Phantom and the Crown

Glen Williams

Description

One village, Aberglais in Wales, one forest: lives linked across time.A drama which unfolded there in the thirteenth century can only be resolved today.Clues left hidden by a medieval monk lead schoolboy Tom Rhys and his school-friend, Beth Jones, to an incredible discovery.Down the centuries nobody knew how the legend of King Arthur was locked in the past of Aberglais.In the twentieth century, Tom, Beth and their school-friends unravel the mystery, placing themselves in great peril as they do so.

Sujets

• Children's

Informations

• Publié par: The Conrad Press
• Date de parution: 07 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781913227852
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Phantom and the Crown
Glen Williams


The Phantom and the Crown
Published by The Conrad Press in the United Kingdom 2019
Tel: [phone] www.theconradpress.com 
 [e-mail]
ISBN 978-1-913227-85-2
Copyright © Glen Williams, 2019
The moral right of Glen Williams to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved.
Typesetting and Cover Design by: Charlotte Mouncey, www.bookstyle.co.uk
The Conrad Press logo was designed by Maria Priestley.


In memory of my parents, Ann and John Williams


1
Aberglais, South Wales
1965
T he coal lorry had arrived early to spill the mountain of cobbles across the pavement onto the road in front of the little terraced house.
Tom always looked forward to joining his dad, Will, in shovelling the delivery through the trapdoor into the cellar which served as the cottage coal bunker.
He knew that from there it would be his job to carry full buckets up the internal steps and through the trap door to keep the fire going through the colder months.
Tom watched his father from across the mound of coal as he seemed to gather huge shovel loads with ease. His strength seemed superhuman.
‘It’s like you’re lifting feathers, dad,’ he said with pride.
‘Working the pit has some advantages, boy.’ He shovelled faster ,making his taut muscles flex. ‘Not for you, though. Nice office for you, lad.’
Tom felt a shudder of determination cascade through his body as he worked harder to prove to his dad that he had what it takes to be a miner just like him.
After all, he was only ten right now, but in a few years he would be a man.
He thought how for the moment he could just enjoy working with his father and savour the smiles of neighbours and passers-by who watched Will and his son operating in harmony.
Tom stopped for a second and slid his hand over his short, cropped hair and down his face to wipe away the perspiration.
His father was not wearing a shirt, but Tom kept his T-shirt on. He was not tall for his age but he knew he was well muscled. Still, he did not want his torso to be compared to his fathers.
As Tom shovelled he glanced sideways to catch sight of Mrs Harris from across the road standing, as usual, unashamedly on her doorstep with arms folded across her chest as she watched them work.
‘Be clear in no time the way you two go at it.’
Tom and Will replied by nodding their agreement. Tom shovelled that little bit harder and faster to warrant the praise.
Tom knew there was another, and stronger, reason he always felt a closeness with his father during these ritual moments of togetherness.
He remembered the day just, a year ago, that his father had told him how, some twenty or so years earlier, as a teenager he had been shovelling a coal delivery in the same way with his widowed mother, grandma, Angharad.
It was at her home in Clarence Road on a winter morning, Will had said. The village police sergeant and constable had marched slowly by.
The two uniformed officers returned in the other direction and had then walked back down the road yet again some minutes later.
‘We didn’t really notice them at first but they carried on, back and forth,’ his father had said.
‘Then after all the coal was in we went inside to wash and have a cup of tea. That’s when they knocked the door.’
Tom vividly remembered every word of the story. It was planted on his memory as if he had been there.
The unexpected knock on the front door. The two officers standing straight and still with grim faces. The news they had was terrible.
Will’s older brother, Eifion, had been killed in action. The Second World War had claimed another life from the quiet little Welsh village of Aberglais.
After hearing that story Tom felt it his duty to stand side by side with his father whenever the coal delivery was piled onto the pavement.
He might moan about doing other household chores, but shovelling the coal delivery needed no second ask.
He could not find words to share with his dad about those sad memories, but by helping it somehow said it all for him.
They were well ahead with their work and Tom’s mother, Rachel, had brought out a brush to clean the last of the coal-dust into the cellar when Bethan appeared around the corner running at pace down the centre of the road.
‘Your pal’s here.’ said Rachel, ‘In a hurry too running like that. Must be important.’
Tom looked up in time to see his friend slide to a halt in the middle of the road sending tiny pebbles and dust flying into the air.
