Tanglewreck Read Online Free PDF Page B

departed father; he was coming to visit me about the, er, Timekeeper.’ He said this last word very quickly, watching Silver’s face with his shiny round eyes.
    Cabbage
, thought Silver,
cabbage, cabbage, cabbage
.
    Darkwater frowned and continued, ‘Yes, sadly, he was trying to put that remarkable object into my care. It would be safe here, you see, oh yes, safe, and such a thing should be in safe hands, not left alone or neglected or used as a plaything, perhaps?’
    ‘I don’t know where it is,’ said Silver. ‘Don’t ask me because I don’t know. Mrs Rokabye asks me every day.’
    Abel Darkwater smiled again, and continued.
    ‘You don’t like Mrs Rokabye, do you? I can’t say that I am surprised. I do not like her myself. If I had the Timekeeper, we – that is you – could be rid of Mrs Rokabye for ever.’
    ‘She’s my aunt,’ said Silver. ‘She’s signed all the papers. It’s legal.’
    ‘Anything is possible,’ said Abel Darkwater. ‘You could be cared for at Tanglewreck until you are old enough to do as you please. If you were to sell me the Timekeeper, I would arrange everything on your behalf.’
    ‘I don’t know where it is! I’ve never even seen it,’ said Silver. ‘I’ll just have to wait to grow up, that’s all.’
    ‘It might be too late by then,’ said Abel Darkwater. ‘The world is changing. Time is running out.’
    He stood up and went over to a cabinet and took out what looked like a golden egg-timer, except that it was about a foot tall. He turned it upside down and the sand began to run through it.
    He paused, watching the sand and rocking back and forward on his heels, like a clock pendulum himself.
    ‘I will tell you a story,’ he said, ‘because children like stories.’ He paused for effect, and began.
    ‘Long ago, in the pyramids of Egypt, the great god Ra, the Sun God, told his people that one day the Earth would roll up like a scroll, taking Time with it. The Pharaohs consulted their best magicians, and the magicians told them that before the End of Time there would be one chance left for the world to save itself.
    ‘What chance? To imagine and design and set in motion a device that could regulate Time. Look at all the clocks on the wall telling me the time in every part of the world – and look at those other clocks, that tell me the time in different partsof the universe!
    ‘On Earth, a second in Tokyo is the same length as a second in London, but a second on Jupiter is not the same length as a second on Earth. A clock in a rocket ship runs slower than a clock on Earth. Time is the most mysterious force in the Universe, and the most powerful, oh yes, and whoever controls Time will control the Universe.’
    As he said this, his round eyes grew wide as two orbs, and he seemed to float a few inches above the floor. The sound of the clocks ticking was deafening and Silver put her hands over her ears. Abel Darkwater continued to talk.
    ‘In our world, Time is becoming unruly. Some seconds, some minutes, some hours, last longer than others. Some are shorter. We do not know how this is happening, but it is happening.
    ‘The fabric of Time is beginning to tear, and when it tears, the past pokes through, and sometimes the future too. You have heard of the Time Tornadoes that have struck this city, and today you were caught in a Time Trap. So far these things are small enough, but they are signs, signs that, as the great god Ra predicted, Time as we know it may be coming to an end.’
    Abel Darkwater went and tapped his hourglass.
    ‘When Time comes to an end, you too will come to an end. I am sure you don’t want that to happen.’
    There was a knock on the door and Sniveller stood outside with Mrs Rokabye, who was wearing a pair of brightpink earmuffs and complaining about the cold.
    ‘Let me take you down to the shop,’ said Abel Darkwater cheerfully, his eyes returning to their normal marble-size. ‘The shop has underfloor heating of the most up-to-date