The Secret of Excalibur

Nina’s previous visits to England had only taken her to London, so she wasn’t sure what to expect outside the capital - especially after Chase’s disparaging description. But Bournemouth turned out to be a quite attractive seaside town, the pedestrianised main street an appealingly random jumble of architectural styles and eras above the standardised shop facades of the national chains.

They had arranged to meet Chase’s family in the middle of town, another pedestrian zone called the Square. A park stretched away down to the beach and the pier; Nina and Chase had strolled through it to the town centre after checking into their seafront hotel, passing a large tethered balloon offering tourists an aerial view of the resort.

To Nina’s delight, the Square was playing host to a street market, stalls selling a wild and wonderful range of foods from all over Europe, everything from German sausages to exotic fruit. The air was filled with mouth-watering scents, forcefully reminding her that the only thing she’d eaten was an airline breakfast. Only the knowledge that she would soon be having lunch stopped her from sampling everything - although she was still sorely tempted.

She had an odd feeling in her stomach, but it wasn’t solely from hunger. ‘I’m . . . I’m a bit nervous,’ she admitted to Chase.

‘Why?’

‘Y’know, meeting your family for the first time. It’s just a weird thought, getting a whole new set of relations all of a sudden. And what if they don’t like me?’

‘If you’re that worried, we can just leave,’ Chase suggested, almost hopefully. ‘Get a head start on that trip to Indonesia. I’m up for it - I’d rather be somewhere exotic having an adventure than pissing about here.’

Nina smiled. ‘Tempting, but you’re not getting out of this that easily.’

‘Arse chives. Oh, there they are,’ he said unenthusiastically. The centre of the Square was occupied by a circular cafe topped with a clock tower. Outside it, Nina saw three people: a small, grey-haired old lady, a girl whom she guessed to be in her mid-teens, and a woman of around forty with a rather severe haircut. The old lady and the girl waved at Chase; the woman did not. ‘Well, here we go,’ he said. Nina touched her pendant, wanting all the luck she could get.

They met the trio by the cafe’s outdoor tables. ‘Uncle Eddie!’ cried the girl, running to him. She hugged him. ‘I haven’t seen you for ages!’

‘Hey, Holly,’ said Chase, returning the hug and smiling. His pleasure on meeting his niece again seemed completely genuine to Nina. ‘I’ve been busy.’

‘I know! And I know why!’ Holly released Chase and turned to face Nina, long brown hair swishing. ‘I know who you are,’ she said, beaming.

‘You do?’ Nina asked.

‘Of course! Come on! You discovered Atlantis! It was so great when it was announced, ’cause it meant my history teacher had been totally wrong about it not being real. That was fun, seeing his face when he had to admit it. I’m Holly, by the way. Holly Bennett.’

‘Nina Wilde. Hi.’

‘Hi! So, you’re going to be my aunt! That’s so cool. When’s the wedding?’

‘Yes, when’s the wedding, Edward?’ said the old lady, tottering up to Chase. ‘Ooh, let me have a look at you. It’s lovely to see you! My little lambchop. Come on, give your nan a kiss.’ Chase, to Nina’s amusement looking decidedly sheepish, bent down so his grandmother could kiss him noisily on both cheeks, then pinch them. ‘It’s so good to see you again!’

‘Hi, Nan,’ said Chase, cheeks pink, and not solely from the pinches. ‘Nan, I’d like you to meet my fiancee, Nina Wilde. Doctor Nina Wilde. Nina, this is my nan - my grandmother, Catherine.’

‘Call me Nan: you’re going to be family.’ She shook Nina’s hand vigorously. ‘And you’re a doctor! Holly tells me you’re famous too. It’s wonderful that Edward’s getting married again. And you seem so much nicer than his first wife. I never liked her, she was very uppity. Where is she now, Edward?’

‘She’s in prison at Guantanamo Bay, Nan.’

