Chapter Nine

I was determined to raid the library again in the hope of finding the documents which would allow me to understand the secret of the village. The statue of Obadiah Numbwinton in the library had a handle at the bottom of the plinth which might possibly be a drawer containing the important papers I was looking for. It preyed on my mind so much that one day I went to the library to return the book of Westward Ho! But with other intent in my mind. The librarian entered the return in her records but I was unable to go anywhere near to the statue until her attention was drawn elsewhere. She remained in her position behind the desk all morning, staring at me occasionally with an element of suspicion for my tardiness to leave, until a woman entered to return a book asking her information regarding another one. It was then that the opportunity arose,. As they began a short conversation together, I moved towards the statue and pulled the handle sharply. A drawer opened and I dipped my hand inside to withdraw a few sheets of paper before closing it again. Tucking the documents into my uniform, I left the library breathing a sigh of relief that the librarian was still talking to the woman, not realising what I had done.

Once home, I found that I had taken five pages from the drawer beneath the statue and I examined the writing on the first one eagerly. It related brief details about the founder and the creation of the village.

‘Hear ye, citizens of Numbwinton,’ it began. ‘Pay homage to your Founder, Obadiah Numbwinton, a chemist with great foresight and even better ideals. He was employed in his early years with Hamble & Tomas, well-known dealer in drugs and other powders used to help people in poor health. In due course, he went on to dispense drugs on the lines of the old chemists who strove to find the elixir of life, a universal medicine, and to transmute base metals into gold. He concentrated on the elixir of life disregarding the need for gold and, in 1862, he founded the village of Numbwinton. He also left a considerable amount of money to allow it to continue into the future. At the same time, he devised a number of rules and regulations, a convention to be adopted by the villagers. If anyone failed to observe these rules without question, the inheritance will end and the village will founder. I present this notice to the people of Numbwintonon this tenth day of May in the year eighteen hundred and sixty two. Signed... Jeremiah Tetley (First Chairman of Numbwinton).

I tuned to the second page which related all the rules and regulation and read on.

NUMBWINTON CONVENTIONS

The rules laid down by our Founder, Obadiah Numbwinton, are set out as follows:

1. There will be a village after my name which will remain independent from the rest of the world in all its glory.
2. There will be a village hall, a library, a doctor’s surgery, a pharmacy and a police station. Nothing else will be required.
3. The villagers will retain everything as it stands at present wearing the same clothing and declining to gamble or drink alcohol.
4. Houses are to be build for one thousand one hundred people and the population must remain at that figure for all eternity for any excess or reduction in the figure will cause village life to become unsustainable in it form.
5. The village must be self-supporting establishing its own farms with cattle and livestock. It should also develop arable land growing a variety of vegetables and fruit.
6. There must be a strong desire to resist any strangers who arrive at the village. They must be evicted with haste.
7. There should be no money needed to be earned by the villagers. Vouchers will be provided for internal needs. Any payments to be made outside the village will come from the inheritance.
8. A friendly and harmonious atmosphere must prevail amongst all people within the community. Any person or persons causing mischief, murder or with criminal intent will be executed.
9. There must be no influences tolerated from outside the village for any reason whatsoever whether it be economic, political, relating to hostilities or conflict, or otherwise.
10. Of greatest importance is that all villagers must take the tablets allocated to them each day and every day.

These are the rules and regulations laid out by the Founder on this tenth day of May in the year eighteen sixty two.

I glanced at the rest of the papers which contained designs and chemical formulae which was far beyond my comprehension. So that’s what it was all about! Old Numbwinton wanted the village to remain exactly as he knew it to be when he set out the rules and regulations. It was to be self-sufficient, with no gambling or alcohol, and the population figure had to remain at exactly eleven hundred. Strangers were to be resisted, vouchers issued for internal needs, and there was to be no influences from the outside world. I couldn’t understand the last rule whereby everyone had to take the tablets dispensed to them every day but at last I knew what was driving the villagers in their ancient way of life. Any external bills came out of the inheritance left by Obadiah Numbwinton although it was never used because the village was self-sufficient. I had no idea where the funds were deposited not that it mattered. They were probably kept in a safe in the police station. I also doubted whether anyone had ever been conscripted to serve in either of the world wars. Somehow the rest of the world passed them by.

