The Escape of Athelwan

By Ross McLeod

'THE ESCAPE OF ATHELWAN'

The second book in the Charlie Braithwaite series finds our young English hero at home in his bedroom. It is a boring, wet afternoon, when suddenly his old friend the arch wizard Argetlám appears on his computer screen. At first delighted by the return of his friend, he soon discovers that the wizard has a job for him that is both extremely dangerous and possibly, crucially important to the freedom of everyone living in modern Britain if not the world.

Argetlám explains to Charlie that Athelwan, an evil sorcerer punished for his wicked ways by entombment in a cavern, centuries earlier, has escaped. Furthermore, he has materialised during the Battle of Britain, in 1940s England. The sorcerer has taken the job of headmaster of the local school and Argetlám is convinced that he is trying to help Britain’s sworn enemy, the evil Nazis. Should he succeed in his scheme, Britain may well lose the battle and therefore, her freedom. The consequences of this re-writing of history being that even people as young as Charlie could be seriously affected, perhaps not even born!

Our hero is therefore persuaded to travel back to September 1940, in the guise of a London evacuee. Once there, he is to enrol at Athelwan’s school (the sorcerer has taken the name Benson) in order to spy on him. This is another story about Charlie and the friends he made during the adventure – 'The Witches of Lewthan Mountain', as they spy on the forces of the Dark Side in an attempt to foil their evil ways. The question the reader must ask is – against all the powerful odds ranged against him, will, or even can, Charlie succeed? Further, if he cannot, what will that mean for the free world as we know it?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ross McLeod
• Release date: Apr 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476327334

Ross McLeod

Born in Cheshire, England, Ross McLeod studied at Stockport College and the Open university. His work, as a risk assessment engineer, took him to many parts of the world and into many interesting places, including gas exploration platforms in the North Sea, nuclear submarines and many of Scotland's and Northern England's prisons. This mind-broadening lifestyle has given him a vast and comprehensive insight into the diverse and complicated world in which we live and whether writing for children, or an older readership, as Len Cooke, his travels and experiences have given him an ability to write with authority, humour and an understanding of both his characters and his craft that is very hard to match. Now retired from his 'usual day job', he lives 'quietly, apart from when the grandchildren (code-named the SAS) come round' with his wife, Pip the Border collie dog and Penny, the ever mischievous, Main Coon cat.

Book preview

THE ESCAPE OF

ATHELWAN

R.M. McLeod

Published by Red Panda Press at Smashwords 2012

First published in Great Britain in 2004 by

Red Panda Press, PO Box 9, Millom,

Cumbria, LA18 5WA

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any events, persons, alive or dead, is purely coincidental. The characters are fictitious products of the author’s imagination

Copyright R.M. McLeod 2004/12

Cover by Chris Ross

Illustrations – James Askew

The Charlie Braithwaite Stories:

The Witches of Lewthan Mountain

The Escape of Athelwan

The Theft of the Crown of Bodran or The Band of Brothers

The Revenge of Botan the Bone Crusher

Also by R. M. McLeod

The Ghosts of Badger Wood

Drop Zone

The Time Flyers

This book is dedicated to the ‘few’, the quite superb men and women, of many nationalities, who, collectively at the time of the Battle of Britain, were the British Royal Air Force. We who now dwell in the comfort and safety of the Light must never forget that, in 1940, it was the quite awesome and uncompromising dedication and courage of those magnificent ‘few’ that helped save the people of our islands from enslavement by the Dark and evil forces of the Night!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Glynn Griffith, former curator of RAF Millom Museum. For sharing his great knowledge of RAF Millom and Fighter Command during WWII.

Betty, who was, I am certain, an extremely able and very pleasant teacher in wartime Cumberland. For her help with lots and lots of things.

