An Egyptian Escapade: Book Six of the Chronicles of Adam Black the Teenage Time Traveller

By Raff Stuart

In this the sixth book in the chronicles of Adam Black, Adam is now a seasoned Junior Leader but while investigating the ruins of Park Hall finds himself transported back to the year 1882 and being caught is labelled a thief. To escape a hefty jail sentence he opts to join the Army only to find himself on a troopship bound for Egypt. Together with a Major in Army Intelligence he spies on the enemy and takes part in the battle of Tel-el-Kebir. Will he survive and how will he get back to his own time?

Other Books in the series:

Book 1- A Roman Odyssey

Book 2- A Viking Voyage

Book 3- A Nazi Nightmare

Book 4 - A Voyage to Victory

Book 5 - A Cavalier Canter

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781496995247

Raff Stuart

The Author, Raff Stuart, grew up in the same time as Adam and many of the things that happened to Adam impacted on him as well. He spent 31 years in the Army joining at the age of fifteen and leaving as a senior Major to take up a career in the commercial and public sectors as a CEO and management consultant. He is married with two grown up children and lives in Aberdeen.

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©2010 Raff Stuart. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in

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without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 4/28/2010

ISBN: 978-1-4490-6478-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-9524-7 (eBook)

Contents

Chapter I     Park Hall In The Past

Chapter 2     Life In C Company

Chapter 3     In Jail

Chapter 4     A Criminal Past?

Chapter 5     Trial And Retribution!

Chapter 6     Back In The Army!

Chapter 7     A Life On The Ocean Waves Again!

Chapter 8     A Mugging In Malta!

Chapter 9     An Appointment In Alexandria!

Chapter 10   On A Mission!

Chapter 11   Under Fire!

Chapter 12   Back Onboard!

Chapter 13   Undercover!

Chapter 14   Let Battle Commence!

Chapter 15   A Rapid Advance!

Chapter 16   The Enemy Fight Back!

Chapter 17   Under Attack Once More!

Chapter 18   The Attack On Tel-El-Kebir!

Chapter 19   A Fight To The Death!

Chapter 20   The Aftermath!

Chapter 21   A Medic Once More!

Chapter 22   Homeward Bound!

Chapter 23   A Meander In Malta.

Chapter 24   Back In Dear Old Blighty.

Chapter 25   Planning Precedes Performance!

Chapter 26   Red Post Lane

Chapter 27   A Visitor Arrives!

Chapter 28   Onwards And Upwards!

Author’s Note:

I found that the snippets I gathered from the web were invaluable particularly Wolseley’s Conquest of Egypt by Donald Featherstone on the lead up to the Battle.

Chapter I

Park Hall In The Past

Adam and his mates were bunking off a physical training session in their usual hiding place, the ruins of the old mansion that had been Park Hall. There was little of it left as the main part of the mansion had burned to the ground in 1918 when it had been in the hands of the Army due to the generosity of its owner. As usual Adam, Geordie and Andy had climbed up onto the roof by the large chimneys so that they had a spectacular view of their part of the camp, Wingate lines, as well as the artillery lines. It also meant that they would be able to see any regimental policeman coming to try and catch them.

They would often use the hideout even when they were not bunking off a Physical Training session, as it was a great place to just chill out away from the hurly- burly within the barrack room. Adam was intrigued by the place and decided to have a look at other parts of the ruins, this was his undoing. He was just in the act of passing through a rectangular gap in one of the few walls standing when he felt the now familiar surge as he passed through a portal and into a load of trouble.

It was the amazing change in his surroundings that struck him first. It was like being back in the big house in Ruthven for the furniture and pictures on the walls spoke of wealth. He took a few more steps into the room so that he could get a better impression of the time he was in. Looking back he could now see that the wall he had come through was not an exterior wall because he could see a corridor beyond it and then too late he heard the sound of footsteps. Even as he turned to take the few steps required to get him back to his own time a large broad shouldered man filled the doorframe. For a second or two there was a shocked silence then Adam began to speak, I am sorry I seem to have come in the wrong door. The big man moved in with surprising speed closing the gap between them and placing a hand on Adam’s shoulder saying, Just what a thief would say when caught. We will see what the judge has to say about that. A judge! I am not a thief Sir! I simply went through the wrong door. Adams replied but even he felt that that answer was a bit lame. He decided that it was best to say no more for if they left by the same door that they had both come in by he would be back in his own time and the man would be alone in this time.

Of course life is never that simple for a door on the other side of the room opened and an aristocratic looking lady came in and said, Ah James, I thought I heard your voice and who is this? The lady said as if Adam had come off the sole of her shoe. Okay Adam was wearing a red PT shirt, blue PT shorts, khaki socks and brown plimsolls but they were clean and neat he thought. He’s a thief Madam! I caught him in this room before he could steal anything. James replied. The lady almost smiled and said, Well done secure him in the cellar and get Tompkins to get the Constable.

