Arthur Templar and the Secret Codex: Timethreader Series, #2

By Patrick Maher

Arthur Templar and the Secret Codex is set in the Elderberry Academy for Special Education.

The only Eternal Library in the world is at the Academy. It has disappeared and libraries matter

The stakes are high as Arthur Templar, a young timethreader with extraordinary psychic powers, and psychic friends attempt to unravel the dark secrets of the missing library.

The danger increases as they get closer to uncovering the shape-shifting evil lurking in the corridors and shadows.

Arthur and his friends embark on a journey of self-discovery, wisdom and courage in their search for the Eternal Library of the Psychic Academy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Patrick Maher
• Release date: Nov 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223747369

Patrick Maher

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE SERIES  Patrick Maher is an author of curious fiction and speculative stories for 10 to 15-year-olds where the world is normal, but one shade off - one step removed.   Patrick Maher spins tales of imagination and mystery in a world where everything begins and ends with a question. He writes about maturing minds and deep, enduring friendships and gaining wisdom. His novels are layered stories of other times and other worlds that inspire and give pleasure to children and adults alike. His greatest reward would be to know that children, together with their parents and teachers, were teasing apart some of the hidden layers in the novels. The Case of the Nibiru is the first Arthur Templar novel and the first in the Timethreader series. The Mystery of the Secret Codex is the second book in the series. The third in the series is tentatively titled The Serpo Gambit.

Book preview

ONE

FRIENDS IN A TREEHOUSE

The radio in the treehouse was tuned to ‘The Goon Show’. Arthur, Erin, Torin and Darcy had tears in their eyes as they fell about laughing at the hilarious antics of Neddie Seagoon, Bluebottle, Eccles, Little Jim, and Major Bloodknock. They each tried to pick the exact moment of the impossible but inevitable SPLASH! Then, right on the beat, yell, ‘He’s fallen in the water’. The sillier it was, the better.

The school holidays were spent mucking about in the treehouse, riding around Elderberry, heading off to the beach to swim with the dolphins, or visiting the Watering Hole and enjoying Millie’s oversized custard tarts, lamingtons and blue moon milkshakes.

Now and then, Dr Reynard joined them for a meal at Aunt Dotty’s place. She seemed happier now. She told Aunt Dotty her life was richer and full of purpose again. Her sense of humour had returned.

Aunt Dotty asked about how Charlotte was doing at her new school. Dr Reynard said Charlotte had become much more mature after the incident with the shark and after Darcy spoke to her about how today was the beginning of the rest of her life. She was enjoying being with new friends at Elderberry High School.

One of Aunt Dotty’s books on herbs

Aunt Dotty and Dr Reynard often wandered around Aunt Dotty’s herb garden. Arthur knew Dr Reynard was reading all the award-winning books that Aunt Dotty had written. They shared a passion for science and enjoyed experimenting in Aunt Dotty’s herb laboratory. They loved taking a big pot of tea with them and sitting at the patio outdoor table. They laughed and chatted away until the sun gave up and went to hide over the horizon.

Arthur could see them from his rocking chair in the treehouse. It filled him with a powerful sense of being part of a family. The people he loved were doing their own thing, feeling safe together, chatting, sharing memories, and simply enjoying each other’s company. He thought Being happy was catching.

He ached so much for his parents to be part of that again. Then, it would have been a family.

The afternoon had been a typical mellow day with a cool sea breeze drifting in from the Indian Ocean. The forecast for the rest of the week was for days around twenty-six degrees Centigrade all the way from Fremantle down to Elderberry, Rockingham, Shoalwater and Safety Bay.

Harry Pettit sometimes dropped in, and Arthur listened in awe as Uncle Bob and his best mate carried on about the ‘old days’ and regaled each other with tales of flying fighter orbs in various battles and sorties against squadrons of Nibiruan fighters.

Arthur wanted to know every detail about the controls of the orb fighters. How did the anti-gravity device work? How did you control it? How did it perform a sudden stop in mid-air and reverse or change its angle of flight in an instant? How come the pilot was not affected by gravity? They were patient with him, remembering they had the same questions while they were in training.

They were sure they’d be ready to fly again if they were needed. Arthur soaked up the stories as if Biggles novels had sprung to life. He listened closely to the tales of how they had performed the Immelmann turn, and he could see it in his mind’s eye.

