Summer Lawns Ch. 16 - Back to 1645

Charles was very wary of going back into the Maze that morning. After all, being landed in the middle of a major wartime operation was no small matter, and the effect still lay with him now. Even a crow scarer in the fields was enough to get him diving for the floor, and Sandra wondered if it had not unsettled him permanently.

So it took some courage to stand beside the woman as they prepared to go back to 1745 and visit the Reverend Fanshaw.

Once again there was the nauseating feeling of dizziness, followed by the fainting spell, but on opening their eyes, the couple found things had changed.

"Listen," said Sandra with a smile.

"What to?" asked Charles, on edge.

"That's just it! The sound of silence. There are no machines and no crowds of loud people. Your age is a lot different to this one Charlie. Now for the Reverend Fanshaw."

Sure enough, the man knew they were coming and waited outside the Maze door. He was pleased to see Sandra, who had to explain she had changed her name and was introduced to Charles.

"You will have to forgive him Master Fanshaw, for he knows nothing of our ways, and comes from a more ignorant age." She smiled at Charles to see if he took the joke and they all went into the house.

"Do you possess knowledge of time travel through any other time Master Charles?" Fanshaw looked at the boy as they sat at the dining table.

"Yes Sir, but the last time I travelled and saw this house, it was occupied by American soldiers." Charles looked around at the elaborate wall hangings.

"America, is that not but a colony?" Fanshaw looked at Sandra for help in understanding this matter.

"They were Sir, but now find themselves so powerful, they have come back to help the Motherland in the war." Sandra poured some wine and was pleased it tasted as good as she remembered it.

"Which war is this Mistress?" Fanshaw was clearly confused.

"A terrible war sir, between the forces of light and darkness itself. You might be interested to know, that Gremalgin has gone off to join them. Her sort of people. Although I managed to retrieve the Cleopatra ring. With a little help from Charles here." Sandra held up the ring for the Reverend to inspect.

"I thought we would never see that ring again. For it was given to your Sacred Mother, to hand down to you. Treasure it for it holds great Magic." The Reverend Fanshaw bent across the table to examine it.

"You speak of my Mother as if she is still alive Sir? Surely by our own rules, her time will have past out of mine?" Sandra wondered if the question would anger the man, as she knew he hated these time-travel puzzles.

"Not at all. For if you so wish, you may travel and speak to her. Although you may find the experience distressing, so think carefully."

"I have considered that sir, and I have to weigh my feeling against a greater good. For in our time we face a great threat. One of the Roundhead officers who took part in the sacking of Ampstwyll is a very important man in our age. He is evil and corrupt, although that is a character not out of place in such a time. But he is to do much harm against this village, with the building of a great road. We have to stop him."

"Sandra, I think going back to the Civil War is a great mistake." Charles placed his hand upon her's and wondered if he could make her change her mind. "Surely there is some other way, you could change the course of history, without confronting him?"

"Sadly my boy such is not the case. For you have to be there in that time to effect anything of consequence. Mistress Sarah, I have to gravely agree with you that such a journey has to be made. I will make the arrangements myself and prepare the ground."

With that, they retired. Charles spent the next few days finding out what the village of Amptswyll was really like two hundred years in the past. It was a lot scruffier than he had expected, but the people did not seem to mind. A lot of the cottages looked as if they would fall down in a strong wind, but people just patched them up and got on with life. He soon realised that it was only in his time, that these quaint rural scenes were dressed up like postcard images. Here they had to be functional and no one seemed to mind.

The farming techniques left a lot to be desired, but they only grew enough for themselves and paid no attention to the wasted land. In time Charles wondered if he might not be happier here in this time than back in his own, but had to face the fact that he did not belong here and Sandra had asked him to travel in order to do a job.

When they finally made the jump to 1645, the noise was the first thing which marked it as different. The sound of battle could be heard all around the village and Charles had flash-backs of the Normandy beach-head. But this was very different, for amongst the explosions came the screams of women and children, something which chilled him to the bone.

