The Impossible Boy (11 page)

He ran his fingers over the rough bark of the trunk and stopped when he reached Gabby’s face. It was a normal, warm, fleshy human face and it was as embedded in the tree trunk as a firmly
as chocolate chip in a cookie.

‘Stop that!’ smirked Gabby. ‘It tickles.’

‘Why is your face in a tree?’ said Barney, mentally adding this question to his list of weird sentences no one in the history of the world had ever uttered before the creation of
Geek Inc. ‘Where’s the rest of you?’

‘In the fourth dimension!’ said Gabby.

‘In the
what
?’

‘The rest of me is in another universe! I can enter ours at any point I like – even inside a solid object! Amazing, isn’t it?’

‘I’m starting to think someone might have slipped something a bit stronger into my pre-match energy drink,’ said Barney, rubbing his eyes. ‘It’s been a very unusual
day. What do you mean, the fourth dimension? I can’t believe I’m talking to a tree.’

‘I followed Chas earlier to find out what’s going on with him, and it turns out he’s from another dimension – the fourth dimension to be exact. That’s why he can do
all those impossible things. He’s something called a hyperbeing – and actually the coolest boy I ever met, as it turns out.’

‘Hang on,’ said Barney firmly. ‘Do you mean all the . . .’ he struggled to find the word ‘. . .
insanity
I’ve just witnessed on the football pitch
– that was Chas?’

‘No, silly,’ said Gabby. ‘That was me.’

‘What?’ said Barney. ‘You put the football on Nick’s head?’

The face in the tree giggled. ‘Yes! Wasn’t it hilarious? I’ve always thought he was a bit annoying – “dude” this and “dude” that.’

‘And you did something to the pitch so no one can leave it?’

‘I curved the surface of the pitch in the fourth dimension!’ said Gabby proudly. ‘It’s a mini loop in the space-time continuum. Chas has shown me all sorts of cool things
you can do from the fourth dimension, even just the small bit that we can get to.’ She squinted at Barney. ‘When I look at you from here in the other universe I can see thousands and
thousands of Barneys, all lined up like paper dolls, each one a different layer of your body. I can see your skin, your nervous system, your blood, your organs, your bones. And I could reach out
and touch them if I wanted.’

‘Please don’t.’

‘Instead,’ said Gabby, ‘I’ll do this!’ A hand appeared in mid-air and clutched the top of Barney’s right sock. It gave the sock a swift tug and removed it
from his foot, pulling it through the solid material of his football boot as easily as a ghost walking through a wall. ‘Ha ha!’ The disembodied hand passed the sock to Barney and
vanished.

Barney stared at the sock. His face started to colour.

‘Good trick, eh?’ said the face in the tree.

‘Have you lost your mind, Gabby?’ he all but screamed at her. ‘You could have really hurt Nick. He nearly suffocated.’ He pointed at the football pitch. ‘Look at
those boys. They’re really scared! This is like some horrible nightmare! Why are you doing this?’

Gabby looked shocked. ‘I never meant actually to
hurt
anyone,’ she protested. ‘It was only supposed to be a bit of mucking about.’ The disembodied hand appeared
again and waved at the football pitch. The air surrounding it seemed to shimmer like a summer heat haze. ‘There. I’ve unbent the pitch. They’re free to go.’

Barney paced about, shaking his head, toying with the sock in his hands. ‘This isn’t like you, Gab. And I don’t just mean being inside a tree. What are you doing? The Gabby
Grayling I know wouldn’t harm someone else just for a cheap laugh. I don’t understand it.’

Gabby sighed. ‘No surprise there, then.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, you’re a nice lad and everything, Barney mate, but everything always comes as such a
surprise
to you.’

‘Hey!’ said Barney.

‘The power of the fourth dimension that Chas has shown me is awesome, literally awesome. I feel like I could reach out and hold the entire Earth in the palm of my hand. And I understand
it! The maths and physics behind all this is real – and I understand it! But you could never do that. I like you, but you’re really the football-and-computer-games type rather than the
intellectual adventurer, aren’t you? What I’m doing here is way beyond your level. Maybe you don’t really belong in Geek Inc. if your mind is that small and closed? I’m just
saying.’

