by M J Dees
They slept on the hall floor without pillows or blankets and had to queue for the toilets to wash.
*
The Unity Hall provided a basic breakfast, which they ate before leaving for Peebles.
When they arrived in Peebles, they went straight to the Unity Office where they were told that Edinburgh had made a mistake but they would see what they could do.
Jim waited at a safe distance while Annabel discussed the matter with the official.
“I’m afraid the area is closed to refugees,” he said. “But now you are here, we’ll look after you. You’ll have to go to Cardrona. I’ll give you a note to take to the Unity office there.”
Olivia was not best pleased with the prospect of another hour’s walk but was encouraged by the prospect of a bed for the night, rather than a cold, hard floor.
Jim thought Cardrona was halfway between a village and a town. He waited outside while Annabel went into the Unity Office. She returned with an accommodation order with an address which did not take long to find.
When they knocked on the door an old man answered. Behind him they could see an old woman and a younger man.
“What do you want?” he asked.
Annabel tried to explain, but the man was either hard of hearing or pretending to be. Annabel handed him the order from the Unity Office, which he examined carefully.
“There is a bed in the box room. You can have that,” he said sullenly.
“May we have some water,” asked Jim.
“Water?”
“Yes, to drink.”
“We don’t have any water.”
“What?”
“He’s right,” said the younger man. “There’s no water, some problem at the pumping station.”
“I’m going back to the Unity Office,” said Jim, leaving immediately.
“The old man is openly hostile towards us,” Jim complained.
“Don’t worry,” said the official. “It’s only for tonight. I’ll find you something else for tomorrow. He was hostile, you said.”
“Yes, hostile.”
“You see that house opposite?”
Jim looked.
“Yes?”
“That’s the home of the head of Unity Police here in Cardrona. Tell him what happened, he’ll help you.”
Jim thanked the official and then went across the road and knocked on the door.
A friendly looking man in his fifties answered the door wearing his vest. Jim explained what had happened.
“Wait here, I’ll get changed.”
Jim waited until the man came down in full Unity Police uniform.
“I’m going to take action this time. Sort things out. Some people don’t know when they’re well off. They’ve never suffered.”
“He’s given us some water,” said Annabel, trying to placate the situation as she saw Jim arrive with a police officer.
Jim and Annabel tried to stay out of the way while the police officer argued with the old couple and the young man.
“We’ll not take any more,” shouted the young man.
“I’ll have you arrested,” shouted the police officer.
The argument continued, and then, after a while, the police officer approached Jim and Annabel.
“Come with me,” he said.
He led them all to a pub, and they sat in the bar while he went and negotiated in the kitchen with someone.
“What would you like to eat?” the police officer asked when he returned.
“Whatever’s easiest,” said Annabel.
The police officer disappeared back into the kitchen and then returned a moment later.
“Goodnight,” he said. “The landlady will look after you. You can eat here, but you will have to sleep with misery.”
Annabel and Jim thanked him. They ate very well and then they went back to sleep in the boxroom of the old couple’s house.
*
When they woke, they got up and went straight to the Unity office and found the police officer there.
“You’ll have to go back to Peebles,” said the Unity Officer.
At Peebles they went back to the Unity Office, who told them they would have to try at Eddleston.
At Eddleston, the Unity Officer told them to wait in the inn while he made some enquiries.
He soon returned.
“Go to Penicuik,” he said.
“Penicuik?” Jim asked.
“Yes, it’s about 8 miles along the A701.”
“We walk everywhere.”
It took them almost three hours to get to the Unity Office, which was in the town hall, an old sandstone building.
“Leave your bags here,” said a junior official. “You may as well wait in the pub across the road.”
In the pub, they gave them something to eat and waited for the Unity Officer to arrive. They gave them soup, jacket potatoes, bread, cheese and beer.
When the officer arrived, it was already too late to find accommodation for the night, so they had to sleep on the floor of the town hall.
*
In the morning, the Unity officer took them to the house of an old woman. She showed them up to her loft conversion.
Once they had settled in, their new landlady served them some potato soup and chicken salad.
“We will soon see that a non-Unity can also be very unpleasant,” said the old woman when they had finished.
“What do you mean?” asked Jim.
“I imagine that your world is divided into pro and anti-unity,” she said.
“I’ve always found that those who have been anti-Unity have been friends and allies.”
“Tomorrow, things will look different again.”
She went to fetch the coffee.
“Don’t you think the cancel culture liberals are to blame for all this?” she said when she returned.
“A liberal is someone who stands by the sentence: In my father’s house there are many rooms,” said Annabel.
“The cancellers don’t tolerate any views that diverge from their own. Unity will be finished in a couple of weeks. Then we’ll see.”
