The Watchers (24 page)

“No, I wouldn’t do that. It’s been…interesting. Really!”

“Really?”

“Sure.”

“So have you got maybe a little belief in what I’ve been saying?”

“Sure, sure. Come on. Let me help you up…get you back home for a nice rest.”

She slapped him across the shoulder. "Don't patronise me, American boy. I could run rings around you. You hear me? Rings!"

Tom wasn’t surprise
d
by the size of Mia’s house. It was practically a mansion; Georgian by the look of it. He watched her run up the path ahead of them, rummaging for her latch-key in the pocket of her jeans as she went so that her leg kicked out to the side, hopping the last few strides. She opened the door and it slammed against the wall in the big reception hall. “Mum,” she called. “Mum, Dad, where are you?”

Tom followed her in and stood in the entrance as Keri guided Sarah to an antique looking chair, one of a pair. In the middle was a small table with an old statue of a Roman goddess in its centre. It reminded Tom of the Maidens of Avalon, except the statue was chipped and discoloured, unlike the perfection of the women in the otherworld. He thought about Fran and how beautiful she looked. She’d cried when he left her there. “Come with us,” he’d said, holding her hands as if he didn’t want to let her go. But she’d refused. She told him, she had a purpose there in Avalon, and that if she left, she’d never know such peace and serenity again. “Imagine going back to New York, after being here,” she’d said.

“But what about Jay? He loves you. He came to find you.”

“Jay and I would never work. I love him, but that world…he would never leave it and he wouldn’t be allowed to come here. What choice do I have? I have to let him go and he needs to do the same.” She squeezed Tom’s hand. “You’ll explain it to him, won’t you, Tom? Make him understand. He can be very stubborn.”

Finally, Tom hugged her and kissed her pretty yellow hair that smelled of Gardenias. She’d waved to him as they’d left, and even though it was assumed they’d never see each other again, somehow, he knew they would.

He was brought back to the present when Mia came back into the hall. “They’re not here?”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. My dad’s probably at work. Mum could be anywhere.”

“Call them.”

“No, I don’t think I will.” She stepped forward with her eyes focused on the Persian rug beneath her feet. “I’ve been thinking…how would it all sound? I mean, would they believe us…? How could they? My parents…well, they’re not inclined to anything remotely surreal. I think they’d probably ground me. Honestly, even now, after all we’ve gone through, none of it seems real, even to me.”

“It’s real, all right,” Keri snapped. She looked up at Mia’s face and softened. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take this out on you. I’m just thinking about the phone call I’m about to make. I just can’t see it working.”

“You’ll make it work, Keri.” Mia stepped forward and took her hand. “Come on. I’ll make us all a nice cup of tea.”

Tom followed them into the kitchen. It was enormous compared to his mother’s kitchen in their apartment in New York. Mia came from a different world to him. No wonder he irritated her like crazy. What did he have to offer a girl like her?

He could hear the kettle on the agar. It was beginning to boil and a whistle was building. Keri picked up the telephone as Tom pulled out a stool from beneath the counter and sat down.

"It's Keri Rains," she said with confidence in her voice. "I want to speak to my husband. It's urgent." Her knuckles were white as she held the phone against her ear. "Harry? Harry, I've found Elizabeth…." When she began to cry, Tom placed a reassuring hand on her back. "I've found our girl, Harry. I've found our little girl." She was nodding her head, frantically. "I can't go into the details now. I just need your help…I know…I know…but you have to help me, or we could lose her again…forever. Please, just listen…and do exactly what I say. Don't ask questions, just trust me…please, Harry."

There was a pause. Keri swiped her tears with the back of her hand.

“Okay, yes. I’m going to ring the Prime Minister after I hang up. She’s not going to believe what I’m about to say, so I need you to get over there and talk to her. You have to persuade her to come, Harry. Do you understand? She must come no matter what.”