‘Stop it!’ said Barney. There were tears in his eyes. ‘I like being in Geek Inc. with you. I like finding things out with you. I learn things from just hanging out with
you.’

Gabby sniffed. ‘Well, you certainly do have a lot to learn.’

‘This is Chas, isn’t it? He’s messed with your mind somehow.’

‘Don’t say nasty things about Chas,’ said Gabby sternly. ‘He’s so incredible. I’m going to help him get home. We’ve got a plan and the energy we need is
right on the doorstep. Did you know he’s asked me to visit him in his own universe, Barney? To see things no human being could ever conceive of? And I’m going. Oh yes. I might even
stay. Doesn’t look like I could cope with Blue Hills after what I’ve seen and done today. I need somewhere bigger.’

‘You’re losing it, Gabby,’ said Barney softly. ‘Listen to yourself. You’re losing your mind.’

‘Wrong,’ said Gabby. ‘I’m gaining one. A four-dimensional one. Oh – and by the way . . .’

‘Yes?’

‘Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character, you moron!
He. Does. Not. Exist.
’

The face in the tree giggled and then vanished.

Barney knocked hard on the door. After a short while there came from within the familiar creaking sound of Gill’s walking frame. The door swung open.

‘I need your help. It’s important. Really, really important. Really, really, really important.’

Gill Abbott took a long drag on her cigarette and blew a stream of smoke into the evening air. ‘I suppose you’d better come in then.’

She led him to the kitchen. Dave was sitting at the table, peeling another apple. Gill filled the kettle. This gave Barney a mild sensation of déjà vu. He sat down opposite
Dave.

‘Thomas! Or is it Rufus? Bernard?’

‘Barney.’

‘Barney! Of course! Hello, son. How’s things?’

‘Not good, Dave. Not good at all.’

‘Oh, dear!’

Gill looked at him with a concerned expression. ‘What’s wrong?’

Barney took a deep breath. ‘I need help. Quite badly. And I think you’re the only people who will understand.’

‘How’s that, Barney?’ asked Dave. ‘If there’s anything we can do to help, of course we will.’

Barney looked at Gill. ‘I’ve got a problem. A very odd problem. In fact, you could call it a
highly unusual
problem.’

Gill stared back. Her face was impossible to read.

‘Highly unusual, eh?’ said Dave. ‘That used to be right up our street once. A long time ago.’

‘What is it?’ asked Gill. ‘Can’t be all that unusual, I’m sure.’ She was trying to keep her voice light but Barney could detect a tremor of worry in it.

Barney stared at his hands. ‘Please don’t get upset at what I’m going to say. I’m not out to cause you any pain or rake up any bad memories. But it involves something
seriously weird – a creature from another universe.’

He heard Gill’s walking frame rattle violently. He looked up, expecting to find her looking angry or tearful again, but instead she was propelling herself towards the table as fast as she
could. She sat down beside him and took his hand.

‘Tell us about it.’

‘My friend Gabby, the one I’m in Geek Inc. with, has met this boy. She says he’s from the fourth dimension and somehow he’s trapped in our world. He can do incredible
things and now she can too. But she was being really horrible to me and saying things that I know she wouldn’t normally. I think the power she has is driving her crazy. I don’t know
what to do. You were the only people I could think of who would understand.’ He turned to Dave. ‘I found some of the documents from your Society of Highly Unusual Things in the stuff I
was sorting through. I know you used to investigate stuff like this. And that you gave it up after your daughter vanished.’

‘Good lord,’ said Dave, staring into the distance. ‘I haven’t thought of Fleur,
really
thought of her in —’ he paused, the half-peeled apple in his
hands, ‘— twenty years or more. That’s quite ridiculous, isn’t it?’

‘I think of her every day,’ said Gill quietly. ‘Every morning when I wake up. Sometimes I think you’re lucky to be losing your memory.’

‘This four-dimensional stuff,’ said Barney gently, ‘do you know anything about it?’

Gill nodded. ‘All too well! This is how we lost Fleur. Opening doors to different universes. Doors open and people vanish through them. Forever. Stay well away, Barney. Have nothing to do
with it.’

