The Moon Stealers Box Set. Books 1-4 (Fantasy Dystopian Books for Teenagers)

by Tim Flanagan

  On hearing the voice Tracker turned away from the window and stared across the room and into the eyes of Coldred. He was directly behind Steven holding a knife to his throat. The door to the room that Steven had been about to search was still slightly ajar. Whilst their attention had been drawn to the strange pulsating white light, Coldred had taken the opportunity to emerge from the adjoining room and take Steven hostage.

  ‘As you can see,’ Coldred said loudly to the group of survivors in the room. ‘These people that you follow have cost some of your colleagues their lives. By giving you false hopes and feeding you lies, they have let the creatures into the home that I kindly gave to you. A home that was secure from the creatures. A home where you were fed, clothed and cared for. You are my family and I only want the best for you all.’ Coldred smiled to the survivors, trying to regain their support. ‘But, I am not the tyrant they think I am. Every child rebels against a parent at some stage, and I understand that. Therefore, I am willing to let you stay in my family, under my protection. Join me once again and I will overlook this small demonstration of rebellion, but if you persist in being disloyal, know that you will be destroyed. The creatures have created a future of uncertainty. You need someone to guide and protect you, not a group of social misfits.' Coldred pointed to Tracker, 'this one, who has some weak link to royalty, has shunned attention and duty and hid himself in some big mansion in Yorkshire, whilst this woman only has one functioning arm. Or, maybe you think this one could be your leader. Steven Knight worked at MI6 waiting for evidence of alien life forms, but by the time one appeared on our planet it was too late. He wasn’t prepared. But I was! Even his parents didn’t want to stay with him so he wasted his whole pathetic life looking for them. Do you see how useless they would have been leading the community? Turn you weapons on these three and join me once again. Join my family.’

  There was a pause before anyone moved. One of the survivors, lifted his head and stared towards Coldred and Steven. He put his hands in his pockets, stepped forward and began threading his way between everyone else towards the American.

  Everyone watched. Coldred began to chuckle. ‘This is a wise man, anyone else going to join my family?’

  ‘You know nothing of family. Let go of my son,’ muttered the man who now stood behind Coldred. The American turned and looked into a pair of old eyes, there was an icy stare in them that appeared threatening.

  Without warning Coldred removed the blade from Steven’s throat and swiftly twisted his body round together with the knife as he attacked the man. The survivor, Rhys Avall, moved surprisingly quick. He thrust his foot into the back of Coldred’s knee causing it to violently dislocate. The useless and flaccid knee could not support Coldred and he fell towards the ground. The impact knocked the knife from his hand and spun it across the floor.

  Steven turned to the man who had saved him.

  ‘Dad?’ he said, looking into the man’s eyes. He didn’t recognise the old man that stood before him. Compared to the newspaper cuttings or the old photographs he had seen, this man was older and tired, but there was something familiar about the man that he knew he must be telling the truth.

  Rhys nodded. ‘I have been searching for you all my life and I have so much to tell you.’

  Outside the pulses of light continued. The creatures were no where to be seen, but the survivors barricaded the external doors followed by the double doors that led into the corridor. They were taking no chances in letting the creatures inside, even though they were unsure what happened to them.

  35. The Building Blocks of Life

  Following the defeat of Coldred, the rest of the guards inside Osborne House reluctantly handed in their weapons.

  All of the dead or injured were taken from the Council Room along the main wing of the house to the Health Sector.

  Georgia led a small group of survivors back to the Durbar Wing. She walked along a corridor of framed portraits and stepped into a large room where she saw groups of children huddled nervously together around a candle or watching through a gap in the blinds at the strange pulsating white light in the sky. There had only been two guards placed to look after the children, but they had quickly realised they were outnumbered and surrended their weapons to Russell.

  Georgia walked amongst the children. It seemed they hadn’t been restrained in chains in the same way the adults had, but bound by rope around their wrists. Russell had already been round removing them, but the children still looked frightened and stressed.

  Georgia was looking for one child in particular.

  Out of the corner of her eye her attention was drawn towards a child that had turned away from the window and was now staring directly at her. Georgia turned and saw a crystal clear teardrop catch the white light that forced its way in through a gap in the blinds, and fall from her cheek.

