Day of Deliverance by Johnny O'Brien Read Free Book Online Page B

church with flying buttresses and a distinctive octagonal tower. Jack could also see a large crowd of people stretching from the entrance to the castle, all the way back along a track towards a small village. Some people in the crowd were holding placards, as if they were at a demonstration. They were being chaperoned by men on horseback. It was difficult to make out what was on the placards, but there was one large one near the front that seemed to have a picture on it. It was bizarre, but Jack could have sworn it was a picture of a mermaid.
    “Where are we? What happened?” Jack said, woozily.
    “Don’t know. I think we passed out. My head’s thumping.”
    “Something went wrong.”
    “You can say that again. Tony and Gordon have disappeared, unless they landed somewhere nearby…”
    “We’re on our own?”
    “Looks like it… some sort of malfunction.”
    “Are they dead?”
    “No idea.”
    Jack’s heart sank when the reality of their situation dawned on him. He gritted his teeth and swallowed.
    “Well, we’d better get a grip. We’re paid-up members of VIGIL now. Have you looked at your time phone?”
    Angus slipped his hand beneath his cloak, inside the doublet and into the breast pocket of his under-vest. He unzipped a padded pouch and removed the precious time phone. Cupping it in his hands, he flicked it open. A faint blue light illuminatedthe device from the inside. They inspected the readout:
    Date: Wednesday 8th February 1587
    Time: 9.45 a.m.
    Location: Fotheringhay, England
    Jack gasped. “Taurus has dumped us back in 1587 all right…”
    Angus looked over the parapet, “But this doesn’t much look like London. No red buses for a start.”
    “Right. Maybe that’s why they tried to abort the mission? Maybe the Taurus put us here by mistake… maybe it even split us up and put Tony and Gordon in the right place?”
    Angus groaned, “Well, what do we do now?”
    “Is there a signal?”
    “Be serious.”
    They peered into the time phone again. The telltale bar that burned bright yellow when there was a time signal was greyed out – dead. The boys knew what that meant. They were stuck. They couldn’t communicate with home. There was no way of knowing how long it would be before they could get a signal.
    “Well that’s great. We’re stuffed. Already,” Angus said, bitterly. “So much for VIGIL.”
    “Here, let’s have a look at that readout again.”
    Jack studied the readout and pondered its meaning. “Our location – Fotheringhay… and that date…”
    Angus cocked his head. “Where is Fotheringhay, anyway?”
    “It’s not a hard ‘G’ by the way. It’s a village in England. I think it’s in Cambridgeshire or somewhere. I’m sure this place is famous… but I can’t remember why.”
    “Well, we can’t hang around here much longer. I’m freezing my butt off.”
    Angus was right. The adrenaline had finally worn off and it was a bitterly cold morning. It might even turn into snow later. They needed shelter.
    “Down there, I suppose?” Angus nodded towards a small arched oak door built into the tower.
    “Probably. I don’t know what choice we have. Judging from that crowd, there seems to be some sort of big event going on in the castle. Maybe it’s a marriage or something. We should be able to sneak out through the crowd.”
    “Then what?”
    Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. We probably need to try and hide somewhere until we get a time signal and can communicate with VIGIL. But you’re right, we can’t stay up here, we’ll freeze to death.”
    The squat wooden door opened onto a dank spiral staircase and the boys started to make their way down. As they descended, a slit window occasionally gave them a view of the large courtyard at the centre of the castle. It was busy. Servants tended tethered horses while breast-plated soldiers and finely attired gentlemen talked conspiratorially in small groups. A large bonfire was being built and in one corner a cluster of