12 of us form a Chrono in The Round. In the middle is the prize sheap we called Ewe because she’s female. We’re going to transport her like luggage. We’ll drop off Leaplings to their destination years and take Ewe back to 2048 to give to Season as a pet so she can use the poo to grow vegetables. We close our eyes and concentrate on the first stop, the 29th of February 2044. Jack wants to go back to the day he went missing. It’s smooth this time, nothing like the 6-chrono-leap from 2020 or the 3-chrono-leap here. 12 is definitely best.

Yet before I open my eyes I know something isn’t right. Before MC2 consults his Chronophone and Kwesi signs something about the number 12 and Jack starts sniffing like he has a cold.

The leap hasn’t worked. We’re stuck in 2100.

I hate 2100. It’s like the end of the world because no one lives here except the robots and even the robots have gone. Le Temps chose a good year to hide his crimes. We look at each other in the Chrono. How will we ever get back to Leap 2048?

‘Can anyone know the time without a phone?’

Thankfully, Big Ben hasn’t leapt in Fiona yet. He’s good at problem solving so might come up with a plan. I concentrate.

‘Le Temps said you have to look at the stars but he’s a REAL criminal so it’s a lie.’

‘Today’s the 28th of February?’

‘The same, bro. You got a theory?’

‘2100’s not a leap year. The maths can’t fit. But midnight today . . .’

We listen to Big Ben’s theory about leap days and leap seconds. Leap seconds are usually added to the end of a year if things have got out of synch. But as this is an out-of-synch that should have been a leap year, anything could happen.

‘If you leap the nanosecond after midnight tonight, leap power gets stronger.’

‘You think we should leap then?’ I say.

‘Impossible is nothing,’ says GMT.

MC2 is nodding his head. ‘The glitch might unstitch in the pitch.’

We sit in the dark for what seems like hours, find the Big Dipper and the North Star because even though Le Temps is a real criminal he DOES know about time and the weather. Big Ben works it out mathematically. We hold hands again just before midnight, say goodbye to Big Ben and this time it works.

The journey back in time begins.

Chapter 22:00: Infinites

Chapter 22:00

INFINITES