Shades of Red

Darrell is back in the twenty-first century and at Eagle Glen School once again. But she is still dealing with the consequences of her last, disastrous trip through time. When classmate Paris finds a secret passage in the school library, Darrell and her friends get to experience first-hand the waning days of Europe's bloody Inquisition. Her quest to right a wrong then takes her to England during the reign of King Henry VIII, where she becomes a confidante of the ill-fated Anne Boleyn. With lives in peril and danger on all sides, Darrell seeks her final redemption in the long, red shadows of the Tower of London.

An excerpt from the novel...

The fingernail moon cast weird shadows through the wind-strewn branches of a large tree that grew at some distance from the door, and it was toward the tree that they hurried. Turning for a look at the building that held her captive so long, she watched too late as the heavy door from which they had emerged swung shut, pushed by a gust of wind. The door slammed with a bang.

“Batente!” The voice came from somewhere outside the door and above. Darrell thought her heart would freeze in her chest.

Her companion pulled Darrell into the shadow behind the broad trunk of the tree, and swore quietly. “We are undone.”

Darrell raised her eyebrows. No ordinary priest, this.

A crash of armoured feet mingled with yelling voices. Light blazed as a dozen or more torches were raised on the parapet of what Darrell could now see was an old fort or castle. Among the soldiers, a figure in a scarlet cloak appeared and leaned over the edge to peer down into the trees.

The friar’s hood fell back as he clutched Darrell by both shoulders and the moon gleamed off the pale skin of his tonsured scalp. “Do you think you can run on that thing? It is our only hope.” He gestured at the wooden foot.

Darrell tried to swallow her fear. “Just watch me,” she said, teeth clenched so they wouldn’t chatter.

“Then let us see if we can make it a race.”

He yanked up his hood and took Darrell’s hand, pulling her around the back of the heavy trunk. Hand-in-hand, they bolted down an icy path.