The name Zadie rang a bell. Wasn’t there a Zadie Kincaid who got into some kind of trouble publishing conspiracy theory zines across campus?
“Are you all right, Tunbridge?” Ptolemy asked in a warning sort of voice.
“I have a headache.” She pressed her hands to her temple. “Who are all these people, anyway? What’s going on? Why were the cats invited, and no one else?”
“Oh,” said Bellerophon, rolling his eyes. “Secret Founders’ meetings. They’re always banging on about some terrible danger. Some of us would have rather not be dragged out of bed,” he added sharply. “Especially if we’re going to be parked out here all night.”
“Speak for yourself,” said Zephyr tiredly. “I do not want to be in that meeting.”
“Founders,” murmured Tunbridge, sneaking a peek back at the Reading Room. She’d never met any of the Founders, apart from Melusine. That tall woman with the aquiline nose had to be Oxford’s other mother, she looked just like him except she also looked like she’d never smiled in her life…
But no, that couldn’t be right. Tunbridge knew several of the people in that glass-walled Reading Room. Professor Mycroft was there, arguing furiously with Melusine from Admin, and Dean Pennyworth. That over there was Professor Valadon, who had left Chronos College years ago, after some kind of Bonfire-of-the-Vanities-related meltdown.
There were nine people in the Reading Room. Nine Founders. Many of whom, apparently, led secret lives right here at Chronos College.
“Where are the cats?” Tunbridge asked.
“Napping in the other Reading Room,” said Abydos, waving a paw towards the other glass-walled room, which was quite dark. “They’re not invited to the meeting either. We’re all here in case things get bad out there.”
“But,” said Tunbridge. “Does ‘out there’ mean the rest of the campus? There are a lot of humans on site. Travellers, support staff, students…”
Abydos scoffed. “Let’s not pretend the Founders have ever cared about the wellbeing of students.”
Ptolemy leaped up to the window of the darkened, cat-filled Reading Room. “My goodness,” he said, peering in. “Look at them all. Not just our lot. I haven’t seen some of these cats in years. Jocasta, Lumiere, Dingo, Bouncer, Cyrano…”
“Some are from the other campuses,” said Bellerophon. “We came through the hoops with Socrates, Loki and Richelieu from Banksia College. Plus Dusty, my partner. The rest made their own way here.”
“Some of these cats are Anachronauts!” announced Ptolemy, then turned around and saw Zephyr again. “Oh.”
Zephyr gave a light wave. “I wouldn’t overthink it. Apparently we’re all on the same side again.”
“Apparently we always were,” said Abydos, who sounded slightly furious about it. “I’m going to kill Nero when I see him.”
Tunbridge and Ptolemy exchanged uncomfortable looks. Nero. Who had somehow avoided joining the rescue mission for Cressida, whose own human had gone missing that night in the Rose Garden.
“Is Nero… an Anachronaut?” Tunbridge asked in a small voice.
Abydos laughed, and kept on laughing to the point where it seemed unhealthy.
After a minute or two, Zephyr patted Abydos hard on the back, and the cat finally subsided.
“Nero,” he said after hawking up an ungainly hairball. “Has his paws in everything. All of it. The Violet Sunflower. The Basalt Sphinx. The Jade Pineapple. The secret history of the time colleges. Anne Bloody Boleyn.”
“Technically,” said Zephyr, nudging their cat. “Anne Boleyn was your fault, Abs.”
“I’m sure I can blame Nero if I tell the story in enough detail,” Abydos replied.
“I think I’m going to take this headache back to bed,” Tunbridge murmured.
“No,” said Ptolemy, eyes alight. His tail twitched, sticking right up over his head. “I want to hear this. This place has never made sense. Do you really know everything, Abydos? Are you really going to tell us?”
Abydos looked equally engaged, his amber eyes glowing brightly. “Why the hell not?” he said. “Everything’s ending. Let’s spill some milk on our way out.”
Part Four
The Future
Forty-Five
The Anne Boleyn Incident
Transcript from the undisclosed surveillance recording outside the Second Reading Room, Museum of Lost Things, Chronos College.
Abydos: It all started with Anne Boleyn.
Zephyr: That’s not where it started.
Bellerophon: That’s where the story gets juicy, though.
Abydos: I’m starting the story with Anne Boleyn.
Tunbridge: Don’t mind me, I’ll find a chair. Ptolemy, you good?
Ptolemy: You are my chair.
Abydos: So, the Founders were the first time travellers.
Tunbridge: What??
