The Powerful Story

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By Ciaran Murtagh and schoolchildren across the UK Illustrations by Lee Cosgrove

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Kate Lemon Generation Green Programme Manager at British Gas: “The Powerful Story is a book about the past, present and future of energy. This exciting story has been put together by children from England, Scotland and Wales with the help of popular children’s author, Ciaran Murtagh.

We decided to set up The Powerful Story competition to challenge children to think about energy in a creative way, and we have been overwhelmed with the responses. It’s truly inspiring to see how passionate children are about energy and the world they are growing up in.

Together, they have created a fantastic, innovative book – we hope you enjoy the story!”

About Generation Green Generation Green is an education programme run by British Gas for Key Stage 1 - 3 pupils and teachers. To find out more, please go to www.generationgreen.co.uk

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About Ciaran Murtagh Ciaran Murtagh is a writer and actor. His books include Genie in a Trap, Genie in Training, Genie in Trouble and Dinopants.

As well as a novelist, Ciaran is also a screenwriter, and has recently been involved with writing Shaun the Sheep, Dennis and Gnasher, The Legend of Dick and Dom and Numtums, amongst others. He also regularly appears in TV shows for CBBC. Ciaran lives in London with his wife and children.

About Lee Cosgrove Lee Cosgrove is an artist and illustrator. His professional scribblings have appeared in many places – from children’s books to computer games to giant billboards on the streets of LA. He has recently been illustrating books on dinosaurs and outer space (two of his favourite things) called Tyrannosaurus Max and See Inside the Universe. Lee lives in in North West England with his wife, young son and a rabbit called Maude.

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Contents Chapter 1:

By Ciaran Murtagh The following chapters were written by Ciaran and the named children and classes.

Chapter 2:

By Concetta Parente, Murrayburn Primary School, Edinburgh Chapter 3:

By Year 6 class, Ridgeway Primary School, Burntwood, Staffordshire Chapter 4:

By Year 6, Salhouse V.C C of E Primary School, Salhouse, Norwich Chapter 5:

By Annabelle Maloney, Over St. John’s Primary School, Winsford, Cheshire Chapter 6:

By Lottie Robinson, Oakfield Middle School, Frome, Somerset Chapter 7:

By Lottie Thomas, Howell’s School, Cardiff

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Chapter 8:

By Grace Hanson, Kingston Park Primary School, Newcastle upon Tyne Chapter 9:

By Kile Marshall, Fountain Primary School, Morley, Leeds Chapter 10:

By Maddie Allchin and Poppy Phillips, All Saints C of E Primary School, Kingsthorpe, Northampton Chapter 11:

By McKelvin Debrah, Vicarage Primary School, London Chapter 12 :

By Ellie D’Alessandro, St Mary’s C of E Junior School, Oxted, Surrey Chapter 13:

By Ciaran Murtagh

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Chapter 1

Billy and Zoe Spark clambered up the ladder and into the dusty loft. Zoe flicked a switch and the room was flooded with light.

Clutter filled every inch of the floor. On one side Dad had stacked all of the Christmas decorations and on the other Mum had bundled bin bags full of old clothes and toys into an untidy pile.

“Cool!” said Billy, as he scrambled over the beams towards a faded yellow box. “My old train set! I wonder if it still works?”

Billy gave the box a shake and bits of track fell onto the floor.

“Nice one fumble fingers!” laughed Zoe, coming over to help Billy gather up the pieces.

Mum’s face appeared in the hatch.

“You’re supposed to be tidying!” she said. “Not making more mess! I want this lot sorted by the time I get back from work.”

Mum pointed at the bin bag mountain.

“We’ll take what you don’t need to the charity shop first thing tomorrow morning,” said Mum. “Jimmy’s downstairs, he’ll look after you!”

Zoe and Billy rolled their eyes; Jimmy was their sixteen year old older brother. His idea of looking after them meant keeping them quiet while he played on his games console.

“We’ll be fine!” chorused Zoe and Billy as one. “We are eleven!”

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Mum’s head disappeared back through the hatch.

“There’s a lasagne on the kitchen table!” she called as she picked up her car keys.

“Finally!” said Billy, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “Now that she’s gone we can go outside and play! It’s skate time!”

It was the school holidays and all Billy wanted to do was zoom around the garden on his skateboard while Zoe filmed him on her tablet computer. He had been promising Mum that he’d help clear the loft all week and as usual he’d put it off until the very last day.

“You know how angry Mum will be if we don’t get this place tidied!” said Zoe, shutting the loft hatch door with a thud.

Billy folded his arms in a strop.

“You can be so bossy sometimes,” he huffed.

“I am the eldest,” said Zoe. “Only by 15 minutes!” said Billy.

Zoe wasn’t listening, she had plugged in her MP3 earphones.

As she rummaged through a bin bag the clothes inside made her chuckle.

“I can’t believe you used to wear this!” she giggled, holding up a Fireman Sam T-shirt.

“And I can’t believe you used to play with that!” said Billy pointing to a Princess Twinkle Fairy Castle that lay in bright pink pieces on the floor.

Slowly but surely the twins sorted through the clutter and soon they had a big pile of stuff they wanted to throw away and a tiny

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pile of stuff they wanted to keep.

As Billy lifted another bag into the centre of the room to sort, a battered red book fell onto the floor. Billy picked it up and blew away the dust. The cover of the book was made from red leather and the words ‘Diary’ and ‘Private’ were etched across the front in faded gold ink.

“Zoe,” hissed Billy. “Look at this!”

Zoe was too busy singing along to her MP3 player to hear.

“Zoe!” shouted Billy. “Look!”

Zoe jumped and pulled out her earphones.

“There’s no need to shout!” she said. “What is it?”

Billy held up the book for Zoe to see.

“It’s an old diary,” she said. “I wonder who it belonged to?”

Billy flicked open the front cover.

“This is the diary of Jeremiah Spark,” he read. “Compiled in the year of our Lord 1863.”

“Wow!” said Zoe, carefully examining the strange spidery handwriting that covered the page. “That’s 150 years ago! He must be a relative! I wonder who he was?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Billy turning the page.

For a moment all the tidying stopped as Billy and Zoe studied the book. The diary revealed that Jeremiah had been one of the first gas lamp lighters in the town. In Victorian times, street lights didn’t come on automatically, it was someone’s job to go around with a ladder and a flame and light them one by one. That someone had been Billy and Zoe’s great, great, great grandfather.

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“Every night, come rain or shine I walked the town lighting lamps,” read Billy aloud. “People depended on me and many a night I saw children’s faces pressed up against windows waiting for me to arrive to set their world a-glowing.”

Billy shuddered.

“It sounds like a spooky job,” he said quietly turning the page.

Zoe peered over his shoulder.

“Gas street lamps first appeared in London in 1807 and by 1820 they were here!” she read. “By then I was 17 years old and knew it was the only job for me! I trained long and hard practising cleaning out the lamps as well as learning how to light them without blowing my socks off! But in no time I was ready...”

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Billy was about to turn over the page when Zoe stopped him.

“We’ve got work to do,” she said.

“One more page!” pleaded Billy turning his back on his sister and flicking through the book.

As he flicked dust billowed from the pages. It seemed to sparkle and shine in the light. Soon there was dust everywhere and Zoe and Billy started to cough.

“What did you do?” spluttered Zoe. “I only flicked through the pages!” said Billy, shielding his eyes.

He scrambled towards the hatch and pulled it open, taking deep lungfuls of fresh air.

As the dust settled Zoe pointed an accusing finger at Billy.

“That was your fault!” she shouted.

“No it wasn’t!” yelled Billy. “It was yours!”

“Perhaps I may be of some assistance?” said a voice from the corner of the room.

Billy and Zoe nearly jumped out of their skin. They turned to see a strange old man with bushy side whiskers peering at them from the other side of the loft. He was dressed in an old fashioned suit and had a pocket watch dangling from his waistcoat.

“W...w...who are you?” stammered Zoe, backing away.

“Jeremiah Spark at your service,” said the strange old man offering a hand for them to shake.

“Jeremiah Spark!” spluttered Billy in disbelief. “From the diary?”

Billy held the diary up for Jeremiah to see and Jeremiah nodded.

“That looks like it belongs to me,” said Jeremiah. “But how did

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it come to be in your possession?”

“It was in one of these old bin bags,” explained Zoe. “We were tidying up the loft and...”

Zoe stopped. Something very weird had happened.

“What year do you think it is?” she asked.

“1863 of course!” laughed Jeremiah.

Billy shook his head.

“More like 2013,” he said quietly.

Jeremiah’s mouth fell open in shock and he tumbled backwards into the bin bags.

“What was the last thing you remember?” asked Zoe. “I was sitting at my desk writing my diary,” began Jeremiah.

