Month: February 2026

Previous – Book1 Page10 – Next

that only the most experienced and confident riders are allowed to ride an Akhal Teke. He and I have been friends for years. Then, when I started work at the stables in January, you let me ride him for the first time. You said I’m experienced now. I’ve been riding for nearly eight years!”

“I know, I don’t mind. I just hadn’t expected it to be every other week! Anyway, to answer your question, I’m supposed to do one week at sea, then one week ashore, but it doesn’t always work out like that.”

KristalClear adds, “Handsome is such a ridiculously beautiful horse some people think he ought not to be a military horse at all.”

“You know there’s another Akhal Teke too, don’t you?” asks CandiCrush, “Samson, the Captain’s horse? You’ve talked with them both … and you said that they can both talk to you?”

“Yes, I chat with all of them, not just the two thoroughbreds. Working here has taught me a lot about horses. I get it straight from the horse’s mouth!”

The Garrison in Lancaster has only two Akhal Teke horses. Handsome is Commander Crush’s horse, a sturdy pure bred, he’s muscular and athletic, and he has endless stamina. He stands out, because his smoky black coat has a silvery grey metallic sheen. Samson has a deep, rich, liver chestnut coat.

“I still find it hard to believe that you can talk with horses,” says CandiCrush.

“And dogs! All sorts of animals. Until you told me that I must be psychic I thought that everyone could do it! For fifteen years I thought that mind reading and chatting with animals was completely normal.”

“And you’re sure you can’t do humans?”

“I’m sure. I’ve tried. It’s a different wavelength. I can’t connect.”

Once the news was out it spread quickly, and now everybody knows that KristalClear has psychic powers. They also think that she might be able to read humans when she gets older. However, she’s not sure if that would be a good thing.

Previous – Book1 Page10 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 6 – Next

The ones who wouldn’t work for the common good somehow disappeared. How and when they died is not explained, but it’s not difficult to guess what happened.

Although complete peace of mind would be easier to attain if Worringfolk wasn’t on the doorstep!

Previous – Book1 Page 6 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 5 – Next

roads, and a new vitality established itself across the city. The ugliness of the street furniture and the road signs gave way to beautiful tree lined boulevards. No more tarmac and no more yellow lines. Just more people, more social interaction, and a greater sense of community. The old charm of the city of Lancaster returned.

With no television nor internet, the libraries and the cafés became a fundamental part of life. The Cricket Club, the Pétanque Club, and the Archery Club all have thriving memberships and attract young and old alike. Book clubs, amateur dramatic societies, sewing bees, and table top games have become popular. Everything is good natured. Even the Scrabble Club!

People earnestly engage in all sorts of leisure pursuits, because that’s what helps them connect.

The giant corporations all disappeared, because their distribution networks had relied on fleets of trucks and regional depots. Now, a symbiotic relationship between small shops, local traders and farmers is at the core of the economy. There’s just enough commerce around them, with banks, stables, couriers and artisans all contributing to a widespread decent standard of living and complete peace of mind.

It’s the same in Preston and Ulverston, towns which have seen a complete restoration of maritime trade. Smaller inland towns, places like Ormskirk and Skelmersdale have also adjusted well, with thriving centres perfectly adapted to an economy built around moving goods and moving people by horse.

Great wealth and riches are no longer the objects of desire. A decent standard of living means having access to a horse when it’s needed. And complete peace of mind means having a stable family with a comfortable home, supplied by a local economy which has adequate food and adequate drinking water.

Hunger is a great leveller. History lessons at school teach everybody about The Decimation and The Great Famine, and how the greedy and the corrupt were starved into submission.

Previous – Book1 Page 5 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 4 – Next

Today, NutJob is going to meet BarmyWaffle for the first time. They both want to explore improved ways of generating and harnessing electricity.

Wearing a loud, blue tie, and still wearing his white lab coat, an agitated BarmyWaffle arrives thirty minutes late.

“Stuff’s gone AWOL again!”

“Ah, you must be NutJob? Delighted to meet you! My name’s Emmett. But everybody calls me Barmy! Barmy as in proper noun, not as in adjective! Though some might disagree!”

“Likewise! I’m Dave. But everybody calls me NutJob!”

“I can’t stay unfortunately, I’ve just been round to the Constabulary, they’re sending an officer over to the Garrison now. I need to get back. Let’s get together next Wednesday for a proper chat.”

“OK,” says NutJob, “I must dash, I need to catch up with Faraday and find out how he’s been getting on with our side project.”

“Thanks for the tea,” he says to CandiCrush, then he smartly heads off towards the PrintWorks, walking at a preposterously rapid pace.

NutJob works part time at The Lancastrian, the main newspaper in Wolfland. In 2450AD there are no telecoms, no internet, and there’s scarcely any electricity. Hence, a traditional newspaper is the main way that people keep up with the news. Electricity is provided to the PrintWorks only on Fridays, so the company is keen to develop its own independent supply. That’s what NutJob is working on.

Like most youngsters with part time jobs, KristalClear and NutJob work on Friday evenings after school, and on Saturdays.

CandiCrush and KristalClear finish their tea, and set off on foot towards Broadland High Street, then down towards the river and the Garrison. They’re keen to find out what’s going on.

