Storytime: Macbeth

Chapter 6: Act 3

Act 3

Samantha deftly separated little Nyssa and little Adric.

"Now," she said. "Nyssa, you sit on the cushion with Rose, and leave Adric be. And if I catch you pulling his hair again, I'll take you outside and you won't hear the rest of the story."

Once again, Jamie thanked his lucky stars that it was Samantha who'd agreed to come, and not any of the others. By now Zoë would almost certainly be embroiled in a battle of wits with her unscrupulous younger self, Isobel would have been reduced to trying to keep the children quiet by bribing them with sweets, and Victoria— well, if her toddler self was any guide, Victoria would now be huddling under a blanket, peeping out every now and again to see if it was safe.

"Are you all sitting comfortably?" he asked, and let the play resume before anyone could tell him they weren't.

[Act 3, Scene 1. The palace at Forres. Enter Banquo and Ace.]

Adric / Banquo :
Any luck with hiring a first-rate detective?

Ace :
Um, not a lot. Most of them don't really want to come to a windswept Scottish castle with no indoor plumbing.

Adric / Banquo :
That wouldn't stop Brother Cadfael.

Ace [glancing through a sheaf of rejection letters] :
His abbot says he can't be spared.

Adric / Banquo :
Well, try and get hold of whoever you can.

Ace :
Right you are.

[She leaves. We hear the sound of jet engines, followed by a splattering noise. Detective Inspector Sam Tyler pops into existence, dressed as the captain of the guard.]

Sam Tyler :
What the...! Did you see how fast that was going?

Adric / Banquo :
No, but I can probably work it out. 2006 minus 1973, 1973 minus 1040, divide... multiply... Assume an original collision speed of 25 miles an hour... I think, to send you back this far in time, impact would have to be at a speed of 706.81 recurring miles per hour. [He thinks a little more.] Plus or minus 0.75, of course.

Sam Tyler :
Are you telling me I've been run over by the Thrust SSC?

Adric / Banquo :
What's a Thrust...? Never mind. I'll have a word with Ace. Anyway, now you're here, perhaps you could give us your opinion on a murder case.

[He hands over a prochronistic police file. DI Tyler leafs through it.]

Sam Tyler :
I take it you've got a suspect already.

Adric / Banquo :
I think Macbeth probably did it. It happened in his castle and he was the major beneficiary.

Sam Tyler :
But you haven't actually got any evidence against him.

Adric / Banquo :
That's why we've called you in. We need to get some proof.

Sam Tyler :
Then what? Trial by ordeal? Combat? Here I was thinking DCI Hunt was primitive. I don't suppose you could send me back to 1973?

Adric / Banquo :
I think you'll have to wait until the end of the story. It looks as if the Book's managed to find a suitable rôle for you.

Sam Tyler :
Thanks a bunch.

[Sennet sounded. Enter Macbeth as King, Lady Macbeth as Queen, Lennox, Ross, lords and attendants.]