‘You’ll come unstuck one day Beth, running down the road like that.’ Rachel’s disapproval was delivered in a friendly tone.
‘No cars here. See more horses than cars we do.’ Beth always had a quick answer to criticism.
Tom looked at his father and let his eyes glance skywards to show his frustration. Why did Beth always have to try to start arguments?
Of course he knew she was right though. Very few of the villagers could afford or want cars.
Most of them would say how there was a bus service to town every day and you could walk it in twenty minutes if you kept a good pace.
Tom almost started to remind Beth that his mother and father owned a car of their own so she was not completely correct. The second-hand Ford Anglia was kept in the garage down a side lane, but was only rarely taken out and driven.
Best not, he thought. She would only accuse him of bragging up his dad. He cringed as he imagined how Beth would not let it drop.
He would then spite her by hurling in the fact that they also had a new telephone.
Beth’s response would then be, ‘But nobody calls you and you only ever ring that speaking clock. We had a television before you rented yours too.’
After playing out their friendly argument quickly in his head Tom stared at Beth to show he wanted to know what was up.
She said a quick hello to his father and mother before grabbing her friend’s shoulder to share her confidence.
Beth was almost as tall as Tom and with her brunette hair worn short they were often mistaken for brother and sister.
‘There’s a sighting! He’s back.’
‘Who, who’s back?’
‘The Phantom, stupid. The boys up at the Caer saw it in the trees. All of them saw it, Owen, Jack and Barry. All of them were up there and Jack spotted this moving shadow. It was like a ghost.’
Tom felt immensely impressed. His mind pictured the forest clearing which had always been knows as the Caer.
‘Did they follow?’
Before Beth answered, they both glanced sideways at Will who was leaning on his shovel and shaking his head in mock despair.
What was he to know? They were convinced it was true. It had to be true as there had been so many sightings.
Beth could not hold back.
‘It’s true, Will, just because no grown-ups have seen it. Well plenty of us have seen something. I saw it myself. It’s real. There’s something in the woods.’
‘Did they find anything?’ Tom was desperate for some evidence. After all, there had been three of them this time.
Beth was momentarily subdued as she stared down at her shoes.
‘No, it vanished again, just like a ghost.’ She aimed her words straight at Will. ‘But it was there. It really was. They lost track of whatever it was, so they sent Barry down to get me. He’s already on his way back up the Caer.’
Rachel stopped sweeping the coal dust into the cellar.
‘You lot be careful. You’re all just scaring each other witless over nothing. You’ll be doing yourselves an injury. Look at poor Sergeant Rees wasting his time tramping through the forest last week. He’s got better things to do.’
Her voice was stern, but Will laughed out loud.
‘Perhaps it’s Dr Who landing in Aberglais. Maybe you’ll bring us back one of those Daleks. That’ll put us on the map. We’ll be on the tele. On the news, famous.’
It was Tom’s turn to be offended.
‘There’s something there, dad. You never go up the Caer. Nobody believes us because we call it the Phantom. It could be a big animal or somebody weird up to no good. We know we’re right.’
Rachel continued her brushing faster and more urgently than before.
‘Off you go again then. You’re done here anyway. Don’t be late back for tea tonight though I’ll be cooking.’
‘Yes, Mam.’
Before he had even finished his response he dropped his shovel and ran off.
‘Come here. Wash that coal-dust off your hands before you go.’
Tom clearly heard the shouted order but just raised his hand in a gesture of dismissal as he and Beth sprinted away up towards the northern edge of the village and the narrow road which led up to the woods.
Beth punched him in the shoulder as they ran. ‘Let’s keep running til we reach the Caer, Tom.’
He nodded his understanding of her real meaning. They needed some distance and would be safe from parents there. The Caer was a place for the youngsters of Aberglais to use as their own forest play park. No adults allowed!
Except David, he thought as they ran. David was the war veteran who had once settled in the forest like a hermit when his crippling shell-shock had made him abandon the village to be alone with his torment.
Tom felt proud of how he and Beth had befriended him and had played active roles in making him find the strength to return to his cottage in Aberglais.
Tom felt a surge of pride as he thought of the old man and wondered if he might be the one to help them unlock the mystery of the Phantom.
‘We need David’s help,’ said Tom as they both continued running, but at a slower pace now.
‘They’d believe us if he saw it,’ Beth answered.
‘You know what he’s like though?’ Tom did not feel confident he could help. ‘He’ll just light his pipe and laugh. He just wants to teach us all that car