The Time Hunters and the Lost City (The Final Chapter in the Time Hunters Saga Book 5)

by carl ashmore

  ‘El Dorado …,’ Uncle Percy breathed. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I’ve heard of that,’ Joe said excitedly. ‘Isn’t that like a famous mythical city?’

  ‘One that was supposedly made from gold,’ Becky added. ‘Just like that place you mentioned when you were talking about The Sacred Chalice.’

  ‘Trapalanda,’ Uncle Percy said, a smile forming on his mouth. ‘El Dorado and Trapalanda … I just never connected the two myths.’

  ‘Furthermore, sir,’ Barbie said. ‘I conducted a facial recognition scan on the man Keith Pickleton was in conversation with based on my databank of portraiture from the era … and found a match.’

  ‘Let me guess - it was Sir Walter Raleigh, wasn’t it?’

  ‘The very same, sir.’

  ‘I’ve heard of him,’ Becky said. ‘Wasn’t he the first person to bring tobacco and potatoes to England?’

  ‘He was certainly credited as such,’ Uncle Percy replied.

  Joe grinned. ‘So he’s responsible for fags and chips?’

  ‘In an indirect direct way, I suppose.’ Uncle Percy chuckled. ‘However, Sir Walter Raleigh was distinguished in many fields – he was a scholar, a politician, a poet, a courtier, an explorer and even a spy, before being executed on the orders of King James I.’

  ‘But he had something to do with El Dorado?’ Becky asked.

  ‘It was primarily because of Sir Walter any of us have heard of El Dorado. He was the first European to learn of its alleged existence and, as a matter of fact, he embarked on two very public voyages to South America to find it.’

  ‘And did he?’ Becky said.

  ‘No. Of course there are some that claim he did, but –’

  ‘And he himself is one of them sir,’ Barbie cut in. ‘I heard him say so myself.’

  ‘You did?’ Uncle Percy replied, surprised.

  ‘Perhaps you should see this.’ With a clack, Barbie’s skullcap flicked open. A shaft of light burst from her head, swirling like fog, before solidifying into an image of a dungeon. Obscured slightly by tobacco smoke, a cloaked woman, tearful and trembling, was talking to an elderly bearded man beyond heavy iron bars.

  ‘But my heart bleeds at the thought of our goodbye, Walter.’

  ‘Tush, Bess. It could ne’er be goodbye. We shall meet again in that righteous place above. But there are matters I must explain before my time hath passed. You must heed these words, Bess. There are things I would have you do…’

  Becky knew straight away she was watching Sir Walter Raleigh shortly before his own execution. She listened closely and heard him voice a succession of admissions … about The School of Night … about Manõa, the City of Gold …. about his son, Watt … about King James … about Keith Pickleton … about a righteous stranger … and finally about his grisly wishes for his own severed head …

  But it was when the name ‘Percy Halifax’ was mentioned that Becky’s blood turned cold.

  The image dissolved. A stunned silence filled the room.

  ‘You’ve gotta get his head?’ Joe blustered. ‘That’s rank.’

  Uncle Percy didn’t look overjoyed at the prospect. ‘It seems so.’ He thought hard for a moment. ‘Well, there’s nothing ambiguous about our next move. We’re visiting the early seventeenth century, meeting with Bess Raleigh, and asking her for Sir Walter Raleigh’s severed head. Now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear myself saying.’

  ‘I just don’t get it,’ Becky said, repulsed by the whole affair. ‘What possible good is a head?’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ Uncle Percy replied. ‘Any thoughts Barbie?’

  ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Walt mentioned a letter so perhaps the answer’s in there,’ Joe said. ‘And besides, maybe summat good will come from it.’ He looked at Kenneth. ‘You said you wanted to play footie, Kenny boy, well now you’ve got a ball...’

  Joe was the only one that laughed.

  Chapter 13

  Free Falling

  Uncle Percy announced they would be travelling to Jacobean England the following morning. Then, along with Barbie and Ken, he shut himself away in the library to research Sir Walter Raleigh, the Sacred Chalice and the legend of El Dorado.

  After all that had happened that morning, Becky and Joe decided they needed some fresh air and set off to visit Gump and Pegasus.

