History Keepers: Nightship to China Read Online Free PDF

the castle apart from Nathan’s. He froze, checking that his sword was leaning against his bed (it was now a habit to sleep with a weapon at hand). Felson lifted his head. When another thump came, the dog growled softly as Jake carefully reached for the hilt of his blade. Someone, or something, was creeping along to a point just above his window. Jake tiptoed across the room, sword at the ready, and threw open the casement.
    ‘Who goes there?’ he demanded in the deepest tone he could muster.
    He gasped as a figure in a balaclava abseiled down from above. ‘
Who goes there?
’ said a voice. ‘A little old fashioned, isn’t it?’ And with that, Yoyo ripped off her disguise. ‘May I come in?’
    Jake stood back and she jumped down into the room, cheeks rosy with excitement. She looked different, dressed in the French style of the 1820s, in a floaty, high-waisted gown and her hair up in a loose bun. Felson gave a welcoming
wuff
and went to say hello.
    ‘Nice to see you too, Felson, old chap,’ said Yoyo, putting on an English accent, ruffling his head, which made him bark again.
    ‘All right, back to bed,’ Jake told him, and he curled up in his basket again.
    Jake felt a little self-conscious in his pyjamas. ‘Wh-wh-what are you doing here?’ he asked Yoyo. ‘Not that it’s not nice to see you . . .’
    Yoyo went around examining his room, looking at the portraits of explorers and inventors on the walls. ‘Ah, you’re reading the book I recommended!’ she exclaimed, seeing it lying open on the bed.
    ‘Yes. It’s amazing. I can’t believe how clever the Chinese are. I never knew they invented the compass.’
    ‘The first great maritime nation in history,’ she said proudly. ‘But that was only the start of it. How about steel? Paper? Mirrors? Fingerprints? Sunglasses? And how about a little thing called gunpowder?’
    ‘Yes, gunpowder certainly changed a thing or two.’ This was an understatement: in the last seven hundred years, Jake had learned, it had been the basic ingredient of every war that had taken place on earth.
    There was an awkward silence. ‘I’ve never seen you dressed like that,’ Jake commented. ‘Are you going somewhere?’
    ‘
We
are,’ she corrected him. ‘We’re going to the party over there.’ She pointed in the direction of the mainland, a big smile on her face.
    ‘Really? Er . . .’ Jake mumbled. ‘Isn’t it late?’ Immediately he gave himself a mental note to start sounding more daring.
    ‘It’s Midsummer Eve, the most magical night of the year . . . and they’re dancing the
waltz
. Have you ever heard of the waltz? It’s from Vienna, but in France it’s considered indecent.’ She sounded scandalized. To Jake, the waltz was the most old-fashioned thing in the world, but he reminded himself that he came from a different place in history from Yoyo: he was from twenty-first-century London, while she was from imperial China.
    ‘So? Shall we go?’ Yoyo persisted. ‘I have a boat moored at the pier. We could be there within the hour.’
    Jake glanced out of the window at the midsummer sky, now a deep ultramarine. It still wasn’t quite dark. Yoyo’s plan was certainly tempting: it would chase his sorrows away. And he had only been to the village twice, on errands with his parents, and never at night. During the day it seemed quite ordinary, but he had the feeling that it would somehow be magical this evening. Even so, he was undecided. ‘I’m not really sure, Miss Yuting . . . Yoyo. For a start, my mum and dad would definitely not appreciate—’
    ‘Jake, I’m disappointed. I heard that you were a daredevil. Chariot racing in the Circus Maximus, someone told me! And as far as your parents are concerned . . . don’t tell them. That’s the easiest course. I don’t tell my mother anything. Parents say that they want you to be honest with them, but when you are, they get upset.’ Yoyo shrugged, then added: ‘I have a feeling your mother doesn’t really