What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (10 page)

“I don’t know about this.”  Clyde replied.

“Think of it this way.  Neither of you are in your peak physical condition, this is the last job you will ever have to do.  At the moment, you run, and you hide.  You steel to survive, it is a life that you have become accustomed to.”

“How do you know so much?”  Clyde barked.

“I know so much because I have been an outlaw, and I know what it is like.  If you come with us, the police won’t be looking for you.  No one will know where you are, you don’t even need to come back to America if you don’t want to.”

“We’ll help you.”  Bonnie replied quickly, she seemed almost excited.

“Bonnie what are you saying?”  Clyde spoke in astonishment.

“He’s right, how much longer can we outrun them?  They will catch us eventually.”  She pleaded.

“They will catch you in around half an hour.  They will shoot you with everything they’ve got.”  Jacob advised.

“I’m talking to Bonnie!”  Clyde barked, Jacob stared at him with fury.

Chase couldn’t help but smile.

“Are you sure that this is what you want?”  Clyde continued.

“We need to do this.”  She replied.

“How do we get there?”  Clyde asked.

“Dr Teller will generate a wormhole that will take us to Wernher’s home and then you just walk through it.  Get any guns that you have.”  Jacob demanded.

Bonnie and Clyde squeezed out of the booth and struggled out of the diner.  Bonnie was almost hopping.

“So are we all in?”  Jacob asked.

“It will not work.”  Wernher insisted.

“Will you try?”  Chase asked.

“What choice do I have?”

“You have no choice.”  Jacob instructed.

“Well then I will try.”  Wernher reluctantly agreed.

“Well, everyone out.”  Jacob demanded.

As the others left the booth, Chase stayed where he was and stared at Jacob.

“Is there a problem?”  Jacob asked with irritation.

“Just wanted to give you a word of warning.”

“Do not threaten me, you won’t like what happens.”  Jacob spoke calmly.

“I wanted to tell you that if you are trying to lead us to certain death then Bonnie and Clyde will want you dead as much as I will.  I know that you aren’t afraid of me, but something tells me you may be a little more afraid of them.”

Jacob laughed with joy.  “Oh yes, they terrify me.  A man who was stupid enough to cut his own toe off and a woman who hopped out of here.  Frankly I consider you to be more of a threat.  Also just in case you hadn’t realised, I consider you to be an idiot.  We had better go out and join the others.”

Chapter 19

Faraday walked into the flat above the pub, it was a spacious three bedroom flat.  The walls and carpets were cream, he nervously walked through the hallway towards the living room at the end.  He could hear the song “Pet Cemetery” by The Ramones being played.  He walked into the living room and saw that Jane was sitting at a table with her back to the door, she was typing something on her laptop.

“Jane.”  Faraday said softly, he felt on the verge of tears.

She turned quickly and stared at him, she too looked as though she was going to cry.  She was a middle aged woman now, her hair was brown with a few grey hairs dotted around.  “Faraday.”  She rose from her chair and they shared a hug.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”  Faraday said as he hugged her.

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again either.”  She cried.

“You look beautiful.” 

“I’m an old woman.”  She replied, the tears were now soaking into Faraday’s grey suit jacket.  He held her tightly, her once toned body was now a little puffy.

“I would love you if you were one hundred years old.”  He replied.

She pulled away from him and he saw her pale blue eyes, they looked as though they had seen much misery.  “You look so young.”  Jane said looking at her husband.

“You look beautiful.”  Faraday repeated, staring into her eyes.

“No I don’t.”  Jane replied self-consciously. 

“So what happened Jane?  I thought you were dead?”

“Jacob saved us from the car bomb, and we went to 1995.  I raised Scarlett and Nancy raised Clint.  Nancy died a few months ago from lung cancer and Jacob left to find you.  So it’s just been me and the kids.”

“Why didn’t you come back for me?”  Faraday asked.

“I couldn’t, if Abaddon knew that we were alive he might have killed us, like he did David.  He’s been trying to find you as well.”

“I went to see David before I came here.  His wife blamed me for the death.  At first I assumed Jacob might have killed him.”

“No, Jacob was going to, but that was before he saved us.  Apparently after you and Edward visited him, David went to Abaddon to ask him to help you.  Abaddon killed him.”

“Why would he do that?  I asked David to help me and he turned me down.  What need would Abaddon have to kill David?”

“David probably didn’t want to risk losing his family again.  He probably knew too much and that’s why Abaddon killed him.”

“I can understand why he wouldn’t want to risk losing his family again.”  Faraday agreed.

Jane smiled.  “So you met Scarlett?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it.”  Faraday replied.

“She looks like you.” 

“That’s what she said.”  Faraday laughed.

Jane led Faraday to the couch and they sat side by side holding hands.  “She’s a really good kid, she pretty much runs the bar herself.”

“So do you own the bar?”

“Yes, it seemed fitting considering how often we came here.” 

“That is very cool.”  Faraday nodded.  “So was it tough, raising her alone?”

“I wasn’t alone, Nancy helped, and Jacob even helped from time to time.”

“Jacob helped raise our daughter?”  Faraday asked in disgust.

