Wobbler was trembling, as he always did when life was getting too exciting.

‘I dunno! London, I think! My dad said he came up here in the war! And then later on he came back on a visit and met my grandma! Er! Er!’

‘Go on! Go on!’ said Johnny.

‘Er! Er!’ Wobbler stuttered.

‘How old was he when he died?’ said Yo-less.

‘Er! Forty, my dad said! Er! He’d bought the bike for his birthday!’

‘So he’s …’ Johnny subtracted in his head … ten now?’

‘Er! Er!’

‘You don’t think he was that boy, do you?’ said Yo-less.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Wobbler, finally giving up panic for anger. ‘I should have asked him, should I? “Hello, are you going to be my grandad? PS don’t buy a motorbike”?’

Johnny fished in his gas mask box and pulled out a crumpled folder stuffed with bits of paper.

‘Did he mention any names?’ he said, flicking through the pages.

‘Er! Er! Someone called Mrs Density!’ said Wobbler, desperation throwing up a memory.

‘Number Eleven,’ said Johnny, pulling out a photocopy of a newspaper clipping. ‘Lived there with her daughter Gladys. I got all the names for my project.’

‘My gran’s name was Gladys!’ said Wobbler. ‘You mean, because he didn’t run off back to London, he’s going to die tonight and I’m not going to be born?’

‘Could be,’ said Yo-less.

‘What’ll happen to me?’

‘You’ll just have to stay here,’ said Johnny.

‘No way! This is the olden days! It’s awful! I went past a cinema and it’s all old movies! In black and white! And there was this cafe and you know what they’d got chalked on a board in front? “Meat and two veg”! What kind of food is that? Even Hong Kong Henry’s takeaway tells you what kind of meat! Everyone dresses like someone out of Eastern Europe! I’d go round the bend here!’

‘My grandad always goes on about how they used to have so much fun when he was a kid even though they didn’t have anything,’ said Bigmac.

‘Yes, but everyone’s grandad says that,’ said Kirsty. ‘It’s compulsory. It’s like where they say “50p for a chocolate bar? When I was young you could get one and still have change out of sixpence.”’

‘I think they had fun,’ said Johnny, ‘because they didn’t know they didn’t have anything.’

‘Well, I know,’ said Wobbler. ‘I know about food that’s more than two colours, and stereo systems, and decent music and … and all kinds of stuff. I want to go home!’

They all looked at Johnny.

‘You got us into this,’ said Yo-less.

‘Me?’

‘It’s your imagination,’ said Kirsty. ‘It’s too big. for your head, just like Sir J …’ She stopped. ‘Just like I’ve always said,’ she corrected herself, ‘and it drags everyone else along with it. I don’t know how, but it does. You got all worked up about Paradise Street, and now here we are.’

‘You said it didn’t make any difference if the street got bombed or not,’ said Johnny. ‘You said it was just history!’