The Captain's Chronology

Saved from drowning and imbued with wisdom and voice by the life-saving breath of a magical druid in the year 60, the cat called the Captain sets out on nine life journeys that straddle two thousand years of human history... Re-born in the year 900, the Captain is adopted by a troupe of travelling minstrels. To their astonishment he speaks to them and together they devise a ventriloquist act. It is such a success that they are commanded to perform at the Saxon court, but little do they know what the cost to them may be... A crusader has a dream of a magical tree and sets out on a quest to find it. He arrives in Britain in 1140 with his cat, the Captain. The scene is set for a very strange encounter with Norman soldiers and the mysterious Witch of Nu... 1482 and the Captain is fascinated by the great predictor, the heartbeat: the new cathedral clock which he uses to predict a very ghostly appearance. But what is the puzzle of the apparition called the Lady in Black? 1588 and a little girl inhabits a fantasy world of wizards and magic on a small island on the Irish coast. Her world is threatened by the coming of the Spanish Armada or is it? In her letters, dated 1723, a woman describes a mysterious encounter on board ship during a dinner with the ships officers and guests. A crewman claims to have taken a cat from a pirate ship after its capture and that the animal can talk... A large house sits with curtains drawn and clocks stopped in a state of Victorian high mourning in 1860. Word comes of a remarkable man who is a medium and a séance is arranged... A little blind girl stands in a busy railway station during the London evacuation in 1940. She is afraid but is comforted when she feels a hand slip in hers and she is led away. High above, the station cat - the Captain - has stopped mid-wash as he observes a sinister man leading the girl through the exit and out into the black night... On his final journey the Captain is imprisoned in a cat shelter. Meanwhile, the new NATO missile shield site is planned for "the Druid hill." Robert Clay, a corrupt archaeologist, has been drafted in to assuage fears that the ancient landmark will be destroyed, but little does Clay know that his actions may mean the end of civilisation... Follow the adventures of the Captain through a history that reveals a world of chaos, cruelty, invasion and mortality tempered with courage, love and hope. These beautifully written stories will delight children and adults alike