Free Paralysis Paradox (Time Travel Through Past Lives Adventure Series Book 1) by Stewart Sanders

on the back. I winced. ‘You found your skull, didn’t you?’
    This conversation was going off in tangents that I didn’t like. ‘Last night, after we had parted ways, you found me and called the skull Henry. Why?’ I asked, looking at him.
    His muffler hid half of his face, but I could swear he was smiling. ‘Don’t you remember, when you were small you kept insisting you had a brother called Henry? And your ma was the Queen! Till Mr Robertson threatened to thrash you for your daydreams and lies. You soon stopped then.’
    Arthur thought this funny, but I still remembered the humiliation of being hauled up in front of the class by Mr Robertson, the schoolmaster, and told that unless I stopped these ‘foolish flights of fancy’ forthwith he’d give me six of the best. I must have been about five at the time. Ma thought my stories were harmless till I started telling her that she couldn’t be my real mother because my real mother was the Queen. At that point she too tired of my tales.
    ‘Come on, Your Royal Highness,’ he began, before looking up. ‘Bloody hell, what’s that?’
    A deep rumble was coming from above us, increasing in volume and pitch. We looked up to see a huge, silver grey shape in the sky moving steadily towards us like an airborne torpedo. Slowly, it obliterated the weak sun, casting an immense dark shadow over us, the rumble of its engines vibrating my innards.
    I knew what it was, as I had seen footage of these early airships on video in my Vicky life and my father had showed me photos of his trips on the Queen Victoria II (QV II). He would regularly fly between London, New York, and Moscow on these cruise ships of the sky, although they were white, shaped as if they’d been slightly squashed and used air turbines, instead of propellers.
    ‘It’s an airship...’ I began, shouting to make my voice heard, but I could not finish. Something was wrong. Flames were bursting from within. Everyone had come out to take a look, whether in wonder or fear I didn’t know—all I knew was that they had to get indoors. Now.
    ‘Get back!’ I screamed, ‘Get away from it!’
    I ran towards the nearest group of people and tried to drag them to the safety of their houses. They looked at me with trepidation, but I didn’t have time to explain. Some went in; others refused. I stared at them stupidly.
    ‘Do you want to die? Arthur! Help me get everyone inside!’
    Arthur grabbed hold of my shoulders and shook me. Pain seared through my back but I paid no attention to it.
    ‘Calm down, Charlie!’ he shouted. ‘What’s the matter?’
    The airship was a ball of fire now and I had visions of Kings Heath laid waste below. I had to get everyone away! I broke away from his grip and turned, to my horror seeing a group of children who’d come out of the schoolroom with their schoolmaster. I ran towards them, taking their arms and attempting to shepherd them into the school, but the schoolmaster pushed me back. He was saying something but I couldn’t hear above the din of the engines. He simply didn’t understand the danger they were in. Tears of frustration pricked my eyelids—it was like being in some hideous dream where you’re watching a disaster unfold before your eyes but are powerless to do anything about it.
    The airship was now directly above us, barely missing the rows of chimneys, and on a collision course with the church steeple. At any moment there would be a massive explosion. I crouched down and wrapped my hands around my head, waiting for the force to hit me, but instead I was picked up bodily and hauled into the church. I was going to be sick. The door slammed shut, and my arms were pried away from my head. I opened my eyes to see Evan and a policeman looking at me, concern etched on their faces.
    ‘You’re all right, son,’ the policeman said, ‘it’s all perfectly safe. It’s the Mayfly, our very own Zeppelin out on its maiden voyage.’
    ‘But the flames!’ I cried, ‘It’s