The Secret of Excalibur

to what’s actually important without you giving her toys!’

‘Jesus Christ, Lizzie. What is this, some kind of overcompensation thing?’

Elizabeth’s eyes flashed with fury. ‘No, it’s an irresponsibility thing.’

‘Eh?’ Chase looked at her, confused. ‘When did I say you were irresponsible?’

‘I meant you’re being irresponsible, Eddie!’ She was barely able to keep her voice down. ‘You have no idea how hard it is to be a parent - Holly’s fifteen, for Christ’s sake, so right now to her I’m like bloody Hitler always on her back about everything. And then you come along, being Cool Uncle Eddie the hero, running around playing bloody Indiana Jones and encouraging her to be just like you!’

Chase angrily held up his left arm, exposing part of the scar. ‘Yeah, this was playing. Never mind that I saved thousands of lives, huh?’ He pulled the sleeve back up, voice taunting. ‘This isn’t about me at all, is it? It’s about you being jealous. Must be killing you, mustn’t it? Your useless little brother’s actually accomplished something worthwhile, but the one who got into Oxford’s stuck selling insurance. Sorry, Lizzie, but that’s not my fucking fault.’

‘We both know exactly whose fault it is, Eddie,’ Elizabeth said coldly.

‘Well, what the fuck ever.’ He turned away, walking around the gondola as the balloon began its descent, steel cables pulling it back to earth.

‘Oh, same old story,’ said Elizabeth, this time loudly enough for everybody to hear. ‘Whenever things go bad, Eddie Chase just turns his back and walks away!’ She flung her hands out theatrically, striding after him. ‘Well, where are you going, Eddie? You’re in a balloon! Can’t just walk out on me here.’

‘Mum!’ Holly through gritted teeth, cheeks bright red. Nina shared her embarrassment.

‘Well, that was a lovely ride,’ Nan piped up, turning away from the view to face Chase and Elizabeth. ‘It’s so nice to see things from a new perspective.’ For a moment Nina couldn’t believe she’d missed Elizabeth’s rant, but the briefest of exchanged glances told her that she’d heard it perfectly - and probably not for the first time. She pinched Chase’s cheek again. ‘So good to see you again, my little lambchop! I wonder, could you do me a favour? You said you’d hired a car. You wouldn’t mind taking me to the supermarket so I can do a big shop, would you?’

‘No problem at all, Nan,’ said Chase. ‘The car’s at the hotel - it’s not far. Although Nina’s meeting a friend soon, so she won’t be able to come.’ Nina looked at her watch, realising she’d completely forgotten about Rust - it was already after two thirty.

‘Oh, that’s a shame. Well, hopefully I’ll see you again later, Nina - I can tell you what Edward was like when he was little. I’ve got photos.’

Now it was Chase’s turn to look embarrassed. ‘Aw, Nan!’

‘ “Little lambchop”?’ Nina whispered to Chase as the balloon touched down. ‘That’s so sweet!’

‘Yeah, yeah . . .’

‘I’ll show you his medals, as well,’ said Nan. ‘He gave them to me after he left the army, even his Victoria Cross. He got that from the Queen, you know!’

Nina looked at Chase, open-mouthed. ‘Now you know where the box is,’ he told her, smiling slightly. The attendants secured the gondola and opened its gate, and the passengers stepped out. ‘Okay, you go and meet this bloke and I’ll take Nan on her supermarket sweep.’ He hugged Holly.

‘Thanks for the phone, Uncle Eddie,’ she said.

‘Glad you like it. Just don’t spend too much time on it, okay? Wouldn’t want to distract you from your schoolwork.’

Holly tutted. ‘God, now you sound like Mum!’

‘I hope not.’ Chase shot Elizabeth a cutting look, then kissed Holly on the cheek and joined Nina and Nan. ‘I’ll see you again before we go, okay?’

She waved. ‘Bye, Uncle Eddie!’

