THE TIME BEFORE THE FUTURE – PART 23 BY: ANGELROSE Archie would never remember how he got there, but he wasn't surprised to find himself at the 'Treasure Chest'. That was the large flat stone at the far end of the Loch that he & Jamie had named for its shape, that the brother's had loved to play Pirates around as small boys. These days, since his return, it was where he automatically came to get away from it all & think. As ever the old place had drawn him like a magnet something about this time was different though. This time Archie was actually trying to think about Jamie instead of trying to forget his brother as he had for so long now. He was thinking so hard that he barely registered lifting Useless up onto the stone beside him; nor did it seem odd that the puppy had followed him. Now that he tried, Archie was both surprised & pleased by how much he remembered & appalled by how much he had forgotten. There were all the games of 'Pirates' here of course. (The sound of Lizzie complaining about being the captured Princess yet again still rang his ears!) He now remembered that whenever Jamie wanted to really wanted to wind him up he would call him 'Baldy' because of his name, but if ever anyone at school did that they would find themselves punched on the nose for their trouble. He remembered the weekend when Lizzie had run away to come & see them at school. At Jamie's insistence, they had hidden her in an out-building for 3 days, causing no end of panic & getting them into no end of trouble when she was discovered. The memories were so vivid now that he could almost feel the Headmaster's cane again now! Among the things that Archie couldn't remember were Jamie's favourite colour was or whether his older brother had been left or right handed. He wondered if Lizzie would remember. They didn't often talk about Jamie in the family, but the box would bring back memories, good & bad, for all of them. The thing that really upset Archie though, the thing that he would afterwards be almost sure had earned him a sympathetic lick on the hand from the doe-eyed Useless, was that he couldn't remember, no matter how hard he tried, what he brother's voice had sounded like. "I know boy, I know, it's crazy, isn't it? About as crazy as expecting you to understand, but somehow I get the feeling you do anyway." He said stroking the animal's head. It was only then that Archie realised just how much darker & colder the day had become. He shivered: "Come on boy, time to go home; you must be hungry & I could really use several of Lexie's best hugs & a hot toddy." Scooping Useless up into his arms, he hurried back to the house.