ASSOCIATION / CH. 7:INTRODUCTIONS
9AM, MONDAY 1ST JAN, 2272
“Apparently we missed quite a significant broadcast last night.” John said, reading the news reports.
“Oh, what was that?” Sarah asked.
“His Majesty called on the nation to repent and turn to God. Well, not quite.”
“What did he say?”
“Well, he started talking about all the changes in the last year, which of course, you figure in quite a lot.”
“I presume you're not being serious.”
“Oh, he didn't mention you by name, or even identify you. He just spoke about the brave decision taken by the Institute to go public, and the impact, and Eliza's coming into Albert's life. Then he spoke about how we shouldn't fall for the fallacy that all religions are the same. That one of the benefits of being in a multi-cultural society that was tolerant of difference was that we could see the differences, and have discussions and disagreements without being ostracised. And that our society explicitly made space for those discussions and disagreements, and for people to change their minds about what they felt to be right and wrong. That above all else, honesty was important. I'm going to quote the rest:
'I used to be antagonistic towards any mention of God, and claimed not to believe he existed. I will publicly state that that was not the whole truth. I did not accept that God existed because I didn't want to believe it. If God existed then I was furious with Him, resentful of him, in which case I had a problem. If God did not exist, I had no problem. So I preferred the comfortable lie that preserved my pride to the uncomfortable truth.
'I was challenged earlier this year to not maintain that falsehood, that if I was angry and resentful towards God then I should admit that, but I shouldn't deny what I knew to be true. I was told that it was beneath my dignity as king to do such a thing. I thank the brave person who said that to me, because having admitted my selfish anger, I have been able to come to know God's healing forgiveness.
'I have shared this with you because I feel that is a problem with our society. We have too long prided ourselves on being right about things while we were hiding behind falsehood. We thought we were right to ignore reports from other parts of the world of people able to hear thoughts. It took bravery to publish that they existed, and I thank the staff at the IHM for their meticulous research. We thought that our system of government was secure. It took bravery to state that a lone individual has sown destructive seeds in our educational system and beyond and I thank Eliza for doing that, even when doing so exposes more of her father's evil. I thank the two people who did not hide the scary dreams and visions they had concerning the impact, but acted as good citizens and, having verified it as much as they could, brought this major threat to our royal attention through appropriate channels. I have not made this public, but I will state clearly now, that there were not just two witnesses to this warning from God. I also, at a time I was rejecting God's existence, received a similar warning. Again, individual bravery played its part and several people with the mind-reading gift made themselves known to us. They saw that in my dream I'd seen the undamaged state of the IHM — a second piece of evidence confirming that the city under threat was Restoration. God has given us this warning. Let us listen to it.
'It has not been an easy decision for me to state this publicly, and I am sure it will not be easy for the people of Restoration to empty their homes of all they treasure most in preparation for the impact. But I call on all of you: dispose of the convenient half-truths that mean you don't need to change. Reject pride of whatever form: personal, religious or ethnic and admit the truth. There is a rock heading towards Restoration and my ministers have convinced me that the only solution that has any hope of working is prayer. Nuclear warheads, lasers and the other solutions offered will not work, we must put out trust in God. We all of us depend on God far more than we know or admit, for the air we breathe, the rain which allows our crops to grow, for our existence and the fact that rocks do not rain down from the skies every few months or years. So when we have stopped lying to ourselves and God, let us turn to Him and ask that this rock which approaches will not hit our city, but instead will pass by our planet entirely, this beautiful home God has given us, without causing any harm.'”
“Good speech.” Sarah agreed. “I see he's not made every secret public, though.”
“Only the ones directly affecting himself, yes.”
“In other words, we have a brave king, not a stupid one.”
“Talking about bravery... you're talking to Vivian soon?”
“Yes. Why's that brave?”
“I'm assuming that her talking about a confession is brave.”
“It is rather. What we didn't know when we involved the authorities last night is that she's coming to the end of her training in Auditing, as in 'you despicable civil servant, how could you?' She's not at all sure that she'll continue. But it looks like she ought to.”
“Oh?”
“Selina's pretty sure that Vivian's going to join us. Actually told her that. Apparently there's always one who's been saved from that background, and I get the feeling Selina's not expecting to live much longer. As extra confirmation, Vivian's due to be spending about half her life in Selina's neighbourhood, assuming she keeps her job. But last night at least she was worried she wouldn't. But we didn't have time to discuss why not.”
“OK. Next question, would you like me to come too?”
“Of course. Oh, other earth shattering news: Christine knows how to get into my dad's files.”
“Wow.”
“And guess who did most of the design work on my tiara?”
“Bob?”
“No. Horace.”
“But...!”
“He said it looked like some kind of amplifier. My dad had a circuit which provided the signal somehow, Horrace's electronics turned it into something to inject into my skull. Details hopefully in the house computer.”
“Which gets taken out of action in about a week.”
“Yes.”
“I'm surprised you're not running home straight away.”
“What, and miss the fun up here? I should have time. After she reminded me, I remembered I'd seen Christine working on the house terminal pretty often. I should have thought of asking her months ago.”
“Oh well.”
“Can't be helped. Anyway, a nice slow ski to the bottom, or would you prefer a sledge ride?”
“Skis, I think. After all, William has promised us some lessons.”
“He has?”
“Oh, you were upstairs. Yes, he has. Three P.M.”
“Now, do we light the stove now, so it doesn't get too cold, or just when we get back?”
“Oh. Urm, small load now?”
“I agree. So, since we're out of wood, do you want to play with the axe or shall I?”
“I'm going, I'm going!” John said.
----------------------------------------
10.00AM, RESTORATION
“Hi, May.” Quentin said.
“You are so going to get embarrassed about this.” May said. “Run away now or come in.”
“What have I done?” he asked, coming in.
“Mum! We've got a visitor” May called.
“Hee hee.” Alice giggled, looking out of the kitchen. “Hey cousins, come and meet May's boyfriend.”
“Alice stop saying that. He's not my boyfriend.” May said.
“Oooh, can I have him then?” Kara asked, coming from the lounge.
“Q.Q., meet Kara. Kara shake hands with Q.Q. if you like and then hands off. He's not my boyfriend because he's on probation for gross stupidity. After then... maybe.”
“Oh, Hi! Q.Q.” Hannah said, looking out of the kitchen, where the adults were chatting. “Were we expecting you? Never mind, you wanted to meet the clan, didn't you? About half of it's here at the moment.”
Kara took Quentin's unresisting hand, and said “Hi, your parents called you Kyew-kyew? “. As she did heard him think: [Kara... is that grace? No, that's Charis.]
[Charis is a pain.]
[Good morning.] “Who's Charis?” he asked, and saw Kara's jaw drop.
“Bad move, Q.Q.” May said, guessing what he'd just done “As I guess you found out, Kara has the power. She also once had a faith the size of a carrot seed, but that was before she sneezed. Come to the lounge, Q.Q.”
“May, that's not fair!” Kara said.
“Then start showing your faith. Anyway, finders keepers, Kara. I've found him, and I might decided to keep him.” May said over her shoulder.
“But you said he wasn't your boyfriend.”
“Yet. Sarah's banned romance for a while.” May said.
“Oh.”
Quentin found himself being steered into the living room. He saw Alice and Ruben, but there were nine or ten strange faces too. “Everyone, this is Quentin, but call him Q.Q. He's not my boyfriend yet, so don't believe Alice, but he has applied for the position so he's on probation and no butting in Kara, Lucy or anyone else. Q.Q., meet some of the clan.”
“How long's the probation?” Lucy asked.
“Sarah's call. Months, so don't get your hopes up. Luce.”
“Don't call me that!”
“Anyway, I saw him second.” Kara claimed.
“Hey, what am I? A lump of meat?” Q.Q. whispered to May, turning red.
“Warned you.” she whispered back.
“Who's who?”
“By families, Charis, Kara, Perl.” May started, pointing round the room.
“Hey, it's rude to point.” Charis protested.
“All right then, everyone cluster together in families, and introduce yourselves.” May said.
“Who made you the ring-master?” Kara protested.
“Hear that, everyone,” Charis asked “Kara thinks we're animals.”
“No, Charis, you're a clown.”
Alice sprung into the air to catch the cushion that Charis threw at Kara. “Ta-da! I'm an acrobat!”
“Is it safer if we skip the introductions?” Quentin asked.
“Please try to behave like normal people, clan!” May yelled. Then added “Fine, don't get into family grops.”
“But we love each other really” Ruben said, pulling Alice into an embrace.
“If you want to stay thingy, whatsit and whoeveryouare, then fine.” May threatened. “Otherwise, I'll point or you can pretend to be over ten and introduce yourselves.”