End of Part Four

“Little Imber on the Downe,

Seven miles from any Towne,

Sheep bleats the unly sound,

Life twer sweet with ne'er a vrown,

Oh let us bide on Imber Downe”

Anon.

Harry Rains was expected
.
He arrived at Downing Street at exactly 18.00 hours and went straight in. Alice Burton was behind her desk, stacking papers she had just signed. “Harry. I’m glad to see you here. What do you make of all this business with Keri, for heaven’s sake?”

The door closed softly behind Harry as he stepped further into the room. He sat down on the seat on the other side of Alice Burton’s desk. “I’m here to take you down there as soon as you’re ready.”

She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “Now hang on a minute, Harry. I’ve got some serious issues going on here and I certainly don’t have time to go off on some wild goose-chase just because your wife gets hysterical on the phone.”

"Actually, she wasn't hysterical. She was pretty calm, Prime Minister. And I realise of course, that it all sounds farfetched, but Keri's not one for fantasy." Harry coughed, which allowed him a moment to change his tone. It wasn't easy talking to Alice Burton. She was the P.M but she was also an old friend. "How much did she tell you?"

“It was all so rushed.” She leaned forward on her desk as her lower arms propped her up. “I wanted to know where she’d been and what the hell she was thinking going off like that when I’ve got so much on my hands…” Alice was moving her eyes from one side to the other, recalling Keri’s garbled message. “She said the Watchers wanted to meet me…The Watchers, for god’s sake, Harry. As if I would meet with those murderous thugs. Besides, I’m not sure they even exist...All the stories about them are wildly speculative…all this talk about them coming from some divine place and now they’re trying to save us from ourselves…I mean, come on!”

“Many believe they do exist.”

“Conspiracy theorists. Science-fiction fanatics. People who have got nothing better to do than spread silly rumours.”

“I don’t believe Keri would make all this up, Prime Minister. Especially when she’s also saying she’s found our little girl.” His voice croaked.

Alice Burton’s eyes softened. “To be honest, Harry, it was that little revelation, which made me think Keri had become unhinged. I mean, Elizabeth…somewhere surreal…being kept hostage by the Angels. Now, I can understand what you’re feeling here, Harry. I really can, but it all sounds so ridiculous. You must see it from my point of view.”

Harry nodded and looked to the floor. “So, what are you going to do? Keri says it’s a matter of life or death. Our daughter’s life is at stake here.”

He watched Alice Burton nod her head while she moved some papers on her desk. She was thinking and she was playing for time. “All right, Harry. People will call me crazy, but I will go. The thing is, I’ve been meaning to go down to Wiltshire anyway to check out…well, never mind, but it will give me a chance to deal with something else, so I suppose I can go tonight.”

Harry released an audible sigh. He had started to wonder if she’d ever agree to the meeting. “You have to be there at midnight.”

“Yes, so I understand. It’s a strange place to meet. I’ll have to take some security.”

“Keri said to come alone. Just you and me.”

“Well, despite what your wife says, I am the Prime Minister and my team would never allow that and frankly, neither would I. That place is spooky at the best of times, without going there in the dead of night, alone. No, I will need protection…I won’t do it otherwise.”

“Okay, but I’ll tell her we’re coming alone. I don’t want her more upset than she already is.”

“You do that, Harry. You do that.”

The village of Imber was deserte
d
, but at that time of night, Alice Burton would have expected little else, since nothing much changed at that place, not even in the day.

She had been there once before. It was over four years ago when she'd accompanied the previous Prime Minister on a field trip. They were there to discuss the feasibility of additional space for the enormous quantities of priceless art, artefacts, rare books, and so on, which they would need to store when the time came. It had been a productive visit. The plans had been agreed and finalised, the funds put in place -under the radar-and the work set in motion for completion by early 2023. Now the steel door impenetrable chambers were completed and already some precious artefacts had been stored.

