Guardians of Time (25 page)

Once past the initial barricades, they
turned north, heading for the walled city. Snow lay nearly half a
foot deep on the ground in most places, and Anna tightened her
parka as she crunched through it. Math, having seen the
wide-brimmed hat Papa had borrowed, now wore a floppy fishing hat
pulled down low over his eyes. It kept the snow out of his face as
well as hiding his features from cameras that might be pointed in
his direction.

Callum was in his suit and trench coat,
which made him look not only respectable and very handsome, but
semi-official. Mark was far less so in a sweatshirt, jacket, and
jeans.

“Once we get inside the walls, we might have
trouble getting out,” Anna said, as she watched two men in black
winter parkas with striped reflective strips turn away three cars
in a row that wanted to enter the walled part of the city.
Fortunately, the guards weren’t yet checking ID’s. Callum could get
them through any barrier, but Anna would rather he didn’t have to
show his badge and alert Tate to his whereabouts just yet.

Anna slipped her arm through Math’s. “Act
casual. We’re simply visitors to Caernarfon out on a Christmas Day
stroll.”

They had initially thought to enter the
walled part of Caernarfon near the entrance to the castle, but that
entrance was blocked off even for pedestrians. Thus, they followed
the wall around to the north to the next gate available. It turned
out to be the one Cassie had tried to drive through the previous
night, and the one which led directly to the Black Boar Inn.

A security guard manned the entrance, but
other than a cursory look, he didn’t pay them any attention and
waved them through what had to have once been a formidable
gatehouse.

“Just like at home,” Math said.

Anna smirked. “Except at home you, in
particular, can go anywhere you want and are recognized throughout
Wales on sight.”

Math moved his arm across her shoulders and
squeezed. “I am much humbled by the experience of coming to your
world, I assure you.”

Mark laughed, and his laughter came at just
the right moment, diffusing whatever suspicions might be directed
at them, as one of the security guards had fixed him with a beady
eye.

“This is where we leave you.” Uncle Ted came
to a halt outside the inn. “You should just keep walking.”

Last night, Anna hadn’t been sitting near
the front of the van, so she hadn’t had a clear view of what
exactly had made Cassie avoid driving through this particular gate.
Now she understood. While the road didn’t end at the Black Boar, it
became a pedestrian walkway. Three pillars in the middle of the
road prevented all vehicle traffic from continuing past the inn
into the city proper. If Cassie had driven through the hole in the
wall, she would have had to enter the parking lot adjacent to the
inn, turn around, and go back the way she’d come, all the while
under the watchful eyes of whichever agents had been present at the
time.

At the moment, Anna didn’t see any men in
suits watching the front of the inn, so she risked giving her
family a last quick hug. “Be safe.”

“I should be saying that to you,” Uncle Ted
said. “If you need
anything
, you call us. We aren’t leaving
Wales until the 27
^th
.”

“We fully intend to be back in the Middle
Ages by then,” Anna said.

Aunt Elisa had been holding her phone down
at her side, but now she waved it at Anna, “Make sure your mother
calls me at least once more. I need to know how this turns
out.”

“Absolutely,” Anna said.

The family disappeared into the inn, and
Callum pulled out his phone. “It’s time to ring Tate.”

As he prepared to dial, however, the phone
rang. It was David.

Callum made a
continue on
motion with
his hand, indicating that they should keep walking, while David
said, “Where are you?” His voice came tinnily out of the
speaker.

“In the city,” Callum said. “We’ve just
dropped off your family, so I was about to ring Tate.”

“What’s the security like at the Black
Boar?”

“Two men in a black SUV are watching the
inn,” Callum said.

At this unexpected bit of information, Anna
turned to look, but Mark bumped her shoulder gently with his,
blocking her view. “Don’t look, and keep walking.”

“Where are they?” Anna said.

“In the car park,” Mark said.

“Did they spot you?” David said.

“I don’t see how they could miss us, though
they haven’t made a move,” Callum said.

“Keep talking to me,” David said. “I want to
know if they follow you.”

