The Spark (White Gates Adventures Book 4)

by Trevor Stubbs

“I expect what happened to you was a bit scary.”

  “You could say that.” And then more softly, “… I didn’t think I was going to get through it, if I’m honest… Actually… ” Then, sob after sob rose from somewhere deep down inside. Wennai reached to hold his hand. When Shaun managed to gain control again, he apologised. “Sorry… that was stupid.”

  “No it wasn’t. It has to come out. You can’t bottle it up. You were saying: Actually—”

  Shaun reached for the tissue box. Wennai took it from the bedside table and handed it to him.

  “Actually – you won’t tell my mum and dad this, or anyone else. Kakko, Tam, Dah and John know – they were there. We’re not telling anybody just yet. We couldn’t cope with all the fuss. Nan will hit the ceiling when she finds out… and… and I’ve got to have the strength to deal with that before saying anything.” He smiled. Then became serious. “A soldier was pointing his gun at my head and would have fired if someone else hadn’t shot him first. I definitely thought I was going to die.”

  “Oh, God,” said Wennai. Her eyes filled with tears; mascara streaked her cheeks. Her features contorted with pain.

  “You OK? Sorry…” asked Shaun.

  “You silly boy. Don’t you dare apologise again… I want you to tell me.”

  Shaun described the time from when the truck left the road. “That’s how my leg got broken. If I hadn’t been underneath her, Kakko could have smashed her head on the side, or broken a lot more bones than me.”

  “So this leg is kind of, like, a good trade-off.”

  “Definitely. Kakko is pretty shocked still, though. She’s doing her best not to show it… Then the truck behind us just blew up – with all the men still in it… It was horrible… I still see that every time I close my eyes… And then there was this boy, no more than twelve, with a gun that looked far too big for him, pretending to be grown up.”

  Shaun told Wennai the whole story. He ended with them carrying him through the white gate.

  The pile of tissues mounted between them.

  “Thanks for coming, Wennai… I don’t know why I told you all this. You won’t say anything until I tell you?”

  “No, of course not…”

  “You’re a good listener.”

  “Thanks.”

  “How’d it go last night… with your date with Gollip?”

  Wennai shrugged her shoulders. “OK. He’s OK. He’s very attentive.”

  “Good. I hope he makes you happy. He’s a fun kid.”

  Kid, thought Wennai, exactly. She had hoped Shaun would show a bit of jealousy. They were silent for a minute, eyes cast down. Then Shaun spoke gently.

  “Wennai, despite all that happened out there, I still believe in God. Even more. She was really there, in the middle of it all…”

  “I know. I know you believe that. And I don’t want you to change your mind.”

  “What? Not to change my mind about God?”

  “No. She’s not just important to you, She’s the canvas on which your picture is painted.”

  “Wow, Wennai. That’s poetic.”

  “It’s not me. It was in a book I read.”

  “You were reading a book about God?”

  “Not about God exactly. It was just what one of the characters said.”

  “You believe in God now?”

  “No. But you do. I can see that nothing is going to alter that. Not even a…” Wennai didn’t complete her sentence. She couldn’t say the words.

  “A gun at my head,” supplied Shaun.

  Wennai nodded.

  “But you’re still angry with Her because of your mum?”

  “I can’t accept that if God existed and cared, He… She would have allowed my mum to die… But I know what you would say.”

  “What?”

  “That She was always there – even as she died.”

  Shaun reached for another tissue. “Yep.”

  “And I don’t want you to stop believing that, Shaun – even if I can’t.”

  “Thanks, Wennai.”

  They saw a nurse, hovering.

  “She wants to give me my medicine,” smiled Shaun.

  “I’d better get along… Don’t tell Aril or Gollip I’ve been to see you.”

  “Mum’s the word. So many secrets. I understand.”

  Wennai lent over and kissed him on the cheek. He felt her soft fair hair on his neck.

  “Bye,” she said lightly.

  “Bye,” he smiled.

  Wennai nodded to the nurse as she passed her. At the door of the ward, she turned and waved before she disappeared.

  “You’re a lucky young man,” said the nurse.

  “Oh. She’s not my girlfriend,” said Shaun firmly.

  “Oh, really? You could have fooled me.”

  Late that same afternoon John and Dah discovered a white gate for them. Peering through it, they saw their little place on Atiota. They took their leave and went home, gratefully. They had no doubt they would meet up with the Smiths again but, they hoped, on a gentler adventure.

  ***

  Jalli bought the morning newspaper at the little shop in Woodglade. They hadn’t used to get it but these days so much of the news involved people they knew. The article about Shaun inspired her to buy it on the way to work, rather than at lunchtime.

  At work she leafed through it. She was about to push it aside, when she caught sight of the heading of a letter in the correspondence column: Aliens misusing the health service?

  Dear Editor,

  Yesterday we read of the latest so-called adventures of the Smith family and their friends to another world. Apparently this ability to flit between planets, exclusive to them, occurs through ethereal white gates that only they can see. This is not the first time this behaviour has resulted in hospitalisation at the cost of the Johian Health Service. This time, apart from the injuries happening off-planet, your paper reports that at least two people alien to Joh received treatment at the hospital. We do not know the details but are we to believe that people who have no residence here have received treatment at Johian expense?

