Lucy waited. Every time she got nervous she seemed to need to pee. This time was no exception. She held it in. After knocking again, Lucy heard footsteps. The next second the door was being opened. Lamp light shone behind the person who opened the door so Lucy could only see a dark male figure. She couldn’t make out his features and wasn’t sure if it was William or not.
“Yes? How can I help you?” the man asked.
“Are y..you W..William Pickett?” Lucy asked, her voice a little shaky and her courage fading.
“Yes, I am. What can I do for you?” William replied.
Lucy’s courage returned. “I’m Lucy, a friend of your parents, William and Mary, and I need to speak with you. I know it’s late and I’m really sorry, but it’s urgent” Lucy said with conviction.
“Yes, you are correct. It is quite late. Urgent you say? Are my parents hurt or in trouble?” William asked with concern in his voice.
“Oh, no, William and Mary are fine. But I do need to talk to you urgently. It does involve your father” Lucy replied.
“Look, you should come inside. I don’t want my family’s business aired in public. What is your name again, sorry?” William questioned.
“It’s Lucy” she responded.
“Do come in. Can I offer you a cup of tea, Lucy?” William asked.
“Yes, thank you. Tea would be good” Lucy replied. She was cold and tired from her walk and could do with the warmth and comfort of a cup of tea.
“Please, take a seat in the drawing room through there and I’ll be with you momentarily” William said, waving his hand towards another room.
“Thank you” Lucy replied, finally taking in William’s features as he motioned towards the drawing room. She was surprised to see that William looked a lot like John. She thought that if John looked like anyone, it would be his father, not his great grandfather. Lucy endeavoured to get a better view of William once he had made their tea. She did what she was asked and entered the drawing room.
The room was small and, although Lucy had never officially been in a drawing room, it was not what she had imagined one would look like. She imagined something bigger and well furnished. Lucy could tell this room had been decorated by a man. Bottle green wallpaper covered all the walls and the furnishings, although comfortable, were sparse. Lucy approved of the large leather three seater Chesterfield sofa that took up most of the room. She had always wanted her parents to buy one but they were very expensive in 2014. Lucy assumed they were probably expensive in 1877 too. William must have picked up a few clients, she thought. Or his parents had gone all out for him when he qualified as a lawyer. Lucy knew that William and Mary must have been considered quite well off as they had been able to purchase two parcels of land, build a house, take in two convict employees, feed themselves quite well and furnish their home quite nicely.
Lucy sat on the sofa and took another look around. Apart from the sofa, there was a nice wooden desk, a desk chair and a small table in front of the sofa. That was it. There were a couple of paintings on the wall and Lucy had just stood up to go and take a closer look when William came into the room. He came in behind her so quietly that Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Far out, you startled me!” Lucy exclaimed.
“I am sorry. I just came to ask you if you took sugar in your tea?” William replied.
“No, thank you” Lucy said, gathering herself together again. Lucy’s nerves were quite frayed after the last couple of days and she mentally told herself to keep it together.
“Right, I shan’t be much longer” William said, excusing himself from the room.
Lucy went back to studying the paintings. One was of a seascape scene with mountains and rock cliffs in the background, coastal rock platforms in the foreground and a tall ship to the left of the picture, which seemed to be sailing in a bay. The sky was grey and cloudy but not ominous. The painting seemed to be a water colour and was framed. It had a brass engraving underneath the painting.
“Cape Barathus, Adventure Bay, Van Diemens Land, Augustus Earle”, Lucy read out loud.
“Nice” she said to herself.
“Yes, I liked it. I got it at an auction just recently” a voice from behind her spoke.
Again, Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin.
“Oh my goodness, I didn’t hear you come in again” Lucy said, startled.
“I apologize again. I have been told that I have a soft step” William responded. “Please, take a seat” he went on, motioning to the sofa.
Lucy did as she was asked and took a seat. William handed Lucy a cup of tea and offered her a plate with a piece of tea cake and a fork on it.
“Is that tea cake?” Lucy asked, surprised that it was around in this time period.
“Yes, it is” William responded. “Why, don’t they have tea cake where you are from Lucy?” William questioned.
“Yes, they do” Lucy answered. “I’m just surprised to see it here” Lucy went on.
William seemed perplexed by Lucy’s comment but dismissed it as a miscommunication.
Lucy sipped her tea, placed the cup on the small table and started to eat her cake with the fork supplied.
“Mmm. This is delicious. Did you make it?” Lucy asked, her mouth still half full.
“I’m pleased you think so. No, I didn’t bake it. I have a lady that comes in once a week to clean my house and she always brings me something sweet” William responded. He went on. “Now, what is it that I can do for you Lucy? How does your urgent matter involve my father?”
Lucy took another sip of her tea.
“I don’t know if your mum told you or not, but I’ve been staying with your parents for the last couple of days” Lucy started.
William responded before Lucy could go on.
“No, my mother called on me yesterday but I was not at home. She left me a note asking me about father’s celebration tomorrow. Are you going to be in attendance Lucy?”
“I’m hoping to go but, in a way, that all depends on you. Are you going?” Lucy asked in return.
