Three Swamps (Inside Story 15)

By Dr E J Yeaman

Hi. I’m Jam Rodger, and I have an incorporator – like a mobile phone – that can take me into old stories. Heidi wrote a story about the incorporators, and included a crook, Dr Spoyle, who tries to ruin stories. She and I had to fight to save The Swiss Family Robinson, The Hound of the Baskervilles and Beric the Briton – not to mention our own incorporators.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr E J Yeaman
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005687458

Dr E J Yeaman

I retired (early) and started a new career as a writer. I wrote short stories and articles. Some were published; some won prizes; some sank without trace.Having heard my stories, two friends suggested I should write for children. I’d never thought of that, although I’d spent my first career communicating with young people – as a Chemistry teacher, and running clubs for badminton, chess, table tennis and hillwalking.I tried writing for young people – and I loved it. It became my main occupation. I sent samples to publishers. One asked to see a complete story. In excitement, I sent it off. Then nothing. After four months, I rang, and was told the manuscript was being considered: I would be notified. Then more nothing. Now, after eight years, I no longer rush to the door when the letter box rattles.But I kept writing the stories because I enjoyed it so much. Until, in late 2013, I learned I could publish my stories and games as e-books. Since then, I’ve been polishing and issuing some of them. I hope everyone enjoys reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.Check out the series:C: Charades – party game – a new twist to the traditional game.D: Diagags – party game – gags written as plays for two people.M: My Story – novels – classical stories, told by the heroes.O: One-Offs – party game – guess the titles, not quite the classical ones.P: Pop Tales – short stories – inspired by 60s and 70s hit songs.Q: Quote-Outs – word games – can you deduce the missing words?S: Inside Story – novels – a boy’s adventures inside classical stories.T: Troubleshooters – novels – space adventures for young people.

Book preview

THREE SWAMPS

1

I went down to the usual quiet corner of our local park, and wandered along beside the big patch of dark green bushes, sneaking a look around. Nobody watching. I dived into a narrow gap among the bushes and crept through to my secret den.

Good evening. A man was sitting there, in the place where I was going.

Oh! Sorry! I started to back out.

Wait, young man. He smiled to me. With his oily smile and his oily voice, I wouldn’t’ve trusted him and, now I’d had a second to think, I didn’t want to go. Maybe this guy wasn’t here by chance.

I asked, What are you doing here?

I am seeking someone. Perhaps you can help me. What is your name?

My name? Er… Sid. Sid Weaver. Sid’s my mate. I hoped he wouldn’t mind me borrowing his name.

Do you know anyone named Jam Rodger?

That was me, but I frowned, acting puzzled. Jam Rodger? He’s in my class at school. Who are you?

My name is Spoyle, Dr Spoyle. S-P-O-Y-L-E. I was told I might find Jam Rodger here.

Oh? Who told you that?

A friend. Sid, may I trust you?

What d’you mean?

He frowned at me while I put on my innocent face. Sid says it makes me look like a monkey with sore guts, but it sometimes fools people.

Dr Spoyle said, I shall tell you. I found this place by using a new invention. If I tell you about it, will you promise to keep it a secret?

Yeah! I pretended to be keen.

He stared at me for a moment longer, then took a thing like a dark grey mobile phone from his pocket. I used this device. It is called an incorporator.

I don’t understand.

Do you see that? He crouched and held the screen towards me.

I edged forward, watching him, until I could read it:

Title: In the Park

Author: Jam Rodger

Edition: 2022

Page: 1.

I hid my worry behind the innocent look. What does that mean?

Those are the details of a story.

A story? What d’you mean – a story?

By setting this device like that, I can visit this story.

Why d’you keep saying ‘story’?

Watch. He held the thing to the side so we could both see the screen, then pushed a button in the end, making a keyboard appear at the bottom. He pressed an arrow-down key, making the titles of different stories scroll past at the top. I recognised some of them. Oliver Twist. The Hound of the Baskervilles. The Swiss Family Robinson. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

It came round to In the Park. He said, That’s the story I am in now.

But this isn’t a story. This is real life.

Dr Spoyle smiled. That is what everyone says when I tell them about the incorporator.

Well, it’s true here.

To me, you are a character in a story. Would you like me to prove it by taking you to one of those other stories?

I’d been hoping he’d suggest that, but I didn’t want to seem too stupid. I said, You’re kidding me. You can’t really go to those stories.

I can. I shall show you. Which story do you wish to visit? He pressed arrow-down. "The Swiss Family Robinson? Beric the Briton?" The titles came up.

"The Swiss Family Robinson."

Certainly. He brought the title up and started towards me with his arms wide.

I backed off. What are you doing?

If I put my arms round you, I can carry you to that story.

Well, you’re not putting your arms round me.

Then I cannot take you into any story.

I pretended to hesitate. "D’you promise you can take me to The Swiss Family Robinson?"

Yes. It is quick and easy.

Let’s see the thing. I pulled his hand, with the incorporator, towards me, frowning at the title. Nah! It can’t be done. I pushed it away.

