Felix Jones And The Book Of Words (A Felix Jones Adventure 1)

by Julian Roderick

The officer knocked twice on the door. Another officer opened the door and saluted with the usual straight arm. After a returned salute Felix was marched in. The room was huge, the size of the whole of the downstairs of Felix’s home back in England. The walls were filled with masterpieces. The officer walked Felix through the throng of German Generals to a table. The large board room table was covered in maps including one whose paper looked familiar. Next to it sat the book.

  A side door squeaked open. In walked a face Felix recognised. He gulped as the whole room stood to attention and saluted. It was Adolf Hitler.

  Hitler greeted Felix like a long lost friend. In perfect German Felix asked “What do you want with me?”

  “You are who we are looking for. You are the Keeper,” replied the German leader.

  Felix realised his suddenly acquired language skills had given him away. The Book was working its magic.

  “What do you want with me?” Felix repeated.

  “You will turn the tide of this war,” laughed Hitler, pointing at the Book and the adjacent map.

  Felix realised the map was the missing second page of the Book. Again there were only questions running round in his head, none of which he had answers for.

  “How can I win a war on my own?” he squeaked nervously.

  “You can open the Book and its secrets,” snarled Hitler.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” Felix responded.

  “When this map is replaced the Book’s full power will be restored. We have been waiting a very long time for this moment. The map shows us where our enemies are and where they are weakest; but with the Book we will be able to know what they are going to do before they do.” he cackled. “You will ensure that by becoming our agent.”

  Felix knew he would be able to travel through time and see what plans were being made by the allies, but he did not know how to travel. Anyway, he would not allow this tyrant to rule the whole world.

  “The book will give you information that will let us overpower any army who dares to oppose us,” added Hitler.

  “I won’t do it!” screamed Felix.

  “You will have little choice. We have ways of making you talk.” laughed The Fuhrer. A man in a white doctor’s coat appeared holding a large needle. ‘Truth drugs!’ thought Felix. They may be able to control him after all.

  The side door opened once more and Felix felt his heart stop. In strode four creatures - half human, half skeleton - dressed in monks’ cloaks. They drew their blood soaked swords and walked towards him laughing demonically. The Germans were working with the Brethren! He had to think and act quickly.

  “Give me the Book,” said Felix in a defeated way. Hitler slid it across the table. Felix opened it and asked “What do I do now?”

  The page remained blank, “It’s not working!” he shouted at Hitler.

  “Make it work!” Hitler bellowed.

  “I can’t!” Felix screamed back. He looked at the map on the first page. What he saw amazed him and he immediately felt a little safer. The Brethren moved closer. To halt them he picked the Book up and flicked through the pages. Hitler ordered all of the Generals to leave. The Gestapo officer was ordered to stay as he had found the Book and the Keeper.

  Hitler was visibly angry. His face was beetroot red and his wide open eyes stared straight at Felix. He strode purposefully over to Felix and raised his hand high above his head. Felix shut his eyes waiting for the blow to rain down on his head. There was a thud but no pain.

  21

  He opened his eyes and couldn’t believe what he saw. A marching stick had blocked Hitler’s arm. The Gestapo officer had come to his rescue. Hitler reeled backwards in a state of confusion; one of his own had dared to strike him!

  The officer winked again at Felix and from his stick drew a hidden sabre. The map had been right! The red flashing symbol had shown that there was a Guardian in the building. Hitler ran towards them. The Brethren went into attack mode. The officer grabbed Felix and dragged him under the table.

  “This is my destiny,” he whispered excitedly. “The greater cause of a free world is better than dying for him.”

  “Have you your sword?” he asked.

  “No,” said Felix

  “You take Mein Fuhrer with this, and I’ll take the Brethren.” He passed Felix his stick.