“Am I correct in my assumption that you are being very forward and asking me to the celebration with you?” William questioned. “After all, I hardly know you and we haven’t even been formally introduced” he finished.
“Oh, no. What? Sorry, no! I mean, I wasn’t asking you. I was just wondering if you were going. I wasn’t being forward or rude or anything. Sorry” Lucy stammered out, flustered that William thought she was asking him on a date.
“My apologies. My assumptions were obviously wrong. Please pardon my rudeness” William quickly replied, also flustered and embarrassed by his mistake. His cheeks turned pink.
“Should we start again?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, let’s. Good day to you madam, my name is William Pickett and I am pleased to make your acquaintance” William said holding out his hand for Lucy to shake.
“Why, good day to you sir” Lucy replied in a posh English accent, also holding out her hand to shake William’s.
They both broke down in laughter.
Lucy was relieved that both she and William had a sense of humour and had quickly overcome their mutual embarrassment. They both would have felt very uneasy if they hadn’t.
They both took another sip of tea and finished off the rest of their cake. Lucy placed her empty plate on the table.
“That was delicious. Thank you, William” she said.
“You are quite welcome, Lucy” he replied. “Now, where were we?” he asked.
“I was trying to tell you why I wanted to talk to you about your father. William, do you have an open mind?” Lucy questioned.
“An open mind? What do you mean, Lucy?” William asked.
“Can you open your mind to things that seem not to be real but could possibly be?” Lucy responded.
“Well, I can give it a try. Being a lawyer, I suppose I do that anyway, really. Go ahead. I will “open” my mind” William said.
“Okay. Please let me tell you how I met your parents and what has happened since, but please, I beg you, keep an open mind” Lucy said.
She spent the next ten minutes going into detail about exactly what had happened since she first stumbled into the quicksand.
“And that’s how I came to be on your door step tonight William. Now I know how absolutely ridiculous this all sounds but I swear to God it is one hundred percent true” Lucy finished.
William took some time to think, his chin resting on his right hand between his thumb and pointer finger. He chewed his bottom lip while thinking.
He chews his bottom lip, just like John does, Lucy thought, watching him. He actually reminded Lucy a lot of John. Maybe that’s why she felt comfortable talking to him. His eyes were the same warm, deep brown as John’s. His shoulders were square. His hair was coffee brown with natural wisps of gold brown speckled throughout. Even the shape of their faces was similar and had that strong jaw line. The only big difference was their nose. John’s nose was not as big as William’s. No, John’s nose had definitely come from his mother’s side of the family. Lucy realized she was staring at William. William was looking back at Lucy, seemingly sizing up whether what she had said was fact or fiction.
William spoke up.
“Lucy, although I haven’t been a fully qualified lawyer for long, I have spent the last two years under the good guidance of Matthew Reynolds. He has taught me to trust my first instincts and weigh them up against my judgement of the person’s character. This has, so far, held me in good stead. I am very rarely wrong about a person. My assessment of you, Lucy, is that my first instincts were good. I trusted you straight away. Your warm person and character also rated well with me. I do not think that my instincts could be that far off to have been one hundred percent wrong. That being said, some things you have stated do seem ridiculous, however you have sworn to almighty God that you are telling the truth. In all these accounts I must say that I do actually believe what you have told me to be the truth. Either that or I should quit my position as a lawyer tomorrow as I have just been duped by the most scandalous person in history!” William finished.
“I am so pleased and relieved to hear that” Lucy said, letting out a sigh. A tear came to her eye.
“Lucy, are you alright?” William asked.
“Yes, I’m just very happy to hear that someone finally believes me. I’m sure your parents think I’m quite mad” she replied with a nervous laugh.
“Which reminds me, what has all this got to do with my father and the urgent matter you were talking about?” William asked.
“Oh, I haven’t told you about that yet” Lucy replied. She went on. “What I’m about to say could alter time, but just my presence here in 1877 could have already done that. That’s why I’m so concerned about your father.”
“Go on” William urged, leaning forward, looking perplexed.
“Back in my time, my best friend John is your great grandson. He lives in the house your parents currently live in” Lucy stated.
“Really? That’s amazing. Now, I know my family’s future. Who else in history could say that?” William asked, quite happy with the idea.
“Yes, and no” Lucy went on, trying to figure out how she was going to explain time and effect on time to William. “You see, in my time we have television. It’s a box shaped thing that transmits pictures to your lounge room, or drawing room in your case. It’s hard to explain” Lucy went on.
William was trying to fathom what she was saying but was having a hard time.
“How does that happen?” he asked.
“I really don’t know how they do it but it’s like watching a play but it’s not live in front of you like a play is. Anyway, I’m getting off the subject a bit. Please just try to picture a play, forget the television” Lucy said, getting flustered that she couldn’t say what she wanted to.
“So, you just told me about an invention that I haven’t seen and you want me to forget about it already?” William asked, slightly upset.
“I’m sorry, William. I don’t know how to explain this. I’m going off topic. I’ll gladly answer your questions about the future later but please just let me just finish what I’m trying to say” Lucy responded, slightly upset herself.
