Lavender Hill

by P. J. Garland

  Sir Jeffrey laughed. “I do hope you have some explanation for these findings because if I’m perfectly honest we are totally at a loss.”

  Jeremy also laughed. “Unfortunately, we are in the same position. It’s absolutely baffling. However, we have discovered these Pointers don’t seem to be religious, which is consistent with a more natural interpretation of the Rapture.”

  “Interesting... our analysis of the internet and social media did seem to suggest the religious reaction to the Rapture occurred after it was reported in the wider media.” Sir Jeffrey paused before continuing, “Well, at least we have something to investigate.” He then took a more serious tone. “Now, Mr Banks, we have a request for you. As I told you before, there’s been a significant amount of Rapture-related activity within the UK, and this new data just confirms its significance for our internal security. Now we have the details for some of these Pointers, we intend to request interviews from them, and it’s inevitable this will find its way into the news. We would like you to report these interviews in a way that will calm and pacify the country so that no one gets over excited. Our offices that deal with the media will give you details about what we would like you to say.”

  Jeremy looked shocked. “You can’t be expecting 24/7 News to report what the government wants.”

  “Of course not, Mr Banks – it is not for the government to dictate what the news reports. I am making the request for you to report what we tell you to report. Is that understood?”

  Jeremy shuffled uncomfortably on his seat. “OK, I’ll do as much as I can.”

  “Wonderful, we wouldn’t expect any less from such a patriotic citizen, Mr Banks. Now, tell me about this tribe you’ve been reporting about in Papua New Guinea. It sounds fascinating.”

  *****

  DAY 5

  11:06am

  Jack drove through Totnes and parked outside a supermarket. He waited for Amy to appear and then waved from his car until she saw him.

  As she got in the car, Amy said, “Hi, how’s things?”

  “I’m good, thanks,” Jack replied.

  They seemed a bit awkward for a few moments until Jack said, “What map did you bring? Mine isn’t that great, so I’m not one hundred percent sure where this Oldway Hill is.”

  “I think it’s in a wood. We can use the GPS on my iPhone.” Amy paused. “Can’t you still feel the direction of the Rapture?”

  “A little, but it’s not as strong as it was. Why can you?”

  “No, not anymore.”

  “Well, I’m sure we’ll find it one way or another. Let’s get going.”

  Jack drove off and out of Totnes.

  *

  Jack and Amy drove through the Devon countryside with the windows down and the breeze flowing through the car.

  Amy saw a wood in the distance. “Look, we must be near.”

  Jack didn’t reply and continued to stare straight ahead.

  “Jack, are you OK?”

  Jack turned slowly to look at Amy, but his expression was blank and distant. As Amy went to grab Jack’s arm, she noticed a smell that caused her to become overwhelmed by feelings of the Rapture. Jack began to lose control of the car and it veered across the road, ran through a ditch, and into a field.

  They came to an abrupt stop, waking them from their trance. Jack held his hand to his nose. “It’s the smell from the Rapture. It’s so strong I can’t think.”

  They both looked around and across the field. Surrounding the car, and as far as the eye could see, the field was covered with lavender plants.

  “Jack, the smell is coming from the field. It’s the lavender.”

  “Let’s move away. The wood isn’t far,” said Jack desperately.

  Jack drove carefully back onto the road, and they quickly reached the beginning of the wood. They sat for a while to calm down.

  Jack breathed out deeply. “That’s the strongest I’ve felt the Rapture since it first happened.”

  “Me too.”

  Jack turned to Amy and smiled. “At least I’ve got a better idea what direction the Rapture is in now.” He pointed into the wood. “Shall we get going?”

  “OK, you lead the way.”

  Jack and Amy got out of the car and disappeared into the wood. They walked for some time until Jack starting to look around as if confused. He stopped abruptly and looked at his map and into the forest.

  “Damn it,” he said. “I don’t think I know which direction we should go.”

  “Can’t you feel the direction of the Rapture?”

  “No, it’s worn off.”

  Amy looked ahead. “I can see at least two hills.”

  As they stood looking around and at their maps, a Golden Retriever dog came casually strolling along the path. It approached Jack, who knelt down to stroke it.

  “Marly,” someone called from within the wood.

  Jack and Amy watched as an old woman carefully made her way through the dense thicket. She had short, gray hair and rosy red cheeks, and her clothes were the thick, rugged type that people who work on the land prefer.

  “Ah, here you are,” she said. “Making friends as usual.”

  The old lady walked over to Jack and Amy and greeted them with a friendly smile. “I usually have these woods to myself. Are you two new to the area or on holiday?”

  “I live near Totnes,” said Jack. “We’re just exploring really. We’ve been trying to find Oldway Hill.”

  “Oldway Hill,” repeated the woman slowly, as if unsure. “Well, there’s Oldway House at the bottom of Lavender Hill over there.”

  Jack and Amy looked at each other, and then Jack turned back to the woman.

  “Lavender Hill?” asked Jack.

  “Yes, that’s what everyone around here calls it. They cultivate lavender on the fields next to the wood and the plants have taken a liking to that particular hill, for some reason. The lavender goes all the way to the top, and on a calm day it smells wonderful up there. You can sit on the bench at the top and enjoy the view down to the coast.”