“Good morning Q.Q.” Charis started in her best adult manner “I'm Charis, I'm big sister to big pain Kara, and to Perl.”
“I'm Lucy, this is Tim, who's just fifteen and Helen who's just turned thirteen.” Lucy introduced her siblings, then as though each word was an effort she added “We are a happy family, and we just love one another to pieces.”
“Preferably with sharp blades.” Tim said.
“Or heavy weapons,” Helen added.
“Hi Q.Q. You know me and little Miss stirrer.” Ruben said.
“Hi Ruben and Alice.” He looked questioningly at a girl other side of the room, expecting her to speak up.
Instead a boy a bit younger than him said “Hi, I'm Zach, I'm sixteen. This is my big sister Mandy, who doesn't say much to strangers. After me comes Molly.”
“Hi. I'm fourteen. Next is Keith, who's ten.”
“Wotcha. This is Alan, who can't remember how old he is.”
“Yes I can! I'm six!”
“Seven.” Molly corrected.
“Oh yeah. This is my little sister Holly, who's almost four.”
“I'm going to be a big sister.” Holly said.
“Oh yes, really?” Quentin said.
“Daddy likes mummy's cooking.” Holly said.
“I expect he does, yes.”
“Expessaly thinkful chicken.”
Mandy, bright red, corrected her “thoughtful chicken, Holls, and we don't talk about that, remember.”
“So, moving rapidly on, tell us all about yourself, Q.Q. especially how you met May.” Molly said.
“Edited highlights.” May said.
“Urm, I'm Quentin Quy, hence the initials, I've got a little sister, called Rhianna, she's fourteen.”
“Is she pretty?” Tim asked.
Q.Q. ignored the question “Rhianna met May on Saturday, when I was in a water-polo match, then I got stuck in the seats and they both helped me get out it. It took a while and we got talking.”
“What were you doing at the water-polo match, May?” Ruben asked.
“Delivering a message to Rhianna from Sarah.”
“Telling her to watch out for you, Tim.” Alice said.
“How do you get stuck in the seats?” Zach asked.
“It's got those seats which fold up, like in a cinema, but just plastic.
This arm was between two seat backs “, he pantomimed, “this one was stuck down the back of a seat and the concrete.”
“And his face was pressed into the ancient chewing gum. All because he tripped over his own two feet.” May added.
“Slain by your beauty, sort of.” Quentin said then realised that might not have been the best thing to say.
“More by my anger, if I remember correctly.” May corrected him.
“Urm, yeah.”
“Oh, go on, tell us more, this sounds juicy!” Lucy said.
“Whole story!” Molly demanded.
“I like stories!” Holly declared, and climbed onto May's lap.
“This is your fault Q.Q.” May said.
“Tell me story!” Holly demanded.
“Say please.” May replied.
“Please tell me story.” Holly said, and then spoiled it by adding, “Now!”
“There's not much to tell.” May said.
“Then why is Quentin turning red?” Alice asked.
“So what's thoughtful chicken?” Quentin asked.
“Clan's secret formula.” Alice replied.
“Nobody here knows, really.” Lucy said.
“Because it's secret.” Helen added.
May touched fingers with Quentin, [Aphrodisiac.]
“What's a frodizzyilac?” Holly asked May.
“Ooohh kaaayy,” Zach said “Who's been corrupting my little sister?”
“May said it.” Holly said.
[No, I thought it.] May corrected in thought.
“OK, you thinked it.”
“Clever girl Holly, except it's thought not thinked” May said. “And if you're thinking to someone, you don't need to use your voice.”
[Tell me a story?]
[Can I show you a picture from the story?]
[OK.]
[Quentin looked like this{image} when he was stuck.]
Holly laughed “You looked funny!” she told Quentin.
May carefully disengaged Holly and asked Mandy “Is this news?”
“It is to me. Zach?”
“To me too. Come on Holly, lets go and tell Mummy and Daddy what a clever girl you are.”
“What did Holly do?” Alan asked.
“She heard what I was thinking, Alan.” May said.
“Oh. Like you and Zach and Kara can?”
“Yes.”
“And me.” Quentin said. “Which is part of the reason I fell over. Another part is that May doesn't like being compared to Venus.”
“He thought it would impress me if he called me the pagan goddess of broken hearts, wrecked lives, and 'duh what was he thinking with' decisions.”
“He probably wasn't thinking of Venus in quite those terms, May.” Ruben said.
“Hmmm.” May replied. Which Quentin felt was the best response he could hope for.
“So my compliment fell flat on its face, I got a piece of May's mind, and tripped over in surprise.”
“And if the seat hadn't been in the way, he'd have fallen flat on his face like his supposed compliment.” May said.
“So what was he really thinking of, May?” Kara asked.
“Never you mind.” May said.
“Oh come on.” Kara said, “enquiring minds want to know.”
“Enquiring minds can mind their own business. I'm not going to break the ethics code, lose my job and condemn myself to poverty just because you're curious.”
“Your job?” Kara asked, “What's the store got to do with anything?”
Quentin stood, made a florid bow and proclaimed, “Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted others, allow me to present our nation's first truth-sayer, as talked about on news channels, parliament and even the palace, so I hear. As well as being a great beauty and young woman of wit and humour, she has been certified by the Institute for the Human mind as being of sound mind, a model of probity and highly skilled in all the mental arts of her profession.”
“Q.Q. stop that.” May said, blushing.
“It's true.”
“So? This is family, you don't need to praise me in front of my family!”
“Why not?”
“Because we'll suspect you want to go out with her.” Alice said.
“You know that, Alice. May knows that, even Sarah knows that.”
“And Sarah said not yet.” May reported.
“May, you are supposed to be the paragon of virtue that Sarah was talking about?” Kara asked, finally getting over her surprise at this description of her partner in partying.
“I went off the rails with Mama gone. I'm back on track, and I'm not planning on going crazy again.”
“Wow, either Sarah's easily fooled, or you've really changed.”
“I got asked, a month ago, what Mama would think about me using my power and my looks like I'd been doing.”
Kara winced.
“So, that got me thinking and got me praying, and now I'm the new me, and I even told one of my teachers that I trusted God to know the future far more than scientists. Other updates on me is I'm seriously thinking of university, but I don't know where. Your turn, Kara. Tell us about boyfriends, faith, future...”
“Boyfriends: two possible ones, but yeah, Mama wouldn't approve of either of them. Faith: feeble, future: scary. A rock's coming. Ruben, your turn.”
“Boyfriends: none.” he started.
“Girlfriends?” Alice asked.
“Urm yeah, maybe.”
“What does that mean?”
“That I'm a scaredy-cat.”
“And does she pass the ABCDEF test?” Quentin asked.
“What ABCDEF criteria?”
“Available, Beautiful, Christian, Educated, Faith leading her in the same way.”
“What's the D?”
“Dense enough to fall for you, or course.” May said. “Faith?”
“She isn't here.” he said, speaking about one of the missing cousins, “But yeah, my faith is coming along, and I think hers is too.”
“Future?”
“God's in charge. No real worries. Quentin's turn.”
“Urm, Girlfriend, you know about. Faith... I went through a bad patch but it's getting better, I hope, I pray. Future? Oh wow. I was hoping to study anthropology, here. Big choices to make. Who's next?”
“I want to hear Mandy.” Alice said, earning herself a look of hatred.
“No boyfriends, not much faith left, nothing in my future.”
“I foresee at least one thing in your future, Mandy.” May said “A long talk with Sarah.”
“You think she'd bother? I'm not worth the trouble.”
Charis took the blunt approach “Mandy, just so you know, I think you're nuts to think that. Let's have a vote! Who agrees with me, and who thinks Mandy should be left to rot away in her own private torture chamber?”
Unsurprisingly, no one voted against her. May decided to send a note to Sarah.
----------------------------------------
10AM, BLACKWOOD AREA
“Vivian, you said something like you weren't sure you had a job any more. Is that something you're still thinking, or not?”
“I was a recruiter. That means corrupting people. That's not compatible with working for truth and probity, is it?”
“So... that's your fear?”
“Yes. Justified, don't you think?”
“Potentially. But I think it's worth exploring. I don't know how it works in the civil service, but in my book, if you tell someone you've done something wrong, then that counts as a big plus compared to covering it up.”
“I hope that's true.”
“I've also found that rules might say one thing but people can be more sympathetic, that condemning thoughts don't always come from ourselves, and also that words are slippery things. Take that word corrupting.”
“Yes?”
“It means so many different things. For example in a financial, ethical or moral context.”
“You mean I need to define my terms a bit more carefully?”
“Possibly. There's another question. Would you like me to just have a look and understand what you mean?”
“You mean... you'd use your gift to find out what I've done wrong?”
“Yes. If you'd like me to. I've met people who have felt condemned about things that they don't need to. With the gift, it's pretty easy to spot. But as I'm sure you can guess, you're not going to be able to gloss over anything you'd rather not share.”
“Yeah, I guessed. And... there's some nasty stuff in my memory. I think I'd like you to keep your ignorance and your innocence.”
“Thank you. So, did you plot to overthrow the government, interfere in the succession, or commit any other treasonous acts? I presume that'd mean bye bye job.”
“No. But I did seek to influence people towards demon worship.”
“That's not against the law as far as I know. I'm not saying it's right, but I think it counts as proselytising. Any crimes?”
“Well, I almost committed trespass last night, according to a girl up there.”
“Since it's land I own, albeit indirectly, you're forgiven.”
“I also told her that magic is beyond any law.”
“What did she say?”
“Well, I also said it was more powerful than God and she was incredulous, checked I meant it and declared me crazy.”
“Good for her.”
“It rather surprised me, actually.”
“So, I don't think you're going to have adversely affected her attitude to the law, especially when Daimian tells her that you've become a Christian.”
“I did myself actually.”
“What did she say?”
“She said 'Praise God. I was just praying that would happen.'”
“And did you go around telling people that laws don't matter to magic users?”
“Actually... no. Morals yes, laws no. Sarah, just read this, and see what you think, OK? It's my 'statement of past questionable deeds'.”
“Before I do, would you say that there are any particular things you did that were unusual for someone who was a witch or warlock, if that's male term?”
“Urm... probably not.”
“And you stated your belief on your job application form?”
“It raised a few eyebrows and got some comment, but yes.”
“Then, what you're doing in fact, is questioning whether that belief system is compatible with public service.”
“I guess I am.”
“Which presumably is a question that's been raised before.”
“Maybe.”
“Now, our monarch has just broadcast a speech about people having freedom of religion, the freedom to ask questions and freedom to change religion. I think that perhaps the biggest question is whether what you've just left counts as a religion, whether the state would want to declare it illegal even if it didn't count as one, or whether Internal Security might want to discretely monitor members as potentially dangerous members of society.”
“That's... an interesting thought. Knowing what I know, I think they ought to want to do that, assuming the law permitted it.”
“And in that case, I'd presume they roughly know what you were up to, and could have stopped you at any time, and unless they were planning to blackmail you into infiltrating another coven and feeding people's names or something sinister like that, then when you confess your sins they're simply going to breathe a sign of relief.”
“That would be a very nice scenario, Sarah.”
“In which case, I don't know if I even need to read your document, any more than I need to read your mind, do I?”
“I guess not.”
“Which brings me to a final question.”
“Yes?”
“You having the power, and being in Security... does that mean you were at Bella's little get together?”
“You know about that? Yes, I was. Why do you ask?”
“I have no idea, it just came into my mind.”
“Then I do. Naeel's peaceful place. You've just reminded me of it.”
“Oh.”
“I was just thinking how tough it must be to be able to see the depths of human sin, and I wondered how you kept sane if you did it too often. That peaceful place sounded like it might be the answer.”
“Book of Galatians, chapter five.” Sarah said, and read the passage, and then the passage about the peace of God in Philippians. “People with the gift can go straight there, it's true. But it also can make it a bit less special. Peace with God and with yourself, with your past — knowing it has all been dealt with — is one of salvation's benefits. You'll find there are people who envy you your history, by the way.”
“Envy me it? Why?”
“Because they've lived nice safe obedient lives, never straying far from God's path. And because they've never rebelled outwardly at least, they're not sure when or even if they have turned their back on that and turned to God for real. Whereas you, wow, what a dramatic change!”
“They're crazy.”
“I know. But it's true. You'll hear them say things like 'I don't have much of a testimony.' Where what they mean is 'I've drifted through life so surrounded by God's blessings that I've never really noticed them.'”
“Yeah, OK. I pity them they've not noticed, but.. duh, can't they open their eyes?”
“They could. Should. Sometimes it takes real trouble or danger for it to happen.”
“Changing the topic slightly, what happened to Naeel's romance, do you know?”
“How much do you know?”
“He was having an argument with his fiancée.”
“Oh, well, the argument was about belief. Hold on...”
[Jazmin, it is Sarah, is all well, can you talk?]
[I thought I would not hear you again! Yes, all is well! Or at least, a lot is good, but my parents are still very angry.]
[But your marriage is happy?]
[Yes very. Naeel is a good husband.]
[I'm glad. And church?]
[They are wonderful people. We are learning lots.]
[I'm glad. I have a question, for you and your husband.]
[Yes?]
[A woman who was at that meeting with Naeel has just become a Christian. She asks how is your relationship, and I think she will want to make contact with you. Is that OK?]
[That is very good. You can tell her we're married, and it is wonderful! As for contact, can I tell him her name?]
[I'll just ask. Can I say when you married?]
[Yes! It is part of it, it is no secret how we married.]
[Thank you.]
“Vivian, I've just talked to Naeel's wife. She says she's happy for me to tell you all about how and when they married. OK if I tell Naeel your name? I've said you're likely to want to contact them.”
“I will. He married her?”
“He became a Christian — that's what the argument had been about — that she had become one — and then her parents decided she needed abducting to keep them apart. A squad from Security intervened and they were married that night.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Wow, that's fast!”
“It was sort of the only cultural escape, but she's very happy.”
“Yes, I'd love to be in contact with them. But you said you'd been talking to her?”
“Yes. I didn't speak to him much. Cultural thing, you know.”
“And she's got the power too.”
“Yes.”
“Yes, I'd love to be able to call them, I told everyone there I was an atheist, by the way. But... tell them the truth so they can decide properly.”
“Sure?”
“Yes.”
[Jazmin, the woman's name is Vivian. She told Naeel she was an atheist. She asks me to tell you, the truth is worse than that.]
[Worse than an atheist?]
[She was a worker of magic, a witch. Demons lent her their power, though she thought of them as friendly spirits. She thought you should know this truth, so that you can decide if you want to talk to her.]
[Why should we not talk to our sister in Christ? I do not understand.]
[She is very new in her faith — she only turned from the demons last night. She does not know very much about God. In some ways she is as ignorant as Naeel was. Last night she stayed with friends of mine, she is an hour's drive from her home, here. It was one of her neighbours who introduced her to this magic.]
[So she will be alone when she goes home, and is almost friendless, and thinks we will think she is dangerous, because of her past.]
[Yes. The demons tried to kill her once, destroying her car. Perhaps they will try again, but we pray they will not.]
[She is scared and is thinking unhelpful thoughts. I know what that is like. I do not need my husband's permission to talk to a sister in Christ. Please, give her my number.]
[I do not know it, Jasmin.]
[Oh! And you cannot find it from your gift?]
[Maybe, it would be hard. It is much easier for you to tell me.]
[OK, it is a new number, I must find it.] That didn't take long and Sarah wrote it down for Vivian.
[Sarah, it would be good for Vivian to have your gift, would it not? Then she could call for help when she needs it, and never be alone. I will pray that God gives it to her.]
[God knows best, that is certain. I... am nervous of praying such a prayer myself. She is so young in her faith, I do not want to put temptation in her way.]
[As you say, God knows best. I will ask, he will decide. Thank you for talking to me.]
[You also are lonely?]
[I am in a strange city, my husband is often not here, my family think I should not live. But I have friends at church, and a job some afternoons, so I am not too lonely.]
[I will try to talk to you more often.]
[Thank you, Sarah. Talk to Vivian. Tell her of my prayers.]
[I will. God be with you, Jazmin.]
[And with you, Sarah.]
“Jazmin's number, and Jazmin says she'll pray for you.”
“That's nice.”
“Yes. Well, maybe.”
“Why maybe?”
“She wants you to know: She thinks you should have the gift so that you will be able to call for help if you need it, and never be alone.”
“Tell me your thoughts.”
“My thoughts: you've got a lot to learn about already and the gift is dangerous. It's easy to kill yourself with it — I almost did a few times while I was learning to use it, I needed emergency medical aid, and fortunately there was a well equipped medical facility just down the corridor. Is it right to expect you to learn to use the gift while you're only just taking your first steps as a Christian?”
“I sought power before. Look where that got me. The knowledge you have access to if half what I've heard in the press is true... your gift is scary.”
“Jazmin said she'll trust God to know how to answer. Which is very wise.”
“Yes indeed! Out of interest, how much of what I've heard is true, by the way?”
“Urm, what Bob McDaniel said, all of it. The rest, I'm not sure what you've heard.”