Again Adam said nothing but his hopes of a swift return to his own time were dashed as he was manhandled out through the door that the lady had come through, which led them into a wide hallway. To the right was the front door and the steps that still existed in his own time, however, Adam was pushed across the hall to where there was an open doorway with steps that led down to the floor below. They were now below stairs and it was clear that there were a good many staff working within the house in one capacity or another. Adam was definitely the centre of attention as they moved past the large kitchen area towards the back of the house. James had a firm grip on Adam’s arm and swung him right to face the door, which he quickly unbolted to reveal a large coal cellar without a word Adam was pushed inside and the door was slammed behind him. He heard the bolts go in at the top and bottom of the door and there he was in almost total darkness virtually surrounded by coal apart from a stack of logs along the wall by the door and some bags of kindling. He could vaguely make out from the few chinks of light above him that by the far wall there was a chute from the ground level which was close to the ceiling that he thought they must use to empty the sacks of coal in to. If that were true there would be a hatch or a door of sorts that might not be secure.

With some difficulty he made his way up the mound of coal, slipping and sliding, to the chute and gripping the edge of the chute he tested the hatch cover. It wouldn’t budge but he hadn’t thought it would. He backed his way down the coal and sat on one of the sacks of kindling. It seemed that in all his adventures he ended up being locked up in a small secure a place but he had no idea how this adventure would end up.

Chapter 2

Life In C Company

Life as an infantry junior leader had definitely improved since his last adventure, the Cavalier Canter as he called it. He had survived the bullying of the junior NCOs and the day to day rigours of army life although a few of his intake had not coped well at all and some had already left. It was as his mother had told him during his time in Recruits Company, You made your bed and now you must lie on it! Whether it was because of his time in the cadets or his time travelling adventures he had taken to his life in C Company like a duck to water and was getting excellent reports from his platoon commander, a Lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Highlanders, in most of the military skills like weapon training, drill, tactics and signals.

His main bugbears where physical training and sports as his upper body strength was not what it might be despite his best efforts. Of course it did not stop him winning the boxing medal or him being in the company’s rugby seven a side team, which got absolutely massacred by the team from guards company who were all a good four to 8 inches taller than him. They lost two of their team stretchered off in the first 10 minutes. On the academic front he was also doing well and he was sure that he would have his Army Certificate of Education Grade 1 before he left the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion.

Life for some of those in his year could be tough and he thought about some of the more unpleasant aspects of being a Junior Leader. His other roommates were a mixed bunch that came and went during the time Adam was there and they rubbed together reasonably well. Although, not everyone in the Company was as fortunate, in 10 Platoon there was a soldier in the KORB, who became the scapegoat. He was a total disaster at Drill being totally incapable of knowing his right foot from his left, was always out of step and marched with his back hunched, a cardinal sin to the Drill Sergeant. However, his worst sin was his personal habits like washing and laundry, which he did rarely. His roommates decided a lesson was in order so he was dragged naked kicking and screaming from his bed along the corridor to the ablution block where a bath had already been filled with cold water. He was then scrubbed all over with large bass brooms that would normally be used for scrubbing the floors in the toilets and showers. They scrubbed him until he bled but he recovered well and somehow soldiered on.

Part of the lad’s problem had been the competitiveness between the platoons within the Company and the companies within the Battalion. Everyone was involved in all manner of platoon-based sports and Adam represented the platoon in football, cross-country, swimming, cricket, athletics, rugby and hockey but never achieved the accolades he got from boxing. However, perhaps the most prestigious award was having one’s platoon win the drill and turnout competition. Each year a team of senior drill instructors would come down from the Guards Depot and would assess each platoon in the Battalion on its standard of drill and turnout. Weeks of training, bulling, polishing and ironing would go into this and woe betide anyone who let the platoon down, rough justice was not in it. Once they had a youngster in Adam’s room that was totally inept at drill and it soon became obvious that the platoon would stand no chance if they let him take part. However, he could only be excused from the competition through illness or injury so a collective decision was taken that he would have to be injured. Without any ceremony he was held on his bed by his arms and legs while his knee was bashed with a metal bed-end until it started to swell. Despite their best efforts they did not win the prize but at least the youngster was soon as good as new.

Another thing Adam excelled in was adventure training in such areas as rock climbing; hill walking and canoeing but then Adam had the benefit over his colleagues in that area due to his hair-raising experiences in other times. Only the other week when the company had been camping by one of the lakes or meres in Cheshire the company commander, Major Crowe, had complimented Adam on his performance in that environment, which his mates assured him would mean that he would shortly be promoted. Adam wasn’t sure whether that was such a good thing as he enjoyed being just one of the boys with his mates and that might have to change if he were promoted. Now of course there was every chance that he would never get back to his own time let alone be promoted.