Suddenly, the door opened and two Unity officers strode in.
“You must give us accommodation,” demanded one of them. “We’ll throw out anyone who tries to turn us away.”
While the old woman dealt with the officers, Jim, Annabel and Olivia went for a wander around the town. They noticed they had removed the Unity symbol from the town hall.
In the evening there was a power cut. They found their way to bed in the darkness and cold, leaving the officers downstairs complaining that their stretches weren’t working.
*
“Be careful,” the old woman warned them at breakfast. “There is a 9 pm curfew.”
They went for a stroll during the day. The shops in the town seemed empty of produce and the electricity had not returned. There was a baker that was open and they asked for some bread. When they tried to pay with their food cards, they were told the cards weren’t accepted anymore, but he gave them a loaf anyway, which they took back to the house and gave to the old woman.
“It might only just be beginning,” warned the old woman. “When Unity goes, what do you think will fill the vacuum? There are already rumours that Roberts has been ousted and our Unity Officer has disappeared.”
The officers came in, much less rude than before and wearing civilian clothes.
“The Unity Government has collapsed, Roberts is dead,” one of them said.
“I suppose that means there is no need for you to stay anymore,” said the old woman.
“I don’t know,” said Jim. “Like you said, we don’t know what’s coming next.”
Outside, it snowed.
“Did you see those two officers?” Jim asked Annabel later when they were alone. “They are probably going to get away with their crimes by merging in with the rest of the population.”
*
Electricity had still not returned when they got up.
&nbs
p; “You know, I never supported Unity,” said the old woman as she served breakfast.
“Unity forced me out of my post at the university,” explained Jim. “If I can be of some help in the future, let me know.”
“It’s clear that anyone who was a member of Unity now wants not to have been one,” he commented to Annabel when the old woman left the room. “How can anyone know the truth about what happened?”
“What should we do now?” she asked.
“I’m not sure. Everything is still so uncertain. Except that we needn’t fear Unity officers anymore. But there’s not even a mayor here.”
Outside, it was cold and wet and they did not fancy venturing outside for news.
“Someone just told me that Anderson is dead too,” the old woman said when she returned.
“How do they know,” asked Jim. “None of the stretches work.”
The old woman shrugged.
“When are we going home?” asked Olivia.
“I’m not sure how we can get back to Manchester,” said Jim. “We would certainly have to walk again. And I would only want to admit to our foreign heritage if we could be sure it would not cause us problems.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,” the old woman said. “You are more likely to get preferential treatment now. There are rumours that there are small Unity groups scattered around trying to resist a handover of power though.”
“To whom?” asked Jim.
“Exactly,” said the old woman.
“I don’t feel well enough to walk to Manchester,” said Annabel.
“And I don’t want to walk,” said Olivia.
“Well, as long as the council keeps paying the rent, you are welcome to stay here,” said the old woman. “They say the electricity will return soon.”
“Who are they?” asked Jim.
“There are some houses in the village with solar power, they are allowing people to charge their stretches, for a price.”
As if fulfilling a prophecy, the electricity came back on.
“Thank goodness for that,” said the old woman. “We have a working fridge again and I can do some laundry.”
“Let’s go as soon as you feel better,” said Jim to Annabel.
It had stopped raining and so they went around the town for a walk. The old woman asked them to see if they could find some coffee. It was as if Unity had never existed. Jim had expected everything to be different, but the residents just carried on like any other day.
One aspect that was not returning to normal was public transport.
“What I wouldn’t give for a car,” said Annabel.
“We have got nothing to give,” said Jim. “What I wouldn’t give for a drink.”
Of the shops they found open, none of them had coffee.
“Let’s go tomorrow,” said Annabel.
“Are you sure?” asked Jim. “Why the change of mind?”
“There’s nothing here, Jim, and the longer we leave it to go back, the more risk there is that something will happen to our house.”
“Tell me about the house, mummy,” said Olivia.
“It’s beautiful darling, you are going to love it, and you’ll see it soon enough.”
When they got back, the old woman was watching the news on the big stretch.
“There is an interim government until they can hold elections,” she said. “But between you and me, it looks like nobody knows what’s going on.”
“We’ve decided to leave,” said Jim. “Tomorrow.”
“Okay, well, it’s up to you. I wish you the best of luck.”
*
They left straight after breakfast and the old woman made them sandwiches to take with them.
Jim felt good to be on the road again, to be on the way home. It had also stopped raining at last and the sun was making an appearance. The further south they went, the more the sky cleared.
Olivia was less than happy about having to walk again, especially as the road climbed uphill. Annabel clearly wasn’t happy either, but she was trying to put on a brave face. After a while, the road descended again, and the walking became easier.
