Page 18 - Billy the Cat and Katie

seemed to be telling the truth and seeing that he was in no position to cause any problems Billy
and Katie let him free. 'I'll tell you what' said Billy, 'You go and see Mr Potter at
the park keepers house tomorrow and ask him for a job. I know he needs a labourer and we'll
make sure that no-one finds out that you've been talking because it might be bad for you if
these other villains found out you'd spilled the beans to us.' Charlie nodded quietly and with
that they leaped up into the air and raced across the rooftops back to the centre of Burnham
and home.

Thursday was the day of the school trip and according to Charlie Robins also the intended day
for the robbery, but as William and Katie were going to be surrounded by at least forty other
children and two or three teachers there was no way that they could try to track down two
robbers in a place as large as London. Where on earth would they start? Sat on the coach
about halfway to the back William pushed his and Kathleen's large rucksacks onto the luggage
rack above their heads. 'What have you got in there? The kitchen sink?' laughed Annie who
was sat in front of them. 'Just how many sandwiches did your Aunt Mabel make you? We're
only going for the day not a fortnight!' William sat down next to Kathleen. 'Ha ha, very funny'
he pulled a face at Annie 'We've just come prepared for any eventuality' and quietly read his
comic book. Kathleen chatted to Annie all the way to London which took about an hour and
William looked up as they passed Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column who seemed to be
looking down over the whole city. Passing St Pauls cathedral William glanced out of the
windows watching the city pass by and eventually the coach drew into a side road and stopped
just next to Tower Bridge. Everyone picked up their belongings and stood on the pavement
next to the coach where Mr Wood read out the names of children's groups and where they
were to go to on the rota. Each group had ten children and a teacher and they would visit three
places in turn, Pudding Lane and the Monument, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.
William and Kathleen's group would be with Miss Nuttall, a new teacher would joined Burnham
Academy the previous month. She was a good teacher, William thought she was
about thirty years old and she said that her husband was a manager who worked in the
local fruit packing factory. She wasn't very good at organising and as they set off towards the
Tower of London she started walking in the wrong direction from the children, who'd already
taken a fair lead so she had to hurry along to catch them up.

Standing beneath the walls of the Tower of London William, Kathleen and their school friends
gazed at the magnificent entrance to this huge stone castle where many bad people had been
imprisoned, the Kings and Queens of England had lived and of course where the Crown Jewels
were kept, locked away and guarded by the Yeoman Warders, more commonly known as the
Beefeaters. The small gathering was escorted by a nice man with a moustache who told
everyone about how the White Tower was built by William the Conqueror in the eleventh
century and also how it had been expanded by Kings such as Richard the Lionheart. The
children shivered when told of the beheadings and the ghosts such as Anne Boleyn, wife of
Henry VIII who supposedly walked the corridors with her severed head tucked underneath her
arm. Rounding a corner they approached Wakefield Tower where they were to see the Crown
Jewels housed in all their ceremonial glory. Excitement grew as they climbed the stairs to the
upper floor and their guide beckoned them forwards into the viewing room.