ASSOCIATION / CH. 24:CONTACTS
7PM ANCHORAGE TIME, 31ST JAN.
“Hi, Maddie. Sarah here.”
“Oh, Wow! Hi, Sarah.”
“I've got a really odd request for you and / or Robert.”
“What, odder than an unexpected wedding? Shall I put you on speaker?”
“Yes, please.”
“Robbie! It's Sarah with a request for us.” Maddie called, then said “He's just washing up.”
A little later Sarah heard footsteps and a “Hello!” from Robbie.
“Odd request is as follows. Someone who claims to work at the United Nations has been told that the assistant pastor of one of my employees in Anchorage had an... urm... eventful youth or something, and quite possibly still has enemies. I've got my own guesses about how I ended up getting that call, but I've not confirmed them. But... does it sound possible to you?”
“Urm... maybe.” Robbie agreed, carefully.
“It's all very cryptic and not saying much. But the person who rang me at work, apparently without knowing my name, claims to work at the U.N. checking up on threats, and he'd like to know someone there isn't one, if that makes any sense to you. He says has a story that he'd like to confirm. But it's all so vague that it might be someone else entirely. All I've actually been told that the person is the assistant pastor of someone I employ in Anchorage, so I'm guessing it's your pastor... Confusing eh? No names mentioned, and so on.”
“It sounds like one of your old stories, Maddie!” Robbie offered “Top secret messages from spies...”
“So, you'd like us to go talk to him?” Maddie asked.
“Yes please. Can I give you the message?”
“Of course.”
“The message is: 'Someone tells me you owe a lot to a flower and a pig in a sack. If that's true, please contact me.'”
“Can you repeat it Sarah?” Maddie asked “I only got the first part down.”
“No problem. 'Someone tells me you owe a lot to a flower and a pig in a sack. If that's true, please contact me.' The me is the guy at the U.N., but he said that it doesn't need to be direct. I'm guessing it's safer for your pastor if it isn't.”
“And do you know this guy is legitimate?” Robbie asked.
“It was a phone-call out of the blue. I'll check up on things my end to see how he got in contact. There aren't that many people who know I've got contacts in Anchorage, let alone who know where I work.”
“OK. Well, we'll go and deliver the scary cryptic message.”
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After hitting a dead loss with Karen and Eliza, Sarah tried calling Enoch.
[Enoch, are you free?]
[Hi, Sarah, what's up, other than you?]
[Someone has been giving my work number to someone at the U.N., and obviously knows some not very well known information about who I'm in contact with in Alaska. I don't know who it might have been. Not Karen, John, Eliza or Kate. I'm guessing it's not you.]
[You're right there.]
[So... I can't think of anyone else that I might have mentioned Alaska to. Any idea how I find out who's been giving my number away?]
[It sounds like you've got a pretty small category there. Why not 'spot the dot?']
[Why didn't I think of that? Don't answer.]
[OK. I won't answer. You've got contacts in Alaska?]
[Yes.]
[Sounds exotic.]
[Ha! You should hear the message I was supposed to deliver! But it's probably top secret or something. When I find out more, I'll let you know, if I can.]
[OK.]
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[Vivian, could I request a little background information, please?] Sarah demanded.
[Oh, hi, Sarah! He's called you already? Mr Assessor fourth grade?]
[If that's his grade. So, he's legitimate, some kind of investigation division?]
[Pretty much. Sorry for not filling you in, I had a busy day: one interview after another. Basic run-down as follows: I don't trust his boss, he's border-line thought-stealer, but the guy I gave the institute's number to is OK. He's a Christian, has a sense of right and wrong, just not much authority. The boss has the authority but... well, like I said. And they're both tied up by stupid forms. On actual paper, would you believe it? It's crazy! And they can't take my word for it that Lilly's not a threat.]
[Oh, Lilly being the flower in the message?]
[I know nothing about the message. Deliberate separation of information streams — they don't trust me either, partly because I told them Lilly was OK without following the boss's plan to give her nightmares for the rest of her life.]
[Sounds nasty.]
