The Tower Grave Read online

  “That just doesn’t seem like her,” said John. “At least not going by what I’ve seen so far.”

  “It’s not exactly true,” Jake sighed as he turned in the passenger seat. “John, I thought she’d take it as a joke.”

  “Take what as a joke?”

  “Ok, here it is.” He took a deep breath. “I was fine after I fell but kept my eyes closed on the floor and waited for her to come and see if I was ok. When she bent down to check my face…I kissed her.”

  “You kissed her?” asked David.

  “I properly kissed her.”

  “Jesus, Jake, it’s the second day!” John said, half annoyed, half amused. “You better not have pissed her off.”

  “I think I have.”

  “Yeah I think you have too, mate.”

  “Well that’s not exactly it. I was expecting her to jump back and slap me in the face or laugh or something. But she didn’t, she kissed me back.”

  “She kissed you back?” John asked.

  “She properly kissed me back. At least for a second, then I pulled away in shock and laughed. That’s when she got up and rode off.”

  “What’s wrong with you?” David asked, smiling but shocked like John.

  “Gents, I didn’t mean any harm,” Jake said back, honestly. “I’m sorry, John. I was just being an idiot and having a joke.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just make sure you fix it, today.”

  “I promise I will,” Jake said quietly as they pulled up outside the back of the house and opened their doors. “I’ll sort it.”

  “Ok,” said Derek from the head of the classroom. “Now, we’ll have our full briefing for the training and the operational plan in a moment. We’re currently waiting for Rich so you might as well make yourselves comfortable until he arrives. Has anyone got any immediate concerns or queries?”

  They began to talk amongst themselves as questions were fired at Derek, but Charlotte remained quiet on the back row of chairs, looking defiantly at the front of the room. Jake, who sat in the back row alone with her, watched her sheepishly from three seats away and tried to think of a way to apologise to her without embarrassing her by letting the rest of the class hear. Looking around him and noting that the others in the room were listening intently to Chris’ story of the runaway horse, Jake scribbled out a note, folded it and threw it on to Charlotte’s lap with a deep breath.

  She ignored it for a moment and then, sighing loudly, picked it up and read it with a look of determination.

  ‘I’m sorry, Charlotte,’ it said as she read it over in her head. ‘I was out of order for what I did this morning and I didn’t mean to annoy you. I’ll let you beat me up in Pete’s class, I promise.’

  She continued to frown as she scribbled her own note back and dropped it on the floor at his feet.

  ‘You’re an arsehole,’ it said as he picked it up and looked at the writing.

  ‘I know,’ he replied in the corner of her note. ‘Can I make it up to you?’

  She smiled then as she looked down at the paper and picked up her pen.

  ‘Yes and it’ll cost you big time.’

  ‘What will it cost?’ he replied, smiling himself at their messages.

  Her cheeks flushed red as she picked up her pen once more and began to write on a fresh piece of paper. Jake watched her eyebrows scrunch in the middle as she concentrated on the writing and felt his smile spread involuntarily. She wrote in big letters and laid the note out on her desk. He shifted to the chair next to her.

  “Just get ready for a beating,” he read aloud as he looked up at her poor attempt to keep a serious face, and not noticing her sharp intake of breath as he leant over her. “I really am sorry,” he added.

  “Shut up,” she replied and grinned privately to herself, her eyes still on the front of the room. He looked at her with his mouth open and reluctantly did as he was told. She flicked her eyes towards him for a moment and smiled slightly as their gaze met and she looked back to Derek and the others. She tried to think of something to say but her mind was blank as the rear door opened behind them and the whole group looked round as one to see.

  “I’m sorry,” said Rich as he stumbled into the room. “Where are Pete, Paul and Jane?”

  “They’re not coming to this one,” Derek replied. “This is for us,” he added as he looked around at the small team of varied experts and marvelled at their willingness to put their lives on the line in the most ridiculous deployment he’d ever heard of.

  “Come on, Boss,” David said, quietly. “We’re desperate to know what’s happening.”

  “Ok, I’ll tell you,” Derek said and a degree of excitement built up in the room as he paused again and opened a small page of handwritten notes. “This is the first briefing,” he said finally. “The general and basic plan so to speak.

  “According to a diary found by a team in the British Museum…In early July, fourteen eighty three, a treason plot led by Lord Edmund Courtridge was carried out successfully in the Tower of London. Their aim and ultimate achievement: to kidnap and murder the boy King Edward the fifth and his brother Prince Richard. It is believed that Courtridge had a weak but valid claim to the English throne through one of the Plantagenet lines stemming from King Edward the third, and that he had planned to kidnap the boys, leaving no specific heir, and use Baron backing to secure himself the spot. We all know he was never king, but why and how he failed to realise his dream, and why the anonymous author of this book named and shamed him we don’t know. What we are aware of is that for some reason, he was granted land and titles in return for his invaluable contribution to the investigation.

  “Our intention in this operation is to identify the author of the diary, infiltrate the treason plot, and gather enough real-world evidence to remove the titles and funds that are now owned by the current Lord Courtridge.

