"Thanks very much!" said Mum, "Now you've woken the baby up!" She went off to the bedroom to check on her two-year old crying in the pink cot. That left Tad and Debbie sitting alone, in the kitchen, with only the clock's regular ticking to keep them company. The old, black cat wandered through to say hello, sniffed the meat in his food-dish, decided he was too full to eat any more, and went off to the couch in the living-room.

When Dad got home, the heat had gone out of the situation. "We're home Dad!" called Debbie from the back door. She heard her father muttering about wasted time as he came past the front fence, then he slipped out of his gumboots, switched off his torch, and gave both children a big hug. Then he asked them where they had been.

"Its hard to explain," said Tad.

"Try me?" said Dad

"We were down at the stream, and it was day time, and then suddenly, it was night. We don't know what happened or how it happened. Debbie was sunbathing, and I was swimming. The sun was shining, and then it wasn't! We had to come home in the dark!"

Debbie hugged her father again. He picked her up so she could nestle her head against his neck.

Mum came back from the bedroom. She had settled Melanie.

"What do you make of this pair?" she said.

"Well, time does go really quickly when you're enjoying yourself! said Dad.

"But it wasn't like that!" argued Tad, "Oh never mind. It all sounds too crazy to believe anyway!" He glanced up at his father.

"It doesn't make much sense to me," said Dad, "But the main thing is, you're home, and safe, so we'll leave it at that, shall we?"

Both children were content to leave it at that, but in their hearts they couldn't help wondering about the Professor's words. This was another strange thing. He would have to be told.



It was during the night that things really began to go haywire.

Tad and Debbie had just climbed into their bunks. They