The History Club

Tom had tried to pack as much into his normal rucksack as possible to avoid any suspicion arising from his mother. He was wearing a thick jumper and hiking boots which his mother had questioned given the warm weather in Cardiff that day, but he just shrugged off the questions and gave his usual lines of being nearly a teenager and able to make his own decisions. He was grateful that his Mum chose not to fight that battle that morning. He pulled her into a tighter hug than normal before quickly getting out of the car so that she wouldn’t notice the prickle of tears that were threatening to fall. As she drove away shouting “see you at 4!” through the open window, he really hoped that would be true. He looked over to see Mali tightly hugging an older lady who seemed to be a bit surprised by the show of affection. He caught Mali’s eye and they shared a look of mutual understanding as they walked in through the doors together.  Inside was a hive of activity. Bert was already sitting wit...

Effendi and his feline companion had exited the train in Luxor feeling relieved to be out of the stuffy train cabin, but frustrated by the lack of simple travel options for the rest of the journey. They had crossed the Nile in a sail boat and then found themselves sitting on the back of smelly and fly covered donkey. Despite trying to convey to the donkey the need for utmost speed, they continued along the desert path at an amble. The Chaten sat uneasily on the saddle in front of Effendi, desperately trying to maintain it’’s regal posture, but failing frequently when the rolling motion of the donkey over rocks sent it slipping and scrambling about with a distinct lack of grace. After a few uncomfortable hours they reached a house made out of local mud and stone. The house was a hive of activity and excitement. Numerous men and women wearing clothes that really didn’t suit the desert lifestyle were milling about. As soon as he had climbed off the infernal donkey Effendi was greeted by ...

After a fantastic lunch of tacos created by Sam, the group set about their various tasks. Bert and Sal retreated through to the control hub and started looking at the coordinates. There seemed to be lots of scribbling on graph paper, scratching of heads and zooming in and out the time computer’s projections that Tom had encountered earlier. The projections didn’t seem to be having the same effect on Bert, but Tom stayed away, keen not to risk losing his lunch.  Mali had teamed up with Mo to work on her distraction plan. They were deep in conversation at the back of the room on the sofas, and there seemed to be quite a lot of laughter. Tom overheard words like fireworks and camels, itching powder and killer scorpions which made him feel a little anxious.  Delyth and Cai seemed to have paired up too. They had decided to look at all the artefacts that had been documented to have been in the tomb of tutenkhamun. Cai had pointed out at lunch time that in order to spot the time disr...

Tom’s Mum was surprised with the level of enthusiasm shown that morning, with Tom being up and ready to leave at 830, holding out her car keys and muttering “come ON Mum”. When they arrived at history club he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then jumped out the car shouting “see you at 4!” and rushed through the door. Tom’s Mum drove away, wondering what had led to this new level of enthusiasm before concluding that maybe there was a new crush in play. Sal and Sam were in their camp leader disguises, but quickly discarded their itchy wigs once everyone had arrived and they were sure of no other unexpected visitors through the door. The team sat around the main table, and waited for Sal to activate the projections.  Sal started the discussions. “I think we all agree that this Effendi person, along with the Chaten, are the ones who will have planted the time disruption device, and must have done it before the grand opening of the tomb. I carried on reading Carter’s diary after ...

As everyone was staring wide eyed at the photograph Sal and Sam suddenly stood up and started rapidly looking for their discarded wigs and hats. A few seconds later the rest of the group realised why when they heard the sounds of a car driving up outside.  “It must be 4’o clock” exclaimed Sal with some panic. He reached over to press the buttons on the side of the table that controlled the projection device. He then grabbed some books from the shelves at the back of the room, some paper and some colouring pencils and threw them on the table. “Quick - look like we’ve been doing normal history stuff!” Just as Sam had managed to get his wig on straight with the help of Mali, there was a knock on the door followed by a “hellooee!” as Tom’s Mum opened the door popped her head through the gap. “Here to collect Tom please!” she said to Sal who was doing their best impression of a normal human being.  “Of course, of course” Sal said, patting Tom on the back as he led him towards the d...

Bert brought up the projection of an aged document with dates and handwritten entries. The paper was a4 sized and neatly annotated in a curly script. The edges were hole-punched, with little reinforced rings of paper around the holes as if the papers had been carefully stored in an old fashioned ring folder. The title page said “Notes, Diary, and articles pertaining to;The Thebean royal acropolis and the tomb of Tutenkhamen.” The writing was clear but unfamiliar so it took some squinting and head scratching to read it. The entries were neatly dated on the left hand side. There were pages and pages of writing.  Cai seemed to be the best at reading the handwritten notes so he started to give a summary to the others gathered around him.  “This section of the diary seems to start in October 1922. He’s writing about returning from Luxor on a small sail boat, and starting work in the valley of the kings. He’s written that they were continuing previous excavations that had been star...

Stomachs full, the assembled children sat back into comfortable thought, realising that the next task lay ahead of them, and not really sure where to start.  Cai spoke up first. “So, what do we know about the people who have hidden these time disruption devices? Do we know what we are even looking for?” Sal and Sam looked at each other. Sal sighed and then started to speak.  “I’m sorry to say that some of the group come from our planet. That’s how they have access to the technology to move through time and space. They don’t like the work of the Time protection Force for some reason and seem to go out of their way to work against us. They have teamed up with another species called the Chatens. They are just a sneaky bunch who take pleasure in stealing objects of historical interest from wherever they can find them. The more iconic the better.” Cai was nodding and processing this information. “So, some of them will look like you? Quite human?” Sal and Sam nodded in agreement....

