Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven


“So you are trying to tell me that Uncle Jack and you can…you can…” Georgiana failed to find the right word to describe what Nicolas had explained to her.
“Time travel.” He supplied for her.
“Yes! Time travel. This is actually possible?” She looked to her father, who was now sitting down on the other side of the desk. The candles had burned low down to almost nothing now, and it was beginning to grow light outside.
“Yes, I’ve done it myself. I lost count how many times I walked through the Vortex.” Her father replied.
“What’s this about a ward? Or protection the watch has over it?” She asked.
“Well to a normal person, if they took the watch and opened it,” Nico started, from beside her. “It would look like a broken clock face. But the ones who can use it, can teach someone how to look past the ward to see what is truly there.”
Georgiana nodded slowly. She was still questioning it all, but the more they talked of how it worked, and explained what they could with the time they had.
“It is getting late, your wife will be waking in a few hours.” Nico said, glancing out the broken window. “I need to know, was there anything…anything my father said before he…” The boy seemed to choke on his words, but Mr. Smith understood his meaning.
“There is another reason why I wrote that journal. In it, there are mysteries we could never solve, we were running out of time. These mysteries carry a heavy burden, and have to be solved for the sake of humanity. But when we knew time was running out, we had to make arrangements.”
“What sort of arrangements?” Georgie asked.
Mr. Smith looked at her daughter evenly, and gave her a look that said he was about to tell her something that would be heavy to bear.
“It’s up to you two, to finish our work.”
The two young ones exchanged glances, not sure what to think of this.
“I do not mean to be disrespectful sir,” Nico started. “But why can’t you finish it? I mean I would help you of course, but to involve your daughter?”
Georgie immediately grew defensive.
“Are you saying this because I’m a girl? Because you think I wouldn’t have the strength or courage to do it?”
Nicolas looked startled by her sudden outbreak, and scrambled for a way to fix his mistake.
“No, no that’s not what I meant. I just meant that perhaps your father would not want to risk harm coming to his only daughter and child.”
Georgie’s anger deflated and she dipped her head in a sign of submission. Knowing full well that she shouldn’t have spoken out of term.
“You are right in a sense young Nicolas,” Mr. Smith said. “I would not like to risk my daughter’s life, but I am too old to do such things anymore. I will always wish to see my daughter out of harm, but this is what I entrust to you. If you are to take on what your father and I started, you must swear to me that you will do all you can to keep her safe.”
Georgie felt as if this was too much to ask of a stranger. She had only met the boy once, and she hardly felt that was sufficient enough to know if this young man was trust worthy.
But she knew her father was an excellent judge of character, and would not ask such a request from someone who would not keep it.
But Mr. Howler understood what Mr. Smith was asking, he knew that if he was asking, he trusted him.
Nicolas nodded solemnly.
“I give my word. If she agrees to work with me I’ll do all I can do to make sure she stays safe.”
“Could we please not pretend I wasn’t standing right next to you? I’m not invisible after all.” Georgie sighed.
There was a noise from down stairs, and the three looked towards the door.
Georgiana looked out the window and saw how high the sun had risen.
“Anna will be making breakfast soon, we must hurry. You have to get back to Lower Station before the city awakes.” She said in a hushed whisper.
“Right, Nicolas, listen to me.” Mr. Smith rose, and clasped the young man’s shoulders. “You must find this journal, use the recourses open to you. If you find it, you may read it and see the weight of what I have told you.”
Nico nodded and placed his cap back on his curls.
“Georgiana my dear,” He took his daughter’s hand. “Lead him back to the Gate, you know the streets well, take him the back route, and keep out of sight.”
Georgiana nodded and gestured for Nicolas to follow her.
As the two moved to the door, Mr. Smith called out to Nico.
“Son,” Nico turned to the man. “This what your father would have wanted.”
Nico looked down at the ground for a moment, then followed Georgiana in silence.