The sight of horses charging around was something else he found strange. Charles had to wake up quickly as the Roundhead Dragoon broke through the barricades and charged before him. The sword flashed in the air as he rode up the street and saw Charles. With new vigour, he took a swing at the boy, who leapt into the hedge.

He was saved when a shot rang out, and after the smoke had cleared, saw the Dragoon being dragged along by his horse. A man with a huge fire-arm came over to him with a smile.

"Best to be alert friend, for Cromwell will not spare this day." The young man lifted his gun to begin the lengthy process of re-arming.

"Thanks," said Charles, as he tried to find Sandra.

Inside the Manor House, things were exactly the same as when Sandra had left. To her, the time was only a few months, but to her parents the shock was instant.

"Sarah! Child, have we not despatched you this instant?" Her Mother looked with horror as they met in the hallway.

"Mother your plans worked too well. Here I am, to avenge your suffering, and to change time. Don't worry, this will not change your time, nor mine, but another version of these sad events." Sandra looked at the worried people gathered around them.

"Sarah, these are grave matters and not things to be trifled with. You do not know the harm you are doing upsetting the will of God." Her father came into the hall and saw straight away, things were not right.

"Father, believe me, I know exactly what I am doing. The Reverend Fanshaw taught me all too well in the ways of Magic, and I can speak with some experience when it comes to tampering with history. What is important, is that we should stop those maniacs out there invading the village." She turned and was about to leave.

"Sarah, you cannot reason with those evil devils!" Her mother grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Mother things have changed. You wanted me to change. You wanted me to go and learn the ways of the world. Well here I am, and I have learnt a lot, and believe me, I can handle those creatures out there."

"Trust us, we can stop them." Charles put his hand on her Mother's and managed to convince her to go through with the plan.

Outside, the cannons boomed and smoke drifted across the village. Sandra walked to the barricades, where the village defenders were falling back. She could see the steel helmets of the enemy as they prepared to march into the village. Looking towards the flags waving in the sun, she found the officers in charge.

A very younger Dual could be seen waving his sword and crying for blood. Beside him was Cheesman.

The first Roundhead soldier rushed up to her, sword drawn and about to run her through. Sandra simply put up her hand and stopped the man in his tracks. He dropped the sword and looked around at his commanders.

"What is this? What witchcraft have we unearthed in this den of Satan?" Dual walked over to the girl, the other soldiers gathering noisily around them.

"Good morning Master Dual. You do not know me yet, but your life is about to change forever. Shall we go to the Manor and discuss the peace terms? Or do you want your men to turn on you?" Sandra simply smiled at them and turned away to walk back to the Hall.

"Kill her!" Cried Dual at the top of his voice, and looked to his men for support.

Sandra turned back and past her hand across the air, which had the effect of stopping everyone from any aggressive action. Dual looked open-mouthed at the bloodthirsty crowd around him, now standing like dumb animals.

The only thing he could think of doing was to follow her to the Hall. Cheesman came with him.

It was a very strange atmosphere in the hall as they all stood around the big table looking at each other.

"Now this village is to be protected, is that understood?" Sandra looked at the Roundheads and waited for their response.

"And who are you madam to speak to the subjects of the Parliamentary army so?" Cheesman glared at the girl and gripped his sword handle.

"I sir, represent the force which stopped you and all your armies from doing anything. Now we can either come to an arrangement or face the consequences. You have seen with your own eyes, the power we possess to stop your army dead in its tracks. So invasion is not an option."

"Then what do you propose?" asked Cheesman.

"That you leave this village in peace, and come to some arrangement on sharing power. Remember you came here to learn of our Magical power. A power, which has enabled me to meet you, two gentlemen, in the future." Sarah looked at their faces as she saw the gravity of it all sinking in.

"Impossible!" cried Dual in a loud voice.

"Not so fast Master Dual," said Chesterton. "We have seen many strange things here today. Now we know these people are possessed of no ordinary power, for this is the very reason Master Cromwell sent us here."

"Why not tell the enemy all our secrets, Mr Chesterton!" Dual was clearly unhappy about talking in an open manner and was about to storm out the room.

