Hatred

by M J Dees

  The train station was just as full, and then there was a power cut. They found a space on the floor against a wall and tried to sleep as best they could.

  *

  At dawn they went back to the Unity Welfare office, where they gave them coffee. It had rained overnight and, as they set off, Jim was glad that for the moment it had stopped, although there were ominous dark grey clouds in the sky.

  As they passed through the suburbs, Jim was envious of those without foreign heritage who were still living in their semi-detached houses. They passed a supermarket but had no card to go in. The envy was even greater when they passed a pub.

  An out-of-town shopping centre stood empty, not having the products to fill it. The motorway looked just as empty when they crossed over it. Fuel shortages had put pay to all but the most essential travel. There was traffic, but none of it paid attention to a family of scruffy travellers walking along the side of the road. Even the traffic dried up when they reached the countryside.

  They rested in a village and sensed that they were close to the border. Sure enough, when they left what turned out to be a small town, there was a sign showing the way to Alba and informing them they still had 85 miles to go to reach Edinburgh.

  Jim wasn’t sure what he had expected but the only sign that they had entered Alba was a rusty sign on the side of the road which read `Welcome to England` and a few yards further on a Scottish flag in a garden.

  The route went downhill, but Olivia was exhausted, so they tried to find somewhere to stay. Already, the fir trees alongside the road made the landscape appear more Scottish.

  To Olivia’s relief, they arrived at Langholme. Those with foreign heritage were clearly gathering in the village because, in the middle of the street, a stranger approached them.

  “You should go to the hotel,” she said, pointing in the direction they should go.

  They trusted her, and it turned out to be a good move. The hotel was a clearing station for all those with foreign heritage moving north of the border and; they gave them hot drinks and then directed them to a park of log cabins which was being used temporarily to shelter the refugees from south of the border.

  “This is nice,” said Annabel as the owner showed them into their cabin.

  “Yes, we used to rent them to tourists when there were any,” he said.

  “Where are you heading?”

  “We’re hoping to get to Edinburgh.”

  “You’ve still got a fair way to go, about seventy miles, I’d say. Come down to the cafe when you’ve settled in, there are free hot drinks.”

  It turned out there were free biscuits as well, which were not only devoured but stashed away for later. Jim worried they could not survive on hot drinks and biscuits and they would need something more if they were going to walk another 70 miles.

  *

  To their pleasant surprise, the owner provided them with a fried breakfast. It was the most substantial meal they had eaten since leaving Carlisle. Once they had eaten their fill, which was quite a lot, including stuffing their pockets with toast and jam and bacon sandwiches, they headed off.

  Crossing the river Esk via a footbridge, they were soon back in the countryside. They hadn’t gone very far by the time Olivia was asking whether she could eat her bacon sandwiches.

  “Save them for lunch,” said Annabel.

  “What about the toast?”

  “That’s for pudding. If you eat any of your food now, you’re not getting mine later.”

  Olivia sulked.

  The road rose into the hills and soon they were passing fields of sheep.

  Outside a church they found a stone memorial with stone seats. Jim felt uncomfortable sitting on a memorial, but Olivia was so tired and hungry that they stopped for lunch.

  When they felt refreshed, they set off again. Much of the journey was monotonous, and they had barely crossed the river Esk before Olivia complained again. Jim tried to not let it get to him, but focused on the beauty of the blossoming bushes which lined the road.

  The sun had come out. It was hot for February, and Annabel worried they might burn. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, and the prospect of finding anywhere to stay for the night seemed slim until they saw a ruined stupa at the side of the road.

  “How did that survive Unity?” Jim asked.

  “Maybe it didn’t,” said Annabel. “The place looks deserted.”

  They explored the site, which was surrounded by woods. Amid the woods, they were amazed to find a Tibetan monastery.

  A monk came out to greet them.

  “I’m amazed to find this here,” said Jim, indicating the monastery.

  “We leave others alone and they leave us alone. Where are you heading?”

  “To Edinburgh.”

  “Edinburgh? You’ve a long way to go, it’s almost sixty miles. Do you have anywhere to stay?”

  “No, we were hoping...”

  “We have a guest house, it is closed at the moment but we can let you stay in a dormitory, we have not used them in a long time but we would never turn away anyone in need.”

  He led them to a large building and through a corridor until they arrived at a room with bunk beds.

  “You can leave your bags here,” said the Monk. “There is a bathroom there, and in an hour we will serve the evening meal in the refectory. You are welcome to join us.”

  “Thank you very much,” said Jim. “You are very kind.”

  “You are welcome,” the monk left them alone in the room.

  “Can I have the top bunk,” asked Olivia.

  “As long as you think you can get down in the night if you need to go to the toilet,” said Annabel.

  They washed and changed into clean clothes and then went to find the refectory.

  The evening meal was vegetable soup with bread and a range of spreads.

  “We grow everything here,” explained the monk. “We only need to buy the flour for the bread.”

  “That’s amazing,” said Jim.

  “We even make our own vinegar from apples from our own orchard.”

  “I would love to stay and learn how you do it all.”

  “But we have to get to Edinburgh,” said Annabel.

  “You are welcome at any time,” said the monk.

  They were in their dormitory by 7 pm and were so tired they went straight to bed.

  *

  In the refectory at breakfast, they found a selection of fruit, cereal, porridge, toast and jams. They ate their fill of porridge and then took some fruit and toast with jam for the journey.

  “I would like to pay you for our stay,” Jim told the monk. “But...”

  “Don’t trouble yourself. Pay it forward.”

  “Thank you, we will try.”

  “Just keep going on until you get to the turnoff for Innerleithen and Moffat,” said the monk. “That is the best way to get to Edinburgh on foot.”

  “Thank you again.”

  They set off, wondering where they would spend the next night. There were ominous dark clouds on the horizon, and the terrain was very exposed. If there was a storm, there was nowhere to hide.

  The road was silent. They only passed one vehicle. As they followed the river down the valley, the road became more sheltered. Then it opened out again into the hills and Jim hadn’t realised how isolated some parts of the country could feel.

  When they reached an inn, they stopped for lunch and ate the fruit and jam on toast. They couldn’t buy anything from the inn, but nobody came out to bother them. When they left, they saw their second vehicle of the day.

  They reached the turnoff the monk had told them about. Jim hadn’t imagined that there could be a road quieter than the one that they were on, but here it was.

  The sky was now very grey and the landscape, though very beautiful, was bleak and, if Jim hadn’t known that the great city of Edinburgh lay somewhere ahead, he might have thought that they were approaching the ends of the Earth.

  Olivia was comp
laining of the cold, and Jim knew they would have to find somewhere to stay, somehow. If they slept outside, they would surely die of exposure. They knocked on the door of a house that they passed, but there was no answer.

  The cloud meant that twilight was already arriving, and yet there was not another building in sight. He wondered whether the monk had sent them the wrong way as revenge for them not having paid anything. When they passed another house, they tried knocking again, but again, there was no answer. Jim was now feeling anxious.

  At a crossroads, they found a pub. Jim led them inside, and they stood in front of the fire. The landlord stood expectantly behind the bar, waiting for them to go over and order something. Jim looked apologetic.

  “You don’t have a card, do you?” said the landlord.

  Annabel and Jim didn’t have to say anything. Their expressions said everything.

  The landlord sighed.

  “Make yourself comfortable,” he said, and then went through to the back.

  They sat at a table by the fire and rested, glad for the warmth and the shelter. After a while the landlord and his wife returned with three plates of food and knives and forks, which they set down in front of the weary travellers.

  “Thank you,” said Jim.

  “We can probably give you a bed for the night,” said the landlord. “It’s not like we’re overrun by tourists. We only seem to see refugees these days.”

  “You are very kind,” said Annabel.

  “I expect you are exhausted. Enjoy your meal and then I will show you to your room.”

  When they had finished eating, the landlord showed them to a beautiful room with a king sized bed.

  “I hope this will be okay,” he said.

  “It is more than we could have hoped for,” said Annabel.

  Jim felt very lucky that they had been treated so well on their journey so far. He wondered whether people were feeling guilty for the way those with foreign heritage had been treated now that the regime seemed so close to the end. Maybe they were worried about reprisals.

  *

  “Happy valentine’s day,” said Jim when they awoke.

  It impressed Annabel that he had remembered.

  They washed and dressed and went downstairs to find that the landlord and his wife had prepared a cooked breakfast for them. Eggs, sausage, mushroom, black pudding, bacon and baked beans. Yet again, they could eat their fill and they gave them a packed lunch for their journey.

  The landlord told them if they took the road alongside the pub and then followed the signs for Peebles, then they would find their way to Edinburgh. They thanked the couple profusely and started on their way.

  The day was frosty and Jim thought he spied a couple of patches of snow on the hillside but when they drew closer. He realised they were small lakes reflecting the grey sky.

  They reached a crossroads and Jim saw a sign for Peebles, so they sat down and ate their packed lunch before they followed it. He thought what a wonderful place the Union would be to live in if it wasn’t for those who ran the Government.

  He was wondering whether they had gone the wrong way, but then; they reached the outskirts of Peebles. Once in the centre, they continued roughly northward, hoping to find the road towards Edinburgh, but then they saw a sign and, realising they were heading in the wrong direction, they doubled back. This led them through the high street to a roundabout where they found a sign for Edinburgh.

  Jim felt better when they were out of the town and back into the country. Olivia was complaining until a field of horses distracted her. The road to Edinburgh was busier than the others had been, and there was no footpath. He thought there must be a better route, but he did not know what it was. Jim knew Olivia would start complaining again soon, and it didn’t look like they would make Edinburgh before dark. He knew he would have to find somewhere to stay.

