Redhead

by Ian Cook

Rebecca flared again. “You really don’t get it, do you? Well, let me tell you. Syreeta is after my redheads story – she’s desperate to take it over. There’s nothing she’d like more than for me to drop out.”

  “I thought you two were friends,” Jim replied.

  Rebecca looked at him defiantly. “Listen. It might sound corny to you, but this is a big story. It could make my name. Just accept it, okay?”

  “You’re beginning to sound quite paranoid,” Jim retorted.

  Rebecca was about to respond, when Larry bounced over. He sat down and looked at each of them in turn. “Is everything all right?” he ventured brightly. He didn’t wait for an answer. “Look what I’ve just found in Dr Neferatu’s room. He actually had the nerve to steal it from the library.”

  Rebecca and Jim both looked puzzled.

  Larry held up the book to show them. “L A Waddell, published 1924. Just don’t ask me how I got hold of it.”

  Jim took the book and flicked through it. “Why would Dr Neferatu want this?” he asked.

  “At a guess, he wanted to find out about the Newton Stones. There was a book on Pictish symbol stones in his room as well. And there was another one about prehistoric Orkney. Why on earth would he be interested in prehistoric Orkney, I wonder?”

  “There’s a lot about the Newton Stones here,” said Jim. “And I think I’m beginning to see a connection.”

  “How’s that?” said Larry.

  “It’s funny. I mentioned the Newton Stones as a possible research project in the paper I prepared for him. I knew you were interested in them as well.”

  “Perhaps this is all part of Neferatu’s plan. Could he have been using us to draw Rebecca there – into a trap?” asked Larry.

  But Jim was absorbed in reading the book.

  “It does come over as a bit wacky to say the least,” said Larry. “Must be why Waddell was never taken seriously. Mind you, there’s one thing that’s really fascinating. He’s suggesting the Phoenicians landed here in Scotland, and even settled for a while.”

  “You’ve read it already?” said Jim, surprised.

  “Oh, I’ve only skimmed through it,” replied Larry. “He seems to stretch things a bit, but then he was once Professor of Chemistry and Pathology at Calcutta Medical School. So I suppose he must have had some credibility.”

  “But what does it say about the inscription?” interjected Rebecca.

  Larry took the book back and leafed through until he found the page he wanted. “This is the translation as he worked it out,” he said.

  Larry held the book up so that they could see, and quoted: ‘This Sun-Cross was raised to the God of Sun-Fire by the Phoenician, Ikar of Cilicia’.”

  “Can I have a look at it?” said Rebecca, reaching for the book. She avoided looking at Jim.

  “And where might Cilicia be?” Jim asked Larry.

  “It’s in modern Turkey now,” he said. “It used to be the coastal strip around Tarsus in the ancient Greek world. You remember Paul of Tarsus?”

  “So let’s say that Ikar of Cilicia had a fight with Ptolemy,” said Jim. “How does that help us?”

  Larry smiled smugly. “Well, I’ve been doing some more reading in the library, and it’s all very interesting.

  The Cleopatra we all know had a daughter, also called Cleopatra – Cleopatra Selene, often known just as Selene. Selene means ‘moon’ in Greek. After Cleopatra’s death, Selene was married to King Juba II of Numidia, in North Africa. They ended up in a town called Caesaria in Mauretania, which was part of the Roman Empire. It’s now in Algeria, on the Mediterranean coast.”

  Larry smiled at them both. “It’s highly likely that Selene also had a first-born daughter named Cleopatra. They went in for that sort of thing. She would have been the last Cleopatra. The end of the Ptolemaic line. We can’t know for certain that she existed, or what happened to her. But one thing is certain – Cleopatra’s ancestors came from Macedonia. She was a descendant of Ptolemy Soter – and red hair was not uncommon in Macedonia. There’s even a bust of Cleopatra with reddish hair in the Altes Museum in Berlin.”

