Age of Chivalry: The First Expeditions Book 3 by D.L. Narrol
SYNOPSIS
This steampunk action-packed thriller is the third book of the Prehistoric Journey series; which takes the four time travelers to the unexpected when Dr. Sasha Dimitrikov does away with his time travel device and finally builds a time machine.
It’s Autumn 1910: Captain Colin Limmerick is the working class Irishman, who lives a double life. He runs a fishing trade and is continuing his higher education at the university in London. He is a handsome-brawny prehistoric researcher who realizes he must time travel again but due to error, finds himself in 1487 England, after The War of The Roses. The queen is enchanted with Limmerick and has him knighted. He must learn how to win jousting tournaments, and rescue his friends who are sentenced to the castle dungeon. He battles with fifteenth century ideas of chivalry and tries to instill his own beliefs but suffers the consequences in return.
His beautiful lover from India, Amoli becomes jaded from spending her days in the castle dungeon, that she calls off the wedding to Limmerick. He’s broken-hearted but undergoes a maturing process, while he tries to dazzle the kingdom with his charm. His former girlfriend, and archeologist, Rosa is confused and tries to win Captain Limmerick back but is also somewhat content with Dr. Dimitrikov who has a wife in Russia.
They later discover prehistoric mammals have been misplaced, when they tried to close the passage through time in Celtic Odyssey. Limmerick learns there is a planned uprising within the kingdom and ceases the traders with the help of a prehistoric beast, who the enemy thinks is a dragon. He is then worshiped by the kingdom but realizes enough is enough and he no longer wishes to play their game of chivalry. The four time travelers find the time machine and hope they return to 1910, but they don’t.  Another error occurs and they travel to their future — 1970.            They are just as awkard in the future as they were in the past. They are enamored with the more modern world but are perplexed with the liberation of women. Limmerick especially. It becomes known in London, 1970, that a Sasquatch is loose but the four time travelers know better that it is Neanderthal, misplaced from the opening passage through time from Celtic Odyssey.
Limmerick and Rosa feel they cannot leave 1970 to allow the ancient primate to die, where Limmerick decides to take it with them through the time vortex to 1910. He realizes more than ever, that while trying to play God — all else fails!
EXCERPT
Chapter One
Late September 1910 Captain Colin Limmerick stood by the gunnel of his vessel. The ship’s two steam pipes blew off excess as the one sail caught the chilled wind off the Irish Sea. He cranked away at the reel to bring in the latest catch. He put his bulging biceps to work as he pumped away at drawing the catch into the hold of the ship. The captain’s first mate, Eddy, stood behind him as he watched the tall, robust captain put his muscles to work. The fish made it into the hold, while the captain stared at the sea.
“Captain?” Eddy asked.
The captain gazed at the sea, as if he were in a trance. He winced with panic when he saw several people splashing about in the water. He reached for his bottle of whiskey, which sat on the planked floor of the deck. He took a few swigs and continued to stare. People squirmed and gasped for air as they slowly sank below the captivating waves. Their screams became less and less until only a few remained afloat.
“Captain? Are yaz feelin’ alright?” Eddy asked.
The last of the victims kept repeating the same phrase in Gaelic.
“Long live our Lord! And, long live Ireland.”
The captain bit his lip with horror as he watched each one of them sink into the frigid sea.
“Captain! Captain Colin! Are yaz feelin’ ill, or what?”
Colin turned to his first mate. “Oh, God!”
Eddy stepped closer to him. “What is it that ya see out there?”
Colin appeared horrified. “Oh, God! Sweet Christ!” He took the whiskey bottle and placed it against his lips. He started to drink profusely, while he focused on Eddy. He gazed at his first mate with penetrating eyes. Eddy noticed a tear run down his captain’s cheek.
“Oh, sakes, captain, yar cryin’? What’s wrong?” Eddy pulled the whiskey bottle from his captain’s hands. “Imagine a big strong man like yarself is cryin’. Ya got every wench chasin’ after yaz. The crew goes on about how much they wished they had yar good looks and brains. Can’t believe a man with so much to offer is cryin’.”
Colin looked at Eddy with his lips parted. He unbuttoned his jacket. He pulled his tartan scarf from his broad neck and unbuttoned his shirt. Eddy could see his bare chest and stomach.
“Look at me.”
Eddy noticed a deep scar on Colin’s belly. “Oh, God! Captain, what happened?”
Colin examined his wound for the umpteenth time. He ran his large hands over bumpy aftermath of skin.
“What happened, ye ask, Ed? A sword did this to me.”
“Oh, good Lord. What kinda mess did yaz get yarself into? Since when ya play with swords?”
“Since lately, I suppose.”
“Are ya cryin’ ’bout the wound, or are yaz in pain from it?”
“It does still cause me pain, so it does. Rosa stitched it up.”
“Rosa? She’s no medical doctor. Isn’t she an archeologist?”
“That she is, but there wasn’t a physician around. I’m not cryin’ ’bout me wound, but tell me somethin’, Ed? Are there people drowin’ in the sea just now?”
Eddy slowly turned his head. He squinted his eyes as he scanned the water.
“I’m not seein’ them, captain.”
Colin turned to his first mate. “What ye mean?”
Eddy sighed with frustration. “I’m confiscatin’ yar whiskey. Ya really gotta cut down, don’t ya think?”
