by Benson, Tom
“Holy shit,” Calvin said, “we’ve known each other six years now, and I never realised how bad it was at that meeting. Cherry told me that she’d hidden and come out behind you and Flint.”
Sandy laughed. “Yes, and Cherry’s appearance gave everything a new dimension. A beautiful young woman had gained access to a hydro-electric installation with a pencil and a couple of small screwdrivers.”
Archie and Calvin burst into laughter.
Sandy said, “Archie, to go back to your original question, I’d have to agree with Calvin. We must all learn to be grateful for a chance that the lost millions never had. I thought my world was over until I met Chloe. Then I had the bittersweet outcome of being delivered a healthy baby boy, but losing my partner.”
The other two men turned to Sandy but remained silent as he continued.
“I like everything we’ve done at Auchcarn, and I like all the people there, but I’m making a new start. I want to move to Aviemore but not just to be with Helen—I want to give Peter a fresh start too.” He turned and smiled at his companions. “I envisage a future in which we have communities in Aviemore, Dalwhinnie and Auchcarn—all thriving and creating a world based on harmony and mutual respect.”
Static sounded from the hand-held radio. Sandy picked it up.
“Hello Eagle’s Nest, this is Achallader, radio check over.”
“Good morning, Achallader,” Emma said. “Please wait, over.”
Sandy and the other two sat quietly for less than a minute before a voice boomed from the radio.
“Good morning,” Helen said, “and we’ve got you strength-five, over.”
“Likewise,” Sandy said. “We were leaving the relay equipment to collect a charge before trying to call, over.”
“Remember, we have the base equipment from the police station, and it has indicator lights to show any working relays. We had two, which would have been one of the originals—still out there somewhere, and Dalwhinnie. A third light flickered before it came on steadily a few minutes ago, over.”
“Well, without further ado, we’ll get going, and in the next day or two we’ll see if we can talk to you from Auchcarn, over.”
“What has to be done there, over.”
“We’ll need to set up some sort of antenna because this handset probably won’t work from inside the mountain. Don’t worry—we have people who love solving technical problems, over.”
“Right, I’ll let you get away—best regards to those guys with you and everyone at Auchcarn. Missing you already, over.”
“Likewise, and on that note, Achallader, out.” He turned to see the others grinning. “What?”
“Let’s get sailing,” Calvin said.
When the three men in the boat made the transition from the broad loch to the narrower River Orchy, the journey became a more intimate affair. The banks felt closer, even if the river was a few hundred metres wide most of the time. Occasionally, the currents were strong enough to take the craft along at a gentle pace. The crew were eager to be home, so Calvin and Archie gave every effort in their rowing.
“Submerged villages on both sides,” Sandy said, “and not far away is a concrete road bridge. “We don’t have far to go, guys.”
Both of the oarsmen glanced over their shoulders and then put their backs into the work again. They had rowed so much together in the past couple of days that they had become a matched pair. They met the length of each other’s stroke and recognised when to rest briefly.
Sandy steered them under the centre of the ruined road bridge. “Railway bridge is our next landmark, and it’s in view. We’re now in Loch Awe—our loch as we all call it.”
When the team arrived at the point where a finger of Loch Awe went west, the ribbons fluttered from the branches on the right, and Sandy grinned when he saw the large yellow bow that Flint had tied.
Half an hour later the rowboat was making good time through the water in mid-stream. A few hundred metres away stood the stone and wooden pier that the community fishermen had built.
“Ahoy!” Paul and Jay-Dee shouted together and waved from the end of the new structure.
“Ahoy!” Sandy called and waved back.
.
Sunday 28th August
Tina stood at the front of the assembled community and flicked her long brown hair over her shoulders. “Good afternoon to you all as I come close to the end of my month performing the role of spokesperson. I’m delighted to report that we’ve got a bumper selection of news for you. Before I get carried away, I’d like to say a big thank you to Des for once again manning the Control Room—I have to say that because he’s listening on the intercom. We owe our thanks to Steph too, for being our child-minder today.”
The usual hubbub sounded around the room, accompanied by stifled laughter here and there.
“There’s no need to worry about me waffling on to you because we have several guest speakers, and each one is important. As we suggested at our last meeting, there are opportunities for those who wanted to move on. Some of our group will go and establish another community at Dalwhinnie.” She smiled and looked around the cafeteria. “To whet your appetite, those who wish to expand their horizons have all visited the Control Room as the committee asked and we have the list.”
The murmuring was much louder than before, but instead of asking for quiet, Tina glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Ramona and Craig, her fellow committee members.
“Okay, on today’s agenda, I can tell you that halfway down the mountain, we now have three habitable buildings, our timber classroom and a toilet.” She paused. “In those items alone, we can all take pride, but the list of successes goes on. Paul, Alan and Jay-Dee have now completed the pier. Our archery enthusiasts are practising daily, and I’ve watched—they’re all pretty good.”
A ripple of laughter carried the good humour of the meeting.
“First of our other speakers today is Harry, our usually invisible, hard-working scientist, inventor and all-round magician.” Tina stepped back to sit with Ramona and Craig.
