‘But supposing the phone doesn’t work?’

‘Oh, then he’ll be down here on his bike in no time.’

‘Bike? A bike? That’s all?’

‘It’s a motorbike,’ said the policeman, giving her the nervous looks everyone eventually gave Kirsty.

She just stared at him.

‘It’s a Blackbury Phantom,’ he added still further, in a tone of voice that suggested this should impress even a girl.

‘Oh? Really? Oh, that’s a relief,’ said Kirsty. ‘I feel a lot better for knowing that. Really.’

‘That’s right. There’s nothing for you to worry about, love,’ said the policeman happily.

‘I’ll just go off and play with my dolls, I expect,’ said Kirsty.

‘That’s a good idea. Have a tea party,’ said the policeman, who apparently didn’t know withering scorn when he heard it.

Kirsty crossed the road and sat down on the seat.

‘Yes, I expect I should have a party with all my dollies,’ she said, glaring at the flowers.

Yo-less looked at Johnny over her head.

‘What?’ he said.

‘Did you hear what that ridiculous policeman said?’ said Kirsty. ‘Honestly, it’s obvious that the stupid man thinks that just because I’m female I’ve got the brains of a baby. I mean, good grief! Imagine living in a time when people could even think like that without being prosecuted!’

‘Imagine living in a time when a bomb could come through your ceiling,’ said Johnny.

‘Mind you, my father said he lived in the shadow of the atomic bomb all through the Sixties,’ said Kirsty. ‘I think that was why he wore flares. Hah! Dollies! Pink dresses and pink ribbons. “Don’t worry your head about that, girlie.” This is the dark ages.’

Yo-less patted her on the arm.

‘He didn’t mean it … you know, nastily,’ he said. ‘It’s just how he was brought up. You people can’t expect us to rewrite history, you know—’

Kirsty frowned at him.

‘Is that sarcasm?’ she said.

‘Who? Me?’ said Yo-less innocently.

‘All right, all right, you’ve made your point. What’s so special about a Blackbury Phantom, anyway?’

‘They used to make them here,’ said Johnny. ‘They were quite famous, I think. Grandad used to have one.’

They raised their eyes to the dark shape of Blackdown. It had loomed over the town even back in 1996, but then it had a TV mast.

‘That’s it?’ said Kirsty. ‘Men just sitting on hills and listening?’

‘Well, Blackbury wasn’t very important,’ said Johnny. ‘We made jam and pickles and rubber boots and that was about it.’

‘I wonder what’s going to go wrong tonight?’ said Yo-less.

‘We could climb up there and find out,’ said Johnny. ‘Let’s go and get the others—’

‘Hang on,’ said Kirsty. ‘Think, will you? How do you know we might not cause what’s going to go wrong tonight?’

Johnny hesitated. For a moment he looked like a statue. Then he said:

‘No. If we start thinking like that we’ll never do anything.’

‘We’ve already messed up the future once! Everything we do affects the future!’