The most important thing I had to do now was to return the papaers to the library. I made my way back there to find the librarian unoccupied and I tapped on the desk to make her realise that I was there.

‘I think someone’s stealing books at the far end over there,’ I told her blandly, lying through my teeth. ‘They’re stuffing books into a satchel.’

She stood up straight and made for the far end of the library at speed. As she did so, I walked over to the statue, pulled the handle to open the drawer, and placed the papers inside, closing it as quickly as possible. Then, while she was searching for the imaginary culprit, I streaked out of the building to make my way home. I had achieved what I wanted to do although I was puzzled by the sheets of paper which bore the designs and laid out the chemical formulae. What did they refer to? Numbwinton had already outlined the details of the buildings to be erected in the new village. He couldn’t have known about telephones, television, radio, computers, electronic equipment, or satellites in his time on earth yet the villagers accepted the rules and regulations that existed in the nineteenth century. Nonetheless, I had to admit that the system worked perfectly in this modern day and age and that no one suffered as a result of it in the village.

***

I resumed my post at the entrance to the village to repel all strangers, reflecting on my position. I was rid of the incompetent Wayne Austen. I had satisfied Mary’s concern about my well-being, albeit I created more concerns by telling her I was going to marry one of the villagers, I was ready to marry Bridget, and life was pleasant, peaceful and enjoyable. Yet there was something in the papers I had seen prepared by the Founder which troubled me. I couldn’t put my finger on it even though each concept had been well set out on paper but I knew in my heart and mind that I was missing something important. At the end of the day, feeling less than satisfied with my thoughts, I went home to enjoy the evening meal prepared by Bridget. To my delight, she was an excellent cook, and on most occasions there was a large steak to which I was extremely partial. As usual, Robert joined us for dinner but he sat quietly at the table saying nothing. It was uncanny the way he joined us each evening for dinner but remained silent. All other boys of his age would have been wittering away asking question galore, boring the pants off his parents. Robert simply sat with a doleful 3epxression on his face eating his food. When he had finished, he rose from his chair and left without a word to go to his bedroom,

‘Is everything all right with him?’ I asked with an element for concern, troubled by the boy’s silence. ‘He’s so quiet. He hardly ever says a word.’

‘He’s all right within himself,’ she replied freely, ‘but I know there’s something wrong.’ She paused to reflect for a moment. ‘To tell the truth, I was talking to a neighbour yesterday and she had the same concerns about her own son. She told me that he was fit and healthy but he’s also troubled about something but he won’t tell her.’

‘Maybe we ought to face Robert and find out what’s wrong,’ I suggested. ‘You know, just a simple discussion so that we might be able to put him on the right track.’

‘I don’t think he’ll tell us,’ she returned with a frown forming on her lovely face.

‘It won’t do any harm,’ I persisted.

Bridget nodded, shrugging her shoulders, and she went to the door calling out her son’s name. He came down shortly with a sullen expression on his face.

‘Robert,’ began his mother. ‘We’re very concerned about you. You don’t say much but I feel there’s a groundswell of discontent. I know something’s not right. Why don’t you speak to us about it?’

The boy looked at her sullenly. ‘You know I can’t say anything with him in the room.’

I stood up sharply at his comment before recognising that Bridget was his mother and I was only her partner. ‘That’s okay,’ I told them pleasantly. ‘I’ll leave you both to discuss the matter.’

I left the room trying not to show my annoyance. In effect, I resented being kept out of the discussion because, like it or not, we were a family even though Bridget and I hadn’t yet married. In the meantime, I had been forced to leave the room by a young whippersnapper who didn’t want me to be there. I walked out of the house and went down one of the paths leading to the pharmacy, It had been in my mind to visit the place for some time. I needed to find out more about it and this was the appropriate moment. I came to the building and peered through the window at the front. It had been closed down for the night and the front door was locked. The jars of white powdered chemicals rested inertly on the shelves and I wanted desperately to find out what they actually contained. What was in the tablets that everyone took by command of the village constitution. Was it the equivalent of aspirin... a light drug... or a more serious one. I had to find out. I removed a set of dummy keys left to me by my locksmith father from my pocket and I was about to insert one of them into the lock when I heard a light rustle from the near distance. I froze, stopping in my tracks, looking furtively around to ding out the cause. Much to my dismay, I came face-to-face with PV7 who was almost upon me.

‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded suspiciously, his eyes piercing me as he approached the front door.

