Roskov, Book 22, page 8
Bonza told her, ‘We have free will, supposedly, and all that bollocks. We’re supposed to do it ourselves, so … don’t know why these angel fucks are here at all.’
‘Yes, why have angels at all?’ she complained as we walked out.
I told her, ‘It’s something I’ve been puzzling; free will but … with a little assistance now and then, when it suits them and when they can be bothered.’
Cups of tea grabbed in a side room, much needed cups of tea, and an aide came running. He told me, not Armani, ‘Sir, a bright light was witnessed, above the room you used.’
‘How bright?’ I puzzled.
‘People in the city saw it.’
‘Like a nuclear bomb bright?’ I asked.
The man’s eyes widened and then he frowned at me. ‘No sir, just noticeable.’
I faced Armani. ‘Make up a story, a … planned laser light show in the future being tested.’
‘We had planned such a laser show, religious images on low clouds.’
‘So have the equipment moved in tomorrow without being seen, then seen to be moved out.’
The aide dashed out.
Armani noted, ‘That story might not work, the airport banned us from conducting such a light show.’
‘Just say that you tested projections against the walls, no one will care.’
The British bishop approached.
‘How are you coping?’ I asked.
‘It was a shock, to see how fallible the angels are, and to see one killed like that.’ He straightened. ‘But there is no doubt as to who … is in charge. Not the Pope, not the Presidents and Prime Ministers, and not even the angels themselves. You … are the one in charge.’
‘Then you better hope that I know what I’m doing,’ I quipped.
‘Of that … I have no doubt, and will sleep well.’ We shook and I wished him a safe journey back to Britain.
An hour later I was back at the airport with Bill and Ted, Leo and his girlfriend planning to have a short holiday here in Rome, Bonza and Gloria to spend a night in a hotel and to fly back to London tomorrow, political plotting and scheming on their minds no doubt.
Relieved, we took off in the dark, and we were all keen to meet the human Julie and see what she remembered.
Levelling off, I blew out loudly, a look exchanged with Bill and Ted. ‘We’re still alive and not at all … roasted and diced up and nuked.’
‘You had a doubt?’ Bill asked.
‘I had a huge doubt, yes. I figured that Gabrial would refuse to cooperate, kill me and … then be killed by Julie.’
‘Did you mean to compare him to a sick kitten?’ Ted asked.
I grinned. ‘Who me?’
Arriving at my parents’ house in the dark we found several cars, more than usual, security guards patrolling. I led Bill and Ted inside, the doctor and nurse here, and there sat Julie, but now looking odd in one of my mother’s old summer dresses.
Julie stood, a wide smile on her face. ‘I have not forgotten you, but your parents showed me photographs of you.’ She frowned. ‘Some as a baby, which did not jog my memory.’
‘You sound almost British, but with a bit of an accent,’ I noted with a grin. ‘What do you remember?’
‘I recall you and these men, and … cooking here, the cat, the goats, and … being alone in a dark place for a long time.’
‘The Ark.’
‘Ark?’
‘Ark of the Covenant in Israel. You were inside it.’
‘Oh. Well that sounds … odd,’ she puzzled.
‘Who’s the Prime Minister of Britain?’ I asked.
‘I … have no idea.’
‘Do you know what a Prime Minister is?’
‘A … leader of a nation.’
‘So you have cognitive reasoning just not the facts that go with the reasoning. Do you remember your parents?’
‘I … don’t, no.’
‘You never had any, you were created by God. But don’t worry, you can think of my parents as your own.’
She smiled. ‘That I thought when I woke. Do I have brothers and sisters?’
‘No, just friends like me.’ I faced the doctor. ‘Her body is OK?’
‘She is normal, yes, and in good health. Before … she was an angel?’
‘Kind of, yes, now made human. You can teach her about health matters.’ I faced the nurse. ‘I’ll give you some money to take her shopping, and you can teach her about coffee shops, cheesecake, and … the all-important hairdressers.’
