With a great cheer, all the members of the Resistance left the room except for Fran’s dad, a bald man and a tall woman, neither of whom Lydia recognized. Lydia heard the trudge of many footsteps out in the hall and then the front door slam shut. Lydia’s captors each swaggered around the room, directing mocking looks at Daniel. Yet for all their jokes and laughter at Daniel’s expense, Lydia saw that they were still careful not to come too close to him.
Lydia felt her brother’s fingers pull at the plastic ropes around her wrists. She flexed her wrist and positioned her hands where she hoped none of the grown-ups in the room would see what Daniel was doing. The ropes were cutting into her wrists and each time Daniel pulled at them, it made them cut deeper but Lydia forced herself to bear the pain.
‘Look at all these books. They’re priceless,’ said the woman in disgust.
‘The rest of us have to make do with HoloBooks and he’s got more books than the town museum,’ said the bald man.
‘Danny, what’re we going to do?’ Lydia whispered.
‘Shut up, you two. No talking,’ snapped the woman.
‘Huh! My Fran’s never even seen a real book – like the rest of the kids in this town,’ sniffed Fran’s dad. ‘And look at all this, going to waste.’
‘I don’t mind, Dad,’ Fran began.
Lydia hadn’t known that Fran was in the room until she heard her voice.
‘Well, I do,’ Fran’s dad interrupted. ‘Nothing compares to the smell and look and
feel
of real books. To be able to turn real pages . . .’
‘But I can do that now,’ said Fran. ‘I can access any book ever published just by saying its name, or the name of the author, or by giving the genre or subject matter. The HoloBook can read to me or translate to or from any language, or link to any other book at a single command. Plus, I get to video-conference with anyone else reading the same book. The HoloBooks are ten times better than real books!’
‘No, they’re not,’ Fran’s dad argued.
‘But . . .’
‘I said no, they’re not – and that’s all there is to it!’ snapped Fran’s dad.
And all the while Daniel’s fingers worked on the knot which secured Lydia’s wrists.
‘Dad, you should go and see what else the Tyrant’s got in his house that we can use,’ said Fran slowly. ‘Once the others get back here, it’ll be every person for themselves.’
‘And what about our prisoners?’ the bald man asked.
‘I’ll look after them. They’re not going anywhere,’ Fran replied.
Lydia tried to turn her head to see Fran but she was bound too tightly. She wished she could just see Fran’s face.
‘We’re not leaving you alone with those two, especially the Tyrant,’ frowned Fran’s dad.
‘I’ll be fine. If they try anything at all, I’ll shoot first and ask questions later,’ said Fran.
‘It’ll probably be our only chance to get what we want from the Tyrant’s house before the others come back . . .’ said the woman.
‘Hhmm! OK then,’ agreed Fran’s dad. ‘But Fran, just yell if they start anything.’
‘Don’t worry, Dad. I will,’ Fran replied.
Lydia listened to the sound of three sets of footsteps retreating.
‘Fran, is that you?’ Lydia whispered.
No reply, but Lydia was sure someone was still in the room with them.
Please let it be Fran
. . .
‘Fran, listen to me,’ Lydia twisted her head this way and that but she could see no one. ‘Fran, I wasn’t lying to you – I swear I wasn’t. I’m not from this time. I don’t belong here.
Please
. You must help me to get back. I can stop all this. I can
change
it. Then maybe even your mum Frankie wouldn’t have to die. Fran . . . Fran . . .’
A single pair of footsteps sounded on the wooden floor, coming closer and closer. Lydia turned her head as far as she could but she still couldn’t see a thing. Daniel’s fingers stilled on Lydia’s ropes. At last Fran came into view, carrying a knife with a long blade in her hand. Lydia shrunk away from her, her eyes huge with dread. What was Fran going to do?
‘Danny . . . ?’ Lydia whispered.
‘Shush!’ Daniel said softly.
