Campion's Choice

After knocking and getting no reply Jack opened the front door of the ancient Manor House. Voices came from the Saloon so he headed in that direction. The last time he visited that room he had smashed the place to pieces and he was rather dreading returning to the scene of devastation.

A familiar voice interrupted his thoughts.

‘I mean, this violet planet or cloud or whatever it is, is really amazing.’

When Jack opened the door Elvis looked startled.

‘What the …’

What he saw took Jack’s breath away. The Saloon looked untouched, the fireplace was immaculate, the sofa was as pretty as ever and the ceiling was smooth as a windless lake. Then he remembered Bob fixing the doll. Nothing the Nomas did should come as a surprise any more.

‘Ah, Jack. Lovely of you to drop in. Do join us for tea. I’ll ring for another cup,’ Ursula said.

Elvis sat in front of a pile of papers and at his side was the old and battered leather bag from the air-raid shelter. Seeing Jack appear he began to babble in a strange, secretive, half-whisper.

’I was just telling Ursula that I’ve been a bit distracted by this new star. They’re calling it the Purple Rose. No one knows what it is. Is it gas, or is it debris, or just a reflection? Is it the end of the world? The Americans are going to send up a rocket. I was going to come over here in my Ferrari. I’ve just been down to London to some clubs with my girlfriend, who’s a super model and a singer, but the Ferrari isn’t fixed so I’m still hanging out on my ‘wheels’.’

Ursula interrupted the rambling.

‘To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Elvis?’ she asked.

‘Oh yeah. I came to give you an update. I went to Redemere School and got Carl to show me inside the air raid shelter. There’s nothing else left there belonging to Mrs Le Fanu.’

‘Who is Mrs Le Fanu?’ Jack asked.

Elvis looked at Ursula for permission to speak. She nodded. Elvis cleared his throat, checked his notes and gave a little speech.

‘Mrs Artemisia Le Fanu owned the bag you found in the air-raid shelter. She was an archaeologist and a world traveller. She died about thirty years ago. In fact she died in a car accident, straight after giving a talk at Redemere Village College. The old bird was about eighty and probably shouldn’t have been driving a sports car. What we think happened is, she left her bag at the school and, because she died on that day, no one ever came by to pick it up and it just got lost in the air raid shelter.’

‘She was an amazing woman,’ Ursula said quietly. Elvis and Jack turned at her words.

‘You knew her?’ Elvis asked.

‘Yes. When she was young. We met briefly at Cancellarius. What else have you found out, Elvis?’

‘Well, it’s been hard but I have all the right contacts, in places like the Police, MI5, the CIA,’ Elvis rambled until Ursula gave him a kindly glare. He looked down at his notes.

‘Mrs Le Fanu’s son is the Cambridge energy billionaire Matthew Baines. He took the name of his father, Samuel Baines. Matthew Baines is an old Cancellarian and …’

Ursula held up a hand.

‘Tell us about what was in the bag,’ she said.

‘Oh. Okay. Well, Klaus and I have looked into everything. There are some journals about a trip to Cambodia. She travelled on the Mekong River. She went to the capital. Some place called Pongy Pen.’

‘Phnom Penh,’ Ursula corrected.

‘Yeah, that’s what I said, and then she went to a place called Seamy Ropey.’

‘Siem Reap,’ Ursula suggested.

‘Yeah, yeah. That’s the place. Some stuff is missing but we know Artemisia found the four coins near Angkor Wat, at a temple called Pre Rup because she did a sketch of them in her diary.’

Elvis looked singularly pleased with himself because this time Ursula did not offer a correction.

‘Good. I think the next thing to do is to pay a visit to Cambodia,’ Ursula said happily.

‘Cambodia?’ Jack asked.

‘Can you organise that Elvis? The best thing to do would be to follow in Artemisia’s footsteps. I assume her diary gives us all the details? Would you like to lead the expedition?’

‘Me?’ Elvis gulped like a cartoon character.

‘Well, you and Max? And maybe Rashpal?’