“The candle flickered and then went out. When the light came back I was sitting right here.”

“Why were you using a candle?” asked Billy.

“Well what would you use?” asked Jeremiah.

“Electricity!” laughed Billy pointing at the flickering light bulb.

“They didn’t use electricity in the olden days dumble drawers,” hissed Zoe. “Don’t you listen to anything in History lessons?

Electricity didn’t start coming into people’s houses until after World War One. Before that they used all sorts of different energy instead. Candles, oil burners and if you were really posh gas lights.

I bet Jeremiah’s never seen a light bulb in his life!”

Zoe was right. Jeremiah was staring at the light bulb as if it had just arrived from another planet.

“Are you telling me I am in the future?” asked Jeremiah.

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Billy and Zoe nodded.

“I always knew there was something odd about that book,” said the old man scratching his whiskers in disbelief. “I won it at a travelling fair. The lady I won it from said it would take me to places I could only imagine.”

Jeremiah looked around the loft.

“It seems she was right!” he giggled. “Now, you know who I am, but who are you?”

Billy and Zoe introduced themselves.

“Well Billy and Zoe Spark,” said Jeremiah with a polite bow.

“How does it feel to meet your great, great, great grandfather?”

Billy and Zoe didn’t know what to say. They watched as Jeremiah examined the old clothes and Christmas decorations that littered the loft.

“Who on earth is Fireman Sam?” asked Jeremiah holding up a tiny t-shirt.

Billy and Zoe shared a giggle. Jeremiah Spark had a lot of catching up to do!

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Chapter 2

There was no way Zoe and Billy could concentrate on tidying the loft when they had their real life time travelling great, great, great grandfather in front of them! He was full of questions about the future and Zoe and Billy knew they had loads to show him.

“We’ll start downstairs,” said Zoe carefully lifting the heavy hatch. There was a loud ‘clatter’ and an even louder ‘thud’ as the loft stairs slipped and fell onto the floor below. They were trapped before they had even begun!

“Oh no!” said Zoe. “How are we going to get down now?”

“Leave this to me!” said Billy with a grin. Swinging like a monkey he lowered himself onto the floor below giving his sister and Jeremiah a cheeky bow.

“And for my next trick,” said Billy stretching out his arms. “Jump and I’ll catch you!”

Jeremiah and Zoe exchanged a nervous look.

“Maybe you could just pick up the stairs instead?” suggested Jeremiah.

“Spoilsports!” huffed Billy propping the stairs back up against the hatch. “Have it your way!”

When Jeremiah and Zoe got down from the loft they heard music blaring from the living room.

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“What is that terrible noise?” asked Jeremiah, sticking his fingers in his ears.

“It’s music,” said Zoe. “Kind of. Our brother is listening to his favourite band, they’re called Death Blister!”

“It’s very loud,” said Jeremiah, heading down the stairs to see.

“Actually, this is quite quiet for him,” muttered Zoe giving chase.

Jeremiah was about to pop his head into the living room when Billy stopped him. He yanked Jeremiah back out of the doorway.

“You can’t go in there!” hissed Billy. “If Jimmy spots you he’ll call Mum and tell her all about you, then we’ll have a whole heap of explaining to do!”

“Let’s go into the kitchen instead!” suggested Zoe. Billy and Zoe led Jeremiah into the kitchen. Jeremiah leant on the breakfast bar and accidentally squashed the TV remote, turning on the TV. The television burst into life and Jeremiah jumped in shock.

“What was that?” he spluttered, looking at the newsreader on the screen. “Help! Quick! There’s someone trapped inside that box!”

Zoe and Billy giggled.

“That’s not a box,” explained Zoe. “That’s a television. No one’s trapped anywhere. The television uses electricity to bring pictures to life. This one’s the news channel.”

While Zoe calmed Jeremiah down Billy used the remote to flick through all the channels. He settled on a channel that showed cartoons.

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“This is the best channel ever,” he said, “Cartoon-iverse!”

“No,” said Zoe, snatching the remote and turning the TV to the music channel. “This is the best channel ever – Music Nation!”

They were about to argue about which channel was best when they were distracted by a loud ‘PING!’ Jeremiah was staring at the microwave in confusion.

“How do I turn this television on?” he asked pushing all the buttons at once.

Zoe and Billy giggled again.

“That’s not a television,” explained Zoe patiently. “That’s a microwave oven, we use it to cook our food.”

Jeremiah sat on a stool and sighed.

“I’ve got a lot to learn about the future,” he said. “In my day we cooked food on a stove and had to fetch coal or wood if we wanted our supper.”

“Some people still do that,” said Zoe. “But nowadays you can use gas or electricity too.”

“Do you still have kettles in the future?” asked Jeremiah. “Only, if you do I’d love a cup of tea, time travel makes you thirsty!”

Billy filled the kettle with water and Zoe popped the kettle on the hob pressing a switch. A blue plume of gas began to heat the bottom of the kettle. Jeremiah watched in amazement.

“Well look at that!” he spluttered. “You just press a switch and you’ve got fire in your house! In my day we needed coal and kindling and matches for that kind of thing.”

“These days we use gas,” said Billy. “The gas is drilled from

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underground and then brought straight to the house in big pipes.”

As Zoe handed Jeremiah a fresh cup of tea, Billy fetched the biscuit barrel and offered Jeremiah a digestive. Jeremiah shook his head and Billy shoved two in his mouth.

“I’ll have yours then!” he spluttered, showering the kitchen in biscuit crumbs.

Jeremiah sipped his tea and Zoe explained all the uses that gas had in the house.

“We can use it to cook with,” she said. “Or we can use it to heat rooms and water.”

“Coal does all of that where I come from,” said Jeremiah with a wry smile. “But I bet you don’t use coal any more do you? Too old fashioned!”

Zoe and Billy were about to disagree, some people did still use coal when Jeremiah had an idea.

“Here!” he said, setting down his tea. “There used to be a coal mine not too far away from here! We could go and take a look and I could tell you all about it.”

“But we’re meant to be tidying,” said Zoe. Billy was already opening the door to the garage. Any excuse to get out of tidying sounded good to him!

“Great idea!” said Billy. “We can tidy any time Zoe. How often do you get to spend the day with your great, great, great grandfather?”

Zoe had to agree, Billy had a point.

Zoe and Jeremiah followed Billy into the garage.

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“I’ll ride my skateboard,” said Billy. “Zoe you take your scooter and Jeremiah, you can borrow my bike.”

Billy pointed to his BMX propped up against the wall.

“My, my!” spluttered Jeremiah, examining the bike closely. “A velocipede! How fancy!”

Billy and Zoe gave each other a strange look.

“No,” corrected Billy. “It’s a bike.”

It took a while for Jeremiah to get his balance but soon the unlikely trio were teetering towards the coal mine.

“Let’s go slow coaches!” said Billy, whizzing ahead on his skateboard. Zoe scooted as fast as she could and Jeremiah wobbled his way down the road. As Zoe watched Jeremiah tumbled into a hedge. Suddenly she realised this was going to be a very long day indeed.

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Chapter 3

After a shaky start, Jeremiah soon got the hang of riding the small, large-handled bike. Billy had explained that the bike was a special kind of bike, used for stunts, and was called a BMX. “I’m not too sure about this TMX.” Jeremiah said, glancing over towards Billy and nearly falling off.

“I bet it’s a bit different to what you’ve ridden before,” chuckled Billy as he rounded the corner on his skateboard.

“You could say that!” exclaimed Jeremiah. “The only thing I’ve ridden before is a horse!”

Jeremiah led the two twins down the lane towards the coal mine.

“The mine used to be just over here,” he said, pointing to a pair of grand looking gates. A statue of a miner stood off to one side.

“I don’t remember that statue being there though,” said Jeremiah. “He looks familiar.”

Zoe hopped off her bike to have a closer look at the statue. The statue of the old miner was dressed as if he had just come out of the mine; he was holding the reins of a pony. It was tremendously life-like. She began to read the bronze plaque that was nailed to a plinth underneath.

“Alfie Spark.” Zoe read aloud. “Do you know him?”

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“Know him?” spluttered Jeremiah. “Alfie Spark is my brother!”

“It says here”, said Billy, reading more from the plaque, “‘Alfie Spark died in this mine in the year 18....”

“Oi! Daft duck!” hissed Zoe, digging her brother in the ribs.

“Jeremiah doesn’t want to hear about that!”

Fortunately, Jeremiah had wandered past the statue, through the double gates and on towards the mine entrance.

“This is where the managers work,” he explained pointing to a row of offices. “It’s very quiet today though. Is it a bank holiday?”

Jeremiah asked.