  They jumped out to continue the fight. The Guardian fought ferociously, repelling each of the monks’ blows. Sparks from the blades filled the room. Hitler chased Felix around the table. Felix turned and foolishly threw the stick at him. He dropped the Book in the chaos as he dodged swords and bodies as the Guardian deftly kept the Brethren at bay. Hitler picked up his great prize. Felix knew he had to get the book back and stopped running. Hitler dived at Felix. Felix reached out and grabbed at the German’s face. The result sent him cowering into a corner. Felix had torn away half a mask revealing a skull. Hitler was one of the Brethren!

  “Why?” asked Felix “Why kill so many just to get a tatty old book?”

  “We knew the Keeper was likely to be Jewish,” Hitler replied. “Germany was ready for a revolution, we just used it to our advantage.”

  Felix became angry; so many had died so they could get the Book. Hitler replaced his mask and drew a sword. The battle behind them seemed irrelevant as this all sank in to Felix’s increasingly addled mind. He had no weapon, but at least he would be killed by someone famous.

  There was a loud crash and the battle came to a sudden halt. The outside door had swung open and in burst a teenager looking a little bedraggled, but carrying a huge bejewelled silver sword. He had a Book tucked into his belt. Everyone looked with curiosity at this strange sight. Hitler screamed, “Another Keeper!”

  ‘That must be Emile,’ deduced Felix. The second Keeper threw the sword to Felix and cried, “I cannot use it now! Keep them occupied while I prepare our escape.”

  Felix remembered immediately the fencing lessons with Jack in the French fields on their journey to Paris. He worked his way towards the Guardian and as a double act they fended off the five attackers. Felix tired quickly, not being used to real battles, but he fought bravely remembering to defend until the opportunity came to attack. It didn’t seem as if he would get the chance as the blows from The Brethren were relentless.

  “Get the Book!” screamed Emile over the noise of battle.

  “Go,” said the Guardian. “I will keep them away.”

  Felix ran to the table and grabbed the Book from a startled Hitler’s grasp. As Felix turned away he saw something quite strange. Emile was fiddling with a mobile phone - it was Felix’s! Emile threw it on the floor and grabbed Felix’s arm. They looked across the room to see the Brethren stepping over the Guardian’s lifeless body and charging towards them.

  “Jump!” shouted Emile.

  The pair jumped onto the phone. As a hole opened in the floor they heard Hitler scream

  “Noooooooooooooo”.

  Emile reached up through the hole and grabbed the phone just before the pair blacked out.

  22

  Felix awoke to a familiar sight. Flashing swirling spirals of colour intermingled with images of history. To his left was Emile wearing a huge smile. The French boy was dressed in a filthy white shirt and ripped grey trousers. Felix was safe but still had no real idea of what was happening. Emile had chosen to come to Berlin to rescue him, and a German who was his enemy was actually a Guardian. He was totally confused. Felix tried to figure it out. He attempted to speak but the whistling wind drowned out any sound he made. He struggled with the strange puzzle until he blacked out again.

  When Felix woke again he was comfortable. This was very different to last time with the bombs. He wondered whether it had all been a dream and he had woken up in his own bed. The jolly “Come on old chap, up we get!” told him he was back in Paris with Jack. “Breakfast is ready.”

  Wearily Felix entered the kitchen. Emile was sat laughing with Tom and Trevor at the table, telling them of the events in Berlin.

&n
bsp; Tom jumped up with glee when he saw his best friend. He gave him a huge hug that told Felix he had been scared and was so glad to see him again.

  “You smacked Hitler?” laughed Tom. “You couldn’t punch your way out of a paper bag and you take on the biggest nutter the world has known!”

  Felix shrugged smugly and sat down for breakfast. On the table sat the usual bread, ham and cheese alongside two copies of The Book of Words. One had Felix’s name emblazoned on the cover, the other had no name.

  “What’s happened to your book?” Felix asked Emile.

  “Only one of the Books can be active if there are more than one of them in the same time and place. That honour falls to the Keeper from the future most date,” replied Emile. “My book is useless until you have gone.”