  ‘Annie,’ Georgia whispered. The word seemed to catch in her throat.

  ‘They said you never came back and were probably dead,’ the little girl explained.

  Georgia ran over to Annie and pulled her tightly to her chest.

  ‘We've come to take you home,' Georgia said. 'Steven’s here too. And Tracker.’

  Over the coming days and weeks, every member of the community was immunised against the creatures, but every night since the strange white light had appeared in the sky, there had been no further sightings of them. The only signs that remained were black scars in the ground. Animals began to emerge from their hiding places, birds began to sing and crops grew with a renewed energy. Steven spent many days walking around the estate talking to his father, finding out about his mother and the magical bloodline he was part of. Rhys explained to him about the children he had met on his journey and where the light in the sky had come from.

  But the time came for part of the community to leave.

  'I'll be over to see you all soon,' said Tracker as he hugged Georgia.

  As he pulled away Georgia kissed his cheek. 'Make sure you do.'

  Steven stepped forward and grasped Tracker's hand. 'Goodbye,' he said. 'We're heading back to Yorkshire, to the place this all started.'

  'Parsley Bottom,' replied Tracker with a smile on his face.

  'There are some special children heading there that need a family. Do you mind if we borrow Butterwick Hall for a while?'

  'Be my guest. Look after each other,' Tracker added. He had decided to stay on at Osborne House to help rebuild separate communities across the Isle of Wight whilst Steven, Rhys, Georgia, and Annie returned to England.

  Two boys nervously rowed across a lake in Snowdonia. They searched the sky for signs of the Moon Stealers, but there was nothing more than a lone chough acrobatically riding the breezes that whipped off the top of the mountains. They had another journey to make, one they had agreed with Scarlet and Peter before they had separated at Ingleton.

  They were heading back to Parsley Bottom.

  They were going home.

  THE END

  About the Author

  At some point in Tim's childhood, he was abducted by aliens and sent on a voyage of knowledge and discovery across the universe. Eventually the aliens realised how pointless this was and, as a failed student, he was returned to Earth and left with a family who brought him up as a human bean. But, the persistent memories of new worlds, dragons and other creatures, continued to knock at his frontal lobe, desperately trying to break out.

  To avoid making a mess and calm his imagination, Tim began writing as a way to communicate with Earthlings. Fuelled by Chilli and Nachos and a bottle of wine, Tim manages to balance a love of loud rock music and fast cars (preferably red!) with emotional chic flicks, smart leather shoes and a well tailored suit. He has successfully infiltrated the humans and hides behind the façade known as a family. He learns from his children, but is regularly told to stop acting like a child by his wife.

  Naturally shy and unsociable by nature, he is selective of the human company he keeps, preferring to be around old books, bonsai and art.
He cries at 'It’s a wonderful life' but sulks if fed evil vegetables disguised as Parsnips or Peas. He is bored by mundane conversation, excited by architecture and castles and fuelled by Caramel Latte Macchiato's.

  Occasionally, he likes to catch up with old acquaintances on Tatooine, Westeros, and Middle Earth, and stare at fantasy and concept art as if it is a window to his childhood adventures. He is always trying to learn lessons from the masters; Mr Charles Darwin and Mr Lionel Ritchie, about life and love. Tim's galactic mission is to translate his brain activity into a language that inspires and entertains you, transports you to different worlds and grants you an audience with the characters you have dreamt about, but never dared to remember. All of this in an attempt to redeem himself with his childhood alien abductors and travel the stars once more.

  He is also the author of :

  The Moon Stealers and the Quest for the Silver Bough (Book 1)

  The Moon Stealers and the Queen of the Underworld (Book 2)

  The Moon Stealers and the Everlasting Night (Book 3)

  The Moon Stealers and the Children of the Light (Book 4)

  The Curious Disappearance of Professor Brown

  Lawrence Pinkley's Casebook Vol. 1

  Lawrence Pinkley's Casebook Vol. 2

  Visit http://www.timflanaganauthor.com

  Word-of-mouth is crucial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review at Amazon, even a little one is appreciated! Reviews make all the difference.