Keppelberg (24 page)

Mary shook her head and burst into laughter. ‘It's unbelievable. You the chief law officer! What are you going to do now?'

‘I'll return to Cornwall and take a few weeks off or I might visit the Lake District. It's not too far from here, is it?'

‘Look,' cut in Tim quietly. ‘Now that Wayne Austen's left the business, I'm looking for a new partner. Why don't you join me in the detective agency? I think you'd really be good at it.'

I toyed with the idea for a few moments before shaking my head. ‘No... I don't think so,' I returned gratefully. ‘I can't see myself hanging around houses at dead of night waiting for clues in divorce cases. But thanks for the offer anyway.'

Although I had disliked life in the army in Basra, there had been something about the camaraderie with my fellow soldiers that had endeared me to it. I thought it might be a good idea to sign up again for a further three year stint. Admittedly there were dangers in being a soldier sent to danger zones throughout the world but it was far better than anything on offer for me in civvy street. It was definitely in my mind to return to Cornwall and join the regiment again. Keppelberg had been a gem of a place with all its peace and harmony... there was really no where else like it on earth, but I needed a little space in time to get over the incident. I would miss Bridget, the Secretary and Robert... and, in a strange way, even the dull dry Townsend. And then it came to me like a bolt of lightning streaking out of the firmament. Of course... the answer was simple! Maybe Keppelberg wasn't unique after all. Perhaps there was another village very similar in its way but without the blessing or curse of Obadiah Keppelberg's chemical compound to keep people young and ageless. There had to be another place which dwelt in the past and lived in peace and harmony, operating on the principles of Victorian England to the full, avoiding modern civilisation... but where could it be? If it did exist, I would desperately have liked to find it. Destiny had placed the idea into my mind and my quest was to search for such a place. I had come across Keppelberg by accident... could it happen again? Did lightning ever strike in the same place twice? I was then reminded of the story about the European who, in 1939, predicted there would be a war and he searched the atlas for a place where he would be safe from the conflict. He chose Guadacanal which turned out to be the centre of the fiercest fighting between the Americans and the Japanese armies. I seriously hoped that destiny would deny me following the same pattern.

Then, without any reason whatsoever, my mind went back to the luscious, voluptuous, gorgeous Secretary I had made love to so passionately. I suddenly realised that I couldn't remember her name even though I knew every part of her virile body. But for an ordinary man, that was the way of life... at least it was the way of my life. And if you try to find the village of Keppelberg you'll fail to do so because I learned later from my sister that the place was razed to the ground by the authorities and it doesn't exist any more. Only memories prevail... only memories!

THE END

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