[Like I said, the boss is a border-line thought-stealer. He declared that as part of assessing Lilly's truthfulness I needed to squirt a picture of her mum killing her brother at her. Sorry, urm, Lilly got sent here to be a spy, Mum is her controller. Both Lilly and her brother are Christians, but that's an instant death sentence if anyone finds out back home. So, Mum killing her son is quite a realistic possibility, for all Lilly knows.]
[Oh, wow. So, how did you know about Alaska. I don't remember mentioning it to you.]
[No. Interesting use of the gift, Selina told me about it. You know how to find someone, that's easy. Then you think about who should it be that should contact them, nice small category there, and so on, back to someone you know. That's how I found out about Robert and Madeline.]
[How did you know they were employees?]
[I guessed they might be, and sure enough they glowed.]
[Oh, OK. Thanks, and how did you find out that the guy you were looking for was their assistant pastor, more guessing?]
[No. I looked at his clothes.]
[His clothes?]
[Yes. Another one from Selina. Didn't you know?]
[No. And you find out what their job is?]
[Yes. It's a bit like names, you can dig deeper and get the exact job title, but otherwise you get if someone's a farmer or a merchant, or whatever.]
[Handy.]
[Yes. Selina says the general terms are all the sort of thing that people have always done, and can be a bit surprising for modern jobs. She looked at a biologist friend once, and got the response 'learned man', and secretaries usually come up as scribe. I had a look at you, by the way, since you're one of the most complicated people I know.]
[Oh yes? Do I want to know what it says am I?]
[I'm not going to leave you guessing. You're a 'wife of noble character', at the top level. I had to ask Selina about it, but it fits, I think.]
[{surprise} That is... wow. OK. I guess that's what I try to be. I wonder what you are.]
[I asked Selina. She told me that I'm a judge these days, which fits me too, I think. It's fascinating, but... you know. We shouldn't abuse it.]
[No. But I will tell the others about it.] Sarah said, firmly.
[Good.] Vivian agreed.
[So, back to the guy at the UN. The pastor can trust him?]
[He's a Christian, but the man he's working for is certainly not. Neither of them are working for where the pastor came from, and I don't think there's any risk of them talking. But even so, I'd say he shouldn't give away too much, but just confirm things without exposing himself, if he's happy to do so.]
[But Lilly needs him to talk?]
[Not at all. It's just so they can formally close the case and reallocate the people who check up on her from time to time.]
[Oh. Well, thanks, Vivian.]
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8PM, ANCHORAGE TIME.
“Hi, Sarah, you're on speaker. Did you find out any more?”
“Yes. The man who contacted me is a believer. His boss is not, and I now know who put him in touch with me, and why. I'm entirely convinced that no one is going to come knocking on any doors.”
“But... how was I found?” Frank, the assistant pastor asked. “That is what scares me.”
Sarah answered. “Pastor — don't tell me your name, I don't need to know it — the reason you were found was in order to convince the U.N. that a certain woman who serves the same Lord we do is not a threat. No one wants there to be any additional threat to you. The how is supernatural knowledge; the woman who gave the investigator my number knows someone who has the gift from God that lets her find people. In fact, that gifted person sought you out, and then person who was the closest link to my friend in contact with you and so on. And that's why I'm talking to you now, and why I asked Robert and Maddie to call you. That same person who found you confirms that the man who asks is a true believer, working at the department of the United Nations he says he is, no one at or near the UN is hunting you, and also confirms the faith and trustworthiness of the woman I mentioned earlier, but I suspect you know that.”
“And you trust that person who put the man in contact with you is not deceived about the one who claims this astounding gift?” The pastor asked.
“Oh, I should have said... I know her also. I am convinced her gift is real and from God.”
“Personally... I am not at all certain about it. It is outside my experience, and certainly wasn't covered in my training.”
“I'm not surprised about the latter, Pastor. I expect that it will take some theological schools a very long time to include anything about it in their studies. With only fifty-seven having the gift, it is not something many come in contact with.”
“No. I admit I had rather hoped I never would be confronted with it.”