  “On the twenty-fifth of June, you will all be transported to the June the first, fourteen eighty three. That will give you just over a month until the date of the assassination according to the diary that we have found. Official historical sources say that although King Richard the third was crowned on the twelfth of July, the boys were last seen in the Tower by a Doctor Argentine around September that year. The diary tells a different story and we believe it is the doctor’s reports that are inaccurate. Your mission is to travel by horse from this site in Bradwell to London City where you will find lodgings in a place you feel most comfortable. You will have sufficient technical equipment with which you will be suitably trained; and you will be carrying enough gold, silver, jewellery and weapons to buy or rent whatever you need. Establishing your digs as your base, they will be considered your safe house for your equipment and Chris will operate predominantly from there. Though he does have an undercover role to play, David will join you outside on an on-hand advisory basis most of the time. His legend will be in place as cover, but not as a tool of infiltration itself. The rest of you will need him with you to guide any mistakes you may make regarding the period and will be expected to rely on his guidance with regards to conduct. John, Jake and Charlotte; with David’s assistance, you will gain access to the courts of the Tower and will work to create relationships with fellow court members. If possible, you will identify Courtridge and his posse, find out the information you need to know, and locate the author of the diary. Charlotte, I expect you to be useful in keeping an eye on these men and gathering what visual evidence is required by the boys. John and Jake, it will then be down to the two of you to infiltrate the circle and become part of the plot itself. I want you to gather evidence by technical means, and I want you to be present for the offences in person. This, we believe, is the only way we will be able to secure enough evidence to pull this off. Video, audio, forensic, whatever you can get. We need it. I’m sorry it’s blunt. I’m not sure of any other way I can put it.”

  “You make it sound very easy, Derek!” John commented with a wry smile. “Not only will we have to look like we fit in there
in the fourteen hundreds, we’ll also have to get inside the Royal Court then convince a band of organised traitors that they should trust us enough to allow us into their plot.”

  “I know, John, I know. Anything could happen and it’s a big gamble. It’s a straight forward plan with the objective clearly set out. But you’re right, god knows what’s going to happen when you’re there and what you’re going to have to do to survive let alone succeed. Your aim is to travel safely, become court members, infiltrate the plot, then gather evidence via surveillance and participation. Get it all recorded and get out. You must not, under any circumstances, prevent the assassination no matter how you feel at the time. They’re small boys in danger, you’ll be there and it’ll be hard. But that’s not why you’re going and the results of intervention would be unimaginable.” The team glanced at each other nervously and Derek continued. “Not only are you not even guaranteed survival from time travel, but you are at risk of: one, being compromised by your deadly targets; two, being discovered as not from their time and branded as evil heretics; and three, being discovered by the law as traitors then tortured and executed for your crimes. I know it’s not great odds, which is why I’m so grateful with all of my heart that you’re all willing to do this. And I know it’s no consolation either, but the public will be as grateful as I am when the truth comes out and they are saved from disaster. On the plus side, I’d say it’s going to be a pretty amazing experience and I get the impression from your personalities that you’ll make the most of what you are going to go through.

  “We’ve thought pretty hard about how to provide your cover. You need to be of a significant enough status to enable you access to court, but obscure enough to dampen any suspicion. And, of course, you need to be totally untraceable to them. We intend to send you in as a travelling unit of English-folk who’ve been living in France for a number of generations. You travel from an estate in Rougemont, Jura and have lived there in the Eastern side of France outside of the main British territories that were held prior to and within the Plantagenet reign. You’ll be travelling to re-establish relationships in England and using your pathway to Eastern Europe as a lure for trade and travel. At the time you will be living in, Western Europe was still seeking a sea-route to Asia around the southern tip of Africa. The Americas were ten years off and there was no Suez Canal. The only way to transport trade and people from Asia was to drag them across the land.

  “John and Jake will travel as brothers Sir John and Sir Jake de Rougemont – two knights granted status and title by your estate. In tow with you will be the fiancée of Sir Jake, Mademoiselle Charlotte Du Lac and her uncle - your political advisor - Monsieur David Du Lac. Finally, Chris rides along as your English servant, Christopher. Any questions?”

  “What equipment are we looking at?” John asked.

  “Standard, water-proof covert-video/audio equipment; portable power packs and batteries; tablet computers to be used for playback and storage. Clearly we can’t use GPS as there are no satellites, but we have managed to get hold of a powerful wireless connection which will allow for up to two miles of back to back communication and much further for tracking in terms of signal and proximity. You’ll get mobile phones to use on the closed loop circuit and a nice stack of medieval weapons.”

  “Just the usual then,” said John laughing.

  “Take away the unusual circumstance and unfamiliar lifestyle and yeah, it’s actually the same as any other whole-time deployment.”

  “Without any introductions when we get there.”

  “No, no introductions. You’ll have to be creative and get yourselves introduced to the subjects. It’s a cold-call. But there is a public opening to form a relationship prior to infiltration.” He paused and the team nodded their acceptance. He finally led them through the final, basic details and stood to relieve them for lunch. “Come back in an hour and Paul will take you through the first history session,” he added and quickly left the room. A silence remained behind him as the team each contemplated their future.