An old-fashioned carriage clock chimed softly on a table in the room. Overhead, Lydia heard the grown-ups ransacking the house but the sound faded until all Lydia could hear was the tick-ticking of the carriage clock.
Is she going to kill us? Does she hate us that much? Lydia wondered, fearfully.
Without warning, Fran suddenly wielded the knife to cut the ropes binding both Lydia and Daniel.
‘Don’t say a word,’ Fran whispered. ‘We don’t have much time.’
‘Why’re you doing this?’ Daniel questioned.
‘Because Lydia needs to get back to her own time and change all this,’ Fran whispered.
‘You believe me?’ Lydia asked.
‘I want to believe you. I have to believe you. If there’s the slightest chance that you’re telling the truth, that my mum might not die . . .’ Fran answered. ‘Now come on. We don’t have much time.’ She dug into her pocket and took out a laser gun. ‘I’ve set it to stun. That’s all you need,’ she said firmly.
Daniel nodded, understanding what Fran was saying. Fran handed it over.
‘Let’s go,’ said Daniel.
He took the lead as they tiptoed out of the room and across the hall to the front door. His face set in a worried grimace, Daniel tried to open the door. Lydia held her breath as the door began to slide open.
‘Fran, what on earth . . . ? STOP!’ Fran’s dad stood at the top of the stairs.
‘Quick!’ Daniel pulled Lydia and Fran through the half-opened front door. ‘My car! Over there!’ he pointed.
Lydia and Fran raced for the car, parked just by the first set of trees in the wood.
‘Where’s Danny?’ Lydia gasped as she ran. She turned her head to see him press a key on the front door’s keypad, then jump to one side as a white laser bolt missed him by millimetres. Lydia froze.
‘Danny! Danny, are you OK?’
‘Get going!’ Daniel shouted.
Lydia started running again. Daniel fired his laser gun at the door’s keypad just as it slid shut, then he raced after Fran and his sister.
By now Lydia and Fran were at the car, desperately pulling at the door handles to open it but it was locked.
‘Danny . . .’
‘Move!’ Daniel yelled as he pelted towards them.
Fran and Lydia stepped aside. Daniel pointed the transmitter on his wrist at the car. Lydia heard a click as the doors opened.
‘We don’t have much time,’ Daniel said urgently as they all bundled into the front of the car. ‘A jammed keypad won’t keep them in for very long.’
‘What about Old Lydia?’ Lydia asked.
‘She must have hidden in one of the house’s secret passages. I’ll come back for her but right now we have to get out of here.’
The car began to take off vertically.
‘My dad’s got a transmitter. He’ll tell the others we’ve escaped,’ Fran warned.
‘We’ll just have to take our chances,’ said Daniel.
Fran turned to look out of the window. Lydia frowned at her.
‘Fran, what’s the matter?’ she asked.
‘They’ll think I’m a traitor.’ Tears shimmered in Fran’s eyes.
Lydia took Fran’s hand in her own. ‘Do you think you’re a traitor?’ she asked.
Fran shook her head. She tried to smile, her eyes still shining with tears that began to run down her cheeks. Impatiently, Fran brushed them away with the back of her hand.
‘I don’t think you are either,’ Lydia said.
‘Thanks,’ Fran whispered. After a shared smile, she asked, ‘So where’re we going?’
Daniel and Lydia looked at each other.
‘To the moors,’ Lydia replied.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Old Lydia
The car sped over the trees and headed west of Hensonville on its way to the moors.
‘Fran’s dad and the others didn’t find Old Lydia in the house. D’you know what happened to her? Where is she?’ Lydia asked.
‘I don’t know. I wish I did. She should be safe as long as she’s not stupid enough to try and take on those thugs left in the house by herself.’ Daniel sounded worried. ‘The secret passages lead all over the house and grounds so she should be OK.’
‘Old Lydia? Is that Lydia Henson?’ Fran asked, aghast. She turned to Lydia. ‘Is that . . . are you still alive? Is she the older version of you?’