“Pastor, you already have.” Maddie pointed out. “Robbie would be in prison or worse if he hadn't received warning that the secret police knew of him.”
“But, you see, that sort of evidence is no good.” the assistant pastor pointed out, “You cannot know the truth of it, only that Robbie left. Perhaps it was not true knowledge. And even this conversation... it could be deception, couldn't it?”
“All miracles can be explained away, pastor.” Sarah pointed out. “But I choose to believe that Jesus indeed walked on water, fed the five thousand, rose from the dead, and gave a certain friend of mine this gift, unasked-for when she repented of her rejection of God and chose to follow Jesus as I led her in prayer.”
“You actually witnessed her receiving the mind-reading gift?” Maddie asked.
“Before she turned to Christ, she was an atheist without any ability to hear thoughts. After she had given her life to God, he blessed her with both the humanly explainable power of thought-hearing and the mind-reading gift too, and she immediately went and boldly told the staff where we work that she'd been saved, that God was real and had worked a miracle, then she went on to give her testimony.”
“And she didn't get a reprimand about talking about faith at work?” Robbie asked, a little surprised.
“Oh, it was at a special event anyway — she wasn't stopping any of us from working, or anything like that.”
“I'm a little confused, Sarah.” the pastor asked “How is it that you're talking about having a job, when I understood from Robbie and Maddie that you were the owner of the international corporation they worked for.”
“Oh well, that's easy.” Sarah said. “I might have inherited the family firm a few months ago, but I still want to make every effort to work with my hands, as Paul says. My husband and I have made the decision to keep the two areas of my life separate. Like my parents, I don't give myself an income from my inheritance, but we live on our earnings.”
“Oh! But it must be a temptation, surely?”
Sarah laughed. “Not really, pastor; we don't spend our salaries as it is. But can I turn the conversation back to this request from the United Nations man? I'm happy to act as intermediary, but you don't need to respond at all.”
“Except that it's true. I do owe a lot to that woman, if I can help her, I must.”
“The information I have is that she, herself, is not in any real trouble, it's more that certain people have been told she's not a risk but don't believe it, and proof would let them reallocate staff.”
“So, conclusive proof would change the attitudes to her?” the pastor said.
“Yes.”
“And thus the security presence around her.”
“I presume so.” Sarah agreed.
“Which in turn might put her at risk, if someone is watching.”
“That's an... insightful comment. Will you decline the interview, then?” Sarah asked.
“I think I will. I think there are risks to both her and to me.”
“May I tell the man anything?”
“Yes. Tell him... I owe my compatriot too much to confirm or deny any rumours about her past. No, that's no good. Tell him I owe it to my compatriot to avoid any risk to her. And tell him he should believe people he trusts and trust God's people.”
“You don't think that's too much, even?” Sarah asked.
“Not if they'd need to prove who I am.”
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“Hello. I have a message for you.” Sarah said.
“Oh! The assistant pastor?”
“Yes. Interview declined.”
“Declined? It wasn't the right person?”
“He says, quote: 'I owe it to my compatriot to avoid any possible risk to her. You should believe people you trust and should trust God's people.'”
“Oh great. So, he recognises himself, but doesn't want to confirm it? What's this about risk to her?”
“He felt that there might be a threat in upsetting the status quo. I tend to agree with him. I don't think I should say more.”
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“So he's scared of being confirmed alive.”
“No. A possible threat to her. Do you want me to repeat the message?”
“Urm, no. Sorry, I got it down. I'm just trying to make sense of it.”
“If it helps, I believe the second part of the message is to you, personally.”
“I should believe people I trust, and trust God's people.”
“Yes.”
“In other words, I should trust believers and believe what they say.”
“That sounds like a good plan.” Sarah agreed.
“If I follow that advice, then according to the truthsayer I should be very wary of my superiors.”
“Truthsayers do try not to lie. Who would you rather pray with?”
“Point taken, Maam.”
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8.30PM, ANCHORAGE TIME.
“Thank-you, Robbie, Maddie, for letting the phone-call come from here,” the assistant pastor said.
