Servants’ Wages, Allowances and Travelling Expenses for the year 1745
Servants’ Wages, Allowances and Travelling Expenses for the year 1745
Folios/v1/Time-landscape-1745/MS-8
Matthew Galloway was tall, skinny, and very young. He was also currently looking at Clove as if she was completely insane.
His hair was the exact same colour as Clove’s, with dark curls falling over his forehead − just like the ones falling over hers at that very moment. She had seen that pointy nose and freckles in the mirror more times than she could remember. He looked just like her. Whether this man was her time-travelling father, some kind of clone of him, or even just a long-lost ancestor, there was no denying that they were related.
It was him. It was really him. This was Matthew Galloway. In 1745.
“Hello,” he said. “Do I know you?”
She opened her mouth, and then closed it again. He was so young − almost the same age as Clove.
“Uh… You don’t know me.” She swallowed. “But I know you.”
Ella had come back up the stairs to see where Clove had gone, and was watching them both curiously.
“Oh? You do?” Matthew’s gaze flickered over her features, pausing on her nose. She saw a kind of recognition light up his eyes. He frowned. “Who are you?”
“I’m…” She stopped. What could she say? “I…”
Ella’s face did something interesting, and then quickly went blank. Clove looked back and forth between her and Matthew, feeling faint under the force of their gazes. She couldn’t do this. “I have to go.”
She escaped down the stairs and out through the kitchens, sending hens fluttering in her wake as she ran across the drive. Her only thought was to get away from them, from the house and everyone in it, so that she had time to think. When she reached the gates, she stopped, gasping.
She had spoken to Matthew Galloway. He was real.
She didn’t know how to feel. What had just happened? She was clearly related to this man, but not for another three hundred years.
How could this be happening? How could she work out what was going on? And more importantly, had she just messed up history? Was she allowed to just go trampling around in the past like this, talking to her own ancestors? She really should have considered all of this before now.
She rubbed at her eyes as she tried to decide what to do. Then, after checking there was no one around, she looked at her watch. “Spart, did you hear what just happened?”
> During your conversation, I compared the voice imprint of this version of “MATTHEW” with known archived recordings of MATTHEW GALLOWAY from various times, specifically his court appearances during his trial in 2040.
> There is a definite match to the other subjects. It will require a DNA test to confirm fully, but based on the evidence, I hypothesize that this subject will be genetically identical to the others we have found.
Clove didn’t know what to make of that. Her mind was so overwhelmed that she could only focus on her next step: she had to find a way to steal some of Matthew’s DNA. Easy.