The nurse smiled at the doctor, who shook his head.
‘This she is expert at,’ he told me.
‘What is cheesecake?’ Julie asked.
‘You’ll find out soon,’ I told her. ‘One day at a time, you have to learn to be human, and I have to get a fake identity for you. You don’t have a last name, so we need to think up one.’
‘Angelus,’ the doctor suggested. ‘Latin for angel. I had a friend in medical school with that name.’
‘Julie Angelus?’ I posed.
Heads were nodded, and Julie smiled as I handed the nurse large Euro notes.
I told her, ‘I’ll arrange some time off for you, you have some shopping to do, some lessons for Julie in what it is to spend a man’s money.’
‘I have no money?’ Julie innocently asked.
‘Not till you get a job,’ I told her. ‘I’ll give you all the money you need, not least because you saved my life a hundred times.’
The twins walked in. ‘You are back,’ Rita noted.
I stepped aside so that they could see Julie, the twins soon rushing in to give her big hugs.
‘I remember you two,’ Julie finally stated.
‘Remember us?’ Rita puzzled.
I explained, ‘She’s been turned into a human woman, no longer with any powers. You can help teach her what it is to be human, but never mention where she came from.’
‘Oh my god,’ Rita let out. ‘And we need to take you shopping again, that dress is terrible.’
My father hid his grin and turned away as my mother scowled, the doctor hiding his grin and moving back.
‘Julie needs a whole new wardrobe, everything,’ I told them. ‘Even shoes and socks.’
‘We can do that,’ the twins enthused.
The nurse faced me. ‘I keep the money, yes?’
‘Yes, and take Julie shopping when the twins are not here.’ I faced Rita. ‘When do you fly?’
‘Two days.’
I told the nurse, ‘So after two days. Mum, try your shoes on Julie.’
Julie pointed down, old sneakers on her feet. ‘They fit well.’
‘Oh my god,’ Rita let out, hands on hips as she studied the dated sneakers.
I cut in, ‘My mum’s old shoes, and … dress.’
The twins got the message, and hugged my mother in apology. Bill and Ted, smiling widely, stepped out before voices were raised and things were thrown across the room.
I stepped to Julie. ‘Do you know how to use a toilet?’
She frowned down at the floor. ‘Yes, I think so.’
‘Make a cup of tea?’
‘Yes, I … think so.’
‘Know what menstruation is?’
‘What’s that?’
I glanced at the doctor. ‘He will explain it, and a few other things, like pregnancy and … sex.’
‘I think I know sex.’
‘We teach you,’ Rita insisted.
‘Not using me you won’t,’ I told them. ‘Julie must meet a man, fall in love, get married and have kids. That’s her destiny now.’
My mum cut in, ‘I have a shelf of old Mills and Boon books.’
‘She does,’ my father complained.
I told the twins, ‘Julie does not leave this house till I have a fake ID and a suitable life story for her!’
‘We create one,’ Rita suggested. ‘She was born in England and … then met a handsome French man that was bad to her and … she ended up here on the island after he … drowned in his pool when drunk.’
I raised a finger and then lowered it. ‘That could work. OK, twins, do your thing and create some fake memories for Julie.’
They led her to the back room, whispering like thieves as they went.
I faced the medics. ‘When the twins fly out you take over, and you check up on Julie till she’s … stable. Mum, Dad, she knows you and this house, so this is where she needs to live for a while, till she’s confident and can get a room or apartment.’
‘We can help her,’ my mother insisted. ‘Like having a daughter, a grown one that can help me cook. One that doesn’t go off and play football all the time.’
Squinting at my mother, I thanked the medics and led them out, hotel security asking if someone was sick. I explained that a British lady visitor had some food poisoning, and not to worry.
‘Your mother’s cooking is normally excellent, sir.’