Colin buttoned his shirt. “Cut down? So, ye think I’m a lush, do ye?”
“Think? I know. We’s all gotta cut down, don’t ya think?”
Timmy in the wheelhouse climbed down to the deck to where his captain was talking to the first mate.
“Howye, captain?”
Colin tipped his tweed cap at his crewmember. “Timmy.”
“Gotta message from me wench for ya, captain.”
“How is Deidre these days?” Colin asked.
“She says she’s dyin’ to see yaz again, captain. I think she’s in love with yaz.”
Eddy placed his hand on Timmy’s shoulder. “Be a good lad ‘n leave us be for now. Yar captain has run into a problem, eh?”
Timmy sprinted to the galley. Eddy chuckled.
“Kids today.”
Colin sat on the ledge of the deck. “I know ye don’t know what me work is like at the university, but… ”
“Ya never tell me anythin’ ’bout yar research. Yaz always been very secretive ’bout it.”
“I’m a fishin’ captain and PhD candidate at the London University; strange combination, isn’t it? But ye know, Ed, I was the one with the high grades in school. Here I am a simple man, a fisherman at that. Yet I always had that crave for research and higher education. But I’ve noticed the other PhD candidates like Rosa came from wealth. Did ye know her father was a professor? Same with Amoli’s father.”
“Of course, captain, those that go to university don’t come from workin’ class people like us, eh?” Eddy nudged Colin’s arm.
“So, why would I bore the first mate of me ship with me university bunk?”
“I’ve known yaz since ya was a wee lad on yar uncle’s ship. Nothin’ ya have ever said to me was ever borin’.”
“Yer too kind, Ed. Can ye give me back me whiskey bottle now?”
Eddy handed it back to his captain.
Colin took a few swigs. “Don’t want ye to repeat any of this.”
“Captain, ya know ya have me word.”
“I’ve been travelin’ to past times in history, so I have.”
Eddy grabbed Colin’s whiskey bottle and took a large gulp. “Time travel?”
“Aye.” Eddy took another gulp of whiskey. “Wanted to prove Megaloceros giganteous was sexually selected against 10,000 years ago, which led to its demise.”
“The Irish elk yar speakin’ of?”
“Deer, it was a deer.”
“Deer, elk, what’s the difference?”
“I was away from the ship earlier this year, remember?”
“Of course.”
“I was in 840 AD helpin’ the ancient Celts battle the Vikings.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Eddy’s eyes bounced around showing his nervous twitch. “Lord love ya, yar speakin’ gibberish are yaz?”
“It’s time travel, is what it is, if ye can believe what I’m tellin’ yez?”
“Time travel?”
“I battled Viking warriors everyday. I even battled the head Chieftain of the Celts for Amoli.”
“Amoli was there?”
“Aye. He wanted her for his own. Geez, I had to get her back, Ed.”
“When did ya learn to use a sword?”
“Dr. Sasha Dimitrikov taught me in five feckin’ minutes.”
“Dr. Dimitrikov taught yaz? Sasha? He’s an expert?”
“He learned in Russia, so he did. He’s quite a skilled swordsman, I must say.”
“Really? Yar pretty swift with a bow ‘n arrow, though.”
Colin took back his bottle of whiskey and drank it down to the last drop.
“Didn’t notice a whole lot of archery when I was there, mate.”
“Maybe archery wasn’t invented yet.”
“Donno, really. So, that’s me story, Ed. Ye now know all of me secrets.”
“Yer a wonder of the world, captain. Time travel, imagine that.”
“I’ve traveled to prehistoric time periods as well. I’ve seen prehistoric mammals, even Neanderthal.”
“A cave man?”
“Sure, if ye wanna address ‘im as that.”
Eddy sat on the ledge by the gunnel beside his captain.
“Captain, are you gonna time travel again?”
“I hope not. I’m plannin’ a weddin’. I’m gettin’ married on Christmas day.”
“To Amoli, the little foreign lass from India? She’s a beauty, that one. Nice ass on her, I must say.” Colin grinned. “Glad to hear yar finally tyin’ the knot. It’s about time.”
“Sunday, I’ve got to get back to London a tad earlier than usual. Get the boys workin’ on the catch for Sunday night, okay?”
“Aye, captain.”
AUTHOR BIO
D.L. Narrol, (Dianne) from Toronto, is a steam punk author who has created The Prehistoric Journey novel series, set in London, England in the early 1900s. She started writing Prehistoric Journey: The First Expeditions in 2004, meaning her vibrant characters have been living with her for a decade. She spent several summers in Ireland, where she documented Irish people and landscape in order to create her gutsy handsome protagonist, Captain Colin Limmerick. She studied prehistoric mammals, who roamed Western Europe and built a novel series around it.
She defended her Master’s thesis in Geography on Russia. She was a teacher of English there, and feels she acculturated herself with the Russian people. Her two stays in Russia gave her enough material to create her comedic side of her novel series, Dr. Sasha Dimitrikov, the creator of time travel.
Dianne’s readers have compared her style to Kurt Vonnegut. Comedy prevails her novels when it’s least expected – yet the action never stops. The dialects and concept of time travel can also be compared to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.
Her novels include: Prehistoric Journey: The First Expeditions (released June 16, 2009) – the first book of the series; Celtic Odyssey (released August 10, 2012) and Age of Chivalry – (released February 9, 2014).  Her website is www.dlnarrol.net
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