[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
minister, who asked him what the hell he was going to do about it. He
stammered down the line and said something wholly unhelpful. Meanwhile, the
news was leaked to the press thatSwindon was the center of theJane Eyre
investigation, and by midnight the Spec-Ops building was encircled by
concerned readers, journalists and news network trucks.
Braxton was not in a good mood. He had started to chain-smoke and locked
himself in his office for hours at a time. Not even putting practice managed
to soothe his ruffled nerves, and shortly after the prime minister s call he
summoned Victor and me for a meeting on the roof, away from the prying eyes of
the press, the Goliath representatives and especially from Jack Schitt.
Sir? said Victor as we approached Braxton, who was leaning against a
smokestack that squeaked as it turned. Hicks was staring out at the lights
ofSwindon with a detachment that made me worried. The parapet was barely two
yards away, and for an awful moment I thought perhaps he was going to end it
all.
Look at them, he murmured.
We both relaxed as we realized that Braxton was on the roof so he could see
the public that his department had pledged to help. There were thousands of
them, encircling the station behind crowd barriers, silently holding candles
and clutching their copies ofJane Eyre , now seriously disrupted, the
narrative stopping abruptly halfway down page 107 after a mysterious Agent in
black enters Rochester s room following the fire.
Braxton waved his own copy ofJane Eyre at us.
You ve read it, of course?
There isn t much to read, Victor replied. Eyrewas written in the first
person; as soon as the protagonist has gone, it s anyone s guess as to what
happens next. My theory is thatRochester becomes even more broody, packs Adele
off to boarding school, and shuts up the house.
Braxton looked at him pointedly.
That s conjecture, Analogy.
It s what we re best at.
Braxton sighed.
They want me to bring her back and I don t even know where she is! Before
all this happened, did you have any idea how popularJane Eyre was?
We looked at the crowd below.
Page 189
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
To be truthful, no.
Braxton s reserve was all gone. He wiped his brow; his hand was visibly
shaking.
What am I going to do? This is off the record but Jack Schitt takes over in
a week if this whole stinking matter hasn t made any favorable headway.
Schitt isn t interested in Jane, I said, following Braxton s gaze over the
mass of Brontë fans. All he wants is the Prose Portal.
Tell me about it, Next. I ve got seven days to obscurity and historical and
literary damnation. I know we ve all had our differences in the past, but I
want to give you the freedom to do what you need to do. And, he added
magnanimously, this is irrespective of cost. He checked himself and added:
But having said that, of course, don t just spend money like water, okay?
He looked at the lights ofSwindon again.
I m as big a fan of the Brontës as the next man, Victor. What will you have
me do?
Agree to his terms whatever they are; keep our movements completely and
utterly secret from Goliath; and I need a manuscript.
Braxton narrowed his eyes.
What sort of manuscript?
Victor handed him a scrap of paper. Braxton read it and raised his eyebrows.
I ll get it, he said slowly, even if I have to steal it myself!
30
The People s
Republic OfWales
Ironically, without the efficient and violent crushing of the simultaneous
Pontypool,Cardiff andNewport risings in 1839,Wales might never have been a
republic at all. Under pressure from landowners and a public outcry at the
killing of 236 unarmed Welsh men and women, the Chartists managed to push the
government to early reform of the parliamentary system. Buoyed by success and
well represented in the house, they succeeded in securing Welsh home rule
following the eight-month Great Strike of 1847. In 1854, under the
leadership of John Frost,Wales declared its independence. England, weighed
down with troubles in the Crimea and Ireland, saw no good reason to argue with
a belligerent and committed Welsh assembly. Trade links were good and
devolution, coupled with an Anglo-Welsh nonaggression treaty, was passed the
following year.
From Zephania Jones sWales Birth Of A Republic
WHEN THE Anglo-Welsh border was closed in 1965, the A4 from Chepstow to
Abertawe became an access corridor through which only businessmen or truck
drivers were allowed to pass, either to conduct trade in the city or to pick
up goods from the docks. On either side of the Welsh A4 there were razor-wire
Page 190
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
fences to remind visitors that straying from the designated route was not
permitted.
Abertawe was considered an open city a free trade zone. Tax was low and
trade tariffs almost nonexistent. Bowden and I drove slowly into the city, the
glassy towers and global banking institutions that lined the coast obvious
testament to a free trade philosophy that, while profitable, wasnot
enthusiastically promoted by all the Welsh people. The rest of the Republic
was much more reserved and traditional; in places the small nation had hardly
changed at all over the past hundred years.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]