Chapter 10 – Little Emmy to the Rescue

"She's all on her own over there," Flora said empathetically. "Maybe one of us should go and talk to her."

She, Luke, Alfendi and Hershel looked over to the corner, where Little Emmy was sat on the floor scribbling on a page. She had hardly said two words to anyone since her arrival from the past. She always stuck close to her uncle and never so much as looked at anyone else.

"What's her problem?" Alfendi asked. "She's nothing like mum. Mum actually looks at people and talks to people; I've never known her to be shy. But I don't know about this one."

"Maybe you ought to go, Flora," Luke suggested.

"Why?" Flora asked. "Because I'm a girl?"

"Well, that, and because you can empathise with her. You know what it's like to be an outsider, right? Well, go talk to her and see what she says."

"Why don't we all go?" Hershel asked. "She's a little girl, I'm sure she won't bite."

"Yeah," Flora said, giving Luke an odd look. "Let's go."

They approached her cautiously. Luke pushed Flora forward.

Hershel sighed. "I don't know what you're all so nervous about."

"Yeah, me neither," Alfendi agreed.

Flora crouched down beside Little Emmy, who didn't even look up. Flora cleared her throat. Emmy looked at Flora.

"Uh... hi."

"Hallo," she smiled.

Flora smiled back. She noticed Emmy's drawing. "May I see your picture?"

Emmy frowned. "Eh... vat?"

"Your picture." Flora pointed to the page in front of them.

"Oh," Emmy said, realising. She pushed it towards Flora.

Flora picked it up and gasped. It was a drawing of Leon, which looked exactly like him. From his wild hairdo to his facial features, it looked like a photocopy of him, and not a single hair was out of place. Flora smiled.

"You're so good at drawing. I never knew Emmy could draw!"

"Eh... I'm sorry..."

Flora frowned. "Why?"

"Eh... my English is not very good... so... I have no idea vat you just said."

"Oh... sorry, I didn't know. Uh... where are you from?"

Emmy frowned. "Like... my country?"

"Yeah."

"The Czech Republic."

"Really? What part?"

"Prague. I used to live zere vis my mother and father until I vent to live vis my Uncle Leon."

"Oh. I see!" Flora smiled. "And you have a little brother too, right?"

As soon as the words came out, Flora knew that she had said the wrong thing. Emmy's face fell and a pained expression spread across her face. Flora panicked.

"I'm so sorry! I swear, I didn't mean to upset you! Are... are you okay?"

Emmy nodded, but said nothing. Hearing Flora's panicked tone, Luke, Alfendi and Hershel quickly hurried over.

"Is everything okay, Flora?" Luke asked.

"Uh..." Flora looked uneasily at Emmy.

"Is okay," Emmy replied, giving Flora a reassuring smile. "Eh... I... I live in... over in Irland... I have never been to London before, so—"

"We'll show you around!" Luke said enthusiastically. "We'd be glad to! C'mon! I'll bet that you'd want to see the London of the future, Hershel! And what about the London of the past, Alfendi?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Alfendi replied. "I'll just head up and tell Mum where I'm going." He left and ran upstairs.

Luke leaned in to Flora. "What did you say?" he asked.

"The wrong thing," Flora replied miserably. "I don't even know what I was thinking, it just came out!"

"Well, she seems fine, so just forget about it," Luke said reassuringly, looking over at Emmy. She was staring at her drawing. Luke walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We should get a frame for that while we're out, so we can hang it up, and in about twelve or thirteen years time, you can look back on it and remember it."

"Yeah," Emmy smiled, handing it to Luke. "Is a good idea."

Luke smiled as Alfendi came back. "Let's go."

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" the professor asked as he and Emmy sat down on the bed. "

"Well..." Emmy sighed, trying to figure out where to start. She remembered what her older self had told her. "I'm unhappy, Hershel."

"Unhappy?" the professor frowned. "Well, is there something in particular that is bothering you, my dear? Is it the pregnancy?"

"No! Well... it's adding to my stress, yes, but it's not the cause of it. I just... I feel like I'm growing distant from you. And Uncle Leon. You... don't take this the wrong way, Hershel..."

"What?"

