“What are Ian’s plans?”
“He doesn’t have any yet. He’ll probably have to stay for a while, until the farm’s sold.”
“That could take a while. It was on the market for long enough before he bought it.”
“Possibly, but I understand the Ministry of Defence are interested in buying it.”
“What on Earth for?”
“Quite the opposite I imagine.”
Martin shot him a puzzled look.
“Because the Army can’t explain what happened, they’ve turned to the RAF. And they’ve turned to the RAF because they have a department that investigates extraterrestrial activity.”
“They think it was aliens?”
“I’m sure they won’t admit what they’re thinking to anyone, but it sounds like the MoD is willing to explore that option further. And to do that without interruption, they’ll need to own the site.”
“So Ian’s money worries could be over.”
“That’s probably an overstatement. The Government isn’t noted for its generosity. But it should make it easier for him to move on. What’s more important is that he’s been in touch with his children.”
“I didn’t know he had any.”
“Let’s just say he’s not been the most attentive father.”
“How did it go?”
“Not well. But he’s not going to let that put him off. He knows he’s at fault, and it’s going to take a lot of work to put things right. He’s learnt a lot about himself in the last couple of weeks.”
“He’s not the only one.”
The incline was getting shallower, and the top was coming into view. Beyond, it looked as if the trees were pretty much on a level.
“Has Tanya given any indication when she’ll be going?”
“No. I don’t think she’s ready to leave yet. She needs to build her confidence back up first. Right now, she needs to feel safe, and Kindness Farm is providing that for her. It’s always been that sort of place.”
“Is that why it’s called Kindness Farm?”
“I can see why it might look that way, but no. In a way, it’s a bit of a joke. We might have a serious job to do, but we enjoy a bit of humour. Even if it’s black humour.”
“Black humour?”
“Yes.” The path had levelled out now. Adam stretched his arm out, pointing to their left.
About a hundred yards away, Martin could see the clearing.
Five
They were standing almost directly opposite the place where he had entered the clearing a week earlier, so it took him a few moments to realise what he was looking at. The ashy remains of the fire were the giveaway. Other than that, there was no hint of the evil work done at the Raven’s behest. Instead, the area seemed completely benign.
“Notice anything different?”
It took Martin several long seconds. He allowed his eyes to rove across the space, searching for something specific that would explain the difference in atmosphere. Obviously there was daylight, but there had been daylight when he’d come up with Tanya.
“The ravens,” he said at last.
“The ravens,” Adam agreed. “They gather before their master arrives, and stay together for as long as he’s here. Do you know what they call a gathering of ravens?”
Martin shrugged. It had never crossed his mind that there was a name for it. “A flock?” he guessed.
“Some people refer to it as a murder, which isn’t technically correct. A murder refers to a gathering of crows. With ravens it’s an unkindness.”
It wasn’t the funniest joke in the world, but Martin could see the humour in it. “So Kindness Farm will be here to counter the unkindness when it arrives?”
“Assuming it comes back.”
They were walking again now. The path would have taken them away from the clearing, but Adam had stepped off it and was leading Martin towards the pile of ash.
“Don’t you think it will?”
“I’m optimistic. We know that one day he will be defeated in his own time. We just don’t know how far into the future he gets before that happens.”
“And when will we know?”
“I’d love to be able to answer that. The pattern he’s followed has been to appear at more frequent intervals. The last few times, those gaps have been twenty-five years so, if we follow that line of thinking, logically we should know around 2014. He could be back sooner, though. He didn’t get what he wanted this time, so he might come back for it in the next year or two.”
Martin shook his head, not sure whether to be impressed or confounded by the scale of the work the Sentinels were involved in.
“How do you cope with that?” he asked. “Knowing that this creature might materialise so many years from now, but equally he could turn up tomorrow?”
Adam stepped into the clearing and waved a hand at the debris that lay there. Remarkably, the tyre swing was still intact. The fire hadn’t come close to it.
“We know what he’s capable of. If we let down our guard, the consequences could be catastrophic.”
“And yet you don’t know who they would be catastrophic for. Or when it might happen.”
“It’s what we do, Martin.”
“Don’t you ever tire of it?”
