Beth held out her hands to catch the ball and in a flash the two children were transported back to the Middle Ages - 1199 to be precise. As Beth heaved a sigh of relief, Sam looked around in amazement.

    "You really are from another time!"

   "I told you I was. And that's where I live - Nottingham Castle." Beth pointed to the castle towers.

    "So your Dad really is the Sheriff! He was, I mean is a real baddy isn't he?"

    "Well... .only if he thinks you're his enemy", Beth admitted.

    Suddenly, they heard the sound of horses approaching. "That's him!", Beth whispered. "We'd better get you out of sight." Beth knew that her father wouldn't take too kindly to Sam. He looked so strange in his twenty-first century clothes that the Sheriff would surely cast him down into the dank, dismal dungeons beneath Nottingham Castle. Without a moment to spare they dashed into the castle grounds where Beth put the ball where no-one would find it.

    As they crept nervously around the gatehouse, keeping close to the walls, two giggling servant girls appeared as if from nowhere. Beth and Sam stopped dead in their tracks, but it was too late - the girls saw them: their mouths dropped open like a pair of drawbridges. Quickly, Beth and Sam dashed into the castle to look for a place where they would be safe.

As had luck would have it, they managed to pick the very room where Beth's mother was doing her sewing.

   "Beth my sweet! Have you been playing with your ball all this time?"

    Beth tried to keep her mother talking while she frantically waved at Sam to go through the iron gate which led down into the dungeons. "Yes mother. It's been very exciting!"

    "You are a strange child. I shall see you later for dinner." Beth's mother put her sewing down and left the room. Beth immediately went over to the dungeon gate.

    "Sam! The coast is clear!"
   
   

   Sam came back up the steps. They were safe for now, but they both knew that Sam would be caught eventually. He had to get back to his own time. As they discussed the problem, they had a bright idea. When Beth had thrown the ball, she'd travelled into the future. And when Sam had thrown it to Beth it was he who'd journeyed through time. So what would happen if Sam threw the ball to himself?

    They ran back to the Broadmarsh field. "So you really think this'll work?", Beth wondered.

    "Maybe. Maybe not. Anything's worth a try!"

    Sam threw the ball up into the air, caught it himself and immediately disappeared. Beth waved goodbye.

The End

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