  Bowen Lake was as smooth as glass, its surface broken only by giant carp basking lazily in the searing sun. The scent of buttercups teased Becky’s nostrils as she and Joe followed the narrow path that lined the water’s edge. Watching a heron rise up and soar toward Bowen Forest, she noticed Joe’s face turn solemn and she knew precisely why: The forest had been Will’s home, a reminder to him of the life in Sherwood Forest he had left to be near Joe in the twenty first century. It broke her heart. ‘Do you want to go to the tree-house?’ she asked quietly.

  Joe shook his head and forced a single word. ‘Soon …’

  They approached the stone stables from the rear and saw Gump, the Triceratops, lying outside, his beak-like mouth stuffed with grass. Upon hearing them, he climbed to his feet and gave a thunderous moo.

  Becky and Joe stopped abruptly.

  At least twenty-five feet long and eleven feet high, Gump was enormous.

  ‘Oh my God,’ Becky said. ‘He’s fully grown.’

  The gloom fell from Joe’s face, replaced by delight. ‘And bigger than Godzilla.’

  At that moment, Becky saw Pegasus galloping toward them, wings tight against her sides, her snow-white mane whipping the air. As she drew closer, it was clear that she, too, was now a fully grown horse, regal and magnificent.

  Becky’s heart melted. She raced over and met Pegasus, whose head bobbed up and down excitedly.

  ‘Hello, you,’ Becky said, rubbing Pegasus’ forelock, which was as soft and white as marshmallow.

  Neighing happily, Pegasus bent down as if in a deep bow.

  Becky could tell at once she wanted to fly.

  Not hesitating for a moment, Becky threw her legs across Pegasus’ sturdy back and tucked her knees beneath the wing joints.

  ‘Be careful up there, eh?’ Joe said, flashing a grin.

  ‘She’ll look after me,’ Becky replied,

  Pushing herself upright, Pegasus turned, cantered over to Joe and then did the most unexpected thing. She lowered herself once more to her knees.

  ‘I think she wants to take the two of us,’ Becky said with surprise.

  Joe gulped. ‘Really?’

  As if fully understanding him, Pegasus nodded eagerly.

  ‘I think that’s a big fat yes,’ Becky sniggered. When Joe still didn’t move, she added, ‘C’mon, you’re supposed to be this well hard action hero. Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little horse ride?’

  ‘Only when it’s a thousand feet in the air.’ Fully aware he’d never live it down if he didn’t go, Joe huffed and climbed onto Pegasus’s back, locking his arms around Becky’s waist.

  ‘See … nothing to it,’ Becky said.

  ‘Let’s hear you say that after I spew up all over your back!’

  With a whinny, Pegasus charged off, her hooves pounding the ground like jackhammers. Joe’s arms crushed Becky’s ribcage, expelling the air from her lungs. And then Pegasus’ wings unfurled, feathered and formidable, spanning twenty feet or so. Powering up and down like pistons, they drove them upward, away from the ground, ascending the air at forty-five degrees.

  Becky’s stomach rolled as the ground became a memory. Soon, the trees below looked like toy soldiers guarding sprawling fields of yellow and green. Holding on tightly, she glimpsed Pegasus’ silver anklet flash green, triggering the invisiblator she knew would make them invisible to the rest of the world.

  As Pegasus reached a cruising height, she felt as alive as she could remember. But then the strangest sensation filled her skull.

  ‘Please … God … no,’ she breathed. ‘Not now!’

  But no longer was she staring at the Cheshire countryside, s
he was somewhere else entirely. Sounds assaulted her ears, terrible sounds; screams of pain, animalistic roars, the clangour of swords. Figures blurred before her eyes, fighting riotously in a mass battle.

  And then through the chaos a colossal figure, twice the size of any man, was charging at her – a giant horned creature she recognised. The creature’s enormous right hand grasped her throat, lifting her from the ground, choking the life out of her. Within seconds she would be dead. Instinctively, her eyes locked on the hand and she focussed. Telekinetic power surged through her, into the creature’s massive fingers, loosening its grip, forcing the hand away from danger. The creature released her. Pain shot through her body as it impacted with the hard ground.

  But then the scene changed once more.

  And she was falling again, and falling fast. Her arms and legs lashed wildly as she plummeted toward the ground.

  Somewhere above, a boy’s scream, ‘BECKYYYYYY!’ hung on the air.