“Before we start working that out, lets have some lunch!” Said Sam, starting to open and shut cupboards. “I’ve come across this AMAZING human delicacy called PEETZA - have you come across it?” Everyone smiled and nodded politely, sitting back and watching while Sam made some dough and quickly shaped pizza bases and topped them with a range of delicious options.  Everyone sat back in their seats. Tom was a bit embarrassed, but needed the toilet, so asked Sal where the bathroom was. Was there even a bathroom? Did Alien’s need to wee? Sal pointed to a door in the corner of the room. Tom as relieved to see a bathroom that had a bit more shiny metal than usual, and a few extra buttons he was too nervous to press,but seemed otherwise to function in the same way as any bathroom he was used to. As he came back from the bathroom he noticed the entrance to another area of the cabin that wasn’t visible from the main room. Tom couldn’t stop his curiosity and snuck his head around the corner. A...

Sal and Sam had cleared the tables of food and empty mugs and had pressed a button on the side of the table. A light source opened up in the centre of the table that lit up the space above the table turning it into a cool 3d projector of some kind. Maps and numbers and pages of writing all floated in mid air. Sal leant forward and sort of “grabbed” at a projection of a map, which they then dragged to the central viewing point and expanded so it was clearly visible. ”Cool” said Mo, nodding his head in appreciation, then seemed to remember that he was trying to play it cool, and leant back in his chair again, focus returning to the ceiling.  “How come we can understand all of this” said Tom. “For that matter, how come we can understand you? I can’t image you speak English in Karoopa?” Sam spoke up, keen to explain.”Those of us in the TPF are provided with linguistic chips that allow us to integrate to new languages quickly. Once we arrive on a new planet we spend some time gathering...

Chapter 4 When Sam said they would get some snacks that was no joke. At the back of the room they were in was a wall full of cupboards, and essential kitchen equipment.  In what could only have been a few minutes of targeted opening and shutting of cup doors, some quick dicing and slicing, and some magical minutes with an oven, Sam had produced a selection of warmed pastries, fruit arranged artistically on a platter, and cups of steaming hot chocolate with all the trimmings. The tables had been placed together by Sal to create one big long surface, and everyone brought their chairs to sit together.  Despite everyone still being in shock, the look and smells of the food distracted them from the turn of events of the last few minutes. Everyone’s brains seem to welcome the ability to focus on the familiar and comforting. For a few minutes there was a little to hear except some satisfied grumblings and munching sounds as they all helped themselves to the treats before them.  ...

Chapter 3 Sal and Sam had moved away from the children who were being given a detailed run down of topics of interest that could be covered through the following five days. They were grateful of the distraction while also confused by Delyth’s apparent ability to chat extensively with minimal intake of breath.  “I said this was a terrible idea Sal!”.  “What choice did we have? Anyway, you’re the chef, I’ve got rank here and I’m making the decisions!” said Sal, speaking through clenched teeth and trying to maintain the air of being calm and in control. It wasn’t working. “How are we going to tell them what this is really about without completely freaking them out? There’s no way that they’re going to quietly go along with this? What if they try to leave the pod mid jump, what if one of them runs away and we lose them, what if they work out who we are and report us to authorities….”  “Calm. Down.” urged Sal, with clenched teeth now joined by wide eyes and an increasingly red...

The cat mewled grumpily and pawed at it’s companion.  “i know, I know, I’m hot too”. Water was poured from a glass carafe into a bowl for the cat, who lapped it up gratefully.  The steam train journey had been long and arduous. At least being in a private cabin gave the luxury of space and privacy. The views of the pyramids had been left far behind, and occasional glimpses of the majestic Nile were visible as the train moved south. The rhythmic huff-puff of the engine was like a steady heart beat.  Telek looked down at the scrolls on the table. The ink was only just dry, but Telek was fairly happy with what had been created. Treating the papyrus with a wash of tea had created the aged effect that was needed and the symbols that had been copied from an portable plasma screen would ensure it looked in keeping with other items in it’s future home. A small glowing cylinder was taken from it’s hiding place, and wrapped up tightly in the papyrus. Some red twine was wrapped arou...

Chapter 1.  “History club? Seriously Mum!!” Tom was not happy. School holidays were always a mix of time with family and time spent in holiday clubs. Tom didn’t love holiday clubs, but usually he went to CampFun where at least there was a good mix of sports and activities, and usually there would be a few people there that he knew from school.  This summer however was different. He was going to “History club”.  “I’m sorry Tom. You know I was stuck for options. This was the only thing that had a space for you, and that was close enough to work to allow me to drop you off. It was the best I could do! It’s only for a week, so it’s not going to kill you”.  Tom wasn’t so sure.  He knew deep down that his Mum was doing her best, but that didn’t stop him from feeling grumpy with her at the moment. The plan had been for Tom to spend time at home this week, while his Dad did online work meetings upstairs, but last minute Dad had to travel to Canada, and Mum had to make o...

What started off as a challenge from my son has started to occupy more time and headspace than I had initially anticipated!  I had always fancied writing a book and 4 years ago woke from a dream and opened up a note page on my phone to write the following: That vague and confused idea sat and wiggled itself around my brain for a while until earlier this year. T had started a club that involved 90 minutes of me waiting in a side room with not much to do. Having spent a few weeks getting bored with Duolingo he suggested that I started writing the book that I'd been wittering on about.  Challenge accepted and here we are, 11 chapters in.  So far chapters have been read by my son and some enthusiastic friends and family who are all too polite to say I'm wasting my time. Sharing chapters on watsapp is proving annoying and not always user friendly so my husband suggested sharing in a more readable format online. I've not really got much intention of this...