Imber was an isolated village on Salisbury plain, which had been requisitioned by the War Office one week before Christmas in 1943. They had moved the villagers out with the assurance they could return after the war. They never kept their promise and the ghostly town had remained void of normal life ever since. The ruins of the once industrious town had remained standing all those years and even though the residents were now all dead, the deeds still held their names. For all the good it did. Any claim on the properties were no good to man or beast. They were worthless now and they always will be.

“What is this place?” Harry looked out of the car window at the deserted buildings ahead of them. He saw what Alice saw; a ghost town surrounded by unkempt, tangled grass threatening to cover the road like a spreading virus. “I’m half expecting to see tumbleweeds blowing past us. It’s like the wild west out here.”

Alice remained silent. She could see the first building as the car slowed down. The driver had already turned the lights on full beam since there had been no other light when they’d turned off the main drag. In front of them was the old pub with the sign ‘The Bell Inn’ still hanging and blowing in a non-existent breeze, like ghostly fingers were rocking it back and forth.

Once filled with forties life, offering a smile to its thirsty inhabitants, The Bell Inn was now a shell with no doors or windows, black inside with an eeriness that cast no welcome for Alice Burton and her entourage.

“We use the site for arms practice and strategic development. I’m surprised you’ve never heard of it. It’s certainly no secret.” Alice was tired. She’d had little rest since they left London.

Harry shook his head. "No, I've never heard of it. Ever!"

Alice could hear speculation in his voice. It was the usual alarmist reaction she got from civilians. The public was always suspicious of their government, conspiracy theories commonplace. Nothing ever changed.

“I have heard that Salisbury plain has a network of disused subterranean tunnels, but I never believed it.”

"Of course, they exist. That's no secret either. They were used for arms storage during the war. Most of the tunnels have been filled in now, and the entrances blocked off…for security reasons."

“Security reasons?”

“The public like to explore. It’s been cordoned off for their own protection.” She turned her head to look at his puzzled expression. “There’s no conspiracy here, Harry.” Alice thought about the cages and armoured walls now lining the tunnels, already filled with art that would make a collector fall to his knees and weep. Some of the reproductions, now hanging on the walls of the National Art Gallery
had been displayed long before they’d begun the campaign four years ago. Fortunately, the curators
already
had copies of their most priceless pieces, so that loans could be made with other galleries around the world. Not that it mattered any more. Not since they closed all the city's tourist attractions, including the Tate art gallery. The rest of the items now stored below ground had never been on public display anyway. Other locations across London, like Buckingham palace and St James's, were left with bare walls and a sign, ‘removed for restoration', allowing them to transfer the treasures without too much disruption. Even the royal family didn’t know about it.

Alice thought about the vault which would eventually house the crown jewels. That vault and many others, now containing rare documents and manuscripts, had been designed like the system at The Vatican archives. It was impenetrable and indestructible, a place that could remain unmanned and where the items would stay intact for many years into the future. It had cost £700 million to install and worth every penny in Alice’s opinion.

“What time is it, Harry?” She always asked the time, even though she was never without a watch.

He tugged his cuff and pressed a button on the side of his Rolex. It was a gift from Keri, a year before they’d lost their little girl. The light from the watch lit the interior of the car. “It’s nearly time.”

Alice pressed a button on her phone and held it to her ear. “Let’s get everyone into position,” she said. “I want to be ready when those monsters get here and I don’t want any surprises.” She ended the call and kept the phone in her hand. She was trembling a little when she spoke to Harry one last time. “You’d better wait here. The Watchers don’t know you and frankly, you’re a civilian.”

"Now wait a minute, Alice. My wife will be here too, any minute now and I intend to be waiting for her. You're not going to stop me."

The Prime Minister shrugged. “Suit yourself, but stay out of the way.” She turned her body towards him. “When the Angels come, -if they come-this whole thing is going to kick off and I don’t need you getting hurt.”

Harry stared out of the window. “I’ve got news for you, Alice,” he said pointing towards the windscreen. “They’re already here!”