Chapter 3

In Jail

Adam had no idea how long he had been in the cellar so it was with some relief that he heard the bolts being drawn and then he was blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the high windows above the butler, James, and the Constable if that was who he was. The man muttered to James, Strange looking lad isn’t he? James just nodded in agreement and signalled for Adam to step out into the corridor. Adam did so and was quickly grabbed by the Constable who led him out through the back door and up the slope to where a horse and cart were standing. The Constable placed an early form of handcuffs on one wrist with the other handcuff being locked on to a metal rail that was on the front of the cart. In no time at all he was going round the side of the mansion and it was only when the cart joined the driveway that led away from the front of the house that Adam could fully appreciate the size and splendour of Park Hall. The Constable had caught his glance and said, You’ve picked the wrong house to rob boy! I am no thief! I simply went through the wrong door. Adam said. The constable laughed and said, You’ll have to think up a better excuse than that if you are to avoid transportation.

The journey into Oswestry was a short one but during that time Adam’s brain was spinning as one dreadful thought after another flashed through his mind: Did they still hang thieves? Do they still transport you to Australia? Maybe they flog you! Adam was mentally exhausted by the time the cart stopped outside a dark forbidding building, or perhaps it was just forbidding in his mind. The constable climbed down off the cart and having patted the horse’s head moved round to Adam’s side of the cart. Adam was working out his chances of making a break for it when the constable released the handcuff attached to the metal rail but all hopes of escape faded when another burly man came out and stood menacingly close by. The handcuff was quickly removed from the rail and with his arms behind him replaced on Adam’s free wrist.

There was no banter for he was swiftly taken up the steps and into the building. He was patted down but of course as he had no pockets in his shorts they found nothing. Adam was feverishly thinking of a suitable cover story but he had no idea of what year it was or what he could say that might help him escape jail or worse. A thought did strike him, he could plead insanity or memory loss but if he did that he would end up in the loony bin with no hope of escape and he believed that they carried out all sorts of experiments on patients in those places. Better to stick as close as possible to the truth he thought but then how on earth could he explain how he ended up inside one of the main rooms of the house without breaking and entering.

It was the other constable that started asking the questions. He asked Adam for his name so Adam gave it in a strong clear voice as if he was parade. Of course the man then went into the more difficult questions like where was he living. He could hardly say Park Hall Camp, as that did not exist in this time so he could only revert back to the cover story he had used in his last adventure about him travelling up the country from Bristol heading towards his home in Scotland. When he was asked where his luggage was or his proper clothes all he could do was shrug and say that he didn’t know as he had hit he head when he fell while out running. He used that same excuse when asked why he was in the house. To the other questions he just kept repeating the same answers: I am not a thief! I just went through the wrong door.

Needless to say his repeated denials soon got the two men interrogating him frustrated and he thought that they might resort to violence but instead they simply dragged him off to the cells. It was like a repeat of his time walking through the corridors of the prison in Shrewsbury back in 1644 although there were only a few cells in the building he was now in and few of them seemed to be occupied from what little he could see in the near darkness of the corridor leading from the front of the building to the cells. They stopped in front of a cell and the man opened it with a large key that was on a large ring that was attached to his belt by a cord. He did it with such a flourish that Adam thought that he was going to be ushered in to the cell like a guest at a posh hotel but the man took a more workman like approach and having quickly removed the handcuffs on Adam’s wrists almost threw him into the cell.

It was the smell that hit him first. It was every bit as bad as the heads on the schooner HMS Naiad back in

1805. The cell itself was very small and there was hardly room to move with the bulk of the space being taken up with two bunk beds that looked every bit as bad as those in Nazi Time. There was a small barred window high up on the outer wall of the cell but it threw little light down into the cell. Back in jail! Adam thought as he sunk down onto the lower bunk only to jump back up in horror as he felt movement beneath him. Someone was lying in the bunk and he had cried out. I am sorry, I am so sorry but I didn’t know anyone was there. Adam said while squeezing himself against the wall to create a space between him and the bunk beds. He could now dimly see a form laying on the lower bunk a shrunken bearded face that reminded so much of the slave workers he had worked with in Nazi Time.

The man croaked, What the hell were you thinking of boy? I am sorry! Adam said again. Another croak from the man, Just get on the top bunk and let me have some peace! Adam carefully drew closer to the bunks and gingerly stood on the rail at the foot of the lower bunk and climbed quickly onto the upper bunk. It was every bit as uncomfortable as the bunk he had slept in Nazi Time and from where he lay he could see the source of the foul smell for there was a bucket in the corner by the outer wall. He moved to see if he could see anything out of the window but all that he could see was a lichen- covered wall only a short distance from the window that obscured his view and limited the amount of light entering the cell. Adam lay as quietly as he could not wishing to annoy his cell-mate even more for goodness knows who he was locked up with.

Time passed and he could hear the laboured breathing of the man below him. There was surprisingly little noise from the other cells and Adam wondered just how many other prisoners there were. Once again his mind was busy trying to work out how he could possibly get out of the mess he currently found himself in. He knew that in Izzy’s and Simon’s time people actually went looking for portals but in his case the portals found him

Reviews for An Egyptian Escapade

[raffstuart · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is perhaps the most vivid battlescene that Adam has encountered to date and is based on recorded exploits of the British & Empire forces fighting the enemy.