  But Becky couldn’t hear it; she heard nothing bar the rushing of wind in her ears, pounding her face with the ferocity of a boxer’s punch. She had one chance – and she knew it … her telekinesis. Trying to focus her mind, she closed her eyes … but it was impossible. In a matter of seconds, she would be dead.

  There was no stopping that now.

  But then a hand seized her wrist, heaving her inward. Becky slammed against Pegasus’ side.

  ‘HOLD ON, SIS!’ Joe yelled over the deafening wind. He had one arm curled around Pegasus’ neck and the other clinging desperately to Becky. ‘PEGGY, GET US ON THE FLIPPIN’ GROUND!’

  Within seconds, Pegasus was angling downward toward Bowen Hall. Lower and lower she flew, slowing down with each beat of her powerful wings. Soon they were soaring over the perimeter fence, over Bowen Forest, and toward the lake. Descending, Pegasus targeted a field, and her legs broke into a gallop, anticipating the imminent landing.

  A few feet from earth, Joe released Becky, who crashed to the ground, barrelling over and over, her body numb with pain. She rolled to a standstill, blood filling her mouth, gasping for air. Somehow she had survived.

  Joe brought Pegasus to a halt. Leaping off, he sprinted over to Becky, dropping to his knees at her side. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Becky said, still unable to process all that had happened. ‘Err, thanks.’

  Joe took a moment to compose himself. ‘No sweat. What the hell happened up there? One minute you were okay … the next, you’d slid off, and were on your way to being splat across the countryside.’

  ‘I had a … a turn.’

  ‘A turn?’

  ‘It’s happened again.’

  ‘What’s happened again?’

  ‘I saw the future. I was in the future.’

  ‘You saw the future a mile up in the air?’

  ‘Bummer, eh?’

  ‘Just a bit. So what did you see?’

  ‘I was in the middle of this massive battle … an old fashioned battle with swords and axes and stuff … and there were thousands of people involved … maybe hundreds of thousands. And there were monsters, too, and - ’ She hesitated, ‘and I was attacked by this gigantic creature. It wanted to kill me. It was desperate to kill me.’

  ‘What kind of creature?’

  ‘A Minotaur.’ Becky found it almost impossible to voice her next words. ‘Joe, I think it was Edgar…’

  Chapter 14

  Lady Bess

  ‘Edgar?’ Joe replied, gobsmacked. ‘That’s just daft. He loves you to bits. And besides, he starts blartin’ if he steps on a snail.’

  ‘It looked like Edgar.’

  ‘He’s not the only Minotaur in history. Did it sound like him?’

  ‘I didn’t really listen,’ Becky replied. ‘I was too busy stopping him ripping my head off.’

  ‘Well are you sure it was one of your future visions?’

  ‘What other type of visions do I get?’

  ‘Who knows what goes on in your weirdy brain.’

  ‘Thanks for that,’ Becky replied. ‘But yeah, it was a future vision. At least it felt the same as last time. Remember when I had that vision of a golden statue in the middle of a jungle? It was just like that.’

  Suddenly Joe didn’t sound quite so scornful. ‘Oh, yeah, I forgot about that.’ He hesitated. ‘And let’s be honest, it can’t just be coincidence you saw a golden statue at a time we’re looking for a golden city.’

  ‘That’s what I figured.’

  Joe sighed. ‘So was this battle going on in the jungle?’

  Becky shook her head. ‘No.’

  ‘So where then?’

  ‘I don’t know. To be honest, it felt like it was in England. I don’t know why. But the people fighting didn’t look English at all. To be honest it was all a bit of a blur really, and then before I knew anything else I was back in Cheshire … plummeting to my death.’

  Joe nodded at Pegasus. ‘And it’s thanks to her that didn’t happen … she can fly faster than Iron Man when she wants to.’

  ‘Yeah, I think I owe her a few carrots.’

  ‘You owe her a full on veggie dinner made personally by Jamie Oliver.’

  ‘And what do I owe you?’

  ‘Just promise me I’ll never have to fly on her again and we’re quits.’

  ‘Deal.’

  Joe smiled. ‘Anyway, we’d better go and tell Uncle Percy all about your little vision. If Edgar is going to try and gut you like a fish I think he’d want to know.’

  Becky thought hard for a moment. ‘I don’t think we should tell him.’

