Travels Through An Imaginary Landscape

It was just over an hour since he had watched the Zeppelin descend in a roar of flames and Valentine was sitting, deep in thought, in his favourite armchair. By every calculation the day had been an absolute success; Sturridge had been put out of the game with real ingenuity and, he dared to think, a little style and, as an added bonus, his two followers had all but dispatched themselves. The Explorer’s Club could now go about its business free from unwarranted interference. Continue reading →

“We’re lost now, aren’t we?” I said with a sigh.

Ever since we’d exited the square with the inanimate soldiers the buildings seemed to have crowded ever closer together and the paths had narrowed until the apartment block that had been our guide star had been somehow lost from view. Our pace had gradually slowed with each uncertain turn and now we had finally come to a complete halt between a row of overhanging Tudor houses and a crumbling medieval Abbey. Continue reading →

I stood with my back pressed up against the wall of the palazzo for a full five minutes before my heart rate returned to something like normal. All the way across the narrow strip of open ground that lay between the trees and the fence I had been tensed for the sound of a shout or even a shot to signify some opposition to our attempted intrusion. But there was nothing, just a gentle breeze rippling through the leaves and the urgent pounding of my overwrought heart. Michael and I made our way through the gap in the fence and into the shadow of the palazzo without incident. Continue reading →

They came upon the barracks of the Explorers Club in a clearing in the midst of a dense forest. The site covered a few acres and was encircled by a slender, razor sharp wire fence which glinted dangerously in the sunshine. That these were no ordinary barracks was immediately apparent from a quick survey of the buildings within the wire. Continue reading →

“Sturridge?” said the old woman. “No dear, I’m afraid he’s gone.”

“Long gone,” added the old man wistfully.

“Bugger,” I muttered. Continue reading →