Billy tried the door handle, but it appeared to be locked. A muscular arm reached out and tapped him on the shoulder.

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“You can try that as much as you like lad,” said a gruff voice with a strong Cannock accent. “But the museum ain’t open for another five minutes and the next tour don’t begin until twenty past.”

The three friends turned to see a guard peering down at them.

“Museum?” said Jeremiah. “You mean the mine is shut?”

The guard nodded.

“Shut for a good few years now,” he said heading into one of the offices. “But the tour’s fun.”

“None of the mines around here are running anymore.” said Zoe as the guard disappeared inside the office.

“But what about the people who used to work here?” gasped Jeremiah. “What about their families? This has always been a mining area. When my brother was born, my father’s friends asked if he was a boy or a girl and my Dad said that he was a bucket of coal! Dad meant that Alfie would go straight to work in the mines!”

“So how come you were a lamp lighter not a miner?” asked Billy.

“None of your business, nosy parker!” exclaimed Zoe. “Jeremiah doesn’t have to tell you everything.”

Then Zoe had second thoughts and turned to Jeremiah, her eyebrow arched mischievously.

“It’s a good question though Jeremiah,” she said with a wink.

“Why did you become a lamp lighter?”

“Who’s a nosy parker now then?” chuckled Billy playfully.

“Well,” said Jeremiah, drawing breath. “I was the youngest in

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the family, and my brother Alfie was already working in the mine, so my parents wanted me to go into another business. When I was 14, I began to work with a lamp lighter and learned his trade.”

Zoe looked down at her watch, the tour was about to begin.

They left their bike, scooter and skateboard propped up against a wall and walked over to the office the guard had disappeared into earlier on. Other families were waiting patiently in line.

“C’mon guys!” exclaimed Zoe. “We don’t want to miss it!”

Jeremiah pulled Billy and Zoe through the door to where a tour guide was waiting for them. The guide led them over to a large table littered with torches and hard hats. He picked one up, popped it on Zoe’s head and started to adjust the straps.

“Has everyone got their hard hats and torches?” asked the tour guide when he finished with Zoe. “It can get pretty dark down there. Turn your hat lamps on, check it works and gather around me when you’re ready.”

“Haven’t we got Davy lamps?” asked Jeremiah. “They were a fantastic invention. They enabled miners to go further underground safely...”

“You’re up to date with your history!” chuckled the tour guide, as he led the group towards a winding steel staircase that led down into the mine. “I’ll tell you all about Davy lamps later, but for now, if you would like to follow me, we will proceed into the mine.”

As the group descended the 140 metres below the museum, the children looked around excitedly, listening intently to the

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information that the guide was telling them. He was explaining that the elevator shaft was not safe to use as it was currently under restoration and there would be a grand opening for it next month.

“What’s that stinky smell?” asked Billy, wrinkling his nose with disgust.

Zoe gave him a hard dig in the ribs.

“Shut up you bad-mannered baboon!” she growled.

“Actually, young man,” said the tour guide. “It used to be a lot worse. The poor, old miners that worked here in the early 1800s had to suffer the smell until these ventilation shafts were introduced. The amount of methane that was produced by the coal extraction was very dangerous. It could cause explosions which is why the Davy Lamp was such an important invention,” he said, nodding in Jeremiah’s direction.

As they continued further down the tunnel into the mine, the light from the end of the staircase faded like a weakening flame.

The guide motioned to them to turn on their hard hat lights. It soon became clear that the conditions the miners used to have to work in were horrendous.

“Come here Billy, how do you expect to see anything without your light on?” asked Zoe turning on Billy’s light and continuing down the tunnel with the rest of the group.

Billy huffed; his sister was so bossy. Then he turned around and squealed with fright. A miner, pick-axe slung over his shoulder, was glaring down at him. Billy breathed a sigh of relief when he realised it was only a model. He recovered himself and raced after

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the tour party.

“Keep up slow snail!” said Zoe. “The guide is telling us about the accidents that happened in the mine.” “. . . and that’s why that mine was closed.” said the guide. “In this mine we had a tag system to use in the event of a disaster.

Each worker had a tag which they had to collect every time they left. This would show if anyone was still down here and also helped to find anybody who was trapped underground” concluded the guide.

As they moved further down the tunnel the torches on their helmets cast eerie shadows onto the midnight black walls. The refurbished mining carts, full of coal, stood fixed to the rusty metal track that they were following around the mine.

“Do you think that’s what happened to Jeremiah’s brother?” whispered Billy, looking towards his sister curiously. “That he got trapped underground?”

“I honestly don’t know,” said Zoe “What was the date on the statue?”

“Eighteen seventy something….” Billy began, but before he could finish the tour guide said something that made both Billy and Zoe stop and listen.

“The worst disaster in this mine happened in 1873,” said the tour guide. “39 people died. It was terrible!”

“1873! That was the date on the statue!” exclaimed Billy.

“Oh dear,” said Zoe sadly. “Maybe Alfie did die here all those years ago...”

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“Right,” announced the tour guide clapping his hands. “Time has run away with us and we’ve reached the end of the tour. Please make your way to the exit in an orderly fashion.”

On the way out, Zoe, Billy and Jeremiah looked at the many old photos displayed on the walls. Suddenly, Jeremiah’s eyes fell on a picture of a miners’ outing to the seaside.

“Oh, that looks fun!” exclaimed Jeremiah, “I love the seaside. It was my favourite place to go as a child! And as an adult!”

“We love the seaside too!” said Billy. “Let’s go visit, I’m sure Mum won’t mind!”

“What about the tidying?” said Zoe. But Jeremiah and Billy were already running towards their BMX and skateboard.

“I do wish Alfie was here,” said Jeremiah mounting his BMX, “he would have loved a trip to the seaside.”

Jeremiah began to pedal back towards the gates.

“I’m getting the hang of this BMX,” he called over his shoulder.

“I might even try that wheelie board next!”

“It’s a skateboard Jeremiah!” shouted Billy. But Jeremiah wasn’t listening.

“We’ll need to catch a train if we want to go to the seaside,” called Jeremiah. “They had trains in my day and if I’m not mistaken the station was this way!”

Billy and Zoe smiled as they followed Jeremiah back past the statue of his brother and onto their next adventure.

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Chapter 4

Zoe, Billy and Jeremiah sped towards the train station. They didn’t live far from the sea but the train would get them there in no time at all!

When they arrived at the station Jeremiah was confused.

“I thought this was the train station,” he said uncertainly.

“This is the train station Jeremiah,” smiled Zoe. “But where’s the train?” asked Jeremiah.

“You’re looking at it,” Billy replied, pointing to the sleek new electric train standing at the platform. “You are so behind the times!”

“Of course I am!” said Jeremiah with a wry smile. “I’ve missed out on 150 years of history! There’s a lot I don’t know, but I do know this...”

“What?” asked Billy.

“You should show your elders more respect!” Jeremiah ruffled Billy’s hair playfully and Zoe laughed.

“He’s got you there!” she sniggered.

Jeremiah turned his gaze back towards the train.

“How is it going to move?” he asked. “Where’s the funnel and all the steam…?” Jeremiah’s voice trailed off in wonder as he looked at the pristine train carriage.

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As they climbed aboard, Zoe explained how, nowadays, trains were powered by electricity or diesel.

“This one’s powered by electricity,” said Billy pointing to the overhead lines.

Jeremiah and the twins left their bike, scooter and skateboard by the luggage rack, found three seats and sat listening to the humming noise of the idling engine. While they waited for the train to move, Jeremiah explained to the children how trains worked back in his day. He recalled the chuffing sound the steam trains made and told them that if you put your head out of the window you got a face full of smoke and soot for your trouble!

Finally the train pulled out of the station and picked up speed.

As the train powered down the tracks the town turned gradually to countryside. The speed of the train and the swaying motion of the carriage made Jeremiah feel quite queasy. The children watched as he settled back in his seat and closed his eyes.

“Well, he is very old,” whispered Billy to Zoe, “he probably needs a nap!”

“I can still hear you,” replied Jeremiah without even opening his eyes.

Billy made a face and Zoe elbowed him in the ribs.

Moments later the train sped through a tunnel. As they zoomed out of the other end Jeremiah’s eyes popped open.

“Oh my gosh,” he said pointing out of the window. “What is that funnel?”

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He was pointing at a huge cooling tower. It belonged to a power station that had been built in the valley of a hillside.

“It’s not a funnel, Grandpa,” laughed Billy. “It’s not on a ship!”.

“It’s a cooling tower,” explained Zoe. “That’s where some of our electricity is made. You see, we still use coal and steam, that’s steam coming out of the top of that tower, not smoke. Inside, the coal heats up the water which turns it into steam. The steam is then forced through a huge turbine which spins to generate electricity. Then the electricity goes along those wires, into our homes and even this train.”

