(The Histories of Earth series)
Contents
Book One: In the Window Room - Table of contents
Book Two: A Prince of Earth - Table of contents
Book Three: All the Worlds of Men - Table of contents
Book Four: Worlds Unending - Table of contents
Book One: In the Window Room
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One / The Governess
Chapter Two / The Greyford House
Chapter Three / Strange Discoveries
Chapter Four / After Midnight
Chapter Five / Secret Passages
Chapter Six / A Late-night Story
Chapter Seven / The Next Day
Chapter Eight / Into the Window Room
Chapter Nine / A New Journey
Chapter Ten / A Morning in the Glade
Chapter Eleven / Captured
Chapter Twelve / Alone
Chapter Thirteen / Back on Earth
Chapter Fourteen / In the Moonlight
Chapter Fifteen / Would-be Travelers
Chapter Sixteen / How They Came to Gleomu
Chapter Seventeen / To the City
Chapter Eighteen / Of New Plans and Old Men
Chapter Nineteen / Lost
Chapter Twenty / Dark and Light
Chapter Twenty-One / A Foul Game
Chapter Twenty-Two / In the Deep Prison
Chapter Twenty-Three / At the Gates
Chapter Twenty-Four / The Trial
Chapter Twenty-Five / Guilty
Chapter Twenty-Six / After the Trial
Chapter Twenty-Seven / A New Fight
Chapter Twenty-Eight / A Deadly Peril
Epilogue
Copyright and Acknowledgments
Book Two: A Prince of Earth
Dedication
Foreword
Chapter One / The Countryside
Chapter Two / Matilde Wolcott
Chapter Three / The First-Yearer
Chapter Four / Murder
Chapter Five / The Burglar
Chapter Six / Some Dangerous Secret
Chapter Seven / The Hidden Room
Chapter Eight / A Warning
Chapter Nine / A Better Dress
Chapter Ten / Something So Beautiful
Chapter Eleven / The King’s Birthday
Chapter Twelve / A Message
Chapter Thirteen / The Truth
Chapter Fourteen / The Council
Chapter Fifteen / The Regiment
Chapter Sixteen / Important Things
Chapter Seventeen / A Decision
Chapter Eighteen / The Journey Begins
Chapter Nineteen / The Ruins
Chapter Twenty / A Big Problem
Chapter Twenty-One / A New Road
Chapter Twenty-Two / The Mountains
Chapter Twenty-Three / Beasts
Chapter Twenty-Four / A Story
Chapter Twenty-Five / Awaken
Chapter Twenty-Six / The House
Chapter Twenty-Seven / Making Amends
Chapter Twenty-Eight / Downstairs
Chapter Twenty-Nine / Finding Things
Chapter Thirty / The Machine
Chapter Thirty-One / Earth
Chapter Thirty-Two / Threats and Promises
Chapter Thirty-Three / Where They Went
Chapter Thirty-Four / Distant Starlight
Chapter Thirty-Five / The Gardens
Chapter Thirty-Six / Of Kings
Chapter Thirty-Seven / The Palace
Chapter Thirty-Eight / The Challenge
Chapter Thirty-Nine / Springtime
Afterword
Copyright and Acknowledgments
Book Three: All the Worlds of Men
Dedication
Chapter One / The Marketplace
Chapter Two / The Vanishing Boy
Chapter Three / A Necessary Danger
Chapter Four / The Alleyway
Chapter Five / The Professor
Chapter Six / A Deadly Story
Chapter Seven / Alone
Chapter Eight / A Phone Call
Chapter Nine / The Museum
Chapter Ten / Fleeing
Chapter Eleven / A Cottage
Chapter Twelve / Unlikely Visitors
Chapter Thirteen / The Days of Waiting
Chapter Fourteen / Escape Day
Chapter Fifteen / A Darkened Cavern
Chapter Sixteen / A Long Ago Story
Chapter Seventeen / More Danger that Night
Chapter Eighteen / Into the Sea
Chapter Nineteen / A Rescue
Chapter Twenty / The Captain and his Ship
Chapter Twenty-One / A Newer Prison
Chapter Twenty-Two / The Empire City
Chapter Twenty-Three / The Empress and her Story
Chapter Twenty-Four / The Grand Island
Chapter Twenty-Five / Late in the Evening
Chapter Twenty-Six / A Place for Criminals
Chapter Twenty-Seven / Desertion
Chapter Twenty-Eight / In Aden
Chapter Twenty-Nine / Things that are Built
Chapter Thirty / Returning to the Sea
Chapter Thirty-One / A Valley of Black Shadows
Chapter Thirty-Two / A Dangerous Cold
Chapter Thirty-Three / The Belly of a Beast and the War
Chapter Thirty-Four / The Queen’s Ship
Chapter Thirty-Five / Fire the Cannons
Chapter Thirty-Six / Of Guilt and Justice
Chapter Thirty-Seven / Back in Gleomu
Chapter Thirty-Eight / The Clan of Tigers
Chapter Thirty-Nine / The Tower
Conclusion
Copyright and Acknowledgments
Book Four: Worlds Unending
Dedication
Chapter One / Trinkets
Chapter Two / To Istanbul
Chapter Three / A Confession
Chapter Four / A Gift
Chapter Five / Nighttime in Gleomu
Chapter Six / What was Read
Chapter Seven / New Beginnings
Chapter Eight / A Dishonest Mouse
Chapter Nine / In The Cavern
Chapter Ten / Things Forbidden
Chapter Eleven / Strange Things in Ismere
Chapter Twelve / Found & Lost
Chapter Thirteen / Gone
Chapter Fourteen / To the Stars
Chapter Fifteen / Things Discovered
Chapter Sixteen / Things Pursued
Chapter Seventeen / The End of Summer