“One I remember... There was this celebrity interview, it said that the interviewee was a friend of Prince Albert, and the Prince had wanted a demonstration, so he called his friend to see if he minded being part of the test.”
“And she said exactly where he was in the room, and who was there with him, yes. And no, that wasn't me.”
“Including their unborn baby, and they had no idea she was even pregnant?”
“That doesn't normally happen, and from what I heard she suspected but hadn't been sure.”
“If it doesn't normally happen, why did it happen that time?”
“Urm... do you want a crash course in selective access to infinite data?”
“Selina seems to think I'll need it sometime.”
“She does. For the record, I can see her point. So... just now, talking to Jazmin. I decided I wanted to talk to Jazmin, she heard me. If I want to know something, then it's about having that thing in mind and then I relax something or turn on the tap, or whatever analogy you want to use. Let's call it my grip on this world. If I focus on peace, and let go of my grip on this world fully then my body enters a roughly comatose state, large parts of my brain shut down, and I find myself aware of God's eternal peace, and I can also talk to other people who are there too. It's a good place to cool off an overheated brain, because you can actually sense the heat if you're there. With practice I can be partly here and partly there, which means I don't fall down as though dead. That place is safe though. I'm detached from my body, so if someone were torturing me or trying to scramble my thoughts, then my mind would be protected. Tough luck on my body, but oh well.”
“When you say 'tough luck on your body', what do you mean?”
“I mean that if I abandon my body to torturers' care, then maybe I won't survive, or they'll cut of a leg or something to get a reaction. I assume I'd notice that, but...”
“OK, if you're being tortured to death then you can stay there until death, and it's not too painful.”
“Exactly.”
“OK.”
“If I focus on you, then I see every thought in your mind, and the thoughts and motivations behind them and so on. That's assuming you're within, I'm not sure, a hundred metres or so. And if I stay connected to you like that for, say, ten seconds, then baring medical or divine intervention I've just earned myself a painful death as my brain overheats from having been running at something like a hundred times faster than normal to process all that lovely extra input. Fortunately I can take a quick look, only half second or so, and then work out what I've seen afterwards.”
“But you can hear thoughts around the world?”
“Yes. If rather than focussing on you, I focus on your skin, then I don't even get your thoughts, just your physical and emotional state. If I go under your skin, then I get your thoughts, and if I focus on your heart, then I get the things that are behind your current thoughts, even if you don't know what they are. The heart trick is useful for a quick diagnosis of someone up to a few hundred miles away. Notice that none of this tells me who you're with, or where you are, unless you're actually thinking of that.”
“You're right! I hadn't thought of that.”
“If I look at your feet, then I see where you are in the room, in the building, in the town, and so on, zooming out. With practice you can decide to start at a certain zoom level. And if I focus on the skin of a place then I get to know who's there.”
“Oh, we're there. So what went wrong, or right?”
“Normally, when I focus on the skin of a place I get first names, maybe second ones too, and where people are in the room. She wanted to know full names so she focussed a little deeper than just the skin of the room, by analogy, I guess. And she got full names, maiden name of the wife, and the wife's little passenger. She didn't say it at the time, but she knew the baby's name too.”
“You mean the parents had picked names already?”
“We've talked about it, and we don't think so. We think she saw what the child will be called when he or she is born. There's a few verses in the Bible about God knowing people before they are born. But she also saw... something a bit fuzzy about the name, which gave her enough pause for thought that she didn't give the name. She said it was as though... the life was there, but not fully. Does that make sense?”
“Like it was a bit too early to tell whether the baby would live or die?”
“Maybe.”
“But still she saw that life, and the child had a name.” Vivian said, hiding her thoughts, she continued. “At only a few weeks into the pregnancy, the baby had a name.” and then the tears came.
Sarah guessed there was something in Vivian's past, an abortion, maybe, that made this account stick out to her. She kicked herself — it should have occurred to her, when Vivian had said that she wanted to preserve Sarah's innocence. It also occurred to her that the demons might have demanded such an act, and Sarah immediately asked God to blot that thought from her mind. She didn't want to know. Innocence was a protection she realised. And in the face of Vivian's tears, Sarah realised that even if Vivian was a baby Christian, the gift of being able to sense these terrible memories being dissolved in the peace was probably worth all the other risks. A thought came to her, and as she had looked at George's skin, all those months before, Sarah looked at Vivian's skin, and she saw the same shimmer she'd seen. The shimmer which said to her that Vivian already had access to the peace. Praising God, she took Vivian's hands.
“Elspeth Vivian Rachel Trevithick, my sister in faith, God has washed you clean of your guilt, and Jesus has borne the punishment that you deserve on the cross. He has taken your sins, and put them on the far side of the sea. As far as the East is from the west, so far has he separated or transgressions from us. So now there is no condemnation for we who are in Christ, you are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. And God has given you his Holy Spirit to live in your heart and to guide you into all truth. These words are trustworthy and true and come from the Word of God. I also say to you, my sister, trust in the Lord with all your heart, think of the Peace of God and commit yourself fully into his care. Relax into his loving arms, my sister in gifting.”
As she felt Vivian's body become limp, Sarah caught her, and shouted around the planet. [Selina! Go to the peace, please, and welcome your sister, I think she needs one who understands what she's been through without being told.]
[You prayed for her to get the gift?]
[No, just saw she had been given it.]
[Praise God! It's going to be tough for the poor kid, but I'll be there.]
Sarah turned her thoughts to Jazmin, [Jazmin your prayer for Vivian... it's been answered.]
[But I haven't prayed yet! I thought I would after I had started lunch cooking.]
[Then, thank God that he answered anyway, or saw the need that you saw and I didn't until just now. She is resting at the moment in the place of peace that your Naeel was once shown. I'm sure she will talk to you later.]
[John, Vivian probably doesn't need psych-counselling.{image}]
[She's passed out?]
[No, silly, she's washing away her pain in the peace.]
[You prayed for her?]
[Me? No. I just looked at her and saw she could, like with George.]
[You're amazing.]
[No, that's God.]
[You're not with her?]
[No, I asked Selina to go. I think she's got a lot to be washed clean of, John, and wants us to stay ignorant of it.]
[That's not particularly healthy, is it?]
[I'm not sure in this case. You don't want to learn how to summon demons, do you?]
[No. I guess not.]
[So, it's enough that we know that because she listened to demonic lies she's been through experiences which will scar her for life. We don't need to be nosy.]
[No, we don't.]
Sarah's wrist unit buzzed. [John, we might have another issue. Mandy.]
[Oh?]
[May's just sent me a message: 'Dear Sarah, two pieces of news. 3yr old Holly's just heard my thoughts, and her big sister Mandy's just said 1. No boyfriends, not much faith left, nothing planned for the future. 2. She doesn't think her life is worth bothering you about. Charis called for a popular vote: all agreed Mandy was nuts to say that, and Mandy shouldn't be allowed to rot away in her private torture chamber.']
[Interesting analysis. Her parents maybe too busy with children's problems to notice the big children's, you think?]
[Yes. Plus as well as having a three year old, her mum is expecting another.]
[This must be the infamous Kayla then? I forgot Mandy was her eldest.]
[Yes.] Sarah confirmed.
[So, we thought we'd need to talk with her, and it sounds like we were very right.]
[Worse, overdue. And time is short, isn't it? Packing up the flat and house is going to take a lot of time, as is the rest of life. And of course, she's got school to go to.]
[She's still at school?] John asked [I thought she was two years older than May?]
[She is almost, but she's only one school year above her, Mandy was born in October, she's one of the eldest in her year.]
[So. Final year, exams coming. Lots of stress, I expect. That 'nothing planned for the future sounds like she's not heading to university, doesn't it?]
[Yes. Oh, I wish I knew what her parents have been telling her! To hear Hannah speak it sounds like Mandy's waiting for Mr Right to gallop over the horizon, sweep her off her feet, and want nothing more from her than a nice smile and babies.]
[Talk to May about her?]
[I think I'll have to. Talk to you later.] [May, can you talk?]
[Urm, yeah. It's a bit hectic, but sure. Q.Q. turned up, by the way. He... seems to be surviving the clan so far.]
[You didn't need to fight off any cousins?]
[Not too hard. Interesting news about Holly! Why is it that there are no adults with the power, but me, Kara and Zach at the same age and Holly and Zach in the same family?]
[Good question. Study genetics and make it your PhD subject if you like.]
[Urm, maybe I'll leave that to Zach. He's the mad scientist.]
[You said Zach had the power? I'd forgotten that.]
[Yes. He has. Why? Mandy?]
[Yes. Do you have any idea what's going on in her head? Is she really expecting to marry in the next few months?]
