I ran up the stairs and into the bathroom. A small pile of towels was still neatly stacked inside and a half-used bar of soap sat by the basin. I checked the tap. Water flowed. It seemed they’d cleared out most of the furnishings and thrown away most of their personal stuff, but a few pieces remained behind.
I went into Ryan’s bedroom. The bed had been stripped and the bedding was neatly folded at the foot of the bed. There was nothing of his in the room. No sketch pad or book or dirty mug. No trace of him whatsoever. I was just about to head back downstairs when I heard a car approaching. I looked out of the window and saw a black car pulling into the drive. It hadn’t occurred to me that anyone else would visit the farmhouse. But it made perfect sense. The house was empty. Presumably, Ben would have arranged for it to be sold. My heart ached at the thought of another family moving in. Of not being able to visit our apple tree. How long would I have? Days? Weeks? Months?
I didn’t like the thought of an estate agent or solicitor finding me inside the house. The problem was, the back door just led into the back garden. There was no way back on to the lane without coming round to the front and heading down the driveway. There was nothing for it: I would have to face them.
I headed back down the stairs and up to the front door. A man was facing away from me. He was bent over, pulling hard at something in the ground. Our apple tree. Why anyone would wish to destroy a tree was completely mystifying. But what was even more confusing was the person pulling it out of the ground. Because even though he had his back to me, I could tell immediately who it was: Travis.
I was just on the verge of running outside and yelling at him, when I stopped. Something wasn’t right. I backed away from the door and gently pushed it to. My blood had turned to ice. I went back into the kitchen and stood near the window. He tossed the sapling on to the ground and continued digging. If he went any deeper, he would find our time capsule. The tree and the time capsule were the only permanent reminders of me and Ryan, the only mark we had left on the Earth.
And that was when I realised what was happening.
Travis pulled the time capsule out of the ground and tossed it on to the lawn next to the tree. He dropped the shovel and wiped his forehead with his sleeve. He turned to face the house. His face was pink from exertion and mud was smeared across his arms. I stepped back from the window.
I wasn’t sure if he had seen me or not. I’d only been there for about a second and it was much harder to see in through a window than out. I could run to the car, but he would probably intercept me on the way. Run out of the back door. That could work, but there was nowhere to hide. Hide in one of the rooms upstairs. But then if he found me, I’d be trapped. I had to face him.
I went to the front door and opened it. Travis was standing right in front of me.
‘Hey, Travis!’ I said, as though there was nothing that could have pleased me more than to bump into Travis at the farmhouse. ‘Did Miranda send you here to fetch me?’
‘We need to talk,’ he said.
‘Can we talk at home? I was just leaving.’
Travis put one hand in the small of my back and pushed me gently, but firmly, inside.
‘What’s going on, Travis?’ I asked, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
‘I’m cleaning up your mess.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘I think you do.’
‘Who are you?’ I whispered.
‘I’m sure you’ve worked that out by now. He told you everything else. He must have told you about the clean-up agents.’
I swallowed. Travis was Miranda’s boyfriend. They’d been together for months. He was a part of the family. When Ryan had mentioned cleaners, I’d imagined some sort of arch-villain from a James Bond movie. Not Travis.
‘We need to do some damage limitation,’ he said, steering me into the living room. ‘We can start with this.’
He held a piece of paper in front of my face. My letter to Ryan. I grabbed for it, but Travis held it out of reach.
‘Imagine if somebody else had found this. By the time you read this, I will be long dead. Although my life will be over, only a day or two will have passed for you. It’s strange to think of you out there, still young and pretty when I am dead and gone.’
‘Stop!’ I said, my face burning.
Travis flicked open his lighter and held the flame to the end of the letter. I watched the paper char and then burn. He dropped the paper in the fire grate.
‘How did you know about that?’
‘I didn’t till I dug it up. I had to check, to make sure the two of you hadn’t done something stupid. I can’t believe he let you put that in there.’
‘He didn’t know about it.’
‘Sit down, Eden,’ said Travis, gesturing towards the sofa.
‘I’d prefer to stand.’
‘Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you.’
I couldn’t imagine Travis hurting me. We’d shared so many meals together; we’d flaked out on the sofa with Miranda. He’d given me lifts into town. Maybe he wouldn’t hurt me. Perhaps he would trust me with their secrets, as Ben, Cassie and Ryan had chosen to do. Perhaps not.
I sat down. ‘How did you know?’
‘That you knew?’
I nodded.
‘It’s my job to know these things. But truthfully, you made it easy. You started asking questions about time travel around the same time you became friendly with Orion Westland. It was obvious you had sussed him out. And then, the other night, of all the stars in the night sky, you chose Algol. You wouldn’t know this, but Algol is still considered to be a binary star system in 2012. It’s not until 2045 that a third star was confirmed.’
‘Are you going to kill me?’
He laughed. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. Like I said, we need to talk. I need to know just how much Westland told you. Wait here. I’ll get us a drink.’
He left the room. I could make a run for it. Try to get to the car. But I wouldn’t have much time and he might cut me off at the front door. I decided to stay put and wait for a better opportunity. Travis didn’t know I had learnt to drive and he didn’t know I had the car key with me. I needed to sit tight and hope that he didn’t do something before I had the chance to put my plan into action.
‘They haven’t left much behind, have they?’ said Travis, coming back into the living room. ‘Very inconsiderate. But they left some beer.’
He twisted the tops off the bottles. ‘Where’s Connor?’ His voice was soft, kind, unthreatening. He pushed one of the bottles into my hand.
I put it on the coffee table.
‘I forgot,’ said Travis with a smirk. ‘You don’t drink. Perhaps you should start. You look like you need to relax.’
‘What do you want?’
‘To talk.’ He took a long swig from his bottle. ‘Where’s Connor?’
‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘We had an argument last night. He’s not speaking to me.’
‘What did you argue about?’
‘I broke his telescope.’
Travis chortled. ‘Nice. Pass me your phone.’
‘I don’t have my phone with me.’
‘Stand up.’
‘Why?’
‘I’m going to pat you down and see whether you’re telling the truth.’
I didn’t want his hands anywhere near my body. I handed it over. Travis spent a couple of minutes looking at it and then dialled a number.
He passed it back to me. ‘Tell him to meet you here.’
I hung up. ‘No.’
I felt something hard hit the edge of my jaw with enough force to knock me sideways on the couch. A searing pain began to radiate along my face.
‘I need to talk to Connor,’ he said.