"They know them already Sir," added Cheesman. "Now am I right in saying, you would disrupt the future and stop us from carrying out our plans?"

"That is so. However, if we can agree on matters, your lives will go on the same. You have my word. Otherwise, I shall erase you from history." Sandra was clearly enjoying this moment of power.

"Do your worst! We have withstood every army the forces of darkness has thrown at us, and we are not about to buckle at the hands of some witch!" Dual turned to the door and shouted for the guards waiting outside the Manor House. "Captain, bring your men in here and deal with these traitors to the Parliamentary cause!"

But as the men marched into the room, Chesterton stopped them with a wave of his hand.

"Let's not be too hasty Captain. Belay your men." Cheesman held up his hand as he thought over the matter.

"What's this! A traitor?" Dual spun round to face him.

"Not a traitor sir, but a realist. What if she is right? We did come here to learn. We did strike a deal with the Magical Order of the Royalist camp, so she may well be right?"

"You have betrayed your position, sir! Lay down your sword and go into captivity with these soldiers. Captain, take this man and place him under arrest." Dual gave the order as if he was confident it would be carried out to the letter.

The truth was, however, that the soldiers trusted Cheesman more than they trusted Dual, and hesitated at the order. Looking to Cheesman for the real order in all this confusion.

"No Captain, take Mr Dual instead." Cheesman walked past him as the soldiers bundled him away under loud protests, and walked over to Sandra.

"You will hang for this!" Dual spat the words as he was dragged from the room.

"Now, let us talk of deals." Cheesman looked at the girl, knowing there was more to this than a simple knee jerk reaction.

"Will your army spare the village?" Sandra wanted to know.

"Of course, the war will pass you by. But I want to know where you came from before today. I know you lived in this village, but not recently." Cheesman clearly wanted plain answers now, as he held a straining army on a leash.

"From the future Sir."

"Sandra do not give away all our family secrets. They are bound by the Order." Her mother was shocked at the frank way she had told him the truth and feared reprisals.

"No wife, let the girl tell him everything, for I think he knows some of it." Her Father, The Squire, stood to one side and waited for the reply.

"Yes, we struck a deal with some of the forces of the Crown. We realise we can't rule the country without trust. We scattered your armies at Naseby, but all we did was defeat a flag, not the heart of the people, and that lies with your King."

"What deal your strike with King Charles is your own affair," said Sandra coolly.

"Sarah, how could you betray the Sacred Majesty so?" Her mother was even more shocked by this. "You have grown into a heartless girl since you went away."

"Then you did travel in time," smiled Cheesman. "Go on."

"Yes, and I met you there. But as I said, my knowledge of Magic is enough to ensure your future is safe in that time. What goes on here will not be affected, but I have to clear up some matters before I can go back. For that, I need your help."

"Agreed, what do you want?" Cheesman was used to doing deals in the heat of battle now and saw this Magical realm as no different.

"Stop that mad man from having too much Magical power. I know he will always have access to some knowledge, but not on the scale he wants." Sandra looked at Cheesman as he walked to the window, wondering if he would agree on the terms, or had the blood-lust gone to his head.

"Also agreed. I can clip his wings. He might not be frightened of me, but Master Cromwell still strikes fear into the hearts of every man. In that, I have some sway."

"Cromwell will turn just as mad as the King," added Sandra, shocking even her Father.

"Then these are matters you cannot control," Her Father knew Sandra had learnt high Magic, but this was going too far.

"That will resolve itself. The Reverend Fanshaw has assured me that he will do all he can to settle the matter. Only if we have your word and help sir?" Sandra walked to the window and stood beside Cheesman, looking out onto the lawns.

"Give us the power and we will use it wisely. Yes, we agree to curtail the actions of Master Dual if that so displeases you. To be truthful Cromwell has grown tired of his greed and recklessness. He was due to be sent to Ireland and foreign wars."

"Then the matter is resolved. We shall meet again, with a new understanding, remembering every moment of this conversation, as if it were yesterday. Until then Sir, goodbye."

Sandra walked from the room, and they never met in 1645 again.