The Ensouled Tree

By Roger Stutesman

This story is about three English youths who are reluctantly pulled mysteriously into an ancient settlement and must overcome significant obstacles in order to return to their twenty-first-century homes. They encounter a world where beliefs in spirits and demons are an important foundation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Sep 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489719300

Roger Stutesman

Roger Stutesman is a retired social work administrator and member of the clergy. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife, Joanne, and their son, Joshua. Roger has long had a passion for foreign travel and is an unrepentant Anglophile. As an undergraduate he majored in history and that interest is reflected in his writing and reading.

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Copyright © 2018 Roger Stutesman.

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1931-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1930-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018910145

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 09/25/2018

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

The Ensouled Tree

Glossary

About the Author

Dedication

In deep appreciation to my wife, Joanne, for her assistance in formatting and in other ways putting the story in readable form, and to my son, Josh, who embraces life with a sense of adventure and meaningful direction and is thus the inspiration for the lead character.

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

William Shakespeare

(Hamlet)

Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.

Job 4:15

Introduction

The author researched the Old English language as a means of creating phrases and character names. This was to provide authenticity and ensure that the narrative was created not merely from imagination, but reflected how the people and events could actually have happened.

Obviously, the time travel described is based on ancient beliefs in spirits, and has no scientific basis. In order to assist in understanding Old English words, the author has included footnotes and a glossary.

The Ensouled Tree

The water was gray that evening, and it had a sorrowful murmur as the river passed the field where more than a millennium ago the villagers of Elton had grazed their cattle. In these days the River Nene is a canal at the village and Elton is much larger, populated mostly by people who work elsewhere.

Prof. Joseph Giles is one such resident of this Cambridgeshire village. A widower, he lives here with his son, Josh, aged fourteen, and a daughter, Alice, aged thirteen.

Josh and Alice had spent the evening listing the birds who nested in their canal-side garden. It was a schoolwork assignment and the children enjoyed this type of classwork. Their father’s presence on the faculty of Cambridge University gave them access to resources which they used to the fullest.

Dusk now prevented a clear view of perched birds and few were flying as darkness was descending, so the children were laughing and chasing each other. Alice’s brown curls bounced as her slim form frantically evaded her brother’s grasp. Giggling, Alice had backed into a large bush on the garden’s edge, and out of the corner of his eye Josh glimpsed what appeared to be an arm reach out from the bush and drag his sister into its fold.

Alice