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Chapter 19~ Just London
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“Bernard!!” a shrieking voice pierced. Bernard’s heavy eyes shot open to find themselves yards away from the wall of a tall townhouse building. He barely had a moment to gasp before snatching up the reigns on the post and yanking the reindeer upwards. The entire sleigh dipped down through a catch in the wind before violently flying upwards. The sleigh barely clipped the edge of the building, rocking them far to the left. A very-much-awake Kit screamed and gripped the sides of the sleigh as they tilted to the side. Bernard pushed hard with his feet to avoid falling into Kit and pulled fiercely on the reigns. They flew through the air at miraculous speed over a grey and brown city parted with a clear blue river. Kit looked over the edge hesitantly, the wind rippling through her tousled cinnamon brown hair, and tried to make out the buildings and roads.
“Where are we?” she called loudly.
Bernard grunted in response, lifting them higher above the houses and hotels. He’d fallen asleep. How could he have fallen asleep?
The broad daylight lit his way up into the atmosphere where they were likely not to be followed.
“Where are we?” Kit repeated.438Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ41m2K3mtz3
“I don’t know. Wales maybe?”
“No, Wales is greener. I thought you were watching.”
“I…” he started, falling quiet and drawing back to steering. Kit retrieved her phone and tried finding their location.
“England!” she exclaimed. “We’re in England. We made it.”
“England is pretty big, Kit.”
“It says…Southampton. Where’s that?”
“Below us. Father Time is here?”
“No. Flora Mae says he’d be somewhere in London. We’re almost there.” Kit peered around at the bright but cloudy sky. “You shouldn’t have let me sleep.”
“You needed the rest. Don’t try to argue.”
She didn’t. Instead, she tried flexing her hand still in its brace and found it as refreshed and flexible as if her accident had never happened. She tossed the brace into the back of the sleigh without Bernard noticing and combed back her hair with her hands. She peered down at the world below her, noticing the different cars on the roads and the quainter houses that you couldn’t find in New York. In the distance, Kit saw the rolling hills of deep cedar greens and browns that painted a perfect picture of city and country.
“What’s your plan when we get to London?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Bernard nearly snapped his neck double-taking. “What?”
“I needed to get here.”
“What do you mean you don’t have a plan?!” he barked, incredulously.
Kit retrieved Flora Mae’s clock on the floor of the sleigh, now ticking at a rich, resonant sound, and brought it to her lap. “Flora Mae said the closer we got, the louder the ticking.”
Bernard had to restrain himself from grumbling. “We don’t have time to trapeze throughout all of England with a clock to our ears.”
“Of course not,” Kit chirped confidently, “Just London.”
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They soared on through the bleak British air for another half hour before reaching the city limits of London. It wasn’t hard to see why people talked up the famous city so much. It was vibrant, golden almost, with rooftops of crystallized peaks and whitened parks framing each corner. It was busy with life at every inch and chockfull of new, interesting experiences. To Kit, it almost felt like home. Bernard had nothing against London. Well, not entirely true. London was just another version of New York. But, this time, it wasn’t separating the two of them.
“Look!” Kit exclaimed, pointing across the River Thames to a massive Ferris Wheel. She swung her head around to gaze at the picturesque white cathedrals and ornate bridges. The sun began peeking through the clouds to brighten the roads and parks like a spotlight setting the stage. Bernard allowed himself the luxury to enjoy it too, admiring the frosted tips of the buildings like giant snowflakes sticking up from the ground. A bed of snow blanketed the parks and sparkled back at them like diamonds in the golden lights. This was London. And, Bernard had to admit—he was pretty excited.
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On the ground, Kit and Bernard marched down the block in a wonder-filled daze as they absorbed all that London had to offer. The sounds, the sights…even the smells were all very familiar to Kit in a curious way—as if she was stepping into a backward version of New York itself where the cars now drove on the opposite side of the road. The two had stashed the sleigh in the most appropriate spot that Kit could think—right in the middle of Trafalgar Square. The vibrant courtyard had been expertly decorated with an 80-ft Norwegian spruce Christmas tree decorated in golden white lights and a shining star on top. Even the bottom was robed in a red velvet carpet and proved to be the most believable spot to park the sleigh. The reindeer Bernard had charmed to freeze in place and fall into a temporary hibernation as to not attract any unwanted attention. It wasn’t genius, Kit admitted, but it wasn’t as if they had a more inconspicuous option.
Kit thumbed the clock in her hands absentmindedly while desperately trying to ignore the tightness in her stomach. It had seemed like forever ago since she’d eaten anything and she knew Bernard’s stiff presence reflected just the same feeling. She peered around the pubs and tourist shops up and down the block, taking in all their options before landing on a small, quaint-looking Thai restaurant with snowman figures in the window. She turned to offer the idea up to Bernard but found his gaze already locked on hard to the little shop. Great minds think alike, I guess, she thought.
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The stone and silver plates were brought out one by one and laid across the table as if preparing for the last supper. Kit had dove into a bowl of curry and rice, occasionally sampling the raw tuna sushi on her side. The steam billowed in her face, but she didn’t mind as the insatiable beast in her stomach was finally settling. Bernard was wrapped up in his own bowl of Pad Thai and soup. He had to admit, he was never a big sushi person. It was 11 a.m., and the two were eating like kings in a small Thai restaurant in downtown London. Kit paused from her bowl, looking up and reflecting for a moment. Bernard glanced up.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
Kit blinked, coming back to the ground. “Yeah.”
Bernard went back to the food as Kit continued to stare off.
“I’ve always wanted to visit London,” she said.
Bernard smiled. “I know. You talked about all the places you wanted to go, remember? Italy, France, Japan, Australia…”
Kit looked down into her nearly-empty bowl. “I guess I never thought I’d actually end up here one day.”
Bernard stopped and watched her pensive expression. He glanced around them and at the bright London world that awaited them outside the glass door. Bernard had been to London many times on team-building retreats and enjoyed much of what it had to offer. They had great tea, history, and libraries, after all.
“I think,” he began, turning back to the table, “we should do a thorough sweep of London—really explore every corner. I mean, who knows where Father Time could be hiding.”
A smile grew on Kit’s face and her cheeks beamed. An adventurous spirit that warmed her blood began filling her whole being, and she couldn’t reach for the cash in her backpack fast enough. She retrieved a fist full of twenties and a bag of change and laid them out on the table.
“Kit, you can’t use that here,” Bernard pointed out.
Kit dove back into her backpack and retrieved a strange boxy metal object that Bernard almost confused for a phone.
“A present Curtis gave me for my sixteenth birthday. Never thought I’d ever have to use it, but I guess I left it with my spare cash back at the Workshop.”
Bernard smirked. “How convenient…”
Kit giggled and grabbed a twenty. “I know, right?!” Kit slid in the bill and few coins into the small machine and pressed a button on the screen. A few seconds later, several pound bills printed from the other end of the machine.
“I hate to say it,” Bernard mused, “But Curtis can be a genius sometimes.”
“The student is only as good as the teacher,” Kit replied, smiling back.
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