Cobb looked around him and saw a man standing on a cart overlooking the crowd. He looked vaguely familiar to Cobb then he remembered where he had seen him before. He was in the picture on the wall in Witchfinder Grindle’s office. The man in the cart was Thaddeus Flax, the original Witchfinder!
Cobb knew Flax’s vicious reputation for executing people innocent of witchcraft just to enhance his grip of terror and he looked at the, probably, innocent victims about to be burnt at the stake.
I’ll take care of you, you evil sod, thought Cobb, focussing his attention on Flax. Cobb pointed at Flax and shouted, ‘HE’S A DEMON, ONE OF US … come Brother, fly with me through the air and we will feast on these mortals!’
While Cobb’s attention was diverted, Quist grabbed Cobb’s hand that held the Dark Matter and tried to wrest it from him. Cobb saw the crowd surge on Thaddeus Flax and drag him from the cart. Cobb grinned and then he shifted again.
Previously, Cobb’s second jump had always brought him home again but curiously this time, it seemed to take him even further away from his starting point.
Instead of taking him back to where they began, Cobb and Quist ended up inside a wooden fort. Soldiers in the dress of the Ancient Italian Empire looked curiously down from the battlements at them. This looks like early Londinium before it grew into a town, thought Cobb. After their initial shock at Cobb’s sudden appearance, the soldiers gathered their wits and picking up their weapons they approached the pair threateningly. Cobb jumped again.
This time there were just a few wooden huts grouped round a bend in the river. It seemed to Cobb that they were jumping back through time, as well as between dimensions. Cobb jumped again. And again. And again. It was as if the shifts were somehow being supercharged by the Dark Matter that Cobb was holding, because each shift got quicker and quicker and seemed to travel further and further back into the past.
Civilization wound backwards like a film in reverse until Man had disappeared and only the animals existed, and then they too vanished. Mountains fell and then rose; deserts, jungles and oceans came and went around them. The Dark Matter seared his hand but Cobb held on to it as tightly as he could.
Cobb shifted again and again in an attempt to keep Quist off balance, to give himself time to think. He didn’t know what else to do. Faster and faster Cobb jumped between dimensions, until each new location was just a blur before they moved again. Hundreds perhaps thousands of shifts took place while Cobb and Quist grappled over the Dark Matter. Then suddenly they stopped dead! Cobb tried to shift again but couldn’t. They had reached the end of the line or more accurately … the beginning of the line.
All around them was dark, well, darker than dark. And it was cold, colder than cold. Quist let go of Cobb and stepped back, looking around him in amazement at the total, infinite, stygian blackness. At some elemental level they both knew when and where they were. They were right back at the beginning of time and space, the beginning of everything. Suddenly everything around them went BRILLIANT WHITE! There was a huge, ear splitting explosion.
Somehow, everything seemed to happen in very … slow … motion. Time was still fluid here. Cobb knew where they were, at the beginning of it all, the moment of creation. If Quist were allowed to control the Dark Matter, this moment may never take place. Cobb, Esme, Adele, Thornton, even Harlequin, would never exist. Quist could shape the universe in his own image and destroy everything Cobb had ever cared about; he could not allow that to happen. Cobb understood why he was here and what he had to do.
Before the explosion reached them, Cobb slid his free hand into his shirt and, jerking hard enough to break the chain around his neck, withdrew the pendant that Thornton had given him. He knew that now was the time to use it but he wasn’t sure exactly how. How to release the power of the amulet? What was it Thornton had said? He couldn’t remember.
Then from somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind, surfaced a vague memory from his dreams, a whisper, a suggestion …
‘You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.’
Breaking eggs! When he first saw the amulet, it had reminded him of an egg. At last he understood the message that had been placed in his subconscious.
Cobb stretched out his arms wide, the Dark Matter in one hand, the pendant in the other. Quist saw what he was about to do and leapt forward. He grabbed Cobb but it was too late. With all the force he could muster, Cobb slammed the two objects together; hard enough he hoped to crack the stone in the pendant. It did. Whatever power was contained in the pendant flowed into the Dark Matter, igniting it and causing another ear splitting explosion.
