The Flopdudlian 'Forty-Five'

The Flopdudlian 'Forty-Five'

Peter Calvert

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 Peter Calvert

Published by Owlwood Books

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your own use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover design by Malcolm C. McCoull

THE FLOPDUDLIAN 'FORTY-FIVE'

Chapter One

King Richard V, King of Flopdoodle, Prince of the Chargling Islands, etcetera, opened his eyes and looked about him in surprise. What had happened to his small, bright room at Fizzling Towers with its white walls and white furniture? And whence came this massive apartment, the thick moulded wallpaper with hints of tarnished gold; the massive mahogany wardrobe and the four-poster bed? Of course, he remembered now. He was in the King's Bedroom at the Palace. There he had retired immediately on arrival, and even now the guard provided by the Yellow Dandelion - picked men of his gallant forty-five - were on duty to accompany him all the time he was on this strange adventure, for an adventure it certainly was. Two of them were outside the door that very moment, protecting him from the wiles of the treacherous Baron Balderdash. He chuckled as he thought of the Baron, standing, along with the other three in the hall the night before, welcoming him. He had been quite green in the face. He must have got a terrible shock when he heard that the thirteen year-old King had appeared,. It would ruin his plans -- the Yellow Dandelion had said so. Well, he would have to get. up now and do what be had come to Flopford to do.

When revolution had broken out in Flopdoodle earlier in the year, the four conspirators, led by the Baron, had made the revolution in Richard's name. However the Baron had stolen a march on his fellow conspirators by kidnapping Richard, who was then only twelve, and holding him hostage.. But that mysterious figure, the Yellow Dandelion, had found where he was, rescued him and taken him to Fizzling Towers to join the deposed King, His Majesty, and other members of the Royal family. As a result he was now in Flopford, engaged in a dangerous plot to foil the Baron, end the revolution, and restore the rightful King.

Ten minutes later he slid down the marble banisters and landed lightly on his feet in the hall, where a lot of elderly men in suits were standing round all looked a trifle shocked. So he put his coronet (for he could not wear a crown until he was Crowned) straight on his head, and, looking as dignified as he knew how, walked toward the door of the Dining Room. A fool with a long trumpet let out a fearful squawk right in his ear. He stopped. After all, he was the King, wasn't he?

There's far too much or this silly nonsense, he said firmly. I want no more of this trumpeting when I go into a room - only when I enter or leave the Palace itself. You can go away.

He advanced into the room with his purple velvet cloak fluttering behind him. The four conspirators who effectively ruled Flopdoodle,: the Dowager Grand-Duchess of Upper Gargling, the Earl of Argleham, Baron Balderdash and Sir Sidney, were already there. The Baron was rude and dishonest. He was disliked and feared by the others and his splitting headache and violent indigestion were making him disliked and feared by himself. The Earl of Argleham had weak health and a weak character. The only thing about him that was not weak were his money-bags, which were very ample and much of the contents of which had found their way into the pockets of the other three. The Grand Duchess of Upper Gargling talked a great deal in a loud metallic voice, especially when telling people that the problem with the poor was that they were idle. She was Richard's aunt. None of the other three could stand her for a. moment, and neither could Richard. The fourth conspirator, Sir Sidney Oswaldson, who had made an immense fortune in Steel already, had promised to aid the Revolution with it if he got a monopoly. He was rather a bluff military type, despising the other two men as lazy aristocrats, and despised by them as a. mere tradesman who had bought his baronetcy, though he would have said that at least he had paid for it. As for the Grand Duchess, he went in fear of his life of her, and she insisted on treating him as rather a. small boy that deserved to be spanked if he gets into mischief.

Richard bowed politely to his aunt, said Good morning to the Earl and Sir Simon, gave the Baron a curt nod which nearly made him burst a blood-vessel with rage. and sat down in a canopied chair at the head of the table; on either side of which he was glad to see a member of his Bodyguard. He would not in the least have been surprised had the Baron tried to stab him. It was a silent meal for Richard did not speak and hence by Court Etiquette the others might not either. The Baron looked flushed and infuriated, the Earl looked bored, Sir Sidney looked thoughtful - about some business matter probably - and the Duchess was looking very prim. Richard observed them all carefully. An inner feeling of excitement made him outwardly calm.

He ate carefully and slowly, running over in his mind the things that he had to do. It was the First of July, Mid-Year Day, and the weather seemed to have realised it, for it was a beautiful morning with not a trace of rain, and the' summer sun. was already· giving a sample of what it. could. and would do later on. When he, saw that the others had finished, for he did not want to annoy them unnecessarily, he got up abruptly. They all stood up.

1 want to make a speech from the Palace Balcony at eleven o’clock this morning, he stated. You, turning to the Earl, will see that all is ready and. that the fact is published and broadcast. You, he went on, turning to Sir Sidney will draw up or have drawn up. but in any case with the greatest secrecy. it you value your life, three documents. The first will be a Royal. Decree by which the present ruling family and connections will be declared the only one from which a ruler of Flopdoodle may come. The aim of this is to exclude from. the throne such people as the Baron here."

He was interrupted by the Baron who had gone quite white and collapsed into a chair. He was staring at Richard as it he had seen a ghost. He knew? But how could he -- he had mentioned it to no one? His secretary? Surely not!

Yet ....

I intended no personal reference, said the King. The second document will declare the deposition of the present ex-King illegal, and is to come into effect the moment I leave the throne by any means whatsoever.

They were all petrified, listening to his every word. The Baron lay perspiring in his chair, his mouth open, looking like a codfish that has been struck on the head by the anchor of a trawler as he was swimming through the sea. The cool tones sounded on amidst breathless silence:

The third document will be an Instrument of Abdication. You will have all these ready for me in two days, and remember, if anyone else but us gets to know of them you lose your heads at once. You, he said, rather coldly than coolly, to the Baron. will remain in supreme charge of the Revolutionary Police and Secret Service. You are so dishonest that I couldn’t find a better person. You will order all executions to stop and all political prisoners to be freed. If this is not carried out in an hour, you will lose your own head. All right then, do you three all understand?

They looked at each other doubtfully. The Earl cleared his throat.

Chrm! Do I follow then, that Your Majesty intends to make your uncle your heir?

That's right!' said the King irritably, You have been listening, haven’t you? I won't help your silly plots any longer. You, dear auntie, he declared to the Grand Duchess, did your best to get me to have my uncle murdered. When I refused, you, he snarled as best. as be could at the Baron, who shook like a turkey in aspic jelly, flung me into a dirty dungeon. Well now I'm certainly not going to help you any more, and in fact, since you’ve made me King, I’ll ruin your filthy plans in every way I can.

But Richard said the Grand Duchess, You used to be such a sweet child --" she tailed off weakly.

You may go! commanded the King.

It was wonderful what a spell in a dungeon and the month or so at Fizzling Towers as King had done for Richard. When he had come out of the dungeon he had been starved, nervous, uncertain of himself. Now he was a. normal healthy boy, but one who had grown up a lot in a very short time. He had confidence, he knew now that he was right and that these four were in the wrong, and he knew that it. was his duty to prevent them from getting control of the country., He did not. rush to the other extreme, as he might have done had. he been given a squad o£ soldiers to carry out his wishes a month before -- he did not order these grown-ups, whom he had then hated but now only despised, to be arrested and executed. He no longer behaved like a small spoiled tyrant. The example of the Yellow Dandelion had been a fine one. He was naturally able and intelligent, and perfectly able to carry out the part he had: to play, if only for the spirit of adventure, which he had in plenty.

Before