Hezekiah stood speechless and astonished in the kitchen doorway. Before him was Timmy Trial, fully dressed in the school uniform he had worn the previous day, with Hugo’s jacket over his school shirt as if he was going out for a night stroll. Timmy turned with a startled look to see the small boy observing him and he instantly scowled with anger and annoyance.
“What do you want?” he whispered.
“What are you doing?” asked Hezekiah. It initially appeared to him that Timmy was in the middle of a midnight feast. He was utterly astonished that the big boy could possibly need more to eat than he had already consumed at dinner. But then he noticed that Timmy had a bag that looked a bit like Hugo’s old rucksack, and the leftover chocolate cake and biscuits and an assortment of other things that Timmy had found in the kitchen were going into the bag.
“Are you going away?” asked Hezekiah, venturing further into the kitchen.
“It’s none of your business,” hissed Timmy.
“You can’t go away,” said Hezekiah, wishing someone else would wake up and help him. “It’s too dangerous and Dad said you need to stay near to the cross and learn about how to be saved…”
Timmy moved with surprising suddenness and made a grab at the collar of Hezekiah’s pyjamas.
“You’re an interfering brat!” he said in a very nasty voice, hoisting Hezekiah clear of the floor and squeezing his neck, “and if you make one more noise or say one more word I’ll break your neck!”
There was no doubt at that moment that Timmy would have needed little provocation to do just that. As it was he gave Hezekiah a big shove and sent him flying onto the floor and clattering into a cupboard.
“I didn’t make that noise!” panted Hezekiah. “You did it when you knocked me into the cupboard so you can’t break my neck for that!”
There was something about the small boy, pale and frightened, in his pyjamas, and now sprawled on the kitchen floor, that utterly infuriated Timmy Trial. He aimed a kick at Hezekiah and there was a yelp of protest.
“You made me make that noise too!” said Hezekiah. “You can’t blame that on me!”
“Shut up!” demanded Timmy. “Just shut up!”
Hezekiah got slowly to his feet as Timmy hastily shoved the remaining food within his reach into the old rucksack and prepared to leave.
“I don’t think you should be taking all that food,” said Hezekiah. He hastily backed away at the look on Timmy’s face. “I mean, Mum wouldn’t want you to be hungry or anything, but I don’t think you should just take it all without even asking…”
He was cornered by Timmy who once more hoisted him up from the floor by his collar.
“SHUT UP!” said Timmy, trying to keep his own voice to a whisper but wanting nothing more than to yell at this unforeseen and most unwelcome interference. “If you don’t shut up…!”
“Alright!” Hezekiah choked out, and he was dropped unceremoniously onto the floor where he rubbed at his neck ruefully. But as he watched Timmy’s preparations for departure Hezekiah could not remain silent. He got slowly to his feet again.
“But where are you going?” he asked. “I mean, you might need help, you might need to be rescued and then we need to know where to find you and…” Hezekiah trailed away as Timmy towered over him, glowering and furious.
“I have friends here, brat,” Timmy hissed in his face, “and I have plans that don’t include you!”
Hezekiah shrank from Timmy as if he was preparing himself for a punch from Timmy’s big fist. But he didn’t run away, and bravely he held out the Bible he clutched tightly in his hand. “I think you should take this with you,” he said.
Timmy’s face was a picture of fury and awful uncertainty. His conscience was smitten, but he would not yield to this boy who dared to challenge him and who quite unexpectedly made him doubt. He wanted to get away from Aletheia; he wanted to meet up with Wonky Dollar as he’d arranged; he wanted opportunities and riches and importance, none of which was here. He was going to make the most of the discovery of this strange, unknown land. He would not return home empty handed.
“Go back to bed,” whispered Timmy in a spluttering, half choking sort of way. “And just be glad I didn’t give you the beating you deserve!”
The apartment was once again silent and Hezekiah stood in the hallway looking at the front door that had just clicked shut behind Timmy Trial. Still no one else seemed to stir. He returned to his bedroom feeling defeated and worried at what he should do next, but when he opened the door he could see Jack Merryweather’s form sitting up in bed.
“Zek?” Jack asked uncertainly.
Hezekiah came into the room and sat down on his own bed, flicking on his bedside light and placing his Bible back in its place. “Timmy’s gone,” he said without preamble.
“Gone?”
“Gone into Err,” said Hezekiah in a solemn tone.
Jack wasn’t sure why that was such a bad thing, but he knew enough from Hezekiah’s concern to realise that somehow Timmy wasn’t safe; and besides, how would Timmy find his way home again to Grandad’s sheds and school if he went further away from the way they had come in? It was a sobering thought.
“What shall we do?” asked Jack.
“I don’t know,” said Hezekiah.
“Should we tell your Dad?” ventured Jack.
“Perhaps we should wake Hugo,” said Hezekiah. “He’ll know what to do, and he might have noticed that Timmy is missing.”
Hugo had not noticed the absence of Timmy from the camp bed in his bedroom. He had slept peacefully through the entire episode and it took some time for the two younger boys to rouse Hugo sufficiently to understand what had just occurred.
“Let’s get Henry,” said Hugo.
A short while later the four of them, Hugo and Henrietta, Jack and Hezekiah, stood on the outside balcony of the Wallops’ high apartment overlooking the quiet, dark city of Aletheia. The dim light of very early dawn began to show at the edges of the horizon, like daylight stealing through a crack in the curtains. Through Mr Wallop’s telescope on the balcony they took it in turns to scan the city and the land which they could see to the south and the east. There was little movement in Aletheia this early in the morning and it didn’t take them too long to spy a lone figure that they decided must be Timmy, walking south down Apathy Road. They kept the telescope on Timmy as he neared the boundary of the city and crossed the Water of Sound Doctrine. And then Timmy went on into the land of Err.
