CHAPTER TEN
When Allan awoke, and finding no Robert, he smiled, then smiled again, on reflecting about last night's events. Breakfast was a quick affair, with only a couple of guests down. As he was about to leave the kitchen, Robert breezed in, and with a cheesy grin to Allan, poured a cuppa, downed it as he stood.
"Still going?" Allan asked.
"Yep. Think I need a day on the water, to...to clear the head."
They caught a tram, down on the Parramatta Road, and travelled all the way to Circular Quay. There were lots of people about, for a Sunday, and the air had an almost festive feel, about it. It looked quite different to what they remembered, without the completed Cahill Expressway, and they talked about the attempts to demolish it, in the 90s.
The ferry trip was exhilarating, with a stiff breeze blowing, and rollers coming in the heads, forcing most travellers, inside. Robert was fascinated with the engine, and insisted that Allan and he, go down and look, as soon as they rounded Fort Denison. The ferry was steam driven, and the smell of the workings, kept Robert down, long after Allan had decided that he preferred the waves.
They walked along the Corso, to the beach, bought some hot chips, and sat under the pine trees.
"I gather," said Allan, when nothing had been volunteered, "that your non return last night, was a good sign."
Robert didn't look at him, but at the waves coming onto the beach, when he replied. "Very good sign, mate. I didn't sort of mention it earlier today. It was sort of a private time."
"Good."
"Then Robert looked at his companion. "Sorry. The fact is, she is the most wonderful woman I have met, and I'm in love.
"You go any where special?" asked Allan.
Robert laughed a little. "I think we went somewhere, special."
"I was meaning like a restaurant or dance," said Allan, colouring a little. "I gathered from your not returning until breakfast, and your smile, that the evening went well. What about her? Think she feels the same way? Maybe, time to keep my mouth shut."
"No," said Robert, "you're the only friend I've got here, except for Myra. I pretty sure she feels the same way, perhaps cautious. She had a bad experience with men. The details are, sort of private, but we did end up in bed. It was wonderful, and it got better."
"Lucky you. Want some iron tablets?" said Allan with a smile.
"Probably will. What about you? Go dancing with that bloke?" asked Robert.
"I went dancing. With a lot of women. It wasn't a bad night, and I came back to the flat." Allan then made a mock crossing of himself. "It's the truth. A cup of tea, with Sylvia, who was in the kitchen, and...."
"And?" said Robert, "if what you are going to say, is what I think it is, I don't believe it."
"She's a different person, once you get to know her. I don't know. We were both sort of charged up, and bamo!"
Robert looked incredulous. Then he stuck out his hand and grabbing Allan's, shook it. "This is fair dinks?"
"As I sit here. Just happened. The first time was a...."
"First time?" interrupted Robert, "you mean there was..."
"Yes. You're not the only stud on the block. Mind you, I was sore as hell for an hour after. She doesn't hold back." Allan looked sheepish, as he spoke.
"Well, I think that was on the cards. Your not....not falling in love or something?" asked Robert.
No way," replied Allan, "she's a nice woman, but no, not my type for a relationship."
They got up and walked along the beach front. There was no hurry to get back.
* * * * * * * * * *
In a cafe, near the beach, but at the other end to where Robert and Allan were headed, Sean was just finishing a large cream cake. They had decided against laying on the sand, as the wind was too cold, and stung their skin.
"Hope it's rough, going back," said Kelly, "Then we'll see who's the better sailor."
"Not a problem, dearest," he replied, "the baby's in your court."
"Very funny. Come on, finish up, and let's walk the entire front. Manly has this fascination for me. Tall trees, and waves. Saw the sign on the boat: 'Seven miles from Sydney, and a thousand miles from care'. Makes me not want to leave."
Sean smiled, but did not answer her. It was good that the day out was having such an effect. Life for her, hadn't been easy, and with the pregnancy, there were going to be some rough times ahead. If the chance came, he would have it out with her father, and blow the consequences.
They walked, and once, he dived across the road, and came back with an ice cream for her. After a long time, she said she felt tired, so they turned around, and headed for the wharf. Sean couldn't resist a tiny pink felt cat, he saw in one of the booths, lining the wharf.