“I can’t even comprehend why anyone would think like that. The Order is committed to protecting mankind. This just happens to be the task we are assigned to at the moment.”
“And when will that assignment end?”
“That’s not our decision, but I suspect we’ll have another fifty years or so of it.”
Martin was very conscious of a humorous glint in Adam’s eye. He got the sense that he’d made the comments deliberately, and was waiting to see what the reaction would be.
“I’d heard there was a bit of a pensions crisis, but I hadn’t realised it was that bad. I take it what you’re really saying is that you’re here for the rest of your life.”
“No I’m not. How old do you think I am, Martin?”
“I don’t know. A bit older than me, I suppose. Nearly forty?”
“I’m seventy-nine.”
He deliberately left that hanging between them.
“So when you mentioned the events in nineteen sixty-four...”
“I was there, Martin. I saw you. So did Jennifer. So did Claire.” His eyes were fixed on Martin’s face, studying him carefully.
A lump seemed to have lodged in Martin’s throat, cutting off his voice. Adam had no reason to lie to him. And, while what he was telling him would have seemed outrageous at any other time, in the context of what he had learned over the last week or so, this was only a minor surprise. He swallowed hard.
“How old is Claire?” Suddenly, it was the only important question he could ask.
“She’s seventy-five.” The humour had gone from Adam’s eyes, replaced by a sadness that Martin couldn’t get a handle on yet.
Claire was old enough to be his mother. At a push, she might even be old enough to be his grandmother. For the first time in his life, he’d thought he’d made a real connection with a woman. The hang ups he’d developed about sex made some degree of sense to him now. Even so, he knew they wouldn’t just go away. And yet, somehow, he’d felt sure Claire would understand, that she’d be the one to help him move on. More than that, though, he had felt there was potential for a real future together.
“It’s a tough one to get your head around, isn’t it?” Adam said, but Martin wasn’t sure how to take it.
“Are you immortal or something?”
“No. Far from it. But we do live longer than other humans. Three hundred years is a fair average.”
Three hundre... He couldn’t even contemplate the rest of the thought.
She’d already been alive for over forty years when he was born. In nineteen sixty-four, she’d watched him as an eight year old, and she’d been fifty. No wonder she’d been reluctant to commit when he’d been preparing to leave her by the Land Rover last Saturda
y. She had leaned in close and told him to come back in one piece. And she’d said it with a tenderness that made him believe she felt the same way about him as he did about her. Now it seemed she had just been playing with him, getting him in the right mental state to go and do the job they wanted him to.
He felt crushed at the deception. Perhaps more so than he might have done at another time. But there had been so much progress made with his family. For the first time he could ever remember, he’d wanted to be close to them, wanted to stay in the village. Her betrayal had thrown that idea aside. Right now, all he wanted was to get as far away from the village as he possibly could.
Then Adam said something completely unexpected.
“You need to talk to her. She’s very frightened at the moment.”
“Frightened? What’s she got to be frightened of?”
“Of losing you. With everything that’s happened to you. With the...” He hesitated, apparently struggling to find the right words. And apparently failing. “With the situation of your mother and brother having sex, and knowing the same happened between your father and sister, she knows that any relationship the two of you had could be a reminder of that.”
“What?” He looked at Adam incredulously. “Are you mad? Why would I think that? It’s not as if she looks as if she’s old enough to be my mum.”
“All right, let’s take that point as read for now. What about how you’re going to feel when you’re in your seventies, and she still looks as if she’s in her thirties or forties?”
That stopped him for a moment. Right now he was young and virile. Well, he assumed he was virile. For the two of them to be together now would be perfect. But how would he feel in forty years’ time? When she was still looking young and beautiful, and he was heading for the knackers yard. More importantly, how would she feel?
“Think about it,” Adam said gently. “It might not work out. Away from the unusual events you’ve been through together, you might find that the attraction isn’t there in the same way. But if things do get serious, you need to understand what you’re letting yourself in for. And when you’ve thought about it properly, you need to talk to her.”
Epilogue
A faint drumming beat its way into his dreams. He didn’t know how long it lasted. That is the way of sleep and dreams. Not long, he guessed as he woke. The shift from sleep to wakefulness was swift. That hadn’t changed.