I assure you, my dear Sid, that it can be done. Watch. He pressed another button in the end of the incorporator – and vanished.

In about five seconds, he was back. There, Sid. While I was away from here, I was on the island with the Swiss Family Robinson.

Were you really? How d’you change it?

That is simple. Do you still wish to visit that story? He used the keyboard.

Let’s see. I pulled his hand, with the incorporator, towards me. The screen showed The Swiss Family Robinson.

I grabbed the incorporator and pressed the button in the end.

2

No flash. No bang. No nothing. In an instant, I was standing at the edge of a bog. Clumps of reeds grew in the mud, with bushes at the higher places. The sun was warm, and I was wearing a shirt and trousers of rough, brown cloth. The incorporator had really taken me into The Swiss Family Robinson.

Not far away, somebody was coming towards me, whistling under his breath. I ducked behind a bush. A boy appeared. He looked about the same age as me, in the same gear. He must be one of the Robinsons: I knew The Swiss Family Robinson was about a family – father, mother and their four young sons – who were cast ashore on a desert island.

The boy stopped with his back to me, looking over the bog. I didn’t speak to him. I had a lot to think (and worry) about. Dr Spoyle must be a Wrecker. They visit stories, trying to spoil them. That’s why he’d offered to take me to The Swiss Family Robinson. He would leave me there, hoping to spoil that story by putting me in it, and hoping to spoil my own story by taking me out of it.

He hadn’t realised I’m a Guardian. It’s my job to stop the Wreckers, especially in children’s stories. Sherlock Holmes is the Chief Guardian. He’s the one who gives me jobs – and he’s the only one who should’ve known about In the Park. Something had gone badly wrong. That’s why I’d had to get away from Dr Spoyle.

The boy poked the toe of his shoe in the mud. He shook his head then moved away, following the edge of the bog past a patch of bushes, out of my sight.

What could I do? I ought to tell Professor X, the inventor of the incorporators. But I couldn’t. Sherlock Holmes is a fussy git. He doesn’t trust me to know how to find Prof X. He always brings me the messages from him.

I did have one clue – the incorporator. It had to be Sherlock Holmes’s. Dr Spoyle must’ve stolen it from him. So Sherlock Holmes probably met Prof X in one of the stories on it.

I scrolled through them. I knew why Sherlock Holmes had been to some – A Christmas Carol, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Oliver Twist – because I’d been with him on those missions. Others, like The Swiss Family Robinson, were well-known stories with people around. Not good places for a secret meeting.

That left two. I chose:

Title: Paradise

Author: Heidi

Edition: 1906

Page: 3.

I don’t like going to a story without knowing what to expect. I had my own incorporator with me, so I set it for Inside Story – my bedroom – and held it in my pocket with my finger on the Go button in the end.

I checked Dr Spoyle’s incorporator, took a deep breath and pressed Go.

3

I didn’t press Go on my own incorporator because I was alone. I reset Dr Spoyle’s for The Swiss Family Robinson before I looked around properly.

Paradise was a big, square room with an arched doorway in the middle of each side. Three led to the open air, looking over the tops of trees to blue sky. Through the fourth was a spiral stone staircase, going up. I was wearing a long-sleeved navy shirt and baggy shorts. The place was warm, and the sun shone through one of the doorways.

In one corner of the room was a huge bookcase, full of books – old books with brown covers. Another corner had a work surface with cupboards underneath. On the wall above was a row of taps with labels – water, orange juice, lemonade, ginger beer, tea.

In the third corner, a high stool sat at a desk with paper and pencils and other bits and pieces. On the wall above it was a white screen with a display:

Year: 1906

Month: October

Day: 17

Hour: 11

Minute: 23.

As I watched, Minute changed to 24. That must be a calendar and clock. 1906 was the year when Paradise was written.

On a blackboard under the white screen, somebody had written in chalk: October 16th, 3 p.m. Yeah. This’d be where Sherlock Holmes met Prof X.

They would be comfortable. In the last corner stood a sofa and two big leather armchairs with little tables beside them.

If Prof X was around, I had to find him. I ran up the spiral stair. As I hoped, it led to the roof, which had railings round it. From it, I could look over the trees – to the sea in all directions. The building was on a low hill in the middle of a small round island.

A road and a railway ran down through the trees. And, at the top of the railway was a train – not full-sized, but with seats on the top.

If Prof X was anywhere on this island, he’d most likely be at the shore at the bottom of the road. I should check that.

But, as I went to the stair, a voice came up. A voice which made me stop where I was. Because it was the oily voice of Dr Spoyle.

4

I shrank back, putting my finger on Go on my incorporator, but I didn’t press it – yet. Dr Spoyle wasn’t calling in alarm or to me: he was talking to somebody else. That figured: somebody must’ve rescued him from my den in the park. Then they’d come here. Probably for the same reason as me.

I lay down with my head near the stair so I could hear the voices coming up. I reset my own incorporator for In the Park and kept my