“Once past the timber and plaster sides of the shops, this score led steeply down through brick and flint walls. Its floor was laid with small cobbles and Storm’s hooves clattered as he trotted beside his lordship. Alys glanced back at me once, twice. Was she too haunted by memories of such a place? But I just waved her on after the others and followed at a run, peering over my shoulder now and then to check we were not pursued.
A sharp bend to the left revealed black timber jetties and steel-grey breakers framed by the end of the alleyway. The keen tang of salt air wafted into my nostrils. Where the score widened into the harbourside, the stone bulk of a tavern reared up on the corner, its swinging sign overhanging the alley’s mouth. It creaked as it swung, and my eye was drawn upwards.
The sign was a boar’s head – crudely painted.
And despite my hurry, for a moment time shuddered to a halt…”
Five days to go…
Alex Marchant is author of two books telling the story of the real King Richard III for children aged 10+, The Order of the White Boar and The King’s Man, and editor of Grant Me the Carving of My Name and Right Trusty and Well Beloved…, two anthologies of short fiction inspired by the king, sold in support of Scoliosis Association UK (SAUK).
A third book in the ‘White Boar’ sequence, King in Waiting, is currrently available for pre-order and will be published on 17 September 2021, with the fourth, Sons of York, due out in 2022. Alex has also published a standalone timeslip novel for readers aged 10+, Time out of Time.
Alex’s books can be found on Amazon at:
My Twitter handle and Matthew Wansford’s
Instagram: AlexMarchantAuthor
The Order of the White Boar 