The Sorcerer's Letterbox by Simon Rose

Author:Simon Rose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Creative Book Publishing
Published: 2015-10-16T22:44:15+00:00

Putting the Pieces Together

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After lunch, the conversation turned to the kings and queens of England.

“When I was about your age,” said Jack’s Gran, “I remember my grandmother telling me about her grandmother. And that would have been over 100 years ago. Well, when my great-great-grandmother was a little girl, her father told her the most wonderful stories of knights and castles. He even told her how he was once a king, forced into exile.”

“Another tall story, Jack,” said his father with a wink.

“The tales he told were so vivid,” she went on, “it was like he’d been there himself.”

“Fairy-tales,” mumbled Jack’s father, taking a bite of his sandwich.

“You said yourself you couldn’t figure out where he came from,” said Jack’s grandmother haughtily, “and you researched the family tree.”

“What family tree?” asked Jack.

“Our family tree,” said his grandmother as she sipped her tea. “He got back to the beginning of the nineteenth century, then just drew a blank.”

“What do you mean?” Jack said, not quite following.

“One of your ancestors may have been a king,” she replied solemnly.

Jack’s father rolled his eyes. He’d heard all that before.

“Of course he was a King,” he said, with a trace of sarcasm. “King—that was the family name back then, wasn’t it?”

“You know what I mean,” Jack’s grandmother insisted. “You said yourself that he simply appeared out of nowhere.”

“I didn’t say that,” protested Jack’s father. “All I said was that there was no record of his birth. That doesn’t mean anything. Records were scarce before 1800. I need to do more research, that’s all. I’ve just been so busy at the shop.”

“The shop!” Jack’s grandmother sniggered. “You and your antiques. That’s all the past means to you, a chance to make money!”

“Just a minute, Mum.”

Jack’s father turned to Jack and said, “Why don’t you go to the Jewel House and see the Crown Jewels, Jack. I want to talk to Gran for a bit, and I have a meeting at three o’clock. I’ll meet you at the gift shop at four thirty.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “Great seeing you, Gran.”

“Nice seeing you too, Jack.”

Jack picked up a guide and visited the Jewel House. Then he explored the grounds of the Tower. Finally, he went to the gift shop to meet his father.

Once there, Jack browsed the book shelves and scanned all the titles until he came across a book called An Illustrated History of the Tower of London. It was filled with photographs and illustrations depicting the story of the Tower from its origins in Roman times. There was even a map of the Tower from the Middle Ages. Over the centuries, the Tower had been a castle, a royal palace and a prison. It had even housed a zoo called The Royal Menagerie in the Lion Tower. Lions, tigers, leopards, eagles and even an elephant had once been kept there. The zookeeper had been called The Keeper of the Lions. The Lion Tower had long since been torn down, and the Tower restaurant was built on the spot where it had once stood.

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