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prizes for the Grand
     Draw before Callum finally turned up. When he did arrive, he was wearing a neck‐brace and could speak only in a hoarse whisper.
    Alex asked what had happened.
     ‘He’s lucky to be alive,’ said Mrs Bannister. ‘He nearly strangled himself this morning.’
    ‘Strangled himself?’ said Alex. ‘How?’
    ‘I had an accident,’ whispered Callum hoarsely. ‘With Dad’s paper shredder.’
    Alex wasn’t quite sure how even Callum could strangle himself with a paper shredder, but it turned out he had got his pyjama
     top caught in the machine while he was using it; the cloth had been pulled through with such force that the
material had tightened round his neck and almost throttled him. Mr Bannister had found him and cut him free just in time.
    ‘You should see the bruises on his neck,’ said Mrs Bannister. ‘And the doctor says he’s torn four separate muscles and needs
     to wear the neck‐brace for a month.’ She sighed. ‘We were six hours in Casualty while they fitted it. That’s why we’re late.’
    ‘Why didn’t you call me?’ demanded Alex as Mrs Bannister went off to the tea tent. ‘So I could sort things out.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ croaked Callum.
     ‘I told you yesterday,’ said Alex. ‘Anything happens, any time you have an accident, all you have to do is let me know and
     I can go back in time so that it doesn’t happen. I
told
you!’
    ‘Did you?’ Callum frowned. ‘When?’
    ‘Yesterday! I told you just after –’ Alex was about to say that he had told Callum just after he had sat on Lilly’s present,
     when he remembered that he had used Ctrl‐Z to go back before that time, so Callum wouldn’t remember.
    ‘But you do remember I told you about Ctrl‐Z?’
    ‘Oh yes…’ Callum looked slightly embarrassed. ‘I remember that, but…’
    ‘OK!’ Alex held up his hand. ‘We’ll go over it
later. First things first. When did the accident happen?’
    ‘This morning.’
    ‘No, no, I need to know exactly,’ said Alex. ‘What time was it?’
    After some thought, Callum decided it must have been about quarter past nine.
    ‘Quarter past nine? You’re sure?’
    ‘I think so. What… Where are you going?’ Alex was already on his feet. ‘Home,’ he said. ‘And then back to this morning, to
     make sure you don’t do anything stupid with a shredder.’
    To be on the safe side, Alex went back to nine o’clock, and found himself in his bedroom that morning. A few minutes later
     he was ringing the bell at the Bannisters’ house and Callum answered the door, dressed in his pyjamas.
    ‘I’ve come to warn you about using the shredder,’ said Alex.
    Callum looked at him blankly. ‘What?’
    ‘You’ve got to be careful using the shredder,’ said Alex, ‘because if you get your pyjama top caught in it, you’ll strangle
     yourself.’
    ‘I’ve never used a shredder in my life,’ said Callum. ‘Why would I use a shredder? I haven’t got anything to shred.’
    At that moment, Mr Bannister came out of the
dining room with a sheaf of papers in one hand, which he passed to Callum.
    ‘Put these through the shredder for me, will you, Callum?’ he said. ‘I’ve got to make some phone calls and I have to be out
     of the house in five minutes.’ He gave Alex a cheery wave and disappeared into the kitchen.
    Callum stared at the sheaf of papers in his hand and then at Alex. ‘How… How did you know that… ?’
    Alex sighed and wondered how many more times he would have to explain it to Callum before he understood.
    ‘Just do the shredding,’ he said, ‘and I’ll tell you.’
    While Callum did the shredding, Alex explained how he had already spent the day – what had happened with Mr Kowalski, how
     he had gone to the fête, and how Callum had appeared with a neck‐brace – then finally how he had gone back to the start of
     it to make sure the accident didn’t happen.
    At the end, Callum sat there, nodding slowly. ‘So in future,’ Alex