  Jim looked unimpressed. “So are you saying that if, and I mean if, Rebecca’s vision was of something that actually happened, then what Rebecca was seeing was the famous Cleopatra’s granddaughter escaping somewhere? And that she was escaping from the very same Dr Neferatu? Come on! A bit far-fetched, don’t you think?”

  “Try and keep an open mind, Jim,” said Larry.

  “All right, trying to keep an open mind,” said Jim, “on top of all that, you expect me to believe that Dr Neferatu tried to kill Rebecca, that he was also the enemy of a general in Alexander the Great’s army, that he had it in for Cleopatra’s granddaughter and that he also didn’t like shamans?”

  “Don’t you see?” said Larry, exasperated. “Every single person who spoke through Rebecca happened to have red hair. For some reason, Neferatu has clearly got something against redheads.”

  “But why? And why me, especially?” asked Rebecca.

  “I don’t know,” said Larry. “But we’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise.”

  “Okay,” said Jim. “You know classical Greek don’t you, Larry? How about the so-called warning Ptolemy gave to Rebecca? Did you manage to work out what he was saying?”

  “My Greek’s a bit rusty, I’m afraid. Can you play it back for me?”

  Jim ran through the recording, found the ‘warning’ and pressed ‘Play’.

  Larry listened. “It’s not that easy to understand. I could make out a few words though. The word for ‘red’ is there, and ‘hair’. So it’s clearly to do with ‘red hair’. And ‘ring’ – ‘a ring’. He mentioned ‘Horus’, too, the ancient Egyptian god.”

  “Well?” said Jim.

  “Right,” said Larry. “I’ll give you my best guess. What I think he’s saying is, ‘When Horus comes, people with red hair will fear his ring’.”

  Jim shrugged his shoulders. “Doesn’t exactly reveal much, does it?”

  “Red hair again, though,” Larry answered. “And definitely some sort of warning.” He looked at the others. “It seems quite relevant in view of what’s been going on. But goodness knows what his ‘ring’ has got to do with it. And what’s all this about Horus coming? I’ll have to look him up again – see if I can find any clues about him or his ring.”

  “I don’t see what difference it’ll make. Bit of a waste of time if you ask me,” said Jim.

  Larry didn’t quite know what to make of Jim’s negativity. He looked over at Rebecca. She seemed so vulnerable. He felt almost overwhelmed by a wave of sympathy for her, as he realised that she reminded him of his own daughter Kate, whom he had lost so many years ago.

  He went over to her and put his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Rebecca. We’ll get there. You’re going to be okay,” he said, trying to sound confident and reassuring.

  CHAPTER 58

  As she sat on the bed in her hotel room, Rebecca felt puzzled and upset by Jim’s attitude towards her. Only a couple of days before, he had been so warm and had shown real affection. Now he seemed cold and withdrawn and she felt as if she had annoyed him in some way. Why had he changed? Was it her fault? Or maybe he’d had second thoughts about getting involved?

  It seemed something was holding him back from giving more of himself. She wondered if he still felt hurt by his failed marriage. It seemed as if his American wife had been mainly attracted by the idea of marrying into an aristocratic family and hadn’t really been in love with him at all.

  But surely he had got over that by now. Marriages fail. It doesn’t have to stop you feeling something for somebody else. What she could not understand was his lack of appreciation about all she had gone through. As if it had all irritated him. She could see no evidence of protective love in him.

  He was a scientist, of course. She accepted that a scientist had to be rational and always needed proof of everything. But she had expected a little measure of loving sympathy after
all she had gone through.

  At first he had seemed sympathetic and had wanted to help her. Now he seemed to mock her and treat her as if she were making it all up. And then today, she felt she meant nothing to him, as if she were merely the subject of an interesting scientific experiment. He had seemed so positive and full of life when they had first met. Now he seemed somehow deadened and negative, especially towards her.

  She knew her own behaviour had not always helped. She had been short-tempered, even hysterical, at times. But then so would anybody else, surely. These were not normal days.

