Simon Clark - The Fall

For the time being he was content to run his tongue over his restored complete set of teeth, and to feel that his bones were magically intact once more.

Despite the dizziness, he realised it had gone and done it all over again. Whatever process had hauled them back through the years had also restored perfectly the bodies and possessions of those who’d been alive before the time-jump.

Although their numbers were dwindling. He saw that there were perhaps only a dozen or so left out of the original 52 who had made the first time-leap that sunny afternoon in 1999.

After a while, he felt Zita’s hand on his forearm. She gave a small smile. Without a word she stood up, walked to the steps, then climbed to the top of the amphitheatre.

Sam followed. That woolly dreamlike sensation was leaving him now.

As his mind gradually focused itself he began to notice the changes. Big changes.

At the top of the steps he stood and looked around him.

Of course the car park appeared as it always had done: bathed in clear sunlight, the bus and the cars and the ice-cream van looked pristine. There was the visitors’ centre, and the church just inside the boundary.

Zita stood there, gazing at the new landscape. ‘Well, Sam,’ she said. ‘I guess this is the big one.’

Sam looked back at the river. It flowed along a different channel now. Jud’s narrow boat and Carswell’s launch floated on the still waters of a crescent-shaped pond, which was all that remained of the 20 thCentury river.

A moment later Jud came up the steps to join them. ‘I’ve just seen Carswell and he’s mad as hell. I think Rolle’s advice to him about travelling in time hasn’t worked as well as he hoped. Clearly Rolle pulled a fast one, to stop Carswell playing havoc with…’ Jud’s voice faded mid-sentence. He stood with his hands on his hips and surveyed the landscape in astonishment. ‘Good God… Whatever year this is, I think we’ve gone way, way back.’

‘Or forward,’ Sam said.

‘But look at the hills. They’re a different shape now. Instead of oak and chestnut they’re covered in pine. And can’t you just feel the difference in the air? The climate’s changed.’ Jud smiled. ‘You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say we’re going to end up being our own ancestors.’

Despite everything, Sam felt inwardly calm.

‘So you say we’ve gone back into the past, Jud?’

‘I do.’

‘What about you, Zita? What do you say?’

‘I’d have said the same. Until I noticed that building across there.’

Sam followed her gaze. On a hill in the distance stood a large white building. From here it was impossible to say whether it was a Roman villa built of limestone or something that belonged to a future where buildings were extruded from some fabulous synthetic material. All he could tell for sure was that it gleamed a pure white in the sun. And that there was something tantalising about it that seemed to invite closer inspection.

Jud spoke softly. ‘What do you say, Sam? Past or future?’

‘There’s only one way to find out.’ He nodded at the car. ‘I think it’s time we took a little drive. But first I could do with a drink.’

He crossed the car park in the direction of the vending machine that stood by the visitors’ centre, its contents miraculously replenished once more.

Only when that devil of a thirst was well and truly quenched would he go out and find what this new destination had to offer.

Besides, there’s no rush , he told himself with a wry smile. After all, don’t we have all the time in the world?

Simon Clark is the author of such highly-regarded novels as Nailed by the Heart , Darker , Blood Crazy, Vampyrrhic , Lucifer’s Ark and The Night of the Triffids (winner of a British Fantasy Society award). His short stories have appeared in an abundance of magazines and anthologies worldwide. SFX, Europe’s best-selling SF / Fantasy / Horror newsstand magazine, polled its readers on their favourite genre writers of all time. Simon comfortably hit the top 100.

Raised in a family of storytellers – family legend spoke of a stolen human skull buried beneath the Clark garage – Simon sold his first ghost story to a radio station in his teens for the princely sum of £15 then promptly spent many times that in heady celebration. Before becoming a full-time writer he held a variety of day jobs that have involved strawberry-picking, legal work, scripting video promos and generating multi-million pound projects.

Simon lives with his wife in territory steeped in myth, legend and epic battles that lies in the county of Yorkshire, England.

‘Britain’s greatest living horror writer.’

On London Under Midnight : ‘Here’s a treat for horror fans. Thrilling, terrifying and deeply affecting…’

‘Clark has the ability to keep the reader looking over his shoulder to make sure that sudden noise you hear is just the summer breeze rattling the window… this should keep you shaking.’

Washington Post on The Night of the Triffids : ‘Inventive and fast moving – good old fashioned fun.’

On Vampyrrhic Rites : ‘A blockbuster of a horror novel from the 2002 winner of the British Fantasy Society award for The Night of the Triffids. This is a huge tale incorporating a variety of scare tactics. Perfect for Stephen King fans.’

‘A master of eerie thrills.’

‘Horror fiction as it should be written – shocking but fascinating.’

‘His is surely the most outrageous imagination to grace horror since the discovery of Clive Barker.’

‘Not since I discovered Clive Barker have I enjoyed horror so much.’

‘To say that Simon Clark is the best novelist to emerge this decade is self-evident. Simon has simply outgrown genre restrictions.’

‘The hottest new purveyor of horrific thrills currently working on these shores.’

‘I actually loved Blood Crazy. Not just liked it but lovedit.’

‘The pleasure of reading Blood Crazy is immense. I loved it both as a novel and an experience.’

‘Brutal. Barbaric. Brilliant. Blood Crazy is a ferocious read. And one I still look up to.’

‘ Nailed By The Heart is one of the year’s most gripping horror novels… truly terrifying.’

‘Edgar Allan Poe for the 21st Century.’

‘Simon Clark is a wonderful writer. He has what it takes to be another Stephen King.’

Many of our titles are now also available as digital editions – please search for them at your favourite digital supplier.

URBAN GOTHIC: LACUNA AND OTHER TRIPS edited by DAVID J HOWE

KING OF ALL THE DEAD by STEVE LOCKLEY & PAUL LEWIS

THE HUMAN ABSTRACT by GEORGE MANN

HOUDINI’S LAST ILLUSION by STEVE SAVILE

ALICE’S JOURNEY BEYOND THE MOON by R J CARTER

APPROACHING OMEGA by ERIC BROWN

VALLEY OF LIGHTS by STEPHEN GALLAGHER

PRETTY YOUNG THINGS by DOMINIC MCDONAGH

A MANHATTAN GHOST STORY by T M WRIGHT

SHROUDED BY DARKNESS: TALES OF TERROR edited by ALISON L R DAVIES

BLACK TIDE by DEL STONE JR

FORCE MAJEURE by DANIEL O’MAHONY

HUMPTY’S BONES by SIMON CLARK

THE DJINN by GRAHAM MASTERTON