Chapter 19

Little Timmy cycled down the hood to the place they called their hideout, which was literally Bob's backyard. He looked both ways, then pushed his bicycle into a nearby bush after gripping hard on the break and making a quick C curve to stop. He pulled himself over the backyard's fence then landed across like Spiderman.

Three boys were already there, other than Bob: Mike, Rodge and Duke. They were all seated on the grass.

Bob was getting his trainers pair knotted, Mike and Rodge were playing an arm-wrestle game, while Duke appeared to be the careful spectator, though more a referee.

At the moment, Rodge's arm was bending to the pressure from Mike's.

"Get that arm back up, Rodge, you've got this!" called Duke with a serious face.

Timmy watched as perspiration formed on Rodge's forehead. His eyes watched closely as sweat lined on the folds of the forehead, then slipping down his sideburns, making its way into his singlet, and finally down the hidden parts of his interior shirt.

"Bingo!" called Mike, raising his arm to the sky with a clenched hand in victory, attracting Bob's attention.

Duke covered his face in disappointment, muttering some uneven words to himself.

"Give it up for Lord Duke!" Timmy said, announcing his presence. Timmy smiled, Mike had never been defeated.

"Hey Timothy!" waved Bob, raising from the floor. Mike waved his hand as well.

"Howdy mates!" the young boy replied, exchanging handshakes with each of them.

"How long have you been here?" asked Rodge.

Timothy acted as though he were thinking, then said, "Well, I've been here long enough to watch you lose to the arm-wrestle."

Bob snickered.

"Welcome dude, why're you late? We agreed on meeting at exactly the usual time, remember?" asked Mike.

Rodge smiled, saying, "He probably slept off and woke up ten minutes after the meeting time-"

Timothy shot him a wicked look. "Shut up, Rodge!"

"You want to tell us what happened, bruvver?" Bob asked, calmly.

"Yah, Old Mr. and Mrs. Jenkins called over at our house."

They all raised themselves up from the grass and arched themselves in front of Timmy, waiting for an explanation; arms folded.

"Yo buddies, calm down. I didn't waste so much time for nothing, I've got good information you'd probably all like."

"Good information, you say?" asked Rodge.

"What d'you mean, lad?" Duke asked.

"Let's settle down, I'm going to tell you all about it-"

"Right away, amingo!" said Bob.

They all ran, together, to their favorite spot in the backyard. They called it their meeting spot. It was where they gossiped about this boy or that who's creepy, or how to unravel the secret behind a "mysterious kid" in the neighborhood. They called themselves the "Creep Hunters".

They put head together, listening to Timmy's narrative.

"I knew it those dudes were creepy!" said Bob.

"But the thing is, we have got to understand why they were at Harry's home," Timmy said in an air of importance. "Anyone has an idea?"

Duke raised a smirk. He had something rising in his head, at least he thought so.

"I do-"

"Well, let's hear it, lad," said Rodge, arms folded.

"I say we get his every movement tracked after school hours."

They all nodded their approval to this. Mike raised his hand to interrupt their individual thoughts.

"And how do we do this?"

They all ceased a moment to reflect on the posed question.

Duke wasn't ready to let this one cut off his moment of praise. He stroked an imaginary beard, then said, "How many are we?"

"Five, dummy," said Rodge, emphasising by extending out his fingers at Duke's nose.

"Five. Perfect!"

"How is that?"

"Since five is an odd number, then I'll be the captain to this mission, while the remaining four of you would split yourselves in twos-"

"Hey, this is my mission!" Timmy interjected.

"But I'm the brains here," said Duke, crooking his forefinger to his forehead.

"Well, he's got a point there," agreed Bob.

"Naw, not you too!"

"Have you got a better idea?" asked Bob, calmly.

"Well, yes! We could umm. . .umm. . ." Timmy sighed as he couldn't think of even a single plan to "outbrain" Duke. He sighed and threw his hands up: "Whatever!"

Ignoring this, Duke looked at the others.

"First things first; we get ourselves some tools, then we get 'crime hunting'."

His words rattled in their ears. They nodded silently and began conceiving exciting thoughts to themselves.

* * *

Anderson had been rolling on the bed for over two hours but could not find himself some sleep. He so badly wanted to experiment with the Time Machine just a stone throw away from where he lay, as soon as possible.

His Smart Watch had been acting normally, but Andy was sure that there had to be a mighty upgrade he just hadn't yet noticed. He'd already noticed the version was unusually too high. He just couldn't pinpoint the difference with the former.

He pushed the blanket away from his body, after wearing his glasses, then turned on the room light. The light was blinding, but it wasn't an obstacle. He walked to the point where the big machine lay then drew off the blanket.

The machine was as beautiful as when he first saw it; it was beckoning. He went to his door to cross check if it was locked; locked. Remembering what Harry said about Jake and the cyborgs, he had to peep through a curtain to see if there were signs of anyone; none. Host clear.

On second thoughts, he threw his pyjamas off his body, and wore something more casual.

He knew it was stupid, but he was willing to give it a try. He was willing to time travel.

Settling down on the single seat at the front roll of the Time Machine, Andy began to ask himself what time he'd love to visit, or who he'd have loved to see in person. The answer propped up, almost at the same time the questions played in his head.

Smiling, still not understanding why he was doing what he was doing, he checked his time. It was 00:31. He connected his Smart Watch to the machine the way he was shown by Nelson. It could even connect without any of the parts of the Smart Watch touching the Time Machine.

He connected the time to the generation of the 1920's. He typed the connection carriers to Germany, attaching a name to connect with: Albert Einstein.

Slowly, yet with a resolved heart, Anderson pushed the green button of the Time Machine after his Smart Watch had shown success in the destination details.

A glass winded over his head to shut his surrounding atmosphere from him.

"Welcome to the Time Channel, Professor!" said the machine.

Anderson could feel a heavy vibration from within, he quickly pulled some switches, as Nelson had demonstrated. Nothing happened. Everywhere was silent, until. . .

Woosh!

* * *

Jocelyn had been lying on her stomach reading one of Jane Austin's book, her favorite. The lamp on the desk shined a weak light on her book, just how she preferred it. She was warmed up in her thick duvet over her shoulders.

She took to reading because she couldn't find some sleep that night. Reading was always how she compensated her boredom and sleep loss.

As she read, she paused when she noticed Andy's room light turned on.

He's also awake?

She pushed the sheet over her shoulders away. A leg before the other, she snuck up to her window, hoping to get a silhouette of the lad. She couldn't.

She turned off her lamp, swiftly.

She watched carefully. Everything was silent for a while, but she kept her vigilance.

Next, she thought she heard something, or someone, speak. Almost simultaneously, there was a strong vibration from his end, making her eyes turn wide. She feared something was wrong, she almost screamed, but had to second the thought when she realised she had, literally, nothing to back up her hypothesis save for fear.