Cherry Picking

by Tim Heath

  “So, what have you been thinking about?” he asked Robert.

  “Look, as unlikely as your offer sounds, I’d like you to show me some proof that you can do all that you are boasting that you say you can. You’ll need to have the account set up as well, all ready to go within a day or so.”

  Nigel was a little suspicious, aware that this could just be a delaying tactic but at the same time wanted to give him a chance if he was considering accepting his offer.

  “Look, I’ll give you a day, Robert, no more. Everything I’ve said, I can do, I have no need to boast. And though you’ll have to trust me that I’ll carry it out for you, that’s all you’ll have. Remember what’s at stake if you try anything else. Their blood will be on your head, Robert. You’d have forced me to attack, to use these weapons.”

  Robert knew this was classic denial tactics, the removal of guilt from one person onto the other so that they could carry out what they really wanted to, justifying it as best they could by making someone else responsible, pretending that they didn’t have an option.

  “OK, we’ll speak again tomorrow then?”

  “Same time. You have twenty-four hours and know this Robert, any tricks and I attack. If you aren’t in a position to leave tomorrow at this time, I attack. Anything other than this plan of action and its over. You understand?”

  “Loud and clear, Nigel, loud and clear!”

  Robert hung up, looking to the heavens for some divine help, knowing that it all hinged on what happened in the next two days. Time was now crucial as was his ability to leave the country and get to Switzerland. He needed help, of course, and immediately thought of the only two people he knew to call on.

  **********

  Jessica’s world had changed beyond recognition in the last twenty-four hours. She awoke feeling sick and walked around in a daze all morning.

  It was a pleasant surprise therefore when Robert came knocking at the door again, all eager and all action, something clearly very pressing. He’d already called Tommy and explained the urgency of the situation briefly, which made Tommy decide to leave the office and come home straight away to join them where they could talk through all that Robert had come to discuss.

  Robert had not been in long when Tommy pulled into the drive, appearing in the doorway just a minute later, an expression of concern on his face. He kissed Jessica on the cheek, checking how she was feeling, before they both sat down to hear what Robert had to tell them.

  There had been no beating about the bush — Robert told them everything that had been discussed with Nigel just a couple of hours before, mentioning Nigel’s offer to him as well as his threat to the nation.

  “He’s gone crazy!” Tommy said, now falling back into the big sofa he was sitting on having been on the edge of his seat up to then, straining to hear every last detail of what he was being told. Jessica felt faint, excusing herself, she left the room to get some fresh air.

  “Is there no end to the lengths he’ll go to?” Tommy continued. “I mean, talk about over the top!”

  “He’s an unstable individual, that’s for sure.”

  “But that must have been one hell of an offer to turn down?”

  “I’ve not turned it down, yet.”

  Tommy looked up a little concerned before Robert added:

  “It’s bought us some time. I’ve got a day before we were meant to speak again. Every minute really counts now.”

  “So, what’s your plan?”

  Robert stood up, stretching his arms high into the air. He hadn’t felt as tired in a long time and yet there was now so much relying on his ability to press through these next days without stopping. He walked over to the window before replying.

  “I believe it all rests in Switzerland. I need to get there today if possible and check out as much as I can. As soon as I know the location of the Door I’ll need to find it again in my time.”

  “I don’t understand. Can’t you just use that one?”

  “Well, eventually I will be using that one. But the Door works as a link between two points in time, so I need to come back to it from my time in order to establish the two-way link. That Door, if there is one and if indeed I find it, will only work when it is fired up from the future, thereby creating that link. This would then enable me to walk out of the Door in its original time, which for us is the past.”

  “I think I follow,” Tommy said. Robert, not at all convinced, did not have the time to explain further. Tommy added, “Then how do you get back to your time if you can’t use that Door?”

  “That’s something I’ve been aware of the whole time. I’ll have to take my chances with my Door again and I’ll explain that one when we get there. I’ll need your help doing so, assuming it’s still around.”

  Tommy looked puzzled and knew there was just too much to be explained than either of them had time for.

  “It sounds like an awful lot of things need to fall into place for this to work, Robert.”

  Robert was completely aware of that exact fact but smiled anyway. As Jessica re-entered the room a moment later, he said:

  “Well, I know, but I’ve got to have a go, because if I don’t, its all over, isn’t it?”

  Both men looked up at Jessica, now back with them.

  “Are you okay, sweetheart, you look awfully pale?” Tommy asked.

  “I think I need a lie down, do excuse me,” and she was off again.

  “Oh,” Tommy said when she was gone, only just remembering that morning’s phone call. “I had a call from Brendan today, threatening things in his now usual style. He wanted to meet up with me. I think he was aware about you coming to see us. I encouraged the meeting though, thinking there were some things I needed to say to him too, especially concerning Jessica and her family.”

  There was anger in his eyes now, Robert could see it, a kind of ruthless edge that Robert was well aware lived inside the man.

