Free Paralysis Paradox (Time Travel Through Past Lives Adventure Series Book 1) by Stewart Sanders Page B

to pull myself together, wanting to avoid witnessing Arthur’s insipid glare, even when it was aimed at someone else. ‘We’ll go back to the farmhouse, Arthur, and look for it,’ I suggested.
    ‘You have no idea, do you?’ Arthur leered at me scathingly. ‘The bloody army and police are swarming all over it! George has been up there already. If they find that knife, George is done for, and so are we.’
    ‘I think we should go to the police,’ I said hurriedly. ‘We can explain everything to them. It was an accident! We didn’t mean to burn it down.’
    ‘Don’t be stupid.’ George looked like he was going to explode. ‘How are we going to explain the bodies and the fact that one of them has got a hole in his head?’
    ‘Well, Walter can explain. He shot him.’
    ‘Yes, he shot him saving you!’ Arthur was shouting now, his face twisted with derision. ‘This is all your fault, Charlie!’ He pushed me hard, forcing me to stagger back, and then before I could regain my balance properly, he swung at me, his fist catching my jaw. I went down, hitting my shoulder hard on the edge of a pew. Pain engulfed my body—jaw, shoulder, back. I curled up and prayed he would leave me alone. George and Evan held him back while Arthur roared something incomprehensible.
    ‘And what about the other ones, what did you do to them, Arthur?’ I asked.
    I don’t know what would have happened if the policeman who had been in the church a few minutes earlier had not reappeared, drawn in by the noise. Arthur shook himself free, and I heard all of them talking in low voices, my friends obviously trying to reassure the policeman that there was nothing to worry about. As their discussions became more animated, I noticed Evan back away and approach me.
    ‘I told the copper I’m going to walk you home so you won’t be bothering anyone else,’ he explained. ‘Come on, let’s get away.’
    We walked together briskly by the side of the pews and then ran as soon as we were out of the church.
    ‘Go and check on whatever’s left of that bloody farm, will you?’ Evan said eventually, coming to a standstill.
    ‘I have to get to work!’
    ‘Of course you do, as do I. But you know better than to trust what Arthur says. I think you should check for yourself.’
    ‘I’ve always been horrid to you, Evan; why are you being so nice?’ I was confused and yet curious too.
    ‘You saved my life last night, Charlie, don’t you remember?’ he said, looking at his bandaged finger.
    ‘I do, but it’s a struggle. Like it was a while ago.’
    ‘You know, they all laugh at how you can’t remember stuff, but if you could somehow memorise things better, you could run rings around the lot of them!’
    ‘I remember you were shaking on a burning roof, and there was a man trying to shoot you.’
    ‘Yes, and you seriously fucked him up—you saved me! So no need to ask why I’m nice, I owe you,’ he said, before walking off.
    I watched as Evan made his way back to the church and considered his advice, before heading towards the farm. By the time I got to New Pond, an army truck came speeding past me from the direction of the farmhouse, and I saw four military drivers on motorcycles heading towards it.
    Finding a spot amongst the bushes, I sat huddled, looking into the murky waters of the pond. Where was the skull now? Sunk in the mud and silt at the bottom, no doubt. I had dreamt the skull would be at that farmhouse, but why did Arthur really call it Henry? Arthur was right, I had mentioned my brother when I was younger and I used to get confused which life I was in, but this hardly seemed reason enough to decree that the skull I found, was called Henry?
    I no longer knew who my friends were, whom I could trust. And I had a horrible feeling that the two worlds of Richard and Charlie were starting to collide, with consequences that could only be disastrous.
    Disconsolately, I chucked a stone into the lake and watched the ripples fan out. It