Appendix 4: Synopsis of The Gideon Trilogy

The Tar Man

Meanwhile Kate Dyer is determined to go back to 1763 and rescue Peter. She experiences her first episode of fast-forwarding as if her grip on her own time has been weakened. Fearful that her father and Dr Pirretti (the project leader of the NASA anti-gravity experiment) will consider it too dangerous to return to the eighteenth century, Kate elicits the help of Peter’s father and they steal the anti-gravity machine. Unfortunately, when they arrive in the past not only do they discover that they are twenty-nine years too late, they also discover that the anti-gravity machine is broken. The adult Peter Schock hears of their arrival and rushes to meet them. Shocked to find that he is the same age as his father, it dawns on him that they are looking for the boy that he was, not the man that he has become. Peter pretends to be Gideon’s (lost) younger brother and determines to help them, incognito, to return home. Peter enlists the help of Queen Charlotte, who has become his friend. Her adviser, Sir Joseph Banks recommends that they seek out the Marquis de Montfaron, a scientist philosopher who has studied electricity and who would be the likeliest man to be able to mend their strange machine.

When it emerges that the Marquis de Montfaron has refused to leave his chateau in Arras, even though his wife and son are in exile in London, the party resolve to seek him out in revolutionary France.

The Tar Man confides his anxieties about his relationship to Gideon Seymour to Tom. Before leaving his own time he had heard from a reliable source that he and Gideon were, in fact, brothers, and that Lord Luxon had only taken him on after discovering that this was so. Tom suggests that he ‘blur’ back to 1763 and confront Lord Luxon. Terrified, at first, that The Tar Man is a ghost come to haunt him, Lord Luxon tells him that he and Gideon could be brothers, but he is not sure. The Tar Man purloins Lord Luxon’s Hogarth prints and sells them for princely sums in the future. At first it seems that his henchman has got the upper hand but Lord Luxon, entranced by the idea of time travel, does everything he can to stay close, becoming The Tar Man’s confidante and adviser.

Dr Pirretti admits to Kate’s parents that she has been hearing voices who have been talking to her about the dangers of time travel. She suspects that she is hearing the voice of her alternate self in a parallel universe. Dr Pirretti and Kate’s father start to build a duplicate of the anti-gravity machine in order to rescue Kate and Peter’s father and – hopefully – Peter. Finally they admit to Inspector Wheeler the true cause of the children’s disappearance: time travel.

Resolving to track down the anti-gravity machine for his own use, The Tar Man pursues Inspector Wheeler in a helicopter and has the Dyer farm bugged. Back in London he tries, without success, to join a gentleman’s club in order to get to know people of influence. He is told, in no uncertain terms, that he is a persona non grata. The Tar Man begins to reflect on his life and wonders why Gideon chose one path and he another. He contemplates using the anti-gravity machine – if he can find it – to go back give himself a better start in life. The Tar Man receives a telephone call from Anjali telling him that in trying to save her from an attacker Tom has been killed. Distraught, The Tar Man decides to try and return to his own century.

Kate and Peter’s father, accompanied by the Marquis de Montfaron’s son, Louis-Philippe, travel to Arras to persuade the Enlightenment scientist and philosopher to come back to England to help repair the anti-gravity machine. He refuses to leave his property. That night they are captured by revolutionaries and are imprisoned in the chalk mines under Arras. By fast-forwarding, Kate manages to release her friends from their cells. In the process of escaping, the adult Peter’s true identity comes to light. When they return to the Chateau de L’Humiaire, it has been looted. The Marquis agrees to return to London. He will mend the anti-gravity machine on condition that he can accompany the party to the twenty-first century.

Meanwhile Dr Dyer has used the duplicate anti-gravity machine to rescue the young Peter from the past. He is distressed to learn that Kate never seems to have made it to 1763 and fears the worst.

The Marquis de Montfaron discovers that the cause of the anti-gravity machine’s breakdown was no more than a loose wire. Kate and Peter’s father say a sad farewell to the grown-up Peter Schock who is resolved to stay in the eighteenth century.

There is a wonderful reunion at the Dyer Farm. Kate, Peter and Peter’s father have all returned, bringing the Marquis de Montfaron with them. Dr Pirretti’s alternate self communicates to the assembled company that time travel is even more dangerous than they think: each ‘time event’ produces a parallel world – the universe itself could be in jeopardy. The scientists decide to destroy the two anti-gravity machines at the earliest opportunity.

The Tar Man breaks into the farmhouse and, taking the children hostage, steals both machines and returns to 1763 where he is met by Lord Luxon. The Tar Man makes the fatal error of trusting his former employer - Lord Luxon immediately makes off with the original anti-gravity machine. As he disappears from sight, Lord Luxon admits that Gideon is The Tar Man’s brother and that he has always known it. When The Tar Man tries to use the duplicate machine he discovers that it is protected by a security code which he does not possess. Now, he too, is stranded back in 1763 along with the children.

Peter and Kate make their way to Gideon Seymour’s cottage. As they walk through the Derbyshire countryside, Kate suddenly becomes very distressed. She senses the imminent time quake in which all times collide. Bewildered and afraid the children cling to Gideon. Their friend tries to calm them and undertakes to help them in any way that he can.