Zoe whipped her tablet computer out of her backpack. She tapped at the screen and an image of a power station flickered onto the screen.

“Is this another one of those television thingies?” asked Jeremiah. “Or is it a microwave?”

Zoe didn’t even know how to begin explaining tablet computers and the internet to a man who until that morning had never ridden a bicycle! Instead she just said: “It’s like a television, only better!”

She tapped the screen and navigated the tablet to a website that told them more about power stations. The power station on the screen was as big as a multi storey car park and made of grey concrete. Zoe tapped the screen again and a clip showing the inside of the power station burst into life. The noise inside was very loud indeed.

“It’s worse than Death Blister!” said Jeremiah putting his fingers

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in his ears.

The noise was coming from a giant machine like a silver mushroom. It was one of the great big turbines, bigger than a house, spinning like King Kong’s washing machine.

“Look at the size of it!” said Billy in amazement.

The workers in the clip were wearing ear defenders, helmets and overalls to protect them from the noise, mess and danger of the power station.

One of the workers was pushing buttons on a panel of flashing lights. Zoe clicked to a new web page and it showed them the inside of the cooling towers. Steam rose into the sky like smoke.

“This is sooooooo boring!” said Billy, snatching the tablet out of his sister’s hand. “If you want to see something really cool have a look at this!”

With a swish of his fingers Billy had tapped another icon and was soon showing Jeremiah a video clip of him skateboarding around the garden.

“Very impressive,” said Jeremiah with a grin.

“Oh yeah?” said Zoe. “What about this?”

Zoe skipped to the next video. It still showed Billy skating around the garden but this time he lost his balance and tumbled head first into the fish pond.

“Hey!” exclaimed Billy. “No fair! You said you weren’t recording!”

Zoe winked and popped the tablet back into her rucksack.

“I’m always recording!” she laughed as she settled back into her

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seat to enjoy the rest of the ride to the seaside.

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Chapter 5

Billy never sat still. He was always on the move, even on a train, and soon he was skateboarding up and down the carriage singing the theme tune to The Landing From Space 4 and annoying the other passengers “Billy! Get back here now!” snapped Zoe. “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves and ‘you know who’.”

Zoe nodded at Jeremiah who was still staring, transfixed as the modern world whizzed past his window.

“All right, all right!” laughed Billy. “Keep your wig on!”

Billy hopped off his skateboard and sat down next to Jeremiah to try and explain what all the weird and wonderful things he’d never seen before were.

Half an hour later, Zoe sat, tapping her foot and humming along to the latest Olly Murs song on her MP3 player. Billy was pointing out an aeroplane to Jeremiah. He’d never seen one before.

“I like it in the future,” said Jeremiah quietly to himself.

Finally the train pulled to a stop.

“Yay!” cheered Zoe. “We’re here!”

Billy jumped up and rushed to fetch his skateboard.

“Wait!” But Zoe was too late. Billy was barging through the crowds of people all rushing to get off the train.

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“Got it!” shouted Billy holding his skateboard aloft. The train had calmed down now, so he had an easier time getting back to where Zoe and Jeremiah were still waiting. But just as suddenly as they had got off, the train passengers started scrambling back into the carriage.

“What’s going on?” asked Zoe. “I’m afraid we have stopped at the wrong end of the beach,” mumbled a stranger.

Everyone sat back down and got out their gadgets and books to keep them busy.

“I could almost taste the ice cream!” said Jeremiah licking his lips. “How much further?”

The train began to speed off again and Zoe whipped out her tablet computer.

“Why don’t I show you where my Dad works,” suggested Zoe typing the words ‘nuclear power plant’ into the search engine.

“We’ll be at the seaside in no time – I promise!”

An image of cooling chimneys filled the screen.

“It’s another power station,” said Jeremiah. “Is that where your Dad works?”

“That’s right,” nodded Zoe. “But this is a different type of power station to the one we saw earlier. Here they make a type of electricity that’s better for the environment. When you burn fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal, carbon is released and it can damage the world around us.”

Zoe swiped her finger across the screen.

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“But this is a nuclear power station,” she explained. “Nuclear power doesn’t release carbon; instead it splits atoms and releases energy that way.”

Zoe flicked open her Facebook page and showed Jeremiah a picture of her Dad in a pair of bright yellow overalls.

“This is Dad,” said Zoe. “He loves his job!”

“Does your Mum work there too?” asked Jeremiah.

Zoe shook her head.

“She works at a supermarket called Google Plex.”

Billy had his nose pressed up against the window of the carriage.

“We’re here!” he shouted as the train juddered to a stop.

Scrambling off the train and grabbing their bike, scooter and skateboard, Zoe, Billy and Jeremiah headed for the beach but before they could get there Billy spotted something.

“Look, look, look, look!” he shouted pointing to the distance.

“It’s a fair!”

“What fun!” laughed Jeremiah, striding off towards it. “Let’s have a closer look before we go to the beach!”

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Chapter 6

“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Jeremiah, as he , Zoe and Billy arrived at the fairground. “This is even better than I remember it!”

It was a sunny afternoon and the gates for the new seafront fair were being held open by two men in ringmaster costumes.

“What a wonderful fairground!” said Jeremiah smiling as he remembered the fairgrounds he used to go to as a child.

“Come on! Let’s see what we can find!” said Zoe, tugging Billy and Jeremiah’s hands and leading them towards a lady operating a candy floss machine.

Zoe rummaged in her pocket for some money and handed it over.

The lady handed her a big stick of candy floss in return.

“Want some?” offered Zoe, looking at Jeremiah’s puzzled face.

Billy licked his lips.

“You can’t eat that can you?” said Jeremiah. “It’s just a big pink cloud isn’t it?”

“Of course you can eat it!” laughed Billy. “It’s called candy floss and it’s delicious!”

Zoe ripped a chunk of candy floss off the long wooden stick and shoved it in her mouth. Jeremiah did the same.

“Actually it’s not bad candy-whatever-you-call-it,” smiled Jeremiah as he chewed. “It’s not bad at all!”

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Once the candy floss was finished the Sparks enjoyed exploring the fairground and choosing the most exciting rides to have a go on. They tried the dodgems, the big wheel and even the waltzers.

One hour later they staggered off the teacups.

“Wow!” said Jeremiah as he struggled to regain his balance, “The old ones are the best! But to be honest, I think I’ve had enough spinning, jumping and bouncing for one day.”

Zoe and Billy couldn’t agree more and soon the three friends were heading out of the fairground for a bit of quiet time.

“We should head for the beach,” suggested Zoe. “It’ll be calmer there.”

“Great idea!” exclaimed Jeremiah.

When they got to the beach, Billy and Zoe took off their shoes while Jeremiah embraced the sea air.

“I love the beach!” exclaimed Zoe, taking pictures of the sun’s reflection shimmering onto the big blue waves of the ocean with her tablet computer.

“Goodness it’s hot today,” Jeremiah said, removing his jacket.

“The sun heats up so much, I wonder if there’s a way to make it work for us!”

“There is Jeremiah,” said Zoe, pointing to a road of nearby houses. The sun twinkled off the rows of neat solar panels that had been placed on the roof of every home.

“Those are solar panels,” said Zoe. “They absorb the energy from the sun and use it to heat hot water and power our homes.”

“You learn something new every day,” said Jeremiah in wonder.

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“Unless you’re a time travelling granddad like me, in which case you learn 100 new things instead!”

“Any left-over electricity goes to other houses,” continued Zoe but she could see that Jeremiah’s mind was beginning to wander.

“What on earth are those?” asked Jeremiah pointing to three large wind turbines on top of the cliffs.

“They’re wind turbines!” said Billy with a smile. “They produce electricity too! Shall we go and have a closer look?”

Jeremiah didn’t need to be asked twice and was already clambering onto the BMX. “Come on slow coaches!” he shouted as he pedalled. “If you can’t keep up with a man who’s 150 years old then things really are bad!”

Zoe and Billy giggled, hopped on to their skateboard and scooter and gave chase.

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Chapter 7

As they pedaled and skated Jeremiah looked up at the wind turbines in wonder. He was used to the water mills, chimneys and engines of the mill towns where he grew up, there was even the odd windmill dotted about to help grind corn, but these turbines were unlike anything he’d ever seen.

“They’re amazing!” he said. “So big and grand! What are they made of?”

“These ones are made of concrete,” explained Zoe. “And the blades are made of fiber glass. They build them on windy hills and when the wind spins the blades they make electricity.”

Jeremiah paused halfway up the hill to catch his breath. The wind turbines still looked a long way away.

“We could always wait for a bus,” suggested Billy.

