Martin had made his way slowly through the streets of Newbury towards Donnington Castle which was about a mile and a half away
He was due meet Alice and her sister Alice near the ancient monument
Their mutual friend Ralph had also promised to come with his sister Rachel
Bertie Bertie and Bertie had also registered an interest but Martin was not expecting to see them as he knew them to be unreliable
In his bag Martin was a carrying a portable record player as well as a selection of records that he thought would be suitable for a summer’s day
Three weeks earlier Art Healy a lecturer in Art History had been visiting Rome
He and his wife Isabella were staying in the Hotel Eden
On the morning of their departure Art had been laying the hotel bed reading Greenmantle by John Buchan
He imagined his wife receipting room service wearing nothing but a towel but Isabella was wearing a Dior dress
Art liked the Dior dress but preferred his wife in a towel
At noon exactly a taxi arrived to take then to the airport
Art placed his book in a small plastic bag but failed to notice that it had retained a split
As they approached the airport Isabella who was wearing only a towel kissed her husband and thanked him for such a lovely holiday
He returned the kiss but as he did so his book slipped through the split in the bag and fell unnoticed on to the seat
It was not missed by either Art or Isabella as they left the taxi at the airport
As he inspected his taxi at the end of the day Luigi found the red book
Luigi did not read English well so he gave the book to his daughter Monica who lectured in Art History
Monica started reading the book wearing only a towel but grew tired of its content and gave it to Sissy her younger sister who she knew was about to visit England for the first time
Sissy was a professor who was writing a paper on the English Civil War and a week after her sister gave her the book she had travelled to Newbury in West Berkshire
She had visited Donnington Castle on three occasions wearing a different Dior dress esch time
During her final visit she was approached by a small boy who asked her about the history of the area
It was during this exchange that the book slipped from her bag and became hidden in the long summer grasses
Martin was setting up his record player not far the castle’s waste disposal area when Alice and her sister Alice arrived carrying identical green bags
Both sisters were wearing yellow cotton dresses gathered at the waist
These dresses were chosen as an aid to camouflage as the grasses were quite yellow as the summer had been long hot and dry
Both girls feared the Parliamentarians
And knew that Sir John could not hold out for ever
Ralph and his sister Rachel arrived without clothes as they had interrupted their French naturist holiday to attend the picnic
Both sisters fretted at the sibling’s nakedness as they envisaged problems with the church
Bettie and Bertie were nowhere to be seen which suprised no-one
Martin placed the first record onto the supercharged turntable of his portable record player
It was the Missa Luba
Ralph informed Martin that he now wanted to be known as Richard as he was in love with his sister and did not want complications to arise should the caste be recaptured
Rachel had changed her name to Ralph as she considered that Newbury was a very tolerant town
Indeed she though Berkshire to be a tolerant county although prone to war
She enquired of the record and was told by Martin that the Missa Luba was a Latin Mass presented in traditional styles peculiar to the Democratic Republic of Congo
The group then knelt in prayer to thank Father Guido for his guidance
Alice and her sister Alice expressed a liking for the Sanctus and noted that they had both been jailed for many years for killing the headmaster of a public school
After Martin had flipped the record from its playing to non-playing side he noted Bettie and Bertie hiding in the grass
They had misplaced Betty but had decided to attend the picnic
Ralph waved wildly from the tower taking care not to expose her femininity which in her view might lead to prejudice in neighbouring counties
That is when they found the book which had previously been misplaced by Art Healy and Sissy
Martin was aware that he was distantly related to John Buchan and immediately started reading the book aloud to his friends
Only to discover that the small red book was not a book but a small time machine
He ignored this fact and continued reading aloud
Ralph Vaughan Williams was visiting the castle and was asked Alice and her sister Alice whether he had known John Buchan in his lifetime
The composer noted that he not had the pleasure of meeting the writer but had known Elgar and Henry Purcell
Just before four o’clock a cannon ball destroyed Martin’s portable record player
Richard and Ralph who were inspecting the tower immediately returned fire but were hindered by their nakedness
After a short exchange they surrendered to the Parliamentarians who offered them safe passage to their naturist complex in the South of France
Bettie and Bertie but not Betty were soon engaged in close combat with the invading forces but were cut down during a bloody exchange
The castle was recaptured and Martin was taken prisoner
Being experts in camouflage Alice and her sister Alice hid in the deep undergrowth that was abundant in the lowlands beneath the castle
Richard Hannay who had been taken prisoner on the previous day shared the adjacent cell with Martin
Their stay however was going to be cut short by their execution scheduled for the following day
The cause seemed hopeless until Martin came up with a far sighted plan which involved Father Guido and time travel
They waited until they had received their final supper and opened the small red book on page twenty-eight
Three weeks earlier Art Healy a lecturer in Art History had been visiting Rome
He and his wife Isabella were staying in the Hotel Eden
On the morning of their departure Art had been laying the hotel bed reading Greenmantle by John Buchan
He imagined his wife receipting room service wearing nothing but a towel but Isabella was wearing a Dior dress
Art liked the Dior dress but preferred his wife in a towel
At noon exactly a taxi arrived to take then to the airport
Art placed his book in a small plastic bag but failed to notice that it had retained a split
As they approached the airport Isabella who was wearing only a towel kissed her husband and thanked him for such a lovely holiday
He returned the kiss but as he did so his book slipped through the split in the bag and fell unnoticed on to the seat
It was not missed by either Art or Isabella as they left the taxi at the airport
Martin and Richard Hannay found themselves in the empty hotel room
Art Healy and Isabella had vacated the room an hour previously and were now at the airport
There was a knock at the door
Alice and her sister Alice had also travelled to the Hotel Eden but were now wearing Dior dresses which although fine did not camouflage well
The quartet knew that the Parliamentary forces would soon catch up with them
They needed to catch up with Art Healy and his wife Isabella quite urgently
Father Guido entered their room disguised as a maid
Suddenly they all heard musket fire
Time was bending
Father Guido handed out small machine guns to occupants of the room and told them to hide behind the available furniture
He switched the radio on
It was playing the Sanctus from the Missa Luba
As the Parliamentarians arrived Art Healey and his wife Isabella walked through the open door
The fire fight was short and sharp and the seventeenth century soldiers were soon were overwhelmed by the superior twenty-first century weapons
The noise brought comments from the other guests but the Hotel Manager soon smoothed over the complaints by noting that the gun battle had actually taken place in Newbury a large town in West Berkshire and not in the Honeymoon Suite in the Hotel Eden
Martin returned the red book to its rightful owner and wished Art Healey and his new wife Isabella a memorable honeymoon
Alice and her sister Alice stayed in Rome as they were deeply interested in the dresses on offer in the city
John Hannay stayed with them as he was suspicious as to their actual motives
He thought them to be inter- galactic spies who only posed as sisters with the same name to avoid attention
The following day Father Guido and Martin found themselves back in the grassy earthworks near Donnigton Castle
Martin had brought his portable record player and was playing selections of popular piano music as he had mislaid the Missa Luba during his travels in time