Chapter 22
Lanegan found Wilf busily rigging up a shelter near the PA system.
“Is everything okay, Wilf?” he asked.
“It is,” he replied. “I’m just building a shelter in case the weather changes.”
“You’re just building a shelter; I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“That doesn’t surprise me, Tom.”
“Can I help you?”
“I hoped you would offer.”
“You seem to have acquired some new skills in your retirement,” said Lanegan.
“Time is a blessing, Tom.”
“I’m not going to ask where you found all of the equipment. But you have clearly been living a double life. I can’t believe I didn’t see it.”
“It is important to have an interest in your work. Let’s just call it research.”
“Fair enough. I know you’re not the sort of person to slow down. Just be careful, we don’t know where this is heading yet and you are revealing a lot about yourself. We may yet return to normal,” Lanegan warned.
“I believe things have already changed, Tom. But I accept your advice,” replied Wilf. “But contrary to what you are witnessing, I have slowed down a lot. It is inevitable for all of us. It will come to you too. If it’s not from choice then it will be by another force. Nobody stays at the top forever and some day the public will want change. You may then feel differently - if the stress doesn’t get to you first.”
“Time for a reality check is it?”
“You need to see what’s happening here, Tom. The pressure of a situation like this is new to all of us but you are mostly protected from it. These people have lost everything. They have no idea if they will have a house to return to, if they will ever return home at all. They won’t have a job and therefore no income, and that’s on top of seeing family members become somebody else in front of their eyes, possibly never to return to normal. You have to accept that you are not facing the same uncertainties as they are. You will be looked after as your role demands. That means, the more you try to fit in, the harder it will be to be accepted. Be who you are, a leader. They need reassurance from you, not for you to help them with their crochet, as fun as that can be. Find the balance.”
“You’re right. But before I stop enjoying myself totally and get back to work, I have a favour to ask. I think it would be nice if we brought something to the camp, as newcomers.”
“Such as?”
“Such as, if you are invited to a friend’s house for dinner you bring a gift. You wouldn’t turn up empty handed. What do people normally take to dinner parties? This sort of thing is organised for me, normally.”
“You would like me to find you some booze? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No – well, yes actually, but that’s not exactly what I was thinking of. I don’t quite know what I was thinking of to be honest.”
“You would like to make an offering to your new hosts as a thank you for their kind hospitality and for welcoming your family.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Okay, come with me.”
On their arrival at the New Forest, Wilf and his fellow villagers had been directed to an area for newcomers. On arrival each person’s details are taken to ensure families and groups are kept together as much possible. The process was lengthy, especially when entire villages arrived together. In addition, the neighbouring villages that had been contacted by Bagshot residents had been trickling in for the last fifteen hours. This had presented a problem as accommodation was limited and technically many of the newcomers could have stayed where they were. For Wilf the solution was simple. Since the plan was for a short stay before the movement back towards the cities began, they would happily sleep in their vehicles, on floors or build shelters. Sleeping rough for a few nights was a small price to pay.
After a lift back to Cadnam they decided to walk the rest of the way to the M27, which was the main road into the forest and now functioned as a vehicle parking area. After a short walk they arrived at Wilf’s off-road vehicle.
“Here we are,” said Wilf. “It’s unlocked so hop in.”
Lanegan jumped in as Wilf walked round the back and opened the canvas cover. After a moment of searching, Wilf grabbed something before returning to the front seats.
“Here you go,” Wilf said.
He passed Lanegan an item wrapped in brown paper.
“What’s this?” Lanegan asked.
“Open it,” replied Wilf.
Lanegan opened the paper to reveal a bottle of whiskey.
“This hasn’t got a government seal on it. Where did it come from?” he said.
“I have my sources,” Wilf replied cautiously. “I received it as a gift when you were elected, but have struggled to find a suitable time and place to open it. I promise it is far superior to the state approved stuff.”
“And you want me to give this as a gift? I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but it won’t go very far.”
“You’re right it wouldn’t. But this isn’t for you to give away; it’s a gift from me to you.”
“That’s a very nice gesture, but this was a gift to you. You can’t give it away.”
“I haven’t finished yet. The one condition being, that you open it now and have a glass with me.”
Lanegan looked at the bottle.
“I can’t Wilf, there is simply more important things I should be doing.”
“You should take ten minutes to yourself. Nobody will know and it will do you good. You have earned it.”
“Okay, ten minutes, but on my own condition. You open it - and we celebrate our achievement as you should have done when you received it.”
“I can live with that.”
Wilf pulled two tumblers out of a bag from the back seat and they poured the drink. Lanegan toasted to Wilf and new friendships before taking a sip. Both smiled and nodded before drinking what remained.
“That is a game changer. I’ll be changing my brand when I return home,” said Lanegan.
The whiskey flowed as they sat and talked, savouring the moment. They moved to the bonnet of the vehicle where they could stretch their legs out and look up at the sky. Time appeared to move slower out of the city. Lanegan admitted to Wilf that it felt good to slow down a little. He had worked sixteen hour days for years with people needing his attention constantly. Maybe he could get used to a slower pace - if the world would let him.
Two thirds of the bottle had been consumed when Wilf remembered the main reason for their being there.
“It seems we have gotten ourselves carried away and have altogether forgotten our main objective,” said Wilf.
“Ahh, the gift.”
“Come with me, please.”
They walked along the road, thankful that they did not have to tackle the natural terrain of the Park. After a minute of walking they arrived at a lorry with a removal company logo on the side and an apple pie symbol in the corner.
“I’m assuming you know the owner,” joked Lanegan.
