Time Restored Chapter 6 The Arch Autumn 2021 CE A week alone in the Wiltshire Dorset and Somerset borders was just what Jenna and Tim needed.
Like many,
They had driven right past this area many times,
Down the A303,
On the way to Devon and Cornwall.
Indeed,
Its quiet charm came from the lack of those who knew the area existed.
They holed up initially at the Beckford Arms on the Fonthill Estate near the charming village of Tisbury.
Tim was in his element,
With the combination of craft beers and hearty food.
They were thankful that the concierge had sent them this way,
As they needed this space and time alone to process the whirlwind they had been in for just over a week now.
It was crazy enough winning more money than you could ever spend,
Then to find out it was because of some strange temporal magic dispensed upon them by a mysterious clock repairer was just plain bonkers.
It all started to make a little more sense as Jenna got stuck into Crone's book,
The Secrets of Temporal Alchemy,
As they retired each evening.
Tim fell asleep immediately,
Having enjoyed one too many ales,
So it left her uninterrupted.
She found the book hard to put down,
Especially having met the author.
Her body was vibrating as she read each chapter,
And each morning she was paraphrasing it for Tim.
What piqued her interest the most was the chapter on healing.
If Graham hadn't written a complete work of fiction,
It appeared you could heal most ailments,
Even broken bones,
By tinkering with the past and entangling with the future where the dis-ease no longer existed.
If this is true,
She said to Tim,
It will revolutionise healthcare as we know it.
You can even use the techniques on inanimate objects so you can repair cars without even opening the bonnet and getting oily.
Maybe Graham's school is a good idea after all,
Suggested Tim.
No wonder he's so good at repairing watches.
So you think he doesn't even have to open them?
That's what it says in the book,
Confirmed Jenna.
They were realising that they would have to meet Graham again soon.
Now they understood how horology was probably a cover for his real work and passion.
Each day had brought more and more magical coincidences and openings like this.
At the start of the week,
They had been up at the Cracker Sparrow on the Monday for a private touch-the-stones experience at Stonehenge,
Again organised by the concierge.
Their guide was called Jackie,
Who drove them from the visitor's centre in the Land River right up to the stones.
She had a soft Scottish lilt,
From the lowlands she'd told them.
She'd come down south to study archaeology at Bath University,
Fell in love with the man and the area and never went back.
She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the megalithic monument apart from in two regards.
When Jenna and Tim got to touch the stones with rubber gloves,
Jenna felt all sorts of shivers running up her arms and tingles running up and down her spine.
Tim felt nothing.
The two questions that Jackie had no answer for was exactly how the stones got there when there was no M4 or A303 and where all the missing stones had gone.
Jackie's best guess on the movement of the stones was that it took a lot of manpower,
Possibly over hundreds of years.
As for where all the missing stones had gone,
She said,
They are probably in the walls of many a stately home in these parts.
We think stonemasons have been cutting them down into smaller and more moveable blocks over many centuries.
Jenna didn't know why,
But she sensed Jackie was holding something back.
They were up so early that when they returned to the dock and gun they had only just started to serve breakfast.
Afterwards they went back to bed for a lie-in until check-out time at 11am.
This gave them just enough time to drive to Salisbury for a private viewing of what was claimed to be the oldest working clock in the world.
A charming and knowledgeable man called Matthew gave them its history,
And this time it was Tim who was completely captivated,
Mainly by the intricacies of the mechanism.
Matthew was impressed at how he so quickly understood why it was so special and innovative for that time.
They completely forgot to ask Matthew anything about Graham and his outrageous claim that the clock was one he designed.
Graham knew well that facts that didn't compute were rarely memorised.
They had time for a quick lunch in Salisbury before driving down the A30 up to the villages of Teffont and Chilmark towards their overnight stop.
Janet insisted they stop in both villages and she went right up to several old cottages on the roadside with walls covered in moss and felt them.
No tinkling.
They turned off into the Fondhill Estate only to be greeted by the most amazing archway.
Stop here,
She said to an exasperated Tim who only had his first pint of the day on his mind.
She walked up to the arch and reached out tentatively and it was unmistakable.
This is made from stonehenge,
She declared.