"Well... you're always at work all the time, as am I... and... well... we never have time to really talk anymore, let alone spend time together. And when the baby comes, we won't have the time to spend together anyway, and I'm scared that we'll never have a chance to be alone." Emmy took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Hershel, and I want to have moments with you where I can really show you how much you mean to me."

"Emmy... I... it never really occurred to me that you were this unhappy..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry, Emmy." He hugged her.

"It's not your fault... I really should have spoken sooner... and that's not all..."

"Is there something else on your mind?" the professor asked.

"Well... I still have these horrible nightmares..."

"About your father?"

Emmy nodded. The professor held her tighter.

"And I'm getting so stressed over whether or not I should go and see him, you know, to tell him about the baby, and my older self said that I should see him so that I can get over what he did, but... I can't do it alone."

"Well, I can go with you, any time. You just tell me." The professor stroked her hair. "you don't need to be afraid to ask me for help, that's what I'm here for." He kissed her forehead.

"I know," Emmy replied. "But, when we got back to London, well, the press started hounding us..."

"I know," the professor agreed.

"And then work took over... I never thought that I had time to talk about what happened... in the grounds... when my mother..."

"That wasn't your mother, dear," the professor said gently. "That was an evil spirit which took over your mother's body. It was the same with your brother. He was never a violent child, was he?"

"No..."

"So he would never have bitten Luke if he was himself?"

"No... and my mother would never have attacked me like that..."

"Precisely." The professor held her at arm's length. "I don't blame you for having nightmares, Emmy. You went through a horrific ordeal in that cavern and afterwards with the press, and you didn't deserve any of it, or what happened with your father. But your father can't hurt you anymore, because you've got me and your uncle right here to protect you."

"No one else has ever hurt me like that... it was like I couldn't even touch him, because..."

"You couldn't hurt your own father in the way that you would in protecting yourself from anyone else. And I don't blame you for that, either."

"I... I still love him, despite what he's done to me," Emmy said. "I still remember what he was like before my mother and Daniel died, when he was around, that is. He was so kind and sweet to me and Daniel. He was a good dad when he wanted to be. And he was sorry for what he did... but I still have nightmares."

"they'll go away with time, I promise you," the professor said softly. "I'm here for you, no matter what. Whenever you have a nightmare, you tell me and I'll hold you and protect you, I promise."

Emmy smiled. "thank you. Thank you so much. You're always so good to me, Hershel. Always." She hugged him again. "I just wish there was something I could do for you. I really don't know how you put up with me."

"I love you," the professor smiled. "You're a wonderful, kind person. You're just going through a rough patch, and that's understandable, considering what has happened t you. But you'll be back to your old happy self in a while. It will just take time. That's all."

"That's where the professor works, Emmy; Gressenheller University. That's where you're going to work too, as Professor Layton's assistant."

Emmy held up her camera and snapped a shot of the university. "Is very big," she said.

"Yeah. I always used to get lost. There are so many corridors and classrooms, but you get used to it when you're there," Luke smiled. They continued down the road.

"And over there is that little cafe where the professor likes to get his tea, and there's the ice-cream van where Emmy used to race me to get ice-cream..." They walked on a bit further. "And this is the flower shop..."

Emmy went over to it and started snapping shots of all the different kinds of flowers. Luke smiled.

"Big Emmy likes taking pictures too. She's taken loads on our adventures of all the scenery and the people and the professor and me..." Luke trailed off. "I should really ask her to take them out so we can all have a look. Anyway, over there is the police station, Scotland Yard..."

Emmy took a picture of that too.

"... and just down the road from here is Big Ben, a clock tower. Let's go!"

They continued down the road until they were stood before the tall tower. Emmy took another photograph and smiled.

"Say Luke, why do they call it Big Ben?" Flora asked.

"Don't know," Luke replied. "I never pay too much attention in history class. All the history I know is from the artefacts that the professor studies."

"It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who over saw the installation of the Great Bell, but some people believe that it was named after Ben Caunt, a famous eighteenth century heavyweight boxing champion," Hershel said. "I read it in a book once."

"Eh, I don't think that is very good," Emmy said.

"Why not? I think it should've been named after its creator," Luke said, frowning.

"Not the clock thingy. That." Emmy pointed across the road past the park and over to Celeste's house. There was a group of thugs and two women who looked very alike. One of them was Andrea.