Jeremiah looked shocked.

“Are you saying I’m too old to make it up the hill?” he gasped.

Billy’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish but Jeremiah wasn’t finished.

“I’ll have you know I was climbing up hills like this before you were even born!” he said, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “In my day we had legs and we knew how to use them!” continued Jeremiah. “Come on now you two, last one up the hill’s a rotten

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egg!”

Jeremiah, Billy and Zoe set off again at a cracking pace. Jeremiah took great pride in being first to the top and Billy was declared a rotten egg for coming last.

The effort to get up the hill was well worth it. The view from the top was amazing and the town and sea shore spread out below like an intricate model. After they had taken in the view and picked out the candyfloss stall and waltzers, Jeremiah turned his attention to the wind turbines.

“Which one of you rotten eggs is going to tell me how these work then?” he asked.

While Billy did his best to explain, Zoe went up to a little shop that stood at the top of the hill. She bought three ice creams: mint choc chip for Billy, strawberry for Zoe and vanilla with a chocolate flake and toffee sprinkles for Jeremiah. As she was waiting to pay, a cheerful lady gave Zoe a friendly wave.

“They look nice,” said the lady pointing at the ice creams and licking her lips. “I’m Fiona by the way.” She said pointing to the name badge pinned to her top. The badge also had a picture of a wind turbine printed on one side. Zoe smiled back.

“They’re for my great, great...” she began before stopping herself. She didn’t want to give the game away. “I mean they’re for my granddad, me and my brother,” she said quickly.

“Do you work here?” asked Zoe. Fiona nodded.

“Would you come and explain to us all how these turbines

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work?” asked Zoe. “My grandfather is very excited.”

“No problem!” said Fiona with a smile. “But first I must buy myself an ice cream too! I don’t want to be the odd one out!”

Zoe waited while Fiona bought herself a chocolate ice cream covered in multi-coloured sprinkles and then led Fiona over to where Jeremiah and Billy were still staring at the wind turbine in fascination.

Soon Fiona was in full flow, telling the three friends everything she knew about the enormous turbines between licks of her ice cream.

“The blades are the size of the wings of a jumbo jet,” she said.

“The wind makes the turbines turn, the turning makes electricity and the electricity then gets sent down wires all over the country.”

Fiona began to tell them how burning coal and oil was becoming a worry. It was running out in some countries, polluting others and causing all sorts of other problems too.

“In some ways we’re trying to turn back the clock,” she said with a smile. “We want to make the energy we need from the world around us. The wind turbines make power without using fossil fuel or making pollution, but some people really don’t like them.”

“Why not?” asked Billy, “What’s not to like? They look cool to me. Not smelly or dirty like the coal mine we visited earlier on.”

“Some people think they spoil the beautiful countryside,” explained Fiona.

“Then they’re wrong,” said Jeremiah gesturing to the wind turbines. “I think they give everybody something to look at! They

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looked wonderful from down there.”

As Jeremiah pointed down to the beach, Zoe cast her gaze to the view on the other side of the hill where something had caught her eye. It looked like a shimmering lake, but there was something strange about it, one end of the lake ended in a completely straight line.

“Is that a dam down there?” asked Zoe. “Well spotted,” said Fiona. “We use the dam to make electricity too!”

“Electricity and water?” asked Billy, “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Not if you’re careful,” laughed Fiona. “Tell you what; I’ve got a friend down there who will only be too happy to explain. Do you fancy going for a look? If you do, tell him I sent you!”

“That sounds like a chance for another race to me”, said Jeremiah picking up his BMX. “On your marks, get set, go!”

Fiona and the twins watched Jeremiah speed down the hill.

“Hey!” shouted Billy. “That’s not fair, you didn’t even give us a chance!”

But Jeremiah was already gone, turning a corner with his coat tails flapping in the wind.

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Chapter 8

When they caught up with Jeremiah they found him waiting for them patiently in a lay by. He was leaning up against a van with his arms folded.

“What kept you?” he asked, the familiar mischievous twinkle in his eye once again.

Zoe and Billy skidded to a halt, grateful for the chance to catch their breath. They came and joined Jeremiah by the van. The van was blue and a sign on the side read ‘Sanderson Services – Treat Yourself!’.

Jeremiah peered through the van’s window. Suddenly a bright bossy lady tapped him on the shoulder.

“Can I help you!” she asked.

Jeremiah jumped and started to blush.

“Sorry,” he spluttered. “I was just being nosy!”

“Anyone would think you hadn’t seen a van before,” said the lady with a smile.

“Well the funny thing is...” said Jeremiah.

But Zoe stopped him before he could go too far.

“We’re on our way to the dam,” she blurted. “Fiona from the wind farm sent us!”

The bossy lady smiled.

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“I know Fiona!” she said. “In fact I work at the dam and I’m just on my way back. Do you want to come with me?”

“Cool!” said Billy.

“Yes please!” nodded Zoe. “Then you’d better hop in!” said the lady nodding to the van.

“There’s room for your bikes and things in the back!”

With the BMX, skateboard and scooter safely stowed away, Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah all squeezed into the front of the van.

“What’s this strap thing for?” asked Jeremiah fiddling with the seatbelt.

“Cor!” said the lady. “You don’t get out much do you? It’s a seatbelt!”

The cheery lady leaned over and clicked the seatbelt into place.

Then the engine roared into life and they were off!

When they got to the dam, Billy and Zoe jumped out of the van.

For a moment they completely forgot about their great, great, great grandfather, then they turned and saw him tapping at the window.

“How do I get out?” he wailed.

Zoe and Billy giggled as they watched Jeremiah try to wiggle underneath the seatbelt. Soon he was stuck fast!

“Let me help you,” said Billy, leaning in and pushing the red button that released the belt.

“Thank you,” said Jeremiah hopping out of the van to join them. The bossy lady led them to the big double doors of the hydroelectric plant. They were set in the middle of the dam and

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the lake rippled gently behind them.

“Courtney!” called Raj. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so early!”

“Ah well,” said Courtney. “I found these three and promised them a tour of the dam. Can you take them?”

While Courtney unloaded the bike, skateboard and scooter from the back of the van, Raj introduced himself. He pointed to the wall next to the big double doors.

“You can leave your bikes and things there,” he said. “They’ll be perfectly safe. “ The children and Jeremiah helped Courtney move the skateboard, scooter and bike to the wall. When they were done Courtney gave them a wave, slammed the van doors and sped off.

Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah waved as Raj handed them each a pair of blue overalls.

“Sorry about these,” he said. “But the boss insists you wear them. Hydroelectric power plants can be very dirty places.”

“What’s a hydroelectric power plant?” asked Billy.

“It’s this place,” said Raj gesturing to the dam. “The dam and what goes on inside it allows us to make electricity from water. If you follow me you’ll see what I mean.”

Raj pushed open the large doors and Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah followed him inside. It took a moment for them to catch their breath. They were standing in front of a lot of very expensive looking equipment.

“Oh my gosh!” squealed Zoe.

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Raj stood calmly in front of the energy producing monsters and explained that hydroelectricity is produced by water. The huge metal machine in front of them filtered the water, the filtered water was then pushed through a turbine making it spin to make electricity.

When their eyes adjusted to the sight, Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah all agreed that the machinery could be called, in a freaky way, beautiful. The light bounced off the silver of the metal and reflected off Jeremiah’s watch chain. Jeremiah took out the watch and gasped.

“Is that the time?” he spluttered. “We must have lunch!”

Billy and Zoe agreed immediately.

“No problem,” said Raj. “I’ll drop you off back in town. There’s a supermarket for sandwiches and things.”

Zoe and Billy had accepted the offer before Jeremiah could even get a word in! Raj had a black car which went very fast and while Zoe and Billy put their scooters and bikes in the boot Jeremiah buckled himself in.

“I’m getting the hang of this now!” he said with a wink. Soon Raj was speeding towards town.

A speed camera flashed as they zipped by causing Jeremiah to shriek in surprise, “Lightening! And I didn’t pack a brolly!”

Zoe and Billy giggled.

When they got to town, Raj said goodbye and they hopped out to unpack the car. Raj pointed them in the direction of the supermarket and Jeremiah followed Zoe and Billy inside.

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Billy grabbed a basket and filled it with bread, crisps, fizzy pop, marshmallows, grapes, cake and a large tub of ice cream.

“More ice cream?” said Zoe raising an eyebrow.

“You can never have too much ice cream – right Billy?” said Jeremiah with a wink.

They took Jeremiah to a self-service till and Jeremiah watched as they scanned each of the items.

“In my day, shop assistants used to do this!” said Jeremiah. “We weren’t even allowed to touch the stuff until it was paid for!”