  Jack and Amy looked at each other again excitedly.

  “OK, thanks for your help,” said Jack, and grabbed Amy’s hand.

  Both of them said goodbye to the old woman and began to walk towards Lavender Hill.

  They walked quickly up the hill, moving rapidly between the tall, majestic trees; the lavender plants became more frequent as they climbed. Eventually, they reached the top where the hill formed a plateau. The ground was carpeted with lavender plants and in the middle was a wooden bench that faced towards the glistening, blue sea in the distance. The coastal town of Morbay could be seen between the countryside and the sea.

  Jack stared at the scene in front of him, and said, “This is where it happened...”

  Amy smiled. “Yes, definitely.”

  Jack took Amy’s hand and they walked towards the bench.

  “Look! There’s the memorial plaque,” said Amy as the backrest came into view. They stood in front of the bench looking at it and the plaque.

  Jack closed his eyes to concentrate on his memories of the Rapture. After a while, he opened them again.

  “A man stood here five days ago”, he began. “The Rapture began with him. He stood where we’re standing now when it happened. We experienced what he experienced and our memories are his.”

  “But he was overcome with the Rapture and collapsed,” Amy replied.

  “Yes, he fell to his knees like this.” Jack knelt down in front of the bench. “He put his hands on the bench and looked at the sun shining on the plaque. He noticed the smell of the lavender, and... he was chewing gum. That’s where the taste of mint came from. But I still can’t work out what the sound was he heard.”

  Jack touched the bench and felt the wood. “He kept touching the bench. It was important for some reason. He held it firmly while he was overcome by the Rapture.”

  “It’s not the wood though.”

  “No, it’s something else. It sounds crazy, but it might
be—”

  Jack looked up as if disturbed by something. He stood up, briefly glanced at Amy, and then they both started looking around the hilltop and into the wood. They eventually turned towards each other and said in unison,

  “We’re being watched.”

  They looked towards the trees.

  “It’s not coming from there,” said Amy as she looked into the forest.

  They continued to look around until Jack felt drawn to look down the hill. His eyes rested on Oldway House at the bottom. He walked forward a bit so he could see it more clearly. As Jack’s eyes moved over the large, stone brick, building they settled on one particular window. Standing at the window was a man who was looking towards the top of the hill.

  “Can you see him?” Jack asked.

  “Yes,” Amy replied.

  They stood looking at the man until he quickly moved away from the window and out of sight.

  Amy grabbed Jack’s arm. “Let’s get back to the car.”

  “I don’t feel any fear. It’s the complete opposite.”

  “I know. I feel the same, but I would still prefer to get back to the car.”

  “OK, let’s go. We can drive past the house.”

  They walked back into the wood and made their way to the car.

  *

  Jack slowed down as they drove near Oldway House. As they passed the entrance, a dog approached the car and began to bark loudly.

  “That’s the noise from the Rapture!” said Jack. “It’s the sound of a dog barking – that dog.”

  They passed the house and continued up the road. The dog walked out onto the road and continued barking at them. It then turned to look at a man as he walked into the road. Jack looked at the man in his rear view mirror.

  “Can you see him?” he asked, as Amy turned around to look out of the back window.

  “Yes, keep driving. We can find out who he is later – keep driving.”

  They continued up the road and out of sight.

  The man knelt down to stroke his dog. He then stood back up and looked towards Lavender Hill before returning to his house.

  *****

  1.27pm

  Katie sat at her desk, searching for memorial plaques in the UK. The noise and buzz of the newsroom filled the air around her. Ms Gossip and Ms Giggles sat at the same desk and talked animatedly, but Katie remained focused on her computer. As she thought about the vision she had experienced on the plane, her fingers unconsciously felt the wooden pencil she was holding.

  “My aunt said she felt a chill go through her on the day of the Rapture. Did you feel anything, Katie?” asked Ms Gossip.

  Katie continued to stare at her computer screen. “No... No, I didn’t feel anything.” Her attention immediately returned to a website listing memorial plaques in the UK, and she focused on those plaques in Devon. There were a couple of hundred and she decided to check each one and hope something would jog her memory. Ms Gossip continued to speak in the background.

  “I agree with Jeremy. It’s some kind of solar flare that has scrambled the brains of gullible people.”

  Katie looked up from her computer towards Ms Gossip and then back at her screen.

  “Don’t you agree, Katie?’ asked Ms Gossip.

  “I don’t know what it is... we don’t know what it is.”

  “But it’s obviously something that’s got a scientific explanation, no?”

  “I don’t know,” said Katie bluntly, without looking up.

  Ms Gossip’s expression hardened and Ms Giggles did a quiet laugh. They continued to chat while Katie patiently made her way through the list of memorial plaques.

  After half an hour Katie stopped searching, sat back in her chair, and rubbed her eyes. She felt as if she was wasting her time and getting nowhere. She stood up and went to get a glass of water.

