When he came back with the condiments a short while later, the scene had changed. He stopped a moment and watched it as the missing connections began to form. It was the warehouse filled with crates. He wondered if that was where his report would end up. Or somewhere like it. Locked up with the other records he’d handed over to Rowland. And then he made the lateral leap. Raiders was a Stephen Spielberg film. But a few years earlier he’d made another film: Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
As the end credits started to roll, he startled his boys by laughing out loud.
Three
Autumn felt as if it was beginning to settle in. A week or so earlier, it had been sunny and he’d been making favourable comparisons with the Canaries. Now it was cooling, and he wondered whether he’d be able to handle it. He’d spent a long time in warmer climes. Even so, he wasn’t going to stay cooped up indoors. It might be cold, but at least it wasn’t raining.
He’d walked a lot over the last few days. Around and about the woods and farmland were still giving him enough variety to stop him from getting bored. Not that he was focused on the scenery. He needed the exercise to counteract the tension. Things were better with his family, but it was going to take time. After years of them fearing he might remember what he’d seen in nineteen sixty-four, in some respects it had been a relief that it was now out in the open. But that didn’t mean it was going to be easy for any of them. They were talking to him now. Only short bursts, though, and it was upsetting for them and for him. So he walked, and they coped with their feelings in whatever way felt right for them.
Counselling would probably have been helpful, but that wasn’t going to happen. So his mother cleaned, and his father drank, and Matthew worked on his car, and Janet sat in her room and read. Perhaps predictably, Colin didn’t seem too perturbed by the experience. For now, though, they kept him at home, filling his head with other things: Disney videos, picture books, jigsaws, Lego, toy cars. All designed to overlay the images from the previous Saturday. When he went out into the village, they wanted other memories to come spilling from his mouth.
The previous Saturday. A week ago today. In some senses, it felt like a lifetime away. In others, it was as if it had happened only moments ago.
Without realising it, he’d strayed on to Kindness Farm. He recognised the track that he’d used to leave the farmyard the week before. A part of him wanted to walk past it. Another part of him – the part that suspected his subconscious had really brought him here – urged him to step off the footpath he was on and visit the Hawthorns. The track was only visible for twenty yards or so, then it turned and disappeared from view between two mounds that rose perhaps fifteen feet above it. From here, he knew he was safe. He could hesitate all he liked, and they couldn’t see him from the farm yard.
It was a small comfort to him as he wrestled with his feelings. He hadn’t seen the others since just after dawn last Sunday. They’d remained hidden from the rest of Martin’s family and the other villagers in the clearing. The shame and distress they were all feeling would only have been exacerbated by the appearance of the Sentinels. He’d spotted Adam and Claire briefly as he led his family from the clearing. Their presence reassured him, and he felt sure they’d only revealed themselves to him. After that, his focus was on getting everyone home.
Clothes were retrieved. Probably not all, but enough to allow people to dress with sufficient decency to be seen on Main Street. Not that the street was teeming with witnesses in the early hours of the morning. But it gave them all some comfort.
As his own family settled in, kettle on and something stronger available for those who wanted it, Martin had excused himself and stepped outside. He didn’t understand how he knew they would be waiting for him, but he did. They were in the front garden of the vicarage. A hedge concealed them effectively from the road. There was no sign of the Land Rover.
Both of them looked grim. Adam nodded towards the vicarage.
“He was here. There’s nothing anyone can do, but we’ll make sure the police are alerted.”
“Without exposing yourselves?”
Adam smiled, though there was little humour in it. “He’s learning,” he told his sister.
Martin was very conscious of Claire watching him. She nodded her agreement. “He’s definitely learning. You did well up there.” He had a sense that she was holding back.
“Yes you did,” Adam said. “We can’t thank you enough.”
From the street, he heard a diesel engine drawing near.
“That’ll be Croft,” Adam said. “He took Ian and Tanya back to our place.”
“How are they?”
“Ian’s conscious again and Tanya’s still in shock. They’re both going to need looking after. But we can do that.”
“What about Collins?”
In spite of the circumstances, Adam grinned. “He’ll be okay. Mason’s taking him home.”
“Is he conscious then?”
“No.”
“How does Mason know where he...?”
“Let’s just say we have our ways.”
“What do you think will happen when he wakes up?”
“Collins? Don’t worry about him. He won’t remember a thing.”
Martin raised questioning eyebrows.
“Again, let’s just say we have our ways.”
On the street, they heard the Land Rover pull up, then the back of it appeared in the gateway as Croft reversed into the drive.
“We’ve got to go,” Adam said. He gestured across the road. “You’ve got a lot to do over there. And it’s probably a good idea if we’re not seen together just yet. So we’ll keep our distance for a while. We’ll be in touch when the time is right.”
He nodded in what Martin took to be an attempt at reassurance. Beside him, Claire did the same, but she seemed more distant than Martin had hoped. A few seconds later, they were gone, the Land Rover heading back to Kindness Farm.
