Relative Strangers (Book 2) No Man Is An Island

20. Closet Space

After she had exchanged pleasantries with everyone in the camp, E rejoined Matt, who hadn't moved from the spot she had placed him on.
She then typed in the next location into her ACD and stepped through the second anomaly that day.
"So where are we now?" Asked Matt, once E had closed the anomaly.
"My house" revealed E.
Matt looked around and found that they were stood in the middle of large log cabin.
"Your house?" Questioned Matt.
"Yep. Although, if I'm being honest I don't use this one very often. Me and Sam spent a few weeks here, when we wanted to take a break from travelling. But nowadays I just use it as a place to store my clothes, since it's a lot safer here and it saves me having to go to the future every time I need a new outfit" admitted E.
"I didn't know you had a house"
"I have several houses in various time zones".

"Aren't you scared that someone will ransack this place during your long absences?" Quizzed Matt.
"A bit. But I usually only appear minutes after I left. So even though I've had this place for years. I probably haven't been in this time zone for longer than a few months" explained E.
"Isn't that a bit risky? I mean, if you messed up the time even slightly, you might meet your past self by accident"
"I know that that's a risk. But I know what I'm doing, so that won't ever happen"
"You must have a lot of confidence in yourself then"
"I do with some things. And my ability to time travel successfully, is one of those things".

"Well, it's a nice little place" commented Matt.
"I know. It has a living room, a bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom. But the only room I really use is the bedroom" admitted E.
She lead the way into the bedroom, which had been converted into a massive walk in wardrobe with racks of clothes taking up all the space.
The floor contained dozens of pairs of shoes and bags of all colours.
"I never knew you were such a girly girl and a fashionista" teased Matt.
"Ha ha. Most of these are costumes to help me blend in. They are not things I would choose to wear of my own accord" replied E.

"I don't think any of these dresses are going to fit me" admitted Matt, suppressing a grin, as he looked at the lace surrounding them.
"Ah, that's a shame. I really wanted to see you dressed as a woman... There are male clothes on the far side of the room that should fit you. Sometimes I like to dress as men, because it makes things easier, since men have more rights than women, particularly in the past. And sometimes I travel with male companions, who need to blend in just like me. So try on various things until you find something that fits you" instructed E.
Matt nodded and began making his way across the room.

"What kind of clothes should I be looking for?" Asked Matt.
"Oh, I forgot that I haven't told you where we are going. Well, first you need something Medieval, because we are going to the 1600's, during Queen Elizabeth the 1st's reign. I also need you to pick out an outfit that will help you blend in during the late 1950's" answered E.
"Why those time periods in particular?" Questioned Matt curiously.
"You'll see when we get there. Now hurry up and get dressed".

Matt began rummaging through the clothing racks while E did the same.
E knew that all women wore corsets in the time period that she was headed. But she was not going to put herself through that kind of pain, when she didn't plan on being there for very long.
Even without the corset, the outfit she was now wearing was extremely uncomfortable.
"Alright, I'm finished. Please don't laugh" begged Matt as he came out from behind the racks.
"Only if you don't laugh at me either" replied E.
"How people used to wear all these layers every single day, is a miracle" admitted Matt as he pulled at his collar.
"I know. But don't worry, it won't be for long. We just need to find some ink and parchment and write out the documents that we need. I wrote them all last night, so all we need to do is copy them onto the parchment".

"Have you thought about what will happen to the present we know, if someone finds these before they are supposed to?" Matt asked quietly.
"Of course I have. That's the only thing on my mind right now" replied E coldly.
"Sorry" mumbled Matt.
"I keep thinking about all the things that could go wrong. But the chances of them happening are silm. I am going to hide the documents so well that no one will ever find them. I can't risk putting them with any other secret documents, in case anyone finds them. They will have to be hidden somewhere random and secret. Then we'll just hop back to the present and tell Lester where to look for them"
"We need to make sure that nothing happens to them between the time periods. I mean, a lot happens in between the 1600s and the 21st century"
"I know. Which is another reason my hiding place has to be perfect".

E picked up her second outfit that she had already chosen and walked back into the living room, with Matt at her heels.
"If you need to go to the loo, I'd do it now, since we aren't going to have access to proper toilets for a while" admitted E.
Matt wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Good idea. I think I will go now just in case".
"It's just through there" pointed E.
"Thanks, although in hindsight we should have thought about this, before putting these ridiculous things on"
"Yes, that would have been smarter".

Matt sighed and placed his second costume on the back of the sofa before heading towards the bathroom.
While she waited for him, E sorted through her bag, making sure that she had everything that she needed for the mission.
Matt and the whole ARC team were relying on her to get in right, and she couldn't afford to let them down.