Pandora explained everything Trudi had told her about mental time travel.

“I don’t know how to do that,” said Moira, “Mine is done in a machine, and none of its passengers forget. I took possession of it, after its young owner was caught without it. He parked it on my property on Sydney’s upper North Shore, while he went out for the night. While he was gone, I had my whole property upsized here along with me, bringing his time machine along for the ride, and upsizing the time machine without Clarence. He found this place through the portal and met up with me later, and with his instructions, I was able to take us on lots of adventures in the machine. I don’t need his help to operate it anymore.”

(See Book Six for all the details).

“And he doesn’t want it back?” asked Pandora.

“Not at this stage. I ate him a while ago,” said Moira.

“So it’s not just me and Trudi. It seems a few of us like to swallow our admirers whole,” said Pandora.

She told Moira all about Bob, Mick, Reba, herself, and of course, of her upcoming plans for Lennox.

“I’m glad you won’t be looking down on me. Even Lennox himself approves. It’s my own daughter who has to be kept in the dark about it,” said Pandora.

“Well it would be a pity to let the opportunities go unused,” said Moira.

They exchanged addresses and telephone numbers, and eventually worked out a date to take the time machine out for a spin. Pandora left Lennox at home and met up with Bob on the way to Moira’s house.

This time, Moira took the time machine back thousands of years, much further than she’d ever gone with Clarence, and came to the base of an ancient mountain with a spiralling path going up it. At the base of the mountain, beside the beginning of the path, was a large rock with words engraved into it:

This is the Mountain Of Youth.

Each bite of the blue vegetables

growing on the plateau at the top

of the mountain will renew five

years of youth in the body of the

person who has eaten it. The

effect is permanent, and cannot be

undone, except by slowly ageing

all over again.

“This doesn’t exist in our time,” said Moira, “So it hardly contradicts the fact that the native giants don’t live forever up there. I wonder if it would work for us.”

“If it does, I’ll take five bites,” said Pandora, “I just turned sixty.”

“I’m almost fifty-two,” said Bob, “Would you like me to take five bites too?”

“Maybe you should stop at three or four,” said Pandora, “It would be nice to be roughly the same age this time around.”

“Let’s see if we can get up and if the blue bites have any effect on earthlings first,” said Moira.

They walked up the Mountain of Youth, and came to the blue vegetable patch.