The Secret of Excalibur Read Online Free PDF

same town, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way for you to meet her as well.’
    They sat silently for several moments. ‘That’s a shame, Eddie,’ Nina said finally.
    ‘What is?’
    ‘I don’t have any family any more, except for some distant cousins I last saw when I was maybe twelve. You still do, but you don’t want to see them? To me, that’s just . . .’ She let the words tail off, unspoken.
    Chase turned his back to her and pulled his blanket up over his broad shoulders. ‘Not every family’s as close as yours. Now, any chance I can get some kip?’
    Nina leaned over and kissed the back of his head. ‘Good night, Eddie,’ she whispered, before looking back at the mystery on the laptop screen.

2
    England
     
    ‘ S o, this Bournemouth place,’ Nina asked as Chase brought their rented Ford Focus on to the M3 motorway. ‘What’s it like? What’s there?’ She’d looked at a map of southern England before leaving the States, but aside from the town’s being about a hundred miles from London on the country’s south coast, it hadn’t revealed a great deal.
    ‘Fuck all,’ said Chase. ‘There’s a pier, and that’s about it.’
    Nina smiled. ‘This isn’t one of those English “north-south divide” things I’ve heard about, is it? I mean, I know you’re big on the whole “roof, toof, Yurkshahman from oop narth” thing—’
    ‘We’ve been together over two years, and that’s the best Yorkshire accent you can manage?’ Chase interrupted incredulously.
    ‘Hey, it’s better than your American accent. We don’t all sound like John Wayne with severe blunt force trauma. Well, maybe in Alabama. Anyway, this place must have something going for it for your grandmother and sister to have moved there in the first place.’
    ‘Lizzie moved ’cause she married this ponce from there,’ said Chase. ‘Nan moved after my granddad died because the weather’s better, that’s all.’
    ‘And she wanted to be near your sister. And your niece.’
    ‘Maybe. Whatever, the place is still dead boring.’
    Any further comment of Nina’s was interrupted as her phone rang. She glanced at her watch as she answered it. Not even one minute past nine. ‘Hello?’
    ‘Hello, Nina! This is Bernd Rust.’
    ‘I thought it might be,’ Nina said, giving Chase a resigned smile. ‘Where are you?’
    ‘In London. I am trying to find out how best to get to Bournemouth. Are you on your way?’
    ‘Yeah, we’re on the freeway. Motorway, I mean.’
    ‘Excellent! I shall meet you there, then. Where are you staying?’
    ‘The Paragon Hotel. But look, Bernd, I’ve got other commitments. I’m meeting my fiancé’s family. I can’t just drop everything to see you as soon as you arrive.’
    ‘I understand. When will you be able to see me?’
    ‘Well, we’re having lunch, so . . .’ Nina looked across at Chase for suggestions, but he only offered her a don’t-ask-me shrug. ‘Okay, how about if you meet me at the hotel at three o’clock?’
    ‘Three o’clock, the Paragon Hotel. I shall see you there. Goodbye!’
    ‘Couldn’t you have made it two o’clock?’ Chase grumbled. ‘That way, we’d have a guaranteed escape route.’
    ‘But you’re not meeting Bernd.’
    ‘Yeah, but they don’t know that.’
    ‘Aw, come on, Eddie,’ said Nina. She realised that Chase was, for once, barely exceeding the speed limit. Clearly he was in no rush to reach their destination. ‘They can’t be that bad.’
    ‘Well,’ he said, voice flinty, ‘we’ll see.’
     
    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 façades of the national chains.
    They had arranged to meet Chase’s family in the middle of