The Time Shifter (2 page)

The family wing,
Amelia realised. All the guests, even Lady Naomi who’d been there longer than the Walkers, slept in the wing at the top of the right-hand stairs. The rooms at the top of the left-hand stairs were where the Walkers slept. It was totally off limits to guests.

‘But I
so
want a room with a big bay window,’ the woman said. ‘And you’ve told me the bay-window room is already taken on the other side.’

Lady Naomi’s room,
Amelia thought, then stared as she realised what the woman was really saying.
She wants my room!

She was indignant at the woman’s cheek, but not too worried – obviously Mum wouldn’t chuck Amelia out of her own bedroom.

‘I really must insist,’ the woman went on. ‘I don’t care how much it costs, you know. Whatever the amount – go on, make up something silly. I’ll pay it!
That’s
how much my heart is set on it.’ She put her handbag on the reception desk and opened it, as if Mum had already agreed.

Who does she think she is?
Amelia saw a spectacular bracelet sparkling on the woman’s wrist as she pulled out her wallet and smiled at Mum.

Charlie tugged at Amelia’s elbow, a strange look on his face. ‘Don’t ask why, but I think we should go to your room. Like,
now
.’

Amelia didn’t want to miss how Mum was going to deal with this pushy guest, but she kind of wanted to go to her room too. More than anything, just to show that woman whose room it really was.

She followed him to the left-hand stairs, but, just as her foot touched the first step, the hotel lobby burned up in a blinding flash of white light streaked through with blue.

Amelia finished washing her hands at the sink and went back to put up her chair, wiping her hands on her uniform. Around her, it was the usual Friday afternoon chaos. Shani and Sophie F were still trying to do a bit more on their self-portraits, whereas Charlie had packed up ages ago and already had his bag by his desk, ready to go as soon as the bell rang. He looked up at the clock, his leg jiggling impatiently. The rest of the class bustled around, washing paintbrushes, hanging art smocks, and pegging …

Amelia froze. She blinked as though she’d just woken from a dream. She gazed over at Charlie and saw that he was looking back at her, frowning in puzzlement.

Sophie T weaved between the tables, narrowly avoiding Erik as he flipped his chair upside down and put it on his desk. She was so focused on not spilling the jar of filthy paint-water she was carrying that Amelia worried she would trip over something. It seemed so obvious what would happen next, so …
necessary,
that when Sophie T caught her foot on Charlie’s bag and fell, shrieking and sprawling to the floor, Amelia almost felt relieved.

‘
Again?
’ Charlie said, as Dean stared dumbfounded at the dripping mess on the front of his uniform.

Sophie T picked herself up from the carpet, ignoring the scattered brushes and the paint smeared all over her as she turned to vent her anger on Charlie.

‘
Again,
Charlie? What do you –?’

The bell rang loudly.

Yeah … what
did
Charlie mean by ‘again’? And why did it feel like ‘again’ to Amelia, too?

‘All right, you lot!’ called Ms Slaviero. ‘Don’t forget your notes for next week’s excursion.’

Charlie grabbed his bag, ignoring Sophie T completely, and headed for the door. Amelia gave her a quick, apologetic smile, then followed Charlie as Ms Slaviero grumbled cheerfully to Sophie T and Dean.

Outside, it was a perfect Forgotten Bay summer afternoon – the kind you wished would last forever. Amelia and Charlie began the familiar walk back up to the hotel.

‘The thing about Sophie T,’ said Charlie, ‘is that she’s – you know what? Never mind. I don’t have to see her again until Monday, do I? So let’s talk about something else …’

Amelia bit her lip and kept walking. She felt a little weird.

‘OK,’ said Charlie. ‘I’ll tell you what I was thinking about when I was painting –’

‘Matilda Swervingthorpe,’ Amelia said automatically. ‘You were wondering if she disappeared through the gateway, and if Tom knew anything about it.’

Charlie stopped dead and stared at her. ‘Why are you psychic now?’

Amelia stared back, not sure whether to be frightened or not. ‘I don’t know. Why are
you
?’

‘Me?’

‘Yeah, you,’ said Amelia. ‘How did you know Sophie T was going to fall?’

‘Hey, that’s right, I did!’ Charlie crowed, then looked around as Grawk came bounding out of the bushes, his paws covered in dirt. His fur was standing all on end, and a growl rumbled deep in his chest.

‘And I know this too!’ said Charlie. ‘You say he’s been all strange and grouchy, and –’

‘And then Grawk barks,’ Amelia went on, ‘and then we –’

Grawk barked. They ran.

‘What’s happening?’ Charlie gasped as they sprinted up the steep hill to the headland.

‘I don’t know. Every time I try to think, all I can see is –’

‘A blinding white light?’ Charlie suggested.

They ran faster, and as they came to the hotel’s gates, they both turned instinctively to the left and headed through the long grass toward Grawk, who was waiting for them beside a shallow hole.

‘I feel as though …’ Amelia faltered. ‘I mean, I think I already know what’s in the hole.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Not really. But as soon as I see it, I’ll know that it’s exactly …’

They stepped slowly through the grass until they came to the hole.