I stared at the man. ‘Just why the hell is my mother cooking for you, when you should be on duty!
The man shrunk a little. ‘She insists we try some, sir.’
I pointed past him. ‘Go do some work, eh!’
He walked off with his mate as the medics drove off, separate cars, so they had not both come from their home.
At reception, I explained to the lady night manager the drama, and not to worry about anything before I got myself a beer at the pool bar, sitting with Bill and Ted under the stars.
I let out a loud sigh. ‘We won. Now I just have to deal with all the human problems, the politics and the bullshit, and the gunmen that will still be coming after me, the corruption and the hassle.’
‘Yeah, but you’re on holiday, kind of, so … fuck the world for a few days,’ Bill suggested.
I sipped my beer. ‘Julie will make some guy happy, unless she tells him her past, then he’ll have her locked up. But it will be good to see her married with kids and not think of her stuck in a box in a cave in the desert.’
‘Three thousand years,’ Ted noted. ‘My god.’
‘When I first came across her she sounded like a computer, but she changed as time went on. And she admitted to helping women that camped in the desert near to The Ark’s resting place, so she had that sympathy for women and girls all along it seems.’
‘You said that she took the image of a porn star…’ Bill floated.
‘Julie Benson, Miss Penthouse 1982, but she’d be … late forties by now. Hopefully no one will compare them. But Julie Benson did one set in a magazine then got married and disappeared, no long career, no porn films.’
‘How old is Julie now then?’ Ted asked. ‘This Julie.’
‘Looking at her I’d say … twenty-eight. So we’ll create a fake ID with an age around that mark.’
‘What comes next?’ Bill asked.
‘Next … I’ll try and get some work done without wondering if there’s an assassin waiting outside my house. I still have the British police and others to worry about, the Mafia maybe, but not Gabrial’s influence on people – and not him trying to bring down planes when I’m on them!’
‘We need to find Stanulou,’ Ted noted.
I nodded. ‘They are looking hard, and without Gabrial’s help he’ll slip-up.’
‘Can Laz find him?’
‘Not that easily, no, not even with this extra energy. Laz can quickly scan thousands of people, but not millions, and not if they’re in a basement or metal room. Laz would need a clue where to look.’
A new age
In the morning, I took Julie for a walk below my parents’ house, down to the beach, but this part of the beach was the quiet part, below the rock pool.
‘How did you sleep?’ I asked.
‘I think I slept well, and your father asked if I had dreams but I do not remember any dreams.’
‘To dream you need memories and experiences, childhood memories mostly, so maybe that’s why you don’t dream. And maybe that’s a good thing.’
‘You have bad dreams?’ she asked as she stared out to sea.
‘I … worry in my dreams, I worry about the people around me and … that my activities may cause them harm.’
‘How?’ she innocently asked.
‘I uncover criminals, and those criminals may want to harm me and those people close to me.’
‘But … uncovering criminals is a good thing, yes?’
‘It is, just that it comes with security risks.’
‘Oh.’ She slipped off my mother’s old sandals and walked into the water, up to her knees. ‘A wonderful sensation,’ she enthused.
‘There’s a great deal you have to discover, about the pleasures of being human. But if you stand in the sun too long your skin will get hot, turn red and then hurt.’
She considered her arms. ‘It feels nice, the sunlight.’
‘It always does at first, but then it can burn you.’ I joined her in the water, the waves lapping my legs.
‘Do you remember the angels?’
‘Angels? No, I don’t think so. What are they?’
‘Never mind, they’re … just imaginary creatures that religious people believe in.’
‘Are you religious?’
‘No. I believe in doing, not sitting and praying. But what I do is in line with Christian beliefs so … I may appear to be religious to some.’
‘I recall that you stroked my hair when I slept…’
‘An odd memory to have,’ I puzzled. ‘What else, about me?’
‘That I loved you,’ she said very matter of fact.
