Chapter 32 – Worry and Doubt

Celeste sighed heavily as she leaned up against the bus shelter, checking her watch. Everyone else had been gone for a few hours now and the awkward wait across from a bunch of jeering hobos, (who just so happened to be a bunch of ex-students of hers) was now beginning to test her patience. "I knew that they would never come far in life, but I at least expected them to grow up..."

A buzz sounded as her phone went off in her pocket. She reached in and grabbed it. She read the text to Markus in a whisper.

"It's from Emmy. She said; 'Something unexpected has happened. Brace yourselves for a shock.'"

Markus' eyes widened. "You don't think anyone has recognised Layton, do you? Because some of them have already recognised you," he pointed out, gesturing to the group opposite them, who were throwing beer cans at them, and missing tragically due to their drunken state.

Celeste looked over at them, disgusted. "I doubt that will make much difference. They haven't seen me for a long time, as I do not recall seeing them since they were at school. Plus, they're probably too drunk and stupid to notice that I look ten or fifteen years older than I should."

"True," Markus smiled.

Celeste's phone rang suddenly, and the volume of the jeering mob increased as she answered it. "Hello?"

"We've managed to track her movements," came Bronev's gruff voice from the other end of the phone. "The young Emmeline caught her calling for a cab in the phone box across from the Big Ben. By the sound of it, she's headed for Pembroke harbour."

"Just like Hershel said..."

"Exactly. I think, judging by the time she wanted the cab for, she'd be going on the nine o'clock ferry to Rosslare, as Layton said, so she can buy herself some time to decide what she's going to do next."

"Like how she is going to get the other Little Emmy and Leon to London without them noticing, you mean?" Celeste asked.

"Yes." There was a slight pause as Celeste heard the muffled sound of Leon's voice in the background. "Are you still at the bus station?"

"Yes... unfortunately..."

"We'll be there to get you soon. Sit tight, and don't talk to anyone but Markus. Alright?"

"Right," Celeste nodded. "I'll see you soon." She hung up.

"So we'll be leaving soon?" Markus asked, frowning.

"I think so. But why... I don't think it is safe for us to be wandering around like that..."

"What did he say?" Markus asked.

"He said that Little Emmy heard Andrea call for a cab to Pembroke harbour earlier and that he reckons that she'll be headed to Ireland on that ferry at nine," she replied.

"And what of Emmy's text? What was that about?"

"I'm not sure... but if we're all meeting up again soon, than I'm sure we'll find out..."

Claire stared out of the window of the professor's old Lexus, staring into space as they drove to their next destination, where they would apparently be meeting up with her mother and brother from the future. She was in a state of pure shock. Thoughts went through her head a million a second, about the professor's story of travelling through time and Andrea's jealousy. She felt a harsh tightness in her gut, which was brought on by more than one cause. She was about to see her dear mother and brother twelve years in the future. She was about to see something which she was never meant to, and she felt a strange sort of thrill by this. She was weirdly excited by the prospect of breaking the laws of nature, and it terrified her.

But an even darker thought lingered in the back of her mind, making her feel very queasy.

Her.

The lady in yellow sat in the seat directly in front of her, beside her boyfriend. The image of the two of them locked in a tight embrace barely half an hour ago. The thought of another woman merely touching the man she loved so dear made her feel sick. And the fact that the professor had enjoyed the kiss made things ten times worse. That coupled with the knowledge that it was Emmy who was destined to be with the professor in twelve years time and not Claire. The mere thought of it brought tears to Claire's eyes.

She wondered what had happened between herself and the professor that had ended their relationship. She sincerely doubted that she would ever have met a man as kind and caring as Hershel Layton. But the professor had obviously met someone else that made him happy... Claire looked at Emmy again. She studied Emmy's face through her reflection in the rear-view mirror. She took in her defined cheek-bones, her square-ish jaw, her perfectly even complexion, her deep dark ebony-brown eyes... "She's perfect..." Claire thought miserably. "Probably perfect in every way that I'm not. I just hope she makes Hershel as happy as he made me..."

Emmy stared out the window, feeling uneasy. Claire's mere presence frightened Emmy. The way she looked at the professor, the way that the professor had refused to meet her eye since Claire had shown up...

"Emmy?"

Emmy could see a glance that the professor still loved Claire. She could tell that he felt guilty about seeing her whilst still harbouring feelings for Claire. Emmy closed her eyes as she suppressed another sigh. "He loves her," she thought miserably, blinking back a tear. "He loves her more than he loves me..."

"Emmy?"

Emmy blinked hard and turned to Luke, who was sitting in the back seat. "Sorry, Luke. What is it?"

"I think your phone just beeped."

Emmy unlocked the screen to see that she had a message from her uncle.

"Oh. Thanks Luke."

"You're welcome."

Emmy opened it. "Meet me at the bus station. We have word of McIntyre." Emmy replied "OK" and turned to the professor.

"Uncle Leon has word of Andrea. He wants to meet us at the bus station."

"Alright." He didn't look at her.

Emmy suppressed a sigh and continued to stare out of the window. She tried not to get overwhelmed by her worries as they drove on through London. "You're being stupid," she thought furiously to herself. "Your future has already been decided. You're going to be with Hershel and have this baby..." She placed a hand on her stomach and closed her eyes. "But neither of our older selves said anything about it being a happy marriage..."

