Felix Jones and The Honour of The Keeper (Felix Jones Adventures Book 2)

by Julian Roderick

  Poppy charged left, Tom right and Galahad following their lead stormed straight down the middle. Poppy could hardly run with the weight of the chainmail so she threw it off as she attacked the left flank of the monks. As expected the creatures split into three sections.

  The Guardians, as usual, fought bravely. The other soldiers were easy prey for the Brethren. Men saw that they had no chance and started running for the safety of the fort. The injured crawled over bodies towards the gate and safety. The half human monsters were left fighting a handful of men and the remaining Guardians. Blood sprayed from their sabres as they charged towards what remained of the defending army. Galahad ordered a retreat. They quickly regrouped at the gate. Eight Guardians and twelve men against forty Brethren. They couldn’t force them to the river as Mordred and his army blocked their way. All looked lost. Galahad was poised to surrender.

  “This is it!” said Poppy.

  “It’s been lovely knowing you!” replied Tom with a grin on his face. Before he could lead the final charge the rumble of horse’s hooves filled the valley.

  “Never fear, The Keepers are here!” Tom and Poppy turned to see Felix and Cadwallader on a big brown horse leading the rest of the tribal armies and Merlin up the valley to join them. Galahad ordered the attack.

  “The cavalry has arrived!” Tom laughed as he knew they now stood a chance of surviving the battle. The Guardians, with a renewed sense of confidence charged and once again split the Brethren ranks. Felix waded in, smashing the Brethren to bits. Piles of bones lay in amongst the brave dead. Tom saw a strange object on his waist. It was the scabbard. Felix was invincible!

  The Brethren under the weight of the reinforced enemy retreated to join Mordred near the river. Cheers could be heard from inside Camelot. Felix was eager to finish off the Brethren. In the rush and excitement he hadn’t realised that he had lost Cadwallader, the new Keeper had lost his grip and fallen from their horse.

  “Where’s Cadwallader?” he screamed. Tom shrugged his shoulders. “Where did you get that from? Asked Tom as he pointed at the scabbard. “I sent a boy to stop Bedivere from throwing it into the lake, I thought you might need a little help!” Felix smiled at his friends.

  “Help! Over here!” It was Cadwallader. He was firmly in the grip of Mordred and the monks. The Guardians counted their losses, four dead and six injured. The four sabres had gone, off to their heirs. The game had changed, they were not only fighting to rid the land of the invading monsters but to save the Keeper and the Book. Felix knew if Cadwallader was put under any pressure he could reveal the secrets held in the Book.

  Felix gathered the Guardians. “If I don’t get closer to Cadwallader we will be in trouble!”

  “We can’t go wading in. There are too many of them!” Tom and the other Guardians were shattered.

  “This calls for diplomacy!” Merlin was concerned that he would lose more of the Keeper’s protectors if they fought again.

  Felix, Galahad, Tom, Poppy and Merlin walked nervously towards Mordred’s camp. Mordred, Kai and four Brethren monks sauntered arrogantly towards them. Mordred held out The Book of Words. Felix looked for Cadwallader. He was being held by Mordred’s men near the river.

  “This is not The Book of Words!” Mordred was trying to show his beastlike allies his authority. “It shows nothing of the power it holds.”

  “You need the Keeper to hold it.” Felix wanted Mordred to bring Cadwallader forward. Tom and Poppy had their hands on their sabres just in case.

  “Another of your tricks?” Mordred waved to his men and a trembling Cadwallader was brought closer. “All we can see is this map that shows us where the chiefs are. These red crosses give you away.” He laughed as he pointed out what was blatantly obvious. Felix looked at Merlin in surprise and realisation that this was how the Brethren always turned up near a cluster of Guardians. They had the map. Felix wanted to keep Cadwallader’s book intact. He thought if he could achieve this aim the Brethren would never be able to find any of the Keepers again.

  Tom and Poppy had been instructed to grab Cadwallader when the chance came. Felix would go for the Book. Cadwallader was dragged into the middle of them. His hands were tied behind his back. Merlin made a slight movement with his hands and the rope slowly began undoing its own knot. Cadwallader tried to hide his delight at being almost free. Felix winked at Galahad who was gazing on open mouthed. Cadwallader, feeling his freedom, did the Guardian’s work for them. He rushed forward and snatched the Book from Mordred. “Nooooooo!” The disgruntled chief drew his sword and thrust it at Cadwallader. Felix blocked the strike and threw Mordred onto the floor. In his hand Mordred held a sheet of paper. It was the second page, the one with the map. Somehow he had torn it from the Book.

  Galahad thrust his sabre into Mordred’s chest. Kai, without Mordred to hide behind turned and ran. The Brethren monks took the map from Mordred’s open hand and ran to the river. In their grasp were two of the Guardian’s sabres. Seizing the opportunity the Guardians charged towards Mordred’s army. Stunned by their leaders death and the Brethren’s retreat they quickly turned and fled back towards Mordred’s land. The Guardians continued their chase until the enemy were far away from Camelot.

