Taster for: ‘Merlin’s Granddaughter’

by
Tony Butler
(40,340 words)
£2.95

This is the story of thirteen-year-old, Rowena Pendragon. The story opens shortly
after the battle between Kin Arthur, his Knights of the Round Table against Mordred,
Arthur’s nephew.

With King Arthur dead, Rowena is frozen alive in a coffin of ice. She awakes fifteen-
hundred-years later in our present time, and is befriended by the Richmond twins,
Kelly and Josh.

But Septimus Crawley, an eighty-year-old millionaire is aware of Rowena’s existence

and plans to capture her. He wants to sell her for cryogenic research to discover how
she survived hundreds of years of being frozen alive.

Soon his assistants are closing in on Rowena and her friends, but help arrives in the
form of Anna Galahad, a descendant of The Knight of The Round Table.

Anna rides a Harley Davison motor cycle and is a Karate black belt, 4th Dan

And Rowena? Well, Merlin’s granddaughter has powers of her own.

Taster

Rowena wants to cry as, in her head she hears Merlin start to sing. His voice is soft,
rich and melodious, she concentrates on his words.
“Let the sacred moon beam strike the fire and reflect through frozen water the
truth of my desire.
By the sacred Mistletoe, holy Yew and Rowan tree, I, Merlin, summon thee.
Rise one last time, My Lady and come thou now to me!”

From the farthest depths of the river a sword thrusts through the ice. It possessed a
brilliance that is almost blinding and Rowena half-closed her eyes as the blade cuts a
circle through the ice. The great disc of ice is tossed upwards and falls to the side
revealing a black hole.
Rowena stares in awe as a beautiful woman slowly rises up through the hole; her
shimmering white robes flashing and sparkling; like the dew on a spider’s web in
caught in beams of sunlight.
“My Lady of the Lake,” Merlin said. “You heard my summons.”
“Yes, I heard your summons Merlin. You offer your life for that of the maid. But
the Gods have refused your offer. You will not die by the hand of Morgan-le-Fay, but
sleep beneath our sacred mountains until this Briton of ours rises as a free nation once
again!
The girl too will live but she will not escape from her tomb until a thousand years
and half as long again have passed. She will emerge into another age. A maid who
knows the Old Ways and who knows, perhaps she will reawaken the Old Gods and
teach the people the ancient Way of the Britons. Do you accept the will of the Gods’
child?”
“Yes, I accept, but can you not allow Merlin to sleep in the free air, as a free
man?”
The Lady smiles as though in approval of Rowena’s words. Raising her sword in
both hands, she brings it down; its keen blade strikes the block of ice that holds
Merlin. The block splits into two halves, which fall away on either side of him and
Merlin slumps weakly to his knees. Still smiling, the Lady glides around the ice, upon
which Rowena and her coffin stand, marking a circle at its base with the point of her
sword. Rowena hears the ice below her crack and slowly her tomb descended into the
underground river.
“Sleep now and fare-thee-well, Rowena Pendragon,” The Lady said.
Rowena’s eyes close and as she falls asleep, her coffin of ice sinks slowly out of
sight.

