Deacon and he just nodded
"This is fantastic Deac" I said
Deacon grinned his cheeky grin and we all got out of the car and wandered up the steps. The car meanwhile drove off, presumably to park itself in the Garage somewhere.
AS we walked up the steps, the huge wooden door opened by itself and the three of us walked inside. Inside there was a large marble floored Hallway with a grand staircase going up to the next level. Dotted about were impressive bits of furniture, it looked fantastic!
"Hey Cam" Said Deacon "you must be thirsty after your journey, how do you fancy a drink?" I was tempted to say "is the Pope Catholic" but thought better of it. We all walked through the building and into a very pleasant room at the back of the building which had lots of comfy armchairs, in fact they were leather Chesterfield sofas. Jamie and I picked a sofa each and sunk down into them, Deacon went over to a sink at the side of the room and poured some water into a bottle, he they selected three champagne flutes from a well stocked drinks cabinet full of every kind of glass imaginable.
He put the three Champagne flutes on a coffee table in the middle of the room and looked at me.
"What kind of champagne do you want?" he asked "Dom Perignom, Krystal, Moet, Heidsenk?"
"I don’t mind Deac so long as it’s dry and cold" I replied
"Ok Krystal it is" said Deacon, and with that poured the water from the bottle straight into the three glasses. Immediately the water started fizzing and bubbling. He handed me a glass, and I took my first sip.
"No kidding Deac, but that’s the best tasting Champagne I've ever had in my life" The Champagne was ice cold and dry as dry could be.
"Well" said Deacon, picking up his glass with a flourish "I propose a toast to Cam"
Deacon, Jamie and myself all stood up and clinked out Champagne flutes together. I took another sip and then another, but try as I might the thing kept topping itself up.
"This is Amazing" I murmured "It's incredible" I muttered.
We all put our glasses down on the table, Deacon went over and this time got three red wine glasses and filled up another wine from the water tap by the sink. He then put the three glasses down on the coffee table and looked at me.
"What’s the best wine you’ve ever drunk? Asked Deacon
"I doubt Cam's ever drunk any decent wine" grinned Jamie
"Well funnily enough I have drunk some pretty amazing wine in my time" I replied
"OK then, what is it? Asked Deacon
"Well Chateau Margaux is my favourite, I had some at my cousins house last Christmas, and it was pretty much right up there" I replied
"OK" Said Deacon "If its Margaux you like try this" He then poured some wine from his bottle into the three red wine glasses on the table, the wine came out a very dark purple, blackcurrant kind of colour"
"Try it?" said Deac
I raised the wine to my lips and took a sip, the taste danced on my tongue, it was sensational
"That is out of this world" I said in Amazement
"This is exactly the same as what Jesus made for his first Miracle" Said Deacon
"No wonder the wedding party loved it" I replied
"Yeah" said Jamie, "It was no co-incidence that Jesus’ first Miracle was to turn water into wine, he was trying to tell us something" said Jamie
"It tastes great" I said " but don't you get tipsy?" I asked
"No" said Jamie "you have a great feeling, it tastes wonderful, but you don’t get ill drinking it, and you don't get drunk, you just feel great!"
"This is heavenly" I said, clinking our glasses once more.
Jamie then spoke "Hey Cam, you've got to see this now you're here
We all put our glasses down and Jamie led the way out of the French windows at the back of the building onto a patio. The patios was a huge stone patio, with a wall around it and steps leading down to a formal garden with small privet hedges and neatly manicured lawns, dotted about were fountains and there in the distance stood a shimmering lake. By the edge of a lake was a wooden Jetty with a boat moored to the jetty. The boat was a large wooden sailing skiff with three masts and several levels.
Jamie walked down the steps and along a path. Deacon and I followed him a few paces behind. Jamie walked along the jetty and walked past the sailing boat, as he got to the end of the Jetty, he just kept on walking. He was walking on the water, he turned around to face us and held out his hands,
"Come and try it" he said
Deacon and I followed him onto the lake, it was a very surreal experience. I could look down and see the water in the lake, it was Crystal clear
"This is amazing" I said gawping
"Yeah isn't it incredible" said Jamie "The main thing, is that it’s impossible to drown, you can swim if you want to, or you can just stand up!"
We walked back to the jetty and climbed back onto it and walked towards the sailing boat.