‘Blimey. I mean … I do a lot of international work and stuff. I fly all the time, all over the world. Sydney today, San Francisco tomorrow, so it would be no problem. But, if other people want to go on the trip, I could like, stay at home and run the mission. I mean, Cambodia? Once you’ve seen one South American country you’ve seen them all.’

‘I’m sure that’s true although I think you’ll find that Cambodia is in the Far East, not South America,’ Ursula said gently.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’d better go now. Got to get to work. Yeah. Great. I’ll be in touch,’ Elvis said. He jumped up, stuffed his notes back into Artemisia Le Fanu’s leather bag and then plunged the whole lot into a large, black, plastic bag.

With the yellow helmet jammed on his head goodbyes would have been a waste of breath.

When they were alone Jack sat quietly and sipped his tea. He listened to the sound of a moped sputtering to life and fading in the distance.

‘Is it just me, or is Elvis bonkers?’ he said.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘All this, I’m a spy, look at my Ferrari, my girlfriend is a model, stuff. He lives in a fantasy world.’

‘Elvis has a good heart,’ Ursula said simply.

Jack picked up a fruit flapjack and savoured the taste until he remembered The Manor’s food making machines.

‘Is this biscuit made from ground up wellington boots?’

Ursula laughed.

‘I see that Bob has been talking.’

‘You could have told me, the other day, when you offered me breakfast. It’s weird but every time I smell bacon now, I get this funny taste of tyre in my mouth.’

‘They’re just a little toy. We only have them in The Manor. All the other food in Hanston is real.’

Jack looked at the flapjack suspiciously but he still ate it. He dusted oats off his t-shirt and looked at the old woman.

‘So, when are you going to set me free?’

‘Sadly, not just yet. You need to be patient for just a little while longer.’

Ursula tugged at the green silk scarf that she always wore.

‘Well, if I’m stuck here, I’d like some answers. I made a list.’

Jack reached into his back pocket and pulled out a dog-eared piece of paper, something he had carried around for days, something he had added new questions to as each strange thing came along.

‘A list? Interesting. I can’t promise I’ll be able to answer all of your questions but, fire away.’

‘Okay. Here goes. What’s all this Huras, Gamelin, Crow stuff?’

‘Oooh, a tough starter.’ Ursula scrunched up her face in thought before answering carefully.

‘The first thing to tell you is that each of us, each member of the Nomas, is born into a different group. The jobs we do depend upon the group we belong to. The simplest way to explain it is this: Huras protect, Gamelin think, Crow work.’

‘And, if you’re a Crow, you’re at the bottom.’

‘What? No. That’s not how it works. We’re equal. But we’re made for different things.’

‘Well, at school, Crows get treated like they’re at the bottom.’

The old lady stood up unsteadily and wandered around the beautiful Saloon. She looked genuinely distressed and, when she spoke, it seemed to be with great reluctance.

’You remember I said that ‘mistakes were made’? Well, it was a Crow who made the mistake. But …’ her voice trailed away.

‘Oh I get it. So, if you’re a Crow, you get blamed for the Nomas being trapped on Earth?’

Ursula remained silent but finally answered, ‘it’s complicated. Next question.’

‘Why did you kidnap the three of us and not Gidean?’

Ursula relaxed.

‘That’s an easy one. After Gidean’s performance, and all the fuss on the TV, we were worried that people might start asking questions. So, we took you three because you saw Anax save Mister Clamp and you three knew there was something strange about the coins. Gidean just thinks he has a lucky token. That said, we wanted to bring Gidean to Hanston but he has disappeared. We can’t find him.’

‘What? Is he dead?’

‘His parents haven’t reported anything to the police. We think he went into hiding after all the fuss. But something might have happened to him. We don’t know.’

Jack reached out a hand and took another flapjack. It was midmorning. The Saloon had filled with sunlight and it was becoming warm and stuffy. A child’s voice shouted in the distance. He wished he’d kept on the road to school because by now he’d be floating in the middle of a pool, eyes closed, happily daydreaming about the good old days, a time before these stupid coins came into his life.

‘Next question?’ Ursula prompted. Jack checked the list.