‘I was just strolling around and I ended up here,’ I responded weakly. ‘I thought I might collect another batch of tablets while I was passing but the door’s locked.’ I winded inwardly because there was no reason for him to accept such a lame defence.

‘Don’t you find it strange, Mr. Ross, ‘ he went on raising himself to his full height, ‘that every time we meet you’re in another place either trying to get in or trying to get out? Last time it was at the library where you said that the door had been left open and the paraffin lamp hadn’t been put out. Now I find you at the front door of the pharmacy. What are you really trying to do?’

‘You’ve got it all wrong,’ I protested, hoping that something or someone would come to my rescue. ‘There’s no need to become suspicious. It’s simply a coincidence.’ I paused to see whether he would give me the benefit of doubt.

‘To my mind there‘s a few too many of these coincidences where you‘re concerned, Mr. Ross. Far too many.’ He stared directly into my eyes as if to determined the truth. ‘All right. I‘ll let you off this time but I hope we don‘t meet under such circumstances again or I will become suspicious. Let me escort you back to your home.’

‘Before we do that,’ I enquired as he began to walk on. ‘Most towns and cities have law courts to deal with general matters and misdemeanours. How do you deal with such people in Numbwinton?’

‘We don’t have people causing trouble here,’ he replied. ‘If anyone did that, we’d put them in jail for a few days as punishment. They don’t do anything stupid after that for fear of being incarcerated for a much longer period. Does that answer your question?’

I nodded slowly in agreement with what he related but then I pressed further. ‘What about strangers who cause problems here. What happens with them?’

He clammed up immediately and I knew what his answer would be. ‘You don’t need to know that!’ he riposted sharply. ‘It’s none of your business!’

I recalled the item in the convention which dealt with the matter but said nothing further. We walked on to the McBain house and he nodded farewell and went on. I opened the door and entered, my heart pumping like a steam engine. I had been caught in the act, illegally trying to enter the pharmacy but I had got away with it. If I had been there half a minute later, my situation would have been untenable because I would have been inside the building... caught in the act! I had a good idea what would have happened to me had that happened and I closed my eyes at the thought of it. PC7 would have had no option but to arrest me and I might thereafter have been evicted from the community. It wasn’t that which affected my mind, because I had still not fully integrated with the villager, but I couldn’t bear leaving Bridget behind, although I would have persuaded her to come with me. In the meantime, I would have to wait for another opportunity to visit the pharmacy again to find out what was in the tablets.

Although Bridget and Robert had entered into a deep discussion, nothing of any value came out of it. The boy had earlier forecast the trouble caused at the school, where they smashed the chairs and desks indiscriminately, but it was clear that it was only the start of it. Worse was more likely to follow. After that, Robert refused to reveal anything further to anyone but I had a feeling that there would be future disaster. I knew it in my bones. .It was a personal prediction that quickly came to fruition because an event occurred the very next day which shook the village to its foundations. I was acting in my security role at the entrance to the village, sitting on the tree stump, ready to repel any strangers, when I smelled a distinct aroma of smoke drifting across the village. It was possible that one of the farmers had fired a field of wheat, as they did at the end of a season, which had got out of hand. However the smell was more like wood burning that wheat stubble. I made my way back along the path to find a crowd of people standing a short distance away from the village hall. My sense of smell proved to be correct as flames gripped the wooden-framed structure with a fierce natural force, fanned by a strong easterly breeze, The flames worked their way through the timbers spreading upwards, as though sported by wings, leaping from one section to another with incessant drive. People stepped back as the wind changed its course and the heat curled in their direction. Windows began to crack and embers fell inside the building as the roof began to collapse. Sadly, the village possessed no fire engine, no fire brigade, and it was pointless to try to dowse the flames with buckets of water because the houses were far too distant to carry out an operation of that kind. Subsequently, everyone watched helplessly as the village hall burned down to the ground in a heap of glowing embers. Fortunately there had been nothing of any value inside the building and, more importantly, no one was burned, injured or killed, but its destruction dispossessed the villagers of a vital lifeline to the community because they now had nowhere to meet. It would take a long time to rebuild a hall of that size, like a phoenix rising from the flames, but the first thing to do was to find the culprit who caused the damage and to punish him or her.