Uncle Bob took him up in the Moth, and he went through the whole Immelmann turn manoeuvre for real. Arthur felt the high-speed diving attack on an imaginary enemy, then Uncle Bob pulled the Moth into a steep climb past the ‘enemy’ aircraft, and short of stalling, he applied ‘full-rudder’ to yaw the Moth around. Like magic, the Moth rolled wing-over and was now facing up for a second climbing attack on the enemy aircraft.

Uncle Bob showed him how pilots performed the turn coming in to attack from above and up from below. He suggested Arthur also try it in deep water as an underwater exercise to get the feel of it. He practised it in his favourite ocean pool at the beach, imagining his cousins swimming nearby were enemy aircraft.

He thought he must be the luckiest kid in the world. If only he could share his stories and adventures with his mum and dad. But Doctors don’t enjoy stories of war and battle and sneaking up on the enemy. Their lives are devoted to healing bodies, not breaking them.

He sank into deep despair when he thought of his mum and dad. It had been too long since they left on their medical mission to Serpo. They hadn’t returned at the end of the year after all.

Two Christmases had passed without his parents. Two broken promises. He felt anger in his gut, but he could not bring his parents back. He felt utterly abandoned and alone. Aunt Dotty did her best to reassure him it wouldn’t be long.

Words, words, words and no action. He was here in Elderberry Valley, and they were on war-torn Serpo. That troubled him. It was all wrong. He thought he’d be an old man before he saw them again. To make it worse, no one would give him a good reason why they hadn’t come home two years ago at Christmas when they said they would. Something was not right. Aunt Dotty and Uncle Bob had never lied to him. They believed his parents would return as much as he did. They had no answers.

Aunt Dotty and his best friends sensed his anger and despair and did what they could to cheer him up. They could only guess at what he was feeling. He was grateful, but the yearning for his parents was a real physical ache deep in his chest, and it hurt. But he knew the world didn’t revolve around him, and he always tried to snap out of it and join in. He loved these people in his life so deeply. They were all so generous and selfless. He would give his life for them if he had to. But he’d do anything to get his parents back.

TWO

HARRY PETTIT’S REWIND

Harry Pettit again asked Erin about the ‘Rewind’ thing. He was feeling in a particularly good mood and realised she would be at the Academy soon, and then she couldn’t help. He didn’t want to put it off any longer because nothing he was doing helped his nightmares and pain. She had said she would help.

They were on the back verandah of Aunt Dotty’s House, sitting under the cool grapevine on a balmy summer’s day.

‘So, Erin, what do I need to do?’

‘Almost nothing. Trust you are safe, and the technique is powerful.’

‘Is it right for me? The doctors said I had a form of post-traumatic syndrome, and I hadn’t resolved the death of my wife and daughter.’

‘Well, you gave a name to the problem. It’s a huge insight and a place to start. Let’s go over it and what you can expect.’

She told him again how the Rewind Technique worked.

He listened intently as she explained how it was like watching a movie, but Harry Pettit would be the star, and it would run super fast.

He finally said, ‘Do it. Let’s at least try. Nothing else works, and it can’t hurt.’

In a matter of minutes, he had allowed himself to relax to the sound of her gentle, confident voice, and the movie began as he sat alone in his own imaginary theatre. Then, the entire traumatic experience flickered before Harry’s eyes like a movie running at high speed. He saw the full moon raid over enemy territory. He sat and watched himself landing at his squadron’s base after the sortie, taxiing his orb fighter to its hangar and climbing down.

He saw his head mechanic tell him that word had come through that his wife and daughter had died from the virus that raged on Serpo. He felt guilt flood over him. But his rational mind watching the movie knew he hadn’t even known they were sick.

He hated the Nibiruans. They had released a virus they had all been inoculated against. It was germ warfare. It was a war crime, and it broke every covenant of war and every intergalactic convention. There had been a mad scramble to find a cure or a vaccine. There had been some progress, but it was too slow to reach everyone. It had been given to all military personnel, but they didn’t have enough yet to vaccinate the entire population. He was vaccinated, but his wife and daughter were not. It made him feel responsible in some strange way. He blamed himself even though there was not a thing he could have done to prevent it. He couldn’t see that he was putting his life on the line every day to stop the evil that let it happen. Harry Pettit realised he had to accept that medical fact, and yet, he could not forgive himself. In the movie, he stood outside himself, telling himself over and over to accept the facts and move on in a way he couldn’t do in his everyday life.

