The Future Door by Jason Lethcoe

table.
    I shan’t be needing it any longer.
    Mr. Wells was helpful in describing the invention’s function, but he failed to mention the charming container in which it was housed. I must offer my compliments on using something so decidedly British to contain the greatest invention of the modern age.
    I must insist that for your own safety you do not try to follow me. You are up against forces that even the great Sherlock Holmes would find daunting, if not impossible, to prevail against. In a few hours the world as you know it will have completely changed. Professor Moriarty plans on rectifying the years of thwarted plans and failed capers that have plagued him so.
    He insists that a new history begins tonight and that the hands of the ancient clock will be turned and the very stones themselves will be rearranged.
    Oh, and a second word of warning. Very few have met Miss Atrax in battle and lived to tell the tale . . . Your escape will be duly noted by the entire Sisterhood of the Black Widow.
    And now I must be off. TIME is, indeed, of the essence.
    With warm regards,
Charlotte Pepper
    Rupert finished reading the note aloud and let it slip from his fingers. Griffin, feeling weak, eased himself down onto one of his uncle’s threadbare chairs. It was terrible, too terrible to even think about. With the time machine at their disposal, Professor Moriarty and Nigel could wreak havoc. By changing the events of the past, they could effect for themselves a future where justice couldn’t prevail.
    â€œWe’ve lost,” Rupert mumbled. “We’ll never find her. She’s too good . . . She took me in and fooled me completely.”
    Griffin’s heart nearly broke when he heard the hurt and despair in his uncle’s voice. His uncle had barely gotten to know Charlotte Pepper, but it was evident that he’d fallen quite hard for her. To have such a beautiful young woman suddenly seem so interested in him must have been an unexpected and exciting twist in Rupert’s life.
    Griffin had to admit, his first impression of Miss Pepper was hard to shake. She seemed so nice! But he was reminded strongly of the story of Lucifer, an “angel of light” who, against all appearances, was capable of great evil.
    Griffin’s dad had often told him the old saying “One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” and in this case it was certainly true.
    Griffin picked up the note and read it a second time. As he scanned the lines, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise. There was something there that he hadn’t seen before—a clue! A clue that told him that even when it seemed all was lost, there was still hope of tracking down the stolen device!
    But even as he discovered this information, Griffin was also acutely aware of the danger they would be walking into. If what he thought was right, then the words Charlotte had written about Sherlock Holmes thinking twice before pursuing her were probably true.
    Griffin rose from his chair and, taking his uncle gently by the arm, said, “Uncle, I think I know where Miss Pepper went.”
    Rupert Snodgrass gazed down at his precocious nephew uncomprehendingly.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œMiss Pepper,” Griffin repeated. “I think I know where she’s taken the time machine.”
    Rupert suddenly snapped to attention, his eyes focused on his nephew with a desperate, hopeful expression. “Where?” he demanded.
    Griffin paused before replying, “I’d rather not say just yet. But if it’s where I think it is, then I’m pretty sure we’re going to need assistance.” He gazed up at his uncle with his sad, blue eyes. “And there’s only one person in all the world that I think we can trust to help us.”

15
THE RETURN
    N igel Moriarty marched down the stone corridor, his eyes alight with knowledge and hidden purpose. His lips were twisted into a bitter scowl, and the right leg of his trousers was