‘… Exactly what you expected,’ Charlie finished, as they crouched to look at a bright white sphere about the size of a tennis ball. It was humming quietly, and shining so intensely that Amelia couldn’t see its edges.

Charlie bent down and scooped up the sphere, and Amelia knew this was what Grawk had wanted them to do. Charlie straightened up, and his hair stood on end as though charged with static electricity. Currents of blue light divided and swirled over the surface of the sphere, and Charlie grinned before jerking his head over his shoulder. ‘Who was that?’

Amelia looked. ‘Nobody’s there.’

‘Then, here – try it for yourself.’

He tossed the sphere to Amelia, who flinched but caught it deftly. She’d been half-afraid it would burn her, but actually it felt cool in her hands, and the cool feeling swept up her arms and then through her whole body until even her scalp was tingling. Without looking at Charlie, she knew her hair must be puffed out like a dandelion too. She felt deeply peaceful, as though all time and space were at rest in one place.

Then she saw a flash of movement and sensed that there were people standing right behind her. She dropped the sphere in the hole and edged away from it.

‘We shouldn’t mess with this,’ she said. ‘We should –’

‘Go and tell your dad. Yeah.’

‘Please stay here, Grawk. Guard the hole.’

He sat down obediently, but looked so grim about it that Amelia didn’t try to pat him. They dumped their schoolbags in the grass beside him and sprinted the last rise of the headland to the hotel. They leapt up the main stairs, but forced themselves to steady on a bit before they walked through the double doors to the lobby.

‘Oh,’ said Amelia. ‘This is different.’

Inside, Mum was at the reception desk on the phone, and Dad and Charlie’s mum, Mary, were on their hands and knees trying to mop up a strange, syrupy black goop that had spilled all over the floor near the stairs to the guest wing.

‘Yeah,’ said Charlie. ‘But different to what?’

Amelia frowned. ‘Good question. We’d better ask –’

But Charlie tugged on her elbow and pulled her toward the other staircase. ‘Don’t ask me why, but I know we have to go to your room –
now
.’

Without hesitation, Amelia followed him upstairs and through the family wing to her bedroom.

Through the open door, they could see a woman inside. Amelia had never seen her before, and yet she was totally unsurprised.

The woman was standing in front of the rectangle of wallpaper where the portrait of Matilda Swervingthorpe used to hang. When Dad had removed the portrait, they’d found a small safe set into the wall. It was locked, and the key was long lost, and after a while Amelia had almost stopped noticing it.

But now … The woman was at work on the little door, probing the lock with a slender tool.

‘Hey! You’re not allowed in here!’ said Charlie.

The woman looked up at them, a lazy smile on her face. She raised her head and Amelia saw a spectacular bracelet on her wrist, sparkling like diamonds. The woman pressed the bracelet with her other hand and the room was filled with a blinding flash of white light streaked through with blue.

Amelia finished washing her hands at the sink, and rocked back on her heels in amazement. Around her, it was the usual Friday afternoon chaos. Shani and Sophie F were still trying to do a bit more on their self-portraits. Amelia wiped her hands on her uniform and went straight over to Charlie, who was already fully packed and ready to go, his bag by his desk.

He jiggled up and down on the spot. ‘Did you feel it, too?’ he whispered as she reached him.

‘Yeah, but what was it?’

‘Hey Dean, heads up!’ Charlie yelled suddenly as Sophie T weaved between the tables. She was so focused on not spilling the jar of filthy paint-water she was carrying that it was almost inevitable when she tripped over Charlie’s bag.

Dean, startled by Charlie’s shout, had paused a metre or two away, and now stared dumbfounded at Sophie T, who was sprawled across the floor in a paint-smeared heap.

‘
Charlie
,’ she seethed, peeling herself off the carpet. ‘You –’

The bell rang loudly, and Amelia and Charlie looked at each other, bemused.

‘All right, you lot!’ called Ms Slaviero.

‘Don’t forget your notes for next week’s excursion!’ Charlie chimed in, matching her not only word for word, but beat for beat – the same rhythm and tone exactly.

‘Smartypants,’ Ms Slaviero grumbled cheerfully as she wandered over to help Sophie T.

Charlie grabbed his bag, and Amelia gave Sophie T a quick, guilty smile before following him out the door.

Outside, it was a perfect Forgotten Bay summer afternoon – the kind that seemed to last forever.

‘All right,’ said Amelia as they began the familiar walk back up to the hotel. ‘So all this has happened before, hasn’t it?’

‘Either that or we’re both suddenly wicked psychics.’

‘Psychic doesn’t explain why I feel as though we were at the hotel
a minute ago
when it was
later this afternoon.
’

‘How much do you remember?’ asked Charlie, but before Amelia could answer, they both turned to watch Grawk bound out of the bushes, his paws covered with dirt. His fur was standing all on end, and a growl rumbled deep in his chest.

‘Let’s go!’ said Amelia, and they ran after him as he led the way up the steep hill to the headland.

‘There’s a woman!’ panted Charlie.

‘And a light,’ Amelia said. ‘Two lights?’

‘I can almost feel the memory,’ said Charlie as they came to the hotel’s gates and veered to the left. ‘But every time I try to see what’s there –’

‘Everything goes white?’