Stuck In Time

October 8 1914

Three months later, they were in London. Perdix had dug into her pockets at the ticket booth and produced a handful of Bosnian coins. Daedalus had a sneaking suspicion that they hadn't been there before. The ship to England had taken so long, that the two of them didn't think they would get there in time. That was due to an unfortunate case of seasickness that had besieged them. After all they were not used to ships and the sea. People in the 21st century would board a plane instead.

Finally, after a long time, Perdix and Daedalus stood outside their destination, Spade House. It was more a mansion than a house. For starters, it was huge. The house formed a capital L. The roof was black, and the walls white. There were four chimneys sprouting out the top, and under that were three windows set in slope of the roof. There were two balconies on the second storey and too many windows to count.

Daedalus knocked on the door. It was opened by a man who looked to be in his late forties. He had medium length black hair and a thick moustache that was pointed in the middle, like an arrow. The man was wearing a brown coat over a white shirt, and black pants.

"Daedalus? Weren't you here yesterday?" the old man frowned.

"Hello Mr Wells." Daedalus said.

"Weren't you here a few hours ago?"

"No sir."

"My mind must be slipping. Alright then, come in, come in. Who's your friend?."

"Perdix, sir."

"Well bring her along too."

Daedalus had only one word to describe the house. Spacious. The mahogany floor and the oak wood walls stretched for metres and metres. It came to rest at an intricately carved stairway, leading up to the second storey. It's dark brown handrails were shaped and carved like a dragon. The floor of the lounge was draped with a large red carpet, upon which rested two leather sofas, a black coffee table, and a bookshelf that held dozens of books.

Perdix whistled. "Nice place," she muttered.

Daedalus was likewise impressed.

Mr Wells turned around. "Daedalus, I know you were here a few hours ago. I just didn't want to make a big fuss about it outside. Why did you come back?"

And then he saw the clothes they were wearing and the holographic watch on Daedalus' wrist. Then he understood.

"Oh." he said. And then, for seemingly no reason, he started jumping around, dancing, whooping with joy.

Both Perdix and Daedalus were dumbfounded. "What happened, Mr Wells? Someone will hear you!" Daedalus had to shout to be heard.

Mr Wells threw back his head and laughed. "My family has gone out. But that's not the point! My Time Machine works! It works! It works!"

"Time Machine? We didn't do anything with a Time Machine. I was trying to create a potion to go back in time. I say created, but what I meant was failed to create a potion. Instead of me going back in time, I stayed the same and the world went back in time."

"A potion! That's absurd." Mr Wells was taken aback.

"That's what I said!" Daedalus exclaimed.

"Wait a minute." Perdix was confused. " I thought that you wrote the Time Machine, not built it!"

"Well since you are a witch-"

He was interrupted by Perdix's gasp."How did you know that? No one knows that I'm a witch!"

Mr Wells laughed. "Seriously? I'm not stupid. Who wears robes of that size? And how many people do you know of that make potions in their basements? Frankly, I'm surprised no one figured out your secret. The people in your time must be incredibly dim witted."