"It's lovely, but don't waste your money on me."
"You're worth it. And what's 2/-. It'll remind you, in years to come, of this day." He was happy with the day, also. It was a break to the long working week, and with a new job, tomorrow, things could be different. 'But how?' he thought.
They boarded the ferry, and as it was getting towards dark, sat downstairs, out of the wind. It wasn't so rough going back. They were sitting near the stairs to the upper deck, and people were moving up and down, most flushed with a day out in the fresh air.
Sean noticed her, suddenly give a frown.
"What's the matter," he asked, "the weight of the world descended on your shoulders?"
"Nothing. Funny, but for some reason, I saw something just then, that doesn't quite fit in."
"What?"
"Don't know. Just a quick feeling." She looked around and up the stairs, but saw nothing to remind her, again. "Must be imagining something, but.. oh well, might come back."
"Bite to eat, when we get to the Quay. Maybe the baby's getting restless." he countered.
When the ferry berthed, and the gang plank down, there was the usual rush to get off quickly. Kelly never quite made this out. On the water, everyone was languid and relaxed. But come the land, and they changed. She would want to linger, and absorb that last bit of atmosphere. Others needed to suddenly forget it, and quickly search for something new. Sean and herself, were about the last off. They wandered along Pitt street, and seeing an eatery, Sean guided her, through the door, and to a booth. The place was about half full.
It was an old but clean establishment. Very high ceilings, and three rows of booths extending a long way back to the servery doors. Black and white tiles, covered the floor, and pots with draping ferns, were randomly dispersed around the room. Prints of famous artists, adorned the walls, and the faint haze of cigarette smoke, hung in the air. No music, but the clinking of cutlery and general talk, provided a low key background noise.
They ordered fish and chips, from the waitress, then Sean got to thinking about the move to the rooms over the shop.
"We have the new flat from tomorrow. Think we could move in tomorrow night? After all, we hardly have any gear to pack."
"It would be nice. I can't stand that Theo Murray, much longer. This morning, coming back from the bathroom, he....." Her voice trailed off.
"Come back. Yoo Hoo," said Sean, waving a hand in front of her eyes. She wasn't looking at him, but at the booth opposite. He looked, but apart from the two men, getting ready to leave, couldn't pin point what had caught her attention.
"What's up?" he asked.
"It's that nagging in my mind again," she replied. "I saw that man on the ferry, coming back, and that's what it is."
"Know him?" asked Sean.
"No. Don't think I've ever seen him, or the other one before. Oh this is terrible. What is it?"
The men, in their middle ages, were putting on their jackets, and had stood up.
"I know," said Kelly, looking at the men. She stood up, and spoke to them, as they went to move off.
"Excuse me. Could you join us. Just for a moment. Please, it's important." She then sat back down, leaving Sean utterly confused.
Robert looked at Allan, shrugged his shoulders, and sat down next to the girl. Allan remained standing.
"Please," Kelly repeated.
"If it's to be a word from the Lord, or like that," said Allan, "you're asking the wrong person." His face showed neither distaste or interest.
Sean thought he should find out, what was going on. "We're not the God Squad, sir, I know that. But I'm hoping my, my wife, is going to help out here, and let you, and me, in on it." He leaned across and took Kelly's hand.
Allan sat down slowly, next to Sean, and looked questionly at Robert.
Kelly also turned, and looked at Robert. "It's your jacket. On the ferry, you, or rather your jacket went past me, but I couldn't connect it. But when your friend stood up, just now, it was his trousers."
Sean started to look embarrassed. "Kelly. You feel alright?" He looked at Robert. "She's pregnant. Maybe....."
"No Sean. I'm fine. Firstly, I'm Kelly, and this is Sean. I have worked most of my life, in retail clothing. Your coat....."
"Robert. This is Allan."
"Your coat, Robert, is an unusual material." She felt the sleeve.
"Yes," said Robert, "new, from America. I don't think it's out here yet." Robert had worn his new parka, for the ferry trip. He had it on, last week, when they went walking. "You would like to try it on, that's it, isn't it?"
She didn't smile. "No. But I would like to know about it. And the slacks, sir," looking at Allan, "I wouldn't have noticed the coat, except for your trousers."
