The Angel on the Northern Line

By Catherine Curzon

When your average, run-of-the-mill retired superhero Latin teacher meets an angel on the underground, it's not only runaway trains that spark.

Christian Winter used to save the world. In World War II, when good and bad was a simple matter of whose side you were on, life seemed so much simpler. Back then it was easy for a superman to see the troops safely home. Back then it was easy to be Mithras.

Long since retired to teach Latin in a London school, the man who used to be Mithras wants nothing more than a cup of tea and a quiet life. All that changes thanks to a runaway train on the Northern Line, and a red-headed Scottish angel whose eyes are bluer than a summer sky, who just happens to have a thing for chaps in tweed.

Christian is swept along by Freddy Rose's passion and enthusiasm, and his efforts to resist the Scottish angel's attractions aren't exactly heartfelt, but can the passionate angel and an encounter with a very important lady tempt Mithras back to a life of adventure?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pride Publishing
• Release date: Aug 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781786515926

Catherine Curzon

Catherine Curzon is a royal historian who writes on all matters of 18th century. Her work has been featured on many platforms and Catherine has also spoken at various venues including the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, and Dr Johnson’s House. Catherine holds a Master’s degree in Film and when not dodging the furies of the guillotine, writes fiction set deep in the underbelly of Georgian London. She lives in Yorkshire atop a ludicrously steep hill.

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The Angel on the Northern Line

ISBN # 978-1-78651-592-6

©Copyright Catherine Curzon 2017

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright July 2017

Edited by Rebecca Scott

Pride Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2017 by Pride Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, UK

Pride Publishing is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

THE ANGEL ON THE NORTHERN LINE

Catherine Curzon

When your average, run-of-the-mill retired superhero Latin teacher meets an angel on the underground, it’s not only runaway trains that spark.

Christian Winter used to save the world. In World War II, when good and bad was a simple matter of whose side you were on, life seemed so much simpler. Back then it was easy for a superman to see the troops safely home. Back then it was easy to be Mithras.

Long since retired to teach Latin in a London school, the man who used to be Mithras wants nothing more than a cup of tea and a quiet life. All that changes thanks to a runaway train on the Northern Line, and a red-headed Scottish angel whose eyes are bluer than a summer sky, who just happens to have a thing for chaps in tweed.

Christian is swept along by Freddy Rose’s passion and enthusiasm, and his efforts to resist the Scottish angel’s attractions aren’t exactly heartfelt, but can the passionate angel and an encounter with a very important lady tempt Mithras back to a life of adventure?

Dedication

To Pippa and Nelly, for attending rehearsals!

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

Tube: Transport for London

The Times: News UK

Jaguar: Jaguar Land Rover; Tata Motors Limited

Chapter One

Once upon a time, saving the world had been easy. There were heroes and villains, right and wrong, and no matter how thorny things got, good always saved the day.

Once upon a time, there had been a place for superheroes.

Once upon a time, long, long ago.

Back then they’d lit up a million childhood dreams, their stories caught forever on fading newsprint and flickering newsreel. They’d been there as boys had been slaughtered in their millions on distant French and Belgian fields. Some had been glimpsed in the skies or in the shattered cities of the second great war, miraculous acts of heroism little more than dewdrops in an almighty, unstoppable ocean.

They had never been legion but they’d been there, clad in dazzling costumes and shining armor, hands on hips on the cover of glossy magazines, flying above the clouds to ease a plane safely to earth or standing firm though an earthquake rocked the world around them. Once there had been the woman from Nebraska who had been able to read minds from half a continent away, the teen from Madras who had flown faster than any airplane, the infant who’d spat fire from the palm of their hand. Once, there’d been something to believe in.

It had given people hope.

So what had become of those heroes?

For every one of them that had chosen celebrity and a home in the Hollywood Hills, another had faded into the world of whispers and bedtime stories. Some said that they had never been real at all, but were actors who could convincingly play the idol, hired by governments desperate for an injection of propaganda. Others claimed that they had been spirited away by their own sides, sent off to colonize distant stars or drilled down to the center of the earth. One or two held on to the hope that they were still among the people, still saving lives and doing good but doing it quietly, those bright costumes consigned to the bottom of the wardrobe with last year’s winter