Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald Read Free Book Online Page B

that we have to believe, even if we can’t explain it. And I knew for sure that if I met her here, she would definitely believe me when I told her who I was, and when she did, everything was going to be a hundred percent grand.

    That night Kevin showed me around my bedroom, which took about two and a half seconds, seeing as all there was in it was a bed and a chair. He picked up a limp pillow and started gently wrestling with it. He said he hoped I’d be comfortable. The chances of that looked quite slim, but still I said thanks.
    I told him it had been a very confusing day. He said he’d be in the next room if I needed him but that I should try to get some sleep and maybe things would make more sensein the morning. I said nothing was probably going to make sense ever again in my whole life.
    He asked me if I’d had any upsetting experiences recently, and I said, “I guess that’s what you could call them.”
    He said, “I think that as soon as you have any distressing or strange thoughts, it’s always the best thing to put them right out of your head.”
    He asked me to remind him what my name was again, and I said it was Cosmo. And he said, “No, honestly, what’s your real name?” and I said seriously, that really was it. He said, “All right, then. Good night. See you in the morning.”

    Even though I was dog-tired, it was pretty hard to fall asleep. I don’t reckon anyone would be able to go to sleep that easily after a) they’d just found out they were a time traveler who’d b) met their granddad when he was young, and c) were then trying to sleep on an extremely uncomfortable mattress in a very cold room.
    There was a crack under the door, and I could hear Kevin still loitering outside, whistling, soft and low. And there was a whooshing noise that was possibly his feet dragging along the flagstones. I heard these clickety footsteps too, coming quite fast, closer and closer. They stopped, and a woman’s crackly voice said, “Kevin! Goodness but this is a very late hour of the night for you to be up.” And he said, “I know. I’ve been waiting to talk to you.” And then he said, “There’s something I need to tell you about.” And Crackly said,“What could you need to be telling me that couldn’t wait till the morning?” and Kevin explained all about how he’d found this strange boy on the grounds and now the strange boy was asleep in the spare servant’s room.
    There was a pause, and I held my breath because it was a bit hard to hear everything.
    â€œAnd how in the name of God did he get onto the grounds?”
    â€œHe had a key. A key to the south gates.”
    â€œHoly Saint Joseph, well, that’s certainly a surprise,” said Crackly. “I didn’t think there was a single soul who had a key to those gates anymore.”
    â€œNeither did I,” said Kevin. “And you see, the thing is that the fellow seems a bit unhinged. He had a daft story. Didn’t seem to want to leave once he’d met me. Was in what you might call a bit of a state. I thought the best thing was to get him to calm down and put him to bed.”
    â€œOh dear. Didn’t you know that every stray boy you meet these days is madder than a brush? Gracious me, but will you ever learn? And you know you’re not supposed to linger around those south gates. You know how upset everyone gets. What do you think Lord Corporamore would say? And why didn’t you tell me?” she said.
    â€œI’m telling you now, aren’t I?” he replied.
    The crackly voice laughed and said, “Yes, well, I suppose there’s no arguing with that.”
    He went on a bit more about me then, all about how Ilooked like I could do with a chance to “steady” myself, and that maybe this was my place of temporary refuge. But he didn’t say a single thing about me helping him to bring my