The car rolling out of Buckingham Palace brought Elvie a sense of elation. Finally, they were leaving the world of royalty and politics behind. ‘Lovely fresh air,’ she told the world, as the breeze drifted across her face and swirled her brown hair.
Eldridge didn’t reply, his fingers drumming the steering wheel. He’d been tense since he returned to their rooms to pack, and that agitation had only increased when Elvie told him of the Duke’s visit.
‘I take it your meeting with the King didn’t go well?’ she queried.
Eldridge sighed noncommittedly before meeting her eyes. Then he made a conscious effort to settle himself into the car with a long stretching motion that involved jutting his chest and rolling his shoulders.
‘You’re right. You’re right. I apologise. There never seems to be an easy solution to any issue these days. There is always one more thing, one more task, one more challenge to face. Not that I blame you for any of this, my dear. If there is blaming to be done, then I must shoulder responsibility as much as any other.’
‘What did the King say Eldridge?’
‘In short, that I will be expected to perform further duties as he sees fit. That in itself is nothing unusual. Why, every person is required to perform duties for royalty as directed. But no, His Majesty indicated a need for further travel on his behalf.’ He sighed again. ‘It is the last thing I want, to once more be taken away for months on end. That leaves me with no choice but to once again take you to the island when this occurs. At least when you’re there, I know you’ll be free of Josiah’s clutches for a time.’
Elvie nodded. ‘Eldridge, what’s a cowson?’
Eldridge coughed into his hand. ‘Elvie, of all the things you could have paid attention to… please don’t go repeating those words, especially not in company.’
‘But you said –’
‘The wrong thing! Too long without having to worry about controlling my utterances. Never mind me. Forgive an old man his slip from time to time. Now, hopefully, we can drive home and spend some good time at Calderbrook before affairs of state rear their head again.’
They lapsed into a companionable silence. Eldridge’s worries still circulated through his mind, clear by the staccato on the steering wheel. For her part, Elvie tried not to push Eldridge further, and instead appreciated the scenery to which she had not paid particular attention the first time they’d travelled to London.
In contrast to her first journey through London, this one was slightly different. Perhaps it was because the shock had worn off, or the fact that the gloss had come off 1930s London. Before, it was strange and different, but her focus had been on what was immediately happening, and not so much directed to her surroundings. Now, as they drove from the city at a more sedate pace, Elvie could not help but feel that London was a very bleak in depressing place.
Oh, closer to the palace was beautiful – the parts she’d already scene. Ornate grand houses dominated the streetscape, with metal gates, long driveways, and open expanses of lawn. This rich area of London formed a stark contrast to the poorer ones. Here, poorly clothed children sat awkwardly in the streets or played in dark alleys. Drab houses had walls ready to fall over, if they had not already, or rooves desperately in need of thatching. Buildings were run down with broken windows. Women loitered in the streets, waving at random men passing them by. There was a bleaker side in display, one filled with rubbish, dirt, and discontent simmering just beneath the surface.
For Elvie, it reinforced how well off Eldridge, and her, by extension, now were. Calderbrook, with its open gardens and beautiful homestead, where Max greeted them at the gate, and Mrs Thistle cared for the house. Life looked a lot simpler if you had money – but that didn’t feel right to Elvie. How could people have so much, while others had so little? Surely that wasn’t any different from the future, though. In the future, there were millionaires, even billionaires – people who could afford to buy whatever they wanted, whether that was a new car, or a new phone. Just before she’d left, billionaires had been launching themselves into space on the news. Why did she expect the 1930s to be any different? It wasn’t – it just seemed… obvious.
‘Are there a lot of poor people in London, Eldridge?’
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
‘Some, Elvie. I won’t lie to you about that. The war has broken family bonds and left people isolated. There are those with… an illness of the mind, that might be the best way to describe it. They find it hard to live after the Great War. I can understand that. After what they’ve seen and endured, it can be very difficult to come back to what you once knew.’
‘But you did Eldridge. You fought in the Great War too, didn’t you?’
‘That I did. But like everyone who journeyed across the sea, the war took its toll and I doubt the price is yet paid in full. And not just my family... No, any man who takes the life of another will feel guilt’s weight, and question how on God’s earth that can happen.’
