“When did you first see the wave of water, David?”
“At first, we could only hear it, but we didn’t know what the noise was?”
“What did it sound like?”
“When we first looked out of the window in Somerset House, everything seemed to have gone quiet. Then Jackie nudged me and asked me what the strange noise was. It was coming from our left and sounded like a low growling or grinding sound. Perhaps like an overgrown kitten purring. But there were other noises as well.”
“What were they like?”
“Well, sort of like an underground banging or clanging. Like an enormous bell being rung under water. Only it wasn’t just one big noise. It was like happening all the time.”
“When did you first see the wave?” Mr Smith repeated.
"The rain had stopped and we were both looking towards Tower Bridge in the distance. Suddenly the wave just crashed through the bridge. We could see that the bridge was already closed to traffic because the roadway on both sides was lifted up. The water seemed to rear up on the far side of the bridge, before bursting through. It was also coming through on both sides of the towers as well. We could see the walls of the Tower of London and they just disappeared as the water went over the top and into the moat. On the other side of the river, we watched the wave pick up that big ship that’s moored there. It was lifted up like it was a toy and washed up river to London Bridge where it crashed into the bridge itself, ripping up the roadway.
“The wave now came towards us. I realised that it was already washing through all the buildings on the south side of the river because behind it there was just water swirling about, with all sorts of rubbish floating on the surface. It became obvious that the banging noise was coming from the sea containers that were being swept up the river by the flood. They were banging into each other and into other obstacles on the river banks”
David suddenly frowned and looked at Mr Smith, as he broke off his narrative.
“Why are you asking these specific questions, sir?”
“David, as well as being a science teacher at Richmond Academy, I have also studied Meteorology for many years and have already written a number of papers which, I’m pleased to say, have been well received by colleagues. Together with a small group of like-minded people, we have been urging our various Governments all around the world to observe more closely the changes in weather patterns in all our different countries.”
“So you already knew that London was facing a specific problem.”
“Yes. I was already aware that two storms were coming across the Atlantic. It’s quite rare to have two storms of such intensity so close together. Your comments on the progress of those storms only confirmed my own thoughts and conclusions. If I had known that you were planning to skip school, I might even have come with you. To observe a sea surge of such height and intensity coming up the River Thames right into the centre of London and beyond would have been utterly astounding. Such an occurrence would only happen once in a lifetime.”
“I realised that you had more than a passing interest, sir, but I can’t understand why you didn’t tell me the rest.”
"Two reasons, David. Firstly, I doubt that you would have believed me. Secondly, it’s a hobby that I tend to keep separate from my career as a teacher.
“So, tell me,” he continued. “How fast do you think the wave was travelling as it went past Somerset House?”
"It seemed to be moving pretty fast. You know those pictures that are mocked up of spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere, creating the wave patterns in the air? Well, it was a bit like that. On either side of the river, the water seemed to be just welling up and the wave was moving more slowly the further it was away from the river itself. As it went past us, though, we weren’t able to see any flooding on our side near Somerset House. But we did watch it swamp over the river walls after it had surged past the railway bridge leading to Charing Cross. Although we couldn’t really see it clearly from our window, we know that the wave swept into St James Park.
“As to the speed, it seemed to be rather like a bus. Fifteen miles an hour, perhaps. Maybe twenty.” David shrugged. “We did watch it sweep all the boats from their moorings on our side of the river, one of which was washed onto the Victoria Embankment near the Underground Station.”
“What else did you observe from your vantage point?”
“We saw the London Eye fall down into the river. There were no people in the cabins because of the high winds, I suppose. The strange thing is that the height of the water after the wave had passed by seemed to stay higher than it was before the wave happened. I didn’t really think about it at the time, but when you throw a pebble into a pond and create a ripple, the water level tends to return to what it was. I don’t think it can have been much higher, but the land was all flooded on the south side. And when we went down towards the river, we found that the Victoria Embankment was as well. That’s where we found the crashed bus. And the water was still rising. I suppose the tide was still coming in.”
“When was High Tide yesterday afternoon?”
David thought a moment. “Around five o’clock, sir.”
“And have you thought about the time the wave passed Somerset House?”
“It must have been about a quarter past three. So there would still have been almost two hours before High Tide. That’s why the water continued to rise.”
“Does anything else come back to you?”
“Thinking about it, watching the water flood through Tower Bridge, the height of the wave must have swamped the river side of the Tower of London. We could see the effect on the other side of the river, as the water approached the Shard. But when it came opposite us and was about to hit Waterloo Station, it seemed to be lagging much further behind the main wave in the river itself. It didn’t seem so intense somehow, as though something had held it back. The water level still rose and we were able to see that even the American Embassy was flooded. We left pretty soon after that and went down to the Embankment where we found the bus lying on its side.”
“Thank you, David. It would be really useful if you could write down all that you have seen. Your observations will be of immense interest to my group. Based on your evidence and that of other people, we will be able to present to Government specific proposals that will help to protect London in the future, should such a freak weather phenomenon strike again.”
“What’s the likelihood of that, sir?”
“Difficult to say. But as weather patterns change, all previous comments about ‘Once in a lifetime’ or a ‘Fifty Thousand Year Event’, they must be consigned to the dustbin.”
David and his science teacher returned to the dining room, where Mrs Bleasdale was ready to take Jackie home. She turned to face David as he came through the door.
“I am so angry with you!” she started. Jackie tried to intervene, but her mother turned and slapped her across the face. Suddenly realising what she had done to her daughter and in front of David, his mother and school teacher, she gasped and froze. She sat down and buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry, Jackie. I’m so sorry.”
Jackie half turned away, but David quickly crossed the floor and knelt on one knee at Mrs Bleasdale’s side. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Mrs Bleasdale?” he murmured. “Mrs Bleasdale, you have every right to be angry, but not with Jackie. None of this was her fault. It was all mine. I persuaded her to come up to London. But in everything we have done, she has supported me every step of the way. Those people on the bus would have drowned if she hadn’t been there. I couldn’t have helped them just on my own.” He took a deep breath.
“Look, Mrs Bleasdale. I know we are very young and that this coming year will see many changes in our lives, but I love Jackie and I sincerely hope that we can see a lot more of each other until we go to university. After that? Well, who knows? What I can say is that neither of us will ever forget the experiences we had together.”
Annabel Bleasdale lifted her head a
nd looked into David’s eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You really don’t know what it’s like.” She shook her head slightly from side to side. “All my married life I have been worried about Kevin, Jackie’s Dad. He never rings to say he’s going to be late and I just thought Jackie was now doing the same.” She put her hand gently onto David’s face and repeated, “Thank you.”
David stood up and helped Annabel to her feet. He looked across at Andy, who was standing in the corner of the room. “Can you take Mrs Bleasdale and Jackie home, please? I think they’ll be OK now.”
Jackie came across, a red mark on her face, but smiling at him. She put her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers until their lips met. Her eyes sparkled and he could feel the hair on the back of his neck lifting as though it was electrified. When she broke the kiss, she whispered in his ear, “I’ll see you very soon. Tomorrow?” David nodded.
In the city, Alice was empowered, but feeling utterly exhausted. She knew that she must have a shower, sleep and a change of clothes. But she also knew that she would forever be judged by all her actions and involvement over the next twenty-four hours and that these would either make or break her. She now had all her necessary teams camped out in the Le Grove Investments offices, waiting until they could move downstairs.
The builders in the new office were moving forward very quickly. The walls and doors were already in place. The wiring in the ceiling cavity was also coming together and Alice could see that by midday Saturday, it should all be functioning. The IT experts were already on site connecting the new computers to the internet and installing the necessary programmes and spreadsheets. In and amongst all this activity, painters were putting their finishing touches to the walls and doors.
Alice was standing in the doorway of the main entrance, legs apart, arms akimbo, watching all the activity in front of her. A voice behind her murmured, “I bet you never realised that you had it in you.” She heart missed a beat, as she turned round to see Michael standing there with a big grin on his face.
“You look pleased with yourself.”
“I am. The Treasury has just telephoned to advise that the Government has given its blessing to our new venture. Now we need to get the capital together and set this operation in motion.”
“These offices will be fully operational at midday tomorrow.”
“Really? That’s brilliant. Well, it’s more than that. It’s really unbelievable.” Michael paused and looked at her. “How do you feel?”
“Completely exhausted.”
“Well, you don’t look it.”
“I need a shower, a power nap and a change of clothes. But I can’t leave these guys.”
“Let me take over.”
“Michael, this is my baby…my responsibility.”
“I know. But if you fall down because of exhaustion, you’ll be no good to anybody. Have you a change of clothes here? Use my office to freshen up. I don’t suppose you’ve got such facilities down here.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong! But ours can’t be used yet as the tile cement is still drying. And ours will be available for all the employees not just the odd director or two,” she added tartly. “I realised very early on that everyone would be putting in long hours and it would only be right to make such facilities available to us all.”
“When did these guys last have a break?”
“About an hour ago. The next is due at seven o’clock when pizzas and drinks will be delivered. These guys have really earned their money and, broadly, they’re doing it for me.”
What on earth do you mean?"
“I’ve told them that this is my new business and that they will be in for substantial bonuses if they complete all the work before their contractual times. Early in the operation, one of the plasterers started to get a bit fresh, taking the mickey and making inappropriate remarks, so I fired him. They all realised then that I was completely serious.”
“Bloody hell! I’ve got a tiger working for me!” Michael exclaimed.
Alice turned to him. “No, no! Hang on a second. You told me that this was my operation and that you would simply be here in an advisory capacity. By no stretch of the imagination does that make me ‘working for you’. And, remember, I am not a tiger, rather a tigress.” She smiled. “Right! It’s twenty to seven. I’m going to take up your offer of that shower. I’ll be back here when the food arrives.”
She turned and walked through the doors to the stairwell. As soon as she arrived at the Le Grove offices above, she went first to the wardrobe in her own office where she found a clean dress and fresh underwear. Next she went to Michael’s office and walked through to the shower. Inside, she stripped and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was looking drawn, but that was nothing a bit of makeup wouldn’t put right. For the rest, she was surprised to note her back was straight, her shoulders back and her head upright. She really did look good!
The shower was invigorating and restored her more quickly than she thought possible. She dried her body, thinking about the long list of things that still needed to be done. After wrapping a towel round her hair, she started to dress. Her underwear was lightweight, cream and virtually transparent. Her dress was figure hugging in off-white. The shoulders were slightly padded and the skirt fell to just short of her knees. When the zip was fastened, it showed off her figure beautifully. The waist was tailored to fit properly and there was a modest split in the skirt at the back. She decided not to wear pantyhose.
After applying her makeup and tidying her hair, she took the dirty clothes back to her own office and put them in a bag ready to be taken home. She picked out a pair of high heels to match the dress. It was now five to seven and time for the pizzas. Returning downstairs to the newly refurbished office below, she found Michael talking on his mobile. She recognised the name Sebastian and realised that he was talking with the owner of the Gloucester Palace Hotel. They were arranging to meet later that evening. Michael turned, as he finished the call and his jaw dropped as he saw her standing in the entrance. She was carrying an armful of serviettes and a roll of kitchen paper.
“Come on, guys. The pizza man is on the stairs. It’s time for a break and an assessment of where we are, what’s to be done and how soon it’ll all be finished.”
They all downed tools and walked across the office floor. She turned to Michael and steered him away.
“Who was on the phone?”
“Sebastian Fortescue Brown. You know, the owner of the hotel in Kensington.”
“What did he want?”
“I called him. He has capital to invest and I believe he can bring in more capital from his contacts. I think we might be able to offer him a great facility here.”
“Are you meeting him here?”
“No. I can’t get hold of the taxi driver, so he’s coming across himself to pick me up. We are going to meet a couple of his contacts in the West End.”
“This evening?”
“Yes. I’m being picked up at eight.”
“As this is my venture, shouldn’t I be with you?”
“I thought you wanted to keep an eye on your workmen.”
“I do. But I have a feeling that your activities will be rather more important and I must keep an eye on all that is going on.”
“That’s fine with me. You’d better bring a laptop with you as well.”
And so, by Friday evening, as the hour hand slowly turned towards midnight and the latest tide ebbed away down river, London was already returning to some degree of normality. The massive displacement of people was causing the biggest headaches because they all needed to be cared for. The extraction and identification of the dead continued through the night, as it would do for many days to come. The enormity and reality of the catastrophe was only now beginning to seep into the consciousness of most people.
Early decisions began to bear fruit. The flooded supermarkets were quickly stripped of all provisions, cleaned and restocked with basics. The Government announ
ced that, until Monday morning, basic staples of food and water would be available at all such outlets, where the army and the police would be on hand through the night and the following few days to help those in need.
The disruption to daily life would continue for many months and the long list of the dead continued to rise. The Government, working closely with the Army and the Police, drafted many of the unemployed from all corners of the country and brought them to London to help with the clean-up. For many, this was their first experience of work and being away from their home comforts. To the surprise of many, a large number became enthused by this activity and many resolved never to go back into the Benefits System.
In the Underground, following instructions from the Government, given with the full support of the Opposition, the work to clear the affected stations started and as the night progressed the work continued with a growing intensity. Slowly the comments about funding began to filter into the boardrooms and management offices raising the levels of confidence for the overall organisers to get to grips with the necessary work. The equipment needed to cut up the ruined trains into transportable sizes made its way through the darkened tunnels. The dismembered trains were then removed the same way. In the face of the appalling death toll a surprising degree of harmony developed between Transport for London and the Government.
Because of the heat that is generated in the Underground, there was an intensity of activity to remove the dead bodies as quickly as possible. Initially this work was hampered by the inaccessibility of the system with tunnels, stairs and escalators being crammed with dead bodies, many of which had been crushed and asphyxiated in the panic. It was quickly realised that these access points had to be cleared as quickly as possible, so that power could be restored to the escalators. Engineers began to work on the destroyed lifts with a view to bringing them back into service at the earliest opportunity.
On the surface, where the flood had devastated the housing and business estates, clearing the dumped sea containers was the primary task, thus ensuring the reopening of the road networks. At first, because of their size and weight, the work to remove them proceeded very slowly. To assist with this, lifting gear was requisitioned from wherever it could be procured. The Government quickly realised that the closure of all the bridges over the Thames was exceptionally unhelpful, although there was a realisation that all of them had to be surveyed. Very soon, it was suggested that a temporary system of traffic flow could be introduced, ensuring that vehicles flowed only one way over each bridge. The congestion charge was also lifted for a limited period.
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