Chapter 29

Abby felt as though her legs had gone numb with the cold as she continued to trudge through the snow, Sarah and Connor either side of her and Becker taking up the rear of the group.

"Are you sure this is where Helen said she'd be?" Connor asked through chattering teeth. "It's not exactly peak park-going weather."

"Yeah," Abby replied shortly, pulling her coat tighter around herself to keep out the icy wind. "But she said she'd only keep the anomaly open if she gets the research first, so we better hurry."

"Do you really thing they'll come back?" Sarah interjected in a tight voice.

"They have to," Abby stated, unwilling to consider the alternative.

Without Cutter and Jenny, life in the ARC the past couple of months had been hell - the team had become sloppy, unorganised, and they all felt completely ambushed by each anomaly without the stabalising presence of their leaders. Abby hadn't realised it at the time, but now she knew all too well that they were the glue that held everyone together; sort of like the mum and dad of the team. Without them, the anomaly operation had gone to pot. The responsibility that the rest of them had been forced to shoulder in their long absence was so great that Abby found herself marveling at Cutter and Jenny's usual ability to keep everything in order and stay sane at the same time. That aside, it was almost painful how much Abby had missed them both - to go from seeing them every day to not seeing them at all had been hard to cope with.

"I don't trust Helen," Sarah interjected. "This all seems a bit too easy."

"Hey, I'm giving her copies of all my research!" Connor pointed out, sounding stung. "That's not easy for me. I feel like I'm making a deal with the devil or something."

"But I just don't see what she get's out of it," Sarah argued as they rounded a dense clump of snow-covered trees. "Surely she knows the anomalies better than anyone?"

"Maybe there's something she's missing?" Abby suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe . . ." Sarah trailed off, sounding doubtful.

"There she is!" Connor exclaimed, pointing to a bush in the distance.

Abby looked up, feeling the familar mingled anger and frustration she usually associated with that woman. Helen was standing with her hands on her hips, dressed in strange, old-fashion clothes, surveying them boldly as they approached. That was one of the things that put Abby ill at ease around her - she looked at everyone as though they were below her; as though they were unworthy of her presence.

"It's about time," Helen said coldly as they reached her. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten our deal."

"Here," Connor said as he handed her a USB stick containing the information she had requested, the coolness of his voice very out-of-character. "It's got everything on it."

"And I'm supposed to take your word on that am I?" she drawled, her eyebrows raised as she studied the stick.

"You're going to have to," Abby retorted, hating every minute that she had to spend in her company. "Just like we have to take your word that Jenny and Cutter will come back through the anomaly in one piece. Where is the anomaly by the way?"

"Over there," Helen answered, nodding casually over to the other side of the bush.

Sure enough, the flicker of light could be seen about thirty feet away, glinting in the winter sun.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, as always," Helen continued abruptly, pocketing the USB and turning to leave. "Give Nick my best . . ."

"Hang on! Where are you going?" Connor shouted after her, clearly surprised.

"My work here is done," she shouted back in a mocking voice, not even doing them the courtesy of turning around as she spoke. "Take care!"

And with that she was gone, lost in the whiteness of the park.

"I really hate that woman," Sarah said with distaste as they rounded the particularly large bush. "She's a vile, narcissistic - "

But whatever else Sarah though Helen was remained unclear as she stopped dead mid-sentence, her mouth hanging open,and her hands frozen in mid-air. Abby glanced around at what she was looking at, and felt her heart jump to her throat.

The anomaly, the place where Jenny and Cutter were meant to be coming through momentarily, was glittering in the middle of a large frozen lake.


Jenny and Cutter walked in a stuffy silence, the awkwardness washing over them both as they pushed onwards. It was well into winter now, and Jenny pulled the heavy cloak she had purchased a couple of weeks previously around her tighter as the cold chill seemed to penetrate her skin. Cutter held the strange anomaly detector in his hands, glancing down at it every few minutes, probably to make sure they was going the right way, or as an excuse to keep his eyes everted for her. Either way, they didn't speak, which Jenny was thankful for; she didn't think she could stand another screaming match, especially with the added pressure of finding the anomaly before it closed. If they did get home, they'd discuss everything then. Although she would probably also have Mark to deal with if that was the case, and she had no clue what she was going to say to him; she had been so wrapped up in coming to terms with the fact that she'd probably be stuck in the past with Cutter for the rest of her natural life that she hadn't really thought about what she was going to do if they ever managed to find a way back. She had began to accept that she'd never see her fiancé again, and if she was honest with herself, it had been rather easy to let him go. Too easy.

Suddenly, Cutter stopped walking next to her, frowning at the screen of the detector.

"What?" she asked, breaking the silence for the first time.

He looked up and nodded towards something. "There," he said quietly.

She followed his eye line and her stomach clenched as her gaze rested on the flickering light that she was beginning to doubt she'd ever seen again. It was at the side of a hill in a large patch of fields which were a bit too out in the open for Jenny's comfort, but she was really in no position to complain. All of a sudden, she felt quite teary - could they really be going home?

"How do we know it'll lead to our time?" she queried, trying not to let her apprehension show through her voice.

"We don't," he stated simply. He must have realised that his tone wasn't very reassuring, as he glanced around and offered her a fake smile. "We'll be fine," he added in a soothing tone.

She nodded and they walked forward, probably slower than was wise, and stopped right in front of it.

"Nick - " Jenny said, hating how small and scared her voice sounded.

He reached forward and took her hand, entwining her fingers with his. "I know," he breathed, his eyes not moving from the anomaly.

