Borrowed Time: Saving John Lennon - A Beatles Fanfic

Chapter 8 - I SAW HER STANDING THERE

July 1, 1958

Holly's eyes adjusted as the colorful swirls faded away and a dim, yellow tinged light took its place. She immediately noticed the chatter of people's voices behind her and she froze, afraid to turn or look around. She wasn't fully certain how it looked when she jumped into a new time, but she was sure it couldn't possibly be easily explained, suddenly appearing out of thin air.

Looking in front of her, she seemed to be standing in an alley between two tall buildings. When a few seconds passed and none of the voices in the background seemed to take notice of her, Holly slowly turned her entire body to face the direction of the chatter. She was standing about twenty feet from a busy street with pedestrians walking past the alley, accented by the occasional car passing on the other side of them.

Realizing that she was still holding on to the small orb and the tablet, Holly quickly let her travel bag drop from her shoulder and placed them inside. From her handbag she retrieved the wallet the team had provided her, leafing through the various groups of currency in both coins and bills. Upon finding the British pounds, Holly took a quick breath and started walking towards the main street. She knew, being a major city, Manchester was bound to have a cafe or tea room somewhere nearby.

It only took a couple of blocks before Holly found one. While purchasing a cup of tea and a scone, Holly looked at clock on the wall. It read 11:36 AM, which meant she had plenty of time to find a way to Liverpool and figure out where to stay that night.

"Pardon me," Holly asked the lady behind the counter, "but would you be able to tell me where I can find a bus or train to Liverpool?" she asked in her noticeably American accent.

"Liverpool!" marveled the tea lady. "There's nothing in Liverpool for an American tourist!"

"Oh, no, I'm actually not a tourist," Holly answered. "I'm visiting my brother who lives there now, but I seem to have gotten a bit turned around in my travels."

The woman gave Holly a good look up and down, but ultimately provided her directions to the nearest transportation hub.

"Thank you very much!" Holly chirped with a smile. Then she headed towards the door.

The tea lady's directions were quite easy to follow, and Holly found the bus and rail station easily. She purchased a train ticket which would connect her to the Merseyrail and ultimately deliver her to the Lime Street Station in the center of Liverpool.

Holly walked to the railway platform, holding tightly to her ticket, unable to keep the smile from curling the sides of her mouth. This ticket was the item that would bring her to John. Her heart was beating faster with the realization that a 17 year old John Lennon was less than forty miles away.

The trip took a bit over an hour, and Holly spent most of it staring out the window of the small train car watching trees and buildings pass by. It was an odd feeling to not be able to idly scroll through her phone checking social media or swiping through interesting videos.

"Next stop, Lime Street!" bellowed the rail man, breaking Holly's train of thought.

People began gathering their belongings and preparing for the train's arrival at the station. Moments later, the squealing of metal announced its arrival.

As she found her way out into the main concourse, Holly ran through her options in her head. She had memorized the address of a local hotel; 2 Admiral Street, Toxteth Park, Liverpool: a building that served as both a pub and a lodging house over the numerous decades since its construction. Holly had picked this location for one main reason - it was midway between Mimi Smith's house, where John grew up, and the Art College area where John spent a good amount of his time.