This second explosion caused the newly born Universe and the freshly created Space/Time Continuum that it resided in to be shattered into countless streams, almost identical. Like standing in front of a mirror and hitting it with a hammer. The result was multiple parallel Universes, each one subtly different from the next.
Cobb and Quist were instantly vaporised but around them the Multiverse was created exactly as it had been before. Everything snapped back into place.
As it was meant to be.
As it had always been.
***
Adele opened her eyes and looked around the room. Harlequin stood next to her, looking shocked. Somehow, Cobb had re-appeared and lay motionless on the floor, before them. It was obvious even to a cursory glance that there was no life in the body.
Adele pulled herself groggily to her feet. ‘How did he get back?’ she said indicating Cobb. ‘I saw them disappear?’
Harlequin ignored her question. ‘He did it,’ he said, his voice filled with awe. ‘He succeeded. He managed to set off the second Great Blast. The one that created the Multiverse. Everything is all right, I can see into the future again.’
‘How is Cobb?’ she asked hopefully.
Harlequin dropped his arms and turned to look at Adele. ‘He’s dead, I’m afraid,’ he replied gently, knowing how much it would hurt her.
Adele tried to be strong; she bit her lip and held back her tears. What Harlequin said came as no surprise, she had expected that when Cobb had disappeared, it was the last time she would see him alive. ‘And where is Quist?’ asked Adele. Harlequin just shrugged.
Adele went to Cobb’s prone body and knelt beside him. She raised his head and resting it in her lap, she felt his neck for a pulse. There was nothing. ‘Oh Cobb, why did it have to be you?’ her voice unsteady. Cradling his head gently, she stroked his hair tenderly as if he were a sick child. Fat tears squeezed themselves out of her closed eyelids and rolled slowly down her cheeks.
***
Cobb opened his eyes and looked around him. He was lying on his back. The last thing he remembered was that terrible, burning agony that had seemed to ignite every molecule of his body, and then he had woken here. The pain had gone and he felt at ease, relaxed and comfortable.
Cobb stood up. He looked around for Quist but there was no sign of him, in fact all around him he could see nothing but a white mist, there were no walls, no horizon. It was impossible to judge how far it went in any direction. He looked down at the floor, correction, where the floor should be, but the white mist that encircled him covered that too. He stamped his foot experimentally but there was no noise and he felt no shock of his foot hitting the floor. Where was he? How did he get here? Where was the nearest pub?
Then he remembered, something had woken him, what was it? Someone had been calling his name. There it was again, ‘Rufus … Rufus.’ Only Esme had ever called him Rufus. ‘Rufus, over here!’ the voice came again. Cobb whirled around and saw an indistinct figure approaching through the mist. As the figure got closer, he could make out the hourglass figure of a shapely young woman.
It looked like … like … but it couldn’t be! The mist parted and Esme walked up to Cobb.
‘Hello Rufus,’ she said. ‘Good to see you again.’
Cobb stood there staring at her, unable to speak, tears welling up in his eyes. She was even more beautiful than he r
emembered, her long golden hair flowing freely about her shoulders and those incredible blue eyes.
Finally he managed to gasp, ‘Esme? Is it really you?’
‘Yes Rufus, it’s really me,’ she said and hugged him.
They held each other without speaking for what seemed like (and given where they were, may possibly have been …) an eternity. Finally Cobb managed to squeeze some words out past the cricket ball that had somehow become inexplicably lodged in his throat. ‘Did I succeed? Did I …?’ Cobb was stuck for the right words. ‘Did I create … Creation?’
‘Yes Rufus, you did it. Everything is back the way it should be.’
‘I guess this means I’m dead then. Is this heaven?’
Esme broke his embrace and took a step back, ‘No it’s not heaven, more a sort of halfway house. A kind of Limbo. Souls come here while they are waiting to be taken on to their final destination.’
‘To heaven?’