Back in the present, his hesitation made the decision for him. Adam strolled into view from the direction of the farm yard. He was dressed for work, but there was no sign of tools. When he saw Martin, he smiled.
“I thought it might be you,” he said cheerfully. He offered no further explanation and Martin was learning that there was little point in asking.
Reaching him, Adam patted him on the back. “It’s good to see you. Out for a walk?”
“Yeah,” Martin said mechanically. He felt awkward at being caught like this. He was also unsure how the Sentinels would be towards him anyway. After all, they’d achieved what they wanted to, and he’d begun to suspect that he had simply played a useful part in their game.
Adam must have seen something in his demeanour. He gestured towards the path that led away from the farm yard. “Let me join you. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
Four
“How’re you getting on with Norma?”
Startled, Martin stopped walking. They’d only travelled a few yards.
Adam laughed. “You might not have seen us, but we’ve been keeping an eye on you.”
“Worried I might start talking about what you’re doing here at the farm?”
“No. Just making sure you’re okay.”
They started walking again.
“Do you think I am okay?”
“It’s relative, isn’t it? You’ve got a way to go yet but, considering what you’ve been through, I’d say you’re doing okay. So. Are you settling in at the pub?”
“You make it sound like I’ve picked Norma as my soul mate and we’re planning to live happily ever after.”
“She’s a lovely woman, but I don’t think she’s your type.”
Martin was tempted to ask what Adam thought his type might be, but decided against it. “It’s just a place to stop for a while. The cottage isn’t really big enough for Matt and Janet to be living there, let alone me as well.” Matt had called on Norma Sunday afternoon and cleared the way for Martin to get a room. She hadn’t been too enthused at
first, but now things had quietened down in the village and he’d been nothing less than the perfect guest, she’d come around.
“It probably seemed odd finding your brother and sister still living at home.”
“It did,” Martin agreed.
“But you can understand why now.”
He didn’t say anything, just nodded slightly. It was still difficult to accept that his younger brother was also his nephew. Colin’s slowness made him vulnerable, and it was a parent’s natural instinct to be protective of their child. So Matt needed to be there. As for Janet, he guessed she’d been violated as well. Fortunately, she hadn’t fallen pregnant, which was probably a great relief for everyone. But the psychological effects had been harsh, not least the damage to her self-confidence. They’d been through a terrible trauma, one that none of them could cope with alone. Nor could they share it with anyone else. Especially not the family member who’d seen it all happen. In time, he hoped it would all make sense.
Adam must have sensed the direction of his thoughts. “I won’t pretend to know how it feels to be in that situation, and nor should you. Unless you’ve experienced it yourself, you can’t. But you’ve done the most important thing you can. You’ve accepted them, and they know that you don’t blame them.”
“What about the other families?”
“What do mean?”
“I don’t know. I feel they need help. Some of them might even need medical attention after what happened on Saturday. But where will they go for it?”
“They can’t go anywhere. The shame’s too great.”
“Do you think they’d accept help from me?”
“Don’t you think you’ll have enough on with your own family?”
“Probably. But not forever. And at the moment, they need to be left alone some of the time as well. I could be using that time to do something for the others. Even if it’s helping with the funeral arrangements for the Salthouse family.” Peter had died earlier in the week. The trauma to his body had been too much for him. There were some who would consider it a blessing, but Martin wasn’t going to make that judgement. He knew the family were grieving.
Adam bowed his head as he considered Martin’s suggestion. “I can’t tell you what to do about Nigel’s family, or any of the others for that matter. Only you can decide. All I would say is, listen to your heart.”
“My heart’s telling me to try.”
“Then that’s what you must do.”
The path they were on came to a stile, and beyond that it went into woods. They continued to talk as they climbed over and carried on walking.
“You’re not planning on going back to the sun then?”
“Not just yet.” That was a subject he didn’t want to talk to Adam about. Time to change the subject. “Was there a lot of gossip in the village? You know, back when the babies were born.”
“Gossip? You mean because there were so many at one time?”
“That could have just been coincidence. No, I meant about the fact that there was something wrong with them all.”
“It was unusual, and I’m sure the families involved were very conscious of it. But you have to bear in mind that not all of the conditions were obvious immediately. Colin, for instance, just seemed to be a late developer for quite a few years. Peter’s leg was shorter, but not noticeably so when he was a baby. And Ronald’s deafness wasn’t diagnosed until he was nearly two. The defects in the two girls were more apparent. But then it wasn’t that long since the scandal of the Thalidomide babies, so some people might have thought they’d got off lightly.”
“Still, it’s well known that inbreeding causes defects. Surely a few tongues wagged.”
“They probably did,” Adam agreed reluctantly. “Fortunately, they weren’t wagged too loudly, so the families were spared that particular humiliation.” He paused a moment, clearly pondering what they had been talking about. “Of course, if there had been that kind of talk, it would have all been wrong, but there’s not a lot you can say to enlighten the ignorant.”