Harry didn’t have to ask for quiet, because on the few occasions he’d ever addressed a meeting he gained silence by merely standing at the front. “That was quite a build-up, thank you, Tina.” He grinned and stroked his beard. “I’m not going to deny any of those wonderful titles because they make me feel a bit special.”
A few in the audience laughed because although Harry had always been such an incredibly important part of the community, he was a humble man with a dry sense of humour.
“Our intrepid explorers have done us proud. They’ve walked many miles, salvaging numerous items to help improve our lives, and, of course, most recently discovering another remote community. Since then, they’ve been walking, climbing, kayaking, rowing, and stripping a police station of its communications system. Several parts of the installation have now been re-sited and reassembled to aid our two communities.”
Harry paused to sip his mint tea, and the silence before him continued out of respect.
“We can presently make contact with Eagle’s Nest Farm at Aviemore if we are out on the patio with our hand-held radio. Some of you may be wondering why we have to be outdoors to speak to someone in Aviemore when, from indoors, we can talk to the two groups which are thousands of miles away. I won’t get too technical. It is simply due to the type of radio and the antenna used.”
“Harry.” Alan raised his hand. “Did you get through to the distant groups yesterday?”
“I did, Alan, and that was next on my list. Marianne’s community in the jungle has had small teams going off to explore just as ours have done. At present, like our gaps, the gap in the cloud there is increasing. Bolivia’s jungle is keeping an area of several hundred square miles healthy. So far, they’ve discovered two small towns where there are no survivors but a lot of things to scavenge, just as we continue to do.” He smiled. “Across the world in New Zealand, Jacob’s rescuers may not be great in number, but a small team set off to the
northern coast of the island—they are, of course, on the southern island.” Harry paused for a moment. “Regrettably, there is no longer a northern island, but I believe Jacob’s community will flourish. They’re like us—survivors. Unfortunately, there is still no word from my friend, Benji. I hope he is well, whether he is in Kenya or made it to Tanzania. As we’ve been doing recently, we’ll continue to allow some of you to talk to our friends in Bolivia and New Zealand.”
Harry stepped back and nodded politely to the audience.
Tina stood. “Thank you, Harry, and I think I’ll have another chat with Marianne—I’d love to know which wildlife is thriving in the Amazon.” She faced the main group. “Okay, and now we have Sandy to update us on Aviemore.”
“I have a couple of things to cover,” Sandy said. “A short while ago, I was talking to Helen. Two of her enterprising companions up there have boarded some of the larger yachts which they previously ignored because they would require fuel.” He smiled. “To add to the two small sailing dinghies and the two-person kayak they now have three semi-rigid inflatable rowboats.”
Whispers sounded around the room.
“We will soon be increasing our fleet. I have it on good authority that a couple of our friends will deliver an inflatable rowboat and a small sailing dinghy to join our rowboat and kayak.”
Again there was a hubbub, but Sandy left the audience to settle.
“My second piece of news is that within the next couple of weeks I’ll be packing up and taking Peter to live in Aviemore. We’re going to join Helen and the farming community.”
Although it might have been seen as a loss to Auchcarn, the people in the room knew how badly Chloe’s death had affected Sandy, so when a loud cheer went up, it was with the greatest joy.
“We won’t be strangers, and I’m sure that apart from my new family unit coming back here to visit, we’ll be welcoming some of you guys to the farm. Thank you.” He moved to the side and sat down.
Tina stood. “Now that you know about Sandy and young Peter leaving us, I’m sure there will be many of you who’ll want to spend time with them before their departure. It’s a natural reaction, and we on the committee thought that instead of a farewell speech on the days any of our friends move on, it would be worthwhile to deal with it today. In this way, when we say our farewells at the lochside, it won’t feel so final. To that end, we’ve asked those who have decided to move on to say a few words.” Tina nodded and smiled at someone in the front row.
Jean, the ex-teacher stood and took a few paces before turning to face the audience. She looked younger than her fifty-six years. This was despite the early days in the mountain, pushing her to the limits of her physical and mental endurance.
“I have so much to thank you all for, and not least for your friendship and helping me maintain my sanity when I thought all was lost. Like Sandy, I’ll be taking the opportunity to go to Aviemore. In my younger days, I went there regularly to ski although I don’t think I’ll ever be doing that again.” Jean looked at individuals in the audience and nodded to them, understanding their confusion that she might wish to leave the mountain. “Apart from skiing when I was young, I was also keen on sailing, so perhaps I’ll be able to rediscover that hobby. It will no doubt come as a surprise to some of you that I would want to leave such a wonderful bunch of people. From conversations I had recently when Helen visited, there are two things which would make me incredibly happy.”
The cafeteria was silent as Jean paused before delivering her reasons.
“Firstly, there is a bookshop and a library. I’m sure you’ll all remember, those strange places where you could find numerous pages of information bound together in little bundles called books. It seems that there is also a range of electronic reading devices which still work.”
A few stifled laughs lightened the mood of the moment.
