Free The Portal by Andrew Norriss Page B

sleep have you had in the last two days?’
    William tried to think. There had been a fewhours before the bricks arrived on Tuesday… or was it Monday? What day was it today? He struggled to remember…
    â€˜I thought so.’ Brin placed a stubby hand on William’s shoulder and led him towards the lift. ‘Come on, you’re going to bed.’
    â€˜I can’t yet,’ William insisted. ‘There’s men doing the doors and I’ve got to make sure Daniel doesn’t…’
    â€˜I’ll look after Daniel,’ said Brin firmly. ‘Bed. Now.’

C HAPTER N INE
    The following morning, after more than twelve hours sleep, William was feeling a lot better. He came down to the kitchen to find the station manager from Q’Vaar standing at the sink, vigorously cleaning the taps.
    â€˜Hi there!’ Brin gave him a cheery smile. ‘How’re you feeling?’
    â€˜Fine, thanks,’ said William. ‘I’m sorry about…’
    â€˜Not your fault at all,’ said Brin briskly. ‘Larry should never have left you to manage on your own. Running a station is not a one-man job. He knows that as well as I do. When things start piling up, or you fall ill, or there’s an emergency, you have to have two people on a station. You have to!’
    â€˜Yes,’ said William. ‘I was wondering if my brother…’
    â€˜Nothing to worry about there,’ said Brin reassuringly. ‘All under control. I gave him break-fast and Larry took him down to the bus.’
    â€˜Uncle Larry’s here?’
    â€˜Got in last night,’ said Brin. ‘And I told him! Leaving one person in charge of a station is asking for trouble, I said. Especially when that person is –’
    â€˜Did he find my parents?’ interrupted William. ‘Does he know where they went?’
    â€˜Ah… no… well…’ Brin put down his cloth and turned to face William. ‘It’s not good news there, I’m afraid.’
    â€˜Why? What’s happened?’
    â€˜Nothing. Well, nothing we know of…’ Brin looked slightly embarrassed. ‘Larry doesn’t have any news about your parents, because he didn’t find them.’
    â€˜But he said he would!’ William was puzzled. ‘He said there had to be a trace!’
    â€˜Yes, well, he can explain that one to you himself.’ Brin dried his hands and crossed the kitchen. ‘He said to bring you down as soon as you were awake. Come on!’
    Uncle Larry was in the pantry down at the station, dictating a report to Emma. His face lit up when he saw William, but beneath the smile, Williamthought, he looked both tired and worried.
    â€˜Brin’s right,’ he said. ‘I didn’t find any news of your parents. I’ve been up and down both the other lines out of Byroid V and there wasn’t even a whisper. It’s like they were never there.’
    â€˜But you said it was the only place they could have gone –’
    â€˜I did.’ Uncle Larry nodded his agreement. ‘And I still can’t understand it. There was only a very narrow window in which they could have travelled, you see. The Portal at Byroid V was down for six hours that day. You saw them before you went to school, they weren’t here when you got back, so the only time they could have gone anywhere was between about eight o’clock and ten. You’d have thought with only two hours to check –’
    â€˜No,’ said William. ‘No, they can’t.’
    Uncle Larry frowned. ‘Can’t what?’
    â€˜They can’t have gone in the morning,’ said William, ‘because they were still here then. At least Dad was.’
    He told Uncle Larry about the entry he had found in his father’s logbook down in the work-shop. Uncle Larry wanted to see it for himself and they all went down to look.
    Sitting in the swivel chair at the