Two extraordinarily mismatched minds are still better than one when telepathic twins,at odds over science and the supernatural, fight a curse of snow.

[The expression ‘running late’ preceded Bash’s mad dash down the rickety servants’ stairs. She was in no doubt the guests assembled in the red library would wait for her, and equally certain there’d be no escaping Lady Nan’s wrath. Her grandmother could never abide anyone being late when she was alive, and now, ironically as a ghost, she was technically ‘the late Beryl Stratford Smyth’, and more of a strict matriarch than ever.]

BASH’S MESSAGE   BEDE HALL, England – January 15, 2018

“Kit, can you hear me? I’m too keyed up to focus properly but here goes. I’m guessing you’re a little keyed up yourself. Anyway, in case you can hear me, I’m in the Winter Room. I thought perhaps the vibes in here would make it easier to connect.

Being on constant high alert has everyone on edge. Emotions are running high, and if you can imagine such a thing, Lady Nan is skittish, and the Hall is more out of sorts than ever.

Jack sends his love every day. Apparently, dogs and cats and a certain ghost pal of yours, communicate freely. Jack talks to Anubis who talks to Taraq who talks to me. Don’t do anything daft. I’m running late. Over and out. Time travel is natural metaphysics. Mystical phenomena are to be expected.Talk soon. Please try to concentrate.” 

KIT’S MESSAGE c. 1500 B.C. EGYPT

“Bash, I’m thinking of you. If you can hear me, please say hello to the Pidge and Taraq for me. Sometimes, I can almost hear their harping voices on my shoulder. I only wish I could hear yours, and yes, you DO harp. I’m stabilizing enough to begin my, of all things, alchemy lessons. How ironic that I will have to learn magic to resolve the logical problem of destroying our enemy. Yes, I know, I simplify, and you amplify, which is why we should have made a perfect team. In any case, I wish you were amplifying right now so I could hear what’s happening at home. I worry about Jack. And I miss you chiding me for… well, anything at the moment. Time travel is complex astrophysics. Temporal glitches are to be expected. Talk soon. Please try to concentrate.”

[A shrill squawk of phantom bird laughter resonated near enough to make Kit swivel around expecting to see the head of a brightly colored parrot, angled accusingly towards him, eying him with unblinking authority – a sound most assuredly delivered by an audible hallucination of his father’s testy bird named Pigeon, that used to read his mind at the most inopportune moments according to his perverse sense of humor and his innate ability to spew offense.

A distinct screech and the echo of Pigeon’s favorite word, ‘Pooh,’ faded like smoke into the distance, followed by silence.

Kit smiled. Funny how irritating things could lift the spirit when recalled through the perspective of time travel. Bash called Pigeon irascible, but then her hobby had been pulling people up, correcting them by using fancy words, egged on by their grandmother, Lady Nan. Bash’s word games, for that’s what they were, used to annoy him but the thought of being chastised again for his obsession with science and his denial of all things magical made him smile. ‘I guess that’s what’s meant by the good old days,’ he thought.

With a slam, a memory broke Kit’s concentration. He was back in day one… again, dropping from the portal in the Great Sphinx, landing on scorching sand. For an instant he lay curled in a heap like a newborn child. But a few deep breaths sent him crawling instinctively, wriggling on his stomach like a soldier to reach a safe distance from danger. He elbowed his body forward, inching his way through sand that grew increasingly painful until he rolled onto his back for relief. Kit was of two minds: stay and face his worst childhood nightmare or go home, a failure. But the unforgiving sun had other plans.]

The Bede Trilogy Book 1 of 3 ‘TWINTER – the first portal’ by V Knox is available here:

Book 2 of 3 ‘TIME FALLS LIKE SNOW’ by V Knox is available here:

Book 3 of 3 ‘TOMORROW AGAIN’ by V Knox:

*is scheduled for launch in January 2021 – it will be available as a Kindle for under $3 here: