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To Save a Kingby A.D. Fast
1-55068-131-1 Click here for reading level. To read the first chapter of this book, click here. Enjoy! Other Tea Leaf Press books by A.D. Fast: After Dinner Barf Beating Up Daniel Crossing the Line Dangerous Rivals Taking the Lead The Mystery of the Medieval Coin Angel Wilson: teenage diva To Save a KingAll around him swords were flying and metal was clanking as knights on horseback ran headlong into each other. The smell of the dark, dingy dungeon was still in his nose, even though he was outside. A full moon lit up the field, staring down like a laughing spectator at this battle. Marvin could feel himself sweating inside the heavy metal armor. He hoped he wouldn't be speared or chopped on his first night in France. Then Louis rode up on a pink horse, carrying muffins...Marvin McKnight woke up in a sweat. He gazed at his clock—it was eleven-thirty at night. He couldn't believe he had fallen asleep that quickly. He was supposed to be sneaking out of the house after his parents went to bed. Marvin had intended to relax on his bed and go over the plan until he knew his parents were asleep. Instead, he had dozed off. Some knight I'd be, he thought as he sat up in his bed, listening for noises in the house. The house was extremely quiet, just as he had expected. His parents went to bed at eleven o'clock every night. Not just most of the time, but every single night. They were so predictable that it was almost gross. This time, however, Marvin was glad. As he packed his knapsack with last-minute provisions, his stomach started to churn. He couldn't figure out if it was excitement, fear, or the burrito he ate for dinner. But it didn't really matter. He was meeting Lucas and Nicole at the entrance to the forest whether he was scared to death or sick from cheese and beans. They had to get back to medieval France. The entire history of the world depended on it. Marvin climbed onto his desk, slid open his window, and stepped onto the roof outside. The heat hit him like a wet towel in the face. It was a deadly hot night in August, and the humidity hung in the air like steam from a hot shower. He could hear the air conditioner humming loudly beside the house. When he was safely outside, he slid his window closed. He quietly stepped across the roof until he was just above the front porch, where the front lawn rose up into a hill. Then he dropped to the grass below, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling slightly down the sloped yard. I'm getting good at that, he thought as he hauled himself up off the ground and brushed bits of grass from his shorts. He stayed on the ground for a moment, listening for any noises coming from inside his house. He looked up and down the dark street to make sure none of his neighbors saw him flop off the roof. When he knew the coast was clear, he stood up, hoisted his knapsack over his shoulder, and strolled toward the road. As Marvin hurried down the dark street, he thought about his dream. All summer, he, Lucas, and Nicole had been waiting to get back to France. Marvin was excited, but over the past week he had started to get nervous, too. He had also been having weird dreams about France. They were always about sword fights and grand battles on the field. And Marvin knew why. They would be fighting in the greatest battle of their lives tomorrow. But why was Louis riding a pink horse and carrying muffins? he wondered. Stupid burritos. When Marvin got to the end of his street, he leaned against a tree. The entrance to the forest was right in front of him. Just like last time, he was the first one there. Lucas and Nicole hadn't made it yet. Marvin looked down the street at the quiet houses lining the road. Some had porch lights turned on. Others were dark and quiet, and Marvin knew that his neighbors were all snug in bed. He sighed heavily. Even though he wanted to go back to France, he was a little bit jealous of the people who slept soundly in their dark houses. They had no idea how dangerous things were just outside their doors. Marvin, Lucas, and Nicole weren't going to France like normal people. Oh no. They had a much better way to travel, thanks to Marvin's discovery. For deep within the forest was the cave that started it all. The ancient cave had been buried by foliage and hidden for many years until it was discovered fifty years ago. The carving on the wall that looked like nothing but a bunch of strange lines and curves had created a lot of attention. Specialists figured out what the carving meant—it was a phrase. The story was all over the news—at least that's what Marvin's grandpa had told him. Marvin hadn't been born yet. Grandpa Dave said that for weeks the community buzzed with the story and the mysterious phrase carved into the wall of the ancient cave: Midnight fly, by twenty-four, back in time no time shall pass. Miss the door in twenty-four and no more. Everyone had talked about it, but no one knew what it meant. Eventually, the excitement faded and people stopped thinking about it. Over the years, trees, bushes, and fallen branches covered the entrance. It wasn't disturbed for another fifty years or so. Not until Marvin, Lucas, and Nicole came along. With the help of Grandpa Dave, they not only found the cave again, but they also found the carving. It still didn't make sense to them—until they found three medieval coins in their weird social studies teacher's desk at school last June. That was the part they didn't tell Grandpa Dave. When they followed Mr. LeClair into the forest one night and saw him disappear into the wall, they figured it out. The carving was some kind of portal or doorway. And the ancient coins were the keys. Marvin smiled, thinking about it. They had done the same thing that night as they were doing tonight. They had snuck out of their houses and into the dark forest and headed straight for the cave. The carving told it all. Midnight fly, by twenty-four, back in time no time shall pass. Miss the door in twenty-four and no more. This was the ancient portal that allowed them to travel back in time to whatever date was on the coin. When they held up one of the coins to the mysterious old riddle carved into the wall, the wall opened up like a giant swirling fireball—only it wasn't hot at all. They simply stepped into the swirling light and landed like a sack of potatoes on the ground—in another time. The date of the coin determined what year they would visit. It was all quite crazy and incredible! The only problem was that someone else, who was very dangerous, had been using that portal. Someone who was going back in time to commit a horrible crime and disrupt the course of history. That someone was their social studies teacher, Mr. LeClair. And now, Marvin, Lucas, and Nicole had to go back to the year 1450—to the palace of King Charles VII in France to stop a madman from murdering the king. The crescent moon wasn't giving off much light, and Marvin thought the street looked darker than usual for this time of night. The streetlights hummed in the darkness as he waited for his friends. The first few times he snuck out at night, he had been nervous. He didn't like being out in the dark so late. He knew it wasn't safe. Now, after all they had been through, the dark night didn't seem to bother him as much. He was more afraid of bumping into Mr. LeClair. They had to be sure that their teacher, who would also be visiting the cave at midnight, didn't see them. Lucas and Nicole arrived within minutes. "We meet again, on a dark, starlit night," Lucas said in a low, menacing voice, "going to meet our ultimate doom." "Get lost," Nicole whispered, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Lucas smiled. "I know you're scared, Nic," he said. "You're chicken to go back to the castle. Chicken to see Mr. LeClair. Chicken that we might get caught. Chicken that somebody might find us out." He bent his arms and flapped them like wings, scratching the ground with his feet. Nicole couldn't help but laugh. Lucas, with his blonde-tipped, spiky red hair, could always make a joke during a tense time. And no matter how much any of them tried to deny it, they were all a little tense. "Oh sure, and you aren't nervous at all, right? I'm telling you, if Mr. LeClair and his guards saw us two months ago snooping around in the castle, we could all be dead. In fact, they may have a trap waiting for us when we arrive," she whispered. "Remind me again why we're going?" Lucas straightened up and stopped clucking around. "Because if we don't, if we let Mr. LeClair take over the throne of France, history will be changed forever," he answered. He could be serious when he wanted to be. "Mr. LeClair is planning to get rid of the Gutenberg Press, remember? Johannes Gutenberg just invented the first machine ever to print words onto paper. The real King Charles VII is a supporter of the press, but Mr. LeClair isn't. He knows that if books can be printed more quickly in great numbers on a printing press, books will become less expensive and more peasants will have access to them. More of them will learn to read. Mr. LeClair doesn't want the peasants to learn because it would take the power away from the lords and kings. Right now, Mr. LeClair thinks it's great that the lords and kings, who are able to read, have power over the peasants. The rich would stay powerful, and the poor would stay poor. People will never be equal." Nicole hung her head for a second. "I know. I don't want to live in a world like that. I just know that when we go back this time, it will be very different. We could get stuck in medieval France—if we survive at all." Lucas stood up as tall as he could and raised his arms in the air. "Fear not! I will protect thee!" he bellowed. Nicole elbowed him in the ribs and told him to be quiet. "Did you grow again?" Marvin asked, looking up at Lucas. Lucas was much taller than most of the kids in their grade five class last year. Marvin squinted his eyes. It seemed like every week, Lucas Maxwell grew taller and taller. "You bet. I'm NBA bound, my friend," Lucas answered, smirking. "Or you're just a freak," Nicole joked. There was a loud buzz and then a popping sound as the streetlight right beside them went dark. Nicole jumped. "We'd better get going. Mr. LeClair could be here any time. We don't want to bump into him in the forest," Marvin said, looking over his shoulder to peer down the darkened street. It seemed that not a single soul was awake on this night. Marvin wished he had his small blue flashlight with him. The beam of light from his mini flashlight would light up a narrow path into the forest. Marvin always kept the flashlight clipped to the belt loop of his pants. He used it all the time, especially since he and Grandpa Dave spent a lot of time in the forest. But Marvin realized as they entered the forest that he had left the flashlight behind in medieval times last June. They would just have to make it to the cave in the dark tonight. Marvin's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the forest. Moonlight trickled through the leaves of the trees overhead, but it still was almost pitch black. He wondered if they would be able to find their way to the other end of the forest with hardly any light. They had to be extra careful. It was bad enough walking through the forest during the day, never mind in the middle of the night. Luckily, they had been to the cave beyond the rocky ridge many times. Although there were no official paths in the forest, they had worn a path that they were able to follow. Lucas, Marvin, and Nicole had been there many times and usually went to the same spot every time. Their secret cave. The ground was littered with broken branches, tree limbs, rocks, and stones. Overgrown bushes blocked the way, scraping their legs and arms. Lucas and Nicole followed closely behind Marvin, with Nicole holding onto the back of Marvin's knapsack and Lucas holding onto the back of Nicole's shirt. Marvin almost tripped a few times on fat roots that stuck out of the ground. Marvin knew the woods better than anyone else. He and Grandpa Dave had hunted for rocks there since Marvin was a small child. Marvin still felt bad keeping all of this from his grandpa, but they had all agreed that the secret of the medieval coin and the portal in the cave had to be kept a secret. If their parents found out what they were doing, they would be in huge, deep, massive trouble. And they would never be allowed to go back. No matter how cool and fun Grandpa Dave was, he surely would have put a stop to them sneaking out to a cave at midnight. Never mind getting sucked into a cave wall. The ground crunched with every step as they moved deeper and deeper into the woods. The trees and bushes got denser and thicker, and Marvin had to choose the way carefully. It wasn't long before they passed the rocky ridge and finally reached the "little hills," the small hills that lined the far edge of the forest. Each time an owl hooted, or a small animal made a noise nearby, they turned to look around. "I think we're being followed," Nicole whispered in a worried voice. "Don't worry, we're almost there," Marvin said. "Just do the same thing we did last time. When we get into the cave, duck behind the big rock near the back wall. Mr. LeClair will go through the portal at midnight. We'll have one minute to make it through after him. When the coast is clear, we'll jump through." "Yeah, yeah. The same as last time," Lucas said. "Are you sure Mr. LeClair has been using this cave every night? Hasn't he already found out the information he needs from all those books he reads? Why doesn't he just stay in France already?" "I don't know why he keeps coming back to our year. All I can say is, he is definitely still using the portal. I've watched the entrance to the forest every night from my bedroom window. I saw him with my own eyes," Marvin whispered. "Man, you've got to get a hobby," Lucas said. When they got to the cave, they pushed aside a few branches and crept inside quickly. Marvin could barely see his own hands, it was so dark. They hurried to the huge rock at the back of the cave and crouched behind it so they were completely hidden. "What time is it, Marvin?" Lucas asked. "Shhhhh!" Nicole hissed. She nodded her head toward the cave opening. Off in the distance they could see a thin beam of light cutting through the darkness, coming toward the entrance. Within seconds, the beam of light entered the cave. It shone right at the carving on the wall. Marvin felt nervous all of a sudden. He kept thinking that the shadowy figure holding the flashlight would shine it directly on them. He was really glad for one thing—that Lucas wasn't trying to make hand animals on the walls in the shadow of the flashlight, like he always did at home. The light clicked off. They waited in silence for the wall to open up. It was only possible at midnight. Marvin pressed the button on his glow watch to check the time. He was instantly sorry he did that. The flashlight in the cave clicked back on and flicked wildly around the cave. Marvin closed his eyes and held his breath. He couldn't believe he did that. What if they got caught? The light continued to move around the cave. It swept over the entrance and slowly ran along the back wall above them. Please don't catch us. Please don't catch us, Marvin chanted silently in his head. A few seconds later, the flashlight clicked off again. Then came the strange glow they had been waiting for. A dim flicker of light gradually grew into a swirling, glowing, huge round doorway. The person disappeared into the light, which died down as quickly as it had appeared. Marvin jumped to his feet from behind the rock. Lucas and Nicole stepped out, too. "Nice one, genius," Lucas said sarcastically. "I know. I can't believe I did that," said Marvin in embarrassment. "Yeah, be careful with that watch, Marvin," Nicole said. They all lined up facing the wall. Marvin was face-to-face with the carving that held the secret. "Okay, you know the drill. Lucas, put your arms around my waist. Nicole, you hold onto Lucas. Who has the coin made in this year so we can get back in twenty-four hours?" "Got it," Lucas answered. "Actually, I've got a few—just in case." Marvin held a medieval coin in his hand. He had accidentally taken it from Mr. LeClair's desk on a "fact finding" mission in June. The second coin, the one Mr. LeClair had dropped in the cave the day they discovered his secret, was at Marvin's house. Lucas, Marvin, and Nicole had to act quickly. They had less than one minute now to activate that portal. It only worked at midnight. Then they would spend the next twenty-four hours in medieval France and would have to return at exactly midnight again. When they got back, no time would have passed. They would have only been gone from home for one minute. Marvin knew that the task they had before them could affect hundreds of years of history. It was a challenge greater than anything Marvin had ever done. This whole mission was also very risky. Not only trying to save King Charles VII, but just going back at all. Medieval times were very dangerous. And very dirty. Holding onto the coin, Marvin held his hand up to the carving in the wall. The cold rock tingled beneath his hand. In seconds, the whirling mass of light appeared. Marvin took a deep breath and stepped into the wall. Nicole and Lucas were right behind him. |
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