I tried again with a different search engine. I searched the news. There was no mention of an environmental disaster in or near Wolfeboro.
By the time I clambered into bed at eleven thirty, I had devised a theory. Although it seemed impossible, the evidence was staring me in the face. The book written sixty-nine years in the future. The fact that the book was written by Connor Penrose and my best friend was Connor Penrose. Ryan showing up at school just weeks before school ended. Ryan not recognising commonplace food such as pizza and burgers. Not knowing who Hitler was, or Gandhi or Mandela. Ryan telling me that an industrial accident had wiped out all the trees in Wolfeboro when that hadn’t happened. Yet.
Only one thing could explain all these things.
Ryan Westland was from the future.
Chapter 9
The wind shrieked around the corners of the house, shook the windowpanes and howled down the chimney in my bedroom. I saw the clock strike midnight and one in the morning. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, I gave up trying to sleep. I took
I grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from my desk and began to list what I knew.
It wasn’t a lot to go on. But one thing stood out brighter than the lightning that flashed across the night sky: the name Connor.
I might be overwhelmed, I might be confused, and I might not have all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. But it was obvious that Ryan was here because of Connor. The question was: why?
In the clear light of day everything seemed absurd, the product of an overactive imagination.
‘You look terrible,’ said Miranda, pouring milk on to her cornflakes.
‘The storm kept me up.’
Miranda nodded. ‘I was awake half the night myself. You should go back to bed and catch up on your sleep. Those bags under your eyes are huge.’
Miranda left for work at eight thirty. I waited ten minutes and then shoved
The wind bent the trees horizontal. Rain began to fall, stinging my skin. In my rush, I hadn’t thought to grab a coat. The rain began to fall harder. I thought about heading back to get a coat, but I was halfway there. My tight black jeans were stuck to my legs and my white top was rapidly becoming transparent.
Three cars were parked in front of the large, detached double garage. Ryan’s silver car, Cassie’s red one and a metallic-blue one. Presumably Ryan, Cassie and their dad were all at home.
I knocked hard on the heavy front door, suddenly nervous. Yet I wasn’t the one with a huge secret. I exhaled slowly, trying to keep my nerve as I listened to someone on the other side of the door fiddling with a bolt.
It was Cassie.
‘Oh. It’s you,’ she said, her eyes running over me from head to toe and back again.
A raindrop ran down my forehead and into my eye. I wiped it away, conscious how I must seem to her with my rain-soaked hair and clothes.
Sheet lightning lit up the dark, shadowy sky and was quickly followed by a growl of thunder. The storm was back.
‘You’d better come in,’ she sighed.
I stood in the hallway, while water puddled around my feet.
‘I need to see Ryan,’ I said.
‘Don’t you own a coat?’
‘It wasn’t raining when I left the house.’
‘Ryan’s in the shower. Follow me.’
My heart lurched at the thought of Ryan in the shower, and for a moment I thought she was going to take me to him, but she took me into a large room on the left, a kitchen and dining room all in one with a massive farmhouse table in the middle. A man of about forty was sat at the table with a pile of newspapers and magazines in front of him. He appeared to be cutting articles from the papers.
‘You must be Eden,’ the man said, standing up and striding over to me with his hand outstretched.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ I said.
He pumped my hand vigorously. ‘I’m Ben. I’ve heard a great deal about you.’
His hand was warm, his smile friendly. ‘Cassie, get Eden a towel.’
Cassie flounced from the room.
‘Take a seat. Ryan will be down in a few minutes. I’ll make you a hot drink.’
I sat at the table and glanced at the articles Ben had cut from the newspaper. The headline on the topmost article read
‘What’s an exoplanet?’ I asked.
Ben carried two mugs of coffee across to the table. ‘A planet outside our solar system.’
My body tensed. ‘I didn’t think there were any planets outside our solar system.’
‘Careful, it’s hot,’ he said, passing me one of the mugs. ‘There are probably millions of planets out there. New planets are being discovered almost every day.’
‘Really? So why isn’t it headline news?’
‘They’re usually gas giants like Jupiter. Uninhabitable. I don’t think there will be headline news until we discover an Earth-like planet populated by little green men.’
I laughed. ‘Is that your job then? Looking for planets.’
‘Not exactly. I’m a science writer. I’m writing about the hunt for planets in our galaxy.’
Cassie flung the door open and threw me a white towel. I dabbed my face and squeezed the water out of my hair.
‘There’s fresh coffee in the pot,’ Ben told her.
It suddenly occurred to me that I had interrupted their breakfast.
‘I’m sorry to show up just like this,’ I said. ‘I just really need to speak to Ryan.’
‘There’s no need to apologise,’ said Ben. ‘It’s not a problem.’
I heard the sound of Ryan barrelling down the stairs and into the kitchen.
‘Hi,’ he said, a big smile spread across his face. ‘What happened? You missed me so much you couldn’t bear to wait until this afternoon?’
He was dressed in jeans and a white shirt, his hair wet from the shower. Despite everything, I could feel myself blushing. This wasn’t how I’d planned things at all. I’d run down the lane, hyped up and ready to confront him. Now, after all the waiting around, and Ben’s friendly chatter, I was beginning to lose my nerve.
