by Tony Parsons
Sickness had come to the island.
It was a sickness that came on like a fever.
Sweating. Sore throat. Your muscles feeling as though they were made of lead. But the worst of the sickness was down in your lungs. That was where the sickness began – and where it would seek your end.
My wife was already in her bed, raving with the pain and sweats. Captain bawled to see his mother in such distress. I got wet rags and tried to cool the fire.
Then I picked up Captain and went to see John Adams.
All over the village I could hear the moans and groans of the sick.
‘This is a judgement,’ John Adams told me, glowering at me from his cabin’s doorway like some sun-baked Moses.
‘This is no judgement,’ I said. ‘It is something to do with the birds. Can’t you see? They are all dying. And we eat enough of them.’
He had other ideas.
‘This island was the Garden of Eden and we were all the serpent,’ said John Adams. ‘And now comes God’s judgement.’ The big black ship’s Bible was in his hands, but he did not need to read. John Adams knew the words by heart. ‘Fallen is Babylon the Great – she has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit.’
Captain began to cry a bit at this news.
I picked him up and hugged him.
‘John,’ I said. ‘We must stop eating the birds.’
‘A haunt for every unclean and detestable bird,’ he continued. ‘In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’
‘There is a sickness among the birds on the island,’ I said. ‘It is the birds who brought it here.’
‘No,’ said John Adams. ‘We carried it with us. From England. From Tahiti. From the Bounty.’
A dead bird fell at our feet.
I felt myself growing dizzy. My head was slick with sweat and heat. I staggered where I stood. My small son shivered in my arms. I feared I might drop him and the thought terrified me.
‘The sins of the fathers shall be visited on the sons,’ John Adams said, his mad eyes rolling.
I cursed him.
Then I saw that he was sick too. That we were all sick.
I walked away, my feet unsteady.
It was as if I was back at sea, and the wild ocean was rolling beneath me.
‘Daddy?’ said Captain, his face against my chest.
My beautiful boy.
I awoke to a changed world.
My cabin was empty. Outside the island was silent. Not even the sound of the birds disturbed the still air. If I listened carefully, I could hear a soft breeze in the palms and the distant sigh of the sea.
But beyond that, nothing.
It was as if man had stepped on Pitcairn for but a brief moment in time. And now wild nature had returned to reclaim the island.
I left my cabin. I saw no man, no woman, and no child. But as I walked up the little path towards the white cliffs, I heard the voice of John Adams. His words travelled to me through the palms.
‘Ashes to ashes,’ he said. ‘Dust to dust.’
A small white cross stood on the top of the hill.
John held his Bible over a newly dug grave.
Around him I saw only women and children.
I saw my wife. I saw Maimiti. But I did not see young Isaac Martin, that good lad who I liked so well, and I did not see John Mills, that drunken seadog.
I did not see proud young Hu and I did not see the elder, Tetahiti. John Adams walked towards me.
‘How long did I sleep?’ I said.
‘Seven days and seven nights,’ he said.
I could scarcely believe it. But I knew that it was true.
‘Where are the other men?’ I said.
‘I buried them days ago,’ he said. ‘The judgement seems to be on the men. Not the women and children. All of the women have survived. And most of the children.’
And then I understood.
‘No,’ I said.
John Adams stared at me with eyes that contained all eternity.
‘Not my boy?’ I said.
John placed a rough hand on my shoulder. ‘I am sorry, Ned,’ he said. ‘It is a harsh judgement that has been passed on our island.’
I could not bear for the women to see my tears. I could not bear to look at that small white cross. And I could not bear to look at the saintly face of the man with the Bible. But I did not run away.
Instead, I took my knife from my kirtle and held it to his throat.
‘I thought you wanted to be William Bligh,’ I said bitterly. ‘But now I see you want to be God.’
He stared calmly at the blade against his throat.
Then he smiled.
‘You can’t kill me,’ he said. ‘You will have no one to talk to.’ His face grew serious. ‘I am truly sorry about your son, Ned,’ he said. ‘I know he was the light of your life.’
I broke down then.
I wanted him to fight me. I wanted him to curse me. I wanted him to tell me that I was damned to the fires of hell.
I could deal with anything but his small act of kindness.
The knife slipped through my fingers. I left it where it fell. And I let John Adams lead me from that heart-breaking grave on the top of the white cliffs and down to the beach.
We sat on the sand and stared out to sea.
I felt myself grow warm although the evening breeze was cool. I felt tired, so tired now, although I had slept for seven days and seven nights. And I knew that very soon I would join my son.
‘Rest,’ John Adams told me, his voice more gentle than I had ever known. ‘Stretch out on the sand and rest your weary body, old friend.’
I felt myself weaken.
I felt that I should lie down to rest for a while – or perhaps until Judgement Day. And so I did. Yet there was no rest. It was becoming difficult to breathe and I was suddenly afraid.