“The other attraction for me is that apparently not far from the Eagle’s Nest Farm on the way into town, is a small cottage with a garden. I’d be close enough for my neighbours at the farm to watch out for me, and I’ve been assured that they wouldn’t mind escorting me to the bookshop and library.” She looked around the room again. “When I do leave I know I’ll miss every one of you, and the children especially. It will be my intention to organise visits from Aviemore to Dalwhinnie and also back here. Once I’ve been helped to establish myself, I’d be happy to have any of you and the children visit me. Thank you all for making my new life worth living.”
Tina stood once again. “On behalf of everybody, Jean, I’d like to offer thanks for all your efforts and advice when it was needed.” She embraced Jean and applause rang out. The ex-teacher had been one of the people instrumental in the care and well-being of the children. She’d often acted as a counsellor for a few of the adults.
Jean nodded politely to the audience and stepped forward to take her seat once again.
“Well,” Tina said, “where do we go from there?” She grinned and sat down.
Craig took the floor amid a few gasps. “I’ve just about conquered my pessimistic streak, yeah. I couldn’t be a pessimist when living with a lovely woman like Anne—it ain’t gonna happen, yeah. We’ve got our two great youngsters, and for the few who didn’t know, Kenny and Hope will be joined by a new brother or sister soon, yeah.”
Cheers and applause filled the room, and those closest to where Anne was sitting were quick to congratulate her personally.
“I’m not just up here to tell you how lucky I am to have Anne and our children—we’ve decided to take another step forward and make a fresh start, yeah. We’ll soon be moving our little family to help build the new community at Dalwhinnie, yeah.” He paused. “Anne didn’t want to stand up here, but she has asked me to take this opportunity to thank you all for pulling her through her darkest times a few years ago, yeah. We’ll be around for a few weeks and have many more conversations among you, but for now, thank you all for the support you’ve given both of us, yeah.”
Polite applause was still underway as Craig returned as a committee member to sit beside Tina and Ramona.
When Calvin and Cherry both stepped forward, there were more gasps.
Calvin’s handsome ebony features creased when he grinned. “I know, I know—you’ll miss me.” Beside him, Cherry slowly shook her lovely head at his antics. Calvin held up his hands, nodding like a celebrity, and laughed at his own humour as usual. “I didn’t think it was right for me to do the talking for both of us, because Cherry is capable enough.” He paused and smiled at her. “I did, however, want to look out once more at the sea of faces I’ve come to know so well.”
Laughter and a few cheers were the response, and then he stepped aside to let his partner speak.
Cherry took a deep breath. “It’s time for me to go, guys—I’ve taught the men here all I can about electricity and circuitry.” She waited for the laughter to die down. “Seriously, I can only reiterate what has been said before about the support and counselling. Those things have been in evidence from the outset. Thank you all. To some, it might sound cliche that following an apocalypse we named our children Adam and Eve. That’s not why we did it—it was because this has been Eden for us. In time, our children, like all the others, will go their separate ways to produce another generation.” She smiled. “We needed a new Adam and Eve in our new world.”
A calmness had settled over the large room as Cherry became more serious.
“We’re going to Dalwhinnie and with others we’ll make it another community to be proud of. We’ll be sure to come back here on visits, and we’ll also be checking in at Aviemore. It goes without saying that we’ll be happy to have visitors even as we get organised.”
When she gave a polite nod and reached out to take Calvin’s hand, it signalled the end of their address. The applause and cheers which followed continued for a minute after the handsome couple were seated.
Jay-Dee was next to cause gasps as he made his way to the front and nodded to Tina before turning
. “I asked Archie to join me up here but as we all know he’s skilled but shy. I realise that each of us who stands here is saying something similar, but that’s simply because we all feel the same. A lot has been said regarding support and so on. Apart from the communal positivity, I didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone like Archie. Like a few others here, as strange as it seems, if it weren’t for our circumstances, we would not have gained when we’d so recently lost everything.”
The silence was broken only by sniffling from somewhere in the audience.
“We were discussing Dalwhinnie recently, and I told Archie that the new community would benefit from a good plumbing engineer. He said he’d be happy to go as long as there was somebody around with medical training.” Jay-Dee smiled. “Like all the others who will be moving on, we’ll be visiting north and south, and happy to receive any of you guys to our place when we’ve got one.”
Once again, heartfelt cheers and applause filled the room as a speaker returned to their seat.
Tina stood. “Next to address us is a man who from the early hours of our new existence has helped guide, advise and generally keep things together. In more recent times I know he’s made an effort to avoid standing up here, but today, he’ll be telling us about his intentions—Bill.”
When Bill took the floor, he smiled at the assembly and unusually had to take a deep breath to prepare himself.
“There are lots of cliche openings to addressing a group of people, but when I say I’m humbled to be among you, I mean it sincerely. Before I continue, I did ask Fiona to do this instead of me, but she refused. As a dentist, she still gets a perverse pleasure from watching a man squirm.”
A brief burst of laughter came from a few people, and then once again, the room became silent.
