Stealing Time by Rebecca Bowyer (acx book reading .txt) 📕

“Mum, you need to go back now.”

My Varya is dancing around me like a toddlerwho needs to pee. If she could pick me up and throw me over hershoulder to put me back in the Time Lock, I believe she would.

“The boys won’t be awake for hours yet.There is plenty of time.”

Her eyes are desperate now as she checks theclock above my head. “How long have you been out here, Mum?”

I don’t answer her. I wait for Sebastian’sreaction, to see if she has told him yet. He looks veryconfused.

“What boys?” He looks to Varya. So do I.

“The children are out of danger now,” I tellmy Varya. “So, you need to keep your promise.” I flick my head atthis Sebastian. I feel sure that he will know the answers. He willbe able to fix our Kir. Don’t ask me to tell you how I know this.Some things, you just need to have faith.

“Please, Mum. How many hours?”

I shake my head. No hours.

“Minutes? You have minutes left?”

Now I turn my head to look up at the clockmyself.

“Thirty-seven minutes, my darling girl. Ihave thirty-seven minutes left.”

She comes to me then, throwing herself at myknees, tears in her eyes.

“Please, don’t do this. I can’t lose youboth.”

“You have what you need,” I tell her,nodding towards Sebastian. His mouth opens and closes but he saysno words. He is a sensible man sometimes. Perhaps he has grownthrough his grief.

“I need you,” she chokes.

I know in my heart of hearts that this hasnever been just about Kir. It’s about letting go of being able tocontrol everything around her. She is a strong woman, this girl ofmine, and for the most part, she asserts her will on the world withgreat success. But while she can leave Kir safely with me she willnever swallow her own pride and admit her failings to Sebastian andask for his help.

I take my Varya’s hands. “Your little boyneeds you. He needs his mum. And he needs his dad. And he needs youboth to figure this out. Not at some point in the next twentyyears. Now. He doesn’t need to come out of there when you’re amirror image of me and he has thirty-seven minutes left with you.He’s living his life now, and he needs to be out here in the worldto do it.”

“But what if you’re… gone. And then I can’tfix him. What then? He needs you, Mum, please don’t do this.”

“You can’t fix him,” I tell her bluntly. Inarrow my eyes at our Kir’s father. Varya turns to look at him,too. “But he can.”

“Fix who?” says Sebastian then. “What areyou talking about?” He looks a little frightened now, confrontedwith this strong woman brought to her knees, reduced to tears atthe thought of her mother leaving. She never cried when he left,but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Your son,” I tell him, simply.

“My son is dead,” he says, his mouthtwisted. “Is this some sort of sick joke?”

“He’s not dead,” whispers Varya.

“What?”

“I said, he’s not dead,” she says, loudernow. She turns to face him, wiping furiously at her tears.

“You told me he was dead.” He is horrifiednow, puffing out his chest, not sure whether to fight or flee.

“You left him for dead!” And now she isyelling. As she should—she is right. I check the clock again anddecide to let them have it out for a few minutes. They need thisconfrontation, the one they never had all those years ago.

“I couldn’t stand to watch him in pain andto watch you in denial.” He is crying now, remembering. “I wantedto let him go and be in peace. But you insisted on keeping him, onkeeping hope, even when there wasn’t any. Even when you werehurting our son with it.”

He has hit my Varya where it hurts. Withtruth that cuts her to the core. Because this is exactly what shedid. Kir was in a world of pain that the doctors couldn’t keep atbay the whole time without killing him. The choice was pain andlife, or death and peace. It’s not a choice any parent should haveto make for their child. Sebastian couldn’t force Varya to choosedeath, so he left her alone to endure Kir’s pain instead.

“He’s alive?” he says quietly. I feel hisanger dull to a throb.

Varya nods.

“But how?”

“A Time Lock.”

“You’ve kept him in agony for all theseyears?” His anger rises again.

“No! No, of course I haven’t. I made sure hewas comfortable before he went in.”

Sebastian sits down heavily.

“A Time Lock,” he repeats, his head in hishands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“They’re not legal. It would have put you inan impossible position.”

“Time Locks are theoretical. They’reexperimental, they’re not illegal. They’re outside the law. How didyou even…?”

My Varya smiles a little then, unable tokeep her scientific pride at bay.

“I figured it out.” She shrugs.

“Clearly. But who looks after him? How doyou feed him? How…”

He turns to me and remembers I’m in the roomnow. I smile broadly at him. The overlooked older lady thateveryone forgot about. That nobody really noticed when Idisappeared. They all assumed I’d had my Rest Time in sunnyclimates, just like we arranged. No funeral, no grieving, all mycontemporaries gone within a few months.

“Your little boy has been safe with me,” Itell him with a gentle smile. “Marisa helps a little. She bringsthe food. Not quite the same as my cooking, but it passes. Cookingdoesn’t work so well in the Time Lock. We’re not sure why.” Ishrug. I miss cooking. I tried, early on. The vegetables would growhot but not soften. The cake mixtures bubbled but neversolidified.

“Sebastian, we found the cure for Kir’sbrain tumour. He came through the operation and treatment with noside effects at all.” Varya is wringing her hands now. Sebastianand I both wait but she doesn’t go on.

She has come this far, but her pride won’tlet her go further. She is all out of humility. I sigh and continuefor her. “He still has a problem with his Time Chip. The treatment,it messed with it and made it go…” I wave my arms around a little,hoping Varya will interrupt me soon. I am quickly realising