‘But Gabby’s my friend!’ protested Barney. ‘I can’t sit back and watch this happen to her! She says she’s going back with Chas once she helps him escape. What
if she vanishes forever too?’

‘A 4-D creature trapped in our world, eh?’ said Dave, putting his apple down. ‘How fascinating! Just the kind of thing we would have loved back in the day. How’s your
friend planning to help it escape?’

‘I don’t know. She said something about having the energy close by.’

Dave snapped his fingers. ‘That’s right. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to open a gateway to another universe. There’s only one place in Britain that could provide
it.’

‘And where’s that?’ asked Barney.

‘The new experimental fusion reactor at Sanderling Ridge. It’s only about twenty miles from Blue Hills. Pound to a penny that’s where your friend is headed.’

‘I need to get there,’ said Barney. ‘I need to speak to her. Make her see sense.’

‘Take me with you,’ said Dave. ‘I can help.’

‘Don’t talk rubbish!’ spat Gill sourly. ‘“Take me with you” indeed! You can’t even remember where the front door is, Dave! What use are you?’

‘We were investigating four-dimensional gateways when Fleur disappeared,’ said Dave. ‘We know about them. We can help the lad.’

Gill stubbed out her cigarette. ‘Huh. I’d be astonished if you remember anything at all about them, Brain of Britain.’

Dave picked up his apple and threw it at the washing-up rack next to the sink with the force of a cricket fielder. A neat line of flowery plates and mugs drying on the rack exploded into thick
white-edged shards that clattered into the sink and on to the floor.

‘Dave! What’s got into you? Look at the plates!’ Gill yelled.

‘Stop treating me like I’m some sort of dribbling fool!’ Dave exploded. ‘The boy needs help, and you and I can give it to him. I am in the unusual position for the first
time in thirty-odd years of being
useful
to someone – and you’re not going to stop me!’

‘But Dave, you can’t—’

‘No, Gill. We gave up the Society of Highly Unusual Things because we were afraid of causing harm. But here’s an opportunity to use that knowledge to do some good!’

‘Dave, you’re shouting at me . . .’

‘I FEEL like shouting!’ bellowed Dave. ‘For the first time in ages I feel like shouting and running about and using my brain! Anything except mouldering away in this kitchen
eating ruddy apples! Are we going to help the boy or what?’

Gill stared at her husband for a long time. ‘Yes,’ she said finally, in a quiet voice. ‘Yes, you’re right, darling. We’ve got to help Barney. Of course we
have.’

‘Thank you,’ said Barney, feeling relieved to have someone on his side. ‘So. What do we do? You mentioned this fusion plant, Dave?’

Dave nodded. ‘Produces huge quantities of energy. It’s what this 4-D beast will be after. Could be very dangerous if that energy is released suddenly.’

‘How dangerous?’

‘You ever hear of a couple of places called Hiroshima and Nagasaki?’

Barney nodded grimly. ‘Pretty dangerous, then. Great. Is there anything we can do?’

‘There is, as it happens,’ said Gill. ‘A few weeks before Fleur vanished, back in nineteen seventy-six, Dave and I had been researching reports of inter-dimensional rifts
throughout history. It seems that in various places and various times, pathways have opened up between our world and different universes. There’s a famous story from seventeen seventy-four
about the chemist Joseph Priestley seeing a coach and horses vanish in a flash of light along Oxford Street in London. And lots of people have reported seeing things that can’t really be
there, which might be the same phenomenon. From what we could tell, a lot of these pathways were opened up by special objects – boxes, bits of furniture, books sometimes, but more often than
not they were in lockets that people wore around the neck.’

‘We found information on several of these lockets,’ said Dave, hauling himself from his chair and picking up the chunks of broken pottery. Barney went to help him. ‘They were
called angel lockets because people thought they opened up doors to heaven. Needless to say, they were extremely rare. But the idea sort of took hold of us. We became obsessed with finding
one.’

‘We’d buy any old lockets from junk shops,’ said Gill. ‘Bought dozens of them. But of course they were just old lockets. Nothing more. The last one I found I
couldn’t open. It drove me mad because I could tell there was some simple knack to the clasp that held the two halves together. I fiddled with that damn locket for two solid days. Then when I
did open it—’