‘A showman’s traction engine!’ He breathed the words. ‘If only I had some methylated spirit for fuel. I’ve got the matches. I can get the water from one of the tanks. A bit of rag or maybe even some cotton wool somewhere. I bet I could get it up to pressure in no time …’
‘There you are! There you are. Oh, thank goodness you’re safe!’
Alex quickly stuffed the engine into his backpack and stood up to greet his sister.
Chloe had found him. She came stumbling out of one of the dark corners of the attic and grabbed him for a hug. Her face was moist with tears. Alex struggled, uncomfortable with this show of affection.
‘Steady on, sis,’ he said quietly. ‘Someone will see you.’
‘I don’t care. I missed you.’
‘Well, I do. I’ve – I’ve got my reputation to think of.’
Chloe laughed, despite her tears. ‘Oh, what? Your reputation as a hard man? Now, where have you been?’ She looked at him and suspicion came into her eyes. ‘You didn’t hide on purpose, did you?’
‘I was captured by shop dummies,’ he answered indignantly. ‘I was in danger of my life.’
‘No.’ And she could see he was deadly serious. ‘Anything can happen here. We have to watch our backs.’ He looked behind him, but all that was there was that old pile of clothes. ‘You never know who’s sneaking up on you – or rather, what.’
‘Stop it Alex, you’re frightening me.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll look after you. I know this place now. You just have to keep alert.’
She looked exasperated. ‘I didn’t mean you’re frightening me with the place, I mean you. You’re going bonkers.’
Alex was hurt and defensive. ‘No I’m not.’
‘Well, stop talking funny then.’
Alex realised he had to keep his new self hidden a little while longer. All right, he had been a scientist and engineer in his last life. In this one he was an explorer and he was going to enjoy being one. Chloe hadn’t yet made the leap from her old world into this one. He damn well had and it felt good. In his last life he had been the quiet one, the thinker, the slow one. Jordy had been the quick, flash, sporty one. Chloe had been the clever one, the book reader – and the pretty one. They got more attention than him, there. But things can change.
‘Alex, are you dreaming again?’
‘Me? No, course not.’ He hefted his pack onto his back.
‘And what’s in there?’
‘Stuff I found. Compasses. Binoculars.’
‘You found that? Oh, well done, Alex,’ cried Chloe, her tone changing instantly. ‘Where did you get it?’
‘Oh, over there.’ He waved vaguely. ‘You can get all sorts of stuff here, if you look out for it. Now, are we going to climb that old hill, or what? We need to find the map, don’t we?’
Chloe looked towards the Jagged Mountain. ‘We need to find Jordy,’ she said quietly.
‘Oh yes,’ said Alex. ‘And him.’
They began to walk towards the mountain.
Chloe said, ‘So tell me what happened with the shop dummies.’
Alex explained how he had wandered out and been captured by the mannequins, recounting the humiliation he’d been put through, but how he kept his chin up and had escaped when the chance came.
‘You did that all by yourself?’
A tinge of guilt went through Alex.
‘Well, I thought …’ he looked back at a pile of old clothes, receding into the back of the attic now. ‘Yeah – yeah, all by myself. Oh my …’ Alex suddenly pointed to something. ‘Oh Lord, look at that.’
‘What, that toy?’
‘Toy? It’s a model,’ cried Alex. ‘A Mamod. Look.’ He picked up the model traction steam engine painted green and red, with shiny wheels and lots of parts. It was truly a marvellous piece of engineering. ‘A traction engine,’ he said reverently. ‘You’ve no idea what these cost back in the real world. And here’s another one.’
‘Another one,’ echoed Chloe a little impatiently.
‘It’s mine,’ said Alex, as if she were going to take it from him.
Chloe said quietly, ‘You sound about two years old, Alex. We can’t carry things like that. It’s too heavy.’
‘Oh yes we can,’ said the feverish Alex.
‘Alex?’
‘I’m keeping it,’ he said, putting it in his backpack. ‘It’s mine and I’m keeping it.’
Chloe did not have the energy to argue.
They reached the bottom of the Jagged Mountain at noon and began climbing, up along rusty rifle ridge and skirting the chasm of bayonets. It was tough going, especially over