‘Ah. Well … that’s nice, but I’m with the twins, some day to have kids, you know, settle down and have a family.’
‘Will I have a family?’
‘Yes, but first we’ll need to teach you many things. Then you can go to a bar here and look at the men and find one that you like.’
‘For sex?’
‘No, no. First … you get to know him, have some food, walk and talk and … you then decide if the man is suitable. Does he have a good job, does he want to be married with kids, or does he just want to enjoy sex with you and many other women?’
‘How would I know if he is suitable?’ she asked, squinting in the bright light.
‘You’ll feel safe with him, and he’ll protect you, and he won’t look at other women. A good relationship means that it’s him and you against the world, a team, not against each other.’
‘Did your mother know that about your father?’
‘Yes, they were friends for six months first, then they had sex, then they got married a year later, and I was born a year after that.’
She nodded, deep in thought.
Hearing a screech, the screech of a young girl’s voice, I turned, a girl about four years old rushing down towards us from the rock pool, a man chasing after her, that man aged around forty.
The girl was too fast, but Julie caught her at the water’s edge and picked her up, soon deeply studying the child’s face as the child puzzled Julie.
The man caught up, tall and fit. ‘Sorry, Mister Roskov, she runs faster than me these days,’ came accented.
Julie told the girl, ‘Your father is handsome,’ which caused the man to stop dead and blush.
I shook his hand. ‘Are you here at the hotel?’
‘In a large villa in the valley, with family.’
‘Can we swim?’ the girl loudly asked.
‘She speaks English well,’ I noted.
‘We live in Kent, businesses in London and Paris. She attends a British nursery, but we teach her French as well as English.’
‘Her mother is English?’ I asked.
‘She … was, yes.’
Julie slid her eyes across to him.
‘Was?’ I enquired.
‘A … car crash a year ago in England, drunk driver.’
‘Sorry to hear that. And your business?’
‘Property, mostly for European businessmen visiting London, mid or short-term serviced rentals.’
‘Then we have much to talk about, as Julie takes your daughter up to my parents’ house and shows her the young baby goats.’
‘Baby goats?’ the girl enthused.
We started to walk up the slope. When there was a gap, I told the man, ‘Julie is a great lady, but … her former husband got drunk here and drowned in their villa pool. He was a good man, but … it was not meant to be.
‘She then suffered a car smash, not her fault, some memory loss. She’s learning over, and she seems to be smart with it, picks things up quickly, just … that she talks like a computer sometimes. And I think that playing with your daughter would be good for Julie.’
‘She looks a little like my former wife.’
I studied him. ‘Do you believe in fate?’
‘I’m not sure, I’m not religious. And I … lost my hope in things when she died.’
‘If you help Julie to recover … then I could probably see myself selling you a villa in the lake valley, a third of the normal price.’
‘I … was planning on buying one, which they think will cost one-point-two million Euro.’
‘If your daughter likes Julie, and provides some good therapy, then the price will be four hundred thousand Euro to you.’
‘Expensive therapy,’ he noted.
‘I want Julie to be happy, she deserves it after what she went through. Something that you can relate to I’m sure.’
We entered my parents’ house, Julie and the girl immediately laying down and playing with the baby goats.
‘Visitors,’ I told my mother. ‘And Julie has adopted the girl it seems.’
Clive appeared at the main door, young Marie rushing in, stopping dead and then rushing to lay down next to the girl, words exchanged in French.
I faced my guest. ‘Seems that your daughter has a friend to play with now.’
‘Good, there are no children her age here in the family.’
Sat at the main table, tea and coffee made, my parents, Clive and his wife and my new guest, we all chatted about property renovation here, our new guest an expert on old Corsican farm houses.
I left them to it and found the twins, plans made.
An hour later we all set off in minibuses, my parents, Clive and his wife, Rolf and Ingrid, Marie, Julie and our new friends, myself and the twins, Bill and Ted dressed smart-casual and armed.