“No problem.” Robbie said “though I must admit a big portion of curiosity.”
“Is this something to do with your getting asylum?” Maddie asked.
“Yes. The woman was a colleague, we'd known each other for years, trained together and so on. It became known that I was a Christian, and so she got instructed to execute me as a traitor, on live video. She kicked me out of the frame and 'executed' a pig instead.”
“Wow. That took some arranging. You helped, I presume?” Robbie asked.
“No. She arranged it all herself. I was a bit woozy — she had to drug me, but I understood enough to know she'd just told me my death sentence and I was fully expecting the bullet, but I was alert enough to stop gibbering in terror when she yelled 'Shut up with that snivelling!' when she pulled the trigger. She risked her life to give me mine, to let me escape.”
“Wow. That's quite a story.”
“Yes. One day, maybe I can preach something based on it. Right now, if I did that, it would probably be a death sentence on both of us. But... can we talk more of your experience with this Sarah? You said that you probably owed her your life, Robbie?”
“Not quite as dramatically.” he replied.
“I'm not so sure.” Maddie corrected, looking at Robbie to tell the story.
“OK, well, you know I was a missionary?” Robert asked “Well, I was out of funds and my prayer letters had turned into 'Please pray I can get out of here alive, and help if you can.' letters. Sarah was looking for people to support — apparently something had gone wrong and her inheritance had ended up behind on tithing. She saw my letters on the net, Praise God, and called my brother to say I was in even more trouble that I thought: according to someone with the mind-reading gift the secret police had my apartment bugged, and I should just catch the next plane out. She then arranged for the funds for me to get here to land in my brother's bank account while she was talking to him. So, I packed what I could without it looking too suspicious, jumped on a bus and caught the plane, after a rather nasty interview with the security guard who told me my visa had been cancelled when I lost my job.”
“And eventually he landed on my doorstep in such a bedraggled state and I just had to marry him.” Maddie teased.
“Maddie!” Robbie replied.
“Sorry. We'd been engaged for years, and, well, I wasn't going to let him walk out on me again.”
“I really thought she hated me, you know?” Robbie said.
“Just because I spat in his face and told him I never wanted to see his ugly face again. He takes things so literally, sometimes.”
“When was that?” the pastor asked.
“Just before he left, about a year and a half earlier. I'd been expecting him to ask my Dad if he could marry me on my eighteenth birthday, rather than waiting for my nineteenth, and instead he announces that he'd decided to go and be a teacher in a scary place for two years, and then embarrassed me by asking for a kiss in public. I urm... wasn't very pleased.”
“Your people don't kiss in public?”
“It's... sort of a tradition, but more of an assumption. A girl who publicly looks forward to her wedding day obviously hasn't been good.” Maddie said.
“Oh.”
“So Robbie, in his thick-headed not-so-traditional way, asked me to show affection for him in front of my Gran, the most traditional traditionalist in the family. Now I'm allowed to kiss him, but we've been wed for more than a month now.”
“I heard a little about your wedding. It sounded... memorable. Sorry I wasn't here for it.”
“That's OK.” Robbert replied. “The date for your graduation ceremony was set quite a bit before the one for our wedding.”
“So, pastor Frank. You told that guy to trust God's people....” Maddie left it hanging.
“You think I should trust your Sarah?” Frank asked.
“I'm convinced she's on God's side.”
“God is good, but the devil can be deceptive. It was supernatural knowledge, I agree. And Sarah seems like a good woman...”
“But you have a problem with miracles?” Robbie asked.
“Not as such.” Frank said. “I believe God can do whatever he wills... but I was taught the time for gifts was finished, and he has chosen not to give such gifts to man now.”
“Except the gift of preaching.” Robbie said.
“Not to mention evangelism, teaching, administration.” Maddie chipped in.
“I guess I need to speak to Abner about this.”
“If it helps, the last time we spoke to him he was pretty confused about this, too.” Maddie said, with an encouraging smile.