“Go on” William said, disheartened.
“Alright. Okay, so just picture a play. And in this play they talk about travelling through time and going either forward into the future or back into the past” Lucy said.
“Yes, I can do that” William said.
“Great. Now, think about it. If you were a character in that play and you went into the past and you interfered with someone in that past time, like, say you had a conversation with them; are you with me?” Lucy asked.
“Yes, I think so. I’m a character in a play and I’m having a conversation with someone in the past, but I’m not of the past?” William replied.
“Yes, that’s right. That conversation with the person from the past wouldn’t have happened because you are from their future and you wouldn’t have been there had you not gone back in time; right? The other person would have been doing something different, not talking to you, right?” Lucy said.
“Yes, I suppose so. But where are you going with this, Lucy?” William questioned.
“You’ll see. Now, the other person would have been doing something different. Say the other person was your father and the time was yesterday” Lucy continued.
“Alright. Yes, it’s yesterday and if you didn’t come through the quicksand my father wouldn’t have met you, is that correct?” William asked.
“Yes. If your father didn’t meet me yesterday he would have been working all day instead of with your mum and I. Now, what my friend John, you know, your great grandson, told me in my time is that Dunlop tried to kill your father the night of his fortieth birthday party. He wasn’t successful” Lucy said.
“Well that’s a relief. So my father survives an attack from Dunlop?” William interjected.
“Well, before I came back to your time he did. But, and this is the big question William, what if my being here in your time has disrupted your dad’s life to the point where he doesn’t survive Dunlop’s attack?” Lucy said slowly, emphasising her question.
Light dawned on William’s face. “Oh, my goodness! So you’re saying that you might have altered history because you’re here? I understand your concern now, Lucy. Everything could be different. It hasn’t happened yet and your presence could change the outcomes!” William exclaimed.
“Yes, exactly! I wish I could have said it that well” Lucy replied, relieved that William finally understood where she was coming from.
“Now, how does this change my great grandson John’s history?” William asked.
Lucy thought for a moment.
“Well, seeing that John is your father’s great great grandson maybe altering your father’s future, and possibly your mother’s too, I could and probably have altered your future, just by being here. Seeing you’re not married yet, I could have upset your timeline enough that you might not meet the right person and John won’t end up being John. And I’ve only just now seen how completely stupid I’ve been coming here to you. Oohh!” Lucy admonished herself, feeling ridiculous that she had only just had those thoughts.
All this time she had thought that altering John’s great great grandfather’s future could alter John’s but it wasn’t until now that she realized the severity in which she had messed with this time’s outcomes.
“I feel so silly” she said. “I’ve watched Dr Who and Back to the Future and Stargate and all of those shows so many times and I still managed to stuff up” Lucy continued, getting angrier at herself.
“Lucy, please calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is Dr Who and all that?” William asked.
“Oh, sorry. They’re television shows” she answered.
“Theatre in a box?” William asked.
This tickled Lucy’s funny bone and she laughed out loud. “Yes, theatre in a box” she confirmed.
Lucy felt like she was going mad but she was glad she could laugh about it. She might have altered history, but hey, she could still go back to theatre in a box. Or could she, she asked herself? She’d heard about the butterfly effect. Could changing the Pickett’s timeline also end up changing the future so drastically that television is never invented?
Lucy sighed. Her brain hurt and she was tired.
“William, I’m so sorry. I could have ruined your life” Lucy said sincerely.
“That’s okay. I didn’t know how it was going to end up anyway” William replied, matter of factly.
William yawned. It was contagious and Lucy joined him.
“Lucy, where are you going to stay tonight?” William asked, stretching.
“I hadn’t really thought about that” Lucy replied.
“I’m sorry, you can’t stay here. If anyone were to see you in the morning they would think I had taken in a trollop and my good name would be sullied” William said.
“Oh, okay” Lucy replied. “Do you know of anywhere I could stay?” Lucy asked.
“I could ask Mrs Bean. She is the postmaster’s wife. She may be able to take you in for the night. They live downstairs behind the post office” William responded. “I will have to offer some money for lodging though. Do you have any money, Lucy?” he asked.
“No, I’m sorry William, I don’t” Lucy replied.
“I’m sure I can cover a few nights lodging until we work out how to get you home, if in fact you can go home” William offered.
“Thank you William. That’s very kind” Lucy said gratefully.
“I’ll just go and see now” William said standing up and heading for the front door.
A couple of minutes later William returned with the good news that Mrs Bean had agreed that Lucy could lodge with them for a few nights. Lucy was very grateful for their hospitality and headed downstairs after saying goodnight to William.
“Lucy, why don’t we meet in my offices just across the street at, say, 11am tomorrow morning and we’ll come up with a plan?” William suggested as she was preparing to leave.
“That sounds great. Thank you, William. I don’t know how I can ever repay you. You’re a good man. Thank you. Good night. See you in the morning” Lucy said as she collected her sack and dress and headed downstairs to meet Mr and Mrs Bean.
William closed the door behind Lucy. He was tired. It was very late and he had a big day tomorrow. He blew out the lamps and retired to his bedroom for the evening.