  “You be careful there, Tommy. He could cause you a lot of trouble. If he was willing to help us properly though, it might change a lot.”

  “After what he tried to do to you, you’d still get him on board?”

  “We don’t have much choice now, do we? I need all the friends I can get if I’m to do all I need to. So go easy on him, hear him out. When are you meeting him?”

  “Tomorrow morning, first thing.”

  “Okay, maybe keep Jessica out of it. I think she’d kill him!”

  “She’d have every reason to. Wouldn’t you?”

  “We have to put these things to one side. If I succeed none of that will ever happen, remember, and now it looks like our only hope, don’t you think?”

  “Robert, I don’t know what to think any more. Two days ago I was none the wiser, content in my own little world, doing a job I felt privileged to be in, with my girl back by my side. Now, I don’t know what to believe.”

  Tommy got up and joined Robert at the window.

  “So, how do you propose to get to Switzerland?” Robert hung on that question for a moment, refocusing his eyes on both their reflections in the window as they stood next to each other, looking out into the afternoon gloom. In the rough reflection that he saw, with a bit of imagination, only now did he spot a slight resemblance between them both, and smiled as the thought formed itself.

  “I’m not going, Tommy Lawrence is!”

  Tommy turned to him in wonder. “Come again?”

  “Do you have your passport handy? I think with a little bit of work I could pass for you and use it to get through customs.”

  Both men went off in search of the passport, Tommy shaking his head at the sheer humour of it, knowing that he’d be laughing if it all wasn’t so deadly serious.

  **********

  Nigel was now off the phone, walking around his lounge, looking out through the tall windows into the mountains, pondering his next move. In anticipation that Robert would turn down his proposal, Nigel had made plans to get everything mobilised anyway, so as to be ready without delay
.

  Slightly dismayed at being told that things would take thirty-six hours to get into position, Nigel had shouted home his point to no avail and ended things reluctantly, telling them that a minute over the thirty-six hours and they were all fired.

  Standing still now, he realised he’d know before then what the situation would be. The early evening light was starting to disappear, long shadows covering the valley due to the imposing mountain range only a few miles away. He wondered what Robert was doing at that precise moment, aware that either way, the next two days would see things change for good. One way or the other he’d be free at last, left to carry on doing whatever he wanted to do without the constant never-ending fear that someone was around the next corner waiting to get him, to expose him, to kill him. Maybe the nightmares would stop as well once Robert was gone. Nigel stood at the window for a long time, thinking very little now, just watching the trees, the birds and the fading light.

  **********

  Robert had left the Lawrence house just after three, his hair cut a little and some dye added, the transformation subtle but remarkable nonetheless. He hoped that he would be gone only the night, booked onto the 16:15 flight from East Midlands airport, heading to Switzerland. Tommy had wished him all the best, hugging him like an old friend as he left the house, Jessica still in bed though he hoped they’d both be able to meet him again tomorrow, Robert being unsure as yet what flight he’d be heading back on.

  Getting through the airport was a lot easier than Robert had feared, helped no end by the fact that in those parts, of course, Tommy was a well known name now and Robert found himself treated very well, upgraded to first class, his one oversight in his rush to buy the tickets. Clearly a man in his position would only travel that way anyway. Robert determined not to make any more mistakes and buried his head into his research the whole flight, knowing that he’d have to be working all night once on the ground, as time wasn’t something he had much of now. Part of him wanted to be back for when Tommy met with Brendan, and while that was risky, it was also highly unlikely due to the early meeting time. He’d grown a genuine concern for the couple, their natural warmth having already worked into him so that he felt he wanted to protect Tommy from Brendan, should there be a more sinister motive to their meeting.

  Robert knew such thoughts, if not forgotten, would need to be pushed far to one side for now if he was to have any chance of finding what he needed to that night.

  After twenty minutes of going over everything he already knew, he sat back in his seat, taking the food and drink when it was served, now aware that he just needed to be on the ground in order to confirm what he hoped he would find. As his starting point he knew the village where he was to head, the building he was hoping was still there which should be just beyond. It was nearly dark when the plane landed, the last traces of light leaving the sky beautifully red, a freshness to the air that was refreshing without being cold. He got through customs and was out of the airport within thirty minutes, having travelled light, with just his hand-luggage checked in as he didn’t intend to be too long. Not that he had much else on him anyway. Robert rushed to a car rental booth and was driving off twenty-five minutes later, everywhere dark now, though for the moment the roads were well lit, the country looking clean and ordered, and once in the mountains, the air was fresh and cool. He could understand why Austin would have been sent there. Not only was it quiet and very much off the beaten track, it was one of the most stunningly beautiful places you could ever hope to see, the mountains and tree-lined valleys interconnected with fresh water rivers and pools, the very occasional traditional wooden mountain cabin hidden among the trees, the fat dairy cows with their bells around their necks no doubt not far away, but it was too dark to see any of them as he drove now.

