only way was up, so I climbed. And not long ago I got chased by a dog and climbed up a tree I shouldn’t have been able to.” In the back of Owen’s mind there were other instances of him climbing, but they were hidden behind a clouded veil that he couldn’t penetrate.
    “Your need was great so that may have been why y ou realised what you could do. For us it was less subtle.”
    “What caused you to realise that you can do what you do?”
    Mrs Argyle turned to face Owen. “We were hit by a comet.”

Beginnings
     
     
     
    Owen once again struggled for a constructive question to counter yet another bizarre statement, and once again he floundered. “ What? ”
    “We were hit by a comet,” Ken repeated his sister’s explanation, but still it made little sense.
    “As in a comet fro m space?”
    “The very same.”
    “But that would kill you!” Owen’s knowledge of celestial bodies was limited at best, but he had seen enough Hollywood disaster films to understand that they packed a somewhat significant punch.
    Ken stretched in his