[Her mother keeps saying 'You're beautiful, girl, boys should be queuing up to ask you out, get out of the library, straighten up and brush your teeth.' According to Zach, Mandy's really interested in computers, but all their mum thinks of for her future is boys.]
[So the fact she's not thinking university is her parents?]
[Uncle Samuel, he's encouraging her to study, but, Mandy really loves her mum, doesn't want to disappoint, and ... I think money comes into it to. I get the impression that they've been saving for Zach to go to university since he picked up a pencil, but not for Mandy.]
[Now that is an easy problem for me to deal with. I've got a crazy idea. How many of you cousins are at about 'what do I do after school' age?]
[What, you mean my school year or the next?]
[Yes.]
[Me, Kara, Lucy, Zach, Timothy's the year above me like Mandy, even though he's only a few months older than I am. I'm not sure about Hope hold on...] She asked “Anyone know what school year Hope is in? Sarah's got a crazy idea, apparently.”
“Same as us, She made it in by one day.” Lucy said. “How crazy?”
“No idea.”
[Hear that? She just made it into my year.]
[Thanks. So that makes seven of you?]
[Yes.]
[Next challenge for you is to find out from Mandy if she's got any plans for the next forty-eight hours.... If she's got something unchangable then we'll forget the whole crazy notion, if she hasn't find out from the others the same question.]
[What are you plotting, Sarah?] May asked.
[Something that might upset John, but never mind, I'll make it up to him somehow. I hope it doesn't upset any of your parents... Do your research, I'll do mine, and call you back, in about five minutes, OK?]
[When you say the others, do you mean the others here, or Timothy and Hope too?]
[Them too. While you're at it, get answers from anyone who's not married and older than you too, that's who, Ruben, Martha, Lilly, and Faith, isn't it?]
[Yes. And Charis.]
[But it still all depends on Mandy's answer.]
[OK. I hope you know what you're doing, Sarah, because I have no idea.]
[Good.]
“Mandy, weird question from Sarah. Do you have any set-in-stone plans for the next forty-eight hours?”
“I was going to read some books and wash my hair, does that count?”
“Probably not.”
“I guess I don't then. What's the weird questions about?”
“Probably all Alice's fault.”
“Hey, what did I do?”
“Picked on Mandy. Anyway, the same question for everyone in the clan, in their penultimate year at school, and older. That includes you too, Ruben, even if you are being Alan's horse.”
“Neigh. Big scary exam on Wednesday.”
“When are you going to revise for it?”
“Tomorrow, of course. And Martha's probably planning her next argument or something.”
----------------------------------------
10.50.AM
Having checked Vivian was OK, Sarah went in search of John and Bob.
“Bob, I have a question.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Probably. Question one: any empty cabins that'll sleep six or eight, and question two, if there were, any objections to me booking a bunch of teenagers into them for tonight and tomorrow night?”
“What is this, youth group weekend away or something?”
“Sort of. I have apparently been nominated as matriarch of a clan, which goes to show that someone's got a sense of humour. They take it seriously, and so I'm learning that I need to too. I've just found out it seems there's a bit of a crisis in at least one branch as far as parental careers guidance is concerned. I could just have a little one-on-one chat with the relevant girl but since really my only free time is while we're up here it struck me that it might be seen as favouritism, or something. Plus of course, I've no idea what's going on in other branches of the clan. There's seven who are about to make university choices this or next year, and another five who are older but unmarried. Feel free to tell me it won't work.”
“So they're all relatives?”
“Yes. So you can expect the occasional row, but no kissing behind the woodpile.”
“Booking rules say each cabin has at least one eighteen year old or above, no one below fifteen without a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, and no unmarried mixed groups under twenty unless they're family. It sounds like you're probably OK. Needless to say we bill you if they break things. As for space, let's have a look at what the computer says. You're thinking two sixes, then?”
“Up to. I'm not sure how many are able to come yet.”
“Hmm.” Bob said “Computer says we have six empty cabins, which is bound to upset Matt: two sixes at opposite ends of the site, the six nearest you has a four not very far from it, and that one's part of three fours in a cluster, down near reception. Or there's the big cabin just down the hill from you. It's officially an eight-bed but there's a big living area with space for another two or three to sleep there.”
“Thanks, Bob. I'll find out who can come. The big cabin sounds good, in that there's going to be space for big group discussions.”
“Yes, that's what I was thinking. Vivian OK?”
“Very, I think. She's talking to someone else at the moment. I'll just make that call.”
----------------------------------------
10.55AM
Sarah dialled May's wrist unit.
“Hi May. Any news?”
“Oldies first: Ruben's got an exam, Martha wants to know how urgent it is, Lilly'd need to take the day off work, but says if you really really need her says she can. Faith would need to cancel a date, so wants to know what it's about. Timothy can, Charis is OK. Lucy can't, she's got some kind of medical checkup, Hope can, Mandy can, Zach's officially grounded, but hopes they'll relent if you ask his parents nicely.”
“Hang on a mo.” Sarah commanded, then called, [Zach, Sarah here, why are you grounded.]
[Urm... I stayed out too late.]
[When, why, who with.]
[With friends, because I forgot what time it was, Christmas eve.]
[What sort of friends, what were you doing?]
[Well, actually, a friend. A girl. Holding hands, looking at the stars, talking..,]
[Oh yes? Well, tell me all about her tonight or tomorrow.]
“Bob, the big cabin please, tonight and tomorrow night.”
“OK!” Bob replied.
“May?” Sarah checked.
“Yes, what big cabin where?”
“The plan is: Blackwood cabins, all expenses paid by me, two nights, starting tonight, mostly talking about post-school plans, options, and so on. Get up here as soon as you can and there might be time for a few trips sledging down the hillside. You'll be in an 8-bed cabin with space in the living room for some more beds. Get people to bring any relevant blurb from universities if they've got some. And sleeping bags too, of course.”
“Oh wow! That sounds great! Urm.. Q.Q. says he's free too.”
“I'm sure, and then Faith's date and so on... Sorry, this is family only. We'd need parents along too, otherwise. Booking regulations.”
“O.K.”
“And now I'll try to talk the parents in to allowing this.”
“I hope you can.”
“Me too.”
“You want to use my wrist unit?”
“Yes, please. Can you set it up so that Faith's parents can be on the house line and everyone hear?”
“Sure. I'll put you on speaker.”
A little later, Sarah heard, “Mum! Can you call uncle Matthew? Sarah wants to talk to the parents of older teens.”
“Sounds scary.” Sarah recognised Arwood's voice.
“Hi, Arwood, would you be happy for me to steal them away for a couple of nights?” Sarah asked.
“What? All of them?” Hannah asked, surprised.
“May's school age and older. Is Matthew on the line?”
“Ringing. Hi, Matthew, Hannah. Sarah's called a parent's meeting. She wants to borrow our older kids. I think that means all of yours.”
“Does she really? Well, I suppose she can have them for a month or two... We'll miss them of course.” he joked.
“Hi, Matthew, can you hear me?”
“Hi, Sarah! What's this about?”
“I was just talking to May and thought about her school year and above. They've got big decisions ahead, and I thought I'd like to get them talking about it with each other and with me, about university or not, that sort of thing. Mostly I'd like to know what they're thinking, but maybe with them all thinking together it'll help them. Realistically, from my point of view, if we're going to do this before the impact, then tomorrow is probably my only whole day. And since I don't want to cut my holiday short, I've just booked an eight-bed cabin up here, which is relatively close to where John and I are staying, for tonight and tomorrow night. I can cancel if it's not possible, but it was the best option so I didn't want it getting away. And if you parents think this sounds expensive long-term, well, you know I'm stinking rich, and you know how to contact me, and we can talk about it, OK? This is about trying to work out where the kids will thrive and grow.”
“And you want the kids who are at university already involved too?” Matthew asked.
“Initially I wasn't going to, and then I thought they've got other insights and hey, they might enjoy sledging down a mountain-side too.”
“Hi, Sarah, it's Kayla. Where exactly are you?”
“We're at a place called Blackwood Cabins. One of my companies has owned the land for ages, but a few weeks ago I helped arrange buying up the cabins from an old lady who'd inherited them from her husband and was slowly ruining the company. So, new management, far higher numbers of guests, and they've just put in a drag-lift, which makes getting from the train to the cabins dead easy if you've got a sledge or skis. I'll try and arrange to hire some of those too.”
Bob nodded.
“So it's a ski resort?” Eve asked.