Soon after the cars vanished from Lancaster, everyday life changed. New homes and businesses replaced the superfluous

Previous – Book1 Page 4 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 3 – Next

Feeling slightly nervous about another episode of “she’s giving me that look again”, NutJob turns to CandiCrush instead.

“Why did you join the Garrison?” he asks.

“Horses,” says Commander Crush, “quite simply, horses! I was five years old when I first saw them, I learnt to ride when I was six, and I joined up when I was sixteen. I could have left school earlier and joined the ranks at fourteen, but I wanted to be an officer so I had to wait!”

“That meant waiting two more years?” asks KristalClear.

“Yes, I was less interested in being a marine, and more interested in horses. Riding horses, their welfare, and how things are organised,” she says, “and because I was doing well at school, I was encouraged to stay on right to the end, and then apply for officer training.”

“And BarmyWaffle?” asks NutJob, “why did he join the Garrison?”

“Barmy’s not a marine,” says CandiCrush, “he’s on the civilian staff, same as Kristal. He’s a scientist, the chief engineer.”

KristalClear has a part time job, working in the stables, whereas BarmyWaffle has been working in the Innovation Lab at the Garrison for many years. BarmyWaffle looks like a doctor, a doctor who’s about to tell somebody exactly what’s wrong with them. He’s one of the few people outside the medical field who has a Diplôme Supérieur which means that he must have done some further study after he left school.

A tall man, aged about sixty, BarmyWaffle even looks like a doctor! Habitually he wears a tie, though these days that’s a rarity. He has a slightly receding hairline with abundant dark wavy hair, streaked with ample traces of grey. Although at the back it’s a bit untidy and straggly. He says he keeps it that way deliberately so that nobody mistakes him for a marine.

His narrow, piercing, deep brown eyes are perched behind rimless glasses atop a bold, prominent nose. He invariably has a welcoming smile that makes people feel at ease, even if he is about to deliver an unwelcome diagnosis!

Previous – Book1 Page 3 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 2 – Next

The two of them have been in Mr Rafone’s tutor group for a year now and that’s continuing into the new school year. It’s mid September 2450AD, KristalClear has just turned sixteen, and within a few weeks NutJob will be sixteen too. In Wolfland, and everywhere else, there is no mainstream system of further education. Once people become adult, they finish school on the 30^th of June following their sixteenth birthday.

“What I want to know is,” says NutJob, “are graceful cantilever springs, springs for graceful cantilevers, or cantilevers for graceful springs?”

NutJob is the sort of person who typically over analyses anything mechanical, and he often has a new exciting side project to talk about. His latest one involves electricity, and that’s why CandiCrush and KristalClear have suggested that he and BarmyWaffle should meet.

Wednesday afternoons in Lancaster are special.

In the market place on this particular Wednesday afternoon, NutJob, KristalClear and CandiCrush are all at the Find Thyme Café, seated around a wooden table on the terrace. Lancaster’s Market Square is now a tranquil place, and it’s perfect for watching the world go by. On this side of the square, and on the other side in front of Magnum Opus, many of the tables are occupied by small groups of people, all drinking Manx tea, and all discussing their side projects.

Trying carefully to navigate a path to maturity, NutJob is more focussed on job hunting than he is on connecting with girls. However, KristalClear is undeniably attractive. Her charming, dark chestnut brown eyes, complement her long, straight, deep brown hair with its stunning, silky shine.

Occasionally when he looks at her, he thinks there’s a captivating stillness about her beauty. Her character is thoughtful, her outlook compassionate, and her advice is always sincere. He tries not to stare, but sometimes each of them has caught the other doing exactly the same thing. A failed attempt at a nonchalant glance. As far as NutJob is concerned she’s not trying to be radiant, she simply is radiant. She’s confident, yet composed and she is picture perfect.

Previous – Book1 Page 2 – Next

Previous – Book1 Page 1 – Next

Chapter 1

Connectedness

“When BarmyWaffle first mentioned Graceful Cantilever Springs,” says CandiCrush, “I thought he was talking about an idyllic oasis in the countryside. It turns out that graceful cantilever springs are some type of mechanical device that the boffins get excited about. It’s not some kind of yoga retreat at all!”

With a restrained smile, KristalClear is keeping her emotions firmly under control. She looks up to check the expression on NutJob’s face, nods reassuringly, and says, “I’m sure you’ll like him.”

Guiding her gorgeous, long, dark brown hair over her right ear, she continues, “BarmyWaffle sounds like a bigger geek than you!”

NutJob is a little cautious when making new friends for the first time. He’s known KristalClear for a while, and he’s met Commander Crush a few times, but he’s never met a scientist from the Garrison. Although he’s just heard a lot about him. BarmyWaffle should be retired by now, he’s four times older than the youngsters, and he’s twice the age of his boss, Commander Crush!

While waiting, NutJob is understandably nervous, and that’s allowed KristalClear and her friend CandiCrush, to dominate all the chat.

KristalClear and NutJob both attend Broadland Park High School. She likes him, but she’s not sure how much. She likes to say that once he’s had time to get to know you, and you’ve had time to get to know him, he’s fine.

Even if he is a bit shy and geeky, he’s generally a bright and cheerful young man, and his eyes are a delight. They are deep blue, happy eyes. Complemented by short, dark hair, a cute button nose and his soft, unblemished complexion, he has a slight baby face, which makes everybody think that he’s younger than he really is.

Previous – Book1 Page 1 – Next