  As they got closer to the city, Jim saw that there was snow that had settled and when they reached the Leadburn crossroads, he recognised where he was and took a right. Olivia and Annabel wanted to know where they were going, but Jim asked them to be patient, saying they were almost there. Regardless of the complaints from Olivia and Annabel, Jim himself was fed up with walking, and twilight was arriving.

  “Where are we going?” asked Annabel.

  “Bear with me,” said Jim.

  When they reached another suburban area, Annabel realised where they were.

  “It’s Roslin, isn’t it?” she asked.

  He nodded.

  “Why are we here, Jim?”

  “I don’t know. I thought there might be someone here who could help us.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, let’s go.”

  There were many guesthouses in the village, but no room in any of them. By now, Olivia was completely miserable.

  “Let’s just get to Edinburgh,” said Annabel. “It’s not far.”

  When they saw signs to the city centre, Jim believed her. At least there were footpaths, but it was dark before they reached the centre.

  Waverley station was overcrowded with people lying and sitting wherever they could find a space. Railway employees and Transport Police were trying to organise people with little success. Drones flew overhead.

  They found space to lie down, but it was cold and Jim only slept a few hours.

  *

  In the morning they could get coffee, soup and a little bread from a Unity Welfare tent which had been set up. There were rumours circulating that Roberts had been ousted.

  After breakfast they went to the university and asked after Professor Green.

  “I’m sorry, we don’t give out personal information,” said the security guard. “You look familiar, have we met before?”

  “We may have. I used to work here many years ago.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s it. Did you know Carter Rodriguez?”

  “I did..”

  “We have met. Carter once gave me Walker’s old books, and you had a look at them for me. The name’s Dylan.”

  “Of course, I remember you. I’m Jim, Jim Smith.”

  “Green is living in Bute House. Unity turned it into private flats.”

  “Thank you, Dylan.”

  “Don’t mention it, Jim. Anything for an old friend.”

  They walked down to Bute House, but there was no answer from Green’s apartment.

  “Let’s see Scarlett’s relatives,” said Annabel. “We can always come back later.”

  They found Scarlett’s parents living in a small house outside of the centre. Her father opened the door. Her mother was in the hall peering around his back.

  “Hello, we are friends of Scarlett,” said Annabel. “I’m Annabel, this is Jim, and this is Olivia.”

  “Scarlett has told us about you. Come in,” Scarlett’s mother said, ushering them in.

  They were a retired couple living with their daughter, Scarlett’s sister, and were very good to them, offering them food and drink, which they gratefully accepted.

  “It’s very nice to have you here,” said Scarlett’s mother. “I’m afraid we can’t offer you accommodation, though. We have to be very careful. We are under scrutiny, I’m afraid.”

  “That’s okay,” said Annabel. “We understand.”

  “You can stay here tonight if you need to,” Scarlett’s mother continued. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Yes please.”

  *

  In the morning, Jim could shave, and Scarlett’s mother served them a hot breakfast.

  “What are you going to do,” she asked, clearly feeling guilty for not being able to offer them longer term accommodation.

  “We are going to visit Professor Green,” said Jim. “I was a colleague of his at the university. Apparently he is living in Bute House.”

  “And if he can’t help you?”

  “We’ll try Unity Welfare,” said Annabel. “They can’t deny that we were bombed out of our accommodation in
Manchester.”

  They thanked Scarlett’s parents and left for Bute House. At the gate, Jim explained who they were and, after a brief call to Green’s apartment, the security guard gave them directions on how to get there.

  At first, Jim thought Green hadn’t changed, but he soon realised that the professor had aged.

  “Jim!” the professor greeted him. “We often talk about you. I wondered what had happened to you. I imagined you had left the country.”

  They were treated to a generous lunch; it was years since they had enjoyed a day of such luxury. As they talked, it became clear that Green had become hard of hearing.

  “Joe Wood has hidden himself in the highlands somewhere,” said Green.

  “He must be nervous that Unity seems on the brink of collapse,” said Jim.

  “Possibly, to be honest, I am quite isolated here, Jim.”

  Jim and Annabel explained what they had experienced since they had left Edinburgh all those years before.

  “I’m afraid we can’t offer you accommodation,” said Green. “We can put you up for the night if you can’t find anything today.”

  “We’ll certainly come back if we can’t find anything,” said Jim.

  They thanked Green for lunch and went to find the Unity resettlement office, but it was closed. They wandered the town looking for accommodation but found nothing so, eventually; they returned to Professor Green who apologised that he could offer them more than a sofa and the floor.

  *

  Green provided them with a generous breakfast, after which they thanked him once more and then left in the direction of the resettlement office.

  The resettlement office found them accommodation in Peebles and directed them to the Unity Food office to get new food cards. It took them a long time to find the office and then when they arrived there were long queues.

  By the time they got their card it was already late, so they only made it as far as Roslin by sunset.

  They could find no accommodation but using the food card they could get something to eat at the Unity Centre which, they also discovered, was providing accommodation on the hall floor for those who couldn’t get into the full hotels and guest houses.