  Mordred lay in the meadow gasping for breath. “Why not me? I was his son!”

  “The Keeper is not passed from father to son,” Felix smirked. “But I was the strongest leader and had the biggest army!” he stuttered.

  “You have to have honour to become the Keeper.” Felix declared proudly.

  Mordred had taken his last breath.

  The victorious Guardians returned to the round table. They congratulated each other on a job well done. The villagers had prepared a feast for their brave heroes. As they tucked in Felix gave the scabbard to Bedivere to complete Arthur’s dying wish.

  “Why are you giving that back?” asked Tom.

  “Arthur was right, if the Keeper is invincible his decisions could be swayed.”

  After the feast the chiefs returned to their tribal lands swearing to return when needed and not before. Galahad was left alone with the visitors from the twenty-first century.

  “We will deal with that coward Kai in the morning,” declared Galahad. He knew Kai’s son had fought with them and would make a good Guardian once his father’s sabre was passed on.

  Merlin was happy that the Book was back with its rightful owner and promised to mentor Cadwallader to become a good Keeper and King. “Time for you to go back home!” he declared as he gave each of them a farewell hug.

  “Too right, this has been an eye opener.” Tom looked confused, his brain was addled. He had learned so much but couldn’t put it all together. Felix smiled at his friend and winked at Poppy.

  “It’s OK, I think I’ve got it all!”

  Poppy and Merlin laughed. “Now all we’ve got to do is find a way home!”

  Felix opened the Book. On the map was a clock with the year and the time. The clock was in the middle of the main hall in Camelot. The time, five minutes from now.

  “Come on. No time to lose.” Felix started running towards the door. “When we get there look for the odd thing out!” The others sprinted after him in a panic. “Keep your eyes peeled!” Felix shouted as he came to an abrupt halt.

  Poppy rolled her eyes at Tom. “We know the drill!”

  “Where are we going?” Tom shouted. Felix burst into laughter as he watched his friends rush towards the door.

  “We’re here!” he replied. Merlin giggled as Poppy wiped the sweat from her brow. “It’s in here somewhere.” The only furniture in the room was the round table and the chairs.

  “After all we’ve been through let’s hope the Book has made it easy this time!” Tom was frantically searching the walls. Poppy was scouring the opposite side. They could find nothing and turned towards Felix. He was sat on the round table with a smug look on his face. In his hands was a plastic book stand which had replaced Arthur’s ornate wooden holder for The Book of Words.

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bsp; “Good bye my brave friends.” Merlin’s eyes welled up with tears of pride.

  “I’m sure we’ll see you again,” smiled Poppy as the three of them jumped onto the book stand and disappeared.

  36

  They arrived back in Felix’s house looking like they had been dragged through several hedges backwards. Tom slumped onto the sofa and smiled.

  “After all that, you’re laughing!” Felix was buried in a bean bag.

  “We just watched King Arthur die and the Brethren get hold of the map that lets them find us and you find it funny!” Poppy knew they would still be in danger wherever they went. “We went to end all this and we failed!”

  “We have learnt a lot though!” Felix admitted failure in one mission but they had more knowledge than before their journey. “We have lived to fight another day.”

  “Why are you still laughing?” asked Poppy.

  “I’m not going to Birmingham!” Tom beamed from ear to ear as he rolled a gold object between his fingers.

  “What the hell is that?” Felix had a vague idea but he wasn’t entirely sure.

  “Remember those coins Mordred threw away?” Tom carried on giggling. “I have three. They must be worth something!” Poppy and Felix finally saw the funny side and they all sat in hysterics even though they were exhausted.

  The three friends showered and changed into their school uniforms. After another sumptuous meal of sausage, beans and chips provided by Mrs Jones, Poppy and Tom made their way home.

  Tom let himself in through the back door. His mother was hunched over a cup of tea crying.

  “What’s up mum?” Tom knew she thought about his father all the time. It had only been a short while since he had given his life defending Felix.

  “You know I don’t want to move, don’t you Tom?” She had made a life with Gordon in London when they had moved there for work. Tom knew they had really moved so Gordon could be ready to protect The Sheriff.

  “We may not have to!” Tom threw the three gleaming gold coins onto the kitchen table. His mother’s eyes lit up.

  “Where did you get those?” She thought he had done something stupid and stolen them. Thinking on his feet Tom told her he had found them on the common with Felix and Poppy.

  37

  Felix and Poppy were worried they hadn’t heard from Tom for several days and he hadn’t been to school. All their phone calls had remained unanswered. “Where is he?” asked Poppy. “I hope he hasn’t run into the Brethren!”

  “He’s probably in Birmingham looking at his new school and home.” replied a sad looking Felix. “I’ll miss him but his mum has to move!”

  “He’ll be back soon to say goodbye, I’m sure,” whispered Poppy as she left the common for home.

  Felix was woken the next day by his excited mother. “Felix! Tom’s on TV!”

