Before 24 Billion and Counting

Chapter 5 Part 2 Revealing the past, or the future, securing the now.

The front cover of the springback file was age bleached and the back cover had evidence of some water staining, as if it might have been left flat on a sunny window sill on which condensation had lain coming off cold glass. Rust from the spring spine was coming through the back. I hated old springback files. Opening them always held the risk of the binding breaking up. 

"Alicia, this is an old and rusty springback file. I might crack the covers off and damage it. Is there any value in this as a document. Have you opened it yet?" 

"I can't believe it's intrinsically valuable - although it must be fifty or sixty years old. I haven't opened it. It came in a modern cardboard carton - on the shelf over there. Open it - we must know about it." The last was said in rising excitement.

"Alright, but let's try to exert a little finesse. Do you have something like two packs of playing cards or boxes of that size?" 

She went to the drawer below the occasional table and came back with two packs of Braille cards. I gently opened the top cover and inserted the flat pack to hold it open, and seeing no damage lifted the body of the pages and inserted the other pack beneath. Holding the assembly I looked at the condition of the last and first pages of the file. We were very lucky, the rust had not penetrated to the paper surfaces, and the pages looked to be good strong paper, with no rot. 

"So far so good. When you first wrote to me you used a laser printer - is that here or somewhere else? 

Alicia said, "No it's here in my study - come I'll show you." 

Out of the sitting room via a door in the same wall as that we'd entered from, but nearer the window side, along a short unlit corridor into another dormer windowed room, one window length only this time. I could recognise terminal, laser printer, braille translator, Optical Character Reader, voice synthesiser and recognition system, but all I wanted was the two packs of copy paper on the shelf above. 

"Mission accomplished, this is what we need." 

I took the wrapping off the paper, and made two new packs just thicker than the manuscript and wedged the springback slightly more open top and bottom with the new packs. The whole assembly - paper packs - cards and file lay on the table. Alicia scanned it. 

"I'd never have thought of this in a million years." 

"Well I can't dance for toffee, and anyway it could still fail - this is the moment of truth." I guided Alicia's two sets of strong fingers to hold the two ends of the spine, and the packs of copy paper, and firmly grasped the manuscript with one hand. 

"Your task is to keep the paper packs in the spine whilst I remove the 'script. Are you comfortable?" 

She nodded, a slight frown line above her nose indicating concentration. Gradually I eased the manuscript out, holding the spine back in the middle and checking that we were leaving the paper packs behind to keep it open. Now the manuscript was liberated. I made a third pack of copy paper the thickness of the manuscript, put it where the manuscript had been, and told Alicia she could release her hold. Finally I liberated the outer 'copy paper packs and playing cards. 

I breathed out. "Lo - one undamaged antique springback file holding contemporary copy paper, and one old manuscript for inspection." 

The mid-day sun suddenly showed as the clouds parted and the room was full of clear light. 

"Wonderful - oh it must be time for a pre-lunch drink to celebrate. What would you like - your father almost existed on malt whisky and I picked up that bad habit. I won't serve ice just a little water with it." 

"It's an entirely reasonable habit, and as you said I'm like him in many ways." 

Whilst Alicia unerringly located two lovely crystal tumblers and an interesting bottle from a cabinet, I gently turned over the manuscript pages, not to read them but to establish their condition. They had been prepared using a multipin printer, now obsolete, but the paper was good quality, and no pages were stuck together. I riffled the sheets. Though old they were flat and would pass through an automatic feeder.