BOOK 1: SERENDIPITY / CH. 22:PETE

WEDNESDAY EVENING

“There's Pete's shop, Kate. You know you could have called him, arranged a meeting, that sort of thing? He might not be here any more, I don't remember his opening hours.”

“If he's gone home then I'll call him, John, have no fear. But you do know I want you two along as witnesses that I'm not crazy, don't you? I think I'm going to need to tell him about the Gift.”

“Kate, really, so soon?” asked Sarah “You haven't met him in thirty years.”

“I'll let you two judge. OK if I invite us all out for a meal?”

“Urm, fine, what I'd planned to cook won't spoil. But you'll not want us along the whole time, surely. Also, we're due at a Bible study at 8.”

“I'd like you to be there, at least for the meal. I'm not used to being this new me yet.”

“OK, Kate, we'll stay as long as you want us to.”

They arrived at the shop, which was still open. John opened the door. Pete was up a step ladder arranging some of his display at the back of the shop and called that he'd be there soon. “It's OK, Pete, no rush, we've just brought someone who wants to meet you.”

Pete almost fell off his ladder in his haste. “Oh Kate, you came, you came!”

“Hi, Pete, beautiful cake!” They embraced, and Kate couldn't help hearing Pete singing in his heart [Kate came! Kate came!]

“It's nice to see you, Kate, so nice. How are you? What are you doing tonight? Can we talk?”

“I'm fine, Pete, more than fine. What I'm doing tonight is buying a meal for one old friend, one new friend and one friend I've not seen in decades. Then I'm trying to decide if I want to keep reminiscing with my friend Pete, or get this pair of youngsters to invite me to their Bible study.”

“Of course you're welcome, Kate,” John said, “I was going to suggest it, but you were so keen on meeting Pete I thought that you could always come next week.”

“I've just become a Christian, Pete,” Kate explained, “so I'm new to all this.”

“You have? Oh Kate, that's wonderful. Since meeting James, I've been praying that God would send someone to tell you the Gospel if you hadn't turned to Him yet.”

“That'd be Sarah here. John has been trying to get through to me for years, but I didn't listen.”

“Thank you then, Sarah, for being the answer to my prayers, and thank you, John for delivering my note. Oh Kate! It's so wonderful to see you!”

“And to see you, Pete. Shall we try and find some food? I think I know just the place. This way. And Pete, John, Sarah, this is my idea, so I'm paying for the lot of you. No sneaky trying to choose the cheapest thing on the menu either.”

“Was she always this determined, Pete?” John asked.

“Oh yes, always determined, always got her way, too, at least where I was concerned.”

“Oh?” Sarah asked.

“Well, I had quite a crush on her, you see, so I couldn't refuse her anything.”

“You never said a word, Pete!” Kate said in shock.

“Well, you were so centred on James, it seemed hopeless. You do know that I initially started spending so much time with Catherine in an effort to make you jealous?”

“No, never! You did? Oh Pete, that didn't work out as planned then, did it?”

“Not exactly. If I remember rightly, you and James became an official item soon after I started spending so much time with her.”

“You know why?”

“No.”

“Because, you silly man, I'd been trying to decide which of you two was the better prospect, then you removed yourself from the list, and that just left James.”

Pete took Kate's hand and said, “Kate, I'm a foolish old bachelor who used to be a foolish young man. So, like always, you can tell me to get lost. But when I was a foolish young man I didn't say what I felt, and I'm not going to let myself make the same mistake again. Kate, I'm sure we need to get to know each other again, but I think it's very likely that how I used to feel about you will only be greater and stronger after these years of waiting. So if there's no one else in your life, then I'd like to apply to fill the vacancy.” And because he was holding her hand , Kate was able to hear what he wasn't saying. [I've loved you for years, Kate, why didn't I ask you out back then? Oh, I hope she's not married. No ring, but that's no proof, I could be making a real fool of myself, but I don't want to miss another chance.]

“Pete, thirty years is a long long time, and I'm certain I've changed in some ways you won't expect. You've probably changed too, come to think of it. But James isn't on my list of prospects any more, and no one else ever has been. I'll be happy to consider your application, just as long as you don't rush me. Now, onto more immediate concerns. I've been wanting an excuse to eat at this restaurant for ages, and I can't think of a better excuse than everything that's happened today. I mean, it's not every day you find a Saviour and a suitor within three hours, is it? Hear that Pete? Let me calm down a bit first.”

“Three hours? No wonder you're glowing. And there I was hoping it was all for me.”