Lydia looked at Daniel. ‘No, she’s not the older version of me. She’s just someone,’ she replied, still looking at her brother.
‘Someone with the same name as you?’ Fran said.
‘Yeah, but that’s all we have in common,’ Lydia said firmly.
Silence.
‘What will Old Lydia do now?’ Lydia asked Daniel.
Daniel shrugged. ‘I wish I knew. She doesn’t care about much – not even you, Lydia. All she’s got on her mind is making the people of this town suffer. It’s strange, but it took seeing you again and remembering how things used to be to make me want something else. Something better. I couldn’t care less for the people in this place. But I care very much for my family. No matter what my sister thinks, I’m doing this for her and me. No one else.’
‘Whatever the reason – you’re doing it. That’s what counts,’ said Lydia. She smiled sadly at her brother. He still couldn’t forgive the people of Tarwich for what they’d done to her. Strange that she could now and he couldn’t. ‘I hope I don’t let you down,’ she whispered.
Fran looked from one to the other but said nothing.
They flew over the Night Guards’ camp. Through the window, Lydia could see laser bolts and EM rifle fire flashing through the air like red and white arrows. There was a pitched battle going on beneath them. As they flew on, Lydia could see a small breakaway division forming a separate group away from the main Resistance. They were obviously the Resistance as they weren’t wearing the uniform of the Night Guards. As the air-car flew over them, they were close enough for Lydia to see that the group was led by Anne Joyce. The breakaway division immediately pursued the car.
I’m going to change this version of the future.
I am
, Lydia told herself over and over.
‘At this height they can reach up and whip off our tyres!’ Fran said desperately. ‘Can’t you go any higher?’
‘This is an air-car, not a moon shuttle,’ frowned Daniel. ‘If I fly much higher, the auto-safety won’t let me fly any higher.’
Lydia saw some of the members of the Resistance pointing their weapons up at them.
‘Daniel . . .’
Without warning, the car lurched and there was a horrible crunching sound.
‘Hang on!’ Daniel called out.
‘What’s the matter?’ Lydia asked, alarmed.
‘We’ve been hit,’ Fran told her.
‘I’m going to have to take the chance.’ Daniel pressed the safety override button. ‘This is Daniel Henson, safety override code Delta Delta Foxtrot Tango one eight seven nine.’ Daniel pressed another button and the car lurched, then rose higher into the air.
‘Look!’ Daniel pointed ahead.
Almost before Daniel spoke, Lydia felt the hairs on the back of her neck begin to prickle. There it was – the electric storm. But now it was only about a kilometre away and far bigger and more frightening than ever before. Every colour of the rainbow whirled and swirled ahead. It was as if not just the clouds but the very sky itself was burning up. Flashes of white lightning lit up the air. Every nerve in Lydia’s body screamed for her to get away from it, to put as much space between her and the storm as possible. But every instinct told her to keep going.
‘I don’t like this . . .’ Daniel studied his car’s console.
‘What?’
‘That storm is affecting all the car’s systems,’ Daniel said. ‘My instrument panel is going haywire.’
Lydia looked through her car door window. They were quite some distance above the ground.
‘I think I’d better . . .’ Daniel didn’t get any further. The car began to rock violently. Daniel pulled back on one of his two gear sticks and pressed one of the foot pedals. The car flipped over to the left and almost turned over completely. Fran screamed. Lydia closed her eyes and held on to her chair until her knuckles ached.
‘We’re going to crash-land. Hold on,’ Daniel called out.
The car spiralled round and round as it nose-dived. The ground came rushing up to meet them. Then it was as if a giant hand had reached out of the sky and pulled them back up. They were all wrenched forwards in their seats, saved only by the seatbelts. After stunned moments, Lydia looked out of the rear window. A large white parachute had opened up behind them.
Lydia and Fran hugged each other, laughing with relief.
‘We’re not out of the woods yet,’ Daniel informed them grimly.