  “I am Emile,” he declared, realising they hadn’t been introduced, “and you must be Felix.” The pair shook hands, smiled at each other and sat down to eat. Jack and Trevor sat in the sitting room plotting and planning their next mission against the Germans.

  “Thank you!” Felix said gratefully to Emile

  “No need for thanks. You would have done the same,” he replied.

  “I have a burning question - how do we use the Book to travel?” asked Felix.

  Tom laughed, “Haven’t you worked that out yet?” He winked at Emile.

  “How did you get here?” asked Emile grinning.

  “We were running from the Brethren and they cornered us. I charged them and bounced into Tom and the wall. The next thing I knew we were in Normandy in 1944.”

  “What was the last thing you saw at home?” asked Tom giggling.

  “Those ugly skeleton faced idiots,” replied Felix.

  “What was on the wall of the room?” asked a knowing Emile.

  “A picture from the second world war. A view of the allied armada sailing towards...,” he stopped talking. The lightbulb in his brain switched on. The book would transport you to the place and time shown in the picture you fell into!

  “So if we can travel through pictures, how did we get back here from Berlin?”

  “It was Tom’s idea. I had to tell him our secret of travel. He had your communication device which also takes a photograph. We took a photograph of the room and I found a picture in a newspaper of Hitler in Berlin from the day before. The rest, as we say, is History. I worked my way to the building following the red sword on the map there was only one and I knew Guardians head towards Keepers so I guessed you’d be there. Once I got close to you, my book became blank. Blind luck I suppose.”

  “So all I have to do is find pictures of places and dive right in?” asked Felix.

  “Don’t you know anything?” said Tom mocking Felix’s lack of knowledge.

  “Yep,” smirked Emile. “It’s handy when the Brethren come. They travel in a similar way but I’ve only ever seen four of them in one place until today.”

  “Why are they chasing down the Book?” queried Felix.

  “I don’t really know,” said Emile. “I’ve only been a Keeper a few years and some of the powers are still a mystery to me.”

  Tom was beaming at being reunited with Felix. He sat patiently waiting for him to ask the obvious question.

  “How can I get home? I have no pictures of today at home and I don’t want to live in the past,” said a worried Felix as he thought of his desperate parents searching for him.

  “If there are no images then you must look in the place marked on the map for an object that is out of place. If you use that object you will return to where you came from. The memory of all that happened will be wiped from all those who witnessed it; and the Guardians and Keepers that died will be gone but not forgotten.” added Emile. “You’ll figure...”

  “We know!” interrupted Tom, “Figure it out as we go.” The three young boys laughed and pushed each other around the table.

  “A bit confusing,” said Felix scratching his head “but I think I get it.”

  Their conversation was cut short by Jack. He wanted to return Emile to his family, who were in hiding at a new safe house further up the river. Emile wished Felix and Tom well and disappeared into the bustling Paris crowds.

  23

  The boys were eager to get home but they had promised Jack that they would wait to see him before returning home. The pair chatted with Trevor about life in the future and some of the changes he would see. They didn’t want to spoil too much for him though. Trevor told him of his ambition to be a schoolmaster on his return to England when the war was over. An hour of idle chit chat went by before Jack came bumbling through the door carrying a French stick of bread, “Emile is safe. Now let’s get you home.”

  Felix opened the Book to the map. Nothing new appeared. His jaw dropped, the second page was missing. The Brethren still had it. It must have fallen out in Hitler’s office.

  “The map! It’s gone!” he shrieked.

  “What map?” asked Tom.

  “Page two is a world map! The Brethren have it,” Felix replied, knowing that the Brethren would continue their quest for the Book. His feeling of being safe evaporated. From now on every explosion could mean that they had come to take him back to their leader. Hitler was their leader now but he could not have always been. His brain was a muddled mess. He had to find out the full story about the Book. It had taken over his life and he knew nothing of it. None of The Keepers in the Book had lasted more than five years except one - The Sheriff. He must know more than anyone else. Felix would go back one day and interrogate him! For now he had to get back to the twenty first century. He did not care where. He figured he could find his way to England from anywhere in the world. He just wanted to go home and away from all of this.