By the time they passed through Eddleston, Olivia was complaining, so they stopped by the side of the road and ate a sandwich each. They made it as far as Peebles before Olivia complained about being hungry again, so they sat down on a bench and ate their other sandwich.
At Cardrona, the village hall, which had once been the Unity Office, was packed with people. The ex-Unity Officer recognised Annabel.
“What are your plans?” the officer asked.
“We are heading for Manchester.”
“I would get there as quickly as you can if I were you.”
“But we don’t have any food or accommodation.”
“You’ll have no problems, they’ll treat you as VIPs.”
“I feel dizzy,” said Annabel. She wobbled for a moment and then fell over.
“There’s a hospital back up the A72,” said the officer. “It’s not far.”
“No, I’m fine,” said Annabel.
A man approached them.
“I make deliveries to Manchester,” he said. “I can take you there. There’s space for all of you in my cab. I’m leaving at quarter to seven.”
“Thank you,” said Annabel.
“Where are we going to stay tonight?” Jim asked.
“Come with me,” another woman approached them.
She led them to a cottage with a for sale sign outside.
“We used to rent it out as a holiday home, but there’s no trade anymore,” said the woman. “You are welcome to stay here tonight and I’ll bring you some food.”
They had showers and changed. The woman returned with meals ready to heat in the microwave.
“Thank you so much,” said Annabel.
“Oh, no need to thank me,” said the woman. “Just drop the latch on your way out in the morning.”
With that, she left.
*
They were up early and showered again, got dressed and were out of the house by six and waiting at the village hall by half past.
When the truck arrived, it was not as big as Jim had expected, but they squeezed in the cab alongside the driver.
There was very little traffic and the journey that had taken them days to walk only took a few hours. By 11 o’clock they were on the outskirts of Manchester but they had to wait while the driver made some deliveries.
“What are you delivering?” Annabel asked.
“Knitted products,” he said.
After a few more deliveries, he dropped them near the centre, and they thanked him profusely.
The trams weren’t running and there didn’t seem to be any public transport, not that they had any credit to get a bus.
The city was badly damaged, Jim thought that they had attempted no building work at all. The odd car that was making its way through the rubble would kick up clouds of dust.
None of the shops or restaurants in the centre were open. Jim asked a passer-by why this was the case.
“Looting,” he explained. “There’s usually a soup kitchen behind the station. If you are lucky, you might get something there.”
They found it and were given a cup of soup and a fruit jelly each. They walked to the town hall, which appeared to be functioning but was cordoned off and guarded.
There was a large crowd, many of whom appeared to have foreign heritage, trying to get past the cordon, but all, including Jim, were refused.
A member of staff came out of the town hall and up to the cordon to address the crowd.
“If you have come for a bicycle, you need to go to the Police public enquiry centre,” she said.
“We’ve already been there,” someone shouted. “They sent us here.”
“You must go to the Police, we are not distributing bicycles here.”
A section of the crowd groaned and wandered off.
“If you want to charge travel apps, we will not be doing that today.”
More groans from another section of the crowd and more of them left. Those who remained were let through the cordon one by one to speak to the staff member. They were all dispatched quickly with a shake of the head. Then it was Jim’s turn.
He explained the situation with their house as briefly as he could.
“Go to the housing office at the University,” she said. “They will find you somewhere to stay.”
“But I don’t want somewhere to stay.”
She looked confused.
“Go to the housing office,” said a guard, pushing Jim away.
It took them the best part of an hour to walk to the accommodation office in the old halls. They sat in the waiting room for a couple of hours. When people who’d arrived after them were called before them, Jim went straight into the office.
The office had several desks at which members of staff were in conversation with the people Jim had seen pass through the waiting room. He found a free member of staff and went over and explained his story.
“For now, you can stay at our hostel out in Fairfield,” said the housing officer. “I’ll email some people in the town hall for you. They won’t let you in, but they might come out and see you. Right now you should have somewhere to stay for the night.”
It took a couple of hours for them to find the address the housing officer had given them. The hostel turned out to be a large detached house.
Annabel felt so faint she had to sit on a chair in the hall while Jim explained why they were there.
“The hostel is overcrowded,” said the warden. “You can only stay here temporarily.”
“The sooner we get back to our own home, the better.”
“You can get some supper in the kitchen. Once you’ve eaten, I will show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
After a passable supper the warden led to a room packed with bunk beds, three were empty except for a couple of sheets with a pillowcase and pillow on each which looked like they had seen better days.
“You can get breakfast in the kitchen in the morning,” said the warden before leaving them to settle in.
They were all asleep before the room’s other inhabitants arrived.
*
By the time they woke up, their roommates had already left. They went down to the kitchen, but there was only coffee.
