Page 68 of The Runner
‘I’m not so sure. This travelling on demand malarkey is unfamiliar territory for me.’
George shifted the Georgiana volume onto his knees and flicked over the pages of fine parchment. ‘This book is a marvellous thing of beauty,’ he said, admiring the eighteenth-century artwork and reading some of the passages.
Cara smiled. ‘It’s good to see you back in your element with rare manuscripts.’
‘Hold on, look! The text is rewriting itself,’ George said.
They watched as a spidery line of rich dark letters formed on the page and then the writing ceased with a flourish.
‘If I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it!’ George said. ‘It sent tingles down my spine.’
Cara leaned over his shoulder. ‘On October 17th of our lord’s year 1729, Lord George Cavendish fought a duel to the death with his arch enemy, Ralph Knight.’
The following section was still blank.
‘That definitely wasn’t there before! The timeline is resetting as we speak. And that’s a recent development—whatever has changed is because of my time traveling on demand and acting differently to how Caroline did the first time around. A quantum time loop must have triggered an alternate history,’ she said.
‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ George asked.
‘If I don’t find a way to stop this duel, you might die sooner than you were supposed to, and all our future timelines will be reset because you’ll be reincarnated at different times.’
‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ said George.
‘Me neither. I’ve witnessed something similar to the text rewriting like that at the National Archives when Ralph Knight was following me through time, remember?’
George nodded. ‘Yes, I do. That blasted karmic warrior is determined to finish me off, isn’t he?’
Cara wrapped her arms around George and said, ‘Please don’t be blasé about it—he is a formidable opponent, and he will do his best to destroy us. Even our current timeline could disappear if he has his way.’
‘How soon is October 17thin 1729?’
‘I know it’s October, so we don’t have long, but I don’t know the exact date. It’s not as though you see the date very much in those days. Hopefully, I’ll remember reading this so I can try to stop it, even though it means pushing back on time.’
‘I wonder where the duel will take place?’ George said.
‘It will be somewhere near Willow Manor—probably in Willow Wick. Ralph has been itching for a fight ever since eighteenth-century George rode in as my saviour.’
‘He’s got it coming to him. I only hope my duelling skills are all they need to be, and I’ll show him what for,’ said George, unconsciously slipping into the role.
‘Well, not if you’re drunk, you won’t,’ said Cara. ‘According to what I read before; you were in a terrible state the night of the card game.’
‘Before the text disappeared, it said there was a card game, but now I’m wondering whether it’s reset to a duel,’ said Cara.
‘What can we do?’ he asked.
‘There’s nothing to do but wait,’ said Cara, taking a sip of water. ‘I just hope I get an update soon and Caroline is aware of the urgent need to get back to York rather than wandering around London seeking a new governess post.’
‘Is there anything I can do?’
‘I think you’ve done enough!’ she said, wrinkling her nose at him.
‘Oh, don’t be like that, darling. You know I never screw it up intentionally…’
‘Of course, but if Caroline doesn’t get back in time to stop the duel, you could die by Ralph’s sword and who knows what the repercussions will be for us all?’
George sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. ‘I don’t want to make things worse, but honestly, I’m terrified. Every morning, the first thing I do is check you are next to me. We could be snatched from each other at any moment and find ourselves in a different life, married to someone else.’
‘I know,’ said Cara, reaching for his hand. ‘Try not to think about it. Let’s hope this will all be over soon.’