  What are the authorities doing to look further into this phenomenon that is having an effect on the security of our planet? What assurances do we have that these are not the beginnings of a serious threat to our future? Or are we to turn a blind eye to this? One of the Smith family is already working in the space centre, where, we are told, they are liaising with an alien race called the Thenits. Am I the only one to believe we have grounds for a thorough investigation?

  Name and address supplied.

  Jalli stood rigid, leaning on her desk for support. She and Jack had been living on Joh for the past thirty years. All of their children had been born on the planet. They had paid their taxes and health insurance from the beginning. And, compared with many less fortunate families, they had not been heavy users of the hospital. The authorities knew all about the white gates. They weren’t the first alien residents of White Gates Cottage – and historians believed that all Johians descended from immigrants who had arrived through portals more than a thousand years ago. The accepted opinion of the expert historians was that they had originated as a species on Earth One – the question was whether they had come direct or through some other colony. Whatever their point of departure, they had arrived as a relatively primitive community with little or no technology beyond stone tools, and did not write. But they had soon developed in Joh’s peaceful and comfortable environment. The white gate phenomenon was not under-investigated. But it was not the injustice of the claims in the letter that disturbed Jalli. She was afraid. This “name and address supplied” seemed to have it in for them. She was frightened for her children.

  Jalli was still standing deep in thought when the principal, Mrs Trenz, came in.

  “Problem, Jalli?”

  Jalli pushed the paper across her desk to her. The principal read the letter.

  “For what it’s worth,” she said, “I think this is not only outrageous,
it’s preposterous.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And I should think that 99.9% of the population agree with me.”

  “There was a demonstration when Kakko returned from the spacetruck rescue two months ago… outside the space centre.”

  “I heard about that. It seemed to die down very quickly though.”

  “There are some people bent on causing trouble,” said Jalli. “We get snide remarks occasionally – and sideways looks.”

  “I think you should make sure the police hear about all of these incidents – no matter how small… I hope they look into this letter writer’s past, too… Are you going to respond to it?”

  “No. We don’t have to justify ourselves. It’ll only get him – or her – to come back with more nasty stuff. The papers like a tit-for-tat.”

  “Very wise.”

  But Jalli and Jack did not need to put up any defence. The following day there were letters from the hospital administrator pointing out that Jack had paid a bill for John and Dah in the same way as any Johian who had opted out of the state insurance scheme; and the Professor of Interplanetary Relations at the university commented at length on the portal phenomenon, explaining that it had been carefully studied for many years. He referred the letter writer to his book: Portals and Planets: the Benefits to Human Progress.

  Over the next three days cards and letters poured in both to White Gates Cottage and the hospital. The orderly who brought up Shaun’s post needed a special bag. It took Shaun half the morning to get through it. Most of the cards came from fans and people connected to City United but there were others from friends and erstwhile schoolmates whom he hadn’t seen for ages, and a great big joint card from the worship centre. The controversial nature of the correspondence had only served to stir up more support. Some people were outraged, and said so.

  Letters in defence of the Smith family were posted by the director of the space centre, the principals of the Institute of Agriculture and the School for the Blind. The paper printed glowing praise for Shaun from the manager of City United which was signed by all the players in the squad. “No-one,” he wrote, “made any protest about Shaun Smith’s background when he led the team to victory last season. Shaun is not just a wonderfully gifted footballer but a thoroughly likeable lad who provides quiet leadership on and off the pitch – something we are missing at the moment.”

  During the rest of his three-day stay at the hospital, Shaun received dozens of visitors. Wennai did not manage to visit alone again but she spoke with her eyes as her brother talked non-stop about the things Shaun was missing.

  The physiotherapy was good. But Shaun quickly learned that it would be many, many months before he would be able to run again, let alone play in midfield which would require him to cover much of the pitch for ninety minutes. Midfielders were expected to both defend and attack, even score goals, which meant always being in the right place at the right time. The one thing Kakko talked about more than anything regarding the truck accident was that, from her point of view, he had been in exactly the right place to save her. The thought cheered him. And, somehow, the Creator was using the one person who denied Her existence to help him get better.

  4

  Light years from Joh, Shaun’s younger brother, Bandi, looked up as his girlfriend, Abby, stomped into her parents’ sitting room on Earth One.

  “How’d today’s exam go?” Bandi asked.

  Abby was in the midst of lower-sixth exams in Longmead Sixth Form College.

  “OK,” she said in a non-committal voice as she threw her bag down onto the sofa on her way to the kitchen where she fished a Coke out of the fridge.

  “Want one?” she called over her shoulder.

  “No thanks, I’ve got tea… One more to go,” added Bandi brightly as Abby plonked herself down beside him, “and then you’ll have completed all your lower-sixth exams.”

  “Yep… I wish I had your brains, though.”

  “So you’re dense, right?”

  “I feel like that right now. Like… I dunno…”

  “It always feels like that after you’ve sat an exam – especially when it’s something like history. You can always think afterwards of things you didn’t put.”

