Lavender Hill (7 page)

8:45am

Jack walked through the crowd of people. They smiled at him as they walked past. In the distance he thought he saw someone he recognised, but they disappeared into the dense crowd. Then again, but this time closer, he saw someone that looked like...
No, it couldn’t be,
he thought. He kept walking forward while trying to see through the people moving towards him. The crowd parted, and Gabriel Ash walked quickly towards him. He was smiling and just before he reached him he—

Jack woke with a start. He looked around the room and felt disorientated and confused until he remembered he was in Amy’s guest room. He sat on the edge of the bed and waited for his head to clear.

After a while, Jack noticed the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and bacon cooking. He got dressed, looked in a mirror to tidy himself up, and walked to the kitchen.

Amy smiled as Jack appeared. “Hi, how are you? Did you sleep well?”

“I slept great, thanks. I was absolutely exhausted last night. Sorry we didn’t have much time to talk about Gabriel Ash.”

“That’s fine. We’ve got all day now.”

They both sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat breakfast. Amy began to tell Jack about Gabriel Ash again.

“So, as I was saying last night, I found out he used to be a physicist based here in Bristol. He was trying to develop something called a ‘theory of everything’, but people didn’t like his ideas and he left his position some years ago.”

“A theory of everything?”

“Yes, a scientific theory that can explain everything in the universe, but I couldn’t really understand the explanation of his ideas I saw on the web. The most important thing he insisted on was that science wouldn’t be complete until it could explain human experience, emotions, consciousness, etc.”

“Maybe things will be clearer when we get to the library,” said Jack.

The doorbell rang.

Amy looked surprised. “Who’s that at this time? I’ll be back in a minute.” She left to answer the door.

Jack continued eating his breakfast. He was thinking about his dream earlier and the news about Gabriel Ash when he began to notice raised voices.

“Jack!” Amy called.

Jack got up and rushed into Amy’s living room to find her surrounded by three men. “What’s going on?” he demanded.

“They say they’re from the government, Jack.”

“Where’s your ID?” asked Jack.

The Tall Man walked towards Jack and showed him an official looking badge.

“We represent Her Majesty’s Government, Mr?”

“Clarke, Jack Clarke.”

The Tall Man lifted the lapel of his jacket and spoke into a hidden microphone.

“Can we have a check on a Jack Clarke?”

As he turned away, Jack noticed a small, skin coloured earphone placed in his ear, with the thin cord running down the side of his neck. The Tall Man turned back to Jack after appearing to listen to something.

“Residence in Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill, London?”

“Yes,” replied Jack, and looked over to Amy to check she didn’t react to him giving the wrong address.

“OK, Mr Clarke, some of our colleagues would have called at your house in London, but seeing as you are here with Ms Stola we can request that both of you come with us back up to London.”

“Why? Why do you want us to come with you?”

“We are requesting interviews from a selection of people that have stated they experienced the Rapture, and your names were amongst that group.”

“Do we have a choice?” asked Amy.

“We can request a more formal demand for you to attend these interviews, Ms Stola.”

“Can we get ready? We’ve only just woken up,” asked Jack.

“Yes, of course – ten minutes let’s say?”

Jack and Amy went to walk over to the bedrooms, but the men quickly stopped them.

“Check the rooms,” ordered the Tall Man to the other agents, who then quickly checked the rooms for possible ways of escape. “Take enough for an overnight stay,” he said as the men returned.

Amy and Jack both instinctively went straight to the bathroom so they could speak to each other.

Jack whispered to Amy, “Don’t mention my house in Devon, or what we’ve discovered.”

“OK – why do you think they want to speak to us?”

“I don’t know, Amy. But I’m sure it’ll be OK.”

They collected some things from the bathroom, and then their rooms, before going back to the living room.

Jack and Amy followed the agents out to their car. They sat next to each other and held hands as the car was driven quickly out of Bristol and towards London.

*****

11:32am

Jeremy sat in the studio watching Katie on a large screen. She was standing on a balcony overlooking Trafalgar Square in central London. The square was full of people and the crowds were swelling onto the surrounding streets and blocking traffic from moving around the square. At one end of the square was a stage and the sounds of speeches, applause and cheering resonated within the arena created by the beautiful old stone buildings surrounding the square.

Katie turned to address the camera. “We can now see Rebecca Hartley taking to the stage. She has become a focal point for this rally, and the crowd have been waiting for her speech. Apparently, she intends to speak to the crowd about media bias in the reporting of the Rapture.”

Jeremy momentarily looked uncomfortable before quickly saying, “How would you describe the rally so far, Katie?”

Katie seemed hesitant as if she was about to talk over an important part of the rally, while in the background Rebecca Hartley began to speak.

“Uh... it’s been peaceful. The speeches have focused on a religious interpretation of the Rapture, which we haven’t heard much in Western countries.”

“...we should begin with a pray to our saviour...”
Rebecca Hartley could be heard to say in the distance as small snippets of her speech wafted over the square and through the cheering crowds.

Stating matter-of-factly, Jeremy said, “Well, it’s clear from the size of this rally there isn’t much enthusiasm from the religious community for a religious interpretation of the Rapture.”

“I don’t know. There have been reports of other gatherings around the country.”

“...our views are not being represented in the media, friends...”             

Jeremy’s expression hardened as he heard Ms Hartley in the background. “Yes, but these gatherings are small in comparison.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” replied Katie.