“Maddie, Sarah must have had lots of thoughts about this, don't you think, if she's got the confusing situation of a friend who seems to work miracles on-demand? Why not call her? She did say we could if we wanted advice.”
“Would you like me to, Frank?”
“Maybe... I don't know. I think I'll talk to Abner and pray about it.”
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FRIDAY, 2ND FEB
“Abner, can I have a word?” Frank asked.
“The dilemma, again?” Frank had explained it to him earlier.
“Yes.”
“I don't think we should talk to this Sarah, if that helps.” Abner said, “She's too close.”
“For some reason, I keep thinking of Maddie's grandmother, which is really odd, since I've hardly spoken to her.”
“Longest serving member of the congregation.” Abner nodded, “And when I say serving, I mean it. She's got a real servant heart, and is very firm in her faith, and not afraid to speak her mind even if it upsets people, even me. Good call.”
“But... shouldn't we be asking a theologian?”
“What sort of theology do you need, most, Frank?” Abner asked “The sort that ends up as books hardly anyone reads, or the sort that raises two generations of firm Christians, and is still praising God after seeing her husband die a long painful death?”
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“Hello, Mrs Stammers. May we come in?”
“Hello, Frank, Abner, of course! Take a seat. My informant here tells me that you've been struggling with a tricky problem.”
“Did she tell you what it was?” Frank asked.
“Not much, she seemed to think you might want some privacy; just said her employer had fed you some theology that was hard to swallow.”
“That's a good way of putting it.” Abner agreed.
“So, do we send her out, or keep her here to keep me in line?”
“Gran!” Maddie protested, not used to her grandmother teasing people.
“Well, two handsome young men...”
“I'm going to set Dad on you if you're not careful, Gran. You're embarrassing Frank. What's come over you?”
“Shh. Don't tell the kids, Maddie. But when are you going to get married, Frank? You're what? Twenty-five? It's time you picked a bride. I'm sure we can work out a good discount for you for one of Maddie's sisters.”
“Gran, we don't do bride-price any more!”
“Shame.”
“Were you sold?” Maddie asked pointedly.
“Me? Of course not. Who'd pay good money for a flighty thing like me?”
“I think Grandad would have.”
“Of course he would have, but he didn't have the cash, see, and he was worth more than any money could pay, so I got the best end of the deal anyway. But don't go raking up ancient history. What's the big issue, Abner? You've not come to ask me for advice since you-know-who did you-know-what.”
“This one's bigger. And it does involve Maddie, well her employer really, so I'm happy for her to be around.”
“So, what's Maddie's employer gone and done? Mr Winters, isn't it?”
“Oh, not him, Gran. His boss, the woman who paid for Robbie's ticket home.”
“I never did get that straight all in my mind.” Mrs Stammers said, “Go ahead, Abner, don't mind me.”
“OK. Well, at the seminary we were taught that with the closing of the Canon, God's complete revelation, there wasn't a need for spectacular gifts, and they stopped.”
“Oh, that old one.”
“And from then until the twentieth century there weren't any Churches that practiced them.” Abner pointed out.
Mrs Stammers waved a finger at him “Wrong, there, pastor. Nineteenth Century is when modern Pentecostalism started, and those so-called stopped gifts have a habit of turning up in history, you know? I once heard someone say that you might as well say that personal Bible study is something new and not desired by God because it didn't happen much before the reformation.”
Frank was about to protest but Abner waved him down.
“Thankyou for your honesty, Mrs Stammers.” he said and summarised “So... you don't have any problem with the idea of people being given gifts?”
“Not at all. I like flowers, for instance.” she said with a grin.
“Gran!” Maddie protested.
Gran winked at Maddie and asked “But what's this got to do with Maddie's boss?”
“Sarah, that's the woman who owns the company, has got a friend with the mind-reading gift, Gran. That's how she knew Robbie needed to get out quick, and that's how she gave us a message for Frank.”
“Oh? Sarah's your boss, you say? Well, yes, she is certainly one who seems to like stirring things up. Lovely girl, but wow, what a stirrer!” Maddie looked at her Gran in confusion.