She opened her eyes again as the car pulled up at the bus station. She could see Bronev with his younger counterpart and Little Emmy, along with Celeste and Markus, up ahead, sitting in the bus shelter. She turned to look at the professor, but he had already left the car and was walking towards them with Luke and Claire in tow, without a backwards glance in Emmy's direction. She let out an agitated sigh and quickly got out of the car and followed them.

"This is it," Claire thought, her hands clasped nervously together. Celeste and Markus, accompanied by Little Emmy, Leon and Bronev were just up ahead, with their backs turned to her as she, Luke and the professor approached. As they got closer, Claire stepped in behind the professor. She peeked over the professor's shoulder and got a good look at her mother. As Celeste turned around to greet the professor, Claire saw that she had aged quite a bit since she had last seen her mother a few days previously – she now had a few more bags under her eyes and her hair was slowly turning from its original mousy-brown colour to a dark grey. Celeste had lost a good deal of weight, it seemed. The slightly rounded, beaming face of the mother she had remembered from her childhood had grown thin and gaunt, and Claire realised just how vulnerable her mother looked in the future. Sadness was evident in her expression – Claire could see it in her eyes. Claire could always tell if there was something wrong with her mother, and she hadn't seen that look on her face since her father had died. Claire shuddered and tried to shake that thought out of her head. Just thinking about the circumstances which caused her father's death still terrified her.

Celeste smiled at the professor. "It's good to see you again Hershel. I trust that Emmeline received Bronev's message?"

"Er... yes... she did." The professor cleared his throat.

"Celeste!"

Celeste turned to Emmy as she hurried forward to greet her. "Emmy, I'm glad you're here. About your message earlier—"

"Yes... er..."

"It's okay." Claire stepped out from behind the professor and looked into her mother's eyes.

Celeste and Markus both froze. Markus gaped at her.

"C-Claire..." he trailed off, astonished.

Celeste said nothing. She stood still and stared expressionlessly at her daughter.

Markus, however, failed to hide his emotions. With a tear in his eye, he stepped forward and held his arms out to his sister. "C... Claire..."

Claire smiled. "Look at you... all grown up... and I thought you would remain an annoying little squirt forever!"

Markus ran forward and threw his arms around her neck. Claire looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled again and wrapped her arms awkwardly around him. "You're so tall now! You're taller than me, that's not fair!"

Everyone laughed. The professor smiled fondly at the scene before him. Emmy tried to catch his eye, but he looked away. She bowed her head slightly and stared at her feet.

Celeste's face remained expressionless, without a trace of emotion to be seen, as she watched her children's embrace.

They broke apart and Claire turned smiling to her mother. "Mum," she smiled.

"Claire." Celeste avoided Claire's eyes and looked at her feet.

Claire frowned and looked back at Markus. She saw him looking guiltily and Celeste. "Is something wrong?"

"Er..."

"Uncle Leon, you said that you have word of Andrea?" Emmy interrupted.

"Er... yes. Your younger self caught her calling for a cab in the phone box across from the Big Ben. By the sound of it, she's headed for Pembroke harbour."

"Yes." Little Emmy cleared her throat. "Ve split up after ve left Doctor Folley's house, and I saw her in ze red box sing vanting a taxi. She vanted to go to Pembroke for nine o'clock."

"And that confirms our next destination," the professor decided. He checked his watch. One o'clock. "We'll set off in a few hours and catch the ferry to Ireland."

Leon smiled and turned to Little Emmy. "And we'll be able to go home."

Little Emmy beamed back at him and took his hand.

"I can't vait."

Half an hour later, the group were in a restaurant trying to quench the huge appetites brought on by all the twists and turns their day had taken. It wasn't even two o'clock in the afternoon and they had already travelled through time and put their very existence in danger, and it was hungry work. Everyone present ordered large lunches and packed it away without too much trouble. Except for Celeste.

Staring at a barely-nibbled cucumber sandwich, Celeste was lost in her own thoughts. Thoughts of only one person. Claire.

Celeste had suspected that she would catch a glimpse of her little girl whilst in the past. In fact, it was the first thought to have popped into her head as soon as the prospect of time travelling was mentioned. Wherever time travel was involved, her family was sure to follow, whether it would be James, or Claire, or now Markus.

But she never thought that Claire would get so heavily involved in the situation. Celeste had hoped beyond all hope that she would not see her daughter and would be spared, just this once, from the pain of losing somebody again. But it seemed that luck still was not on her side.

Again she would have to suffer the loss of her daughter. Claire would be so close to her, only to be snatched away again. Celeste would have to go back to her own time, back to where she lived alone, suffering the grief of her losses in silence and only getting comfort out of encouraging people to talk about their own problems, only to distract herself from her own pain.

"My only solution is to distance myself from her," Celeste decided. "If I don't get too attached, the loss won't be as hard..." But no matter how many times she told herself this, she knew it wasn't true.

Claire was bound to know that there was something wrong with her, and the worst thing was that Celeste couldn't even talk to her about it. "I can't tell her," Celeste shook her head. "How can I ever tell her something like that... my little girl..." her emotions got the better of her and a tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away miserably.

"What am I going to say to her?"