Allan looked puzzled, and quickly looked at his trousers. "Something wrong," he ventured.
"It has a zip fly," said Kelly.
"That's the second time in a week, someone's said that," said Robert. He was curious, now. Then a thought started to formulate, about his jacket, but Kelly interrupted it.
"Please sir. We were the first company in Australia, to launch ‘Wet-Breathe’ clothing. And that was 1981. Please. Who are you?"
There was not a sound from any one of them. Even the room seemed to subside, from their senses. The faces of all three men, were pale. Robert's was almost white, and he suddenly felt dizzy. Sean, who was finishing his tea, dropped the cup. Allan seemed to have gone into shock.
Robert managed to put a question together. "You're..from..the.. future?" he said slowly, "when, I mean, which year?"
It was Sean who answered. "If you believe us, yes. It's been a nightmare time for us, Kelly and I. Three months ago, we somehow got moved out of 1998, and back here, to 1950. We are just starting to adjust, but the trauma is difficult to come to grips with. And now Kelly is having a baby."
"Allan. Are you Ok?" Robert realised Allan was looking quite ill.
"Uh, oh sort of. I need to drink something." Kelly pushed the teapot towards him. Robert got up and retrieved the cups they had used.
"You are victims, aren’t you?" said Kelly, "not some sort of control, checking up on us?"
Robert answered, "No. The same as you. Only, we've been here just over a week. Same year, 1998."
"I need to eat something." It was Allan. Robert nodded, and left to find a waitress.
Sean put his hands together. "You know, this is a million to one chance, this meeting. You don't exactly put an ad in the Herald, do you. And we thought we were the only ones."
Robert returned, with a plate of sandwiches. "Tea is coming."
"Just for the record." It was Kelly. "To use a CD ROM, what would I need?"
Allan blinked his eyes. "A computer, preferably a Pentium 11. Why? You know where I can get one?"
"I wish. Sorry, I needed to be sure. Would you ask us something, Just to, I don't know. My head is spinning."
Sean looked concerned. "You sure you're OK?."
The tea arrived, and no one spoke, as Robert poured.
"Bill Clinton." It was Allan who uttered the name, not a question, just a name.
Sean put his cup down. "Current US president, some controversy with a woman, was just surfacing, from memory."
They all looked at each other, as though some sense could come from this confusion in their lives.
"Where were you, you know, when it happened?" asked Robert, looking at Sean, then Kelly.
"Her father is the reason we're are here. If it wasn't for him..." Sean didn't finish his statement.
"It's Ok," said Kelly, "I feel the same. You are all I care about.”
He gave her hand a squeeze. "He didn’t like me. I wasn't the corporate executive. Just a computer person, to him. Assistant analyst, actually. Threatened to disinherit Kelly, if she didn't break it off."
"I have no mum," Kelly added.
"Well, this day, three months back, we both took flexies, and I went over, after he had gone to work. We. Well I was having a shower, and he comes back. Forgot some papers or something. Caught us and there was a big scene. You know, real melodrama stuff. I, or rather, we, walked out."
"I had had enough, of my father, and his pig headedness," said Kelly, "we'd make it on our own."
"We just drove. Ended up at Sublime Point, down the coast, just sitting on a bench, looking out to sea. It was all so quick. Fog or cloud seemed to come in, very quickly, and next minute, we were both out to it. Woke up with a mighty ripper of a headache."
"It was frightening," said Kelly, "like a nightmare, only we were both in it, and it wouldn't go away. Car was gone. The road was just dirt. We wandered around, out to the highway, and back. Old cars. I couldn't stop crying."
Robert nodded. " I can say, from experience, how it felt. It is just traumatic. How'd you get back to Sydney?"
"Luck, when you think about it," said Sean, "this old couple pulled up. Saw us and how we looked. They were well off, apparently, and offered us a job. They wanted a housekeeper, come cook, and someone to do the heavier work in the yard. A room over the garage, and all. Lasted three weeks."
"What happened?" asked Allan.
Kelly gave a little laugh. "What happened, is old man nice guy, got carried away, one afternoon. A grope in the kitchen. Got all apologetic. Pleaded with me not to tell his wife. Sean was going to punch his lights out, when I told him, but it wasn't worth it. Left at the end of the week."