  ‘Why not?’ Joe replied. ‘Is Little Miss Perfect suddenly feeling rebellious?’

  ‘No … Yes … I don’t know,’ Becky said. ‘I just don’t want him to know. I mean, you’re right … it might not have been Edgar. It might not even have been a vision of the future at all. What do I know? I just don’t want him to start fretting like he does and leaving me out of everything on the off chance that I’ll die. You won’t tell him, will you?’

  ‘He’s kept enough from us,’ Joe shrugged. ‘It’s about time he had a taste of his own medicine. My lips are sealed.’

  Becky led Pegasus back to the stables with a promise she would return with a sack of carrots the first chance she could get.

  As afternoon bled into evening, Becky found herself thinking again and again about the vision. Surely Edgar wouldn’t hurt her? But then she had to acknowledge it may not have been Edgar at all. There was a time, countless years ago, when Minotaurs and humankind shared the earth. Still, what was a Minotaur doing in the midst of what appeared to be a human battle? And who were the warring factions? And what was she doing there?

  None of it made any sense.

  Over dinner, Uncle Percy announced, more indelicately than he had intended, that they would be leaving to acquire Sir Walter Raleigh’s head the next morning. This announcement sent Maria into a bout of unbearably loud sobbing, which compelled him to make a prompt exit, leaving Becky and Joe to calm her down.

  Becky retired to bed at eleven. Her head still spinning from the events of the day, she changed into her pyjamas and stared out of her window to see the treetops of Bowen Forest glittering like ice-cream cones from the glow of a full moon overhead. It was then a memory stirred within her. At Easter, in the dead of night, she’d been convinced she’d witnessed the light burst of an arriving time machine at the edge of the forest. The following day Will, his face scarred and bloody, had explained he had fallen from the tree-house and the mysterious light was merely his torch and not a time machine at all. But even now there was something about his explanation that didn’t quite ring true.

  Morning arrived with the first rays of sunlight colouring her room. Becky opened her eyes and looked over at the wardrobe, fully expecting to see an outfit suitable for Jacobean England hanging there, but there was nothing.

  At nine, she and Joe, who was carrying his Joe-Bow and a quiver of arrows, entered the Time Room to see Uncle Percy, Barbie and Kenneth in deep c
onversation about something they couldn’t quite hear. Uncle Percy was wearing his favourite outfit - a linen jacket, violet waistcoat, Bermuda shorts and sandals.

  ‘No daft costumes this time?’ Becky asked.

  ‘Other than the one you’re wearing,’ Joe grinned.

  ‘Most amusing, Joe,’ Uncle Percy replied. ‘And Becky, no, I don’t think it’s necessary this time. Lady Raleigh is expecting us and she’s dismissed all her servants for the day so we can have complete privacy.’

  Becky was surprised. ‘You told her we were coming?’

  ‘Not personally. I posted a letter through her door saying who we were and when we would be coming. I thought the shock of suddenly being confronted by people from the future might be too much for her. Furthermore, I wanted to give her some time to prepare herself, get rid of her staff, and perhaps say her farewells to her husband.’

  ‘You mean to her husband’s head,’ Joe said.

  ‘I suppose I do, yes,’ Uncle Percy replied with a frown.

  ‘And what about Otto Kruger?’ Joe spat. ‘We know he’s in that time zone. We should prepare for that.’

  ‘I can’t see how he’d know where we’d be.’

  ‘Maybe Keith Pickleton said something before he died,’ Becky said.

  ‘True. But only I know precisely when and where we’re going.’

  ‘Perhaps you’d like me to accompany you, sir?’ Kenneth said. ‘Just in case there is any … bother.’

  ‘Top idea, Kenny boy,’ Joe said. ‘We could deffo use your firepower.’

  Uncle Percy didn’t look so sure. ‘Kenneth, I appreciate your offer but I think it best if you stay here. It’ll be difficult enough for Lady Raleigh to meet a group of time travellers… coming face to face with a robot would almost certainly send her over the edge.’

  ‘He could use his invisiblator,’ Becky suggested. ‘Lady Raleigh wouldn’t need to know he was there then.’

  ‘I really don’t think it’s necessary,’ Uncle Percy replied.

  Kenneth bowed. ‘If you say so, sir.’