Anna smiled down at her feet, hearing the
authority of the King of England in her brother’s voice.

“They’d have to come on foot,” Mark said.
“We’re on a pedestrian-only street.”

“Probably they’re not supposed to leave
their post, so they’re calling ahead to someone else who will pick
us up inside the city,” Anna said, recalling the Christmas vacation
in her former life where she’d mainlined spy thrillers for two
solid weeks.

They hustled along through the unplowed
snow, still without MI-5 in pursuit, and then turned left to follow
the road that ran along the inside of the city wall. From here,
Anna could see the castle looming above them a little over a
hundred yards away.

By now Callum had conferenced in everyone
else, including Mom and Cassie in the van, and Mark motioned that
Anna should activate the earpiece that had come with the phone. By
using it, she could leave the phone in her pocket but still talk
and listen.

“I see more barriers the closer we get to
the castle,” Mark was saying when Anna came back on the line. It
was weird to hear him talking as he walked beside her while at the
same time having his voice echo in her ear.

“That shouldn’t be surprising,” David
said.

“There’s more people out and about too,”
Anna said, following Math and Callum as they cut down an alley to
reach the next street over. “Believe it or not, people are starting
to line up at the entrance to the castle. They must be going to
wait all day!”

“It’s because of the Prince of Wales,”
Callum said flatly. “Security is everywhere.” He frowned. “I can’t
immediately identify what organizations we’re looking at.
Everyone’s in black. It’s snowing pretty hard.”

David coughed and laughed at the same time.
“Here too. What about you, Mom?”

Mom’s voice resonated down the line. “I
would agree that it is snowing.”

“We’re all clear here,” Cassie said. “No
security of any kind that I can see.”

“I’m seeing mostly regular police wearing
yellow reflective gear,” David said. “They’ve taken over the booth
where you pay for parking. Meanwhile, Abraham’s friend is ready
with his boat, as is the man in charge of the bridge.”

“Not much to see here either,” Anna said. “I
feel like we’re letting you d—” she broke off.

Math and Callum had stopped cold in front of
her, and she almost ran into them.

Callum stepped into the shelter of the
canopy over a nearby shop, and Math tugged on the fabric of her
coat to pull her with him too. “This way.”

Mark followed, swearing under his breath.
The microphone picked up his cursing and broadcast it to
everyone.

“What’s going on?” David said sharply.

“Hold on,” Callum said.

Callum peered around the corner and down the
street.

Bracing herself with her hands on his back,
Anna looked too. A hundred feet away, two men stood facing each
other, talking intently. As Anna watched, they finished their
conversation, and one darted across the street and disappeared down
a side alley. The other, his hands deep into his pockets, started
walking towards the line of people waiting to get into the castle.
Just as he reached the gateway out of the old city, he glanced
behind him, such that his gaze could have swept over Anna and
Callum in the split second before they pulled back and out of
sight.

“No.” Anna spoke under her breath, not so
much worried that her voice would carry, but because of her
shock.

Math prodded her. “It’s him, isn’t it?”

Anna stared at her husband. She hadn’t
recognized the man who’d darted away, but Lee’s face was burned
into Anna’s memory. She’d last seen him at Caerphilly Castle in a
different world seven hundred years before today. Out of all the
bus passengers, Lee had been most on everyone’s minds since they’d
arrived in Avalon.

“What is it?” David’s voice came low and
urgent.

“Lee is here,” Callum said. “He’s heading
towards the castle now.”

“Can you follow him without him knowing?”
David’s voice indicated a distinct lack of surprise.

Callum poked out his head and then stepped
fully into the road. “He’s disappeared.”

Anna was still processing that Lee was
here
and up to no good, but she caught Math’s hand and
started after Callum and Mark, both of whom had set off at a fast
walk and were already halfway down the street. Callum’s head
swiveled this way and that as he searched for where Lee might have
gone.

“Do your best,” David said. “We’ve thought
all along that Lee might be here. The Prince of Wales is his
natural target.”

“You need to call Tate right now, Callum,”
Cassie said.

Callum gave a grunt of disgust. “We’ve lost
him, David.”