Without another word, they both stepped through.


As soon as her foot touched the ground on the other side, Jenny knew something was wrong. She skidded in something slippery, only just managing to keep her footing, and from the way Cutter's hand tightened around her, he had experienced the same sensation. Her vision was clouded with the blinding anomaly light, which only cleared after a few steps forward. When her retina's adjusted to the new environment, she noticed with a jolt of surprise that they were in what looked like a snowy forest or park that seemed completely deserted.

"Jenny, don't move," Cutter said from beside her, panic audible in every syllable he spoke.

For a second, she couldn't fathom why he was panicking so much; it seemed like they were back in their own time after all. But then she felt the ground beneath her feet crack sightly, and with a prickle of fear, she realised that they were standing in the middle of a massive lake with a thin layer of ice on the top.

"Oh my God," she breathed, her hand crushing around Cutter's as she surveyed the frozen water with horror.

"CUTTER! JENNY!" several voices yelled in unison from what sounded like a great distance away.

They looked up and spotted Abby, Connor, Becker and Sarah waving frantically at them from over the other side of the lake. The overwhelming relief and joy Jenny felt at seeing them was overshadowed by the fact that she and Cutter were about two inches of ice away from plunging to a watery death.

"GET OFF THE ICE!" Abby's voice traveled over to them.

It's not like they needed telling that, but how they were actually going to manage to get off without falling through was a problem.

"Right, we split up," Jenny said to Cutter in a shaking voice, her mind slipping into survival mode. "Our combined weight will definitely break the ice," she reasoned.

He looked like he was about to argue with her, but she had already pulled her hand out of his and taken a few shaky steps away from him.

They walked slowly, treading each step carefully, Jenny hardly daring to breath as she continued to put one foot in front of the other. She chanced a half-glance up at the rest of the team, and saw that they were all waiting nervously for them. Sarah had her hands clasped together as though in prayer, and Connor bobbed next to her impatiently, fear etched on his features. Abby's hands were running through her platinum hair that contrasted greatly with the snowy surroundings. Becker had a worried frown on his face, and he shuffled from one foot to the other as though fighting the urge to run out and help them. Looking at their nerves made Jenny's own fear mount to dangerous proportions, so she forced herself to look back down at the ice.

Suddenly, she stepped onto a patch if wafer-thin ice; she could tell by the way it cracked under her foot that it wouldn't be able to support her weight. She was about to pull back a bit when the crack in the ice fractured. In what seemed like slow motion, her gaze met Cutter's and his eyes widened in sheer terror.

And then she felt herself falling and a searing cold shot through her body.

Darkness enveloped her.


Cutter's throat close over in complete terror, and he froze, completely paralysed with shock. One moment Jenny was a few feet from him, and the next she was gone. But she couldn't be . . .

The screams and shouts of the team from the side of the lake brought him out of his stupor violently, and he stumbled over to the hole in the ice, his legs not working properly. He heard the rest of them running over to him, all thoughts of their own safety forgotten, but he couldn't wait for them. His eyes frantically searched the lapping water for any sign of her, but there was nothing except impenetrable darkness.

"Cutter don't!" Connor's voice shouted, although he barely even registered his words.

He took a deep breath, trying not to imagine how cold the water was going to be, and before he could be stopped or pulled back, he dived.

His lungs seemed to freeze and his limbs seized up completely, the cold so all-consuming that for a second, he forgot where he was and why he was there; all he could think about was the agony that pierced every inch of him. The darkness closed in, and an eery stillness pushed against him. His mind was blank . . . he couldn't think . . . he was so numb that he couldn't feel . . .

Jenny.

Her image popped into his frozen brain, shocking his system, causing him to thrash slightly. He scanned the gloomy water, panic befuddling his mind. She couldn't have gone far; she had only fallen a second before . . .

Then he spotted her, floating a few feet below him. He kicked out, the exertion costing him all the effort in the world, and stretched out his arm. He grabbed her and tried to pull her up, but he couldn't - she was too heavy. This didn't make sense to him - she didn't particularly weigh much . . . then he realised that it was her cloak that was too heavy. Panicking, the need to take a breath overwhelming, his fingers fumbled at her neck to undo the lace. Painful seconds dragged by, and eventually he managed to rip the material away, freeing her. He couldn't bring himself to look at her face - he didn't want to see if she was unconscious, or . . .

He grabbed her around the waist and kicked out again. It was very slow work. The muscles in his legs ached from the exertion of propelling himself and dragging Jenny with him. He fixed his eyes skywards, determination overriding his tiredness -

His face finally broke the surface of the water and he gulped in a lungful of frozen air, his desperation for oxygen too great. Panting, he pulled Jenny up with him, one hand cupping her chin to keep her mouth above the water. Her eyes were closed and her forehead sported a large gash that was bleeding heavily. He noticed with a bolt of terror that her lips had a bluish tinge on them. The rest of the team were around him; the ice around the hole must have been thick enough to support them all. Shaking uncontrollably, he heaved Jenny up into Abby and Sarah's waiting arms.

"T-take h-her," he ordered, his teeth chattering violently as he struggled to keep himself afloat and get Jenny out of the water.

Once she was fully out, Cutter sank back down, his energy leaving him. He could have easily have passed out there and then, but he felt hands grab him underneath his arms and pulled him clean out of the water. As a coat was wrapped around him from an unknown source, he heard Abby speak three words that chilled his blood far more than any icy water could.

"She's not breathing."