Chapter 1

2009 AD -Bridgnorth, Shropshire, England.

Kelly Richmond and her twin brother Josh stared at the huge rectangular block of ice
that sat on the mud beneath the bank on the opposite side of the river. It was about the
same size as their Dad’s garden shed and the top of it was about three foot higher than
the riverbank behind it. Crystal clear, the ice glinted in the heat of the afternoon sun.
“Where on Earth has that come from?” Kelly said.
“I don’t know,” Josh said. “Unless it’s fallen out of a plane. I’ve heard of things
like that happening before.” He tilted his head back as though searching the sky for
the offending plane.
“If that had hit someone it would have killed them,” Kelly said and stared wide
eyed at the ice again, unable to believe what it was she now saw. The block of
shimmering ice was still there and still gleaming coldly beneath the hot summer sun,
but it was no longer like sparkling clear glass - for there was something else,
something that wasn’t there a moment ago. Now, embedded in its centre, lying on her
back as though she were asleep - was the body of a girl!
“Josh,” she cried. “Look! There’s a . . .” but the words wouldn’t come out. She
stood transfixed staring and pointing at the block of ice.
And then Josh saw the girl too. “It’s . . . a . . . a body,” he gasped. “She’s dead,
isn’t she?” He sounded scared.
Kelly nodded and took some deep breaths.
The girl looked about their age and they could even make out her honey-gold hair
tied in a long thick plait, which was draped forward over her shoulder. Her feet were
bare and she wore an ankle-length sleeveless dress, pale and creamy white.
Thirteen-year-old Kelly thought she might be sick. She’d never seen a dead
person before.
“Where did she come from? She wasn’t there before,” Josh said, shielding his
eyes against the glare of the ice, took a step forward.
 Kelly held him back. “Wait a minute, Josh. We can’t wade across the river here,
not while it’s running this fast. You know what the currents like. It’s too dangerous.”
“But we got to do something! We can’t just leave it . . . leave her there.”
“You’re right.” she said, sounding calmer than she felt.
“Why didn’t we see her before?”

* * *

They’d taken less than a dozen steps when from behind them there was sound of an
explosion, followed by a shrill scream.

“Stop her!”
Kelly spun around and stared in disbelief at the “dead girl”, who was racing along
the far bank pursued by the police and ambulance men. Her plait streamed out behind
her as she ran barefoot, dodging under the police tape and then turning abruptly to
head for the river. She glanced up and saw Kelly, there was naked terror in the girl’s
eyes, the sort of terror that Kelly had once seen in the eyes of a wild bird that had
been trapped in a fisherman’s net.
“Come back, we won’t hurt you,” one of the men in the white suits shouted. But
the girl ignored him and launched herself into a dive. She hit the river cleanly but
Kelly knew just how strong and deadly the currents of the River Severn were and the
girl didn’t stand a chance. Last summer two local boys had drowned after risking a
swim.
“There she is!” Josh pointed downstream.
Kelly saw the girl’s head bobbing just above the water. She was being carried
down river, tossed and turned by the current. Kelly threw her school bag at Josh’s
feet.
“Wait here and don’t you dare try and run after me or you’ll set your asthma off
again,” she said.
Before he could argue, Kelly took off. She sprinted along the path struggling to
keep the girl in sight, hoping she’d reach the bend of the river in time. She
concentrated solely on her running, pushing herself harder and then harder still to
increase her speed. The bend was almost a mile away. She slipped on some wet grass,
but then her trainers bit into the earth and she regained her balance. She tried to
control her breathing and the nagging pain in her side. She was so hot that
perspiration was trickling down her face.

Ignoring her increasing discomfort, Kelly pumped her legs even harder and the cries
of the police officers and the other pursuers faded and died away. At last the
horseshoe shaped bend of the river was in sight. It was the narrowest part of that
stretch of the river and she thought she might be able to help the girl, if she could get
there first.

* * *

Rowena had awakened and seen the men hacking at her ice prison with their hammers
and daggers. Then someone had wheeled a strange looking metal vase towards her. It
was huge and instead of standing upright it lay on its side with its mouth pointing at
her. A yellow shiny rope as thick as her wrist trailed from the vase to the source of a
fearsome noise that sounded like a hundred blacksmiths all forging swords at the
same time. One of the men pressed a magic spot on the vase and a dreadful roaring
fire leapt out at her. The vase was some kind of dragon!
Seeing herself about to be devoured by the monstrous creature, Rowena uttered
the words Merlin had taught her. Instantly, the ice exploded with tremendous force
tossing aside the men and the dragon in a burst of glittering ice crystals. She leapt to
her feet and ran, not caring where as long as she could escape that fiery beast.
“Come back! We won’t hurt you!” One of the men shouted but Rowena was no
fool. Had they not tried to feed her to their dragon?

“She’s crazy!” The boy groaned in despair and Rowena feared he had a fever for
her name was Rowena, not Crazy? Thankfully he would not have to suffer much
longer for already there was a great commotion as, above her, the branches of the
trees creaked and rustled and they became filled with birds. She recognised the King
of birds, the Raven; he regarded her with a mixture of haughty disdain and curiosity.
“How is it you summon our kind, Human?” he asked.
“We have met before,” she said. “Do you not remember me? Merlin gave you to
me on my seventh birthday on the night of the storm.”
Rowena reached out and gently placed her hand on the bird’s head and shared her
memories with him.