Zoe and Billy shoved everything into two plastic bags and headed for the door. Now all they needed was a good spot for a picnic!

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Chapter 9

As they searched for a picnic spot it seemed like the whole town had had the same idea. Every single bench on the High Street was taken and the beach was overflowing with people.

“I know,” said Zoe. “Why don’t we have our picnic in the woods?”

“That’s a great idea!” said Billy.

“There’s just one problem,” said Jeremiah. “Where are the woods? In my day they used to be where the supermarket is now!”

“That was 150 years ago!” laughed Billy.

“Things have certainly changed,” agreed Jeremiah. “So where are the woods now?”

“We’ll have to head back out of town,” said Zoe. Jeremiah didn’t need to be told twice. He looped the carrier bags full of picnic provisions over the handlebars of the BMX and began to pedal. Billy and Zoe rushed to keep up. It was clear their great, great, great grandfather was very hungry!

“This way!” called Zoe, overtaking Jeremiah leading them down a leafy country lane.

When they got to the woods they found a table with chairs and set up their picnic. The woods were vast and birds tweeted in the treetops. They shared and enjoyed everything they had bought

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in the shop and then Jeremiah produced some surprises from his pocket.

“Here we go!” he said, taking out some crunchy apples, taupe biscuits and sour lemon sweets. “I was saving these, but now seems as good a time as any!”

Jeremiah popped a sour lemon sweet into his mouth and pulled a funny face. Billy and Zoe giggled. Then they each tried a sweet and the faces they pulled were even funnier!

“You look like a monkey that’s just had a face transplant! laughed Billy pointing at Zoe. “Well you look like a baboon that just got smacked by his mum!”, laughed Zoe. Jeremiah ate an apple and was about to throw the core over his shoulder when Zoe stopped him.

“You can’t do that!” she said, picking it up. “We’ll put it on the compost heap when we get home.”

“Speaking of which,” said Jeremiah checking his pocket watch.

“We should get going. Haven’t you got some tidying up to do?”

Billy pulled a face that was even funnier than the sour lemon face he’d pulled earlier. The thought of tidying up the loft didn’t fill his heart with joy.

When they got home Zoe showed Jeremiah into the back garden and pointed at the compost heap.

“Throw your apple core on there,” she said and Jeremiah did what he was told.

“We’ll use that on the garden later,” explained Zoe. “It helps

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57

Mum’s roses grow.”

Billy called Jeremiah back inside to show him the three bins in the kitchen. He was just finishing a can of fizzy pop. As he took a final swig he let out a huge burp and then tossed the can in the green bin.

“This green one is the recycle bin,” he explained. “Everything we put in there goes off to be reused. The blue bin is for food waste and that goes on the compost heap, the other bin is for anything else that we can’t recycle and have to throw away.”

Jeremiah nodded and then checked his pocket watch again.

“My goodness!” he gasped. “Teatime!”

Zoe and Billy shared a knowing look. It seemed like Victorian gentlemen needed a lot of teatimes! Before they could say anything Jeremiah was filling the kettle and popping it on the hob.

“I’ve been waiting to do this all day!” he giggled as he flicked the switch to ignite the gas. “It’s so easy!”

When the tea was ready they all sat around the kitchen table sipping from three large mugs.

“Well I must say, this has been an interesting day!” said Jeremiah smacking his lips. “Yesterday it was 1863 and look at me now! I’ve learned so much and while I am grateful to you for showing me so much, I must admit I am starting to feel a little home sick... do you think I’ll ever get back to 1863?”

Zoe and Billy exchanged a look.

“I hope so,” said Billy nervously.

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“Me too,” nodded Zoe. While it was very nice having their great, great, great grandfather around, if he was still here when Mum got home they’d have an awful lot of explaining to do!

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Chapter 10

“You’ve learned a lot about our life,” said Zoe as the three friends finished their tea. “But we’ve still a lot to learn about yours Jeremiah.”

“Yeah,” agreed Billy. “Before you go you have to tell us some more about 1863. What was it like being a lamp lighter?”

“It was very hard work,” said Jeremiah. “Not only did I have to light the lamps at night. I had to get up very early in the morning to put them all out again. It was dangerous too! One time I set my jacket alight!”

“I bet you looked really funny hopping around to put out the flames!” giggled Billy.

“I must have!” laughed Jeremiah. “Like a little froggy firework!”

“Did you get badly burned?” asked Zoe. “Only singed around the edges,” admitted Jeremiah. “There was a horse trough nearby and I jumped in to cool off. To be honest, I was more wet and embarrassed than hurt. It’s a good job there weren’t more people around at that time in the morning or I’d never have heard the end of it! Every morning I would see the same familiar faces. Bob walking Patrick his dog, the postman and the baker of course! They were all up at the same time as me!

Then there were the poor and dirty children, pressing their faces

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up against the bakery window. Every now and then, Mr Johnson the baker, gave them a roll or two for their breakfast. Then there was a smartly dressed man who wobbled down the High Street on his Penny Farthing every morning. I never did catch his name. I bet I could give him a run for his money now though,” said Jeremiah with a wink. “I’m a TMX expert!”

Billy rolled his eyes.

“It’s called a BMX!” he said.

Jeremiah chuckled.

“I don’t care what it’s called!” giggled Jeremiah. “I’m an expert!

I could have done with one of those TMX’s for my rounds to go faster. I had some strange days all right! The smell of fresh bread would fill the air. Of course sometimes it mingled with more disgusting sewage-y smells too, and don’t get me started on the rats...”

Billy and Zoe wrinkled their noses at the thought.

“They usually kept to the shadows,” said Jeremiah. “Sometimes I saw a cross looking nanny wheeling a sleepless crying baby up and down in a pram. She used to comment on how good the early morning air was for the constitution. Maybe that’s why I look so handsome!”

Jeremiah preened himself in the mirror and smiled. Then he shook his head, as if suddenly remembering where he was.

“Talking of constitution” he said upending his empty teacup.

“Maybe time for one more cuppa before I try and head home?”

“Of course”, said Zoe quickly refilling the kettle and popping it

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on the hob.

Jeremiah shook his head in disbelief once again.

“I still can’t get over how simple that is!” he said. “In my day we had to go out into the street to get the water from a pump and then boil it over the fire. You had to work for your tea in those days! Nowadays you get power pumped straight into your home!

It’s so easy!”

“Not that easy,” said Zoe. “Remember everything we’ve seen today. The coal mine, the wind turbines, the hydroelectric station, the nuclear power plant where Dad works...”

“The solar panels too!” interrupted Billy.

“I was just coming onto those,” said Zoe, shooting her brother an impatient look before returning to her train of thought. “It takes lots of hard work and lots of people to get that all working together.”

“You’re right,” nodded Jeremiah. “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

“All that hard work goes to make the electricity that the national grid then distributes to people’s houses” said Billy.

“I know how they make the electricity,” said Jeremiah. “But how do they get it into people’s houses?”

Zoe pointed out of the window.

“The electricity travels long distances over really high pylons, through substations and overhead wires to get to people’s homes, schools and places of work,” she explained.

Before Zoe could finish his explanation, there was a creak on

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the stairs. Zoe and Billy looked at each other, eyes wide in panic.

“Jimmy,” gasped Zoe. “He’s coming in!”

“Quick! Hide!” shouted Billy to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah darted for the kitchen door, taking his cup of tea with him.

“Is there any lasagne left?” mumbled Jimmy as he lumbered into the kitchen. When he saw the freshly boiled kettle he put his hand on his hips and sulked.

“Thanks for the cup of tea – not!” he said sarcastically.

Jimmy placed a slice of lasagne onto a plate and popped it into the microwave. It seemed to take ages for the microwave to ping, but when it did Jimmy finally headed back to the living room. Zoe and Billy were about to breathe a sigh of relief when Billy stopped in the doorway.

“Aren’t you supposed to be tidying?” he shouted over his shoulder. “Better get to it! Mum’ll be back soon!”

With that Jimmy disappeared into the living room and slammed the door shut behind him. Zoe and Billy waited until the sound of Death Blister filled the air before speaking.

“That was close,” said Zoe. “Too close,” agreed Billy. “Come on! Let’s see what Jeremiah’s getting up to outside.”

When Billy and Zoe got into the garden they found Jeremiah looking at the wires attached to the house.

“So the wires come from there,” said Jeremiah pointing to the pylon. “And they bring the electricity to the house from all the

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power stations we’ve seen.”

“Exactly!” said Zoe with a smile. “You’re getting it!”

Just then there was a tremendous noise and Jeremiah jumped.

“More Death Blister?” he spluttered, spilling his tea.

“No!” laughed Billy. “That’s a drill. Not even Death Blister are that bad!”

Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah turned to see. At the far end of the garden workmen were digging up the road.

“We should go and have a look,” said Zoe, heading off down the path. “We might be able to see how the gas gets into the house. The electricity usually comes from up there, but the gas is in pipes under the ground. We use the gas to power our cooker, the hob, the boiler and the central heating.”

The workmen were very helpful. They showed Jeremiah and the children the gas pipes and explained how they carried the gas from storage tanks into each of the houses along the street.

“Each house has a gas meter,” explained the workman. “The meter measures how much gas is being used by the household so British Gas can calculate your bill.”

Jeremiah let out a long low whistle.

“Things have certainly come a long way!” he said.

“Yes,” agreed the workman. “The gas comes all the way from the North Sea or even Russia!”

“That’s not what I meant,” explained Jeremiah. “I was going to say, things have come a long way since my day...”

The workmen looked at Jeremiah suspiciously.

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“What do mean by that?� they asked.

Zoe and Billy gulped. Had Jeremiah just let the cat out of the bag?

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Chapter 11

Zoe thought quickly.

“He just means he’s very old!” said Zoe. “Almost 100!” lied Billy. “So, you know, this is all still new to him.”

The workmen chuckled to each other.

“I guess so,” said the fatter of the two workmen. “Things have come a long way in that time. We can show him some more if you like, my name’s Bob by the way...”

Billy let out a giggle.

“Bob the builder!” he snorted. “You cannot be serious!”

Bob fixed Billy with a fierce stare.

“Very serious,” he growled.

Billy stopped laughing.

The thin builder gave Billy a wink.

“Don’t mind him,” he said. “Bob can be a bit touchy about his name. I’m Fred by the way. Bob’s doing the gas and I’m fixing the electrics!”

Jeremiah looked Fred up and down.

“Why you are wearing such dreadful, ripped clothes?” he asked.

“Would you like some money to buy some new ones?”

“Hey, hey, hey I don’t need any new clothes thank you very

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much,” said Fred. “These are my overalls. I’ve had them nearly twenty years. They may be scruffy but they do the job!”

Zoe could see that Jeremiah was starting to make the workmen suspicious once again. She and Billy needed to get him back to the safety of the house. But what would get him back in the kitchen? The answer hit Zoe like a thunderbolt!

“More tea Grandpa?” she asked.

Jeremiah’s face lit up like a Christmas tree and he followed Billy and Zoe back towards the house. When they got back to the kitchen, Zoe boiled the kettle.

“Why don’t you take Jeremiah upstairs and show him your games console,” she suggested. “I’ll bring the tea up when it’s ready.”

Zoe didn’t want to risk Jimmy coming back into the kitchen and finding Jeremiah sitting there. Getting him upstairs to the safety of Billy’s bedroom seemed like a good idea.

“Sure thing sis!” said Billy. “This way Jeremiah!”

When Jeremiah got to Billy’s bedroom, Billy thrust a controller into his hand.

“This is called a Wii,” he explained.

When Billy turned on the game Jeremiah moved his hand and on the screen his player moved his hand too.

“The man on the TV is copying me!” he shouted. “What fun!”

Jeremiah practised moving his hand back and forth and was soon enjoying every minute of the game. He didn’t even put the controller down when Zoe arrived with his fresh cup of tea. After

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one particularly energetic move his pocket watch fell out of his pocket.

“Oh my goodness!” he said, dropping the controller to the floor. “Look at the time. I must go and light the lamps!”

“But Jeremiah,” explained Zoe. “Your job doesn’t exist anymore remember? Nowadays street lamps are powered using electricity, just like this console, no one needs to go and light the lamps at all! I just flick a switch!”

Zoe flicked the light switch and the bulb above them burst into life.

“This house is covered in wires,” she said. “They’re hidden in the walls and they transport the electricity from outside into each and every room.”

Billy pointed at the plug socket the computer was plugged in to.

“The electricity comes out here if you want to power a machine and here...”

Billy pointed to the light switch.

“If you want to turn on the lights.”

Jeremiah examined the plug socket closely and followed the lead from the socket all the way back to the computer.

“So the electricity travels through wires, all the way from the power stations right into the back of the machine,” he said.

“Exactly,” nodded Zoe. “The wires just get smaller the closer they get to the house!”

“Did they have computers in your day?” asked Billy.

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“We had nothing of the sort,” said Jeremiah peering at the screen.

Suddenly a mobile phone started to ring on a table on the landing. Jeremiah jumped out of his skin.

“What in blazes is that?” he asked.

“It’s Jimmy’s Blackberry,” said Billy heading onto the landing to take it from the table by the bathroom where Jimmy had left it.

“Blackberries didn’t ring in my day,” said Jeremiah. “They were quite tasty though!”

“This isn’t that kind of blackberry,” explained Billy patiently. “It’s a phone; didn’t they have phones in your day? We use them to talk to each other...”

“Or send a text,” added Zoe. “It’s powered by electricity too.”

“Can I have a look?” asked Jeremiah. Billy handed Jeremiah the Blackberry and Jeremiah stared at it in wonder.

“Don’t tell me,” said Billy. “You’ve never seen a phone before either.”

“No,” admitted Jeremiah. “Back in my day we would simply go to someone’s house or write them a letter if we wanted to tell them something.”

Suddenly they heard the sound of crunching gravel on the drive outside. Mum was coming back from work.

“Quickly Jeremiah,” said Billy. “We have to hide you. Mum’s coming back!”

“But I would like to meet her,” said Jeremiah. “What harm would it do?”

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“She can’t see you!” said Zoe. “When she finds out we’ve spent all day with a strange old man she’ll ask a load of questions. Then when we tell her you’re our time travelling great, great, great granddad she’ll think we’ve gone doolally!”

“But I am your time travelling great, great, great granddad!” said Jeremiah.

“But imagine if people found that out?” said Billy. “They’d want to experiment on you and test your diary and everything. You’d never be allowed to go back home.”

At the mention of home, Jeremiah’s face fell.

“I suppose I should be getting back,” he said quietly. “But how?”

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Chapter 12

Zoe led Billy and Jeremiah back to the loft. It was just as messy as when they’d left it that morning.

“Oh no!” said Billy. “The tidying up! Mum is going to kill us!”

“Don’t worry,” said Jeremiah. “I’ll lend a hand or two before I head for home.”

“Music will help us work,” said Zoe, slotting her MP3 player into the docking station.

Zoe pressed a button and Olly Murs started to blast into the loft. Jeremiah began to dance along.

“This is better than Death Blister!” he said with a smile.

“Anything’s better than Death Blister,” snorted Billy.

As Jeremiah danced his feet fell on the soft insulation that covered the landing floor.

“What’s all this fluffy stuff?” he asked, bouncing lightly up and down on the spongy substance.

“Well,” began Billy. Then he stopped and turned to Zoe. “I have absolutely no idea! Do you sis?”

“It’s insulation,” said Zoe. “It’s like a big woolly jumper for the house. In winter it keeps the heat in and in summer it makes the house cooler.”

At that moment Mum called up into the loft from beneath the

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hatch.

“Are you two still tidying?” she asked. “You must have been up there all day! I expect the loft to be spotless when I come up to see!”

“It will be!” shouted Billy. “But don’t come up yet. We’ve still got a little bit to do and we don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Zoe and Billy looked around at the mess. The only surprise Mum was going to get was that the loft looked just as messy as when she left the house that morning! Jeremiah rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

“With three of us we should get it done in no time!” he said, beginning to sort through the various bits and bobs that littered the floor. They had only just got started when the MP3 player stopped mid song.

“What’s wrong with the MD6 thing?” he asked.

“It’s not an MD6,” said Billy. “It’s an MP3.”

“Honestly!” huffed Jeremiah. “MP this and BMX that! Why don’t you give things proper names anymore?”

“It’s probably out of charge,” explained Zoe. “We’ll have to plug it in. Mum doesn’t like me leaving it charging for too long as it uses up electricity which costs money! That’s why it’s so important to use it carefully and switch it off when we don’t need it. The same goes for gas. The fluffy jumper insulation helps by keeping the heat the gas has made inside, it saves us money too.”

“Money you can spend on the next – how do say it – hightechnical gadget?” laughed Jeremiah.

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“Yes – you could see it like that” said Zoe, “So long as we switch them off when we’re done.”

“I wonder what high tech gadgets there’ll be in the future,” said Billy thinking aloud. “There could be anything.”

Jeremiah had that mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“You know,” he said. “I think we may be able to find out.”

“How?” asked Zoe. Jeremiah bent down to pick up his diary.

“This diary brought me from the past to the future,” he said.

“Maybe it can transport us all even further.”

