Early Monday morning, Lizzy walked down the street, headed for a classic Irish café. There weren't many in Ireland, since most people would rather have a good cold pint anyway – and the taverns sold coffee, too, with a dash of whiskey and fresh cream. But this shop was known – by Patrick, that is – for having the best Irish coffee for miles around. Knowing how much Liam liked coffee, Lizzy thought it was a safe bet that he was in the shop, or near it.
As she walked, Lizzy kept an eye out for the tousled brown locks of hair belonging to Liam. His hair might appear blond in the sun – although it was a cloudy day – but she should be able to discern the light brown from the many lighter shades of hair.
She arrived at the coffee shop. No sign of Liam.
When she had told the others her thoughts and worries, they had all been extremely confused. Now that they knew Lizzy and Liam's background, they were sure that any ideas Lizzy might have concerning him would not be even relevantly kind-hearted... and now she wanted to save him?
Kit was extremely confused and not all for the plan, but Lizzy had convinced him – and the others – that it was a good idea. "Besides," she said. "We can kill two birds with one stone – he was on the inside of MNT's schemes for a while. Oh, and –" Lizzy paused for dramatic effect. "We can round up the potential helpers who MNT didn't – want."
"That's a bit... harsh." Finn said.
"Also, that's, umm, three birds." Patrick said. "Not just... two. Ahem. Never mind." Patrick cleared his throat and sank back in his chair when they all looked at him.
Lizzy rolled her eyes, smiling, at Patrick's reaction, then frowned when she caught what he had said. "Whatever. That's not the point. Technicalities like how many birds we can kill with one stone isn't important. The main thing is, we can make a plan."
They had been able to complete a plan in less than half a year, which was a good thing. Lizzy had taken all her knowledge of Liam and poured it into the plan. She had given it all her strategy and subtlety skills, as well, and all in all, she was quite proud of it. She had refrained, however, from adding in the part where they recruited people for their cause, saying it would take too long and they would do it another day.
The planning had taken a few hours – the organizing had taken a little longer. They had left Erin with Amanda – who hadn't yet told them what she had learned from MNT in the frenzy of actually planning – at Kit's house with his mother – she was a kind woman named Katherine, although almost everyone called her Katie. She had mostly grey hair with streaks of dark brown throughout, and a warm maternal nature. She'd taken Erin with pleasure, saying, "I'll be glad to take her – it's been a while since Kit was a child, and he hasn't supplied me with any more to take care of." She had winked as she said it, though, and Lizzy knew where Kit had picked up his sense of humour. Amanda was also welcomed warmly, and Lizzy knew they would have a pleasant time.
Her only regret in this plan was making Patrick and Finn accidentally miss church. They were so exhausted the morning after they retrieved supplies and finished their plan – they had been up well past midnight – that they had slept past noon. All of them had – it had been the Sunday Lizzy had said she was going with Patrick, too. She knew it was disappointing to him – to be honest, she was a bit saddened with this turn of events herself – but she was also focused. She was going to get this done. She would succeed.
She stepped into the warm café and looked around, noticing several Irish men and women smiling at her as she removed her shawl. There were a lot of orange and blond heads, but almost no dark ones – besides hers – and none the same shade as Liam's. Lizzy stepped over to a whitewashed booth and sat down, laying her shawl beside her and settling back to wait. She had a clear view of the green-painted wood door and was alert for anyone entering the shop.
After several minutes, a bubbly Irish waitress stepped up to her, tearing her attention away from the door. "Hi, my name is Breanne. Do you need a menu? Or do you know what you would like already?"
She had light hair pulled back in a loose bun, but a few curls had gotten loose and now hung around her face in a cute, slightly disheveled way. She had a pale complexion behind her pink cheeks and was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse with a dark turquoise skirt that matched her eyes.
"Um, could I see a menu?"
"Of course! Just a moment."
She walked towards the back of the café and Lizzy reverted her attention back to the door.
A few minutes later, Breanne was back. She handed Lizzy the tall menu with a smile. "I'll be back when you know what you'd like. Take your time!"
Lizzy nodded at her and smiled. The Irish were all so friendly. She was a perfect stranger, and a lot of them had smiled at her when she walked in. Breanne, especially, was extremely nice.
She opened the thick parchment and read the options, but she didn't really register what she was looking at – she glanced at the door every few seconds. Once she examined her surroundings, but soon she was back to looking at the door.
The room was full of light and natural colours. Two large front windows allowed sunshine to fill the room, and the décor was very bright – all the tables were whitewashed, the chairs were green, and the walls were painted light grey. The wall across the room from Lizzy was red brick. Overall, the ambience was very pleasing, and Lizzy knew Liam would like this place.