“Pete, wait a bit before you get too excited, I might be able to scare you off yet.” Pete realised that Kate sounded serious. They went in. It was a pleasantly decorated restaurant, and they were able to choose a secluded bay where they could talk without fear of being overheard. The fact that they were almost the only clients helped too.

“You really think that I'm going to be scared off, Kate, after all these years? What is it? Hideous debt, no not at these prices. Incurable disease? You're not dying, are you, Kate?”

“No faster than most people my age. But, oh, how do I explain this?” Kate thought, [One of you, help!]

“Pete,” John said, “it is related, but you won't see the link immediately. What's your denomination?”

“You're right, I don't see the link. Urm, no strong denominational ties, I guess you could call my present church a free church with strong emphasis on teaching and a slight charismatic hopefulness. Why?”

“Well, if you'd been a cessationist then I'm pretty sure that you'd have had problems with the fact that Kate got what we think is a very rare spiritual gift when she turned to Christ this afternoon.”

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“Hmm, well, I'm certainly not going to say God can't give gifts to people. I'm not sure how many in our church actually have been given the gift of tongues, for instance, but you're talking about something weirder than that?”

“Yes. We're not sure if it's been documented in Church history, unless it's the gift of discernment.”

“I've been taught that that's recognizing demonic influences.”

“Well, not that interpretation then. But in some ways more likely to upset people. We've been thinking about how to use it ethically for a few days.”

“But you said Kate only received it today.”

“Yes, but you see, Sarah and I have it too. Sarah's had some sort of limited abilities in that direction for years, but we've only just worked out what was happening to her.”

“I had strange symptoms,” clarified Sarah. “I got a terrible migraine like headache in a crowd, and no one could work out what was up with me.”

“Pete,” Kate said, “please, while we're working on this, we'd prefer you not to pass on what we say, and certainly not name names.”

The waiter arrived and they ordered their food and drinks.

After the waiter left, Pete said, “Spiritual gifts shouldn't give you a headache, that sounds really wrong.”

“No, sorry,” clarified John. “We think Sarah has and her mother before her had a rare human ability, often talked or written about and never scientifically proven. The Institute where we work was set up to investigate such things and Sarah is our first confirmed case. But the spiritual gift — or at least the Spirit confirmed to us that it was a gift from Him — takes it to a whole extra level.”

“If you take Kate's hand and think but don't quite say something, she'll hear it as though you had said it aloud.”

Pete's jaw dropped. “Thought transfer! Wow!”

“Or say, you decide something that affects her, when you're standing nearby, then she'll hear that too. That's the human element, we believe.”

Pete's mind was racing, dredging up old memories from his college days. “There could be an evolutionary advantage there, say in a fight. I'd never heard of that, but it makes sense.” he mumbled.

John continued, “The part of the gift that the Spirit tells us if from Him boosts that human ability. It enables us to become aware of certain things. For example true peace, the transcendent peace of God, or exactly what you're thinking at a moment in time. There are limits. If we concentrate on someone's changing thoughts rather than just looking at a snapshot, then it's too much for our brains to cope with. Our medic tells us it could be fatal. We're not sure what the range is yet, either. It certainly doesn't seem to be a multiple mile thing, at least so far.”

“That's why I thought you might run away, Pete. I can't help overhearing what you almost say if we're touching. But I won't look at your thoughts unless you ask me to. Nor will I make them public. I'm used to confidentiality as a fully qualified shrink. But this thing is scary for us, and I'm sure it would be scary for the public. I'm not a witch, I don't want to be burnt at the stake, or to lose you this soon after we've met. I'm just an ex-atheist who trusted my life to Christ and for some reason He chose to give me this gift or ability.”

“And you could have a look at what I'm thinking now?” Pete asked.

“I could. I'd rather you just told me though. I expect there's some horror and shock and all sorts of nasty stuff floating around in your mind right now that you wouldn't want to claim as your own. I don't want to see it. If you decide to spear me with that steak knife then I'll probably hear it, but if you decide to run, I probably won't. Sorry for springing this on you, but I thought you should know, given what you said earlier. And what you thought — I couldn't help but overhear it when you took my hand, Pete. I guess I need to get some gloves like Sarah's. But right now, I do want to know how you're taking this.”

“Then have a look, Kate, have a look.”

“You really want me to?”

“Yes, Kate, I do.”

Kate relaxed and focussed on Pete. He did truly want her to look, he wasn't very sure why. He'd been fascinated with the idea of mind-reading before he'd become a Christian but hadn't felt comfortable talking about it after. He felt incredibly grateful for the trust she'd shown, they'd all shown. And the fact that she'd said she didn't want to lose him was singing happily through his mind at every level, as he looked forward to buying dozens of roses her.