Chapter Eighteen / Surprises
Chapter Nineteen / Roaring
Chapter Twenty / Snow
Chapter Twenty-One / Danger in the Wings
Chapter Twenty-Two / Strange Guests
Chapter Twenty-Three / A Brief History
Chapter Twenty-Four / A Change in the Wind
Chapter Twenty-Five / Sending a Message
Chapter Twenty-Six / Talk of Stars
Chapter Twenty-Seven / The Desert City
Chapter Twenty-Eight / In Wait
Chapter Twenty-Nine / A Dark Palace
Chapter Thirty / Daylight
Chapter Thirty-One / Of Horses
Chapter Thirty-Two / Different Worlds
Chapter Thirty-Three / Circumstance
Chapter Thirty-Four / Traveling by Night
Chapter Thirty-Five / A City of Roots
Chapter Thirty-Six / Keeping Secrets
Chapter Thirty-Seven / The Truth
Chapter Thirty-Eight / A Year
Chapter Thirty-Nine / An Unlikeable Prison
Chapter Forty / Tomorrow Morning
Chapter Forty-One / An Invincible Army
Chapter Forty-Two / Battles of the Sky
Chapter Forty-Three / One
Chapter Forty-Four / Things that were Lost
Chapter Forty-Five / Morning
Chapter Forty-Six / Ends & Beginnings
Conclusion: After a Decade
Copyright and Acknowledgments
(Book 1 of The Histories of Earth)
For those who seek out true adventure, and wish to find it.
Prologue
There was once a war, the first of its kind, unprecedented in its scope and size. And it was during this war that a middle-aged corporal was killed while leading a charge against the enemies’ defenses.
All that day, and into the night, artillery had fallen on the nearby city of Arras, France. And for this reason, he stood before his men, while they hid in a secluded forest grove: speaking about courage, and about orders that had not come, and would not come in time, and about difficult decisions of conscience. He said that their allies’ tunnels had been surrounded and compromised, and that he would be leading an assault that night in hopes to break the enemy line, and in order to save the lives of many men. And when he had concluded his speech he’d asked for volunteers, and there were only a few soldiers who’d stayed behind.
Yet, their attack that night, across the open field and under heavy fire, while successful, was not without loss. And because of this, the following day an officially sealed letter was sent home to England, to a new widow, and her young daughter; A letter that they had hoped to never receive, one that had brought many tears, and much sadness.
And as will sometimes happen, when faced with such circumstance as this, the young girl spent far too much time locked away in her room, staring out her window, hoping that a newer letter might arrive, to say that there had been a mistake and that everything would be alright. And the widow would spend all her time grieving, and was becoming of no good use as a mother, and would not allow herself to be happy again, although this was not her conscious choice.
So that therefore, the girl’s aunt recommended a well-renowned school in Mayfield, where they were regarded for their discipline, insisting that the girl’s mother should ���think of what was best for the child.���
However, this school could not be what that girl had needed. She was not in need of discipline, nor of a snobby boarding school where she would be away from her mother, and where she would find it difficult to make friends. What she had needed most of all was not a what at all, but a whom, and something that no school on earth could give to her.
(Book 1 of The Histories of Earth)
Chapter One
The Governess
Nothing could be said for Delany Calbefur. She was guilty. Guilty as sin and she knew it, and dreadfully that knowledge did not make her laborious steps to the governor’s office at all enjoyable. That is to say, a presumably guilty person has, at least, their half-believed excuses to help break the tension; being that, after all, blame in its own way can be nearly enjoyable. But a certainly guilty person, as was Miss Delany Calbefur, would most certainly be punished, and no amount of excuse making could deny that.
Her grainy steps made echoes against the walls of the courtyard. And the day, not as cold as it should have been this late in the season, as grown-ups would often say, felt colder on her face because of the light wind, and because of a few pools of tears that began forming in her eyes as she skidded her feet across the cobble stone.
(Here, if I may, I’d like to offer an aside note to the reader: As much as possible, within the pages of this book, I shall try to refrain from adding details or observations that only grown-ups would find interesting. This will not be that sort of book. And further, the adventures to be found within should not be cheapened by speaking of them in the ways that most older people speak of adventures.)