  Syreeta was another problem on her mind. She really didn’t feel she could trust Syreeta anymore. All this concern for her welfare was just a cover. All she seemed really interested in was taking over on her redheads story. Maybe taking over Jim, too, in the process. And if Syreeta thought she could talk her round, she was mistaken. Tough. Rebecca certainly wasn’t going to make it easy for her.

  But then she cut all these destructive comments short. What am I doing? Am I becoming completely paranoid or something?

  At least Larry was kind. He alone seemed to understand exactly what she was going through.

  She went online and checked her emails. As expected, there was one from Charles, asking how she was progressing with the story. She replied, promising to send him a piece shortly. Then there was another message from Syreeta, saying she was worried about her and was coming to Aberdeen that evening. Rebecca deleted it.

  Turning on the television, she checked the 24 hour news. It was now dominated by stories about the Earth’s failing magnetic field, the likely effects of increased solar radiation and the possibility of a pole switchover. Nothing about attacks on redheads. Had it all stopped and gone away? She checked the media websites. Basically the same. There was the odd piece about people with red hair continuing to disappear, but no more. The whole redhead story seemed no longer worthy of news headlines.

  Frustrated, she checked ‘Red Aloud’, a website dedicated to redheads. Now she could almost hear the cries for help. The blogs were all jammed full of stories about redheads having visions and strange experiences, many of them terrifying. They were being mocked, despised or, at worst, physically abused. There were even cases where non-redhead members of their own families were turning against them.

  And again, in some of the comments, she noted a distinct lack of sympathy for them. People were being critical, cruel even. What was happening? And yet the world at large seemed to have other things to worry about.

  She checked her watch. It was seven o’clock. She managed to get through to the press officer at the Home Office, and asked her straight out whether there were reports coming in about redheads being persecuted.

  She didn’t expect much help, and indeed she didn’t get much. “Yes, there are a few reports coming in from the police of them being called out to disputes involving redheads. But, putting it frankly, we’re more concerned about the effects of the solar radiation. It’s beginning to affect electricity supplies, and that is serious. We’re working flat out here, trying to get emergency generators in place. Phone reception is going down in some places. You are lucky you got through. What’s more, if the poles do switch over, we’ve got a real problem on our hands. Frankly, it’s all tying up most of the government. Sorry, but the redhead situation will just have to wait.”

  For a while, Rebecca sat there fuming. Then she decided to do something positive and write up the story of the missing redheads in Scotland. This was serious and important and could not be ignored.

  She had barely started typing when there was a knock on her door. She heard Syreeta’s voice. “Rebecca? Are you there? It’s me – Sy.” She sat there in silence until she heard Syreeta’s footsteps fade, as she walked back down the corridor.

  CHAPTER 59

  The television newsreader on the evening news looked distinctly distracted as she leafed through her papers and turned to face the camera.

  Jim turned up the volume on the television in his hotel room.

  “There are now reports coming in that solar radiation is becoming a serious problem, as the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field continues to fall. It now seems likely that the North Pole and the South Pole are on track to switch over completely.

  Some energy suppliers are warning that electricity supplies will almost certainly be disrupted. Internet and phone network providers are also warning customers that their services could be affected. We invited the government to speak to us about emergency plans, but no one is available for comment. However, we have received the following written statement from the government:

  ‘The government is still awaiting key information that will indicate the speed of the magnetic field change. In the meantime, we are preparing the necessary emergency measures that may be required. Further information will be given as the situation develops…’”

  Jim was concerned. Clearly the government was getting worried about the drop in the Earth’s magnetic field, and it was at last dawning on them what the consequences might be. Yet they had not announced even the most basic plan of action. And there was still no mention of harassed redheads, either from the government or on the national television news. He assumed that the cosmic events were taking precedence over anything else.

  Switching off the television, he was relieved to get through to Greg straightaway. “Hi. What’s going on with you? Our government hasn’t started to get its act together yet.”