“I do. When we were inside Mary’s house I could see you were interested in what you saw. So I asked around and picked up a few things. And then when we visited our friends from other villages on the way and they happily gave us what they could spare. And now I hand them over to you and the people here who can make good use of them.”
“What sort of things?”
“Have a look.”
Wilf released the roller shutter door to reveal a carefully packed space full of musical instruments.
“Some things are just too precious to move, such as Mary’s piano. But all of this is usable. If you plan on taking a carnival to London, you are going to need music - as well as other things.”
“Such as?”
“Follow me.”
Lanegan followed as they visited a dozen vans, trucks and lorry’s displaying different company logos, all with the same apple pie symbol on the corner. They opened each vehicle in turn to reveal costumes and banners and al
l the art supplies they would need to make a display of colour to complement the intended atmosphere.
“Where did all of this come from?” asked Lanegan.
“Some of it has been in storage for years. Some of it we still use, when we can get away with it,” replied Wilf.
“I’m aware of the criticism that will come my way, Wilf, and the apologies that I will have to make personally and on behalf of previous governments.”
“The criticism has always been there I’m afraid, just not in public.”
“How could I have acted if I didn’t know?”
“You knew what we had locked away. And you have a better knowledge of the history than most people alive. That is a privilege you decided to keep to yourself.”
“For the right reasons.”
“You didn’t give anyone a chance. You could have allowed more.”
“No, you’re wrong. I couldn’t and you know why. Peace was the goal and we succeeded in finding it. Maybe nobody alive knows what war and conflict really feels like, but most people understood that the society we created was a good one.”
“You could have introduced it slowly, after peace was established and the violence of the past was gone.”
“Judging by all that you have with you it seems that you have been acting as you wanted anyway. If it was so good, why were the people of Bagshot not shouting from the rooftops about it and telling everyone they met? I suspect they knew deep inside themselves that what we had created was the best option.”
“Fear.”
“Fear of what?”
“Fear of the consequences; and fear of not wanting to disrupt the world order. Do you think a person from Bagshot could have competed with a system agreed upon by practically every nation on earth? No, it was decided to keep it local and secret. What was needed was for someone with power to take notice of what was happening outside of their cities. Nobody did that, did they? Years ago we sacrificed local politics, for global politics. Just because the world isn’t fighting itself, doesn’t mean everyone is automatically happy. You became complacent and forgot that the most important part of your job is to ensure the best life possible for the citizens of this country, as well as the rest of the world. Most people accept that there must be sacrifices, that there are deals that have to be done with other nations so that we have fuel and food. But the welfare and quality of life of all people is paramount to happiness. And that should have included going to the theatre or watching a concert.”
“I won’t back away from accepting my role in all of this,”
“You won’t have a choice, Tom.”
“If I am to blame, then you also can take your share. You were a part of what we do and had the power and influence to put things in motion and bring forward new ideas. You could have done something. We have both seen the footage of the past - all the leaders of the world have seen it. It is shown as a lesson of what could happen if we returned to how things were. The footage from the 20th century and up until the crash is proof that the world experienced frequent war and death. It affected everyone at some point in one way or another. You of all people know that when the crash happened, it affected everything: the world’s financial systems, our main forms of communication, our access to information, how we bought our food, products and services - all gone. You also know why the world’s nations began to abandon the internet, because they did not trust each other. It was a time of competing for resources, information and technological firsts. A month ago, we worked as a united world, and to a certain extent looked after each other, despite race, nationality or social standing. It was an honourable attempt at a solution.”
“The footage that we have all been shown, time and time again, is a part of the past. But it is not the complete story. We can’t know for certain what it was like to live in those times because we were not there, but people fought and died for individual freedoms that are not present now. They believed it was worth dying for – just think about that for a minute. I have in my possession video footage that would almost certainly make people question the modern world and how we live within it. It has crossed my mind from time to time to release it or call for changes to our system. But despite all of my strengths and achievements, I could not bear the responsibility of causing a change so big that people may have been hurt or lives left in ruin because of corrupt leaders or the birth of a society that doesn’t care about its own people. I couldn’t live with that. I had hoped that it might happen organically, by the people themselves; but I now think that might never have happened. Instead this happened – and I will live with that, as you will, until the end.”
Wilf realised that Lanegan was right, and that he had let his emotions get the better of him. He walked away for a minute to compose himself. He was releasing deep-seated frustrations that had accumulated over years but had never felt he could express. He blamed himself for not challenging the government. He knew that people had become complacent and content, not just those with power, and that they should all take some responsibility.
Wilf sat back down next to Lanegan.
“Tom,” he said. “Listen to me. You are my friend and I’m sorry if my words have hurt you in any way; but you will find a lot of people who feel the same as me. And they will tell you, just like I have.”
“I know. And you certainly don’t need to apologise. It’s nice to be spoken to so honestly; it’s refreshing. I also consider you my friend and that’s why what you said bothered me so much. If that had happened in London I would have shrugged it off and never thought of it again. That’s how I know what you said is right. All I can do now is try to correct the mistakes – I watched the children at school earlier and do you know what I realised, Wilf?”
“What, Tom?”
“They are going to embrace the changes that I hope we can achieve. Even if they don’t understand what is happening right now, this moment will stay with them forever. This is for them after all; they will inherit all of what we do. Let’s make them an equal part of this, in the safest way possible of course.”
“Of course,” Wilf agreed.
They walked back towards Cadnam feeling better and more determined than ever. The afternoon was disappearing behind the trees as the coolness of dusk gave the forest back to nature. Animal calls and the rustling of trees became their soundtrack. They considered this to be the last chance to enjoy these noises with no interruptions for some time, and so walked in silence; enough had been said for now.