  “What’s he done now?” murmured Felix in a sleepy haze. He stared at the telly and saw Tom’s face filling the screen. His mother had paused the local news on the breakfast show. Felix pressed play.

  The reporter introduced Tom and his mother and related the sad death of Gordon whilst trying to save Poppy’s grandfather. Felix could not believe where the story went next. The coins Tom had brought back from Camelot were being shown by an aging archaeologist as definitive proof that King Arthur had actually existed.

  Felix’s mobile phone rang, it was Poppy. “You watching the news?” she screamed down the phone.

  “What’s he doing?” Felix dreaded what would come out of Tom’s mouth. “It’s OK he won’t tell them about our adventure!” Tom had trouble keeping secrets at the best of times.

  The grey bearded expert gave the value of each coin at half a million pounds. Tom’s mother was overjoyed at her son’s find. Tom had known all along that the coins would mean he wouldn’t be moving to Birmingham after all. He had spent the last few days at the British Museum getting the coins valued. The reporter announced that the coins had been purchased by the museum for a new display alongside an Arthurian sabre that Tom had also discovered Felix nearly dropped his bowl of cereal at this revelation. Engraved on the hilt was the name Mordred. The value placed on the weapon was 4 million pounds!

  Tom told the reporter that he was going to share his new wealth with his friends who had helped him uncover the ancient finds on the common, Felix and Poppy.

  “We’re rich!” Poppy squealed at Felix. Felix had been lifted off the floor by his mother who was busy in her head planning her new interior décor and their next holiday. It wasn’t going to be camping in the UK next year.

  “See you at school!” he shouted down the phone. Poppy hung up.

  The three time travellers met on the common as usual and as they approached Queen Anne’s School they could see a hoard of people at the school gates. They were mobbed by reporters and their fellow students excited at their new found fame. Buckley fought his way through the crowd and ushered them down to Wonky Donkey’s office. The Headmaster greeted them like long lost friends.

  “He’s after money,” whispered Tom.

  “Well done, you’ve done yourselves and the school proud. We’ve had reporters from all over the world on the phone this morning.” Wonky was glowing with pride and his head angle was definitely showing happiness. “I have a programme of interviews for you today. Don’t worry I’ll be here to look after you.”

  “Great!” Felix didn’t want any publicity. He was worried someone out there might see them and put two and two together and cause them problems. “Just what we needed!”

  “Fame at last!” beamed Tom. “And I’m not going to flaming Birmingham!”

  Poppy had lost her tomboyish look and was busy brushing her hair and smearing herself with make-up. Tom wolf whistled. Poppy turned bright red and gave him her death stare.

  They spent the whole day making up a story about playing football. Tom had fallen over what he thought was a root. On closer inspection the root was a metal blade. The three friends had dug up the sabre and in the soil they dug out were the three gold coins. The tall tale was retold fifteen times to newspaper and television reporters from all over the world. At the end of it all, they were exhausted. Wonky thanked them once again for giving the school this fantastic publicity and allowed them to leave an hour early.

  Once they had got through the well-wishers and journalists at the school gates, Felix, Tom and Poppy walked slowly to the newsagent to buy some sweets. Slowly they made their way to the old oak stump on the common amazed at the scene unfolding before them. Felix burst out laughing as their usual haunt came into sight. All over the common were people with metal detectors searching frantically for their own share of Arthur’s treasure. Tom looked guilty at leading all these serious treasure hunters up the garden path. They sat there for an hour watching and listening to the beeps on the machines and watching people walking forlornly up and down the length of the common. They found nails and old bike parts but nothing more.

  “This is better than the telly.” Poppy was amused but did feel sorry for them. A man in cut off jean shorts and a dodgy cowboy hat tapped her on the shoulder. “Where exactly did you find the coins young lady?” It was the ‘Time Team’ man, the one who always got excited when he found different shades of dirt.

  “Over there” She pointed towards the wood near the pond.

  “That could be the lake Excalibur is in!” he screamed excitedly at the team. Before they knew it, tents were erected, large diggers arrived, Tony Robinson was there and filming began.

  Not wanting any more attention the friends decided to retreat to Felix’s house.

  “I have one question for you two.” Tom had been dying to ask his friends this all day.

  “Why didn’t you bring any coins back with you?”

  “Too busy chasing off the Brethren!” replied Poppy with a smile.

  Felix thought hard for a few seconds then grinned before shouting,

  “The Honour of the Keeper!”

  Join Felix on his next adventure…
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  Felix Jones and the Dawn of The Brethren

  A Felix Jones Adventure

  Felix and the Guardians continue their battle against the Brethren for possession of ‘The Book of Words.’ Strange events lure Felix into the dangerous world of underground crime and could change the way people live forever. Learning more of the mystical powers of the Book and their enemy, the gang journey back to Ancient Egypt - with a few unexpected detours along the way. Can Poppy and Tom help Felix protect the Book and stave off the sinister forces that threaten their freedom? The third Felix Jones adventure.