The rising sun was now shining directly through the window, and Lizzy's dark hair was absorbing the heat pleasantly, but it was also making it a bit difficult to see the people who were walking in. "Oh, come on," Lizzy muttered.
The door opened and a couple walked in. Lizzy ignored them. Liam was only eighteen – these people, from the little she could see, were in their mid-twenties at least.
A few more Irish men and woman entered before the waitress returned, but none of them looked even remotely like they could be Liam – a lot of them were too old, or too slim, or not slim enough. Their hair was usually wrong - wrong colour, wrong length, or just not messy enough... Lizzy smiled. Then a thought occurred to her. What if he was in disguise?
"Have you decided yet?" Breanne asked, jerking Lizzy out of her thoughts. Lizzy jumped a little.
"Oh, sorry if I startled you! Um, do you need another minute?"
"Oh, no, I think I'll have the –" She looked down at her menu. "The –"
Just then the door opened, admitting a tall, somewhat handsome teenager with dark, ruffled hair. It was especially tousled from the light wind outside – Lizzy recognized him immediately.
He wasn't in disguise.
"Liam!" she gasped, half-rising from the comfortable wood seat to get a better look at him, then collapsing back into the plush cushioned seat.
Breanne looked confused. "I'm not sure we sell that – anymore. If we ever did. May I see your menu?"
Lizzy thrust it at her and grabbed her dove grey shawl. "Thank you," she said to Breanne as she stood. "Goodbye!"
Breanne smiled. "Well, I suppose we've had weirder customers than you."
But Lizzy was already halfway across the room. The waitress shrugged and began to wipe down a nearby table, the soft smile never leaving her face.
Liam noticed Lizzy right before she ran into him. "Woah!" he said, bracing himself. She stopped just in time, skidding a little on the smooth wood floor. "Liam!" she breathed, clasping her shawl in front of her muted orange linen skirt.
He looked twice as confused as Breanne had, but grinned at her. "Have you forgiven me yet?"
"Well, no. Not quite. You did try to kill me. However, you did not go back to MNT, and that does do you credit."
"Well, then, why were you looking for me?"
"We – wait, how do you know I'm looking for you?"
He shrugged. "I bumped into your friend, uh, Finn? No, he was the one in the – the alleyway those months ago – ahem," Liam cleared his throat and paused for a moment before he continued. "No, I think his name was Kip. Yes, that sounds right. Do you know a Kip?"
Lizzy repressed a laugh. She had almost forgotten how Kit had introduced himself – 'Kip, they always call me,' he had said, 'and I tell them it's Kit, but they never get it'. She hadn't remembered to tease him about that.
She couldn't pass up this opportunity.
"He's a very good friend of mine," Lizzy affirmed.
Liam nodded. "Well, he asked if my name was Liam, then told me to come here. They have great coffee, by the way."
"Hey, Liam," a question popped into Lizzy's head. "Do you know anything about what the phrase 'time will tell' means?"
He stopped moving. Lizzy thought he almost stopped breathing, too, and his mouth fell open.
"You have nice teeth," Lizzy remarked jokingly. "very even. I'm guessing you do know something about it?"
"Lizzy – we can't talk about this here." He looked around furtively.
The smile disappeared from Lizzy's face. "Fine. Would a dark alleyway be fine for you? I'm guessing you have a knife – have you come to finish what you started? I still have a giant scar, by the way. It will never go away."
Liam looked shocked as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door into the busy street. The breeze seemed much colder, and Lizzy shivered, unable to pull her shawl around her shoulders with her hand in custody by Liam's and while they were moving so fast.
They ended up near the streams of people doing their early morning shopping or buying breakfast, but still in a bit of an out-of-the-way spot – between a book store and a post office.
Lizzy pulled her wrist out of his grasp and put a good three feet between them.
"Lizzy –" he stopped. She waited.
"I'm sorry."
His tone was plaintive, but Lizzy didn't buy it. She folded her arms over the cream cotton bodice of her dress and raised an eyebrow, her face otherwise expressionless.
"I didn't even know I cut you. I wasn't going to, I swear, I couldn't – I didn't..."
He sighed. There was a long silence between them, then he said, "I didn't know who my – who I was working for." Lizzy frowned.
"I'm being honest, Lizzy. I had no idea what he was planning to do, or how he was going to accomplish it. He's – he's evil, and I couldn't see it. He needs so much help."
