Diana Wynne Jones's Fantastical Journeys Collection (The Islands of Chaldea, a Tale of Time City, the Homeward Bounders) by Diana Wynne Jones

Author:Diana Wynne Jones [Diana Wynne Jones]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE AGE OF GOLD

Jonathan rushed straight off, but Vivian treated herself to four butter-pies before she left. Her only regret was that she might not have time to get her revenge on Sam. Otherwise, she walked across Aeon Square eating the last butter-pie, full of pleasant thoughts. By tonight, she could be home. She saw herself telling Mum how awful Cousin Marty was, and she saw Mum being very understanding and letting her stay in Lewisham in spite of the bombs. She saw Dad coming home for the weekend and being really surprised. This wonderful day-dream was enough to set her making little skips as she crossed the square. And when she got to Time Close, where there was no one about to see, she did a silly dance round the fountain, waving the stick of her butter-pie.

“What kept you?” said Jonathan. He was waiting by the chained door with the diamond-shaped pockets of his suit bulging. Vivian could see he was in a fever of impatience.

“Sorry,” she said, not really meaning it. The best thing about time-travel, as Vivian had seen almost straight away, was that you could waste hours on the way and still arrive at the exact right time. “Why do we have to meet Leon Hardy in One Hundred and One?”

Jonathan hurried her down the passage. “He knows all about the Dark Nineties,” he said. “He says we’ll need protective equipment to go then and he’s going to get us some from the nearest Fixed Century he can get to. But of course he has to leave by an official time-lock down the river, so he can’t get to an Unstable Era himself. So he’s going as close as he can. He’s being awfully kind.”

Jonathan stopped and gave the secret door an expert kick. It swung smoothly round. They squeezed in and pressed the light studs on their belts. The spiral stair did not seem either so endless or so frightening by now.

“And why are we going to the Dark Nineties?” Vivian asked as they scrambled down.

“It’s one of the long Unstable Eras,” Jonathan called up. “So it must be either the Age of Lead or the Age of Gold. I thought we’d find the Guardian and tell him to bring his polarity back to Time City before the thief gets it, like the Iron Guardian said.”

This seemed a good idea to Vivian. In fact, she thought as she slithered off the last step into the little room, where the slate still flickered and their Twentieth Century clothes lay where they had thrown them off, that she had told Jonathan they should do this a long time ago.

Jonathan picked the egg-shaped control off its stone and installed it carefully in one of his pockets. His pockets chinked.

“What else have you brought?” Vivian asked.

“Metal detector, map, compass, torch, emergency rations,” Jonathan said. “I’m going to do this properly. Now be quiet while I focus my mind on Leon.” He concentrated. Nothing happened. “Leon Hardy,” he said loudly.

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