"Do you fancy a sail" asked Deacon
"Not Half" I replied.
The three of us climbed into the sailing boat, the sails unfurled themselves, and then suddenly as if by a miracle, the wind began to blow. Jamie cast off the rope holding us to the jetty and we began to sail. It felt just like sailing 'downstairs' The wind picked up and Deacon steered the boat our into the lake.
"Do you have to steer this thing" I asked Deac
"Not if you don't want to Cam, but I love to sail it myself, if I wanted to, it could act just like the car did and steer itself, but I enjoy steering it myself!"
I noticed that Jamie had opened a bright blue cooler / cool box and had taken out a cold can of beer and cracked it open.
"Fancy a cold one Cam? asked Jamie
"Yes I'd love one" I replied
Jamie handed both Deacon and I, a cold beer each. Jamie then took a pack of Cigarettes from his pocket, took one out, and lit it with his finger, he seemed to click his gingers together and it just lit up. As he puffed away, he smiled at me and I smiled at him.
"You haven't changed a bit Jamie" I said
"Well I have changed actually" He replied "When you get here, only the good side of you is left, all your good points you hang onto, and all the bad points have gone away"
"Well I always loved all your good points" I replied
"So happy days then" said Jamie as we clinked our cans of beer. I clinked my can with Deacon too
"So good to see you again Bro" said Deacon
"You too Bro" I replied
"If I wasn't in heaven I'd feel like crying" I said
"Yep, no Crying here" Said Deacon
"Here's to being in heaven" I said, and we all clinked our cans together.
The sailing boat cruised through the azure blue waters, the wind blew just enough to make the boat zip smoothly along the water, suddenly I noticed a school of dolphins beside the boat, their faces looked like they were smiling at us! It was heavenly! I hadn’t had such a good feeling since I sailed on my old friend Marvin’s sailboat down in Key Largo Florida
Eventually Deacon turned the boat around and we sailed back to the Jetty, as we got near the Jetty, I could see in the distance another Mansion under construction.
"That looks interesting, is that a new place being built" I asked. Jamie didn’t say anything, but handed me a large pair of binoculars. When I looked through the binoculars, I could see a large house taking shape, it seemed uncannily familiar
"I'm sure I recognise that place" I said
"Well it’s not surprising you recognise it" said Jamie "It's Vancleef’s place, its Sharpsbridge"
"No kidding" I said in astonishment
"Yes I thought it was the most I could do" said Jamie
"Its an exact replica of his house he used to have, complete with Inglenook fireplaces, the works!"
"That's unbelievable" I replied
"Oh and another thing" said Jamie
"What’s that" I asked
"well I’ve even had built an exact, but bigger versio
n of his favourite boat"
"you are joking" I said
"No I'm not Joking" he continued "I've Called it Cleef Hanger III"
"But the house is not quite built yet" I commented
"Yes well his time has not yet come" Said Jamie "He's still hanging on in there, and he's no idea what a great place he's gonna have up here" said Jamie
"Yes, the last I heard of Vancleef, his Doctors were calling him 'Miracle Man' as he has fought the Big 'C' for so long.
"Well it will soon be finished and ready and waiting" said Jamie, very matter of factly.
"So where's my place then" I asked puzzled
"You've arrived very unexpectedly" said Deacon "We had no idea you were coming" said Jamie
"Well I wasn’t intending to either" I replied.
"You never know the time or the place" said Deac
"Yes I know" I said "so where can I stay?"
"You can stay with either of us" replied Deacon, "How about you stay here today and tomorrow you can stay with Jamie for a while"
"Is it OK to stay the night" I asked
"Cam this is Heaven" said Deac "there is no Night, and you don't ever get tired"
"It’s going to take me a while to get my head around this" I replied
"You'll soon get used to it" said Deacon "you can always take a little nap on the sofa, you like doing that don't you"
"So you can sleep if you want to?" I asked curiously
"Yeah sure you can" said Deacon "A lot of people like to sleep, so there is nothing stopping you from sleeping, although unlike downstairs, sleeping doesn’t actually do anything"
The three of us walked up the steps and back into the house, we sat down on the sofas and Deacon poured me a nice glass of Port. I downed the glass of Port and announced that I felt like I'd like to have a little knap on the sofa.
I