‘Well … not always.’
‘So, you’ve come to take me to heaven?’ persisted Cobb.
‘No, not exactly.’
‘You don’t mean …?’ said Cobb, alarmed, looking down at his feet.
‘No, no, nothing like that,’ said Esme quickly. ‘The truth is, you don’t have to be here. It’s not your time yet, you can go back.’
‘But I can’t go back, I’m dead aren’t I?’
‘I’m afraid so … but it doesn’t have to be permanent.’
‘What?’
‘You can still go back but you have to want to! You have the choice. The Gods will let you have your life back if you wish it, call it a reward for what you did.’
‘Well that’s very generous of them but why would I want to go back? What is there back on Earth, for me?’
‘Rufus, you have so much to live for.’
‘There’s nothing for me to live for. My life ended when you … when you left.’ Cobb couldn’t bring himself to say the word “died”. ‘And now we’re together again. Don’t ask me to give you up a second time. What is there to go back for?’
‘Adele,’ said Esme quietly.
‘You know about Adele?’ said Cobb, embarrassed.
‘Yes I know and I’m pleased for you. She’s a good woman and she loves you. I know you care about her too and I’m happy for you. It’s time you got on with your life.’
‘Do you think I can forget you that easily?’
‘I know you won’t forget me.’ She placed a hand on his heart, ‘I know I’ll always be here. But you can’t live your life on just memories. It’s eating you up inside and I don’t want that, don’t do it for me. I love you Rufus and I always will but I want you to go on and find happiness again. Don’t you know how much it hurts me to see the way you’ve become? I want to see you become that man again, that fine, upstanding, handsome, man that I married. We had our time and now it is time for you to move on.’
‘You want me to give you up and go back?’
‘I want you to go back and live!’
***
Adele wiped her eyes and looked at Harlequin. ‘Bring him back, bring him back now!’
‘I can’t do that.’
‘You owe him! He saved the Multiverse, he saved your Gods. If it weren’t for him, Quist would have control of everything now, including you. Now it’s time for payback.’
‘I can’t. It’s not my … erm … department. I don’t have the power to bring him back,’ Harlequin said uncomfortably.
‘You’re a GOD! Or at least you work for them. You must have the power! Save him, Damn you!’ demanded Adele.
‘Listen to me, I don’t have the power to bring him back, but you do. You have the power of a witch and the strength of your love for him. You could go there and bring him back.’
‘But I don’t have that sort of power, I’m not that strong.’
‘You’re wrong. You are more powerful than you realise; you’ve just never had the proper training that’s all. Believe me, you can do it.’
‘I can’t do it; it’s too big, what you’re asking is beyond me. I need your help.’
‘I’m afraid I can’t help you, I’m forbidden to. Remember, I explained that there are rules that must be obeyed? Particularly the one about not interfering?’ he said regretfully.
‘Please … I can’t do this on my own,’ she pleaded.
Harlequin looked down at Cobb and then back at Adele and his expression softened, ‘You really love him don’t you?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ she replied, without hesitation.
Harlequin looked deep into Adele’s eyes for a moment. ‘All right … I shall probably be made to pay for this later but I’ll do it. I’ll do it for you.’
‘Thank you,’ she sobbed.
‘Now then, I can’t bring him back but I can send you there then I will hold onto you and lead you back. That’s the best I can do.’
‘But for me to go there would mean I’d have to … die.’
‘Not exactly, you’d be sort of … frozen between heartbeats. It’s going to take our combined strength to hold you at death’s door and we won’t be able to maintain it for long, so you will have to hurry.’
‘All right, I’ll do it. But be quick before I change my mind!’
Adele looked at Harlequin expectantly. He knelt down beside her and held her hand. ‘When you’re … over there, you will feel my hand in yours, do not let go … no matter what!’ he cautioned. ‘When you’re ready to return, squeeze my hand and I’ll start bringing you back. I shall be pulling as hard as I can but you’re going to have push pretty hard yourself you know, otherwise you might not make it.’