He realised the image of the full moon on the night of the raid had stayed with him all these years. So, that was the trigger. There on the screen, in the movie in his mind, was a full moon. The moon was behind the head mechanic as he learned about his wife and daughter. He had imprinted the trauma with the moon as the trigger. He now understood for the first time why he relived the trauma every time there was a full moon. The full moon released all his guilty memories. He had finally made the connection. He was in pain. But he wasn’t crazy.

The movie ended.

Harry Pettit sat still and wept with sobs so deep he could hardly breathe. And in front of a twelve-year-old girl. But Erin was no ordinary twelve-year-old girl. She soothed him with her soft voice and calmed him. He began to breathe as he followed her instructions.

‘Deeper, slower.’ She said in her hypnotically calming voice.

She asked him how he felt as he watched himself watching the movie about his trauma.

‘It seemed remote. Like a story about someone else.’ He said. ‘I watched it as if it was someone else’s story all in fast motion. I could see it all. I was watching a real movie, but it wasn’t about someone else; it was me, and it was all true. Yet, it was remote.’

The next full moon did not affect him. He later told Erin he was getting at least eight hours of sleep every night. He had stopped having the disturbing dreams that were destroying his life and health. He looked healthier and a lot happier as the days went by. To celebrate, he bought himself a new emerald green waistcoat with a teal trim.

They all remarked on how smart he looked.

He placed his favourite picture of his wife and daughter over the mantlepiece in the kitchen and sent warm and loving wishes to them every day.

Erin heard about the picture from Uncle Bob, and she knew Harry had begun to heal and live his life again. It filled her with a level of satisfaction that only those who heal can understand.

Harry knew Erin would not accept gifts, so he got her a voucher at Pages Books for Boffins. It was the biggest and best bookshop ever, as far as the folks of Elderberry could tell. It had to have something of interest for a bright young Psychologist and maybe a future Doctor. ‘Choose a book you wouldn’t buy yourself but would love to have.’ Harry had said.

She went with Arthur and Torin, and Darcy and chose the latest edition of DSM. ‘Yes, I know they update it,’ she remarked when Torin asked her if it was the latest edition. ‘It isn’t the sort of thing you’d find at the Academy,’ she said. ‘I’ve been going through an old copy of Mum’s. It is version four. This is way more advanced.’

Later that day, after she had finally extracted the boys from the bookshop and as the shop was closing, she showed it to Harry Pettit. ‘Will you sign it for me?’

He was filled with delight and thought of his daughter, how he would have enjoyed sharing moments like this with her and her mother, and what pleasure it would bring.

He wrote, To Erin, my angel of mercy and healing. In memory of my most precious wife and daughter. With affection, Marshal Harold Pettit.

Erin showed it later at dinner to Arthur, Torin, Darcy, Aunt Dotty and Uncle Bob.

‘I’ll treasure it all my life.’ she told them, and she meant it. ‘It will go on my personal bookshelf at the Academy.

Arthur and Erin, Torin, and Darcy could feel themselves changing in some way from ‘Primary school kids into big kids.’ The big day was approaching fast. Too fast for Arthur.

THREE

ARTHUR’S DILEMMA

Several warm summery weeks slipped by, and thoughts turned to preparations for a new school year at the Academy. Arthur’s thoughts turned to the new school year at Elderberry High School. He focused his mind on doing a writing or journalism course there.

Then he discovered Elderberry High School only had a standard English course, but he could do a program of creative studies at John Curtin College of the Arts that included creative writing. It would be a slog getting there and back, though. It meant a long bike ride to Fremantle and back every day for the next five years. Still, he reckoned it might be worth it.

He was having trouble making up his mind.

On the one hand, the Elderberry Academy was closer and live-in, and he had got a full scholarship to go there. On the other hand, John Curtin College of the Arts had the best reputation for creative studies, but it was like cycling to another country to get there, and then he would have to do it all over again in reverse to get home every day. Aunt Dotty and Uncle Bob said they would get him a new bike if he decided to go to Elderberry or John Curtin College. They didn’t have to say he wouldn’t need one if he went to the Academy. He knew that.

Principal Reynard could see Arthur was struggling to decide, so one day, on one of her visits, she brought the school brochures from the Academy, Elderberry High School and John Curtin College of the Arts. She suggested he might compare their competing claims. It hurt her to think, after all the effort she had made behind the scenes for Arthur, Erin, Torin and Darcy to gain entrance into the Academy, that he may throw it all away. They had the academic grades and the psychic gifts they needed to qualify. It would be a shame to lose it, but not everyone who has a set of special skills