  Katie stood at a water cooler and tried to relax her mind. She considered returning to search the list of plaques, but it seemed pointless. The thought occurred to her she could simply try lots of different searches for the things she knew were related to the Rapture, so she walked back to her desk.

  “What are you working on?” asked Ms Gossip as Katie sat back down.

  “I’m just going through the data on the Rapture,” replied Katie coldly, and as if she didn’t want to chat.

  Ms Gossip stared at Katie for a few moments before angrily returning to her work.

  Katie tried internet searches using different combinations of the keywords related to the Rapture. She was starting to get frustrated again until she tried the search: bench lavender Devon. She immediately noticed an entry for a holiday review site, which read:

  ...we walked to the top of a beautiful hill, which the locals call Lavender Hill, sat on a bench at the top and looked over the countryside to the town of Morbay and the sea beyond...

  Katie went back to the website listing benches with memorial plaques and searched for one that was on a Lavender Hill, but the search returned no entries. She thought for a bit and then searched the internet for: lavender hill devon location. She scanned the results until she saw one from a discussion forum on a wildlife conservation website, which read:

  ...you can find lots of bat roosts on Oldway Hill (known locally as Lavender Hill)...

  Katie went back to the list of memorial plaques and searched for Oldway Hill. Her heart jumped when she saw an entry. She clicked on it, quickly checked the location of the bench, and then went to the map showing the direction of the Rapture. The hill was directly in line with the direction the Pointers had given. It had a bench with a memorial plaque, and for some reason its name was something to do with lavender.

  “Yes!’ Katie said aloud without thinking.

  The two reporters on her desk looked towards her and other people nearby looked around. Katie smiled awkwardly and then nonchalantly looked back at her computer.

  From across the newsroom, Mary walked towards Katie’s desk. “Katie, I have an assignment for you tomorrow.”

  “Uh... I was going to investigate a lead I’ve been working on tomorrow.”

  “What’s this lead?”

  Katie thought quickly. “I’ve been sifting through the information the Pointers gave, and I was going to interview one of them. They gave a description that sounded similar to what I observed in Papua New Guinea.”

  “No, it’ll have to wait. There’s a rally tomorrow in London and we need someone to report from it.” Mary’s demeanour suggested Katie was being given a special assignment.

  Katie faked a smile. “OK, thanks – thank you, Mary.”

  “Come and see me later and we can discuss it.” Mary continued on her journey across the newsroom.

  “Lucky you,” said Ms Giggles.

  “Yep,” replied Katie without much enthusiasm, and looked back towards her computer screen.

  Ms Gossip and Ms Giggles looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

  *****

  2:04pm

  “Have you found anything yet?”

  “No, you?”

  “No, nothing – it’s gonna be impossible to find anything if we don’t know his name,” said Jack.

  Jack and Amy sat in the car, which Jack had pulled over onto the side of the road. They were manically searching the internet using their smartphones, as passing traffic shook the car.

  Jack stopped searching. “This is ridiculous. We need to find out the name of that guy first and then use a proper computer.”

  They fell silent for a while and thought about what to do next.

  “Is there a village nearby?” asked Amy.

  Jack picked up his map and looked. “Yes, not far from where we turned out of the road for Oldway House. Why?”

  “There might be a village shop or post office where someone might know who he is.”

  “OK, great – let’s give it a try.”

  Jack turned the car around and drove down the road towards the village.

  *

  Jack parked the car, and they b
oth got out and looked around the little village. Small and pretty, stone brick, houses surrounded a central grassy area that had a war memorial in the centre. In the distance was a village shop.

  “There’s a sign for the post office on that shop,” said Amy.

  Just as they were about to walk over to the shop, Marly, the dog, trotted towards them. Jack knelt down and stroked her.

  “Oh, hello – it’s you two again. Did you enjoy your walk?” asked the old lady from the wood as she walked towards them.

  Jack stood back up. “Yes, it was lovely. The view from the top of the hill was incredible and the smell of the lavender amazing.”

  “It is beautiful up there. Maybe, I’ll take Marly up there next time we go for a walk, eh Marly?” The dog looked up towards her, eagerly wagging its tail.

  “We had a nice chat with the guy who lives in Oldway House,” said Amy.

  The old lady looked towards Amy with an expression of surprise. “Well, you are privileged. Gabriel isn’t the most social of people – polite, civilised, but he likes to keep himself to himself, really.”

  Jack and Amy looked at each other as she mentioned the man’s name.

  They stood quietly for a moment as if unsure how to continue the conversation before the old lady said, “Right, I’ve got some chores to see to and Marly here will probably have an afternoon nap, eh Marly?” The old lady began to walk towards her house. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

  Jack and Amy waited for her to move out of earshot. Jack then said, “When we get to the post office we can say something like ‘we’re looking for a Gabriel Jones at Oldway House’ and see what they say.”

  “OK, let’s go.”

  As they walked into the post office, a friendly, bespectacled, middle-aged man greeted them.

  “Good afternoon, how can I help you?”

  Jack approached the man. “Hi, we’re trying to find somewhere called Oldway House. A Gabriel Jones lives there.”

  The man looked puzzled and tilted his head downwards to look over his glasses.