The Supervisor, Mr Wallop, led the two boys to another room which was further down the hallway from the reception area. The door of this room was labelled in the same neat, gold lettering as the Supervisor’s door. It simply stated, ‘Checks Room’. Mr Wallop ushered them into the Checks Room and then left them there, clearly still wondering why they had not managed to find their way to the room unassisted, instead of disturbing him in his private office.
“This is mad!” Timmy hissed in Jack’s ear as they stood in a room which, although undoubtedly nothing like a farm shed, was far more normal than they might have expected. Jack ignored Timmy. He wished that his friend Alfie was with him and not Timmy who was proving so tiresome.
Jack looked around the room. It was a large room full of interesting things. It was comfortable too, as if someone had moved their lounge into the office so that people felt at home there. There were chairs and sofas and cushions and small tables making cosy clusters around the room; there were pictures and posters on the walls; there was a big fireplace, empty of a fire and filled with a pretty arrangement of colourful flowers; and there were shelves of books of all types and colours and sizes. Several people were in the room, sitting in the chairs and browsing through the books. At the far end of the room there were more people who stood waiting at polished counters. They were facing members of staff in smart, navy blue uniforms with silver buttons, a bit like the Supervisor wore.
“Who are they?” demanded Timmy, looking at the people in uniform. “Are they Police? What do they want with us anyway?”
“I expect they’ll lock you up,” said Jack.
“They might be kidnappers or anything!” said Timmy.
“I don’t think anyone would want to kidnap you,” said Jack.
Timmy was uncertain whether this was intended as an insult or a compliment. “I’ll pay you back for this, Merry,” he said, settling for his usual threats and bluster. “You wait until we’re back at school…!”
“Perhaps we’ll never go back,” said Jack.
“Not go back!” exclaimed Timmy. “You wait! My Dad will find me! You wait until my Dad finds out what your Grandad has been doing at his sheds…!”
Jack ignored him again. He was most interested in a strange, startling object in the centre of the room and he went towards it with Timmy following closely. It was a very big, oval shaped glass which appeared to contain crystal clear water. It was surely a huge water machine, and the water, when Jack looked at it, looked wonderfully, most unusually enticing, with sparkles of dark and light and all the colours of the rainbow swirling and shining like diamonds, as if the water was a living spring. Etched on the huge dome were the words ‘Water of Sound Doctrine’.
“What is it?” asked Timmy, pressing his nose up against the glass with a look of disgust.
Jack sighed. Talk about asking stupid questions all the time! “It’s water of course,” he said. “It says, ‘Water of Sound Doctrine’.”
Timmy punched his arm. “I’m not stupid!” he said. “But that’s not clean water! No one could drink that!”
Jack rubbed his arm ruefully and wondered if Timmy was affected by some sort of madness, sunstroke perhaps. Didn’t people see funny things in water when they had sunstroke…?
“Look,” Jack took a cup from the neatly stacked pile by the huge water machine. “I’ll drink some and show you.”
“You’re going to drink that?” Timmy asked incredulously.
Jack put his cup to the shiny tap at the bottom of the water dome. Crystal clear water gushed out and quickly filled the cup to the top. Then, to the sound of Timmy’s wild protestations, Jack took an eager sip.
It was simply the best water in the world. It was just sweet enough but not too much so, with a subtle hint of all the nicest flavours he could possibly imagine. Fruity, and tangy, and sweet, and smooth, and ice cold, yet not so that it hurt your teeth and your head; everything about it was absolutely right, and exactly suitable, and for the first time on that hot day, Jack felt truly refreshed.
“Mad!” exclaimed Timmy. “Completely barmy! What if they blame me when you’re poisoned and die and never come back from Aletheia, or wherever we are?”
“Then I expect you’ll go to prison,” said Jack. “Or at least you’ll be sent miles away from home to some work camp to reform you.”
Timmy flushed an angry red, but whether he was actually going to lunge at Jack in the middle of the Checks Room, in front of the polished counters and uniformed people that lined the far wall, Jack never did find out: because at that moment, across the room, a clear voice suddenly called, “Timothy Eustace Trial, please.”
“I didn’t know your middle name was Useless,” said Jack.
Timmy didn’t seem to hear Jack’s comment about his middle name. His face was a picture of panic and defiance as he glanced wildly at the uniformed man who had called his name.
“What do they want?” asked Timmy. “What do they want with me? How do they even know my name?”
“They’re probably just going to talk to you,” said Jack.
He was surprised at how scared Timmy was, and although he didn’t have a clue what he and Timmy were being ‘Checked In’ for, oddly he did not feel afraid. The water was somehow comforting and he began to notice, as he glanced at the pictures on the walls and the books on the shelves, that everything seemed to be to do with the Bible. Jack drew closer. He picked up a book in the section of the shelves under the letter ‘S’. It was entitled ‘Beware of Snares’ and on the front there was a scary picture, of a shadowy creature with cold, glittering eyes. He thought of the note pinned to the glass in reception about ‘dealing with Snares’. He looked closely at the picture. Could it really be that there were real, live scary creatures in Aletheia that weren’t in England and the rest of the world? He wished he’d paid more attention when they did a project about Africa at school. He had written an adventure about being chased by lions and tigers, but had Mrs Bubble told them anything about Snares?
“Jack Arnold Merryweather!” Jack suddenly heard his own name called by a young man at the counters. He was sorry that they knew about the ‘Arnold’ bit of his name; he wasn’t particularly keen on it himself and he hoped that Timmy hadn’t heard.
“I’m Jack,” he said when he stood before the shiny wooden counter, looking at the young man peering at him through round, serious-looking glasses. He read his name badge: ‘Herbert Wallop, Trainee Checker’. Perhaps he was related to Mr Wallop, the Supervisor, but he didn’t look as scary as the Supervisor. He was tall and skinny and there was a reassuring twinkle in his eyes.