“What do you mean, it would have been wrong?”
“Well, it’s true that the incidence of physical and mental defects is higher when there has been -” Adam smiled “- as you so delicately put it – inbreeding. But the reality is that the incidence is still incredibly low. The chances of it happening to five families from the same village is hundreds of thousands to one.”
“So what happened here then?”
“Well, unfortunately, there was a case of incest that came to light here during the nineteen thirties. I can’t prove it, but it seems likely that the Raven became aware of it when he paid us a visit in nineteen thirty-nine. The scandal would have still been talked about. I know the family concerned were almost lynched at one point. That kind of reaction would have been just the sort of thing he’d have got a kick out of.”
“That still doesn’t explain how five pregnancies resulted in five defects.”
“He’s a sorcerer, Martin. The Source could be described as many things. It could be nature, or God, or some infinite intelligence that guides us. Whatever you believe about any of those things, the Source is something that runs through us all. We all have the ability to tap into it, but sorcerers have a greater ability than others. The Raven caused those defects deliberately, so he could intensify the sense of shame, and present the families with constant reminders every day. That’s something else I can’t prove, but it’s also the only possible explanation.”
“So my mum and Matt have probably blamed themselves even more for Colin being retarded.”
“Not a nice word, but accurate nonetheless. And, yes, it only added to the pain they felt, which was exactly what the Raven wanted.”
“But why couldn’t you tell them. It wouldn’t have solved everything, but at least it would have made them feel better about something.”
Adam look uncomfortable about that. They walked several paces before he answered. “You already know the answer to that, Martin. I know it seems harsh. But we have to consider the bigger picture.”
“The needs of the many outweigh those of the few.”
“Very well put.”
“I think you’ve got Spock to thank for that one.” Even as the puzzled look crossed Adam’s face, Martin flapped his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Forget it. What were you going to say?”
“Well, I was going to try to put things into perspective. And I could do that by comparing the suffering caused by famine and brutal dictatorships in Africa. But that would be unfair. Physical suffering and mental suffering are quite different. Then again, I could point out that the world has a population of over five billion right now. In that context, what is the suffering of a handful of people in a little village in Nottinghamshire? And that would be getting closer to the truth. Because the proportions are actually far more significant. You see, if the Raven can go back in time with the kind of weaponry he’s trying to, we won’t be concerned with the fate of the world’s current population. We’ll have to take into account the populations that would have existed over many tens of thousands of years.
“Sacrifices are being made all the time, Martin. Bigger sacrifices for smaller causes. That doesn’t mean it’s easy for me to watch your family suffering, or the Paynes, or the Dakins...” He tailed off. Martin could tell that the recollection was genuinely upsetting for him.
They walked a little further into the woods as Adam collected himself.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last.
“That’s okay. You don’t need to say any more.”
The path twisted and turned through the trees. They followed it for a while in silence, each reflecting on their own thoughts. It was Martin who spoke first.
“How’re Ian and Tanya?”
“They’ve recovered from the shock. Fortunately, they have no idea what happened in the clearing, so it’s just the experience at the farmhouse they’ve got to come to terms with.”
“Have they been back?”
> “Ian has. The Army allowed him in just long enough to pick up some of their things. I don’t think Tanya wants to see the place again.”
“I got the impression she wasn’t too enamoured with the place in any case.”
“No. She’s talking about moving back down south. I think she wants to be with her family.”
“What about Ian?”
“He’s not part of the plan. But they’ve talked about it together and with Jennifer. She’s very good at helping people.”
Martin hadn’t spent much time with Jennifer, so he wasn’t in a position to agree or disagree on that point.
“It’s strange. I really got the impression they were becoming closer.”
“In a way, they have. They’ve set aside the niggles and petty annoyances that had built up between them. Without those in the way, they’ve been considerate of each other and loving. But it’s loving with care, not passion. We can all tell that they’re sad about it, but they know it’s the right thing for both of them.”
“Must be difficult.”
“It is, and it will be. But they’re both strong people, and at least they know it’s something they’ve agreed on.”
“Still, it seems odd that Tanya’s heading back to her family. She never struck me as being family orientated.”
Adam stopped walking for a moment. They’d reached a fork in the path, but he took the opportunity to look at Martin appraisingly. “Would you have thought that you were family orientated?”
Martin shrugged. “Probably not.”
“How do you feel now?”
“Like they’re the most important people in the world to me.”
“Family always are.” Adam rested his hand briefly on Martin’s shoulder. It was strangely affirming. Then he pointed to the left-hand path. “Let’s go this way.”
The path took them upwards. It wasn’t steep, but the incline was consistent and went on for some time. Sunlight filtered down through the leaves and branches overhead, so they could see the pathway ahead of them. Martin didn’t recognise where they were, but he was more interested in anything Adam had to tell him.
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