Adele took a deep breath and said, ‘Let’s do it.’
Harlequin waved a hand in front of her face and she slumped to the floor, still cradling Cobb’s head.
He stared at her for a moment, looked at Cobb and said quietly to himself, ‘You’re a lucky man, Cobb.’
***
Esme hugged Cobb again, ‘We don’t have much time. If you don’t leave soon, you won’t be able to leave. Will you go?’ she asked him.
‘I’ll go and live … I’ll live for both of us. But how do I get back?’
Esme looked over Cobb’s shoulder and smiled.
‘Cobb … Cobb, where are you?’ came Adele’s voice through the mist.
‘Over here,’ he called back.
Cobb turned to Esme and asked, ‘Will I ever see you again?’
‘Of course you will,’ she replied. ‘God speed to you both and be happy. Give my love to my father.’
Cobb looked over his shoulder in the direction of Adele’s voice. When he looked back, Esme had gone.
Adele came through the mist, grabbed Cobb and hugged him. ‘Thank the Gods, I thought I had lost you forever.’
‘No I’m here, although I’m not exactly sure where here is or how we’re going to get back.’
‘Leave that to me but we have to go, quickly, we don’t have much time.’
Cobb looked around him but there was no sign of Esme.
When Cobb hesitated, Adele took him by the arm and led him away. She could feel Harlequin’s hand in hers although she could not see it. She squeezed it gently and her arm was slowly drawn out in front of her. It began to pull her into the mist, to the way home. She followed in that direction, tugging Cobb along with her.
Cobb looked behind him, trying to catch one last glimpse of Esme but she had gone. Then he turned around and followed Adele back to a new life.
***
Cobb and Adele woke with a start and gasped air into their lungs. Harlequin fussed around Adele, making sure she was okay. She came to her senses fairly quickly and was on her feet in a few moments. Cobb, who had been away from his body longer, took more time to come round fully. Finally, he opened his eyes and sat up. He looked down at his body and then held his hands up, in front of him, looking at them as if he had never seen them before. ‘How come I have a body?’ he asked Harlequin, ‘I thought I’d been blown to atoms.’
r /> ‘Call it a gift,’ said Harlequin, ‘from a grateful Universe. You had to have a body to come home to, didn’t you? Well Cobb I’ve got to hand it to you, you did it. My plan worked perfectly.’
‘Plan? What plan?’ said Cobb, getting unsteadily to his feet.
‘You. Manoeuvring you into a position where you would confront Quist and stop him before he could use the Dark Matter to take over the Multiverse. His plan had to be stopped otherwise the creation of the Multiverse would never have taken place.
‘I knew that it was no good just telling you what was happening and trying to enlist your help. You’re far too stubborn and too full of self-pity to be persuaded to see the big picture. Besides … how could we ask you to commit suicide? That’s what it would take.
‘But if you thought someone was in trouble and needed help, I knew that would get you involved. And here’s the cunning bit, I knew that the more obstacles I put in your way and the more times I told you to stay out of it, the more determined you would be to see it through. Clever, eh?’
‘But you said you didn’t know me. You said you were surprised that I could see you, that first time?’
‘All part of the game, Cobb.’
‘Why you devious, manipulat-’
‘Oh hush, Cobb. It’s who I am; it’s what I do. And I do it rather well don’t you think?’
‘You’re saying I was set up from the start?’ asked Cobb. ‘How come I saw you when I went to that mediaeval Universe?’
‘Just making sure that nothing happened to you. You were essential to my plan, so I couldn’t risk losing you. When I saw you getting into that fight I showed myself to you, so you would follow me out of there.’
‘Thanks for the money for the drinks by the way,’ said Cobb, wryly. ‘So you’ve been keeping tabs on me all this time? That’s how come you knew the name of my cat, wasn’t it?’
‘I’m afraid so. Do you think you just happened to be here? A coincidence? You were selected for this task a long time ago. It had to be someone with your power to change dimensions that had to face Quist, so that they could take the Dark Matter back to the beginning of Creation.