****

The sound of thunder filled the air and rain lashed against the rock behind which she
crouched. Rowena was watching Merlin and his companions, three Knights of the
Round Table, Sir Gareth, Sir Belvedere and Ironsides. They were hiding behind
another boulder a just few yards in front of her. Lightning flared briefly lighting the
night sky and she saw the Saxons for the first time. There were over a dozen of them
sitting around a fire that was set in the entrance of a cave in which they sheltered.
Somehow Merlin had lit a flaming torch that burned with such brightness it hurt
her eyes to look at it, yet it did nothing to lighten the enshrouding darkness of the
night or to reveal their hiding place. Giving the fiery torch to Ironsides to hold, Merlin
produced one of the small round iron shields he had polished with sand until she
could see her face in it.
This one was polished on the inside and it always made her face seem smaller
when she looked into it. Merlin gave the shield to Belvedere who held it with both
hands and her grandfather tilted the shield until at last he seemed satisfied with the
angle in which it was being held. He pointed to the cave where the Saxons were
camped and Rowena saw a white glowing spot, the reflection of the torch from the
shield seemed to be floating in the smoke from their fire.
One of the warriors noticed it and brought it to the attention of the others who
stared at the glowing smoke until they jumped back in alarm. A huge serpent had
appeared in the illuminated smoke. Rowena darted a look at Merlin and barely
suppressed her laughter, for she had seen her grandfather do this trick before.
Merlin, was holding his arms, now bare to the elbow, between the torch and the
shield which reflected them into the smoke of the Saxons fire. The reflection made
his arms appear exactly like the serpent in the smoke. He dropped his arms and then
his hands rose up back in position and the fingers of both hands moved slowly up and
down. Looking back towards the Saxon’s fire, Rowena laughed, for in the smoke it
appeared there was now a winged beast hovering in it’s midst.
 Uttering cries of terror the Saxons snatched up their swords and fled from the
cave, leaving their other belongings behind. But their leader, a huge man with a long
beard carried in his free hand a wicker cage, the type used to house songbirds.
Rowena gasped aloud when she saw it was no songbird that was imprisoned in the
cage, but a tiny, perfectly formed man.
“Tis Tom Thumb!” she whispered aloud. She knew of him from the other knights,
but in all of her seven-years and despite her frequent visits to Camelot, she had never
seen him before. He was about six inches tall and was wearing a leather tunic,
breeches and knee length boots.
It was said Merlin had taken pity on a childless couple. He had foretold the
woman would give birth to a son, who would never grow any bigger than when he
was born. It took only four minutes after being born for Tom Thumb to become a tiny
man.
“Let Tom Thumb go!” Merlin said and he and the three knights emerged from
their hiding place. All of them had drawn their swords. “If you want to live then let
Tom Thumb, go!”
“He dare not let me go because he knows I’d beat him in a fair fight!” Tom
Thumb’s high-pitched voice carried clearly through the air. “Come on you coward, let
me go and face me man to man.”

Miles handed Septimus the document case and evidence bags. Septimus held up one
of the bags that contained long strands of golden hair. He examined the second bag –
some creamy white fibres – and the final bag containing the remains of flowers.

“The flowers are quite common,” Miles said. “However, the initial results suggest
these died between one and two thousand years ago and the hair came from the scalp
of a young female during the same period. The fibres yielded a more precise dating.
They were produced in Wales during the early sixth century. It will take time for this
to be confirmed, of course, but . . .”
“Yes, yes, Miles, but we don’t have time to wait for that. Don’t you realise the
implications? This girl is over fifteen hundred years old and we have to find her
before anyone else does!”
“Why? What’s your interest in her?”
“Don’t you see? She’s worth millions, maybe even billions. Governments will
pay a fortune to have their research scientists get their hands on her and find out how
she survived being frozen so long without suffering any apparent deterioration. The
Americans for instance, would pay almost any amount to be able to duplicate her
ability. They’ve been studying cryogenics for years and deep freezing their terminally
ill.”
“Oh, you mean all those millionaires who’ll pay for the privilege hoping they’ll
be revived once a cure for whatever’s killing them is discovered” Miles looked
excited now. “You’re right. They’ll pay absolutely anything for her.”
“Right, so now you know why we have to try to keep the lid on this. Can you
keep the officers who were at the scene quiet? It’s essential the government doesn’t
become involved.”

