Just before my great great grandpa (and also by some bizarre twist of fate, my son) Morris opened the door to his house, he leaned close to me and said in a low voice, 'Listen. My wife, your great great grandma Esther - she's a lovely lady, fine woman, one of the best.. maybe even the best woman in the whole world - but don't mention Time Travel, ok? It just gets her confused. I've told her that you're my long lost cousin from across the river. Kent. Tell her you come from Kent. She's never been across the river, she wouldn't know. No. Better still, Brighton. Say you're from Brighton. That would explain your... appearance.'
He straightened himself up and opened the door with a flourish, announcing in a loud voice 'Welcome, welcome, to my humble abode! Esther! Come and meet Gideon.. he's just arrived from Brighton. Ah! I smell that you've been making one of your famous fruitcakes! Splendid! Lovely! A cup of tea and a slice of cake for my long lost cousin from across the river! Is the kettle on? Wonderful!'
We were standing in the warm, dark kitchen - lit by a paraffin lamp hung from a low roof beam and a candle in a silver candle stick on the round wooden kitchen table. Great great grandma Esther turned to greet us from where she was standing by the black iron cooking range. She was about a head shorter than me and her moon-like face was kind and friendly below the colourful headscarf she wore. It was difficult to discern her age - not just because the light was dim - there was a certain ageless quality about her. Her skin was pale and smooth, apart from a few lines around her wide smiling, yet sorrowful blue eyes. Her smile revealed a gold tooth which glinted in the lamp light. She was probably in her forties.
She took both my hands in hers and looked me up and down admiringly and said in a lilting voice that had a combination of London cockney with more than a hint of eastern European 'I'm so happy you arrived safely. Morris only told me this afternoon that you were coming. How was your journey? Where did you say you came from? Brighton? That's very far away. You must be tired from the journey. Oh my! Look at your shoes! Where did you get those shoes? I've never seen anything like them. They're beautiful. Morris! Look at his shoes. Have you seen them? I've never seen such a pair of shoes.'
'Er.. yes.. er.. Brighton. I came from Brighton.' I said uncertainly, also looking down at my 21st century Nike Air running shoes, which seemed rather incongruous, even to me, now that I was standing in 1917.
'In the theatre, dear', Morris chimed in, in his cheerful manner. 'Gideon's been with a travelling theater group, isn't that right? Hence the costume. Hence the shoes. You know what these theater types are like, don't you my love..? Well, perhaps you don't, but there you have it. He's an artist. A thespian. Isn't that right Gideon?'
'Well.. yes. That's right, Morris.' I said, trying to sound convincing.. getting into the part I added 'We've been travelling all around the south coast. And Europe too. France, Belgium, Holland...'
Esther's face dropped and she looked at me aghast. 'But Gideon' she said, gripping my hands. 'The war. Wasn't it extremely dangerous? Did you get shot at? I've heard it's dreadful over there. Not that I hear very much. I don't read the newspapers. I can't read, silly me, but even if I could I don't think I could bear to read the newspapers nowadays. It sounds just dreadful. All those boys going over there, and no-one comes back. I'm just grateful my Solomon didn't have to go, because of his hand. Solomon, that's my boy. Lives up in Bethnal Green now. Opened a hat shop. Doing very well, thank God. Solomon and Katie. Lovely girl is that Katie. They just got married last year. I should have sent you an invitation. Morris, why didn't we invite Gideon to the wedding?'
'The cake, Esther!' said Morris urgently. 'Don't burn the cake. I can smell it. Is it burning?'
Esther hurriedly let go of my hands and whirled around to check on the cake. It didn't smell burnt at all, it smelled delicious, but it was a timely distraction. 'It's fine, Morris. Just in the nick of time.' she said taking the steaming cake out of the coal fired oven and putting it to cool on a rack. 'I'll tell you what', she said turning to Morris, 'Why don't you take care of the tea.. you know where everything is.. and I'll go and arrange the room upstairs. You can have Solly's old room, Gideon. It's a good room. It'll be nice having someone in it again. The house seems big and empty since he left. I'll put some clean sheets on the bed and get a fire going in the hearth so you won't be cold, and heat you up a basin of water for a wash...' With that, she took another candle from the sideboard, lit it from the candle on the table and went out from the door opposite the one we had come in from, which led up some rickety looking stairs into the darkness.
Morris began to busy himself with preparing the tea, chatting away merrily all the while. 'Isn't she wonderful, your great great grandma Esther.. my wife.. come to think of it, my wife and also my great-great-GREAT grandma! Isn't it funny, this Time travel?! How do you like it? I suppose it must be something of a shock for you if this is your first time. Is this your first time?' I nodded and went to sit down at the kitchen table.
Suddenly I felt very weary and very far from home.