So, as it was, she walked begrudgingly through the courtyard and up a narrow stairway, till she came face to face with fate: the large old wood door of the governor’s office. In truth, Lady Hanessy was a governess, although no living soul at the Mayfield house would dare call her that. In fact, some of the other girls at the house could be perfectly horrid with the names they’d fashioned for Hanessy. The worst offender being a rude girl by the name of Suzy Leeching, who had called her some unrepeatable name just last Thursday. And so, as Delany stood in awe of what she was about to do, firming her shaking hand into a sore fist and lifting it up to the weight of that immense door, and wondering why not one of the girls who had deserved this more than her shouldn’t be here instead, she heard just the voice she had least wished to hear.
���You’re late,��� came a shrill voice through the door, the sharpness of which nearly sent all the queasiness in her stomach shooting through her nose. With a determined sigh she twisted the icy handle, then stepped inside the cramped office.
���Yes, Governor Hanessy, but I was told to pack my things, and-��� she stammered.
���No. None of that. I’ve no time for excuses, and even less for the girls who make them,��� interrupted Lady Hanessy. ���What was this I heard today, about you and that Hardy girl? Your professor says you made quite a scene during recreation.���
���Yes, but…��� said Delany, about to muster up a protest, until her eyes caught the stern-faced glare of the Governess.
���Yes, Governor. I hit her,��� she said, lowering her head.
���So you did, and you will learn that violence will not be tolerated here at Mayfield,��� announced Hanessy, rather forcefully. ���Would you like to offer Hardy your apology?���
Against bitten lip she managed to say, ���Yes, Governor������ But with no response, so she added, ���Will that lessen my punishment?���
���No. It won’t,��� said Hanessy abruptly. ���Your punishment should remain the same, no matter if you two came strolling in, hand in hand.���
���Then am I to be sent home?���
���Certainly not!��� issued the Governess. ���I will not have it out that Mayfield cannot control their pupils. You will learn to behave, and I will see to it. And furthermore, since you cannot be trusted to keep well enough alone… alone is where you will be kept,��� Hanessy said, shuffling the papers on her desk.
And after what seemed a long silence, in which Delany kicked the back of her heels together to subside the rising queasiness she was beginning to feel again, the Governess continued, pursing her wrinkled lips together and looking up from her well papered desk, ���You, Miss Calbefur, will spend the rest of the quarter alone, in the old Greyford house, after which you may return to your dormitory, if I think it beneficial.���
At those words, Delany felt her stomach sink almost to the floor. She knew that the rest of the quarter meant a full month to the day from today, and who could survive a month in the old Greyford house, alone?
Chapter Two
The Greyford House
The next morning, she was led down the dirt pathway, away from the main house, to the front of the old white slatted Victorian home. That is to say, what was once a white house, but was now so chipped and cracked it looked more dusty gray than white.
The fallen leaves in the yard blew up onto her shoes, as she stood gazing through the hazy windows. A look of shock was in Delany’s eyes, and all the strange stories she’d heard whispered about this old place came creeping back into her mind.
���Come on, dear. It’s not as bad as all that,��� said Maid Allen, the woman who had led Delany to the Greyford house that morning. Delany couldn’t speak enough to give protest, and so the maid continued, ���I remember when she
was rather nice. Used to be a holiday home for travelers, till Mr. Greyford died and it’d fallen into disrepair.���
���Was he… in the house when he died?��� Delany asked, horrified.
���Deary, no, no,��� she chuckled. ���He died in a hospital, and won’t be coming back here, I assure you.���
The simple fact that most all places can be associated with some dead person or another did not seem to console her, but to Delany’s credit the front door creaked in just the right way as to make any place seem eerie.
The house was large and empty, the sort of place with covered furniture, and rooms leading to other unexpected rooms. (Which may be exciting given the right company, but for Delany, alone in this strange house, it was looming and unsettling.)
Clap. Clap.
Up the stairs, Maid Allen led her. The maid’s hard soled shoes thudding atop each step. She led her through an angled hallway, and up one more large step to the brightest room she had seen yet, with wide windows.
���This’ll be your room,��� the old woman said. ���I set out a fresh set of sheets for you when I heard the news last ev’n.��� And leaning in she said, ���I also heard what that bitter girl said about your father, too. And although I’d be wrong for it, you can be sure I’d have swung at her as well.��� And there was a twinkle in the old woman’s eye, that Delany took for solidarity. Then she continued, ���After all, it’s not as if he’d started that war, himself… and I don’t think he should be blamed for fighting in it, either.���
���Thank you,��� Delany said, breathing a sigh of relief, and feeling the first bit of comfort she’d felt in weeks. She set her bag down on the linen bed sheets and began to fumble with the clasp.
And calling behind her as she left, the maid exclaimed, ���If you hear any noises at night, it’s just these old pipes.���
Chapter Three
Strange Discoveries
The next few days were surprisingly refreshing. To the rest of the girls at the main house, Delany appeared to be a conquering heroine with brave stories of illusive noises and intriguing discoveries. Even Mattie Hardy had come around to offer her own apologies for what she’d said to Delany just a few days prior, and less regretfully than one may have expected, Delany accepted them.
The Histories of Earth, Books 1-4: In the Window Room, A Prince of Earth, All the Worlds of Men, and Worlds Unending Page 1