Free Falling For Henry by Beverley Brenna

businessman beside him. Their banter, reaching Kate’s ears, sounded comfortable, warm. They leaned toward each other, obviously partners. How different from each other they look, thought Kate, yet how compatible. She longed for just such an easy relationship, one where communication was effortless. If she wasn’t such a loser, maybe she could think of something interesting to say to Hal. She clenched her hands, willing something smart to come out of her mouth, but all she could think of was stuff about the weather, and how dumb was that?
    Maybe it hadn’t been a wolf back there, she thought. Maybe it was just a dog, a stray who’d somehow found its way down into the tube station. It would run along the tracks and then escape into a side passage at the sound of the approaching train. Or be crushed by the vehicle, its body never found because rats would make swift work of the carcass.
    â€œCome on, it won’t kill you,” said Hal.
    â€œWhat?” Kate asked.
    Hal waved the gum under her nose. “Gum?”
    â€œOh, thanks,” Kate replied, but she made no move to take any.
    â€œWhat are you so serious about?” Hal asked.
    â€œOh … I … uh … was just thinking about our field trip today,” she replied with a false laugh, taking the package. “We went to the museum at Greenwich.” She popped a piece of gum into her mouth and chewed, the strong smell of mint reminding her of the scene in the forest. She saw again the people on horseback, heard the sound of the hunting horn.
    â€œAh, the home of time,” said Hal. “What did you think of the Prime Meridian?”
    â€œWhat?” asked Kate, thinking he was talking about numbers.
    â€œThe place where all the clocks in the world are set. Zero degrees longitude. You can actually stand with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one foot in the western hemisphere.”
    â€œWell … I don’t think we went there,” said Kate, returning the pack of gum.
    â€œPity,” said Hal. “It’s a hoot. I’ve been there loads of times.”
    â€œCan you … can you feel the difference? Between time zones?” asked Kate, her pulse starting to race again.
    â€œYou bet,” he said. “Sometimes I can almost feel myself disappearing.”
    â€œWhat?” Kate said, startled.
    â€œYou can’t be in two time zones at the same time, now, can you?” he went on in a light voice. “Sometimes, when you have a choice, you have to pick one time or the other, and then take the consequences.”
    â€œYou mean change times?” she asked. He gave a short explosive laugh.
    â€œHah! Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? The question that people have asked for centuries. Is time travel possible?” She saw all at once that he was joking and tried to smile. When he offered her another piece of gum, she took it and chewed hard, biting her tongue and then blinking as tears came to her eyes.

8
The concert
    WHEN THEY GOT off the train at Hyde Park Corner, Kate and Hal took the stairs two at a time, bursting out into the mild air. No frost tonight. Still, it was damp, and the hint of cold managed to find its way under Kate’s skin.
    â€œWas it that different, then, from your subways?” Hal asked.
    Kate paused. For certain, there were no wolves in the New York subways. “No, not much different,” she said, finally, “not really,” and did her best to smile. She opened her mouth to try the giggle, but nothing came out. Just as well, she told herself. It would likely have been another one of those squeaks. Not very impressive. She wished desperately that she had something interesting to say to Hal, something that would make him laugh or look at her admiringly. Instead, she felt as heavy as a boiled egg, and just as talkative. Humpty Dumpty , she thought dismally.
    They walked along toward a small crowd that had gathered around a man