1

‘I can’t believe it,’ I said. ‘I just can’t believe it.’

‘It’s not all that bad,’ said Tilly.

‘Of course it’s that bad. We work really hard all week, and then Mrs Simms announces that we’ve got to spend the whole weekend doing a history project. That so isn’t fair.’

‘Look on the bright side. We’re allowed to work in pairs, and Mrs Simms said we can work on any history topic that interests us.’

‘But what if there’s no history topic that interests me so much that I’d want to spend a whole weekend working on it?’

‘You could try explaining that to Mrs Simms on Monday?’

I shook my head. ‘No way. She’d kill me.’

‘The project won’t seem like such a big deal once we’ve done the first bit. Come on – let’s go over to your place and we can get started.’

I knew she was right, but that really didn’t make me feel any better.

When we got to my house, I could hear loud voices coming from an open upstairs window. It was my mum and my big sister Amy having one of their daily shouting matches.

I groaned and made a face at Tilly.

‘Don’t make me go in there,’ I said. ‘They’ll want me to take sides. I’ll do my best, but no matter what I do, in an hour’s time, Mum and Amy will be best friends again, and they’ll both be cross with me.’

‘Let’s sit out here for a while then,’ said Tilly, flinging herself on to the bench on the green outside my house.

As I sat next to her, I wriggled free of my schoolbag and flung it on to the grass. I wished that I’d never have to see it again.

On the other side of the green, my little brother, Stephen, and his friends were playing soccer.

After a few minutes, my cat Saturn appeared from the bushes and came to cuddle in my arms.

‘I still think he’s the most beautiful cat I’ve ever seen,’ said Tilly.

I couldn’t argue with her – Saturn is amazing. He’s a Turkish Angora cat, with silky white fur and the most incredible mismatched eyes, one blue and the other green.

‘Guess what, Lauren,’ said Tilly, as she stroked Saturn’s soft fur. ‘I have a secret.’

I smiled. I love hearing secrets. ‘Well – out with it.’

Tilly shook her head. ‘No. I started this, so you have to tell me a secret first.’

‘But I haven’t got any secrets,’ I protested. ‘I tell you everything.’

Suddenly I noticed that Saturn was staring at me. I love Saturn deeply, but sometimes he scares me a bit.

Sometimes I feel he knows what’s going on inside my head.

And while most cats probably only think about saucers of milk and rooms full of fat, lame mice, I had a weird feeling that Saturn was thinking of something else.

He jumped out of my arms and went to lie in the shade nearby. He still stared at me, though, and I couldn’t help feeling that his huge odd eyes were accusing me.

You see, I did have a secret. I had a very, very big secret. And I had often thought of sharing it with Tilly.

But it was too big. It was too incredible.

But now Tilly was looking at me too, as if she was waiting for me to say something. And she has these piercing, pale blue eyes, and when she stares at me like that, I start to feel really nervous. And she is my very, very best friend.

So I started to talk.

Much, much later, I realized that Tilly hadn’t interrupted once, which sooo isn’t like her. She twiddled with her hair the way she always does when she’s trying to figure something out.

‘Please say something,’ I said, when the silence became too much for me.

Tilly took a deep breath. ‘Let me get this straight. You’re telling me that Saturn has strange powers and that he dragged you back to the past; and that you spent days and days there, even though no time passed here; and that you made friends with all these people who are dead now; and that you ended up on the Titanic and managed to escape just before it sank, and … you expect me to believe you?’

‘Well, actually, yes.’

‘Have you got any proof?’

I sighed. Tilly has a very logical mind. For her, everything is about proof.

I thought for a minute. There had to be a way of convincing Tilly that I was telling the truth. But Tilly is smart. She wouldn’t be fooled by me getting a chunk of ice from the freezer and telling her it was part of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.

She was going to need real proof.

There was the medal that one of my friends from 1912 had given me – but I could have found that lying in the street, or picked it up in an antique shop.

There was the fact that I know heaps of stuff about the Titanic – but I could have found all that out on the Internet.

And there was my old fleece, which ended up in a photograph that was taken in the 1930s – but that photo was far away in a little village near Cork.

I knew I was wasting my time. I could hardly believe this crazy story myself, so how on earth could I expect Tilly to believe it?

I was starting to feel sorry that I’d mentioned it.

‘This isn’t working, Lauren,’ said Tilly in the end. ‘I know you made this whole thing up, so you might as well be honest and admit it.’

‘You’re right,’ I said quickly. ‘I just made it up. Good story, though, wasn’t it?’

She grinned. ‘Great story. That’s why you always get such high marks for your English essays – you’ve got a great imagination. Now will I tell you my secret?’

I’d managed to forget all about Tilly’s secret.

‘Go ahead,’ I said.

Tilly went slightly red, and then she whispered, ‘There’s this guy who’s moved into a house near me, and he’s really kind of cute.’

I laughed. ‘That’s it? That’s your big secret?’

‘OK, so it’s not a brilliant secret, but at least it’s true. Not like your makey-uppy time-travel story.’

I knew I’d hurt her, and I felt bad.

‘I’m sorry, Tilly,’ I said. ‘That’s a great secret. Why don’t I call over to your place tomorrow, and maybe we can get to know this guy?’

She put her arm round me. ‘Thanks, Lauren,’ she said.

Just then Saturn jumped into Tilly’s arms. She stroked him and he purred loudly.

‘Your house has gone quiet,’ said Tilly. ‘Maybe it’s safe to go inside and get started on that project.’

I nodded and stood up to go inside. I stopped suddenly, though, as Tilly cried out. I could see that Saturn was shaking like a small leaf in a very big storm.

‘Shhh, Saturn,’ I said softly. ‘It’s OK.’

I bent down to rub him, but he just continued to shake in Tilly’s arms as he stared at the blank patch of grass in front of us.

Saturn had only behaved like this once before.

I started to feel very, very afraid.

‘Tilly, I think we’d better …’ I began to say, but I couldn’t finish the sentence.

There was a familiar blinding light and a loud, loud noise. It was like a disco scene from a bad horror movie. I reached for Tilly’s hand and held it tightly.

Tilly, I wanted to say. You have to be brave. Things are going to get very weird very soon.

But how can you say anything when your cheeks are rattling and your eyeballs feel like they are going to pop out?

So I closed my eyes as tightly as I could and hoped for the best.