“Gran, you can't know Sarah, surely!”
“Oh, I don't. I often chat to someone who knows her though. If you talk to her any time soon, ask her to give Selina a nudge from me if it's not too much trouble, it's been weeks since we've had decent a chin-wag.”
“Gran, you don't hardly ever leave the room.” Maddie pointed out.
“Who needs to leave the room to talk to a friend?”
“And you don't have a wrist-unit.” Maddie added.
“Unreliable technology. Who knows who's listening in. Why would I want one of those?”
Maddie lifted up her hands in despair, “How else do you talk to your friend Selina then?”
“She gives me a shout, of course.” Mrs Stammers replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. But her eyes held a sparkle.
“Pastor Abner, can you make any sense out of this?” Maddie asked, shaking her head.
“Mrs Stammers, I think we're all confused.”
“Young Frank here isn't. He's been jumping to conclusions.”
“You... you heard me?” Frank asked.
“Yes, lad.” she turned to Maddie, “Your Sarah's probably done a lot of good, but she and her colleagues took a big big risk, sharing that secret. That must have taken a lot of faith.”
“I don't understand, Gran.”
“You don't know where she works?”
“No, Gran. All I know about her work is she's got a friend there with the mind-reading gift, who keeps being helpful.”
“Oh dear! Well, I hope I'm not going to be arrested at my age, if you do work it out. Sarah knows a lot of people with the gift, dear, so don't assume it's always the same person. Your Grandad had the same gift, and Bill's friends where a great comfort when he was dying, I'm telling you. I've just got the normal version.” she gave a little laugh, which was almost a cackle “Which is probably a good thing or I'd really have known what you kids had been getting up to.” turning to the pastor, she said “Pastor Abner, I don't know who came up with that idea about the gifts stopping forever. I dare say God did stop them for a time, so people could get used to the idea that Scripture was closed. But God's always given his people the odd bit of healing and guidance, so I know you won't say that miracles have stopped entirely.”
“No, Maam.” Abner agreed.
“Well, Bill, Maddie's Grandad, he got the gift when his Great-grandad prayed someone would come along to take over the burden, preferably someone he knew, since he couldn't travel much. Apparently he learned he'd been given it when his neighbour told him she was right embarrassed because she'd been praying for years that someone would be there to take over from her when she died and look here he was all the time. I guess what I'm saying is it's not something very new. But until Sarah and her friends at the Institute decided to tell the world, it was an even bigger secret than anyone being able to hear thoughts.” She shrugged, “No-one ever said the world couldn't change in a lifetime, did they? Do thank Sarah from me for being the answer to our prayers for Robbie, Maddie. She's not the first person with a bank balance to have the gift, but I must say it's been a long time from what my Bill told me.”
Maddie looked at her Gran sharply. “Gran! So phendyan?”
“Oh dear, my wandering mind! I did say that didn't I? My Bill'd have a fit, blabbing secrets like that. Oh dear, oh dear! Maddie, say sorry to her please! You won't say anything will you? Abner, Frank?”
“No, Mrs Stammers, we won't, will we Frank?”
“Of course not, Mrs Stammers.”
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“Gran's really really sorry, Sarah. It just slipped out.” Maddie said.
Sarah's mind raced, but couldn't fix on anything. “Pardon?”
“She's still in tears.” Maddie gabbled on, “She'd said that she'd like you to give someone called Selina a prod since she's not heard from her for a while, her name's Yvette, by the way, Yvette Stammers. Then she was talking about Bill, her husband, and how it had all been a massive secret, but how Bill's friends had been a great support when he'd died, and how grateful she was that you'd answered our prayers for Robbie, and then... it slipped out, you having the gift.”
“Oh! Selina's been talking has she?”
“I guess so.”
“And now you know. Anyone else?”
“Paster Abner, and Pastor Frank.”
“Abner married you, right?”
“Yes. And you've talked to Frank about not saying who he is. Oh! Now I'm doing it, aren't I?”
“I'm pretty sure Frank can keep secrets, Maddie. And come to think of it, you managed to hide your feelings for Robbie pretty well, didn't you?”