‘So you killed people?’ She asked the question before its insensitive nature dawned on her. Like most things in the past, Eldridge was speaking about things of which Elvie knew only a little. The World Wars. She had learned about the wars in school and knew some of the horrors experienced by soldiers. When Eldridge fought in the war, he’d experienced those same horrors, but Elvie did not know enough about them to truly understand ‘Oh, uh, sorry Eldridge, you don’t have to answer that. I remember speaking to my Opa one time. He was Dutch, and he fought against the Germans in the war…’ Oh, don’t go there either!
But Eldridge only nodded. Perhaps he thought she was referring to the Great War.
Elvie ploughed on before he thought about it too much. ‘Opa, he loved to tell stories about all sorts of different things in Holland, or what he’d experienced growing up. But when it came to the war, he wouldn’t say a word about his experiences. Just a rough idea of where he fought, and in what year, then nothing else. No matter how hard you pressed him about it. Then he’d change course, straight away, and tell us about how he’d met Oma, as a policeman in Holland – now those were funny stories – or about how they moved to Australia…’ She trailed off from her rambling as a swell of pain and longing descended. Her Opa had passed suddenly a few years ago.
From the corner of his eye, Elvie watched Eldridge scan her features. He seemed to be especially good at reading people, or perhaps he was just good at reading her emotions. That wasn’t hard, in her case. It wasn’t like she did much to hide them
Eldridge broke Elvie’s train of thought, moving the conversation into new territory. ‘Did you know, we’re nearly at the spot where you arrived in this lovely land. I thought you might like to see that place, if only to do nothing else than satisfy your curiosity that it is just a random non-magical spot. There now, just up ahead on the right is where I happened to park my car after you appeared.’
Elvie was curious. ‘What did it look like from your view.’
‘There isn’t much to describe. It’d been a taxing morning with several mundane organisational meetings. I’ll admit at the time to being quite mentally tired, almost to the point where I’d question my sanity... I’d started the drive home, just as we have done this day, when I saw that thunderstorm rolling in across the horizon. Do you remember that? It drew my attention away from reminiscing about the events of the day, the conversations, and the deciphering process that naturally occurs in its wake… Then I saw you appear. One moment it was simply a road, the next you were lying on its cobbles. There was, how best to describe it? Hmmm, yes, like a tear in the world that let night into day, but instead of darkness, you fell out.’
Darkness – like when Flynn and Elvie had travelled back into the Fey? That made sense to her, as there had always been a feeling of dark and cold.
‘Was there a sound? Was I talking, or saying a spell and I just can’t remember it for some reason.’
Eldridge shook his head. ‘As you know, my car does not make much noise at the best of times. So I can safely say that there was no noise to be heard.’
‘It’s just weird…’
‘How so?’ Eldridge asked. ‘I would have thought you would be feeling more comfortable with time travelling after you have discovered your new spells for portals and time.’
‘I guess so… It’s just that I didn’t discover the spells. I was told of them, by the cat, who is now so stubborn that he either refuses to come out, or refuses to talk to me.’
‘Don’t you?’ she thought at the cat.
Silence came in reply.
‘Don’t be so hard on yourself, my dear. A little bit more time, a bit more study and your skills will manifest further. I’m sure your teachers on the Island, or those in Elder House will be able to assist you. You’re getting closer, and that is what you should draw comfort from.’
‘It’s just so frustrating,’ Elvie sighed. ‘Even these new spells. I try them, and they sometimes fail. I guess that I’m not that familiar with them, and I haven’t practised them as much as I’d like. But the slowing time spell… I can get that to work, but it leaves me so tired that I want to sleep for a week afterwards.’
Her exaggeration drew Eldridge’s smile.
Elvie stared out the window, the spot of her arrival disappearing into the past. Yes, even though she’d done nothing for so long, she was just tired…
Oh… Oh no. She sat bolt upright in the car, banging her knee on the cedar dashboard. ‘Oww – Ah, Eldridge, the day I came back in time. I remember it, but it has been a while now. Was I tired, or sleepy, or exhausted?’
Eldridge took his time to consider, the idea maturing in his mind. ‘No, Elvie. You were not.’
‘Do you know what that means then?’ she asked him, excitedly.
He took his time, thinking through the implications, then thinking it through again. Just as Elvie was about to ask him the question again, he replied. ‘Yes, I do think that you have made a key discovery, lass. If you were not tired from casting the spell, then it is not likely you were the one casting it.’
‘Somebody sent me back from the future, Eldridge.’