'Actually, that's not true. I considered myself one of the new breed. You know, trendy, the papers called us, because we had raves, flashing lights and dry ice instead of hymns. No time for the miracles and magic of the Bible. There was no truth in it, just a true way of living, little stories to teach decency.'
In the back, Veitch began to doze. After the exertion of the last few weeks, the warmth, the rhythm of the wipers and the hiss of the wheels created a soothing atmosphere that made his limbs leaden. Will's voice was calming too; he began to drift in and out of the conversation.
'And now you think differently?'
'You're damned right.' He paused. 'Must watch my cursing these days. My basic belief before was: God is a supernatural entity. If there's no evidence of the supernatural-and I've never seen any-how could there be a God, a virgin birth, even an Ascension? But I carried on because the Church still did good, important work. And then the miracles happened. All over the country-lame people walking, blind people seeing, the dead reviving. All the cliched stuff. But this time there was evidence.' He hammered the steering wheel passionately to emphasise his words. 'There was a meeting in London. The General Synod was discussing all the monumental events that have been happening all over. I was still quite cynical until I heard all the personal testimonies, from every single part of the country.'
'And you think these are some signs from your God?' Tom did little to hide the faint contempt in his voice.
'I honestly don't know. I'd like to think that. Some of my colleagues think the opposite. They say everything they've seen in the world proves there can't be a God-not our God, anyway. How can miracles be special… be miracles… if they're happening randomly every day? It's magic, they say, not God's work. And the reports presented at the meeting of-' he eyed Tom unsurely powerful beings-'
'Not God's creatures,' Tom said.
'So they say.'
'And you think differently?'
'Until I've seen them with my own eyes… If you believe God created the universe and everything in it, then he could have created the most bizarre, alien beings. Who are we to begin to wonder at His reason for putting them here? The scheme is too big, our perspective too small.' He glanced at Tom. 'I take it from your words you don't believe in God.'
Tom grunted. 'I believe in a higher power. Call it God if you will. The common belief is that people who have seen great suffering cannot believe in God, for how could God allow such things to exist? That is shallow and misguided. Only people who have seen great suffering can know without a doubt that God truly exists.'
The vicar's brow furrowed. 'How can you say that?'
'Work it out for yourself. That's the only way true wisdom comes.' Tom watched the dark hedges and closed-off villages flash by.
Will didn't seem offended by Tom's brusque manner. 'All I can tell you is what this means for me. Two days ago science told me there was no place for miracles. Now we live in this world where wonders are commonplace. And they may not be caused by nzy God, as you put it, but the fact that they are happening means that for me miracles are now truly possible. Anything is possible. And once I realised that, I just had to rush back to my church to tell everyone about it.'
'Well, isn't that a conversion on the Road to Damascus,' Tom said drily.
'I can understand your cynicism, I really can,' Will stressed. 'But despite all the misery that's been caused- and I accept there's been a lot-on a spiritual level, there's also so much more hope. All the things the Bible teaches aren't abstract concepts any more. Life has just become so much more, I don't know, vital. How can you worry about making more money or seeking out power when all this is happening? It focuses the mind on the truly important things.'
They continued northwards, the rain finally drifting away to leave a cloudy, warm night. The conversation was punctuated by long periods of silence when they each wrestled with their own thoughts, but that was often too uncomfortable and they would be forced to return to discussing the state of the country and how much life had changed. Veitch was oblivious to it all as he slept soundly, stretched out across the back seat.
As the midnight hour passed and Newcastle drew nearer, the air being sucked in by the heater gained an unpleasant tang of chemicals and burning, Tom glanced over at Will; the vicar's face, oddly, seemed to have lost some of its youthfulness and his expression had grown darker.
'How bad is it back at home?' Tom asked.
A pause. 'Very bad.'
'You're aiming to pass on some of that hope you feel.'
He nodded. 'Something magical. The Church lost touch with that, with the reason why people needed it. There's been too much looking inward, too much rationalising and reasoning and not enough heart. Not enough magic.'
The sky overhead was briefly lit up, as if it were daylight.
'Good Lord.' Will leaned over the wheel to peer up into the sky. 'Was that a flare?'
They travelled on for another five minutes without any further disturbance, but then something else caught Will's eye and he slowed the car down. 'Look at that.' There was awe in his hushed voice.
Lights were moving in complex patterns across the sky. Some were balls, glowing red or white, others cylinders that seemed to have all the colours of the rainbow on them as they rotated slowly.
'UFOs,' Will noted.
'That's what they used to call them. Keep going, they won't disturb you.'
Will glanced sharply at Tom. 'You're saying they're alive? They're just lights.'
'Just lights? There is no just anything in this world.'
'Then what?' He looked back up to the heavens, slowing the car even further.
'Spirit forms, I suppose you would call them. Sentient beings that reflect what is taking place in our heads.'
'How do you know this?'
'I've seen them before.'
'They look like cherubs. Or angels.' Will chewed on a knuckle excitedly. 'Perhaps that's what they are. If they were seen in ancient times…' He paused, holding his head to one side. 'I can feel something. Can you feel something?' Will didn't seem to notice Tom's lack of a reply. 'It fills me with a sense of wellbeing. Almost of transcendence.'
'That's part of their nature too.'
A tear trickled from the corner of Will's eye. 'You say they're, what, spirit forms? But if I say they're angels, who's to say which of us is right?'
Tom shrugged disinterestedly.
'It's all a matter of perspective.' He pulled the car over to the side of the road, transfixed. The lights continued to bob and weave across the sky, their flares lighting the clouds like fireworks. Then, as Will watched intently, their movement ground to a halt. There was a brief period when they hung suspended in the heavens, and then gradually they shifted in unison towards some kind of alignment. A few seconds later they formed a blazing cross of many colours, hanging in the eastern sky.
Will caught a sob in his throat, but the tears streamed down his cheeks. 'I've been so wrong.'
The lights stayed that way for a long moment, and then the cross slowly broke up and they drifted away to lose themselves among the billowing clouds. Will chewed on the back of his hand; he appeared to be shaking all over.
Tom winced, then sighed, unsure quite how to say what he felt. 'It might-'
'I know what you're going to say. It might not be what I think. I might be putting my own interpretation on it. But can't you see-that doesn't matter! It's a sign of something bigger. That's all we really need.'
He sat for a while with his head resting on the steering wheel. When he did finally look up, he was transformed, beaming and optimistic. Seeing him, Tom couldn't help but think that perhaps he was right.
Will left them on the outskirts of Newcastle, where Tom caught up on his sleep in a back garden shed. The next morning they picked up a succession of lifts that took them north. They crossed Hadrian's Wall without incident and made better going across the Scottish Lowlands, with several other lifts taking them north of Stirling. They were dogged by repeated technology failures on the outskirts of Perth and, in frustration, decided to proceed on