“Urm, yes.”
“So, you can keep secrets too. Pastor Abner's no blabbermouth, I hope?”
“No.”
“So, there's no real harm done, I expect. I'll just talk to your Gran, though.”
“Of course. I'll take my wrist unit to her.”
“Don't bother, Maddie.” Sarah said, and called Yvette Stammers. [Hello, Mrs Stammers. Maddie's just told me what happened; I'm pretty sure there's no harm done.]
[I'm sorry, it just slipped out.]
Sarah widened the conversation. [And it couldn't have slipped out unless you'd heard my name from someone, could it, Selina?]
[Did I hear my name thought in vain?] Selina asked.
[Not vain, just doing a bit of blame-shifting. Mrs Stammers is feeling all responsible, but there's not much harm done, we can hope.] Sarah said.
[It just slipped out.] Yvette repeated.
[What slipped out, to whom, Yvette?]
[Sarah's gift, to Pastor Abner.]
[Good man.] Selina summarised.
[And to Pastor Frank.] Yvette added.
[A good man with a scary past, if ever there was one.] Selina summarised.
[And to Maddie,] Sarah concluded, [who already has my contact number, knows about my inheritance and hasn't tried to take advantage. So, does anyone see a problem here?]
[My Bill would hit the roof, breaking trust like that.] Yvette said.
[Yvette, if you remember, he told you what my address was, didn't he? He forgot to ask me first. What I'm saying is it happens to us all. You don't need to worry about it, God's in charge.]
Eventually Selina and Sarah managed to convince her it was all right.
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“Maddie! Is everything all right?” Robbie asked, seeing his wife looking distinctly preoccupied.
“Urm, mostly. Gran's pretty sad.” Maddie answered.
“What about?”
“She feels she let Grandad down; she let out a secret.”
“Oh.”
“So now I know something, and I really wish I didn't. And no, I probably shouldn't tell you.”
“Oh. Bad?”
“Not really. Just... entirely unforgettable.”
“Oh.” Robbie, the master of eloquent responses, replied.
“When I was very very little, Gran told me a story. What I heard today, it makes me wonder.”
“What about?”
“What it was like when she was young, how she met Grandad.”
“I like stories. Can you tell it to me?”
“If it's true, then probably not. I remember her telling him 'She's not going to remember it, Bill.' But I did.”
“Oh. No dragon or librarian then?”
“No. No dragons, but there were sharks.” she shuddered, “Sharks trying to eat people.”
“That doesn't sound like a very Romani story.”
“It wasn't. But then, according to the story, she married in.”
“But you've always said your gran is really traditional.”
“Oh, she is.” Maddie agreed.
“Why would she uphold Romani traditions if she married in?”
Maddie shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe she didn't, and it's all a story.”
“Are you going to ask her about it?”
“I don't know.” Maddie said. “Maybe.”
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SUNDAY 4TH FEB.
“Maddie? Walk me home, will you?” Yvette asked as church was ending.
“Are you OK, Gran?”
“Yes, dear, I'm fine. But I'm not staying for tea today.”
“You're avoiding people?” Maddie guessed.
“Hah! 'course I am.”
“Gran, you're forgiven.”
“I know. Anyway, you want to talk too, don't you?”
“Yes, Gran.” Maddie agreed. She did want to ask about that story, and about the gift.
Yvette looked at her grand-daughter. “Tradition is important. So is keeping vows, girl. Remember that,” and she said nothing until they reached the house.
The house was empty, of course when they arrived, but even so, Yvette checked, and then to Maddie's surprise she settled down in a seat in the hallway.
“Why here, Gran?”
“So no one comes in without me noticing, of course.”
“Urm, OK.”
“So... Abner's sermon was obviously aimed at you, himself and Frank. What did you think?”
“It sounded very wise.”
“Yes. But, since you're already holding my shame, my honour and my trust in the palm of your hand, to quote Abner, what do you want to ask me?”
“I don't remember much. But... when I was little, you told me a story, about how you used to be a mermaid and that you killed a shark that was after Grandad when he was surfing.”