It wasn’t drumming. Just a rhythmic tapping sound. He pushed the duvet aside and got up, crossing to the window. The moon was out, and there was no cloud cover at the moment to dim the light. In the distance, he could see trees swaying gently in the breeze. The raised land around them shielded the farmyard from most of the effects of the wind. Even so, he could see a loose end on a sheet of tarpaulin was flapping. It was covering a tractor they’d had to move out of its normal shelter in a barn. A series of metal rings were embedded in the edges of the tarpaulin. He guessed one of them was repeatedly connecting with the tractor’s body as it lifted and fell.
Now he knew what it was, he realised it was only barely audible. Most people who were awake wouldn’t have noticed it. Anyone else would have slept through it. He looked back at the bed for confirmation.
In the half light, he could only make out the outline of her body. It was unfair, because even that wasn’t truly clear, not with the bedclothes draped over her. But he could still see the gentle rise and fall of her chest. She was asleep, undisturbed by the tarpaulin or him getting out of bed. He guessed she must be used to it by now.
He couldn’t see her properly in this light, but he could see her in his mind. As attractive now as she’d been when he first met her. Which was more than could be said for him. He wasn’t in bad nick for his age, he supposed. But the blond hair was almost gone, replaced with grey. At least he hadn’t started losing it yet. And his skin wasn’t as smooth as it used to be. Working the land had taken its toll on his face and hands. But she still loved him.
That had been his greatest fear. She would grow tired of seeing his old face when hers remained youthful. Now he knew her love could see beyond that, and his fears were different. He was fifty-nine now. Still young by modern standards. But he was more than half way through his life. Way more. Yet she was barely a third of the way through hers. By the time he died, she still wouldn’t have reached the halfway point. He hoped she wouldn’t waste the rest of her life mourning him. She would smile at him when he broached the subject, tell him to focus on their time together. And he did, most of the time. But he wanted her to be happy, and he couldn’t bear to think of her otherwise.
The children would help, of course. They were still teenagers, but – ironically perhaps, given their likely longevity – they had matured well. There was none of the selfishness he saw when he went out into the rest of the world. Though that may have been down to their limited exposure to what was laughingly considered to be society. They still had no TV or computer. Their time was spent together as a family. They worked the farm, they laughed and played and learnt the lessons they needed to learn.
Occasionally, they would travel to the Refuge. Adam and Jennifer had returned there when it became apparent that Martin and Claire would settle down together. The farm didn’t warrant two families, and they were ready to start their own as well. Patrick and Anne spent time with their cousins and other members of the Order, and benefitted from the wisdom and guidance the Elders had to offer.
So Martin had no concern that they would abandon their mother in the pursuit of personal happiness. They knew they could find that by just being who they were and caring for others around them.
In the middle of the night, alone with his thoughts, he allowed himself to feel melancholy as he watched the outline of his sleeping wife.
Outside, he heard a rustling sound. Pushing the curtain back again, he looked out. Clouds had rolled over, so the yard was darker than it had been a few moments ago. On the roof of the stable block, he could make out silhouettes of birds. They hadn’t been there a few moments ago. The roof itself was higher at the back, angling down as it ran to a point overhanging the doors. There were three birds there, perched on the highest point. As he watched them, he felt a chill go through him as another one landed alongside. Then another, and another.
Twenty-five years, Adam had told him. That had been twenty six years ago. He glanced over at Claire, still asleep, still oblivious. Then he thought of the children. What if the Raven was able to call on them as part of the Gates family line? It wasn’t a thought he considered often. But it was there, at the back of his mind.
He noticed the light through the curtains brighten, and look outside again.
They were pigeons. He had to suppress the laughter. The relief felt ready to burst out of him.
His family was safe. In his heart, he knew they were out of the danger zone when 2014 had passed into 2015. But you never stop worrying about your family.
The End
Table of Contents
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Prologue
Part One - How to Win Friends
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Part Two - Feel the Fear
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
&nbs
p; Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Part Three - A Brief History
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Part Four - Families and How to Survive
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Part Five - Men Are From Mars
Ravens Gathering Page 38