‘You know, when I signed up for this mission,’ he said quietly, ‘I thought it would be the biggest thrill-ride. I thought I could be a hero, save the planet, meet some cool people and then go home. I thought it would be easy. I never expected to develop feelings for the people I met. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t want to go back.’
‘Is there no way?’
‘You know the answer to that.’
I remembered, miserably, what he had said about clean-up agents ensuring that the laws of time travel were followed.
Ryan jumped quickly to his feet and took out a small silver box from the pocket of his jeans.
‘It’s time for your gift,’ he said.
I took the box from him and lifted off the lid, wondering what on earth he would give me. Lying on a bed of white cotton was a key.
‘Um, thanks?’ I said, confused.
‘It’s the key to my car,’ he said. ‘Or perhaps I should say, your car.’
‘Oh my God!’ I yelled. ‘Thank you!’
He shrugged. ‘I can’t take it with me.’
‘I’m not seventeen for three months.’
‘Let’s be honest, it hasn’t stopped me!’
‘Are you suggesting . . .’
‘Look, you’ve often said how isolated you are out here at Penpol Cove. One of the first times I spoke to you, you were walking home alone on a dark and windy night. I figure, if I teach you to drive now, you can get a bit of practice in here, and then by the time of your birthday, you’ll be ready to get your licence.’
I tried not to run like an excited little girl as we headed over towards Ryan’s silver car. I unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. Ryan sat in the passenger seat.
‘Let’s belt up,’ he said. ‘This could be a bumpy ride.’
‘I don’t want to hear any crap about female drivers,’ I said.
Ryan laughed and showed me how to check the gear-stick was in neutral before turning the ignition. The car purred into life.
He rested his hand on my left knee. ‘This is your clutch foot,’ he explained.
If he kept his hand on my knee, there was no way I would be able to focus on learning to drive.
‘The only thing you do with it is dip and release the clutch pedal. Your other foot controls the gas and brake.’
He held my left hand and placed it on the gearstick. ‘I want you to press down on the clutch and I’ll help you find first gear.’
I pushed down on the clutch, the way he’d described, and he moved my hand into first gear.
‘Gently release,’ he told me, ‘and step down lightly on the gas.’
I did as he said. The car lurched forward and stalled.
‘It’s getting hot in here,’ I said, feeling my face flush with embarrassment. I rolled down my window.
‘Cassie, Ben and I all had to teach ourselves,’ he said, laughing. ‘We had the cars delivered here to the house. We kept stalling too. In fact, we nearly sent them back to the manufacturer because we thought they were faulty.’
‘What am I doing wrong?’
‘Nothing. It takes a while to get a feel for how to release the clutch. Just keep trying.’
By the third attempt, I managed to get the car moving. Within seconds the engine was screaming.
‘Take your right foot off the gas pedal, dip the clutch and we’ll move up into second,’ Ryan shouted above the noise of the engine.
I lurched forward again.
By the time I had driven to the end of the driveway and reversed back ten times, I was feeling pretty confident.
‘I think it’s time for you to take us out on the road,’ said Ryan.
‘What if someone sees me?’ I said.
‘I’ve been driving along the coast road for months without anyone noticing,’ said Ryan. ‘I’ve never seen a cop car. Miranda and Travis will both be at work.’
‘OK,’ I said shakily.
I drove up the lane from the farmhouse to the village in second gear, leaning forward over the steering wheel, terrified that I would meet a car coming in the opposite direction and have to brake suddenly, or worse, reverse. Once in the village, Ryan directed me round the roundabout. Several roads radiated off the roundabout like the spokes of a wheel. I took the last exit, the coast road. The road my parents had driven along the night they died.
‘Maybe it’s time to try third,’ Ryan suggested, when the engine started roaring again.
He helped me ease the car up through the gears until we were cruising along the coast road in fifth gear, at a leisurely thirty miles per hour. He was right. It was empty. Most people used the bypass these days, unless they were visiting one of the few farms or cottages along the road.
My internal organs rearranged themselves and my knuckles whitened as we approached the cliff top above Lucky Cove. The road turned back on itself in a sharp hairpin bend. I changed down to third and took the corner slowly.
‘You’re doing great,’ said Ryan. ‘You’re really good at this.’
I could feel him looking at me, but I was concentrating too hard on the road ahead to meet his eyes. The road snaked wildly, following the curve of every hill, rising and dipping with the contours of the land. It wasn’t difficult to imagine a driver losing control. I couldn’t fail to notice the cheery yellow gorse flowers lining the road, or the glimmering blue sky above us.
As we approached Perran, I began to panic. I hadn’t passed a single vehicle on the coast road, but Perran would be busy.
‘I can’t drive through town,’ I said.
‘Yes, you can. Don’t lose control. Just drive. I’ll talk you through it.’
‘What if Miranda sees me? Or Travis?’
‘They won’t expect to see you driving a car. Just relax and keep doing what you’ve been doing.’
I slowed down to twenty miles an hour and tried to avoid hitting the brake every time a car approached me.
‘Shift down to second,’ said Ryan, as we came close to the harbour car park.
He talked me through the gear changes, indicating and pulling into a parking space. It wasn’t until I switched off the engine that I realised my hands were shaking.
‘That was fun!’ I said, secretly pleased with myself.
‘You deserve an ice cream. You did great.’
Ryan reached for my hand. I wanted to squeeze it tight, but I knew that my hand was sweaty with nerves and I didn’t want to gross him out.
‘It doesn’t look like there are any clouds coming our way,’ I said, as we sat on the edge of the wall with our 99 flakes.
‘It will cloud over,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow night will be the only clear night during the transit of Eden.’
‘What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. Check out our apple tree and our time capsule?’
‘And then what?’
‘See my family. Find out what has changed. Things could be very different when I get back. Our time here in the past will have changed the future. Who knows what I’ll find when I get home.’ He smiled at me. ‘A healthy planet with lots of trees, I hope.’
‘I wish I could come with you. I would love to meet your family and friends.’
‘I wish you could too.’ He squinted out to sea. ‘I’ll tell them all about you.’ He sighed. ‘Not everything of course. In the old timeline they’d be fascinated to hear about the girl who Eden was named for. But they can’t know that now.’
‘What will you tell them? Won’t they wonder why you travelled to the past? Won’t they wonder what your mission was?’
‘We have a cover story. About preventing the extinction of the chicken.’