“Sort of. Not the ultra-crowded, big-drunken-parties sort though. It's mostly a get-away-from-crowds place. The cabins are about a kilometre apart. Most of the people using the ski-lift are actually locals and day trippers, though apparently a few people have started offering bed and breakfast at an appropriate price. Oh, and apart from last night, when they put up some temporary lights, the ski-lift closes soon after sunset, so if any of the kids thinks they're going to nip into a bar in town, they've got a long hard walk back to the cabin to go with it. And I will point this out to them.”
“So we're talking fairly high isolation, good clean fun, no real risks?”
Kayla asked.
“Well, someone will need to cut up wood and feed the wood-burning stove, so if they get stupid with the axe there's a bit of danger there. Plus there's a risk of sledging accidents.”
“Hmm, almost a dozen teenagers, a wood-burning stove, and a nice big axe. What could possibly go wrong? Sounds character building. You're only letting family go, I presume, Sarah?” Arwood said.
“Oh yes, absolutely. It's a booking regulation as well as just plain sensible.”
“Take them, Sarah! Maggie and I will enjoy having the house to ourselves.” Matthew said.
“Do you really think Mandy will want to go too?” Kayla asked.
“Of course she will, love.” Samuel said. “Just because you didn't want to go anywhere there wasn't a dating opportunity, that doesn't mean Mandy has to follow your lead. I think she'd do well to think about studying.”
“May said Lucy said she had a medical checkup, is that right?”
“Oh, that's nothing important.” Eve said “It's just a turn-up blood test, we thought she might be a bit anaemic, but moving it's no problem.”
“Great. And I understand that Zach's grounded?”
“Oh, take him.” Samuel said, “O.K. It was his third offence but this is practically a family event anyway.”
“What do they need to bring?” Hannah asked.
“Warm clothes, sleeping bags or something else for bedding, soap, towels. There are pots and pans here, warm water is available once the stove is hot.
I can get groceries from the local shop. Are there any foods to avoid?”
“Faith's stomach doesn't like anything too fatty.” Matthew said.
“Would a one-pot stew be OK?”
“Fine! I was thinking a big fry-up or something like that.”
“What about porridge for breakfast? Keeping milk cold is easy but stopping it from freezing overnight is a bit of a pain.”
“Hey, can Hannah and I come too?” Arwood asked.
“No, sorry. You need to look after Alice.” Sarah laughed.
“Bother.”
“It's not what they're used to, but I'm sure they'll survive.” Timothy said.
“OK, any questions?”
“When should they get there?”
“John and I've got a skiing lesson from three 'till four. But I think they can arrive any time. There's a number they can call from the mag-lev so they'll be met. Obviously the sooner they get here the more time they get to go sledging.”
“And who buys the train tickets?” Matthew asked.
“May's my personal assistant. She can charge my account directly.”
“That's... quite a trust for a sixteen year-old.” Matthew said.
“There is a spending limit, but if I can't trust her with that then I can't trust her with more important things either.”
“Can I ask what the spending limit is?” Hannah asked.
“It's enough that she knows there is one, Hannah, and that anything charged to it gets copied to me.”
“OK, Sarah, I'll stop being nosey. I just wondered if she could buy a car in an emergency.”
“Oh, well, if it's an emergency and she can convince the bank that, then of course she can.” Sarah said. “She knows that.”
“Sarah...”
“Yes, Hannah? She's got a position of trust. She gulped a bit when I told her some of this, but the whole thing about a P.A. is that she can do things for me, isn't it?”
“Well, yes.”
“So, in an emergency, say both John and I are badly wounded, she can hire a helicopter to get us to a hospital if that's what it takes. Normally, of course she'd just call an ambulance, but she's got the helicopter or whatever as an option. Any more questions?”
“Not really.” Arwood said after a pause. “Oh, how long did it take you to get there?”
“About two hours, but it depends on the connections.”
“So, we'll feed them lunch and send them off?” Hannah suggested.
“Sounds good to me.” Sarah agreed.
“And then we can have a nice peaceful afternoon.” Kayla said, “And actually sit in your lounge for once, Hannah.”
“I like that idea.” Hannah laughed.
----------------------------------------
11.00 A.M.
“Urm, May, I know it's really bad timing...” Quentin said, intercepting her has she headed back to the lounge after leaving Sarah to discuss the plans.
“What is?”
“I did actually come with a purpose.”
“And?”
“My parents would like to meet you.”
“What have you said to them?”
“Mostly it was Rhianna. Oh, O.K. Me too. Rhianna told them that they could tell cousin Myra that her intervention had been helpful, and that a girl had come and taught us a bit about our power — they do know about it, by the way.”
“And then yesterday you came to visit me?”
“Yes.”
“And you told them where you'd been.”
“Yes. I told them I'd gone to meet my new friend, May. Rhianna said girlfriend, I said yes she's a girl but she's not my girlfriend. At least not yet, that we weren't going to date for a long time. And my dad asked if you were beautiful, and my mum asked if you were a Christian.”
“And you said 'Yes, she is' to your mum and 'phwoor' to your dad?”
“May!” Quentin protested “I said yes, and most of your family had real faith - I wasn't sure about Alice — and your dad was a pastor.”
“So what did you say to your dad?”
“I said you had a lovely personality.”
“You didn't!” May laughed.
“I did, which made him shake his head about stupid Christians letting the atheists have all the fun or something. And then Rhianna said 'yes, and she's got good looks to go with it.' And my dad called me a sly fox or something like that. So... will you come?”
“I'll talk to Sarah, and my mum. OK?”
“Before you go?”
“I'll try. Mum's going to be busy.”
“Thank you.”
“Ooooh, lookeee! Secret meetings in the corridor!” Alice crowed.
“Should Alice come too? As proto-maiden aunt, I mean.” Quentin asked.
“Banshee doesn't mean maiden aunt, Q.Q.”
“No, thats a form of fury, isn't it?”
“I think it's more of a Celtic harpy.”
“What are you talking about? Celtic are a football team, aren't they?”
“Dangerous mythical creatures. Ugly ones, which make a lot of noise.” May said.
“What about maiden aunts?”
“Very dangerous. A prototypical type of chaperone. Often very lonely, too. That's what makes them dangerous.” Quentin said.
“What are you talking about?” Alice demanded.
“Right now, or before?” Quentin asked.
“Just now.”
“Just now I wasn't saying anything.”
“When you were calling me a proto-maiden aunt.”
“Oh, then we were educating you.” Quentin said.
“It sounded like you were insulting me.” Alice said.
“Moi? Pourquois?” Quentin asked, acting offended.
Alice shuffled off in disgust. May couldn't hold the giggles in any longer.
“You're terrible, Q.Q!”
Alice turned round and stuck her tongue out.
“Sic transit gloria linguinae.”
“So passes the glory of the tongue?” May checked.
“That's what I wanted to say. I think I confused that with thus passes the glory of the linguini, which while poignant, is ultimately somewhat surreal.”
“Only somewhat?” May giggled.
“Does that count as a victory, by the way?”
“I'm not sure. She's bound to ask Ruben about it.”
“Is that good, bad or indifferent?”
“No idea. Let's go an sit down.”
----------------------------------------
11.20AM
[May, parents are convinced. You're travelling after lunch. You will be buying the tickets, on my account, of course. Use my personal one, not the business expenses. Zach's grounding doesn't count, since this is a family trip, almost. And tell Lilly, thanks, but it's not that urgent. Lucy's blood test is postponed, you can tell her, and tell Martha and Faith what's happening, let them make their own minds up. They'd be coming to pass on their valuable experience to the rest of you, and have a two night holiday at my expense. Their call, and they'd need to meet up with the rest of you somehow, and then you'll reimburse them.]
[Same route you took? I think that change works to meet Faith, Hope and Timothy.]
[Good. I was wondering about them.]
[But what about sleeping bags and stuff?]
[Yes, they'll need to get them. So there's going to be lots of side trips. You have the spending authority, my personal assistant. I trust you, make it happen.]
[But... OK, I guess we'll all need to go to the capital.]
[Either that or split up and meet somewhere sane.]
[I think the capital's sane, but then they'll need to split to their homes, and I'll be kicking my heels waiting. Unless... Sarah, Quentin's parents say they want to meet me. If I got tickets for the others, but I went to see them for half an hour or so, would that work?]
[You tell me. How that would work.]
[Urm, I'd go with Quentin, no it wouldn't work, would it? The whole thing about not dating is we don't go anywhere alone together.]
[Good point. Also how frequent are the trains, and how fast compared to hypersonic?]
[You'd send us hypersonic?]
[Well, you tell me. How much faster is that than Maglev?]
[Much.]
[Want to get here before sundown?]
[Yes. OK. You're sending us hypersonic, aren't you? Thanks! But there's still two sets of us to get stuff. That's a double delay.]