"You think zey vant the machine, yes?" Emmy asked as Luke and Flora glared.

"Yeah, that's about right," Luke said, his eyes narrowing at Andrea.

"What's she even doing here? I thought she got sent to prison?" Flora asked.

"Me too," Luke said, deep in thought.

"Who is that person?" Alfendi asked. "Mum and Dad never mentioned her before."

"They wouldn't, not unless they told you about the Grounds of Rebirth," Luke said.

"Well, they mentioned that they unlocked the gate using the artefacts that some girl called Jai managed to collect and that's why they were in the paper so many times," Alfendi said.

"Well, either way, we have to stop them," Luke said firmly. "C'mon."

"Is she in or not?" Andrea snarled.

"No, she's at the clinic with a patient, she won't be back for an hour yet," Markus snarled. "Are you the reason why she asked me to keep an eye on the place? Are you out to hurt my mother?"

"That is none of your concern," Andrea snarled. "Now get out of the way before my men here have to move you."

"Oi!"

Andrea turned around to face Luke and his companions.

"You leave Doctor Folley's house alone!" Luke said boldly.

Andrea smirked. "And who's going to make me? A bunch of snot-nosed kids?"

"Yes," Emmy said.

Andrea turned to her men. "Take them out," she ordered.

The lead thug looked at her doubtfully. "They're only a bunch of kids. What harm can they do?"

"They're Layton's cronies," the other woman replied. "And I wouldn't underestimate the little lady in yellow there. She's a lot tougher than she looks."

"Vy not find out for yourselfs?" Emmy offered, rolling up her sleeves.

The men laughed.

"Unless... you're turkey?"

They frowned. "Turkey?" one of them muttered.

"She means chicken," Hershel corrected quickly.

"Well, we'll see about that." The biggest man steeped forward, flexing his muscles. "Let's see what you can do, little lady," he grinned, standing in a fighting stance, his legs spread apart and his hands clenched into fists. The other men jeered.

"Oooh, tough man, you show that gobby little madam who's boss."

Emmy steeped forward and cracked her knuckles.

"I really don't think this is such a good idea," Flora whispered to Luke, who merely nodded.

"Ladies first," the man grinned.

"Mistake," Emmy warned. She noticed how his legs were spread apart and landed a swift kick where it hurt most.

The man doubled over in agony. "Uurgh, you bitch!" he groaned.

But that wasn't all. Emmy upper-cutted him in the jaw, causing the man to bite his tongue. She punched him square in the chest and landed a roundhouse kick I his face. Blood spurted from his nose and he fell to his knees, gasping.

Two other men stepped forward.

"You made a big mistake messing with us, girly," one of them said menacingly. He lunged for Emmy, trying to grab her, but Emmy stepped out of the way and kicked him up the backside. He fell on his face and she stomped on his neck. The other man grabbed Emmy from behind and tried to choke her. She stomped on his foot towards his little toe and the man shrieked, loosening his grip on Emmy. She pushed his arms off of her and punched him in the stomach. She then upper-cutted him in the face. The man was unsteady on his feet, so Emmy saw her chance and pushed him into the dustbin behind him. Emmy turned to Andrea, her eyebrows raised.

"You are now outnumbered, five to two. I suggest you leaf now, or suffer the consequences."

Andrea turned to her companion, who nodded. They both stormed off.

"Thank you so much," Markus smiled. "I never thought that you would be that tough. Not even I would be able to take them."

"Well, she is just a kid, so I suppose she had the element of surprise on her side," Luke smiled. "So, are you a friend of Doctor Folley's?"

"Er... kind of. I'm her son, Markus Folley." He held out his hand. "I assume you're a friend of Layton's?"

"Yes. My name is Luke Triton, and this is Flora Reinhold, and er..." He looked at Hershel, Emmy and Alfendi. "You're familiar with the machine upstairs, right?"

"Yes, and with the current situation," Markus nodded. "I assume that is the young Layton?" he asked, pointing at Hershel.

"Hershel Layton," he said, holding out his hand.

Markus shook it. "A pleasure, I'm sure. And... is this another Layton? He has that look in his eyes." He gestured at Alfendi.