“...I was forced off 24/7 News by—”

“What was the food like in Cambodia,” said Jeremy quickly, loudly and awkwardly to obscure the voice of Rebecca Hartley.

Katie looked at the camera with a confused expression. “It was great, Jeremy – really nice...”

“...we have received some important news today about the so called Pointers...”

“So, uh... Katie, has there been any mention of the scientific interpretation of the Rapture?”

Katie was obviously trying to listen to the speech and didn’t respond to Jeremy.

Jeremy raised his voice. “Katie?”

“Uh, no – could I just... Ms Hartley is saying something interesting about the Pointers.”

“...some of the Pointers are in there now, and we should march down to Thames House and demand to know what information the government has about the Rapture...”

Katie turned back to the camera. She raised her voice to be heard over the noise of the cheering crowd.

“It would appear the government may have arrested some of the Pointers and are interviewing them now in MI5 headquarters, although this is an unconfirmed report.”

“I can confirm this latest development is true,” said Jeremy hurriedly. He then turned to the camera and with glib confidence said, “Apparently, these interviews are simply a routine procedure and nothing to get excited about.”

“Why are they—”

“Don’t go away. We’ll be back soon,” Jeremy said to the camera.

As a technician indicated they were off air, the smile on Jeremy’s face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a vicious scowl. He reached under the news desk and pulled out a hand towel, which he used to wipe sweat from his brow.

“Somebody come and re-do my make up,” he shouted across the studio.

Mary walked quickly across the studio floor. “Who told you about these arrests, and why haven’t you told us?”

Jeremy looked at Mary with a fierce expression. “They haven’t been arrested. The Pointers are just helping the government with their investigation of the Rapture. And I wanted to be sure of my source before telling anyone... WHERE’S SOMEONE TO DO MY MAKE UP,” he bellowed while wiping sweat from his face.

“The people are starting to march down to Thames House,” said Katie urgently.

Jeremy looked up to the screen showing Katie. “Follow them and mingle in the crowd. Find people to interview, and challenge them, Ms Sturridge, to justify why they reject a more rational explanation for the Rapture. We don’t want to give the impression we are encouraging this religion-fuelled civil disobedience.”

Katie laughed a little at his extreme position and in response Jeremy angrily said,

“Is that acceptable to you, Ms Sturridge?”

“Yes, of course – we’ll leave now.” Katie disappeared off screen while angrily removing her earphone.

“How much time have we got left before we go back on air?” Jeremy asked Mary.

“Under two minutes.”

“I’m not ready. Go to the weather and then sport.”

“Are you OK, Jeremy?” asked Mary suspiciously.

“Yes,” replied Jeremy through gritted teeth while wiping sweat from his face. “WHERE IS SOMEONE TO DO MY MAKE UP,” he shouted across the studio.

*

Katie and two of her camera crew moved through the marching crowd. The protesters walked towards the River Thames along tree lined roads and past grand old buildings. The rally progressed through the streets of London peacefully, but the size and unity of the crowd caused onlookers to become quiet and watchful.

Katie approached a young woman walking along with her two children.

“Hi, I’m Katie Sturridge from 24/7 News. Could we talk to you about the rally you’re attending today?”

“Yeah, sure,” replied the woman, smiling shyly.

“Why have you come to this rally?”

“Well, when I felt the Rapture I immediately knew it was something to do with God, but this aspect of the Rapture has been ignored or ridiculed by the media. So I wanted to come here and support what Rebecca Hartley is doing.”

“So you reject the idea there may be a scientific explanation?”

“I know what I felt. I can only tell you what I feel inside.” The woman was then dragged by the flow of the crowd away from Katie.

Katie could hear Jeremy in her earphones harassing her to find some more people and challenge them further to explain the Rapture, so she walked towards an old man nearby.

“Hi, I’m from 24/7 News. Could we—”

“Yes, I’ve seen you on the TV and watched your channel. You’re the news channel that forced Ms Hartley off the show, aren’t you?”

Katie heard Jeremy shouting in her earphone to find someone else, but she ignored him and continued talking to the man.

“Why are you here today?” she asked to avoid the old man’s question.

He paused for a few moments as if deciding whether to pursue his previous question, but then said, “I’m here to support Ms Hartley, and I’m here because I know the source of the Rapture is from God.”

“So you don’t believe there are any other possible reasons for the Rapture?”

“No, what other explanation could there be?”

“That it could be due to some natural event?”

“God is nature, so yes it is a natural event.”

Katie could hear Jeremy shouting at her to find someone else. She smiled at the man and thanked him for speaking to her. Katie then heard Jeremy saying they were going to a commercial break, so she moved away from the crowd expecting him to speak to her.

“Can you not hear me, Ms Sturridge?”

“Not when there’s chanting or shouting,” Katie lied.

“You need to challenge these people more aggressively.”

“They are protesting peacefully, and it would be disrespectful.”

“Either you do your job properly, or you find another one.”

Katie went quiet. “We’re nearly at Thames House,” she eventually said.

“We’re going back on air in thirty seconds. Find somewhere on Lambeth Bridge to stand, so we can film the protesters with Thames House in the background,” demanded Jeremy.

Katie and her TV crew continued walking towards the River Thames. As they approached Thames House, they walked onto the bridge opposite it so Katie could report from the scene with the protesters and building in full view. Katie took up a position on the bridge and prepared herself to go on air. In the background, Rebecca Hartley could be heard using a megaphone to demand information about the Pointers held in the building.