I had been awake for just over an hour and was watching a tiny Jenny Wren jump from branch to branch on a small tree that shaded my kitchen window
My phone rang
Houston we have a problem
Is that you Viola?
Yes
Has your brother traced you?
No it is far worse than that
Has your time fix failed?
There was no time fix
Sorry
I am not preparing for a time fix
But I thought you were going to nest in the body of the elderly woman until your brother had passed by
I think I need to explain things to you Victor
Please do
Do you remember when you threw my remaining arm into the sea at Blue Anchor all those years ago?
Clearly
Do you remember anything else about that day?
Not really
The stationmaster who tricked me
My late father
The camping coach
Thats all
Do you remember a family of four who ran the small shop at the camp site?
Vaguely very vaguely
Do you remember the mother?
No
Well she was a swimmer and had swum at the 1956 Olympics and then she had retired and started a family
What has this to do with the Blue Anchor time incident?
Everything
Please explain
Well when you threw my arm into the sea the regeneration did not happen as fast as I hoped it would
The sea in that area was not that clean and this hindered things
So you did not regenerate
Not exactly
You are losing me
I will explain
Please do
Well I had been in the sea for a few hours and began to realise the futility of my situation
What fish there were in the sea were beginning to take an unhealthy interest in what remained of me
And then something amazing happened
That being
The Olympic swimmer decided to take a swim after a long day at the site
And she found your severed arm
No nothing like that although you are getting near
Well what happened
The woman for some reason did not follow her usual routine and decided to swim further away from the shore and that is when tragedy struck
She ran into trouble
Yes she swam into my arm which by then was a considerable distance from the shore
I am still listening
It shocked her and for some reason she began to panic
She tried to swim back to shore but could not
The cool temperature of the sea that day combined with the shock of finding my arm caused her to lose control of her body and she began to drown
What are you telling me?
I only had one chance and as she passed through the final time zone I took total control of her body
What!
I became her
She was your unwitting host
No it was more than that
I became her
You must imagine how devastated her husband and young family would have been if she had drowned that day
And it was partially my fault
I owed it to her
So you are telling me that you reformed as this woman
Yes
I was still Viola but I was also this woman
Are you telling me that you have stayed this way ever since?
Yes apart from a couple of time excursions when I thought my brother was near I stayed that way
I was the loyal wife of a wonderful man and the loving mother of two beautiful daughters
It was the perfect mask and to be truthful I enjoyed every second of it
Do you realise that for the last fifty-five years I have been travelling in the time theatre looking for you?
I often visited the small shed at Blue Anchor railway station as it was the last place I saw you whole
In the finish I had to become a seasonal volunteer just so I could observe the time point there during August
Viola laughed
It’s not funny Viola
You are so loyal Jonny
My name is Victor
My husband’s name was Jonny
Was
He died in 1988 and I was doted upon by my two wonderful daughters after his death
I was living a life of total obscurity well away from my savage brother
That was until the summer of 2012 when the Olympics were held in the UK
Go on
Well out of the blue this lovely BBC man contacted me and asked whether I would like to appear on a show that celebrated all the previous medallists
And you agreed to
I was not thinking I just wanted to celebrate my wonderful host as she had brought me a deep happiness
And you appeared on television?
I did not think anybody would recognise me after all I was quite old
But it did not fool your brother
No
He saw through my disguise straight away
And
He started hunting me once again
That accounts for the increased time activity I have experienced during the last five years
I was aware of this and knew of the dangers so I asked my daughters to move me to Fishponds where I grew up
I did not think that he would find me and maybe if he did that he would be so enfeebled that he would no longer present a threat
He may be feeble but he is still very dangerous
I know
Has he found you?
Yes and no
What are you telling me?
Do you remember the beautiful pink rainbow that brightened up the city a few days ago?
Yes for a while I thought you were returning to me after all these years
It was not me but my brother
He wanted me to know that he had found me at last so he created the brightest time display that he could manage
I was shopping at the time and when I left the shop I immediately became aware of his presence and walked straight into the bus which killed me
The last thing I remember was staring at the pink rainbow as I died
You have hosted before
Just leave the body and find a new host
No I am trapped in the body of Beryl Quail
Then leave it and become disembodied again
It is not as easy as that
At present I have taken over body of a junkie but it will not last long as the time parameters are all wrong
She helps me to move around and make calls but little else
I can feel the poison oozing through her veins and the pain is indescribable
It really hurts me
I cannot stay with her for long
What do you want me to do?
I can engage your brother again but he is much stronger than me
Even in his present state
I said that Houston has a problem Victor
It is far worse than that
My timeline is trapped in the body of Beryl Quail
What!
How did that happen Viola?
I do not know perhaps she hosted me for too long I do not know as it defies all the time laws
But it is worse than that Victor
On the 15th of August 2017 there will be a small service at the Westerleigh Crematorium in Bristol to honour the former Olympic medallist Beryl Quail and after that her body will be committed to the flames
You know what that means
No timeline
No Viola
To put it in a poetic way I will be molten dust in the fires of Hell
I will remove the body
It will give you time to find a new host or at least a chance
Remember we have been in this situation before
I was diseased then
But to some extent the sea cured me
I was healthy within my host
But if I leave her I do not know what I will find
Whatever it is it will be better than losing your timeline to the fires of Hell
Where are you at present?
In a chapel of rest
I am being visited quite often by the few who remain from 1956 and of course my family
Even the local media has shown an interest
I looked at the screen of my phone
It was turning pink
Ex Olympic Medallist killed by a Bus
The headlines screamed at me
Are you there Victor?
Yes
What were you doing?
The screen of my phone has turned pink
Your brother is quite near
I will remove the body of Beryl Quail and at least you will not have to face the flames
And then I will secrete her remains in a safe place
That will give you time to escape
What about my brother?
I will delay him as I have been doing since Blue Anchor
I wish it was that easy
What do you mean?
My brother is no fool he will ensure that I am cremated
That way he will destroy me forever and his strength will return
How long have you got with your junkie?
Fifteen minutes twenty minutes at the most and then she will corrupt me
Do not try to remove Beryl’s body from the Chapel of Rest
My brother and the icons will be waiting for you
They will destroy you
And although you are far weaker than me
They will still take strength from your remains
Viola swore
What’s wrong Viola?
The damn battery is running out on this silly girls phone
Just remember these words before I go
I was brought up in the countryside
Repeat them to me Victor
I was brought up in the countryside
The phone died
It had lost its pink tinge
Viola’s brother was aware of my location but he was not interested in me
I was a minor target
Viola was his goal
For the first time since that far off summer holiday I felt totally helpless
I turned to my late father for advice
But he was no longer with me
To be continued