  “They’re probably panicking. Things are happening very quickly now, and they’re probably caught out,” said Greg. “Did you know it’s started already? Vortices have formed in the magnetic field in different parts of the world, just as we anticipated. Even now, there are odd spots in the South Pacific where compasses are pointing south. Definitely on Easter Island, where you were. And your part of the world – Scotland – is very unstable as well. Amongst other places.”

  “Yes, I checked with my department. We’re picking up the same.”

  “It’s certainly happening very fast,” said Greg. “I’ve just been on to Shinzo Yoshino at Tokyo University, and he’s confirmed what we’re seeing. Let’s hope people are getting their emergency plans together.

  Sorry, Jim, gotta go. We have to revise the official statement we were just about to put out. I’ll keep you posted. Bye.”

  Jim wondered if he should be helping in some way, or speaking to someone. The Cambridge University authorities had already firmly reminded him that any contact with the Press or government should be cleared through them first. His mind was in a whirl and he was finding it difficult to concentrate. He sat down on the bed to think.

  There was an almost immediate tap on his door. He opened the door to find Syreeta standing there.

  “Jim – hello! Can I have a word, please?”

  “Of course,” he said, surprised to see her so soon, and held the door open to let her in.

  She sat down on the bed, crossed her long brown legs and brushed her hair away from her face.

  “Rebecca doesn’t seem to be around,” she said. “Either that, or she’s not wanting to see me.”

  “She does seem to be behaving rather erratically, I know that.” Without prompting, he started to tell her about the experiment with Rebecca, while Syreeta listened.

  “So these stories about redheads? Something is really happening then?” she said.

  “It certainly looks like it. Look at Rebecca, for example. Her behaviour has been downright weird.”

  “To me, she sounded very scared,” said Syreeta. “I know – but she doesn’t need to be. I’m convinced there’s a perfectly good scientific explanation for it all.”

  Syreeta looked at him in silence for a moment, as if unsure what to think. “But about the pole switch? What’s the latest?” she asked.

  “You’ll have to talk to the official spokesmen about that,” Jim said. “I got a bit of an earful from the university after you did that interview with me.”

  “How about your friend in t
he States?” she asked. “Could he help? Could you give me his phone number?”

  Jim couldn’t see any objection. She could easily track down Greg if she really wanted to. He wrote it down for her and was handing it over when there was another tap at the door. He opened it to find Rebecca standing there, smiling.

  “Jim, are you busy? I just wanted to say I’m so sorry for being difficult. This…”

  She tailed off as she noticed a movement in the room and peered over his shoulder to see Syreeta sitting on the bed.

  Rebecca pushed past Jim as Syreeta stood up. “Oh, I see you are busy. Syreeta! What on earth are you doing here?”

  “I tried your room, but there was no answer,” said Syreeta. “I didn’t know where you were. I was worried about you.”

  “Looks like it,” snorted Rebecca, glaring at her. Then she turned to Jim. “You can forget what I just said.”

  “I think it’s time I went,” said Syreeta. “I was on my way out, anyway. I’ve got some calls to make – and a story to write. Call me when you’re feeling better, Rebecca.” She went to the door. “Thanks for everything, Jim,” she said, closing it behind her.

  Jim looked at Rebecca and shook his head in dismay. “What’s up with you? As if I haven’t got enough on my plate without all the histrionics,” he said. “This is turning into some bloody awful farce.”

  “Maybe it is to you,” retorted Rebecca. “Are you completely insensitive? To me, it’s deadly serious.”

  “Listen, Rebecca,” he said, “irrespective of your feelings and my feelings, something really serious is happening in the world. It may not mean much to you, but this poles situation looks like causing complete chaos, not just here but all over the world. No power, no internet, no phones. And meanwhile, you choose this moment to have a tantrum. You may not admit it, but you are behaving rather strangely. Not your usual cool self, let’s say.”

  “A tantrum! Me behaving strangely! And what about you!” exploded Rebecca. “Well, if that’s how things are,” she said, turning on her heels, and strode out of the door, slamming it shut behind her.