“Oh, you remember that? Is that all you remember?”
“No. You tried to swim away, but he knew where you were and paddled after you on his board and was there when you came up for air, and while you were telling him to go away and leave you in peace then there was another shark, and he killed that one for you.”
“You've got a good memory, girl. You must have only been two or three when I told you that.”
“And Grandad asked you about it and you said I'd never remember it.”
“Hmm. I was obviously wrong, wasn't I?”
“Yes. Is it true?”
“You saw the scars on my leg. That's why I told you the story.”
“Oh! I'd forgotten that was why. Yes.”
“Your Grandad, he bound my leg as best he could and took me to the hospital.”
“And you got married.”
“Yes. He courted me, kept on visiting me in hospital, you know?” Yvette smiled at the memory.
“So... of course the bit about you being a mermaid was just made up, but... you married in? Why didn't Grandad want me to know?”
Yvette looked at her a bit strangely. “You could say that I married in, I suppose, but I've got a bit of Roma blood in me, too. But your Grandad didn't want too many questions asked about how we met, how he followed me with his gift, you know?”
“Oh! Of course.” Maddie nodded then asked, “How long did he follow you?”
“Oh, I don't remember. But there was no way he should have been able to follow me as well as he did if he didn't have the gift. I knew I'd gone deep enough to be out of sight. I was just challenging him about whether chasing girls was really a good use of supernatural knowledge when the shark decided it wanted a chunk out of me.
“You were challenging him about how he used the gift? He'd told you about it?”
“No, of course not. But I knew someone else with it, see?”
“And then he stopped you being swallowed by a shark?”
“Well, it wasn't a big shark. It was just after a leg or something. But yes, Bill came to my rescue, stopped the bleeding as well as he could and took me to the first aid hut on the beach, where they patched me up, and sent me on to the hospital. Then he visited me every day, which was really sweet of him, and he spoke to my mum, using his gift, and told her I was safe.”
“She could hear thoughts too, then?”
“Yes. I've no idea why not one of you can.”
“Gran it's a bit rude, but can I ask... ”
“How is it that I'm so much more traditionalist thinking than anyone else, when I married in?” Yvette asked.
“Yes.”
“Because to you, they're just traditions, to be obeyed, passed on, but mostly you don't think about why you keep them. But I learned them as an adult, and I spoke to Bill's parents and aunts and uncles and grandparents and I worked out some reasons. They still seem good to me. Plus of course I was quite a traditionalist in my own way, before I met Bill.”
“How old were you?”
“When I met Bill? I was twenty. But we didn't get married for quite a few years.”
“For some reason I thought it was as soon as you left hospital.”
“What? No. But his mum took me in. Commuting to the hospital from home would have been really complicated.”
“Where was your home?”
“Oh, Maddie, some things are so lost in the past, it's not worth bringing them up again. My home is here. Leave an old woman some secrets, dear. I don't think I'm going to die soon, but vow to me, Maddie, just in case, that you'll make sure your children don't marry close relatives, and try to keep your nieces and nephews on the straight and narrow too.”
“Of course, Gran.”
“It's not of course, Maddie; the law here allows first cousins to marry. That's far too close, and the doctors have known even second cousin marriage is risky for years but still people don't want to change it. So, look after that red book I keep beside my bed, it's got the family line written in it, and those of husbands and wives. Second cousins is dangerous, even fourth isn't good, not in a small community. That far back, memories get sketchy, and you need records. You love words, so I can trust it to you. Don't let third cousins marry, please. Teach it to your kids, too.”
“Third cousins?” Maddie's mind worked out the implications of that. First cousins would be her and Robie's parents' grandchildren, second would be her grandparents great-grandchildren. To prevent her children marrying third cousins, she'd need to know about her and Robbie's grandparents' siblings. “Do you have any siblings?”
“Yes, dear. Exactly the right question. All written in the book.”
“That sounds like quite a project.”
“Yes, it is. Luckily for you, I was able to quiz Robbie's parents a long time ago.”