Jeremiah took a gold fountain pen from his inside pocket and began to scrawl in the diary. When he had finished he showed his spidery writing to Billy and Zoe. He had written the date 25th October 2063 on a blank page.

“That’s fifty years in the future,” said Zoe. “Exactly,” said Jeremiah with a smile. “Care to join me?”

Jeremiah handed the diary to Billy.

“Come on young man,” he said with a wink. “Work your magic!”

Billy took the diary and the three friends gathered close as Billy began to flick through the pages.

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Chapter 13

The loft filled with dust and smoke and soon Billy, Zoe and Jeremiah were struggling for breath. Just when it felt like they couldn’t breathe another lungful, the smoke and dust disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived and Zoe, Billy and Jeremiah opened their eyes.

“Do you think it worked?” asked Billy as the last of the dust cleared.

Zoe looked around the loft. All the clutter they’d been tidying up had been replaced by boxes.

“Something’s definitely changed,” she said picking up a box and shaking out the contents. A strange black tube clattered onto the floor. Jeremiah reached out a finger and pushed a red button that stuck out of the top. The three friends jumped as a holographic Christmas tree appeared in front of them.

“My gosh!” spluttered Jeremiah as the tree began to play Jingle Bells. “How does this work?”

Zoe and Billy exchanged a look.

“I don’t know,” admitted Zoe. “Well if you don’t know,” said Jeremiah. “Then we must be in the future! The diary worked its magic again!”

Billy and Zoe nodded.

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“It’s all very strange,” said Billy rummaging in another box. “I don’t know what’s going on at all!”

“Now you know how I’ve been feeling all day,” sighed Jeremiah.

Billy pulled something out of the box he was looking in. It looked like a skateboard but the wheels were missing.

“Hoverboard 3000,” gasped Billy as he read what was written on the side of the box. “Cool!”

Billy dropped the hoverboard onto the floor and jumped on board. Even though there were no wheels, the board moved from left to right as Billy shifted his weight.

“I think it’s powered by magnets,” said Zoe, bending down for a closer look.

After they finally managed to persuade Billy to hop off the hoverboard, Jeremiah and Zoe flipped open the hatch. There was more exploring to be done and they wanted to see what the future held in the rest of the house. The only problem was there were no stairs out of the loft. Instead, the space where the hatch had been seemed to glimmer in the light.

“How do we get down?” asked Jeremiah.

“I know!” shouted Billy beginning to limber up, preparing to pull the same acrobatic manoeuvre he’d pulled earlier.

Zoe stopped him.

“None of your gymnastics thank you very much!”

Zoe bent down to touch the glimmering space where the stairs should be. The glimmering space responded to her touch. It seemed to be solid. She took a tentative step onto the sparkling

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square but instead of falling to the floor, the sparkling square took her down to the landing like a futuristic lift.

“Amazing!” said Billy as he watched his sister float safely to the floor. “My turn!”

Soon the three friends were on the landing of the house they knew so well, but things were different. The light bulbs were gone. They’d been replaced by glass strips that glowed yellow and lit up the hall.

“That looks like that weird luminous paint we use in art class,” said Billy.

“Maybe it is,” said Zoe. “Who knows? In the future maybe houses are lit by luminous paint. It’s a good idea, it could absorb the light in the day and spit it back out at night.”

As they headed down stairs they found that the house was empty. All the rooms were in the same place, but the appliances that they knew and loved were gone. They explored the living room first and Billy picked up a remote control.

“But where’s the TV?” he asked, scanning the room.

Zoe leant over and pushed the ‘on’ button, and a beam of light shot from the floor. It was a holographic 3D newsreader.

Billy, Jeremiah and Zoe jumped back in shock.

“I want one,” said Billy, watching the TV that wasn’t a TV. “Then you’ll have to wait fifty years,” said Zoe, clicking the red button again. The newsreader disappeared. “We can’t just stand here watching futuristic TV channels. There’s more to explore!”

The twins and Jeremiah made their way into the kitchen.

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Once again, things were the same but different. Zoe went to examine a futuristic looking oven. She pushed a button and it heated up instantly.

“That’s handy,” she said.

“Not as handy as that,” said Jeremiah, pointing to the floor.

He had spotted a strange little robot, zipping about the kitchen tidying up as it went.

“Brilliant!” said Zoe. Billy was looking out into the garden.

“And look at that!” he gasped. “That lawn mower is cutting grass on its own!”

The three friends pushed their noses up against the window to watch. As they watched, the lawnmower began to slow down.

“It’s running out of fuel,” said Jeremiah.

Just when it seemed the lawnmower was about to grind to a halt, it headed to the back of the garden where the compost heap was still standing. Two robotic arms came out of the side of the lawnmower and grabbed handfuls of compost, shoving it into an opening in the front. When it was full, the lawnmower took off again, faster than ever!

“Amazing!” said Zoe. “A compost powered lawnmower.”

They were about to explore some more when they heard a footstep outside. The three friends exchanged a panicked look and ran for the stairs, they didn’t want to get caught!

When they got to the landing they looked at the shimmering square.

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“Do you think it’ll hold three?” asked Jeremiah.

“Let’s find out!” said Billy, jumping onto the square next to the kindly old man. Zoe squeezed on too and the shimmering square gently propelled them quickly back into the loft.

“That was close,” said Billy.

“We need to get out of here before it gets any closer!” said Zoe. Once again, Jeremiah produced his fountain pen and wrote the date 25th October 2013 in the diary. Billy grabbed the diary and began to flick. Soon the loft was filled with dust and smoke and Zoe and Jeremiah closed their eyes. Just before the magic happened however, Billy reached out and grabbed a box, no one

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would mind if he took a little souvenir from the future would they?

When the smoke cleared, Zoe checked the loft and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the familiar clutter she and her brother had spent all day not tidying. They were home. Or at least two of them were.

Jeremiah checked his pocket watch.

“It really is time for me to go,” he said. “But what a fun day we’ve had!”

He held out his arms and Zoe and Billy rushed over for a hug.

“It’s been lovely meeting you great, great, great granddaughter and great, great, great grandson,” laughed Jeremiah as he gave them both a squeeze.

Billy and Zoe were both sad to see their very distant relative leave and Zoe sniffed back a tear.

“Don’t be like that,” said Jeremiah, pinching her playfully on the cheek. “We’ve been very lucky! There aren’t many children who have met their great, great, great grandfather you know?”

Zoe forced out a smile. Jeremiah was right. She should be grateful for the opportunity the diary had provided, but she was still sorry to see him go.

She watched as Jeremiah took out his fountain pen for the last time and wrote 25th October 1863 on the last blank page of the diary.

“You’d better go downstairs for a moment,” he said, preparing to flick through the pages. “We don’t want you coming back with me!”

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Billy’s eyes lit up.

“That’s a good idea!” he said.

Jeremiah shook his head.

“No it isn’t,” he said. “Imagine what your poor old Mum and Dad would think when they came up here to find you missing. It’s time to say goodbye.”

Zoe and Billy gave Jeremiah a wave and headed for the hatch.

As she stood on the stairs Zoe gave Jeremiah one last look, but he was already shrouded in smoke and stars and disappearing into a cloud of magical dust.

When they were sure it was safe, Billy and Zoe clambered back into the loft. Jeremiah was gone.

“It’s a pity we couldn’t bring one of those tidying robots back with us from the future,” said Zoe as she started to clean up the mess. “It would make life much easier!”

Soon the twins had everything tidied away and a big pile of things for the Charity Shop. Just as they finished Mum popped her head through the loft hatch.

“Honestly,” she said. “I can’t believe you’ve been up here all day.”

Zoe and Billy exchanged a knowing look.

“You know us Mum,” said Billy. “When there’s a job to be done, nothing stands in our way.”

Zoe giggled.

“Well you’ve done a super job,” said Mum. “After dinner you can go out to play. Free time!”

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Mum disappeared back through the hatch and Zoe turned to Billy.

“Don’t tell me,” she said. “After dinner you want me to film you doing tricks on your skateboard.”

“Not tonight,” said Billy innocently.

Zoe couldn’t believe her ears, but Billy wasn’t finished.

“Tonight you can film me on my hover board instead!”

Billy reached into the corner where he had hidden the box he’d swiped from the loft in 2063. Zoe couldn’t believe her eyes.

“You brought back a hover board!” she shouted. “I can’t believe you sometimes!”

“Hey!” said Billy with an innocent shrug. “It was in our loft!”

Billy giggled and disappeared down the hatch. After he had gone, Zoe picked up the diary that Jeremiah had left on the floor.

She was about to put it back in the dusty box where it had been hiding all these years when she stopped herself. Some things were too important for lofts! Besides, if Billy could take the hover board then she could take the diary. You never know when you might want to visit your great, great, great grandfather!

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