"Think the old woman, knew," said Sean, "but didn't let on. Slipped me 20 quid. The funny bit, was he gave her 20 as well. Told her not to tell the wife, just a bonus from the races!"
They both laughed. "Anyway, gave us a start. We found a room, and within a few weeks, we both had jobs."
"Mind you," said Sean, "we don't have birth certificates, and I'm getting hassled about it. Start a new job, tomorrow. Got a promotion. Well, at least I'm back in the office."
Robert told them briefly, about their experience, and what had happened to them in the preceding week. 'With a few exceptions, that is', he thought.
"What does everyone think? Are we here to stay?" It was Allan.
"Anyone's guess, said Kelly. "Probably, a fairer question, is do we want to go back?"
"Of course we do," said Allan, his voice raised a little. "I mean, well I do. It's been an experience, of sorts, and it's had some good points, but....it's not our time."
The couple, in the booth behind, both looked over the top, at them, bits of the conversation, and Allan's voice, taking their attention. Robert gave them a wide grin, and they quickly turned back.
"Best watch our self," he said, in a lower voice.
"And you?" said Sean, looking at Robert.
"Me. I've found something here, that I don't want to leave. If we stay, I would not be too unhappy. Still, there are a lot of friends and things...difficult. Still it's academic. This could be it. You two?"
Sean looked at Kelly. "Like you, we would make a go. Some nice people here. But we belong elsewhere. And we'd like our kid to grow up with us. Mind you, probably easier and better, for him, or her, to do it here. The 90s and next century, maybe is not the place to bring up children. Look around. It's all squeaky clean and innocent, and a lot of respect. We know what the 90s are like. I'd hate to be a kid growing up. Pressures we never had, and drugs. To be quite candid, it's a crime, to bring kids into the world, onto a planet that's, that's a mess. Sorry."
Allan and Robert both nodded. "No one would disagree," said Robert, "but. Maybe the kids that are coming, can do something. Let's think about us. We should keep in touch."
Taking a piece of newspaper, he produced a pen, and wrote down their address of the boarding house. Sean did the same for their new place, adding a map, as he wasn't sure of the street number.
It was Allan who suggested they also include a 90's contact, just in case, something happened and someone made it.
"Time to go. Tomorrow is a working day for all of us." It was Sean who spoke.
"I have to look for work, tomorrow," added Allan, "can't stay at the refuge for ever."
They got up together and paying their bills, left, stepping out into the cool evening. Winter was approaching. Kelly gave each of them a hug, and then she and Sean, headed off to find a tram.
Robert and Allan looked at them walking away into the evening. It had been a day, or rather, an evening of confusion, joy, and now, as the couple vanished around a corner, of apprehension.
"We should all stay together," said Allan, and started to follow them.
Robert put an arm on Allan's shoulder. "We have their address. Relax. Come on, let's walk out to the Opera House, or where it will be. My mind in going ten to the dozen."
Allan nodded, and they walked along the quay and around the eastern end, following the tram line, to the large terminus shed, on Bennelong Point. Keeping to the sea wall, they reached the end, and stood looking out at the ferries and other craft, moving on the water. The Bridge, was just visible, the lights of a tram and several cars, moving on the roadway.
They stood there, in the cool breeze, just staring at the water. No one else was in the vicinity. A wind sprung up, and small waves started lashing the harbour wall, a fine spray starting to reach them.
“Come on,” said Allan, “let’s go home. I’m tired, and...........Robert, the bridge. It’s disappeared.” There was alarm in his voice. Robert turned to the bridge, but even then, he had difficulty in seeing anything over 50 metres or so.
“It’s got all misty, and cold.” That was all Allan heard. Wisps of cloud pushed past them, and the last thing Robert managed to do, was grab Allan’s jacket, before he went dizzy, and couldn’t help falling, dragging Allan with him. The start of some pain, as the edge of the railing rushed up to meet him, then nothing.
Allan felt the desperate grip on his coat, and being pulled down. He sensed his face hitting some water on the path, then, he couldn’t remember anything else.