‘Best place for her. Oh, it’s good to meet you.’ She shook Nina’s hand again, then turned back to Chase. Nina belatedly realised she hadn’t been able to get in a single word. ‘So, when is the wedding?’

Holly also moved back to crowd Chase. ‘So why aren’t you famous too, Uncle Eddie? I wanted to show my friends pictures of you finding all these amazing things, but you’re never in any of them!’

‘You know me, love,’ he said. ‘Just naturally modest.’ That provoked a sarcastic snort from the third woman in the party. Chase’s expression tightened. ‘Oh, and Nina, this is my sister, Lizzie.’

‘Elizabeth,’ the woman said firmly, stepping forward to greet Nina. ‘Elizabeth Chase. I changed back to my maiden name after my divorce.’

‘Nice to meet you,’ Nina replied, not sure how to respond to being given an answer to a question she hadn’t asked. Elizabeth was clearly related to Chase in looks, but while he was only of average height and quite stocky, she was a couple of inches taller, thin and rigidly upright. Her expression was just as closed as her brother’s. Whatever Chase’s problem with his older sister, the feeling was apparently mutual.

‘You too. So, how long have you two been engaged now?’

‘Nearly a year.’

‘And Eddie still hasn’t committed to a date.’ It was a statement, not a question. ‘Well, that doesn’t surprise me.’

Nina felt obliged to defend him. ‘We’ve been busy. But now the discovery of Atlantis has been officially announced, we should have more time together, so we can decide what we want to do.’

‘Speaking of deciding what to do,’ said Chase, looking up at the clock, ‘are we going to have lunch? They do drinks in this place, right? Lizzie, you could have some whine. Or maybe a pint of bitter.’

‘Yeah, let’s have lunch,’ said Nina hurriedly, trying to defuse the situation by taking hold of Chase’s arm and resting her head on his shoulder. ‘Let’s sit out in the sun, it’ll be nice. Won’t it, Eddie?’

His response was distinctly lacking in enthusiasm. ‘Yeah, I suppose.’

Holly, on the other hand, was energised at the prospect. ‘So you’re going to tell us about all the cool places you’ve visited, aren’t you?’ she asked. ‘You’ve been all over the world - you must have seen tons of amazing stuff. Much better than being stuck here in boring old Bournemouth.’

‘Told you,’ Chase said to Nina. He led the way to the cafe’s entrance, walking slowly to let his grandmother keep pace. ‘Well, when we started looking for Atlantis, the first place we went was Iran . . .’

Chase - with help from Nina, to correct the historical inaccuracies and tone down his more fanciful recountings - told Holly and Nan about the hunt for Atlantis and the discovery of the Tomb of Hercules over a leisurely lunch. Elizabeth, meanwhile, sat on the sidelines, disinterested. It wasn’t until they’d finished eating and were wandering up another pedestrianised shopping street curving uphill out of the Square that she offered Chase anything more than a perfunctory response. ‘I suppose I have to give you some credit. That’s the first time lately Holly’s seemed interested in anything that didn’t involve text messaging.’

‘Well, you know,’ said Chase, ‘if the subject’s interesting, kids’ll pay attention.’

Holly pouted. ‘I’m not a kid.’

‘Okay, so, what? Young lady?’

She shrieked. ‘Oh, God! That’s even worse! That sounds like you’re telling me off !’

Chase shrugged helplessly. ‘So what do you call fifteen year olds?’

‘We used to call you “trouble”,’ offered Nan. ‘Edward and Elizabeth were such rivals when they were young! Always fighting, they were.’

‘Thank God that’s stopped, huh?’ Nina chirped, wishing she hadn’t when she saw Chase’s and Elizabeth’s expressions.

Fortunately, Holly provided a distraction. ‘So, you know you said you broke your arm when you saved New York, Uncle Eddie?’ She gestured at his left sleeve, voice dropping in part-fearful, part-gleeful anticipation. ‘Was it, like, snapped in two? Or did it get sort of . . . squashed?’

‘You want to see it?’ asked Chase.