[Not if there are 2 hypersonic runs. You pack, take the capital-folks to the terminal, then you hang around for the folk from Restoration, and go with them, reimburse everyone's transport charges, or you can give them an advance if that's needed. Then meet up with everyone, up the hypersonic, one stop on the maglev, you're here. You should be able to get a through ticket for the whole lot, which might or might not be better. Delegate that so you've got time to pack and call everyone. There are showers, but you'll need your own soap, towels, and a sleeping bag too.]
[Arrgh. Too much to remember!]
[Guess who should have been taking notes. Start by telling everyone what's happening. OK? Then I'll call back in a bit.]
[Thank's Sarah.]
May looked up.
“May, are you OK?” Mandy asked. “You looked really out of it just now.”
“I was a bit. Lots of instructions from Sarah. We're on, leaving after lunch. I'm going to be raiding Sarah's account to pay for everything. Zach, it's a family trip so you're not grounded. So, we're all off to a little ski-resort Sarah owns, with apparently fantastic views and wood-burning stoves to keep us warm, and sledges available too. The purpose is to talk about nasty decisions post-school, share ignorance and maybe knowledge, let Sarah know what we're thinking and maybe even have fun.”
May saw Lucy starting to look depressed, and added “Opps, Lucy, you too, your blood test is postponed.”
Lucy perked up considerably. “So where are we going? How?”
“Zach, can you look up Blackwood Cabins, and send details to Martha and Faith please? They get to choose whether they're going. Now, since we want to get there before dark, we're going hypersonic, both into the capital and out again. We'll need to split up, pack really quickly, and meet up at the hypersonic terminal in the capital. I hope someone from here knows their way around there?”
“I do.” Mandy volunteered.
“Great. Can I put you and Charis in charge of working out where we'll meet everyone? Including Hope, Timothy and maybe Faith and Martha. I need to pack quickest, so I can send Lucy, Kara and Charis up early, that way so they can be travelling while the rest of you are packing. Then I'll meet you at the terminal here and we'll follow them while they're packing. Does that make sense?”
She saw some nods, and asked: “Has anyone ever booked a combined through-the-capital ticket with mag-lev on the end?”
“I've done it, but you need to book an exact seat.” Ruben said. “That's tricky with meeting people. It's far easier to book if-there's-space separates, and the price isn't that different.”
“Doesn't that risk us getting split, if there aren't enough seats?” Kara asked asked.
“We can book a single ticket with us all on it for the last 2 legs.” Charis offered. “That way it's all of us or none.”
“Wonderful!” May said “Do you know how?”
“Urm, I'll try.”
“Good. I'm going to call Faith and Martha, then. I suppose we could ask for some parental help if we need it.”
“But on the other hand you want to be big responsibubble grown-ups, and make a mess of it yourselves.” Ruben grinned.
“Thank you for that vote of confidence, Ruben.” Charis said.
[Ready for your packing list?] Sarah asked May.
[Urm yes, I've not got through to Martha and Faith yet.]
[No worries. Got something to write with?]
[Oh, still no wrist unit. Ah! A pen.]
[Paper?]
[Hand?] May countered [Or is it too long?]
[No. Sleeping bag, soap, towel, warm clothes, skis if anyones got them.]
[Doubt it.]
[Anything else?]
[Toothbrush, medicines, that sort of thing, and any university application stuff if they've got anything.]
[Sounds easy.]
[Good. All OK?]
[I think so.]
[Bye then.]
----------------------------------------
11.40 A.M
May got her wrist-unit and retreated to her bedroom. She called Lilly first,
“Hello, trouble.” Lilly said, “So, do I need to get time of work?”
“Not necessary, Sarah says, thanks for offering.”
“Phew. It would have been tricky. So what's it all about?”
“Sarah wants to get to know us better and get us talking about university or not before it's too late for Mandy.”
“Excellent! Well, have a good time. Bye.”
“Thanks, we'll try. Bye.”
Next she rang her big sister and cousin for a three-way call.
“Hi, Martha, hi, Faith! Me again.”
“So, what's this all about, May?” Martha asked.
“Sarah's inviting us up to her new ski-resort for 2 nights, to talk about post-school choices, let Sarah know us a bit better and us her. The speed is because it looks like Mandy's drifting in limbo and she needs to decide really soon. You get an invite because we love you too, and maybe you can tell us about how you chose, tell us about what you wished you'd done, help us think out of the box, etc., and maybe you'd want to do a bit of sledging, this evening even, if we get there before dark.”
“You can take a sledge up the ski-lift?” Martha asked.
“Did you see the links Zach sent? It just drags you along, so I guess it can pull a sledge just as well.”
“Sledging down a multi-kilometre slope without the trudge back up again? What's there not to like?” Martha exclaimed.
“Price for the ski-pass, I guess. But Sarah's paying.” May said.
“And we'll be self-catering?”
“We're all in a big cabin, nominally eight beds, but plenty of space to sleep in the living room. Sarah's going to arrange food. I guess we'll all be helping to peal vegetables but she'll take charge of the cooking, but maybe not. And someone will need to feed the wood-burning stove. Sarah's cabin's about a kilometre away.”
“Long way.” Faith said.
“Nope, that's a near neighbour.” Martha corrected, then quoted “'Enjoy the magnificent views and peace and quiet of our secluded rustic cabins, each one at least a kilometre from its neighbour, an ideal base for walking in the woods and hills as a romantic interlude to enjoying one another's company.' Oops, that's from the honeymoon page.”
“Now I have no idea why you'd want to read that part of the site.” Faith teased.
“So... Sarah says she's happy to have you, all expenses paid, but it's family only. No boyfriends or fiancés.”
“Oh, what a choice!” Faith exclaimed “Pizza with a boyfriend I'm seriously thinking of dumping or an expenses-paid trip to a ski-resort, someone help me decide! Pizza or ski-resort, ski-resort or pizza.... I'm coming.”
“What's wrong with the boyfriend?” May asked, curious.
“He's clever, and charming and handsome and I'm pretty sure that there's something fishy about his claim to faith, like, you know, he's heard that that Christian union is the place to meet nice girls so he's pretending to be a Christian.”
“Ouch.” Martha said.
“You can talk to Sarah, Faith.” May said. “Just like you'd have talked to Mama.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes. She's cool. John's pretty smart too. Martha, what do you think? Coming?”
“I'd love to, May, but...”
“But what?”
“I'm supposed to be spending the day with Simon's family tomorrow, and we were going to meet up in the evening with Mum and Dad to try to decide on a wedding date.”
“Oh. OK. Can't really do that without you, can they?”
“Well, I'm sure they could, but...”
“You sort out your future, Martha. I'm sure there'll be other times you can go sledging.” Faith said.
“Not many.” Martha replied, thinking of her missionary future.
“More than there are chances to set a wedding date, though, I bet.” May said.
“You're right there.”
“And maybe you could go another time.”
“Probably. The prices look very good if you're booking far enough in advance.”
“I heard Sarah talking. She said it was a crying shame that as many people as possible weren't enjoying the place under the old management, where it was almost empty during winter, and that she wasn't going to let that happen any more.”
“Hey, what happened?” Faith exclaimed.
“What did happen?”
“The prices for today dropped by about ten percent and tomorrow went down by about five.”
“Automatic adjustment.” May said. “Not enough bookings for either night, I guess. If more don't come in then by about five O'clock it'll be really low.”
“Interesting idea!” Martha said.
“What?” May asked.
“Can you give me Sarah's number, May?”
“Of course.”
----------------------------------------
11.40 A.M
“Hi, Sarah, I've got a big favour to ask you.”
“Oh, yes? What's that, Martha?”
“I'd love to come with May and the others, but I'm supposed to be spending most of tomorrow with Simon's parents, and then the evening with both sets of parents working out when a sensible wedding date is. I don't know, would it be possible to combine the two, somehow? I was thinking that, maybe if Simon and his parents booked a cabin....”
“Then you could offer some of your experience tonight, and on the way up and the way down, maybe do some sledging with Simon tomorrow morning and then do some walking and talking, with your parents coming up tomorrow, say?” Sarah suggested.
“You wouldn't mind? I mean, it's a bit of a cheek...”
“I don't mind at all, Martha. And, if you do manage to persuade both sets of parents, then let me know what you two think of it as a potential honeymoon spot. I'll be more than happy to pay for you to stay here a week or two, as you've probably seen, book far enough in advance and it's a bargain.”
“I've seen, yes. Thank you, Sarah. Are you and John having a good time?”
“It's been a long way from what we'd planned, but yes, it's been good. We've helped two people come to the Lord, in fact. Not much skiing and walking, lots of deep spiritual joy.”
“Praise God!”
