“Mr. Cleave, we must make haste before the storm floods the roads home,” Healy reminded Sam.
“Oh yes, you’re right,” Sam agreed, just as the ground operator brought Nina her laptop bag with the small steel lock on the zipper.
“So sorry for the inconvenience, Dr. Gould,” she apologized. “We found in two seats down from you, among someone else’s luggage.”
The weather only grew worse out in the parking area. From all directions the rain pelted the cars and buildings, changing with the switch of the wind direction every few minutes. As Sam directed a cowering Nina by means of a soft hand on her lower back with Healy in their wake, bearing her luggage bags, they raced to get to the car. He could see that the normally stout butler was terrified of the thunder and literally dipped every time there was lightning above. As the wild eyed Healy and Nina scuttled into the vehicle Sam looked up at the terrifying blue veins that developed across the sky in a split second every time the clouds pulsed with light.
His dark eyes reflected the awesome blue-white cracks as he braved the danger to behold the super electrical charge of the majestic lightning. Deep inside Sam he knew this god-like expulsion into the atmosphere was the secret to bringing back Dave Purdue, but he was not prepared to stand there too long and run the risk of its wrath. There would be plenty of time for that, once he persuaded Lydia that the very lightning of the next two days were the key to returning Purdue to her chamber, hopefully unscathed.
They drove to Jenner Manor in the terrible chaos of traffic under the escalating storm while Sam filled Nina in on what had happened during the experiment and why they need a historian to guide Purdue onto the necessary points in history so that they could eventually pin-point him to bring him back to 2015.
“I don’t know what to say, Sam. Look, I have a very open mind. You know that. But time travel? Really?” she scowled, believing that Sam believed every word he told her. “I have seen a lot of weird shit that defied explanation before…”
“So why is this so hard to believe, Nina?” Sam asked.
“It’s Science Fiction!” she defended.
“And yet here we were, watching Purdue vanish into a flash of fire without a grain of ash to show for his presence!” he retorted. “If he just combusted, or God forbid burned to death, we would have found his remains in the chamber, would we not?”
“It is just…” she hesitated, “…it’s just so unreal. It is unlikely. Look, I am not an authority on quantum physics…”
“But Prof. Jenner is, Madam,” Healy chipped in from the driver’s seat. “I promise you, Dr. Gould, this far-fetched mania is every bit as real as you or I sitting in this car right now. It is only Science Fiction while it remains to be proven. And that is precisely what we have just achieved with the help of Mr. Purdue.”
Nina had nothing to throw at the well groomed butler. She had to concede to having seen stranger things than simple quantum dynamics at play. As long as she did not have to run for her life this time, Nina Gould was willing to accept anything Sam and his new consorts dealt her.
When they arrived at the manor an hour and a half later, she saw why Sam was so convinced that the environment could actually facilitate tine travel. Her eyes marveled at the strange sheeting on the fences and the lonely mansion being laid out for protection instead of esthetics.
“Listen, is the lady of the house still going to be awake?” Nina asked as they pulled into the yard. “The windows are dark and there is no indication of life. Won’t we wake her?”
“The windows always look like this, Dr. Gould,” Healy explained. “It looks like this as a result of the windows being boarded up. Besides, Professor Jenner is somewhat…” he hesitated and smiled at Nina, “…eccentric. Not fond of sleep. She says she’ll get plenty of that when she is dead.”
“I like her already,” Nina smiled, staring out the slowing car’s window at the wild garden, lit with bright lights situated around the shutters of the manor. It crossed her mind that it was curious how a woman of such financial means would not bother to beautify what is clearly a stately property with so much potential to be resurrected to its former glory. To Nina Lydia Jenner sounded like someone who took pride only in her work and left the rest to the devil.
When they entered the enormous house, properly wet from the downpour Nina instantly detected the smell of burnt wiring and cannabis, but she did not make mention of it.
“Welcome to the Jenner Manor, madam,” Healy smiled as he brought Nina a thick towel to dry her hair. He had one each for Sam and himself as well. “I shall start a fire in the drawing room.”
“Shouldn’t you let the professor know we are here?” Nina asked.
Sam chuckled alongside Healy who answered, “I assure you, Dr. Gould, she can hear us.”
After Sam took over the hearthing duties from the butler, Healy took to task getting Dr. Gould settled in first. “Dr. Gould, please, let me show you to your room,” he invited, taking her bags from her and leading the way up the stairs to the right on the first floor. It was probably the only part of the house that resembled a house and not some underground gathering place for mad artists and obscene electricians.
“I hope this is adequate. I did not expect another visitor, so today was a bit of a rush to get some fresh linen. But I gave the room a good grooming,” he explained politely.
“And even got fresh roses!” Nina pointed, pleasantly surprised. “I feel special, Healy. There are no other fresh bouquets that I could see in the house.”
“That is quite correct, doctor,” he agreed. “Normally I would not go to such reaches, but the scent of the flowers and their beauty was a prerequisite for your room. Any lady guest should have roses. For some reason, you complete the bouquet.”
‘Was he just flirting with me?’ she wondered, but felt by no means uncomfortable for it. Healy was not a bad looking bloke at all.
“Well, well,” Lydia cried from her wheelchair in the doorway, “it looks like this house has suddenly come alive!”
“Professor Jenner, this is Mr. Cleave’s friend, Dr. Nina Gould,” Healy announced as he hung Nina’s coat on the stand next to her bed.
“I’m sorry to impose like this, but I heard that our mutual friend was in a bind?” Nina told Lydia.
“I’m afraid so. So many years I have devised this plan, created the schematics, built the contraptions all to prove that Nikola Tesla had some very good theories. And with one half-assed attempt at collecting scientific information the goddamn thing decides to work!” Lydia rambled in her hoarse low voice that completely contrasted her attractive, dainty face.
“So you did not mean to send Purdue back in time, then?” Nina marveled.
“I don’t know what I expected, Nina. But whatever I tried to prove, inadvertently proved itself. I had never been this collectively disappointed and elated with an experiment’s outcome,” Lydia sighed. “I mean, the bloody thing worked! Who would have guessed the ludicrous was a matter of mathematics?”
“Not me, for sure,” Nina remarked. “I always thought the absurd was the burden of the bard, not the wizard.”
Lydia stopped he wheelchair and stared at Nina. Mute, she just looked the historian straight in the eye. Nina felt awkward for her uttering, thinking she may have offended the professor. Lydia suddenly became animate again, lolling her head to one side and extending her fingers like a cat, stretching, “You are a remarkable little thing, Dr. Gould. Such eloquence! I always wished I could wield poetry and philosophy like that, but alas I am not so inclined. I envy you. All I know is locked in numbers and equations with not a hope of ever stringing words as I do compounds.”