’Right. Well, I keep hearing people say weird stuff. Like, when I was watching this four year old kid, in Class Three, he was trying to walk through a wall. He kept getting stuck half way. His head was on one side of the wall and his bum stuck out of the other side. I heard this girl say, ‘You would never believe that he’s one hundred and fifty-six years old, would you?’ And, when I first arrived, Bob had some ’Happy ‘Two Hundred and Fortieth’’ birthday cards! And you just said you knew Mrs Le Fanu when she was young and that must be nearly a hundred years ago. Are you all old? How old are you?’

‘I’m two hundred and ten years old.’

‘You’re kidding?’

‘No.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yes. Any more questions?’

‘Do The Orden, Elvis, Rashpal, Klaus, Aubon and Max, know that you’re aliens?’

‘No.’

‘Why haven’t you told them?’

‘I really think that’s enough questions for today. I will explain more about The Orden but not now.’

‘Just one more question then? Please. Please? It’s not about The Orden.’

Ursula tapped the window frame before nodding permission.

‘One more.’

‘Thanks. Well, it’s this, Bob said that you made the food machine because it was something ’remembered’. What does that mean?’

The old woman took so long to answer that Jack wondered if he’d asked one question too many. Finally she began a reply.

’There have been times when we have barely survived. Our memory was damaged during the Corregia. The Nomas were betrayed and hunted almost to extinction. Some of our history and our memories were lost. Over the years, sometimes, but very rarely, our lost powers and our forgotten truths are ‘remembered’. And, when that happens, we celebrate.’

Jack made a mental note to write down the word ‘Corregia’ on his list. That would be a question for the next visit.

He flexed his shoulders and got ready to leave. It would be great to get out of The Manor and into the school pool, to feel the rush of water all over his body. He screwed up and pocketed the list.

‘Let me know when I’m free to go,’ he said and walked towards the Saloon door.

‘Talking of lists …’

Ursula rustled in a bag by the side of her chair and when Jack turned he saw that she held up another slip of paper.

‘We removed this from your bedroom.’

She handed him his ‘To do’ list.

’The Number Six on your list, ‘tell Nance, Grampus and Aunt Joan about the aliens’, caused us a great deal of consternation. We have spent hundreds of years concealing our existence. If you leave here you will have to promise to keep our secret,’ Ursula said firmly.

Jack hung his head and refused to answer. He was not going to play their game.

‘I’m going swimming.’

Before he could move Ursula leant over the coffee table and dropped a tiny object onto the wooden surface. He couldn’t resist the temptation to take a look. It was a familiar object.

‘Luke gave us this. Do you remember it? Your money box exploded?’

Ursula pointed to the chip discovered in the piggy bank’s nose.

‘It’s a miniature camera. Someone was spying on you and only you. We haven’t found anything like this in Tia or Liam’s houses. Do you have any idea who or why someone might be bugging your house? It may be that we are not the only people interested in the coins.’

‘I thought it looked suspicious when I found it.’

‘It’s a worrying development. It means that other people might know what the coins can do. That might be why Gidean is missing.’

Concern was clearly etched on the old lady’s wrinkly face. She scooped up the tiny microchip and dropped it carefully into a small plastic bag.

‘Jack, would you promise to stay silent and help us if we let you go home?’

‘It depends what you want me to do.’

‘You could help us to find the owner of the microchip and help to find out about Artemisia Le Fanu. Maybe you could go on the boat trip up the Mekong?’

‘Yeah, sure! I just fancy a river cruise.’

‘Oh good …’

‘I was joking! I don’t believe you people. You kidnapped me. What planet are you living on? Oh, I forgot. Unfortunately you’re living on this one!’

Before Ursula could interrupt or spring another surprise or before Anax could jump out from inside a bookcase, Jack grabbed his bag and stormed out of the room.

When he slammed the door the two stuffed partridges, perched under a glass dome on the sideboard in the hallway, wobbled. They stared at him with dead eyes. He stared back.

‘What are you looking at?’

He turned and deliberately stamped his way out of the ancient building.