Steps to Heaven: A Sgt Major Crane Novel (13 page)

Padre
Symonds

Right
,
Crane
,
in
the
true
spirit
of
detective
novels
,
if
you’re
reading
this
,
something
must
have
happened
to
me
!
Ha
ha
!
But
seriously
,
please
indulge
this
flight
of
fancy
of
mine
.
I
just
thought
it
might
be
prudent
to
do
a
back
up
copy
of
everything
I
have
found
out
about
cults
and
the
Church
of
Jesus
is
King
in
Aldershot
in
particular
.

I
must
say
I
have
found
the
whole
thing
rather
exciting
-
fulfilling
even
.
So
first
of
all
I
must
thank
you
,
Crane
,
for
letting
me
be
part
of
the
investigation
.
Don’t
get
me
wrong
I
love
my
job
and
role
of
Padre
to
the
garrison
community
,
but
every
now
and
then
one
needs
a
bit
more
,
don’t
you
think
?
Something
to
spice
up
the
humdrum
everyday
life
that
each
of
us
leads
.
Something
,
that
at
the
end
of
the
day
,
one
could
say
“
I
made
a
difference
.
I
was
there
when
it
counted
.”

Anyway
,
I
digress
,
as
usual
.
So
,
down
to
business
.
Stored
on
this
memory
stick
are
copies
of
the
emails
I
have
sent
you
,
information
on
cults
that
I
have
downloaded
from
the
internet
and
a
bit
of
background
on
the
Church
of
Jesus
is
King
.
Most
of
this
you
already
know
.

What
has
been
more
interesting
is
the
links
I
have
been
building
with
the
church
under
the
guise
of
the
Army
Liaison
Scheme
.
As
we
agreed
,
I
started
with
the
Church
of
Jesus
is
King
.
The
Elder
,
Elias
,
was
more
than
happy
for
me
to
be
involved
in
the
church
for
a
week
or
so
,
on
the
promise
that
he
could
shadow
me
at
some
future
date
.
Then
we
could
offer
the
services
of
both
churches
to
the
wider
garrison
community
should
the
need
or
opportunities
arise
.
He
is
a
very
nice
man
,
I
must
say
.
In
his
late
40’s
probably
,
always
soberly
dressed
in
a
dark
suit
and
well
groomed
.
His
enthusiasm
and
commitment
to
his
church
is
evident
and
he
cares
for
his
members
as
a
shepherd
for
his
flock
.
As
a
result
he
has
tried
very
hard
to
cater
for
their
every
need
.

So
,
as
well
as
the
normal
church
service
every
Sunday
morning
,
there
are
counselling
sessions
for
those
in
psychological
need
,
those
suffering
from
alcoholism
,
or
drug
addiction
.
No
one
is
turned
away
,
but
welcomed
into
the
church
community
and
helped
as
much
as
possible
.
The
children
are
also
well
catered
for
with
a
Sunday
school
and
church
led
activities
in
the
school
holidays
.
As
a
result
,
Elias
has
managed
to
draw
in
a
large
number
of
families
with
small
children
.
His
view
that
most
churches
do
not
welcome
and
nurture
children
,
has
struck
a
chord
with
the
younger
generation
,
who
welcome
his
open
door
policy
.

Now
we
get
to
the
interesting
bit
,
information
I
stumbled
across
whilst
in
conversation
with
church
members
.
Apparently
,
as
part
of
the
evangelical
church
movement
,
efforts
are
made
to
link
up
with
other
similar
churches
across
the
UK
.
So
at
Aldershot
,
they
regularly
have
guest
preachers
,
sometimes
during
the
normal
scheduled
services
and
sometimes
as
special
one
off
events
.
These
churches
include
those
at
Catterick
and
Colchester
!
See
what
I
mean
about
interesting
!
The
speakers
range
from
other
Church
Elders
included
in
the
network
,
as
well
as
independent
speakers
,
who
are
recommended
.

One
such
speaker
was
a
man
called
Zechariah
.
I
asked
Elias
about
him
.
He
said
that
after
being
a
guest
speaker
at
Aldershot
,
Zechariah
contacted
Elias
and
offered
to
start
workshops
for
fathers
with
small
children
.
The
problem
is
that
the
arrangements
are
fluid
.
Zechariah
seems
to
contact
participants
directly
with
dates
,
times
and
locations
of
the
meetings
,
so
Elias
is
uncertain
as
to
who
attends
,
how
often
they
take
place
,
or
indeed
where
.
I
asked
for
contact
details
for
Zechariah
,
but
Elias
had
to
confess
that
the
mobile
phone
number
he
has
doesn’t
seem
to
work
anymore
.