“Well, of course you’re Jack!” said Herbert Wallop. “Could I have your Identification first, please?”
“Oh,” said Jack. “I don’t think I have any…any of that on me…”
“How about in your pockets?” suggested Herbert.
Jack searched his pockets and found his spy watch, a five pence piece, a red piece of lego, leftover bits of biscuit, and a folded piece of paper. Herbert considered the piece of lego with great interest, turning it over in his hand and examining it closely. Reluctantly he returned it to Jack.
“I’ll take the paper I think,” said Herbert. He was very cheerful and seemed to be quite certain about the paper, so Jack handed it to him.
“Dear Supervisor of Aletheia,” Herbert read aloud from the paper which had come from Jack’s pocket. “I think you would like to meet Jack Merryweather, who might enjoy a visit to Aletheia and could learn more about Christian life there.”
“Oh,” said Jack. “Who is it from?”
“From your Grandad,” said Herbert. “Well, that’s all in order.” He glanced down at the form he was completing that had Jack Arnold Merryweather written at the top of it. He scribbled something on the form and then he put a big tick by the first box, ‘Identification’.
“The next section we have to complete is about what you thought of the Water of Sound Doctrine,” said Herbert. He smiled encouragingly at Jack.
Jack glanced around at the huge dome of water which stood in the middle of the room. Now that he considered it again it seemed even bigger than the first time he had seen it. He wondered if it had changed size. “Umm…” Jack wondered what was expected of him. “Well, I did drink some of the water,” he offered.
“And…” prompted Herbert.
Jack was bemused.
“Well, what did you see in the water?” prompted Herbert again.
Jack thought about the wonderful crystal clear water. “Just me,” he said. “I saw my reflection.”
“It was dirty!” Timmy’s strident voice sounded loudly across the murmuring of various conversations in the room and Jack realised that they had only reached section two on Timmy’s form too. “It was dark and there were wriggling creatures in it! I think they were worms!”
Herbert caught Jack’s look of astonishment.
“It was lovely water,” said Jack. “There were colours and sparkles and everything!”
Herbert nodded. “Yes,” he agreed, and he looked pleased as he wrote something firmly on section two of Jack’s form.
“I think Timmy was just saying it was dirty…” Jack struggled to explain the boy that they probably thought was his friend. Somehow he felt responsible for Timmy being there and being rude about their lovely water.
Herbert completed what he was writing and then he looked up. “I think Timmy was telling the truth,” he said.
Jack stared at him in disbelief.
“You see, the water is a reflection of what you are,” said Herbert. “It represents the whole, balanced truth of the Bible, and if you’re not a Christian, then you don’t see anything good in it at all.”
“I don’t think Timmy is a Christian,” said Jack.
“No,” agreed Herbert. “But at least you brought him here. We must see how we can help him to understand how to become a Christian!”
Jack went a bit red. “Umm…I didn’t exactly bring him here,” he said, feeling ashamed, “he just…well, he followed me…” He didn’t think he could adequately explain how Timmy had been chasing him and they had both ended up…well, wherever they were.
“Of course, not all Christians see clean water either,” Herbert continued to explain. “If you’re doing wrong things as a Christian and not living as a Christian should, then the water might appear dirty to you too.”
Jack turned to look at the water again, pleased when it remained clear and sparkling. He didn’t ever want to see clouds and dirt in that water.
“My father is Sir Rufus Trial!” Timmy was saying loudly in the background. “He’s a very important man! And he’s a Christian too!”
Jack wondered if anyone in this strange office would care about the importance of Sir Rufus Trial when they seemed to be dealing with quite different things, like Snares.
“Now we scan your heart,” said Herbert, returning to the form he was completing about Jack. “That shows us for sure whether you’re a Christian or not. Of course, I already know that you’re a Christian but we’ll do all the Checks anyway. You didn’t bring a Bible with you by any chance, did you?”
“Umm, no, I didn’t,” said Jack.
“No problem,” said Herbert, “no problem at all!”
Jack was intrigued when Herbert passed a book-shaped object – which looked like a Bible – across his heart and smiled when he looked at the indicator.
“Of course I knew the indicator light would be white,” he said as he leaned over the form with Jack’s name on it and wrote something else. “The water told me that!”
“I think it’s time to go now!” Timmy’s loud voice carried clearly across the room. “Jack, it’s time to go!”
Herbert glanced at his watch. “We shut soon anyway,” he said. “We finish early on Fridays. There’s plenty of accommodation in Aletheia but I expect you and…your friend will come home with us.”
“Umm…” Jack was uncertain how to explain that he and Timmy needed to return to school.
“Are you coming, Jack?” Timmy reached him and tugged his arm. “They can’t keep us here, you know. That’s kidnapping!” But his voice died away when the tall figure of Mr Wallop the Supervisor appeared behind the polished counters.
Mr Wallop was examining the work of his staff and he glanced at the form he held in his hand. Then he looked closely at Timmy. He seemed to be reading Timmy’s Aletheia Entry Form.
“You can’t stop us!” said Timmy, beginning to edge towards the door.
“Stop you?” said Mr Wallop with mild surprise. “Why would I try to stop you?”
“I’m going!” said Timmy. “You’re all bats here anyway!” And he headed as fast as he could to the entrance door.
Jack followed more slowly, wondering if the door would actually open this time.
Others from the office followed too.
Timmy reached the entrance door and flung it open with a triumphant cry.
But the farm sheds were gone; there was a strange road ahead; an unknown city loomed large close by; and Timmy tumbled down the steps into a world he did not know.
