The Princelings of the East

by Jemima Pett

  Chapter 14: Return to the Inn

  In which Fred and George have to make a decision and Hugo reveals his true self

  The carriage was rolling through open countryside having left the plains below Castle Vexstein. George, Fred and Baden were the advance party to warn the inn of their coming. They would send the carriage back for the Prince and Lady Nimrod and their attendants. Prince Lupin and Lord Smallweed were discussing the detailed plans with the Vex Breweries team on how they would develop the export arrangements, provided Lupin succeeded in getting Hugo to agree to their plan. They had agreed that tackling this tricky subject would need an excursion through the time tunnel, so the Inn was to become the centre of operations.

  The conversation in the carriage moved on from the events of the day, and Baden asked George more about his trip to Hattan. He described the city and his trip to the diner (leaving out the incident on the way home), and the wondrous machines and methods for getting up and down the towers, but he steered clear of the subject of Wozna production, and in particular of the strawberry juice question. His main concern now was the ‘when’ of their trip to Hattan.

  “You see, Baden,” he said, “as far as I can work out, if I go back, I will arrive very soon after I left. Lord Mariusz (or Hugo) will be trying to arrest me and throw me in the dungeon. If you guys come through at exactly the same time as me it will probably help to stop that happening, but Mariusz will still be angry, possibly more so because he missed me!” Baden agreed with him and George continued. “So it would probably be best if I didn’t go back.”

  “When will we arrive if you don’t come with us? Still just after you left?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure,” said George. “I think it works differently if you start from this side than if you start from Hattan,” and he outlined his theories of the time tunnel.

  Fred thought on this for a while as the carriage dropped down between steep sandy banks to enter the tunnel on the last stretch of the journey to the inn.

  “I think you are close, but not in the gold,” he said, referring to a target practice game they played in which the highest score was right in the middle, in the gold circle. “I think it hinges on Hugo’s behaviour on the night we stayed at the inn. Instead of your theory, I think he had to run back, knowing you were on your way, to use your skills to fix the machine. He arrived before you because he had gone back to just after whenever he left in the first place. Then you arrived, but he had to come back here at a certain time in order to be back for breakfast, which is why Prince Lupin saw him emerging from the tunnel. So that’s why he was so anxious to leave at midnight, to get back to the inn in time to go to Buckmore. No wonder he’d forgotten about me!” he chuckled, thinking of the amount of time Hugo had been on the go, and the enormous strain it must have placed him under.

  “So if we go and visit,” he continued, “I think we may arrive the same amount of time after Hugo (or you) left Castle Hattan as has gone by since you arrived back here. So two or is it three days will have gone by.”

  Baden had been following this and trying to count things on the fingers of either hand. He gave up. “I think you have a good point there, Fred, and you guys are cleverer than me anyway. We could use you at Castle Buckmore. Will you come and stay after this is sorted out?”

  Fred and George looked at each other. Neither had given any thought to what would happen after their adventure. As most people do, if they had thought of it at all, they had assumed they would go back home and things would carry on as before.

  Baden continued. “I see you haven’t thought that far ahead. Well, I think it would be fun, and I’ll talk to Prince Lupin about it if you like. In any case, come and visit for a few days, weeks if you like. You deserve a holiday after all this dashing about.”

  The carriage pulled into the market square and Baden saw to the horses and the returning of the carriage to Vexstein whilst George and Fred went into the inn.

  “Is Victor about?” they asked the worried looking person behind the bar.

  “Um, no, not yet, but he’s expected back, fingers crossed, begging your pardon.” He sounded worried as well.

  “But he got back from Castle Vexstein all right, didn’t he?” asked George.

  “Oh yes,” said the barkeeper. “That was yesterday. But he went off on a mission late last night.” He looked at them closely. “You are Fred and George from Castle Marsh, aren’t you?” he asked and they nodded. “Well, I can give you this, then.”

  He opened the till and pulled out a message in Victor’s handwriting as Baden came up and joined them. He ordered a couple of Vexes and a plate of crudités for them, then stayed behind to talk to the barkeeper as the Princelings took their drinks and food plus the note to a quiet table overlooking the square.

  “Dear Prince Lupin, or whoever reads this note,” they read. “I have decided to set off to the time tunnel to rescue my father, who was last seen going in that direction with Hugo. I think I will arrive on the second evening after George left Hattan. I am taking my velocipede down to the tunnel to get there and back as quickly as possible. If all goes well I should be back before the evening rush. If not, I’m sure Gandy will look after things until I return. With most humble respects, Victor Barton” and scribbled at the bottom there was a P.S. “I think Hugo and Mariusz are the same person.”

  They looked at each other, and then handed the note to Baden as he sat down after arranging with Gandy for Prince Lupin and Lady Nimrod’s comfort for the night, plus their own.

  Baden whistled as he finished it. “Wow, he’s got courage that lad. How does the time fit with your theory?”