  “Anyone else get the feeling this won’t be straight-forward?” asked David.

  “Yep,” Jake replied. “Time-travel? Great. Undercover work? Awesome. Both together? A death sentence for sure.”

  “It’ll be fun though,” answered Charlotte making them smile. “Imagine what it’ll be like.”

  John nodded.

  “It’s going to be great fun, and we’re all coming home. We can only do what we can do and if we have to get out, we get out.”

  “Let’s do it then,” whispered Jake.

  “Yeah, let’s get it done.”

  Six

  6th June 2014

  “Alreet, Gents? And ladies of course,” said Geordie Pete, smiling with his broad accent as he nodded to Jake at his last comment. “First fight session,” he continued. “We have to move quickly as we don’t have long and you need to be able to fight your way out of trouble without back up. You need to learn to strike where it matters and grapple while you’re in armour and while you’re out of it. You’ve got to use weapons such as swords, shields, bows and spears; and you have to do it both mounted and on foot. We have three weeks for all that and Knights born into their position will have studied this stuff for their whole lives. Three hours a day doing this plus three hours riding, and after ten days we’ll combine the two. I hope you’re ready.”

  The team looked around at each other grinning at the aggressive introduction, then proceeded to warm up for twenty minutes with Pete leading them through a range of exercises. They moved through a number of strike drills, swapping partners as they went, and used both gloves and bare hands for their basic training. John relaxed his effort as he moved across to Chris, but despite dripping with sweat, the young man maintained a one hundred per cent effort throughout each exercise leaving John having to work hard to match him.

  “You ok, Chris?” he asked, impressed with his attitude.

  “I’m not much of a fighter, John, and I don’t want to get killed. I’ve got to learn quickly or I’ll be dead in a month.”

  “The way you’re going you’ll be knocking us all out within two weeks!” John said as he moved around the punches.

  Chris grinned back at his boss and attacked him with renewed energy as John relaxed, trying to re-establish the motions back into his body. He’d boxed for a period with his father as a teen, and then both boxed and wrestled in his first few years with the Met Police; but it had been a long time and he felt older and out of practice as he danced around with the young, eager technician in front of him. He watched David and Jake from the corner of his eye as he picked up the focus pads and continued with Chris. David looked awkward but was trying his best, while Jake moved so slowly that he almost looked bored. He accepted David’s attacks with politeness and encouragement, but put no effort back into his own returns.

  As they swapped partners, Jake looked up to see Charlotte approach him.

  “Jake,” Pete called out, making him look round. “Is there any reason you’re not working to improve in this? You don’t want to get hurt out there, do you?”

  “I’m letting you all get your practice and putting back what you require,” he shrugged. “No point me going mad and hurting someone in practice is there?”

  Pete laughed out loud.

  “Who are you, Bruce chuffing Lee or something?” he shouted. “Arrogance can get you killed, mate. Right, everyone, begin!”

  Jake turned to Charlotte, shaking his head at the accusation and saw her grin up at him as she fastened her gloves.

  “Oh I get it,” he said. “You get to beat me up now?”

  She nodded with a glint in her eye.

  “But I don’t want you to hurt me, do I?” she replied, sarcastically.

  “Go on then,” he said, ignoring her tone. “One shot in the face and we’re even.”

  Without needing another prompt, she stepped forwards and jabbed him gently in the face with her gloved, left hand.

  “Was that i
t?” he asked, chuckling softly. “I was expecting to be knocked out for yesterday. I’ve been let off lightly after all.”

  With another grunt she stepped back in with her left foot and jabbed him again in the face with the same hand. As his head rocked back stunned, she stepped in closer, drove her knee into his thigh then slipped back and twisted her hips to sweep away his feet. His feet slid out from underneath him as his thigh buckled from the knee, and he landed on his hip with a shocked and painful cry.

  “Stop!” he called from the floor, both chuckling and grimacing at the pain. “I give up! Where did you learn to do all that?” he asked as he rubbed his dead thigh and pulled himself to his feet. “You nearly did knock me out!”

  “I decided against it,” she replied, smiling. “But you’re lucky, now stop trying to wind me up and get over yourself. Start trying and learn how to fight or you’ll get killed when we go back and we’ll be one team member down.

  “Oh and of course I don’t fancy you, you tosser,” she added angrily but unconvincingly in her semi-posh tone.

  A chuckle sounded around the matted dojo and Jake stood, staring at Charlotte, unable to read her expression. She appeared proud and pleased with herself but also embarrassed and upset. He opened his mouth to say something but fell silent again before he spoke.

  “I think we’ll have a two-minute break,” said Pete, breaking the silence and moving to the side of the mat as the rest of the group followed.

  As they moved to the benches and took sips of their water, Charlotte noticed Jake’s embarrassment and pulled him aside.

  “Are you ok?” she asked, reaching up to his reddened cheekbone.

  “Of course, Charlotte,” he replied. “And I agreed to let you pommel me, but I didn’t say you could scream and abuse me in front of everyone!”

  “Alright, that was a bit harsh,” she said kindly. “But anyway you deserved it! And Jake, you must start trying. You mustn’t get hurt. You’re the key to this job, you really are.”