THE ESCAPE OF ATHELWAN

The second book in the Charlie Braithwaite series finds our young English hero at home in his bedroom. It is a boring, wet afternoon, when suddenly, his old friend the arch wizard Argetlám appears on his computer screen. At first delighted by the return of his friend, he soon discovers that the wizard has a job for him that is both extremely dangerous and possibly, crucially important to the freedom of everyone living in modern Britain if not the world.

Argetlám explains to Charlie that Athelwan, an evil sorcerer punished for his wicked ways by entombment in a cavern, centuries earlier, has escaped. Furthermore, he has materialised during the Battle of Britain, in 1940’s England. The sorcerer has taken the job of headmaster of the local school and Argetlám is convinced that he is trying to help Britain’s sworn enemy, the evil Nazis. Should he succeed in his scheme, Britain may well lose the battle and therefore, her freedom. The consequences of this re-writing of history being that even people as young as Charlie could be seriously affected, perhaps not even born! Our hero is therefore persuaded to travel back to September 1940, in the guise of a London evacuee. Once there, he is to enrol at Athelwan’s school, (the sorcerer has taken the name Benson) this in order to spy on him.

This is another story of Charlie and the friends he made during the adventure - The Witches of Lewthan Mountain, as they spy on the forces of the Dark Side in an attempt to foil their evil ways. The question the reader must ask is – will Charlie succeed?

R.M. McLeod’s approach to writing is that he writes for both genders and all ages. Indeed the only qualifications you need to enjoy his wonderful stories are the abilities to enjoy a good old-fashioned read, packed with tension and adventure and be young at heart. By some modern standards his novels are not overlong, this is deliberate as he started writing children’s books to encourage slow or lazy readers, something many believe he has achieved with consummate skill and great ease.

Chapter 1

The Archwizard Returns

It was mid-winter, the days short, often wet, invariably cold and always boring. Charlie Braithwaite, eleven year-old schoolboy and at times, very lonely only child, looked up from his homework and stared, wistfully, out of the rain-spattered window of his bedroom.

‘I wish something interesting would happen,’ he groaned to himself. ‘Life can be so boring when you’ve no one to play with.’ With a sigh he leant across the desk and switched on his computer. ‘Forget the homework,’ he said aloud and to no one but himself. ‘I’m going to have a surf.’ He had just finished typing in his Internet server password when the monitor screen turned bright blue and instead of the menu appearing, he found himself staring into the smiling face of an extremely old looking, white-bearded man. The man was dressed in a black cloak and a tall, well-battered pointed hat; both of which were liberally decorated with gold-coloured sequins, broomsticks, half moons and bolts of lightning.

‘Argetlám!’ cried Charlie, happily. ‘What are you doing in my computer?’

‘Is that where I am?’ said the wizard, looking confused. ‘I must have materialised in the wrong place. Wait one moment please.’ There followed a loud bang, the image on the screen momentarily flickered and a second later a puff of white smoke appeared in the far corner of Charlie’s bedroom. ‘That’s better,’ said the great archwizard, stretching his arms and back as the smoke cleared. ‘That’s much more comfortable.’

Still grinning like a Cheshire cat, Charlie watched his old friend as he walked across to the bed and, rather stiffly, eased himself onto it. ‘Argetlám!’ said Charlie again. ‘Great to see you, I’ve been bored out of my brain.’

‘Thank you,’ said the wizard, rubbing his neck. ‘I don’t know what’s coming over me these days. Fancy materialising in one of those horrible things,’ he continued, frowning at the computer. Then, looking affectionately at his red-haired, freckle-faced, eleven year-old friend, he said. ‘You know, I really, really hate computers young, Charlie.’

‘You must be losing your touch,’ replied Charlie, laughing. ‘Anyway, I really am delighted to see you; you don’t know how bored I’ve been today.’

The old wizard, with whom Charlie had enjoyed some hair-raising adventures the previous summer, in the witch and goblin infested Darklands of Cumbria, shook his head, sadly. ‘I don’t think you’ll be too pleased when I tell you why I’m here,’ he replied.

