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‘This place is like Hell!’ Nicholas hissed to himself when he was left alone. Ace and Alf had gone upstairs to revisit Alf’s past, leaving Nicholas in the living room to entertain himself. When he had found himself with two versions of Lady Dorothy he had expected that there was fun to be had. Thus far all they had done was travel on a big red carriage with no horse to this house. It was warmer inside than his palace on Styria, which was a good thing. But the warmth hardly made up for the boredom. He wandered around the room, looking at pictures of a young girl. The pictures were a marvel to Nicholas. They had not been painted, indeed they looked as if some of the world had been captured onto parchment by magic. He looked closer at the young girl in the picture. Her hair was tied up into two separate clumps, one falling from each side of her head. She was dressed in a blue dress covered in white dots. The look on the girl’s face, however, suggested that she had not been happy. Nicholas turned the picture over and read the writing on the back. ‘Dorothy at Southend, 1979.’ He looked up from the picture. So, in this reality she was called Dorothy too. It was a puzzle to him, therefore, why she should choose to call herself such names as Ace and Alf. Before he could ponder such things any longer, the sounds of footfalls on the staircase could be heard. Alf entered the room followed by Ace. Nicholas was about to replace the picture when Ace snatched it out of his hand. ‘Here, you have this. A little token of the past you forgot.’ Alf accepted the picture with a smile, and placed it in the black bag that Ace had given her. She slung the bag over her shoulder. ‘Come on, Nick. We need to get going.’ Nicholas decided it was best to hide his pleasure at this. ‘So soon?’ Ace began to leave the room. ‘Come on, me Mum is on her way. We saw her out the window. She won’t be able to handle seeing to of me.’ Alf just smiled and grabbed Nicholas’ hand. ‘Let’s go.’ Ace led the way through the house to the back door. Once Nicholas and Alf were in the back garden Alf turned back to Ace. ‘Thanks for Wayne and the knapsack. And for helping me get back some of my memories.’ ‘Nah, no need to thank me, is there? You’d do the same for me.’ Alf reached out for Ace. ‘I did, didn’t I? That’s the beauty of it.’ As Alf’s arms wrapped around Ace something quite unusual happened. With a flash of light the women were flung apart. Ace was shot into the house, through the kitchen doorway to land in a heap in the hallway beyond. The back door slammed shut and Alf was catapulted into the air. Nicholas watched, fascinated, as she tucked herself into a ball. Alf landed with a roll, and was soon back on her feet. Nicholas was impressed. Although not so impressed that he failed to recognise the potential danger such skill could mean for his plans. ‘What happened there?’ he asked. ‘No idea,’ Alf responded. She checked to make sure nothing was damaged in the bag then turned towards the backdoor. ‘What about Ace?’ She walked across the garden and pulled at the door, but it was locked. Alf peered through the window, but could see nothing through the net curtain. ‘What if she is injured?’ Nicholas sighed inwardly. All he wanted to do was get away and be alone with Alf. He turned her around to face him. ‘I am sure she will be okay, after all you are okay now, so you must have been okay when you were her.’ Alf nodded. ‘Makes sense.’ She looked back at the house one last time and smiled. ‘Nice to know where I came from at least.’ She hefted the knapsack back onto the shoulder and strolled out of the garden. Nicholas followed her with a smile on his face. *** The front door opened and Audrey McShane entered the house. She noticed Ace lying in the hallway. ‘If you’ve been at my liquor cabinet again, Dotty, you’ll be sorry,’ she said. There was no response from Ace. Audrey let out a growl of disapproval and reached down to her daughter. She turned Ace over and pulled back in shock. Ace’s eyes were wide open, lifeless... ***
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