Now it was David’s turn to swear. “I don’t
want to ask if you’re sure it was Lee, but I have to.”

“We’re sure,” Anna said, not waiting for one
of the men to answer.

“We’re moving towards the castle,” David
said. “We’ll try—”

Anna could hear the exertion in David’s
voice.

“You’ll try what, David?” Anna said.

“—to get inside that castle,” David
said.

“No, David,” Mom said. “Look what happened
the last time you ran up against Lee. I don’t want you anywhere
near C-4 ever again.”

“We are already near it. Give me a better
option, and I’ll consider it.” As the King of England, David was
used to making decisions that only he could make and was
comfortable with the responsibility.

“Tate has a hundred men at his disposal,”
Callum said. “He can blanket the castle with security, and you
won’t have to fall into his clutches. I’m ringing him now.”

Callum disappeared from Anna’s ear, having
disconnected from the call so he could telephone Tate, though she
could still hear him as he strode beside her. Anna trotted beside
Math as she tried to keep pace with the men’s much longer legs. She
was trying to listen with half an ear to Callum’s one-sided
conversation with Tate, while at the same time focusing on what was
coming through her earpiece from the others.

“Could he have gotten inside the castle?”
Cassie said.

“I can’t tell,” Anna said. “He was headed in
that direction.”

“There’s really only one way to be sure,”
David said.

Anna took in a breath. “David’s right,
Mom.”

“You’re taking David’s side, Anna?” Mom
said. “He should not go into that castle.”

“I’m not on any side,” Anna said. “I’m just
saying that except for us, nobody in all of Caernarfon knows more
about medieval castles than Lee does, thanks to you and me.”

“What Lee knows or does not know is not your
fault, Anna,” David said. “We’ve been over this.”

“That’s why you blame yourself for his
actions, is it?” Anna retorted.

“Touché, sis,” David said.

“We need to consider what he might be
planning.” Math had been listening this whole time on his own
earpiece. “There are at least twice as many people in front of the
castle as there were when we arrived, and Lee is not among
them.”

“The car park is almost full,” David said.
“We have to shut this down now before innocent people get
hurt.”

“How close are you to the castle, Cassie?”
Darren said. “Can you get to the square to pick us up?”

“Earlier, I drove around a bit, just so as
not to appear suspicious,” Cassie said. “There are no spaces any
closer to the castle than where we are now. The streets are closed
off, and the police are only letting people leave, not enter.”

“What about on the other side of the river
from the swing bridge?” Darren said.

“It’s a single lane road,” Cassie said. “We
could easily get boxed in.”

“Not ideal, then,” Darren said.

Callum came back on the line, having
finished his conversation with Tate. “David, Tate wants to meet
immediately.”

“I bet he does,” David said.

Callum ignored that, too intent on what
needed to be done to respond to the sarcasm. “Meet us in the
square.”

“Did Tate bring what we asked for?” David
said.

“He says he did,” Callum said. “I’ve told
him to forget the bridge. Too complicated, and too much can go
wrong. We’ll meet him in front of the NatWest as soon as an agent
delivers the magnet and the power generators to the Tesco car park.
Once Cassie says that she’s collected them, Mark can come
forward.”

“What did he say about Lee?” David said.
“They need to cancel the prince’s speech.”

“Tate is reluctant to do that,” Callum said.
“The royal family is all about standing firm and not giving in to
terrorism.”

“Goody for them.” David’s voice had risen to
the point that he was almost shouting. “Standing firm isn’t going
to do them a whole lot of good if Lee has smuggled C-4 into
Caernarfon Castle!”

“How far do you have to go to get to the
square, David?” Callum said.

Muttered voices came across the line, and
Anna could picture both Papa and Abraham talking David down. It
appeared to have worked, because when he spoke next, David’s voice
was calmer, and he seemed to have gotten a grip on himself. “Not
far.”

They had reached the road that ran along the
north side of the castle. “I’m seeing more activity in the square
and at the castle entrance,” Callum said. “I’m afraid if you don’t
come now, you’ll be stopped from going past it.”