I looked around the dimly lit room. It seemed real enough, but at the same time very unreal. Dreamlike. Could I really have just traveled a hundred years back in time? Was I really sitting at the kitchen table in my great great grandparents house in 1917? It must be a dream. I must have fainted, or slipped and hit my head. That must be it. Was I all right? I hoped Kim was ok. She was probably really worried. Was I unconscious in an ambulance, on my way to hospital? Was I lying blacked out in a ditch? All the things I'd said to her came flooding back to me. What were we even fighting about? God, I loved her. Why had I stormed off like that? I didn't even care that she spilled water over my computer. I didn't even want that job anyway. I just wanted to be with her, in that moment. What was I doing here?
Morris was still talking as he laid out some china cups, saucers and plates on the table and little silver forks, tea spoons, a sugar bowl with it's own little silver spoon... this must have been the best china, reserved for special guests - he took it all very carefully from a polished wooden cabinet with glass doors..
'Do you believe in love at first sight?' he said to me. I looked at him blankly. I was starting to feel quite lost and confused. 'That's how it was with me and Esther, Esther and me. As soon as we set eyes on each other, in that very first moment, we fell in love. I knew, I just knew that she was the one. She knew it too. Now listen here.. I've been around. I mean, I've really been around. How old do you think I am? Go on guess. How old? I'll tell you. I'm sixty seven years old. About sixty seven. Give or take. Lost track a few times, I must admit. But about sixty seven. I don't look bad for it do I? That's a good woman for you. I left the year 2042, something like forty years ago. I was Time travelling for thirty years. The places I've been! I could fill a book. Ten books. Ancient Egypt? Been there. Saw them build the pyramids I did. Even helped out old pharaoh with the plans. China? Love it. Been there. Three separate dynasties over two thousand years. Hebrew temples in Jerusalem. Been in both. Splendid! I've walked with dinosaurs. Can you believe that? I've seen what the world looks like in a thousand years from now. And a million years too.
'I bet you're wondering aren't you..' he went on, 'if I've been to all those times and places, why would I decide to stay in this one? I mean, I can see your point. London 1917 isn't exactly everyone's dream destination is it? For a start, there's the war. The Great War, they called it. Ha! Obviously they didn't know about the robot wars of the twenty fifth century, but still... I'll tell you. It's the love of a good woman. That's what keeps me here. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else at any other moment in history.' As he said this, he laid down the great steaming fruitcake on the table with a gesture of deep satisfaction.
At that moment there came a knock at the front door. Morris stepped across to open it and there was standing a tall, swarthy man in a dirty army uniform with a kit bag swung over his shoulder. 'Morris!' the man exclaimed 'How the hell are you, me old mucker?! I smelled Esther's famous fruit cake all the way from Flanders, so here I am!' he had something of an Irish accent. I couldn't really see his face under his army hat and scarf wrapped around his chin, but there was something familiar about him.
'Reeves!' exclaimed Morris in delight, embracing the stranger like a long lost brother. 'How long has it been? I thought you were dead. We all thought you were... By God! It's good to see you again. Come in, come in. Meet Gideon. He's just arrived from 2017. He's still a bit confused.'
The man took off his hat and scarf and stepped over to shake me warmly by the hand. 'Pleased to meet you Mr. Gideon.' he said, scrutinising my face. 'Very pleased indeed. 2017 eh? Never been there yet. What's it like?'
'I know you!' I gasped. Oh my God, it's... it's...'
'What?' he said with great curiousity. 'You know me? That's strange. I don't know you. Maybe you're mistaking me for someone else.'
'Oh no, I said. I'm sure it's you. You're famous.'
'Famous am I? Well, I suppose that doesn't surprise me. What am I famous for then? What did I do?'
'You're a famous Hollywood actor', I said, being both starstruck and flabbergasted at the same time, this being the very last person I would have expected to walk in the door at that moment.
'Am I indeed?' he said, with more than a hint of amusement. 'Are you sure you're not mistaking me for Charlie Chaplin?'
'Oh no. I know who you are. I've seen loads of your films. You're Keeanu Reeves!'
He straightened himself up and made a very strange comical expression and then smiled. 'Well, well, well' he said, not as entirely shocked or surprised as I evidently was. 'So I am, so I am. Well, no introduction necessary then I suppose. I see the table is already set. Tea and cake is it? Don't mind if I join you do you? I'm literally famished. I've been dreaming about Esther's famous fruitcake all these long months in the trenches. Let's pour the tea and get down to business shall we?'
Previously:
https://steemit.com/writing/@stillgideon/hatman-my-time-travelling-adventures-part-7
https://steemit.com/writing/@stillgideon/hatman-my-time-travelling-adventures-part-6
1 to 5.
https://steemit.com/writing/@stillgideon/5bfjrf-hatman-my-time-travelling-adventures-parts-1-to-5