Chapter 1

‘And she’s buying the stairway to heaven’. Ah, one of my favorite songs by Led Zeppelin. I was out on my daily walk, listen to my MP3 player. I was walking in a new development in our subdivision. Kind of just checking out the place. The road was just paved making the walking a whole lot easier. The new subdivision development was laid out in an upside-down U shape with the golf course on both sides. On the back leg of the U, I noticed a deer trail going through some scrub brush leading to the golf course. ‘I might as well cut though the trail to the course and look for some golf balls on the way home.’ I thought to myself.

There was a little dried out creek that I had to cross to get to the other side. I moved some of the overhead branches and stepped into the creek, when I was suddenly disorientated. I grabbed my head to try and stop the dizziness that had overwhelmed me. I stepped out of the creek and cleared the brush and I suddenly stopped. I was in a small glade. ‘Where was the golf course? What the hell is going on here? Where am I?’ I thought as a million questions seem to be flying through my head.

I quickly turned and tried to retrace my steps, but the brush and creek were gone. All I could see was forest. I walked around the glade looking for any type of clue that might tell where I am. After I circled the glade once, I was no further ahead than I was when I started. I walked toward the center of the glade when it hit me.

“Damn my cell phone.” I said out loud.

I quickly pulled out my phone and hit the white button. The phone came on. I quickly hit my green phone button which brought up my recent calls, but my service bars all showed white for no service. I tried to make a call, and nothing happened. I tried to text my son and message not sent was the reply.

“I don’t understand this; I always had good service here in our subdivision.” I said to my phone.

“Something is not right here, and I need to find out what was going on and what had happened to me.” I said to nobody.

I turned the phone off to save the battery. I then pulled out the ear plugs from my MP3 player and turned the player off. I stored both the phone and player in the pockets of my shorts. I did a quick search all my pockets looking for any type of identification or money. I came up empty.

I just finished, when I heard a scream. I carefully picked my way through the forest until I got close to the road. I hid behind some brushes and watched as two men were fighting in the road. I could see some bodies lying on the road. I watched as the two men dueled with swords. I wondered if I stumbled onto a movie being shot on location.

I watched as one guy stabbed the other through his stomach, just as his opponent shoved his knife up under his chin into his brain. Both men fell to the ground. I wait to see what was going to happen. I didn’t hear the director holler cut, nor did I see any cameras around. Shit! This must be for real.

I looked at my watch and waited for ten minutes to pass before I stepped out to check out this situation. I checked over the five bodies and they all were dead. If I wasn’t so scared, I would probably be puking my guts out. I am somewhat a history buff, and it felt like I was sent back into the medieval period of history. The dress of the five men, the crude dirt road, the tack on the horses, the way the wagon looked, all contributed to my theory. How did I get here and why?

From the look of things, it appeared that three bandits tried to rob the two men in the wagon. Two of the bandits were killed with an arrow in each, and the one guy still in the wagon was killed by a crossbow bolt to his neck.

I stripped the bodies clean of anything that might be of some value and dragged them off the road. I loaded five swords, a dozen different knives, a crossbow and bolts, and the bow and arrows into the back of the wagon. I was wearing tennis shoes with white socks, tan shorts and a gray tee-shirt. Not the appropriate clothing for medieval time. The two guys from the wagon had on leather armor with medal plates sewed in it. The guy in the wagon his clothes looked like they might fit me, even his boots. I put his clothes on and put the rest in the wagon. I put both the bow and crossbow next to me, where I could reach them if needed. The guy in the wagon had two knives one in each boot, so I left them there and took the best of the knives and put one in each pocket. I strapped the best-looking sword into a sword holder and put it on.

Now I’m dressed to kill and not a clue as where to go. I climbed up onto the wagon. The wagon had two horses harnessed to it. I had the horses go the direction they were pointed. I had not gone more than fifty feet, when I saw some three horses tied up on the edge of the woods. I retrieved them and tied them to the wagon and continued my journey. I noticed a few farms scattered on both sides of the road back in the distance. I ran into one farmer as he was turning down a dirt lane and he looked at me rather wary.

“Hi there, I’m kind of lost can you help me?” I asked him.

“Sorry can’t help you. Keep going in the direction you’re heading, and it will take you into town.” He replied, as he continued his way down the lane.

After a couple of hours, I noticed a town up ahead. I stopped to check the time on my watch. Shit my watch. I’m sure that they don’t have watches in medieval time. My watch is a Citizen powered by Eco-drive, which converts light to power the watch. I took the watch off and put it in my pocket.

I pulled up to the edge of town and stop to look around. The first thing that struck me was the smell. It was horrible. It made my eyes water. I was looking for a sheriff’s office or some type of law office. I did not see any, but then I did see a bank and decide to go there for some answers.