  Terrified about what they would face when they got home, he realised this danger would never disappear as long as the Brethren wanted the Book. He had a new duty and he vowed from this moment that whatever happened he would do as he had been asked, and keep the book safe. On telling Tom, his friend couldn’t help himself, “Who the hell do you think you are? Superman!”

  Felix gave him a withering look. His mind returning to their current plight. He was angry that the map had been lost. It had been back in the Book and he had let it slip from his grasp. It was obvious that if the map and Book were kept apart no great harm would come to the world. As long as he had the Book he would be in danger. It was a price he would have to pay.

  Felix looked at Jack and repeated apologetically “They still have the map."

  “But you have the book and the Guardians,” Jack laughed as he waved his sabre in the air.

  “And me,” added Tom.

  Felix smiled and nodded. He opened the book again. There in the middle of the map was a clock with the future date written on it, and the time showing ten o’clock. He did not have a clue what this meant. After much discussion they decided that it must mean that he had to be at that point at ten o’clock to find the way home. Trevor piped up, “It’s quarter to now.” In a massive panic they grabbed their school uniforms, put them in a rucksack and ran towards the place marked on the map - Notre Dame Cathedral.

  24

  As they reached the Latin Quarter, on the opposite bank of the Seine to the famous old landmark, Trevor checked his watch, “Five minutes to ten,” he reported. They ran across the bridge and into the cathedral. They had two minutes to find whatever did not fit in that time. Notre Dame was huge. Felix and Tom looked at the fantastic stained glass windows and their rainbow of twinkling light that dazzled the eyes of the visitors and worshippers.

  “Split up,” said Jack. “Holler if you see anything”

  “Old or new?” asked Trevor.

  “There’s plenty of old here, won’t stick out much. Look for something that would fit in the future,” Jack shouted as they ran in different directions.

  They set off to different parts of the cathedral. There was an army of statues from medieval times, plenty of tapestries and paintings but nothing that stuck out as being new. A clock out
side started to sound the ten o’clock chimes. They looked hurriedly under pews, in the pulpits, and high up in the vaulted ceiling amongst the huge wooden beams and carvings. The chimes stopped. They were too late.

  “What now?” asked a gloomy Tom. Felix reached into his waist band and pulled out the Book. He opened it up to the map and it still showed the clock and date. He asked, “Where is the exit?”

  ‘Ten o’clock comes twice a day ;-)’

  “What’s with the wink?” Felix giggled.

  ‘Just down with the kids J’

  “We’ll have to come back tonight.” Felix was pleased that they had another chance.

  They had twelve hours to wait. They decided to visit Emile. Emile welcomed them in with open arms. His mother prepared a buffet lunch of food fresh from the market. The smells in the tiny kitchen were amazing: spiced meat, French cheese and fresh bread. It was obvious to them all that Emile’s mother did not have a clue about the Book, the Guardians or the Brethren. It was a relaxing afternoon, which they all needed. They sat in the sun in the back yard and talked of life after the war. Jack looked as his watch and was shocked, as it showed that it was time to go before the Parisian curfew kicked in.

  They made their way back to Trevor’s house. At nine thirty they put on the compulsory boot polish and slinked through the backstreets to the Latin Quarter. They had hit their first obstacle - the German night guards on each bridge. They thought about swimming but the current was too strong.

  “We need a diversion,” said Trevor. “Will you three be able to manage on your own?”

  “We’ll be fine.” Jack shook his friend’s hand.

  Trevor disappeared up the dark, narrow alley behind them. They sat under the bridge wondering what the diversion would be. They did not have to wait too long. The sky was filled with flames as an empty factory ignited in a matter of seconds. The accompanying explosion attracted the attention of every German within a mile. The guards on the bridge rushed past Jack and the boys, obviously thinking they may catch the resistance operating in this area.