EPISODE EIGHTEEN
650 Words
EIGHTEEN
Joanne waited for me.
"I thought perhaps you changed your mind?"
She searched my face for any signs that she might be right.
I gave a weak smile.
"Fell asleep in the bath."
She gave me an old-fashioned expression.
"You'll drown yourself one day."
Before, I could stop myself the words just fell out.
"This is why I need someone to care for me."
She said nothing in reply, intent on hanging up my coat.
"What's this?"
She held up the canvas bag.
"A job for you."
"For me?"
"Yes, if you will. This is Corporal Turner's camera. We -- that is Roome -- would like you to develop its contents. It is quite possible it photographed the killer, by accident."
Her face was horror-struck.
"How awful."
I nodded.
"Maybe, but if it helps..."
She distastefully lowered the plastic bag on the hall stand.
"Okay. I will start after lunch -- and a drink. Just time before we eat. I turned the oven down."
I trailed her into the sitting room. She poured two sherries and gave one to me.
"Cheers."
I took a sip.
"Lovely. Nothing so civilized as an aperitif"
Joanne sat down on the sofa, crossing her legs. I sat opposite her. Unthinkable a few days ago.
I found my urge for her painful. I wanted to set my drink down and grab hold of her, imprison her, and by the strength in my arms convince her of my need, my dreadful aching need.
Joanne appeared to be concerned.
"What happened last night? Tell me everything."
I did, skipping over the face I saw at the window. At the end of it all, I shuddered.
"Well, I'll do the films, but you better be with me when they develop."
A pause followed, during which she played a finger on the rime rim of her glass.
"And how are you?"
I sipped my drink.
"Need you ask?"
She was hurt.
"You don't think I am happy, do you?"
I found I could not reply and when I took a sip my throat felt so stiff it made a noise when I swallowed.
She went on.
"I wrote to David and told him I'm willing to join him in London."
"Appears to be all cut and dried. David snaps his fingers, and you go running. You do realize we are at war, and he is asking you to join him in London. The centre of the blitz!"
Joanne's lips pressed into a tight straight line.
"I told you. If it had been just a case of starting all over again, he would not stand a chance. I love you and you know I love you. But the fact remains, David is still my husband and I never thought this would happen like this. He needs me. He swallowed his pride and asked me to go back. I could not live with myself if I turned him down now. Wouldn't work for us because of that, eating away from the inside, would destroy me and us."
My voice sounded gruff.
"I would take a chance."
Joanne tossed the remains of her drink and stood up. She ruffled my hair as she passed into the kitchen.
"I know you would. You are a man to lean on. You'll make out all right."
I stared disgruntled at the fire, my sense of loss welling up in me. And then I remembered Julie. My wife. Waiting for me to return to the year 2801. Then, why did my heartbreak over a married woman living on a Suffolk island during the Second World War. I had a mission.
Find the DARKNESS that I had been tracking back across time and space. First and foremost, I must remember therefore I am here. To stop a shift in time, which would change the future. In fact, if I failed, this planet would have no future.
- Writer