‘Bye, Holly.’ Chase turned away.

‘Nice to meet you both,’ said Nina pointedly, before following Chase and his grandmother in the direction of their hotel. ‘What was that all about?’ she whispered to him.

‘Family stuff.’ When it became obvious he wasn’t going to elaborate, all Nina could do was sigh and make the most of a pleasant stroll through the park.

3

After Chase and his grandmother left, Nina returned to the hotel room to get her laptop and the encrypted disc. Making her way back through the maze of softly lit corridors, she wondered again what secrets it held - and why Rust could only reveal them to her in person.

Rust was waiting for her in the Paragon’s ‘Vista Lounge’, an elevated, semi-circular, glass-walled extension overlooking the seafront. Above it on the western cliff was a large brick building proclaiming itself as the Bournemouth International Centre, the beach and pier to the south. With the bright afternoon sun shimmering off the waves and holidaymakers ambling about, it was an attractive view, marred only by the looming Imax building east of the pier. Nina found herself agreeing with Nan about its being an eyesore.

So, to her surprise, was Rust. When she’d met him previously, the German had been smartly dressed, almost dapper. The dishevelled figure who stood up to greet her, on the other hand, looked as though he’d spent the night sleeping in a ditch. His jacket was crumpled, unkempt grey hair sticking up at angles as if he’d received an electric shock. With his thick-framed glasses, he looked almost like a cartoon of a mad scientist.

He still had his manners, however. ‘Ah, Nina!’ he said, standing and bowing as she approached. ‘So good to see you again. And I am grateful you agreed to meet me.’

‘Well, you didn’t leave me much of an option,’ she replied as she shook his hand. ‘I got the feeling you would have camped out on the UN’s doorstep if you had to.’

She meant it as a joke, but Rust nodded. ‘Perhaps. But we are both here! Come, sit down.’ He directed her to his table near the back of the room. Nina realised he had chosen to sit as far from the lounge’s other occupants as possible, most of them opting for a clear view of the sea. Rust pulled out a chair for her, then regarded the other people present suspiciously before sitting himself.

She followed his darting glances: an elderly couple sharing tea and biscuits, a young man with over-gelled hair talking animatedly on his phone, a large bearded guy with an ugly scar carved into his forehead concentrating on his newspaper. Nina felt briefly sorry for him - whatever caused his disfigurement had clearly been a serious injury - before turning her attention back to Rust. ‘So, what’s the big secret?’

Rust leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial near-whisper. ‘Nina, tell me . . . what do you know about King Arthur?’

Had Nina prepared a list of potential subjects for Rust to bring up, she doubted that would even have appeared in the top thousand. ‘Er . . . in the historical sense, or as mythology?’

‘Historical, of course.’

‘Of course,’ she said, trying to conceal her bewilderment. ‘It’s not really my area of expertise, but I know enough to know there’s not much to know. He was the leader of the ancient Britons in the sixth century, he united the tribes of Britain following the withdrawal of the Romans, and fought against the Saxons and the Picts until the Saxons finally conquered England by the seventh century. Beyond that . . .’ She shrugged. ‘That’s when legend and Monty Python take over.’

Rust nodded approvingly. ‘And what of King Arthur’s sword? Do you think that is just legend also?’

‘I don’t know. There are some historical accounts, but they’re very sketchy. I mean, there isn’t even agreement over whether it was one sword or two. Excalibur’s the name everyone knows, but in some sources he had another one before it, although I don’t remember what it was called—’

‘Caliburn,’ Rust cut in.

‘Caliburn, right. So Excalibur might have been another name for Caliburn, or they might have been two completely different swords. If you go by the legends, then Caliburn was the sword in the stone, which only Arthur was capable of removing as proof that he was the true king of Britain, and Excalibur was forged for him by Merlin after Caliburn was broken in battle.’ She gave the German a look. ‘But you know all this already, so why are you