It was the very earliest hours of Saturday and Aletheia was still asleep. Only the four children on the balcony were awake and, in the whispered discussion regarding what they should do about Timmy’s disappearance, one plan was clearly favoured.
“We’ll go after him of course,” said Henrietta.
“Into Err?” asked Hezekiah in awe.
“I don’t know, Henry,” said Hugo, who was far more cautious than his twin.
“If we go now…”
“In our pyjamas?” asked Hezekiah.
“No, Zek,” said Henrietta in her most patient manner, “we’ll dress of course, and just slip out and overtake him!”
“We’ll need armour,” said Hugo.
“Well, of course!” responded Henrietta.
“And supplies.”
“We won’t be gone long!”
“I don’t know what Dad and Mum would say…”
“But it’s them we’re thinking about!” said Henrietta eagerly. “Saturday is the only day they get any rest. We can’t wake them now and we’ll be back before they’ve even had their morning coffee!”
“I don’t think Timmy will want to come back,” said Jack.
“We don’t even know where Timmy is heading,” said Hugo.
“Down Apathy Road, obviously,” said Henrietta. “And if we hurry then we’ll see him on the road before he gets too far!”
“Is there a place called Wishy-Washy?” asked Jack.
“Yes!” exclaimed Henrietta.
“Wishy-Washy is famous for its Fair,” said Hugo. “They have one most Saturdays.”
“When Timmy was whispering with Mr Dollar I think I overheard him mentioning Wishy-Washy,” said Jack. “Do you think they could be meeting there?”
“More than likely,” said Henrietta. “They really could be you know, Hugo!” she added to her sceptical twin.
“What else did they say?” Hugo asked Jack.
“I didn’t catch that much,” admitted Jack, “but I think there was something about a fortune teller, or making a fortune…”
“There!” cried Henrietta. “They’re going to Wishy-Washy Fair! They have all kinds of fortune telling and other stuff there. I expect that Wonky Dollar was heading to the Fair and told Timmy to meet him there!”
“It’s not exactly a hundred percent certain that they’re going there, Henry,” said Hugo drily.
“We’ll leave a note to explain to Mum and Dad where we’re going,” said Henrietta. “That way they’ll know where to find us if…well, if they really need to. Come on, we must hurry!”
The note for their parents was the subject of some whispered disputing between Hugo and Henrietta. But in the end the need for haste made them keep it short and to the point, and it simply said: ‘Gone to find Timmy who we think has run away to Wishy-Washy Fair. Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon.’ They left the note propped up by the empty coffee pot in the kitchen where their parents were certain to find it.
“I don’t think that they won’t worry just because we say so,” said Hugo as they scanned the note one final time.
But a hint of light peeping out of the bottom of the grey, dawn sky sent them scurrying on their way: for if they were to find Timmy and return triumphant before their parents started to worry, they needed to do it soon.
They fitted Jack with spare armour from the hallway cupboard. Jack was sorry that they were unable to go to the main Armoury of Aletheia which the others explained was at the Academy of Soldiers-of-the-Cross. He imagined the rows of armour and real soldiers that might be there; he hoped they might visit there another time. But Henrietta was telling them all to hurry and Jack quickly fastened the pieces of armour that Hugo handed to him.
“We need all the armour for protection,” said Hugo.
Jack wondered what he needed protecting against. All those creatures on the poster in Hezekiah’s bedroom for sure, and what else might there be out there in the land of Err…?
“The Bible6 is our only weapon of attack,” explained Hezekiah, watching Jack finish putting on his armour and tucking the Bible safely into the pouch at his side, “All the other bits…” he pointed at the belt, the body armour, the boots, the shield strapped on his back, and his helmet, “the other bits are for protection. I’m not exactly sure how it works in your country…?” he sounded slightly apologetic at this fact. It was clearly puzzling to the Wallop children that Jack was a Christian and yet he had never worn armour like this before.
“I’m not exactly sure how it works either,” said Jack. “But I think it might be that our armour is completely invisible to everyone.”
Hezekiah nodded reassuringly. “Yes,” he said, “I expect that’s it. Dad says that our seventh bit of armour is prayer and that’s invisible too, isn’t it?”
Jack thought about what Mr Wallop had said about Mr Duffle and how his prayers were of great benefit7. He wondered if old Mr Duffle was praying today. It was a strange thought that something like prayer, that was so silent and invisible, was so powerful. Nobody could see it, and you could pray silently, or out loud, anytime, anyplace; and yet it could make such a difference in a battle, or a difficult situation, or just in the small, everyday things of life. It was because God was listening; and God could do anything.
“Dad says it’s possible to put on your armour with your mind,” said Hezekiah. “Maybe that’s how it works in your country.”
Jack thought that Hezekiah was right. He was certain that the armour of God was just as important for a Christian back home, away from Aletheia. And while at home there might be snares which could take over people and cause them to turn away from God, in the land of Err the things that trapped a Christian might be visible, frightening, terrible creatures!
There was a bird singing as they stepped into the greyness of early dawn. Jack was pleased how comfortable the armour felt. It was easy and light to wear and it seemed to keep him warm despite the early morning chill.
They met no one as they moved through the narrow, crooked streets of Aletheia that the Wallop children knew so well. They walked quickly and almost in silence by the cross where one lone star, the morning star, still twinkled brightly above them.
Then they hurried away from the city centre and down Apathy Road where Timmy had gone only a short while before. This was a smooth, straight, gently sloping road that was quick and easy. And before they knew it they had reached The Outskirts of Aletheia and the bridge over the wide, dark, swirling Water of Sound Doctrine that marked the boundary of the city.
They were about to enter the land of Err.