A Girl, a Murder, and Twelve Dreadful Children

Chapter XIX: The Truth

I was merely endeavouring to indicate that if we do not grab events by the collar they will have us by the throat. -- Terry Pratchett, The Truth

The teacup landed on the table with a clunk. Its contents splashed over the tabletop and Dani's arm. Luckily the tea was only lukewarm. Dani barely noticed it.

"What?" she gasped. The shock of this wiped all thought of pretending to be calm from her mind. "But-- She-- Wasn't dead? Died today?"

None of this made sense. It sounded like a monstrous joke. At any minute she expected the shadow to burst out laughing. But it remained silent, absorbed in contemplation of the salt cellar sitting on the table.

The brief pause gave Dani a chance to collect her thoughts. "It's impossible that Courtney died today. A coroner examined her body. Her friends, her parents, everyone who saw the body -- they all knew it was her!"

"It was," the shadow said nonchalantly.

Dani's head ached. Her thoughts whirled round and round like clothes in a tumble-dryer. Nothing made sense. It was so far past not making sense that it wasn't even nonsense. It was just plain incomprehensible.

"Explain," she said, rubbing her forehead. "In a way that's understandable, please."

Amazingly, the shadow obliged. In a manner of speaking. "She was supposed to die on the day everyone thinks she died. But she lived on until today. I killed her an hour ago, and months ago I placed her body where it was discovered."

The ache in Dani's head got worse. "I said a way that's understandable. Are you telling me you can travel through time?"

"Time is nothing to me." If the creature had a mouth, she was sure it would have been smirking. "I can move through it as I wish."

Well, at least that was something approaching a straight answer. It was also disturbing on many levels. Dani didn't know why she was surprised any more.

"Why go to so much trouble?" she asked, keeping a wary eye on the shadow. "What did she do to deserve this?"

A piercing hiss filled the air. Dani looked over at the teapot, expecting to see it boiling over. No; the teapot was still bubbling faintly. Then it struck her. The shadow was the source of the noise. It wasn't laughing. It sounded more like it was imitating a snake. She stared at it, unsure how to interpret this.

"That is none of your business," the creature hissed. "Suffice it to say that a great many people wronged me, and I exacted payment." It didn't say what sort of "payment" it had taken. Dani could guess. Suddenly the news articles about mysterious deaths made a lot more sense. "Your acquaintance was the only one who escaped."

How? Dani thought.

She hadn't spoken aloud. Her unwanted guest answered her question anyway.

"She had guessed I was coming for her. So she escaped. I had to hunt her down." Its tone implied this was a grave insult. "And I returned her body to the time when she should have died."

What a needlessly-complicated thing to do, Dani thought, fighting a sudden outburst of hysterical giggles. The whole situation was so absurd it was almost funny. She was having tea, in the early hours of the morning, with a murderous walking shadow that claimed to be capable of time travel. It sounded like a bad joke.

"And so," the creature finished, setting down its teacup, "you now have all the answers you require. Please stop meddling in my business." It stood up. When sitting its head had been higher than Dani's. When standing, her head was barely on level with where its elbows would be -- if it had any. "I hope I never have to see you again."