"To Kill the Christ" - Book One in the Trilogy "A Kingdom Called Long Reach"

       The tall American in dark grey tweeds, a concession to living in Oxford, paused before the theater marquee advertising a remake of Back to the Future. The February rain, which Brits considered a mist, increased in...

       The shin felt better the longer Carl walked. The rain had passed, and the streets sparkled in the rose hues cast by the setting sun. Although bemused by his encounter with Rebecca, he still reflected on his surrou...

       Rebecca always prepared a picnic lunch for their outings as her way of paying Carl for the ammunition she used in practice. One warm August morning, she was ready with a large basket, filled with fresh fruits and...

       The oppressive darkness was replaced with a spinning sensation then a pulsating headache. Carl's eyes had remained open the entire time, yet he felt as though he were returning from a lightless void after the stun...

       Carl had started a fire and was checking the supply wagon when Rebecca awoke. Soon venison was roasting, filling the glade with its aroma.        He wiped moss from a log so they could...

       There was little light in the sky when the two of them reached the meadow. Rebecca was tending a pot in the fire and had stood to warm her backside when Carl emerged first from the forest. She started to wave, the...

       The sun was still below the horizon, lighting the glade with ambient light, when Carl awakened. Mists hugged the waters of the pond. The breeze of the night before had disappeared. He had slept, but his mind had b...

       They resumed their journey, this time on horseback, sorry as the steeds were, slowly making their way through the woods. They had not buried the bodies.        The fourth horse was tet...

       The caravan, after resting yet another night, slowly wound its way through the hills, following the River Avon into Aquae Sulis, the village located on the site of Twentieth–first Century Bath. It was a smal...

       That night Gaio entered Aaron’s tent. For days he had been searching for a reason to stay with Rebecca, but until now nothing had seemed likely to persuade Aaron to allow him to remain. Tomorrow the caravan...

       Leaving Aquae Sulis to return to their beginning, they were a far cry from the three travelers who had started from the Wye. In addition to Morius and Gaio, four warriors had joined them, as had five squires, boys...

       As they rode toward the king’s body, the valiant but foolhardy horseman moved in the grass. Pember readied to strike him with his sword, but Carl called him off. A brave warrior could be taught wisdom, but a...

       Dusk arrived as Carl and his companions rode to the jail. It was a low, rectangular block building set against the large stone face of a limestone outcropping. When a guard unlocked the wooden door and Carl stoope...

       The year flew. Progress was made in many directions, but no one was satisfied for an especially cold winter and inadequate finances had hindered the start of Long Reach. Fortunately, they could learn the language...

       Efforts to improve Nottingham were slowed by the smallpox incident, slowed but not stopped.        Raphael had spent the summer of their arrival surveying the economy of the village, a...

       Rebecca confronted Carl in his manse office. "We’ve had quite a few of your men in the infirmary each day. Some of them have typhus, I think. I’ve seen some lice on their bodies."   ...

       Four leaders of the eastern Coritani tribes visited Nottingham early in March. They were stout men, lowlanders, sturdy and warlike, but farmers who lived east of the River Trent and in the great valley that had be...

       Raphael and Gaio, having left Nottingham before the war on Volodion was declared, traveled south unaware of the battles to take place. Raphael had adjusted to the weakness of his right hand and was able to mount a...

       Carl strode into the Great Room. "Rebecca!" he cried.        "In here!"        He was at the door of her study in three strides, burst...

       The months slipped by far too hurriedly for Raphael. Messalina was every bit as attractive as she had appeared in the lamp's feeble light. Her literacy in three languages and fluency in four isolated her from the...

       Carl walked into the courtyard to talk with Rebecca when a wagonload of coal arrived. It was a pathetic load. Two horses drew the wagon, which was less than half full.        "Loo...

Gaio was unhappy with Nottingham. He was someone of importance in Camulodunum. There he attracted physicians and apprentices like a bright new star in the firmament. And young women of some culture, well dressed and gay and bright sought his favors....

Carl still was angry the next morning. Rebecca, too. But this time they were angry with Gaio. Breakfast was quiet while both mulled their own thoughts, interrupted only by occasional outbursts from Curtis. "I can hardly believe Gaio would do suc...

Eight years had passed since the three time travelers had entered pre-historic Britain, and they had built an economically vibrant coalition of tribes that kept the peace in central Britannia. It had come at some cost in blood and coin, but the peopl...

Carl felt helpless. He was leaving Rebecca and the children by themselves. He had great faith in Morius and Ort for they had proved their loyalties time and again, but contenders for the throne would spring from the shadows as soon as people realized...

The guides were right. The foehn hit as they expected. There was snow on the mountains—some of the passes had glaciers—but the winds from the mountains were hot, dry, and hard and made animals skittish and men short tempered. The road has...

The steep road to lacus Sebinnes was made more dangerous by mud flows across the road after they passed the snow pack. Only a slow and careful descent enabled the caravan to safely reach the Roman village on the northwestern end of the lake. It was a...

The trip to Brundisium and across the Adriatic to Greece was without event. Aurilius’ letter with its embossed wax seal opened doors and burnished welcome signs. There was even assurance of passage to Corinth by a naval vessel that sailed with...

The commandos left for Ephesus on 2 December, AD27, according to Carl’s reckoning. The freighter was driven by a Zephyros, Alexander called it, a west wind that pushed the boat toward Ephesus. While not a hard wind, it was stiff and consistent,...

As the commandos came out of the Syrian Gate several of them pointed to the sprawling city sitting on the south bank of the Orontes River, but clinging to the flanks of Mount Silpius. Ephesus was large, Carl remembered, but Antioch seemed to go on fo...

Carl and the two commandos returned to Antioch, January first, AD28. Alexander was still on the coast buying dye and cloth and arranging for shipping. The shipping season in the Mediterranean ran from 10 March to 11 November, dates determined by long...

Cunobelin rode out from the gloom of Sherwood and paused to stare in wonder at the huge fortress sitting on a knoll about a mile away. Reports from spies had warned of its size, but to see it even at a distance was a revelation. Without turning towar...