  He’d made tremendous progress but it was still gone ten before he drove through Vers-Cort, the small community half way up the mountain a few miles off Route 9 which ran south down the eastern side of Lake Geneva. This was the village that Austin Wentworth had mentioned in one of the few documents, as being the nearest village to the asylum, which was, or had been, just a mile further up the road. Robert had no clue whether the asylum still existed in its previous state.

  The signs were good though, as he pulled the car over just after a big bend in the road. There was a small forest of trees flanking the road and he picked up the torch that he’d purchased at the airport. Having had it on charge the whole time in the car, it was surprisingly bright and he made his way through some small trees, making out the obvious shape of a building of some kind, his heart picking up a beat. He’d read so much about the place, been so aware of it all that somewhere inside him it now felt as if he was coming back to a childhood home, as if the memory was faint but it all still seemed rather familiar.

  His first piece of luck was that it was clear from the boarded windows and generally poor condition of the place that it no longer was a domestic residence. This would mean, surrounded by trees on every side as it was, he wouldn’t be intruding on anyone’s life and therefore at that time of night he hoped nobody would spot him there. Going in closer for a further look he spotted the dirty name plate on the door. Once he had given it a lot of rubbing, the years of neglect clearly visible, it revealed the name of the asylum. It was the same name from all those years ago and from all those entries he’d read about the man he believed was Austin Wentworth. His was the only record of admission for that year and it said that he was an Englishman from the south of the UK.

  Situated not more than five or six miles further up the same mountain road, just through the next gathering of houses that you could call a village, was the crystal clear mountain pool where Christopher Wentworth, the oldest son, had drowned in a boating accident. This lake’s proximity to the only mainland asylum on the continent to have taken in an Englishman within a few weeks of Austin leaving the village back home, only made the case stronger.

  Robert went around the back of the wooden framed building, parts of the outer wall clearly rotting, large pieces just falling off with his touch. From the look of things it had been a number of years, if not decades, since the place was last used, the sad story of such places being that the money would just run out and the patients would then just be thrown out with nowhere to go and no one to take them.

  He forced the back door, which gave no real defence as it was so old and rotten. The force cracked the lock right through the timber and the door swung open very easily. Robert walked into what appeared to be some form of store room. Piles of boxes stood around, no doubt crawling with insects, something which Robert would keep in mind. He flashed the torch around and found the door open on the far side, which led out into a corridor area. Small rooms led off each side further down the corridor, and the other way he presumed led back towards the entrance, with maybe some waiting room and secretarial office there. What got to him right away was how small the overall place was, bearing in mind that in its day the patients would have lived there all the time. ‘Some life’ he thought to himself. They no doubt spent hours alone in their small rooms.

  What Robert was really after was the records room, which he soon found, its doorway partially obscured by a filing cabinet. He hoped, going by the state of the rest of the building’s contents, he’d find the records still remained. They did, and more than that, there were many personal possessions as well, such as old black and white photos and children’s colouring pads which he could only imagine some of the adults used, for he was aware that no children, as far as he had researched, had ever stayed there.

  Robert went at speed through the boxes, some of the top ones starting to rot due to the damp in the air, water no doubt coming through the roof in winter when it would be covered in inches of snow. He didn’t bother with keeping things tidy, there just wasn’t time. What he needed, and hoped for, was anything from Austin’s era, and more hopefully, anything from the man himself. Robert had gone through all five boxes that sat there, but they related to a later pe
riod and he was about to turn around when he spotted three further boxes, tucked well away under the metal racks attached to the wall, their shelves stuffed with all sorts of rubbish.

  Getting to the boxes and resting his torch down, he knew straight away that this was what he wanted, the first box showing the dates just before Austin had been there, and Robert felt a buzz of excitement rising again as he went through pieces of history. He finished the first box but there was no sign of what he was looking for, so he went through the other two, finally getting what he wanted in the last one, a bunch of papers in a scribbled format, but straight away, on one large sheet of paper, Robert knew he’d found something. The nurses here had probably simply taken this as Austin’s madness showing itself, but looking up at him as Robert held the sheets in the light of his dimming torch, its charge now fading, were pencil drawings of a Door, loads of them from every angle. Robert picked them up, with the torch, knowing he needed to get back to the car. As he got to the door of the room, he heard noise from the back of the building, then a clear voice in French, the beam from a torch sweeping the hallway area. The man, obviously alerted by something, starting to walk in and shouted again, before walking past his door and towards the entrance. Robert knew he had no option but to make a run for it now, staying low and weaving his way back through the corridors and getting out again through the broken back door as quickly as he could. He kept running down the track, not even stopping to look behind, slowing as he got back up to the main road, a police car parked against his side of the road, telling him who the visitor was. Robert crossed over the road quickly and got into his own car, pulling the hand brake off so that he could slide down the road a bit, struggling to turn very much with the lack of power steering. He only started the car when he felt he was far enough away from the policeman so as not to attract his attention.