But then my mother was standing by my side, smiling at me, and I felt at peace. Even though my mother died at the other end of the world when I was four years old. Even though my mother was gone at the other end of a lifetime.
But she was smiling at me now, and that was real.
John Adams and I stared out at the bay.
Soon it would be just him and the women and children. It would be a chance to start again. I hoped that he would build a better world than the one we had known.
‘Do you remember the night we burned the Bounty?’ I said.
‘She made a grand light,’ John Adams said, and he smiled. ‘A light that men will remember for centuries.’
‘Good English oak,’ I said. ‘It makes a mighty fire.’
About the Author
Tony Parsons is the author of Man and Boy, which won the Book of the Year prize. His other novels – One For My Baby, Man and Wife, The Family Way, Stories We Could Tell, My Favourite Wife, Starting Over and Men from the Boys – were all bestsellers. He was recently writer-in-residence at Heathrow. Departures, his first collection of stories, is the result. Tony is the son and grandson of sailors and lives in London.
By the same author
Man and Boy
One For My Baby
Man and Wife
The Family Way
Stories We Could Tell
My Favourite Wife
Starting Over
Men from the Boys
Tony Parsons on Life, Death and Breakfast
Departures – seven short stories from Heathrow
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A thrilling all-new adventure featuring the Doctor, Amy and Rory, as played by Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill in the hit series from BBC Television.
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Beyond the Bounty
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Harper
Mutiny and murder in paradise …
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The Cleverness of Ladies
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James Caan
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It is possible to get the life you really want.
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Discover how to manage your time and money.
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Learn to change how you think so you can use business sense in everyday life.
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Amy’s Diary
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A young woman finds her way
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Books in the Quick Reads series
Amy’s Diary Maureen Lee
Beyond the Bounty Tony Parsons
Bloody Valentine James Patterson
Buster Fleabags Rolf Harris
The Cave Kate Mosse
Chickenfeed Minette Walters
Cleanskin Val McDermid
The Cleverness of Ladies Alexander McCall Smith
Clouded Vision Linwood Barclay
A Cool Head Ian Rankin
The Dare John Boyne
Doctor Who: Code of the Krillitanes Justin Richards
Doctor Who: I Am a Dalek Gareth Roberts
Doctor Who: Made of Steel Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who: Magic of the Angels Jacqueline Rayner
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Judoon Terrance Dicks
Doctor Who: The Sontaran Games Jacqueline Rayner
A Dream Come True Maureen Lee
Follow Me Sheila O’Flanagan
Full House Maeve Binchy
Get the Life You Really Want James Caan
Girl on the Platform Josephine Cox
The Grey Man Andy McNab
Hell Island Matthew Reilly
Hello Mum Bernardine Evaristo
How to Change Your Life in 7 Steps John Bird
Humble Pie Gordon Ramsay
Jack and Jill Lucy Cavendish
Kung Fu Trip Benjamin Zephaniah
Last Night Another Soldier Andy McNab
Life’s New Hurdles Colin Jackson
Life’s Too Short Val McDermid, Editor
Lily Adèle Geras
The Little One Lynda La Plante
Men at Work Mike Gayle
Money Magic Alvin Hall
My Dad’s a Policeman Cathy Glass
One Good Turn Chris Ryan
The Perfect Holiday Cathy Kelly
The Perfect Murder Peter James
Quantum of Tweed: The Man with the Nissan Micra Conn Iggulden
RaW Voices: True Stories of Hardship Vanessa Feltz
Reading My Arse! Ricky Tomlinson
Star Sullivan Maeve Binchy
Strangers on the 16:02 Priya Basil
The Sun Book of Short Stories
Survive the Worst and Aim for the Best Kerry Katona
The 10 Keys to Success John Bird
Tackling Life Charlie Oatway
Traitors of the Tower Alison Weir
Trouble on the Heath Terry Jones
Twenty Tales of the War Zone John Simpson
We Won the Lottery Danny Buckland
Fall in love with reading
Quick Reads are brilliantly written short new books by bestselling authors and celebrities. Whether you’re an avid reader who wants a quick fix or haven’t picked up a book since school, sit back, relax and let Quick Reads inspire you.
We would like to thank all our funders:
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Th
e Reading Agency • National Literacy Trust
Welsh Books Council • Welsh Government
The Big Plus Scotland • DELNI • NALA
We want to get the country reading
Quick Reads, World Book Day and World Book Night are initiatives designed to encourage everyone in the UK and Ireland – whatever your age – to read more and discover the joy of books.
Quick Reads launches on 14 February 2012
Find out how you can get involved at www.quickreads.org.uk
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Find out how you can get involved at www.worldbookday.com
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Find out how you can get involved at www.worldbooknight.org
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See www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise
Copyright
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
Harper
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
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