~ +++ ~

“No not that way!” Georgiana pulled on Nico’s coat, pulling him back into the shadows.
“The city is waking, people will soon spill out onto the main streets.” She explained, quickly leading the way down an alley.
“But the lights are still lit.” He said.
“Yes but see? Down the street?” They peeked around the corner of a house and watched as a man came and put them out.
“Now come, quickly.” She continued towards the Eastern edge of the city. “We must use the back ways, keep to the shadows. Wipe the grime from your face as best you can, and walk more confidently. Act like you belong.”
She watched as he took her advice, but she knew they would have to keep to the shadows, he was still quite noticeable.
“Do you always do as your father says?” He asked, looking around a corner of an alley before beckoning to her to follow.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, he tells you to escort a stranger, risking your own safety to make sure he gets out. Now if that’s not upside down and sideways, I don’t know what is.”
Georgiana couldn’t help but laugh as she gathered her skirts and ran from shadow to shadow.
“You say such funny things. Is that expression normal in Lower Station?” She asked.
Nico shrugged, coming up beside her and quickly pushing her into a doorway as an early riser moved past.
“I can’t really put my lifestyle in Lower Station into words that would do it justice. You’d have to see it.” He said finally.
“I shall, if I have a say in what I want to do with my life.” She remarked, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes.
“And what is it that you wish to do with your life miss?”
He stopped and looked her in the eye, and for the first time in her life, she realized there were people out there that actually cared about what she wanted to do. He genuinely wanted to know what she wished to do, he wanted to know her dreams.
“To have adventures.”
Nicolas grinned at her.
“I don’t think that will be a problem miss. With whatever our fathers have planned for us, I think we’ll have more adventures then we’ll ever want.”
He glanced down the street and saw the guards that stood at the entrance of it.
“Go back home, you stay away from here, don’t try to go looking for me.”
“Wait! No! don’t you -”  Georgie grunted in annoyance as the boy ran off down the street.
Georgie stayed hidden in the shadows, as she watched the boy duck into doorframes and allies.
She felt like she should be doing something to help him, but she couldn’t think of anything.

Nico neared the guard post, and the Gate. He paused behind a wall of a bakery and watched as the guards walked out to stretch their muscles.
He knew he had best get past them while they were still drowsy, but how? There were two on each side of the two pillars, and the only way to get through the Gate was to go through the pillars.

He glanced around and saw that few people were up and about, and then he saw a young woman walking calmly, and with determined steps down the street, strait to the Gate.
Nicolas groaned and punched the wall in frustration.
“Why can’t girls ever listen?!” He hissed.
He watched as Georgiana walk towards the guards, but there was something slightly off about her, she kept glancing over her shoulder, as if she was worried someone was following her.
Finally, she picked up her skirts and ran the last few yards to the guards in obvious distress. Nico looked around and saw no one following her, no one he could see anyways.
The guards saw her running towards them and one of them left their post.
“Ma’am what is the matter?” He asked. She collapsed in his arms with tears streaming down her face.
“Someone…someone’s broken into my father’s house…they’re armed, and are threatening my parents I don’t know what to do! I managed to get out but…they’re still in there!”
The guard turned to his companion and shouted for him to come and take care of her. He got her address and the other two ran off with the first down the street and to her house.
She glanced Nico’s way and gave him a subtle hand gesture to hurry up.
He ran across the street and towards the Gate, he thought he had made it when the guard helping Georgiana yelled at him.
“Oi! You’re not allowed down there!” He shouted.

Georgiana watched in horror when the guard pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nicolas.
“Nicolas look out!” She shouted as the guard pulled the hammer back. All her instincts went into overdrive, she wasn’t thinking clearly. All she knew was that this was a boy that couldn’t die, there was something special about him that drove her to do what she did.
“No! Don’t!” She heard him shout, but she had already jumped in front of the gun, pulled the man’s hand down just as his finger pulled the trigger.