  “I agree with him entirely,” said Fred, who had been working it out in his head. “But it suggests that if we went down the tunnel after him at say, 11 tonight, even using the carriage we would be at least a day behind him.”

  “Well, Prince Lupin and Lady Nimrod should be here around 6 this evening,” said Baden. “It’s possible that Victor might arrive back around then if he got his timing right and his mission went well. Let’s hope it did.”

  They settled back and enjoyed their snack, having left before lunch was served at Vexstein. They talked once more about the possibility of persuading Hugo to what they now referred to as the Vexstein trade plan, and couldn’t see what he would have against it, unless time travel had become something he valued in itself. George described the souvenirs in his apartment.

  “Well, we can always find him some gifts to add to the collection,” Baden had added. “And he can travel on the vessel if he chooses.”

  “Not quite as quick or convenient.” said George.

  “But having all that time here and then going back to a moment later at Hattan must be terribly tiring, and wearing on the body too,” suggested Fred.

  They also talked about life at Buckmore, how Baden passed his time, and what they would do if they went to Buckmore for an extended period. It sounded interesting, and they would be more in the way of things going on, meet more travellers and so on, than they ever would at the Castle in the Marsh.

  “I think we might find it a little boring just looking at the reeds after all this,” said Fred, wistfully.

  “And I can’t see Uncle Vlad accepting we’d had any part in solving the Energy Drain, so we’d be back to skulking and hiding,” added George. “Maybe we could come, at least for a short while, and then go travelling if we outstayed our welcome.”

  “Doesn’t Castle Marsh get any news from the rest of the world?” Baden asked. “Surely it’ll be in the papers that you were instrumental in solving the problem, once Prince Lupin and the Barons tell everyone.”

  George and Fred exchanged glances once more.

  “What are papers?” Fred asked.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent in acquiring a copy of the various newspapers stocked in the market, and poring over them, comparing styles and approaches, regional versus national coverage, and content
generally. A couple had pages devoted to science and technology. These were new words to Fred and George but they found they fitted perfectly with their understanding of natural philosophy and engineering, so they went back to see if there were any other editions of those papers they could read.

  Baden had gone to check the facilities for the Buckmore arrival, as Gandy was becoming overwhelmed with anxiety at the responsibility of not only being solely responsible for the inn but also having important guests, when Fred and George saw Victor suddenly come out of the tunnel on the most amazing two-wheeled contraption. George didn’t know which he wanted to do first, find out how Victor had fared in Hattan, or examine the machine. He decided the machine could wait, and they followed Victor around until he had spoken to Gandy (to the latter’s huge relief), checked the rooms for Prince Lupin and Lady Nimrod (and pronounced them perfect, to Gandy’s even huger relief) and checked the tally of rooms left for the night, crossing another of the high status ones off the list.

  “Who’s that for?” said Fred.

  “You’ll see soon enough,” replied Victor with a hint of smugness in his tone.

  Just then the clock in the square struck six, a carriage arrived at the Inn from the Corey-Vexstein Line and a staging coach arrived from the Fortune-Dimerie Line, so that there was total chaos in the square. Victor and Gandy were so busy with the general travellers that Baden settled Prince Lupin and Lady Nimrod in their very nicely appointed rooms and came down to tell Fred and George that they should go up in five minutes.

  “We need to hear what Victor has been up to as soon as possible, if not sooner,” Lupin said, looking up from Victor’s note. Fred had handed it to him after he had briefed them all on the plans he had mapped out with Vex Breweries that afternoon. Baden nipped out to fetch Victor, and while they waited, Prince Lupin asked the princelings what they would do after their adventure.

  “We hadn’t really thought about it until Baden asked in the carriage,” Fred replied carefully. “We really enjoy our work, philosophising and engineering, but we discovered there are other people who do this and exchange ideas in the papers, only they call it science and technology.”

  Lupin smiled. “Yes, you do seem to have been rather cut off from things in Castle Marsh. You could help to bring them into the 21st century. But maybe you need to explore a little first.”

  “We have been wondering,” said Lady Nimrod, “whether the old laboratories in our castle could be refurbished to give you scope for new and exciting discoveries. You would have a home in our castle, and enjoy the same sort of status as Baden does. He is also a refugee from an antiquated system.”

  Fred didn’t need to look at George to know his reaction to the words ‘laboratories could be refurbished.’ A place he could really work on his ideas was something George dreamed of. And Fred thought that philosophising from the ramparts of Castle Buckmore would be spectacular!

  “You don’t need to make a decision now,” said Lupin. “In fact we need to see how this turns out. If Hugo, or Mariusz rather, won’t play ball, we have a severe problem.”

  Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Victor put his head round. “Begging your pardon, Prince Lupin, but do you mind if we wait just a little longer for me to tell you what happened at Castle Hattan?”