“Dozens of roses?” Kate smiled at him. “You silly old romantic, you.”

“I don't like the thought of secrets between us, Kate. Thank you for sharing yours with me. But John, how did you receive the gift?”

“My fault,” admitted Sarah. “I was falling in love with John when we discovered what was up with me, and I was terrified that it would drive us apart. I prayed that God wouldn't let that happen. I didn't think that God would answer like this though.”

“We don't know what God's planning, Pete,” John added. “But he's now got three of us with this gift working in an institute that was set up to investigate mental phenomena two centuries ago. The Institute has never discovered anyone with anything provable, but here we are. Three of us in a week.”

“And what will you do now?” Pete asked.

“Document, research, explore, work out some kind of ethical framework,” Kate listed, “publish experimental results and probably some kind of popular level descriptions too. We'll need to call for independent verification so we're taken more seriously, maybe push the government for some sort of legal framework so that people can rest easier in their beds. Perhaps even at an international level. Just as long as we don't end up with compulsory registration and the potential for witch-hunts.”

The waiter came out bringing the plates. It looked good and once it had all arrived and they began to eat they agreed it was as tasty as it looked.

“Have you thought of getting someone to take on the public relations side of things?” Pete asked. “Press conferences, that sort of thing? There could be a lot of misinformation out there to counter.”

“Oh no. You're right. It could turn into a full time job, couldn't it?”

“Yes, it could. You're going to need someone who can do political lobbying too, probably. Shake hands, meet and greet, report, presentations, that sort of thing. Increased security too, probably.”

“I hope that's already taken care of at least,” Kate said.

“Really? How come?”

“The Institute has some significant clients. We've had to keep systems up to date to keep their security forces happy.”

“Wow.” Pete let that bit of information sink in. Individuals don't have a security force, states do. “Maybe you don't need the political lobbying then. Just talk nicely to your clients.”

“But you're right really. We need someone to pitch the tone of our disclosure document properly.”

Pete said, “I bet a cartoon captioned, ‘Ooh, listen to what he's thinking’ would be quite low down the list of possible approaches.”

“Yes. More like, ‘You've trusted us with your innermost secrets for years. Our standards haven't changed.’”

“That would be a nice reassuring one, I can see that working. Maximise the limitations of this gift, the ethical character of the individuals concerned, their deep commitment to ethical use.”

“Pete, you're talking like you know this field.”

“Well, I needed to do something to pay the bills, Kate.”

“I thought you were going to be a great artist?”

“Another dream that needed a few decades' postponement. The cakes are my first successful artistic venture, and although I love to do things like the cake I did of you, it wouldn't pay the bills even if I could charge ten times the normal price.”

“Oh Pete, I'm sorry. Tell you what, I couldn't bear to destroy your labour. Put it in the shop window as a demonstration of what you can do.”

“And show my normal customers they're getting third rate stuff?”

“No, show the ultra rich they can get better. Call it your hand-crafted limited edition range or something like that.”

“I'd have to. It took so much time that I wouldn't be able to make more than a couple of them a month without closing my shop. It did feel great though, like I was producing real art. Thank you for keeping it.”

“Sorry for butting in, but why don't you employ a student to help with the boring stuff?” Sarah suggested. “Then you can concentrate on the real artistry yourself. And do a bit of freelance PR work for us if you need extra cash.”

“Are you serious? It might work. Would your director need much convincing to hire a PR consultant?”

“Oh, I don't expect so,” John answered. “What do you think, Kate? A dozen red roses?”

“Don't be silly, John,” Kate replied, “that would be a bribe, I'd get into all sorts of trouble. I'll have to settle for his adoration instead. We would need to get you clearance first. You don't have any dodgy contacts, do you?”

“No, no one dodgy as far as I know. You're the director? They just said you were one of their longest serving colleagues.”

“Ah, that's my lovely sneaky kids!” Kate grinned.

“Kids? I thought...” Pete hesitated.

“Oh, only metaphorically,” she clarified. “We're a fairly close-knit bunch of misfits and some of them still need their nose wiping sometimes. They call me their matriarch and I call them my kids when they're particularly adorable or sneaky.”

“Or totally lacking in forethought,” John added.

“Yes, that one too.”

“Thank you for the meal, Kate. It was delicious,” John said. “But I think we're not going to have time for dessert. Our small-group are meeting at my house tonight, so I'd better not be late.”

“Oh well, I don't need the calories anyway. Pete, have you got somewhere you've got to be, or do you want to come along too?”

“Well, if you don't mind a spy from another church, John?”

“We have the same Master, share one Spirit, and there is only one Church universal, Pete. Be welcome.”