Twenty-eight coins now littered the table alongside other magical debris from Tung's earlier spells. Michael had never seen such an array of inexplicable things.
"I'm torn," he said. "I think I've seen real magic and some of this stuff here is amazing but none of this is possible."
"Want to hold the Scroll?"
"Things can't get any weirder, so why not?"
Tung produced an insignificant, rolled up parchment and handed it to him. A wave of power tingled every nerve in his body the second he took hold of it.
"Whoa," he screamed as he juggled it like a hot potato and then dropped it like a... well, a very hot potato.
"Can you feel the power?" said Madrick. "Here, hold it again. It won't be as intense this time."
He took the scroll again and this time the sensation was more like the shock of touching the poles of a brand new battery to your tongue; uncomfortable but bearable. He unrolled it and marvelled at the beauty of the ancient script.
Confused and disoriented, his mind tried to realign his sense of the universe. Was he capable of making such a mental leap? How could he believe things which were so squarely in the domain of science fantasy? He'd seen some genuine magic and there was definitely something 'magical' about the scroll but come on, screamed his logical brain, there's no way any of this can be happening. His heart wanted to believe but his head was having none of it.
Maybe his best bet was to open his mind, embrace the situation and see where things led him. If this fantastic story was even partially true then he could be about to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
"Well, what do you think? You look like someone who's been hit over the head with a poleaxe. Come on, say something."
"I'm struggling with this. It's just not... logical. And I'm a great believer that you should avoid zebra thinking at all costs."
"Zebra thinking?"
"Ignoring the obvious answer and making things too complicated. When you hear hooves coming up behind you, you should think horse, not zebra."
He saw the confused look on their faces. His anecdote about keeping things simple was having exactly the opposite effect. If these people really were from a thousand years ago, a lot of what he said would be a mystery to them.
"You don't know what a zebra is, do you?" said Michael.
They both shook their heads.
"Basically it's a horse-like animal. It's got black and white stripes but you only get them in Africa. We don't have them in England, so the hooves you hear will pretty much always belong to a horse. Think horse, not zebra. Look for the obvious answer."
"And what's the difference between getting trampled by a horse and a zebra?" asked Tung.
Michael gave up with the explanation. "I'm just saying there's no obvious answer here. I need to think outside the box with this one."
"Outside the box?" said Tung.
It was Madrick who put an end to it. There were times when it was best to let some of the modern expressions fly away over one's head, and this was one of those times.
"Let's take a break. We're all tired."
He was right, so Michael took a quick comfort break and by the time he got back, Tung had faded and gone back to bed.
"He says he's suffering from hallucinations but I think he's just imagining it. I think last night got the better of him and he needs more sleep."
Madrick looked weary too but his tired eyes were focused on Michael. What did this man want? More importantly, what did he want from him?
"Tung and I have talked about this and we think we can trust you, Michael. We need a friend from this century to help us survive and thrive. Could you be that friend? Please, we're asking you to be that friend."
Michael thought for a few seconds. This wasn't a logic problem, logic wasn't going to help him with the answer. He'd always relied on his ability to analyse all the possibilities of a situation and come up with the right course of action but that wasn't going to help him this time. This wasn't a normal situation. This was a zebra outside the box.
"I don't know," he said. "There's so much to take on board in one go. My heart says embrace it and, funny enough, I guess part of my head does too. The problem is the other part of my head is telling me that this whole thing is ridiculous. The other part of my head is holding me back."
Suddenly, as if some switches had been flicked inside his head, he changed his mind. There were still doubts but the part of his head which had been stamping on this lunacy seemed to unilaterally surrender and give up on the argument. He felt a sudden surge of relief and contentment.
"You know what, I'm going to go with this. Let's toast life's mysteries and our newly formed friendship."
"And a new adventure, whatever it is and wherever it leads us."
"Here's to magic scrolls and dreams coming true... chink-chink."
"The sky's the limit," added Madrick.
"Don't tell me the sky's the limit when I know there are footsteps on the moon."
He loved this expression and, for the first time, it seemed genuinely appropriate. Madrick looked utterly and totally confused.
"Sorry, I forgot, there's a lot of stuff you don't know about the modern world." The moon landing was probably far beyond his ancient imagination for now. One small step for a man was definitely one giant leap too far for Madrick.
There was an extended pause as they waited for a change of subject, and hopefully it would change into something a little bit more comfortable.
"I need some time to myself to reflect on what I've heard and to think about what we should do next," said Michael. "How about we meet up again tomorrow for lunch?"
As a parting gift, Madrick gave him one of the coins as a reminder that he'd experienced good old, old-fashioned magic. It was a nice gesture which helped reinforce his belief that these were good guys and he was doing the right thing.
The coin was spectacular but he decided not to keep it. After all there were plenty more where it came from, wherever that was. More important to find out if it was genuine or just a part of an ingenious scam so he dropped into a small jewellery shop he passed on his walk to the station.
"More gold?" said the jeweller lethargically.
Michael guessed he was inundated with lumps of gold destined for a big smelting pot but the man's attitude changed as soon as he saw the Aethelred. He took it in his hand and fondled it between finger and thumb.
"Where did you get this?" asked the man. "Actually, I don't care."
Michael could see the man was struggling to curb his excitement.
"I'll give you a thousand pounds," said the shopkeeper as a creepy smile spread across his lips.
Michael reckoned the beautiful coin was worth at least twice as much but he'd no interest in negotiating so he happily accepted. He wasn't there for the money per se, he was there to find out whether the coin was something special or not. It seemed it was at least a thousand pounds special.
Once home, he lay on his settee thinking about the last couple of days. What the heck am I doing? I've committed to believing in this madness, although maybe I should just be committed full stop.
Being a born planner, he started to map out in his mind how he and the two travellers could make the most of this strange opportunity. There were so many questions. And should he tell Faith? How would she react to this incredible story? Common sense told him not to share for the time being, it would be too embarrassing to have to tell the story out loud to anyone, never mind the woman he loved. If she'd come to him with the same story he'd have labelled her as a total nut job.
Back at the hotel, Madrick and Tung also reflected on their afternoon meeting.
"That went well," said Madrick.
"Maybe," said Tung, who was always a pessimist when he had a hangover.
"It'll be good to have a friend. We've done well on our own so far but we both know our luck won't last forever in this crazy world. We need help and Michael could definitely help us."
"You do realise that he probably thinks we're a couple of lunatics? We'll probably never see him again."
"I reckon he'll be back. I think he likes us and, as far as I can tell, he's nearly come to terms with our story."
"I hope so," said Tung, "because I sense there's trouble on the way."