  “Or different ways of saying it. Like, there was this question about the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century. It wasn’t just straightforward, like: ‘Explain or describe the progress of the anti-slavery movement in Britain or America in the early nineteenth century’. Nothing so easy. It went: ‘Compare and contrast the attitudes to slavery in Britain and its former colonies in the United States. Did the actions of the British reformers have any impact on the political opinions in Washington, DC? Give examples to illustrate your answer’. I mean, you need a lot more background stuff to answer that.”

  “Which you didn’t know.”

  “Obviously.”

  “So what did you do?”

  “Guessed. Made it up. Blagged it.”

  “Did they?”

  “Did they what?”

  “Did the British reformers have an impact on Washington DC?”

  “I said they did – a bit. Both countries passed a law abolishing the transatlantic trade in the same year, 1807. But we didn’t get on very well – the British and the Americans; we still hadn’t got over the war of independence in 1776. In 1812 we were at war again, and in 1814 a British contingent occupied Washington, DC and set fire to the White House and the Capitol, so the Americans weren’t predisposed to think much of us. After all that, I guess the slavery question in America was more of an internal affair than international—”

  “Woah… So, right. You know a lot more than you’re letting on. Look it up – check it out.”

  “I will… History’s so hard. It’s much easier for those doing maths. They always know whether they have got it right or not.”

  “Well, I don’t… not even at GCSE level. And, as for English, it’s, like, a steep learning curve.”

  “You had no English at all two years ago. I think it’s brilliant that you’re sitting GCSE English next year – you’re better than most of us natives.”

  “Hardly.”

  “I mean it. And all that Old English is not easy.”

  “I know but you like Shakespeare and I want to learn him too.”

  Abby laughed. She was feeling better. Bandi was always so good at cheering her up. Always ready with a Shakespearian quote that seemed to fit, she declaimed, “‘Here let us breathe and haply institute a course of learning and ingenious studies.’ The Taming of the Shrew, Act One, Scene 1.”

  Bandi was ready for her. “Aye, let us so commit ourselves, ’ere the year is fled.”

  “Wow! I don’t know that one. Where’s that from?”

  “The Comedy of Bandi, Act One, Scene Two.” Bandi laughed, amazed that he had so easily taken his girlfriend in.

  Abby pushed herself away. “But you can’t make them up in a proper essay or exam.” Abby was annoyed with herself that she had fallen for it.

  “I know… I just wanted to make you laugh – cheer you up,” continued Bandi. Abby relaxed. She didn’t really mind that Bandi was clever.

  “I am so glad I met you, Abby – and your dad. Being here is really good. I couldn’t have done any of this on Joh.”

  “I never thought boring old Persham was that special – but you have helped me see it with fresh eyes. I’m glad I met you, too. I’m starving.”

  “Your mum said she’ll be late and not to wait for her… No idea when your dad will be in.”

  “He’s taken a group of teenagers to the swimming pool. I guess he will eat with them in the centre before he goes on to his meeting with his school governors. He won’t be home until later.”

  “It’s mad having a priest as a father. You never know when you’ll see him.”

  “It’s much better now he’s a diocesan youth chaplain than when he was in a parish,” said Abby firmly. “At least we get the house to ourselves. And he gets proper tim
e off when he’s away from the YAC.”

  “And we get to do stuff there all the time… It’s going to be a great summer,” said Bandi. “How many kids are lucky enough to have their parents working at a youth activities centre?”

  “Four in Persham – me and Dad’s assistant Mark’s three. Five if we count you… and I’m starving. I’m going to see what’s in the fridge.”

  “And I’m going to get back to this statistics stuff. The exam’s next week… Tell me when you’re ready to eat.”

  “Yes, master.”

  “Shut up.”

  “You really are learning English, aren’t you. That’s—”

  “You find food and let me study.”

  Unlike the rest of the family, Bandi and Abby didn’t have to wait for a white gate to appear – one stood permanently in the garden of the house the Church of England had purchased for Abby’s dad, Dave, ever since they had left the rectory at St Chad’s and he took up the job as director at the YAC. This house was more convenient for Longmead Sixth Form College, and the whole family were definitely happier since the move. Abby and her mum, Lynn, together with Bandi, mostly went to help Dave when he was leading worship at the centre on a Sunday. Now the summer weather had begun, it was very busy with groups coming from far and wide for weekends and the spring bank holidays. Primary schools used the centre during the week when Dave took the children for walks in the woods on nature rambles. Abby and Bandi sometimes joined them as a break between studies.

  ***

  Two weeks passed and the atmosphere in the house changed from one of nervous tension to summer joy. Bandi bounced through the door.

  “Finished!” he yelled. “That’s the last exam, and I’ve got a hundred per cent.”

  “How’re you so sure?” asked Abby.

  “I’m not. I won’t have all of one hundred per cent but there’s nothing wrong with positive thinking. ‘Merrily, Merrily shall I live now, Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.’ I haven’t made that one up. I quoted it.”

  “The Tempest,” said Abby.

  “The Tempest?!”