‘Oh, why’s that then?’ asked Charlie, sensing and secretly hoping that another exciting adventure may be in the offing.

Argetlám, looking tired, removed his pointed hat and lay back on the bed, resting his head on the down-filled pillows. ‘Do you remember the very first time we met, Charlie?’ he asked.

‘Do I? Why of course I do, the terrifying way you first appeared in my bedroom is something I’ll never forget. You frightened me half to death.’

‘Then you may also remember that I told you about the fate of the evil sorcerer - Athelwan.’

Charlie nodded. ‘Yes, you said that he was a bad wizard, a warlock, a man who stirred up trouble amongst the elfin folk and that he was defeated in a great battle, hundreds of years ago, somewhere in a vast underground cave.’

‘I think I used the word destroyed,’ said Argetlám.

‘You did,’ agreed Charlie. ‘Yes, I remember now.’

‘Well, sadly, I was mistaken,’ continued the wizard. ‘He was only entombed, albeit for many, many, peaceful centuries.’

‘Entombed?’ said Charlie.

‘Yes, he was only buried, in the rubble of the cave.’

‘You mean, he wasn’t killed?’

‘I do, Charlie,’ replied Argetlám.

‘And now?’ asked Charlie, suddenly worried by the wizard’s grave tone.

‘And now he’s escaped,’ replied the wizard, his expression even graver. ‘Not only has he escaped from the cave, he’s re-emerged in the Overland.’

‘In our dimension?’ gasped Charlie. ‘Where the good people live, the followers of the Light.’

‘Yes,’ said Argetlám.

‘What here?’

‘Not quite here, Charlie. I mean, yes he is living in your village, but not in this time period.’

Charlie, looking confused, shook his head. ‘Sorry, I don’t think I understand.’

Argetlám smiled, patiently. ‘When he escaped from the cave in The Darklands, he went back in time and entered the Overland – in the nineteen forties.’

‘But that’s over fifty years ago,’ said Charlie.

‘Try over sixty,’ corrected Argetlám, ‘he’s reappeared in nineteen forty. He’s also taken a job as a schoolmaster, as it happens, at your original junior school. The one that was pulled down after the new one was built.’

‘How do you know?’ asked Charlie.

The wizard smiled, grimly. ‘I have my spies, Charlie, as you well know.’

‘But how’s he done that?’

‘Simple,’ replied the wizard. ‘He applied for a job as a teacher and got it. Don’t forget, in nineteen forty there was a war on. Many, many people, including teachers, were called up for active service; there was a nation-wide shortage of just about every profession you can mention.’

‘I wish there was a nation-wide shortage of teachers now,’ said Charlie, wistfully.

‘There is,’ said Argetlám.

‘Good,’ replied Charlie. ‘But – well – what’s he doing there? As a schoolteacher of all things.’

‘I don’t know,’ replied the wizard. ‘But if I know Athelwan, he’ll be up to something and whatever it is, it won’t be good. That’s why I’m here.’

‘Err, sorry?’ said Charlie. ‘I don’t think I understand.’

‘I’m here, Charlie, because I want you to help me find out just what he is up to.’

‘Me?’ said Charlie, sounding astonished.

Argetlám smiled. ‘You, Charlie.’

‘How?’

Argetlám sighed. ‘I want you to travel back to the year nineteen forty and when you’re there, I want you to enrol at the village school – as a pupil. That way you can keep an eye on Athelwan for me.’

‘In nineteen forty!’ gasped Charlie, clearly appalled at the idea. ‘But school in those days was – well – it was like being in prison, if not worse. I know because my granddad told me. They used to beat you then, with rulers, pumps and great big sticks!’

‘Only if you misbehaved,’ said Argetlám.

But Charlie was shaking his head, adamantly. ‘Oh no, no way! I think I prefer life in the twenty-first century, thank you. At least nowadays