  “No, not at all,” said Lupin, although you could see he was itching to find out. “Just send up a bottle or two of the Dimerie 1999, would you, please?” and Victor withdrew. Shortly afterwards Gandy brought up a tray with three bottles of the wine Lupin had asked for, plus eight glasses.

  “Now what is Victor up to?” Lupin asked, counting the glasses. “He knows there are only five of us.”

  Baden had just finished passing round four glasses of wine, and had poured his own, when a knock came again at the door.

  “Come in!” called Lupin.

  Victor held the door open as Hugo, or Mariusz, walked in, and Victor said “May I present Lord Mariusz of Castle Hattan, Prince Lupin?”

  Everyone stood up as Mariusz walked in and bowed to Prince Lupin. Victor followed him in grinning at the effect his little surprise had had.

  “Urr, well, hi,” said Mariusz somewhat bashfully, “I guess it’s about time I came clean with you guys, and let you know of the plan that Victor has made with me.”

  Lupin waved him to a seat on his right, and they all sat down. Victor poured two more glasses of wine, and handed one to Mariusz.

  “We have been thinking about how to keep your Wozna export line to the East open,” Lupin began.

  “So have I,” Mariusz interjected, “and I need your help to persuade the Vex guys to play a part in it.”

  As Lupin looked at Mariusz, astounded, and Mariusz returned his gaze, somewhat hopefully, Lady Nimrod put the vital question: “If we can arrange a mutual export-import route between you and Vex for 2021, could you stop production of Diet Wozna right now?”

  The answer, it seemed was yes, and although there were many more details to be gone into, assurances, drafting of contracts dated for the future, the main effect was to have everyone raising their glasses and talking happily about the agreement between Castle Hattan and Vex Breweries. The agreement was supported by both Vexstein and Buckmore (who seemed to have a business interest in Vexstein as well as a general desire to do good).

  One glass stood empty on the table.

  “Who is that last glass for, Victor,” asked Nimrod.

  “Um, my Dad, Argon, if you don’t mind him joining us later, my lady,” said Victor, coyly, and they all congratulated him on a successful mission. They broke into little groups for more chatting, with Victor joining Baden and the princelings. Victor outlined how he’d met both Argon and Saku, and they talked about families for a bit. Then Victor produced a piece of paper, which he handed to George.

  “Saku asked me to give you this. He said he’d been looking in the records.”

  George unfolded a scrap of paper. It was a newspaper cutting, dated January 23rd 2011.

  “Breakthrough in power production” ran the headline, and underneath a picture of George shaking hands with Prince Lupin: “Buckmore technologist George Marsh unveils revolutionary new power plant running on strawberry juice.”

  He folded it carefully and put it away, even though Fred looked hurt that he hadn’t passed it round. He’d show him privately later. The great benefit of time travel, he thought, feeling immensely relaxed and at peace with the world, was that some decisions were much easier when you knew that, sometime in the future, you had already made them.

  Chapter 15: Epilogue

  In which Mariusz receives some visitors

  Mariusz sipped some Wozna Cola in the sweltering heat of a July in Hattan. He discovered he actually preferred it to Diet, which they had discontinued some eight weeks earlier. They hadn’t made any big fuss about it in the press, and no one had really noticed it in the city. Saku was working on a new recipe that he said never put the calories in, so there would be none to take out.

  The time tunnel had disappeared. Well, the gateway was still there, but the ring of little lights had gone. Someone had found it was a good place to store drinks for the courtyard when there was a reception or some other function, as it was generally nice and cool in there.

  He stood up and moved to a window where he gazed onto the scurrying masses of Hattan Island far below. The glare from the rivers made him glad of the filmy gauze material he’d imported from that Indian Rajah who liked Wozna so much he’d negotiated his first franchise deal with him.

  His young nephew, Raisin, interrupted his thoughts.

  “There’s some people to see you, Uncle Mariusz. On business, they said.”

  “Show them in then, Raisin.” Mariusz settled himself on his sofa and nodded to an assistant who went off to prepare refreshments for all.

  Raisin returned, followed by two people.

  “Uncle Mariusz, may I present Baron Pogo of Vexstein, and Victor Barton, the Expo
rt Manager of Vex Breweries?”

  Mariusz smiled as he welcomed the visitors.

  “Urr, well, hi,” he said. “I’ve been kinda expecting you.”

  THE END

  Look for the next part of the Princelings trilogy:

  The Princelings and the Pirates

  The final part of the Princelings trilogy is:

  The Princelings and the Lost City

  The Traveler in Black and White

  The Talent Seekers

  Bravo Victor

  And coming soon

  Willoughby the Narrator (working title)

  Read more about and by Jemima Pett and get background to the Princelings’ world on her blog https://jemimapett.com

  Follow on Twitter @jemima_pett

  The Princelings official website is at https://princelings.co.uk

  Follow the Princelings stories on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Princelings

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