Free Time and Again by Rob Childs Page A

pushed him in the chest so hard that Luke stumbled back against one of the stalls, making it wobble. Luke had no chance to fight back, even if he had dared, as a snarling Tan was now standing in front of Chris.
    â€˜Oi! Clear off!’ shouted the stallholder. ‘Don’t want you lot muckin’ about round ’ere, disturbin’ my customers.’
    â€˜What customers?’ snorted Luke, casting an eye over the clutter of items on the bric-abrac stall. ‘Who’d want to buy any of this rubbish?’
    â€˜Cheeky brat!’ the man stormed, getting off his chair. He was much bigger than Luke had realised. ‘I’ll have you.’
    Luke shot a threat at Chris too. ‘And I’ll have you at school tomorrow, Jacko – when your dog’s not around to protect you.’ He turned and snatched the nearest thing that came to hand off the stall and then ran out of the market.
    â€˜Oi! Come back ’ere with that watch!’ the man cried, but Luke was already lost to sight.
    So was Becky. Still annoyed by Luke’s insult, she had hared off in pursuit, closely followed by Tan, who had yanked the lead out of Chris’s grasp.
    It was a little while before Chris caught up with them all. Guided by the noise of Tan’s barking, he found them in an alleyway, where Luke had tried to hide behind a large rubbish bin. Becky was too quick to be fooled, however, and she had also managed to seize the end of the lead to keep Tan in check.
    When Chris arrived on the scene, Luke dropped the watch into the bin. ‘You want it, you get it,’ he told the twins. ‘I’m off.’
    Luke gave Tan a wide berth, but brushed past Chris, deliberately making physical contact, shoulder-to-shoulder, as he lurched along the alley.
    Chris looked at his sister. ‘You or me?’ he said, knowing the answer.
    â€˜You,’ Becky grinned. ‘I’ve got Tan.’
    Chris opened the lid of the bin. ‘Phhwwaahh! It stinks in there!’
    It was just as well, perhaps, that the bin was fairly full as it would have been difficult – and very unpleasant – to reach right down to the bottom.
    â€˜Wish I was wearing gloves,’ he muttered, then held his breath while he rummaged carefully among the bin’s rotting contents.
    â€˜Any luck?’ asked Becky.
    Chris grunted a response, just as his hand closed upon what felt like a chain. He pulled it out to discover that it was attached to a silver watch.
    â€˜Result!’ he cried in triumph, dangling the watch above Tan’s quivering nose.
    Becky took it from him, using her sleeve to wipe some mess off the glass. ‘Looks a bit like a stopwatch with these buttons around the dial,’ she said. ‘Must be quite old, though. It’s even got Roman numerals.’
    â€˜Didn’t think the Romans had watches,’ Chris grinned. ‘Probably had to lug sundials round with them if they wanted to know the time!’
    Becky turned the watch over in the palm of her hand and saw there was some writing on the back. It was in the form of a short rhyme, although the small squiggly script made it quite awkward to read.

    â€˜Strange,’ she murmured. ‘Wonder what that means?’
    â€˜Search me,’ said Chris, leaning on her shoulder to peer at the verse himself. ‘I’m no good at poetry.’
    â€˜
By a click of the clock
,’ she repeated. ‘Hmm, well let’s try this button at the top first and see what happens.’
    Becky pressed down the red button above the XII…
    Click!
    â€¦and was struck dumb.
    They were both standing in the field by the river again, with Tan demanding the stick to be thrown for her to fetch.
    The twins stared at each other in disbelief. The only thing that was different from before was that Becky now had a watch in her hand.
    â€˜What the hell are we doing back here?’ Chris muttered. ‘This is crazy!’

CHAPTER TWO
Time