"He's not the only one who needs help," Lizzy muttered. But she could hear the truth in his words – he wasn't lying this time.
The silence stretched between them. Then she sighed. "I believe you." She met his open stare.
"Really?" Liam's face lit up; he was like a little boy – he started to bounce on the toes of his feet. Lizzy rolled her eyes, but she couldn't supress her smile. "Alright, alright – Liam, calm down, seriously!"
He stopped moving, but he was still beaming.
"Liam, just because I believe you doesn't mean I forgive you. That will take some time."
"Yeah, I know. What does that have to do with anything? I could hardly ever convince you of anything even when we were friends. You should probably work on that."
Lizzy sighed. "All right, changing the subject... you were going to say something about time will –"
Liam shushed her. "Not so loud! Yes, I was. So, you know about MNT?"
"What about him?"
"Good. You've heard of him. Now, he had this weird thing with the phrase 'time will tell' when I was a bit younger..."
"How long have – or did, you work for him?"
Liam paused. "Well... um, I was kind of... raised there. Since I was five, maybe six."
Lizzy frowned. "Really?"
"Yes. Anyway, he would use it for anything – what are we doing tomorrow? 'time will tell.' What are your evil plans to rule the world? 'time will tell.' Do you have evil plans to rule the world? 'ye – er, ahem, time will tell.' What's for dinner? 'time will tell.' How do you –"
Lizzy interrupted him. "I get it! He loved those three words. How does that connect to...?"
"If the... if Donovan, or whoever has control of the 'good' clock makers, was sending one to MNT, the riddle might be 'time will tell' because he knows what it means. Personally, I would set up an all-day watch on it, just to see what happens. I mean, maybe 'time will tell' simply means that if you watch it long enough, you'll figure out how to open it." Liam shrugged.
"Wait, how did you know...?" Lizzy let her question hang, but Liam knew what she meant.
"How did I know you were talking about that clock? Lizzy, the only place you'd hear that phrase – unless MNT was, miraculously, your mentor, or father, or boss, or – well, something – is in a clock directed to him or someone who's been with him for years and heard the phrase enough – one of his confidantes. Since I'm absolutely certain you are not his daughter or confidante, the only logical answer would be..." Liam put his hands out like he was making a brilliant statement. "the clock."
Lizzy didn't look all that impressed, but he ignored her expression. "I would love to see an authentic clock. Would you mind...? I know you don't trust me yet, but..."
Like she had moments before, he left it hanging. Lizzy was torn – she would love to trust him with the clock, with the knowledge – and she was almost – almost – completely sure he wouldn't betray her again, but she wasn't sure whether it was the best idea to let him be anywhere near the clock. It could be their only chance of winning, and if Liam turned back to MNT...
But he wouldn't do that. Lizzy could see it in his eyes. He had told the truth. She could trust him at least in one thing. And she would be careful.
She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly, out of nowhere, something small and very much alive barrelled into Liam, knocking him down. Lizzy gave a little squeal and jumped out of the way, closing her eyes tightly, and when she finally opened them she saw Finn sitting on top of Liam, who looked extremely unsure of his situation.
"Finn!" she exclaimed.
He didn't look away from Liam's face. "What?"
"No, that's my question – what on earth are you doing?!"
Finn glanced up at Lizzy, confused.
"Uh, he tried to – to kill you, Lizzy. Have you forgotten?"
Lizzy put her hands on her hips. "Uh, no, but he wasn't going to try that again after it failed the first time."
Now Finn was incredulous. He stared up at Lizzy. "You really think that?"
"Well, I know he won't try it again."
"Why? How?"
"I... have my reasons. Now, Finn, please get off him." Lizzy implored him.
"Yes, please do." Liam wheezed.
Finn considered, then slowly stood and moved away. Liam rolled over onto his stomach, then slowly rose to his feet from his hands and knees.
"I think you bruised a few of my ribs," he complained, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Lizzy rolled her eyes for what seemed like the tenth time that day. "So much unnecessary drama," she muttered. Liam looked personally offended but didn't say anything.
They started walking back to Patrick's farm. Lizzy had told the others to wait in the kitchen after fifteen minutes, and she hoped that they had enough time to get back without a problem.
They were getting nearer, and Lizzy could tell something was wrong – the sky above the house was hazy, and the fields had an unnatural – sort of – colouring, Lizzy thought.
The house was momentarily out of sight as they climbed the hill, but when they stood at the top and perused the property from there, Lizzy immediately broke into a run, Finn following in her footsteps. Liam hesitated a moment, then pursued them.
The farm was on fire.