The Reluctant Time Traveller by Janis Mackay Read Free Book Online Page A

Saul, because this is our garden, the garden of the den! And that’s the big house. We did it! High five!” And we smacked our palms together.
    “Step two, find out the date. I reckon we got that right too.”
    “More or less,” I said and reeled off the clues so far. “Servants. Maids and stable boys. I mean, he looked like a stable boy. And horses. Spies. Enemies. Oh, and a shilling. I’m sure the wee maid mentioned a shilling. And how the war is coming.”
    Me and Agnes were feeling well pleased with ourselves. “Step three,” she went on, “find the deeds of the old house.”
    For the first time, I really thought about saving our den – really pictured us going back to Will and Robbie and holding up the title deeds, shouting “We’ve got it; they can’t bulldoze the den! We’ve saved it!” I felt the triumph of it. Agnes had been right: if we could do that, it was worth all the risks. Now we were back in 1914, we had to find these documents. Wherecould we start?
    Agnes tapped her nose, like she did when she was working something out. “I’ve been thinking that it’s probably too dangerous to try and search inside the big house. That housekeeper seems pretty scary. And the wee maid is not very pleasant either.”
    “Tell me about it! And what about Gaunt? The big master? He sounds bad news.”
    “Totally.”
    I was relieved I wasn’t expected to break into the big house and rummage through all the rooms and cellars. I’d probably end up in jail and never get home!
    “There are bound to be folk in town who know about this place,” Agnes said. “We should head there and find out all we can. But,” she looked at me through the leafy branches, “you need to dress more 1914, Saul. We’re going to get all kinds of strange reactions with you looking so twenty-first century.” She frowned, then her eyes lit up. “I know! Why don’t you use that black cape thing we saw in the hall on the coat stand? Get that, then we’ll head into town and find out all we can about Mr Hogg. He’s the man my gran said owned this house. He is some distant relative of mine. Gran said I’ve got a great-great-great-great aunt called Jean who knows the truth. All we have to do is find her.” Agnes lifted her rucksack. She was getting ready to climb down the tree. “Borrow that cape, Saul, then we’ll go.”
    “Steal, you mean?” I clambered down after her. Agnes plus rucksack jumped down and landed softly on the grass. I followed. We glanced around nervously, but it all seemed very quiet. As we hurried up the garden I was picturing myself in a black cape. What a vision! I wanted to laugh out loud. Normally I wouldn’t be seen dead in a black cape. But this wasn’t normally.
    When we neared the house we hid behind trees, checking the coast was clear. It was. No horse. No carriage. Not even a wisp of smoke curling from one of the high chimneys. I imagined little Elsie and the housekeeper and the stable boy, or whatever he was, tucked away somewhere in that big house. Maybe Mr Gaunt, or whoever he was, was off shooting hares.
    “All you have to do,” Agnes whispered, cutting in on my thoughts, “is open that window without a sound, slip in, grab the cloak and nip out. I’ll wait for you under the window to check no one appears. Now go!” Feeling like a real thief, I climbed in through the open window, and belted across the empty hall to the coat stand.
    “Oi!” I froze halfway across the black and white tiles, and looked up the flight of stairs. There was little Elsie standing on the landing, glaring down at me. This time she had a broom in both her hands, like one of those ‘Halt! Who goes there?’ soldiers. Her wee face was red and fierce looking. She stamped her foot. “Not having no robbers here!” she shouted. “Now get out, or there’s going to be trouble. You hear?”
    “This isn’t what it looks like,” I shouted back, as I sidestepped towards the coat stand.
    “Mrs Buchan!” she roared and