Noticeably, the children came out of the school to watch the conflagration. Their faces did not look displeased or sad at the destruction and I became highly suspicious that one of them had carried out the misdeed. I became even more certain when one of the shopkeepers admitted that some boxes of matches had been stolen from his shop that day. It was highly unusual for anyone to steal in the village but the theft of the lucifers indicated that someone had deliberately stolen them to burn down the village hall.

The police were enraged by the dissolute act and made a number of enquiries without delay but, surprisingly, they failed to question the children. I felt certain that, had they done so, the true reason would have surfaced very quickly. Nonetheless, the hall had been destroyed and no one knew the reason why someone had taken it into their mind to do it. It couldn’t have been an electrical fault because the village had no electricity. It had to have been carried out deliberately.

I noticed Townsend standing idly in the crowd watching miserably as the building went up in flames and I made my way towards him.

‘This is terrible,’ I declared. ‘Who could have done a thing like this?’

He stared at me with a jaundiced look in his eyes before replying. ‘There have been some unusual things happening here since you arrived,’ he said with innuendo. ‘I can only look to you for an answer.’

‘Don’t hold your breath!’ I snorted irately. ‘I had nothing to do with it. I was at the entrance of the village when I smelled smoke so you can’t pin this one on me!’

‘Then who could have done it?’ he asked sadly. ‘We’ve always been a peaceful village, No crime... no problems... suddenly someone burns down the village hall!’

‘I have an idea it may have been the work of the children,’ I advanced watching his face carefully. ‘They’ve been acting strangely lately. I think it could have been one of them.’

He stared at me for a while before shaking his head. ‘Surely not!’ he muttered before walking away ending the conversation abruptly.

I stared at his departing figure wondering what was going through the man’s mind. He was certainly experiencing some bad days lately. At first it had been my fault but now there was something more sinister going on in the village. It was obviously the second notion that troubled him mostly.

Bridget was extremely upset at the burning down of the village hall and I noticed her standing in the crowd with tears running down her face.

I went over to her. ‘Why are you so upset?’ I enquired, suspecting that there was something more than the destruction of the building that was troubling her.

‘I think Robert had a hand in this,’ she speculated, her chest heaving with sobs.

‘You’re just guessing wildly,’ I told her. ‘He probably had nothing to do with it.’

‘I’m sure he did!’ she cried sadly. ‘He told me that something like this would happen soon when I spoke with him.’

‘Why would he do this?’ I asked with surprise. ‘Why?’

‘I don’t know,,’ she told me candidly. ‘He wouldn’t tell me.’

I shrugged my shoulders aimlessly. ‘Let’s hope you’re right,’ I submitted tiredly. ‘Give him the benefit of the doubt.’

I took her home and calmed her down. She was very upset by the incident believing strongly that her son had been responsible for the damage. I was concerned that the way he had been acting lately would prove her to be right.

***

The next day was a nightmare. I had been acting s a security officer for just a short time and nothing of any importance had occurred. There were no trespassers, no strangers, no visitors, no tourists wanting to enter the village. I was becoming somewhat bored with the work, taking a book of Charles Dickens to read during my watch. Suddenly, everything had changed for the worst. I sat on the tree stub contemplating the burning of the village hall, with the book of David Copperfield iin my hand, when a van arrived at the entrance to the village. The driver intended to go straight through but I stepped into the middle of the road holding up my hand in front of the vehicle stopping him. The driver leaned out of the window to speak to me as though he had full authorisation to do so.

‘We’re from NTV... come to do a documentary on this village., Numbwidden,’ he called out as though he had received permission to carry out the task.

‘Numbwinton!’ I corrected. ‘Who’s NTV?’

‘Northern Television,’ he explained briefly.

‘Why do you want to make a programme of Numbwinton?’ I demanded curtly, staring at the television equipment stacked inside the van.

‘There’s a number of things, man,’ he answered. ‘Firstly, the village is still livin’ in the Victorian age. Viewers are interested in strange things like that an’ they wanna know more details. Secondly, we heard a rumour that there’s no old people livin’ here and we wanna know why. It’s somethin’ everyone wants to know. Thirdly, we‘ve been told...’

‘I think that’s enough!’ I interrupted rudely. ‘Just wait here. I’ll get someone to sort it out.’

I turned and hastened back to the police station expecting the driver to stay in the same place. However, after collecting PC7, we found the vehicle parked closes to the police station.