“So, go and sort it all out with your parents and future parents in law, and maybe we'll see you tonight.”
“Thank you, Sarah!”
“My pleasure.” Sarah said as she rang off.
“Martha's coming and bringing two more cabins worth of people?” John asked.
“It sounds like it. If she can talk both sets of parents into it.”
“That'll make Alice happy.”
“And Matt.” Bob said. “He's constantly worried when there are unbooked cabins.”
----------------------------------------
11.45 A.M
“Simon, do I remember your parents saying something about skiing?”
“Probably. They try to go most years. Got their own skis and everything.”
“Great! Sarah's inviting me to her little ski resort, for a family chat about careers choices with the cousins May's age, and claims she'd be happy if I wasn't there for most of it.”
“Ski resorts are expensive.”
“Sarah's got some self-catering, wood-burning stove-heated rustic cabins. It claims to be a walker's and honeymooner's paradise, and they've just installed a ski-lift.
"There's apparently about fifteen centimetres of snow, but that's enough, surely? There's a ridge, just over three hundred metres high, between the cabins and the town, and the ski lift goes pretty much from the edge of the town to the top of the ridge. You can ski from the top of the ridge down hill all the way to your cabin, then down hill all the way to reception, where they'll take you to town.”
“Sounds lovely. How much?”
“Tonight's price for a four-bed cabin is urm... let me check.” She did and told him.
“Per person?”
“No, the cabin.”
“You're joking!”
“No. If there's not enough demand, prices drop by the hour, apparently. I'll send you the booking site. Do you think it'll work?”
“Almost certainly. What about your parents?”
“Very bullyable, I expect. I can call on Alice's pester-power too, remember. You check with yours, I'll check with mine. Even if mine can't come, we could set the date over video link, couldn't we?”
“Yeah, I guess so. OK, I'll try and be persuasive.”
----------------------------------------
11.50A.M.
“Hi Dad.”
“Hello Martha, is this you asking if you can postpone your wedding plans meeting?”
“Not exactly. I was just wondering if you and Mum would mind if it was up in Sarah's little paradise. Simon's parents are skiers, so Simon thinks they'll be very happy to go up, and I'm sure Alice would love going sledging when there's a ski-lift to pull you up. You needn't rush up tonight, you could just come up tomorrow.”
“I see, and there is space for us tomorrow night?”
“There was just now. If it doesn't work out, would discussing by video link work?”
“Of course it would. So, let me know what Simon's parents think, and I'll talk to Mum.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Is there space for us where?” Hannah asked.
“Rustic cabins. As Martha pointed out, Alice would be over the moon to go sledging when the work's done by ski-lift.”
“Space for a few more?” Samuel asked, looking at Kayla.
She nodded “It'd be nice to have a bit of a break, even just one night.”
“I'll check. But we won't be going unless Simon's parents do.”
“Sarah won't mind us gate-crashing her party?” Kayla asked.
“I doubt it. Anyway, we'll be enjoying the countryside while she's minding our teens. She doesn't even need to know we're there, especially if we sneak up tomorrow.”
“That does sound more sensible than the mad rush the kids are planning.” Samuel agreed.
“OK, well, there's three cabins available for four, and one for six.” Arwood said. “Uh oh, it's just changed, two cabins for four.”
“And you'd need a four and we'd need a six, I guess.”
“And Simon's parents would need the other four. So I hope that was them booking or they make their minds up quickly.”
“Arwood, if we've got a spare bed, we could take Alice up.” Kayla offered.
“Sure?” Hannah asked.
“Yes. Maybe she can help restrain the boys, or play with Holly while we do,” Kayla said.
“I'll book the six then.” Samuel decided.
“The console's all yours.” Arwood said, just as his wrist unit rang.
“Hi Martha.”
“They've just booked, but say there's not many cabins left.”
“Especially since Kayla and Samuel are booking the six-bed one. Samuel, can you book us the four?”
“Done, Arwood.”
“Do we admit to Sarah what we've done?” Hannah asked.
“Martha can tell Sarah, can't you?”
“So, who's coming in the end?” Martha asked.
“Good question. One cabin left, four places. One spare place in our cabin, one in Kayla and Samuel's. I think there Tim, Helen and Pearl feeling left out at the moment.”
“I'm back at work.” Mark said.
“Me too.” Timothy said.
“There may be space for one more in the cabin Sarah's booked for us.” Martha suggested.
“And Tim's only missed the cut off by a year, and already looking at his options.” Mark added.
“OK, I'll ask Sarah.” Hannah said. “Martha, I'll tell her from you shall I?”
“Yes, please.”
Hannah dialed. “Hi, Sarah! It's all your fault, by the way.”
“Oh no, what have I done now?”
“Invited Martha. Simon's parents have booked, so we're coming up tomorrow, and so are Kayla and Samuel. Which means we've got two empty beds and three kids here who are about to be disappointed.”
“Oh dear. No, that's not very fair, is it?”
“However, Tim, who's a year below May, has already started looking at his options. Might there be space for him with the big ones? Then everyone here would fit.”
“How old is he?”
“Fifteen, I think.”
“Can you check? Fifteen's the youngest without a parent, aunt, uncle or Grandparent.”
“Eve, how old's Tim?”
“Fifteen, as of the seventh of last month.”
“Did you hear, Sarah, he's fifteen.”
“OK. I was told there's space for two or three, so lets hope that there really is!”
“It's not a problem?”
“Not for me. I'm not going to be queuing for the bathroom first thing in the morning.”
“There's just one?”
“No idea, actually. He can come, Hannah, It shouldn't make much of a problem.”
“Thanks, Bye!”
“Bye!”
----------------------------------------
12.05PM
“Hi, Everyone.” Vivian said, coming downstairs.
“You're looking refreshed, Vivian.” Christine observed.
“I am. And I want to thank you all for everything you've done for me, but I think I need to get home. I've got a lot of dangerous rubbish to empty from my house.”
“Did you contact Jazmin yet?” Sarah asked.
“Yes. That's one reason I was so up there so long: we swapped stories. Totally different histories, but... similar end situations.”
“You won't stay for lunch?” Bob asked.
“No, breakfast was so late, and big, I'm not hungry at all yet. I've got plenty of food at home. And I remembered that my witch-neighbour is away until this evening, which means I've got about six hours in which I can get home and have my little bonfire without her getting too curious.”
“Well, let me take you to the station then, at least.” Christine said.
“You don't need to.” Vivian protested.
“I know, and that makes it my pleasure.”
“There's a... custom I suppose among witches to pronounce some sort of blessing forumla when they've stayed somewhere and they're leaving.”
She shrugged “I know it used to make me feel like I was one of the good guys. Can I pray a Christian version for you?”
“Of course.” Christine and Bob said.
“May the Holy God who makes all bless this house and all who live in it, may your marriage be long, and your love be strong. May your love be long, and your children strong.” Vivian wavered over the last stanza. “Oops, I didn't think... I hope that's last line's not out of place.”
“Not at all.” Christine said, holding Bob possessively. “I've had a wounded husband for many years, but he's healthy now, praise God.”
“In other words, yes, we are hoping to have children to receive your blessing.” Bob said.
“Thank you, too, Sarah. And I'll be in touch.”
“Any time.” Sarah said, and gave her a hug.
[You might regret saying that.]
[I presume Selina didn't introduce you to everyone?]
[No. She said I'd have some surprises.]
[Well, you met Karen and George last night. Best not to call them day or night without checking their skin, or you might have a surprise.]
[Could be embarrassing, you mean?]
[Yes. Eliza, are you free?]
[Hi, Sarah, what's up.]
[Eliza, allow me to introduce someone you've talked to before: Vivian, our newest sister in the gift, Vivian, my cousin, Eliza Underwood.]
[{shock}] was Vivian's reaction.
[Hi, Vivian! Congratulations on your new faith and gift.]
[You're the mystery voice!]
[That's me.]
[Not in Security, not in the royal family, but trusted, in the palace a lot and speaking with their voice... sneaky sneaky Maria.]
[That's my sneaky aunt, yes. By the way, I'm apparently a class epsilon state secret. But on the other hand, as I think it was Karen told me when I got this gift, you're a hundred percent trustworthy, or you wouldn't have this gift.]
[You don't know me well enough to say that.] Vivian said.
[I know God, and he doesn't make mistakes. Sorry, I'd better go. I'm in a boring cabinet meeting but I'd better pay attention.]
Vivian broke their embrace, and waggled a finger at Sarah. “You are a dangerous woman, Sarah.”
Sarah waggled hers back at Vivian. “You are a child of God, Vivian, a light in this dark world, and if that's not dangerous to our enemies, then God wouldn't have left us here.”