“He’s not as bad as you think.”

“He’s a mass murderer.”  Faraday snapped.

“He’s killed far fewer people than Abaddon, who you helped.”

“I made a mistake.”  Faraday acknowledged.

“So what do we do about us?”  Jane asked.

“You are my wife Jane.”

“I’m an old woman.” 

“I don’t care, I love you and I always will.  We are not jeopardising this again.” 

“How do you mean?”

“This Abaddon and Alex Salmond thing, it isn’t worth our lives trying to stop it.” 

“This whole thing was our fault Faraday, I’m not letting it happen.”

“But Scarlett said you didn’t want to do anything like this again.” 

“I’m not going out with a gun and looking for trouble, I will warn Alex.”

“Do you know him?”

“I’m one of his speech writers.”  Jane replied.  “It’s what I was working on when you came in.”

“Jacob asked me to bring guns.”  Faraday stated, confused.

“He wants us to stop the assassination and kill Abaddon.”

“Yes I know, are you going to?”

“I will warn Salmond; that is all.”

“What about Scarlett and Clint?”

“They want to be like their family, and have a real impact on history.  I have explained to them both that I have no intention of allowing them to do so, it is not worth it.”

“I would have to agree, we can ground them if they step out of line.”  Faraday joked.

“They won’t listen, they’re headstrong.  Think they know everything, like we did at that age.”  Jane laughed.  “Listen to me, you’re closer to their age than you are mine.”

Faraday didn’t reply to that statement, he could see that Jane was struggling to deal with the age gap.

“Did anyone else come with you?”

“Guy Fawkes came with me.”

Jane snorted with laughter.  “Jacob thought you had saved him.  Bonfire night doesn’t even exist anymore.”

“It was a spur of the moment thing, the guards showed up and Guy escaped with us.”

“Did Jacob go to save Bobby?”

“That was the plan the last time I saw them.”

“It’s suicide.  Who else was with him?”

“Chase, Sarah Salmond and Dr Teller.”

“Sarah Salmond, she’s a bitch!”

“She’s not so bad.”

“Have you forgotten about the slanderous comments she made about Kennedy?”

“That was Jacob’s doing.” 

“He is the reason I am alive.”

Faraday sighed.  “I know.”

“Teller, is he the one who made the time machine?”

“Yes.”

“How do you think they’ll do it?”

“I have absolutely no idea.”

Chapter 20

Bobby was strapped back into the chair and once again he was left on his own with Josef Mengele.  Mengele took his seat opposite Bobby and watched as a guard came into the room.  To Bobby’s surprise the guard began to spoon feed him soup, it didn’t taste like Will and Emmerich had described. It was beautiful tomato soup.

“I have reconsidered the salt water testing, well on you anyway.  The guards told me they overheard a conversation you were having with those disgusting cell mates of yours.  They said that you claimed to be from the future and that you were sent here as some sort of punishment.  At first I thought it must be a lie, but the way you appeared here, dressed in an exquisite suit makes me wonder whether there isn’t some truth in the story.”

Bobby kept accepting mouthfuls of soup and didn’t reply.

“You said that the Allies would win the war and that this camp would be liberated.  You said that Will Carter would kill me, is this true?”

Bobby swallowed his mouthful of soup and replied.  “Yes.”

“Fascinating, tell me, how is it that you were able to travel through time?”

“I went through a wormhole.”

“So how do I do it?”

“I have no idea.”

“That’s enough soup!”  Mengele snapped.

The guard stood up straight and left the room.

“I am willing to allow you to live if you help me.”

“Live where?”

“Well, here of course.”

“It’s not really worth it is it?”

“You would rather die?”  Mengele asked.

“Yes.  I am sure you are aware of this, but this place is death.  I have never seen or met a more disgusting human being than you.”

“Those are strong words number 221163, I have killed people for far less.”

“You kill people for being a different race or religion.”  Bobby snapped again.

Mengele laughed.  “They deserve to die.  When you have been here as long as I have you get used to how pathetic these people really are.  They are frightened, they do not see the good that we are doing.  They are like parasites to this world.”

“I would rather die than help you.”  Bobby yelled.

“Would you like your two cellmates to die with you?”  Mengele smiled.

Bobby wanted nothing more than to tear Mengele’s head off, he had been scum throughout his entire disgusting existence.  “They would rather die than help you.”  Bobby asked.

Mengele laughed.  “If I drag them both through here and tell them that if you helped me I wouldn’t kill them, do you think they would rather you watched me shoot them?”

Bobby sighed, he hated Mengele so much.  “What do you want from me?”

“I want to know how to travel through time.”

“I don’t know how to do it.”

“Well, how did you do it?”  Mengele asked in frustration.

“The first time was an accident, a wormhole just kind of appeared and I went through it.”

“So from which time did you come from?”

“The early 21
st
century.” 

Mengele smiled.  “Incredible, and you arrived here?”

“No, I travelled to the day that Abraham Lincoln died, and I lived in America until 1969.  I was then sent here.”

“I have a way for you to save your life, and the lives of your cell mates.”  Mengele stated.