* * *
“There’s nothing wrong with it Josh. It must be you. No, I know what it is! It’s ever
since you had Rowena’s potion. I bet that’s what’s left a peculiar taste in your mouth.
Is that what it is, Rowena?”
“It will do him no harm,” was all Rowena would say but she had that glint in her
eye again.
“Oh, well, your loss, Josh.” Kelly popped another square of chocolate into her
mouth.
“I hate to spoil your fun,” Josh said, ignoring what she was doing and looking past
Kelly. “But guess who’s on his way over.”
“Oh, no! Not Stanley and his gang?”
It was. Stanley Morgan and he did have his gang with him. He came right up to
them until he was almost treading on Rowena’s toes.
“Who’re you then?” Hands on his hips, he towered over Rowena but she didn’t
flinch.
“My friends call me Rowena but somehow I don’t think that you will ever be one
of them,” she said quietly.
Kelly shot her a warning look as Stanley’s smile was replaced with a threatening
scowl.
“You’re askin’ for a smack you are!” he growled, pushing his face down until it
almost touched Rowena’s.
“Leave her alone, Stanley!” Josh grabbed the collar of Stanley’s jacket and pulled
him away. “Why don’t you go and pick on someone your own size?” he said. He let
go of Stanley.
“Because he’s a coward, Josh,” Rowena said. “His kind will never risk a fight
with someone who might fight back.”
Stanley went red in the face and snarled with rage. Josh instinctively backed off
but Stanley ignored him and without warning, swung his fist at Rowena’s face. Kelly
was too quick for him, though. She whisked Rowena away just in time for Stanley’s
fist to miss smashing into Rowena’s nose and thud into the wall behind her instead.
“Aaagh!” Stanley yelled, clutching his injured hand to him and rocking
backwards and forwards in pain. “I’ve busted my hand!”
“You’d better get it under a cold tap, then, quick,” one of the gang said sounding
as if he knew all about fighting with his fists. The gang rallied round their injured
leader and led him off to towards the nearest public toilets.

***

Halfway up the path, Rowena stopped. “It is time for Stanley and his friends’ to be
taught a lesson,” she said. “I intend to make it a lesson that they will not soon forget.”
“How?” Josh asked.
“Be patient, Josh. You will see soon enough,” she said.
Josh scanned the trees higher up the trail. “Do you really think Stanley and the
others are up there waiting for us?”
“Yes, but first we shall find out for certain,” Rowena said. She whistled softly and
the Raven came, his wings beating the air to balance his heavy weight he landed
gently on her outstretched arm.
“I told you!” Josh said to Kelly. “I told you she could talk to the birds!”
 “Raven my friend,” Rowena said, using the bird language. “I fear that some boys
are lying in wait for me and my friends in yonder wood.”
“I will see if you are right,” the Raven answered. He shook himself once and took
flight.
“What do we do now?” Josh asked.
“We wait.” Rowena said.
“Why did I expect you to say that?” Kelly asked. “I suppose you’ve sent him to
check things out?”
“Yes.”
“So you really can talk to the birds like Josh says?”
“Of course. It is natural for one raised as I was to understand their language.”
“That was quick,” Josh said. “He’s coming back already.”
The Raven returned to Rowena’s arm, chatting with her before flying away again.
“They are hiding in the trees at the top of hill,” she said. “And I have arranged for
my friend the Raven and the other birds to deal with them.”
Kelly gave her a suspicious look. “The birds aren’t going to attack Stanley and the
others are they?” she asked.
“But of course, Kelly,” Rowena said. “Justice demands no less.”

* * *