"Indeed, I am Alfendi Layton, son of Hershel Layton." They shook hands.

"But I am not familiar with this little lady here. What is your name, miss?" he asked.

"Emmeline Bronev," she replied, still panting.

"A pleasure," Markus smiled, shaking her hand. "Why don't you all come in? I think I ought to reward you all with a cup of tea."

"Where is Alfendi?" Layton asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"He's gone out to town with the others," Emmeline replied, taking another sip from her cup of tea.

"And our teenage selves have gone too, yes?"

"Yes," Emmeline replied. "they'll be back shortly."

Layton sighed, and Emmeline sighed too.

"It's difficult, not being able to tell them what's really going on, isn't it?" Emmeline sighed.

Layton nodded. "But don't worry. They'll do the right thing, and everything will be okay. I saw through it all before, and my younger self will see it too, I know it. He has to. There's no other way it can possibly be."

"I know... but this is dragging on for me. And it's bringing back all sorts of memories... with dad... and Andrea... what she's going to do..."

"You know that her plan would never have worked. There are even strict laws in space-time that prevent her plan from working." He smiled and put an arm around Emmeline. "We were destined to be together."

Emmeline smiled at Layton. "I know." She kissed him gently. "And I still love you now as much as I did then."

They kissed again, wrapping their arms around each other in a tight embrace. They held each other for a while, but broke apart as they hear the front door open. The kids were back.

"Professor? You won't believe what we saw! Are you here?"

"They're upstairs, Luke!" Emmeline called.

"Thanks Emmy! Emmeline! Whoever you are!"

Layton and Emmeline both laughed as they hear the children run upstairs.

"Well, they are bound to want to share their newfound information," Emmeline smiled. "You know how Luke got kicks out of helping you, Hershel."

"Yes," the professor smiled. "Even now, it's still hard to imagine him as a Professor in America with an apprentice of his own."

"Professor?" they heard Luke calling from downstairs.

Emmy and the professor broke apart from their long embrace as they heard him running upstairs. Emmy smiled as she and the professor sat up properly on the bed.

"in here, Luke," the professor called, smiling back at Emmy.

Luke entered with Flora, Alfendi, Hershel and Little Emmy in tow.

"We just saw Andrea outside Celeste's house. She's definitely after the machine, and we spoke to Markus—"

"Markus? I didn't know he was back in London," the professor said. "I assume that Celeste asked him to watch the time machine while she went out?"

"Yes, she had to go to work. Anyway, Andrea was there with a group of thugs and wanted access to the machine. She's definitely planning something."

"And Emmy here kicked ass," Alfendi grinned, patting her on the back.

"I expected nothing less," Emmy grinned, nodding at her younger self.

"Andrea is after the machine... whatever for?"

"Well... the reason behind her last charade was to get rich and famous to impress you, Hershel. She obviously wants to take her plan to win you over to the next level," Emmy said.

"Hmm..." the professor was deep in thought. "So, she stormed over there, thugs in tow, demanding to see he machine?"

"Exactly," Luke replied. "and she tried to set her thugs on us, but Little Emmy intervened."

"Vere is Uncle Leon?" Little Emmy interrupted.

"Your Leon? I'm not sure," Emmy replied, frowning.

"I think he went to see this Celeste person earlier," Hershel replied.

"Ah," the professor said looking worried. "I think he may be trying to find out more about his and Emmy's futures. And that could be bad, knowing too much."

"I'll go after him," Emmy said firmly, getting up. She took her younger self's shoulder. "Come with me." They left.

The professor remained sitting on the bed; deep in thought, as the others went back downstairs, still talking about Andrea and the thugs. He was mulling over all the clues they had gathered. His and Emmy's older selves had come with their son. His, Emmy's and Bronev's younger selves had also come, with no prior knowledge of their arrival. The professor couldn't remember ever travelling in time, and neither could Bronev or Emmy. Andrea wanted access to the machine...

"Would it be possible that Andrea accesses the machine after it becomes fully functional and goes to the past and sends my, Emmy's and Bronev's younger counterparts forward to two days ago?" he thought. Everything fitted then – how they managed to get to the future without a time machine in their own time. But then, how did she get back to the time when there was a fully functional time machine?

The professor sighed again. His theory clearly needed much more thought.