‘I told him to stay where he was!’ I complained bitterly.

PC7 ignored my comment, fuming at the impertinence of the television crew. ‘Didn’t you understand what the security officer told you?’ he shouted angrily. ‘You’ve no right to enter this village without permission!’

‘Come on now, constable,’ came the quick reply. ‘This is a free country, you know. You can’t stop us from coming here.’

PC7 moved closer to the vehicle with an angry expression on his face. ‘We have ways of teaching people good manners and to behave properly,’ he bombasted, facing the driver almost to the point of intolerance. ‘Why are you here?’

The driver looked at him tiredly pointing at me. ‘I already told him the reason. We want to do a documentary of your village for television. There’s no need to fly off the handle.’

‘Well you can’t!’ snapped the policeman. ‘We don’t allow outsiders to come into the village and I don’t know what you want to do but we don’t need it. So leave here right away!’

‘Come on, man!’ expressed the driver casually, as the read door of the van opened and two people alighted carrying a television camera and associated equipment. One of them placed a tripod on the ground and started to load a large camera on it. The other waved a microphone on a long rod to get the sound of the policeman.

‘Get these men back into the vehicle and leave here immediately!’ shouted PC7 at the top of his voice. ‘Get out now!’ He moved to rear of the van attempting to push the two men inside, knocking over some of the equipment. ‘I don’t want to see any of you here again!’

‘Take it easy, man,’ yelled the driver, climbing out of the van. ‘Look I don’t know what makes you tick but you’ve got no right to shut us out. We’re here on a job. ‘

‘If you don’t move then vehicle now and leave the village, I’m going to arrest all of you and put you behind bars. Is that clear enough for you?’

The driver raised his hands as if in surrender. ‘Okay... okay... have it your way. We’ll leave but don’t think we’re going away. You’ll have someone to answer to... you can bet on it!’

He called out to his crew who replaced the equipment into the vehicle and then the driver climbed in and drove off not wishing to get arrested. However, it was clear that a single policeman was not going to deter the strangers. The driver stopped just outside the perimeter of the village to allow the crew to remove the equipment and start filming the front of the village with the sign ‘Numbwinton’. I was completely helpless. My remit was at the beginning of the village... they were just outside... I could nothing to see them off.

‘I understand there’s no old people here,’ declared one of the crew holding a microphone in front of me. ‘How come?’

‘I have nothing to say to you!’ I told him, turning on my heel to move some distance away.

‘Where have they all gone?’ shouted the cameraman, pointing his camera directly at me, hoping to gain a reply.

He was out of luck because my lips were tightly sealed. In the first place there was no way I would answer any of his questions. In the second place, I couldn’t tell him anyway because I had no idea why there were no old people in the village.

By this time, the policeman had recruited some villagers to assist me in watching the television crew that evening. The vehicle was in the same place and the suspicion was that it would re-enter the village during the night to obtain all the pictures they needed. The script for the programme was probably already in place and the only things missing were pictures of places within the village and interviews with the villagers themselves. The television crew didn’t know it at the time but it was something they would never achieve.

At eight-thirty that evening, as the darkness fell, the television crew managed to by-pass myself and the villagers to re-enter the village. There were no lamplights anywhere which made it easy for them in the clouded evening. They proceeded to use a large searchlight taking shots of places as the vehicle drove around fixating on the numerous shops in the main street moving as far as the burned-out village hall. That was as far as their intrusion went because they were quickly surrounded by dozens of villagers screaming for their blood. The television crew were helpless to safeguard their equipment and they were forced out of the van. In front of their eyes, the vehicle was dismantled. The front tyres were removed, the distributor was smashed and the radiator hammered inwards. They were experts at dismantling a vehicle within minutes and I regretted having blamed the mechanic at the garage for perpetrating the crime. Clearly he had been innocent of the charge. Then I saw the mechanic who had been called to collect the vehicle with his tow truck. I could imagine him repairing it, changing the number plates, and either keeping the van for himself or selling it on to someone else. And now was the matter of the three people... the three strangers who persisted in carrying out their task of providing a documentary for their television network. What was going to happen to them? Would the villagers turn them loose or do something really serious to them. The fact that their van had be damaged and towed away did not mean any litigation against the villagers. Who would be taken to Court? How would any damages be assessed. The crew had trespassed and had refused to leave. It was all a real mess!