Free The Unlikely Time Traveller by Janis Mackay Page A

totally dumb idiotic stupid thing to do, and be glad you’re alive. And,” I went on, whispering into his ear so the girls wouldn’t hear, “time travelling into the future, when you know nothing about time travel, and when you actually went and lost your mum’s gold bracelet, is rash, mad, insane, and you could have got us killed.” I gulped down more sour juice. “And if you don’t wise up you still might.”
    Robbie turned pale. He started madly patting his pockets. Then turned them inside out. “Where’s it gone?” He repeated the whole pocket patting ritual. “She’ll kill me. If I’ve lost her bracelet, she’ll go ape.”
    I let him suffer. “Drink your juice, then I’ll tell you where it is.” So far he had taken one sip. He screwed up his face like a prune and was ready to tip the rest on theground when I stopped him.
    “But it needs sugar,” he whined. I glanced round at Scosha and Ness. They were busy chatting away and thankfully didn’t seem too aware of me and Robbie’s weird conversation.
    “I can’t see any sugar,” I hissed. “Just drink it. This is the future you dragged me into and hey, maybe in the future they don’t have sugar!” I elbowed him. He scowled, put the glass to his lips, and with his finger and thumb clamped over his nose, downed the lot.
    “Right,” he wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and gasped, “where is it?”
    I drew the gold bracelet from my pocket. I also pulled out a tiny bit of the plastic bag, a corner of chocolate wrapper and a crushed Irn-Bru can. “It’s here, along with the litter you tossed about all over the future.”
    The colour came back into his face. “Phew-ee,” he said. “She would have grounded me for a week if I lost that.”
    I groaned. Robbie just didn’t get it. Without the gold he’d be grounded in the future for the rest of his life.
    Then he grinned. He had spied my phone sticking out my pocket. “I did try and text you, Saul,” he said, “but my battery suddenly went flat.” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and shook it. “I don’t know what’s up with it.”
    “The future,” I hissed, “that’s what’s up with it.” I was still displaying his litter, still glaring at him and rustling his rubbish.
    “Yeah,” he said, not so cocky any more. “I left stuff about so you would find me. Plus I couldn’t find any rubbish bins. Did you find the crisp packets, and the can of Coke as well?”
    I shook my head, picturing more historic rubbish floating about in the future. “But I found you,” I said,shoving the trash back into my pocket. I drank the rest of my juice. “Let’s go home, Robbie.”
    “But I can’t,” he whispered.
    All the names I’d been going to rant at him were back on the tip of my tongue. “Why not?” I hissed.
    He leaned towards me, spy-style. “Cause I ordered one of these amazing suit things, with all the magic pockets and belts and stuff.”
    “You what?”
    “It was easy. You should do it too.” He lowered his voice even more. “You know what these onesie things are, don’t you Saul?” He paused for effect. “Intelligent clothing. They’ve managed to invent it!” When I didn’t congratulate him he threw me his let’s-feel-sorry-for-Saul face. “Clothes that do what you need,” he explained, still whispering. “Like temperature adjustment and loads of stuff. They were trying to invent it back in our olden times.”
    “Oh, really?”
    “Yeah, anyway, this guy took my measurements. And I had to give my fingerprint into this glass machine thing. He called it my bond. He says the suit will be ready in two days.” Robbie picked up his empty glass and looked at me through the end of it, like it was a telescope. “I’m not going back with my fingerprint left here, Saul, no way. The man said when I pick up the suit he wipes my print.” He put the glass down and smiled at me, dimpled and kind of apologetic. “I can’t leave part of myself in the future.