Page 68 of The Uprising
‘I’ve been hoping you would come, but I doubted you would gain permission to leave the queen,’ said Edward, as they ambled through the gardens.
‘Fortunately, the queen is sympathetic to our situation and gave me her blessing to travel to locate George.’
‘She knows you’re a time traveller and left Windsor disguised as a boy?’
Cara smiled and shook her head. ‘Can you imagine? No—I explained only that I’m heartsick for George’s safety and wish to see him. I couldn’t stay in Windsor any longer, fearing for his life.’
‘You look exhausted, my lady—you should rest.’
‘I am rather, but I will rest later. First, we must talk.’
‘All right. The last I heard, George was to go ahead of the Duke of Norfolk to help broker a peace deal on behalf of the king,’ said Edward, offering Cara his arm.
‘Yes, but the king has had no news of him and I suspect he’s been captured by the rebels and is being held as some kind of bargaining chip.’
‘Look, Mother,’ called May. ‘This is the den Thomas, and I made the other day when we had fine weather.’
Cara approached and stooped to peer into the den which was constructed from an assortment of sawn-off tree boughs, branches, and foliage. A thick blanket covered the hard ground of the interior. ‘My, it is grand, and very private, indeed.’ Her heart melted at the proud expressions on her children’s faces. She tousled Thomas’ locks and clasped May’s hand and dropped a kiss onto her palm before they both scampered off ahead of them down the windy track with Cornelius scampering alongside.
‘Ten more minutes,’ Cara called after them. ‘I think it will rain soon.’
She turned to face Edward. ‘You look well,’ she said. ‘It’s so good to see you, again. It’s difficult being in Tudorville without you by my side to talk things through.’
Edward assured her he was fully at her disposal. ‘Go on, please continue about George.’
‘Well, I have no more details but there’s something much worse I must tell you.’
Edward’s eyes scanned her face, his expression grave and his large nose bobbing up and down as she explained what she had seen at The National Archives.
‘Oh dear. It sounds as though we have a deadly quantum time loop on our hands, rewriting history, just as I predicted. You did right to get here as soon as possible—we must save George from digging in any deeper.’
‘I’m so scared for him,’ said Cara.
Edward tapped her arm gently with his hand. ‘Don’t worry. Two heads are better than one—you’re not alone anymore and we will figure out what to do.’
‘Thank you, Edward. I can’t tell you how good it is to be back.’
‘We are warriors of time, you and I, and we must do all we can to reverse the situation so that George doesn’t disappear in 1537. Otherwise, who knows what changes you will both encounter when you return to the present day? Anything could happen if we don’t get a grip on reversing the quantum time loop.’
A shadow crossed Cara’s face. ‘I was afraid you might say something like that. I intend to visit Sylvia just as soon as I can, to see whether she is able to locate George. No one has reported seeing him at Pontefract in recent days, and you know the king has eyes everywhere.’
‘I see,’ he said, frowning.
‘Edward,’ she said.
‘Yes?’
‘There’s something else I think may be significant, which I haven’t told you yet.’
‘You’re freezing, my lady. Let us turn around and go inside to warm ourselves and ask Mrs Talbot to bring you something to eat and drink. Once you’ve rested and regained your strength, you can tell me the rest and we will decide what to do.’
Edward whistled to Cornelius and waved to the children. They all came bounding back towards them along the track, and Cara bent down to stroke Cornelius, who daubed a big wet lick across her freezing pink cheeks.
She was home. If only George were with them, it would be the perfect reunion.
City Centre, York - Present day
The morning after they returned from their trip to Richmond, they parked the car in the city and crossed through the cobbled streets, which gleamed like precious gems from the recent downpour.
