“That’s exactly what you would have done, chief,” said Barry.

“So what happened?” Will asked.

“I’ve told you what happened, they were waiting for me. The moment I appeared in the time machine they grabbed me and the time machine.”

“Hang about,” said Will. “The witches captured you and they captured the time machine. When I first met Rune and he took me to his lodgings, his room was a mess, he said the witches had been there. They captured you there, did they?”

“That’s what happened,” said the other Will.

“So the witches then had their own time machine?”

“Obviously.”

“Obviously,” said Will with some degree of thoughtfulness. “Except that I have been told another story entirely. All about a time machine that was built here in the Victorian era and then was stolen. All sorts of things in fact.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the other Will. “There’s only one time machine.”

“Then I have been lied to,” Will wiggled his finger into his right ear. “In fact I’ve been told a right pack of lies.”

“No, come on, chief, it’s not what you think.”

Will turned his face away from his other self. “It’s exactly what I think,” he said. “You lied to me, Barry. All that talk about you being fitted into Mr Wells’ time machine.”

“I was,” said Barry. “Well, for a bit anyway, so Mr Wells could have a little test of it himself. Rune knew he wouldn’t be able to resist it and Rune wanted to borrow some more money from him.”

“So you never travelled into my future? It wasn’t you who brought me here?”

“No, chief. The witches sent their terminators in your other self’s time machine.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me this?”

“Because, chief, I was hoping that you’d never bump into your other self. He’s just complicating the issue.”

“So you knew he was here all the time?”

“I might have, chief.”

“You might have?”

“You’re at it again,” said Will’s other self. “Conversing with your demon.”

“I’m not conversing with a demon!” Will turned back to his other self. “It’s not like that. Although,” and he said these words to himself, “I’m beginning to wonder.”

“I heard that, chief. And it’s not true. I’m one of the good guys. I’m just trying to protect you.”

“Perhaps,” said Will and he turned back to face his other self. “Please tell me,” said Will, “what happened to you, after you arrived in this time? These witches, they captured you?”

“Yes, that’s what they did. They were waiting for me in Rune’s lodgings. They grabbed me and they took the time machine. I was captured. I was helpless.”

“So why didn’t they just kill you and have done with it?” Will asked.

“Good question, chief.”

“Good question,” said the other Will.

“So what’s the answer?”

“I’m the answer,” said the other Will. “I told them the truth. That I didn’t want to be any Messiah. That I just wanted to be left alone. I was terrified by them. They’re horrible. Fearful. They couldn’t understand that. They were expecting some kind of fearless superhero. And they kept asking me about a painting, called The Fairy Feller’s Masterstroke. It’s mentioned in The Book of Rune. But I told them I’d never heard of, nor seen, such a picture, because I haven’t. So they sent a robot into the future in the time machine. But the time machine returned without it, so they sent another one and the time machine never returned. But it did return, didn’t it, and you were in it.”

Will nodded, thoughtfully. This did seem to tie up a lot of loose ends. “So then they just kept you imprisoned,” he said.

The other Will nodded, glumly. “They tormented me, forced me to stitch Chiswick Townswomen’s Guild needlepoint cushions for them, and stuff lavender bags. They even made me judge the most-blackest black cat competition.”

“Doesn’t sound all that bad,” said Will.

“And they kept me in a cage and fed me on rats.”

“Rats?”

“And worms,” said the other Will.

“Nasty,” said Will.

“Very nasty,” said the other Will. “For months and months and months in a filthy cellar. In a cage. I planned my escape. Rats’ jaws I used. To saw through the bars. Hundreds of rats’ jaws. It took me over a year, but I finally escaped.”

“That’s dreadful,” said Will. “Really dreadful.”

“And it’s all your fault.”

“It’s not my fault. But how did you come to be covered in blood and arrested as being Jack the Ripper?”

“I didn’t know what to do. The only thing I could think of was to find Hugo Rune. Try and reason with him. I was pretty messed up. I am pretty messed up.”

“I see,” said Will. “And after the witches discovered that you’d escaped, they went looking for you and I suppose that eventually they came to the conclusion that you’d go looking for Hugo Rune, which is why they sent one of their robots to Rune’s room, which was where I was. Which is when I met Barry.”

“Barry, your demon?”

“He’s not my demon. But you were arrested, covered in blood. What happened to you?”

“I saw it,” said the other Will. “I was hiding in an alleyway. I saw it all. I was out of my mind. I’d been imprisoned, tortured, fed on rats and worms, but I’d escaped and then I saw that.”

“What did you see?” Will asked.

“I saw it. The thing that killed those women. I saw it kill Hugo Rune. I saw it. I saw it kill and I was showered with the blood of its killing.”

“It?” said Will. “A robot, was it?”

“Not a robot. Not a person. Something far worse. Something utterly monstrous. I saw it. And then I blacked out. I don’t know what happened after that. Days must have passed, and the next thing I knew I was being hauled into the Whitechapel police station, accused of being Jack the Ripper. I even thought I was, when they arrested me.”

“And then I rescued you from the cell.”

The other Will hung his head. “That’s it,” he said. “That’s what happened.”

“But what was this thing? This thing that killed those women and killed Hugo Rune. If it wasn’t a robot and wasn’t a man?”

“What was it?” the other Will stared at Will with wide mad eyes. “What do you think it was? What is it that witches worship? What is it that seeks to control this world? Reorder history so that it is in control? Not any man and not any robot. That thing I saw was the devil himself, Will.

“That thing was Satan.”

26

“Satan,” said Will, and he sighed. It was a long sigh, a deep sigh, a heartfelt sigh. It was the sigh of one who had had quite enough. “I’ve had quite enough,” said Will.

His other self looked on. Somewhat bitterly, Will felt. Somewhat accusingly.

“Listen,” said Will. “It’s not my fault. Do you understand this? It’s not my fault.”

“It is your fault,” said the other Will. “You got me into this mess and you have to get me out.”

“Why me?” Will threw up his hands, spilling his drink all over himself. “Damn,” he continued, “look at what you’ve made me do, all over my expensive suit.”

“Expensive suit? My clothes are in tatters, covered in blood and you have the nerve to—”

“Stop,” said Will. “Just stop. It’s clear that you’ve been through terrible times. The rats and the worms and everything.”

“And the needlepoint,” said the other Will. “And having to stuff those lavender bags.”

“All right, you suffered dreadful privations. But I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you. It was your time machine that brought me here. If anything, it’s all your fault.”

“I don’t really think that follows, chief. If it’s anyone’s fault then the blame must lie with—”

“Shut up!” shouted Will. “It’s not my fault and it’s not your fault. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Hugo Rune’s fault.”