THE SHIELD
The Finder Series, Book One
by C.J. Bentley
Clink Street Publishing
Middle Grade Time Travel
101 pages
People lose their belongings. That is a fact of life. It can happen by accident, but sometimes it can happen when you put them in a very safe place and forget where that safe place is. Not many people are good at finding them again.
A young, gutsy girl with a kind heart, who's searching for her own identity growing up in the 1960s, just happens to be very good at finding things. Can she be the one to help return whatever is lost - anywhere and at any time - to its original owner?
With the help of a beautiful yet mysterious wise woman and a chivalrous knight she does just that. She finds and returns his shield, lost in battle, which unbeknown to her holds a secret that is important to his King, the safety of the Kingdom and the life of the daughter of his best friend.
The Shield is the first story in The Finder Series, taking our heroine on extraordinary journeys back in time. Her first adventure takes place in Medieval England in 1340 where she meets King Edward III, his wife Philippa and their son, who will later become the Black Prince.
A young, gutsy girl with a kind heart, who's searching for her own identity growing up in the 1960s, just happens to be very good at finding things. Can she be the one to help return whatever is lost - anywhere and at any time - to its original owner?
With the help of a beautiful yet mysterious wise woman and a chivalrous knight she does just that. She finds and returns his shield, lost in battle, which unbeknown to her holds a secret that is important to his King, the safety of the Kingdom and the life of the daughter of his best friend.
The Shield is the first story in The Finder Series, taking our heroine on extraordinary journeys back in time. Her first adventure takes place in Medieval England in 1340 where she meets King Edward III, his wife Philippa and their son, who will later become the Black Prince.
SNEAK PEEK
When
writing ‘The Shield’, a story about a young girl who with her friends finds a
shield in one time and returns it to the owner in his, it was necessary to set
the scene for the loss of Sir Kay’s shield, the prologue introduces us to the
knight we come to know as Sir Kay and the setting for the loss of his shield.
He
wondered if he was injured but that meant moving and he really didn’t want to
move yet, maybe he could just lie here looking at the sky, but then he
remembered. He had to move, had to complete his journey and his mission, his
King and the future of his country depended upon the message he carried in his
shield’s secret hiding place.
Where was
his shield? Sword? Horse?
He
cautiously moved his head to one side mentally noting his helmet was
missing.
He heard,
as his senses recovered and then saw a stream, swollen with recent rains, as he
moved his head to the other side it appeared to be all around him, it gurgled
its way in its hurry to reach the river and then onwards to the sea.
He moved
one leg gently over the edge of the bank and into the water, as the water hit
his foot the cold made him catch his breath but it had the desired effect of
making him more alert. He didn’t seem to be injured, if he could only get his
other leg over the bank he could launch himself upright, not an easy thing to
do dressed in chain mail armour but he needed the momentum, so it had to be
done. As he rolled onto his side to let
his other leg fall into the stream he felt a sharp, stabbing pain. He was injured. He needed to move, to get to safety the
villains may still be around.
He knew
who could help him but he had to find his horse to get to
her, she was good with herbs and potions, better than any and she knew all
about his mission so would heal him quickly to get him on his way to the King,
oh, how he needed his horse, where was he?
Ignoring
the pain as best he could, he rolled over and bent both his legs over the bank
and using all of his remaining strength pushed himself into an upright
position. He was not on an island as
first thought but facing the bank of an inlet of land pushing out into the
water, a grassy bank covered with wild flowers and young trees with a scrubby
planting of young hedge to one side.
On a
better day he would have chosen such a place to sleep in the dappled sunshine,
it had a magic about it but now he needed to move and to find his horse quickly
to get himself out of danger.
Following
the prologue we are introduced to the main character, a girl, she is living in
the nineteen sixties aged ten years and four months and it is the start of the
school summer holidays. She is a girl
who has a big heart and is loyal to her friends, she is searching for her own
identity and changes her name on a regular basis something her parents show
their love for her by treating it as just something she does. Her older sister however just thinks it’s
weird. They decide to take a picnic and
go fishing for small fish in the local stream and eventually find a shield in
the silt at the bottom of the stream.
After discussions they decide to take it back to their street and as
they are carrying it towards their street they see a strange sight…..
And here she is. . .
Originally heralding from the North of
England, C.J Bentley has travelled extensively and enjoyed living in a variety
of countries across the world from Dubai to Doha, Qatar and now the countryside
in the South of France. A background in teaching and childcare she has always
enjoyed creating adventure short stories. However, it was when she became a
grandma and with her grandchildren growing up
that she discovered that books seemed to contain only stories of
vampires, zombies and farts that she decided seriously to take matters into her
own hands and put pen to paper which today she calls The Finder Series.
Website - https://www.cjbentleyonline.co.uk/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CJBentleyAuthor/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/CJBentleyAuthor
No comments:
Post a Comment