2021 (45 page)

‘I take it
, he doesn’t actually sell many of his paintings then?’ queried Joseph.

‘Fran
z?’ replied the older man as the other artists all laughed ‘this, Monsieur, would be his
first
ever sale’ he smiled.

‘Well, how much do you think he would want for it then?’ Jacqueline repeated again.

‘What? You mean you still want
to buy it?’ queried Joseph.

‘Well you never know, it could be worth fortunes
some time in the future’ she insisted, as all the other artists just looked at each other and then burst out laughing again.

‘Which one was it again?’
asked the younger male artist as Jacqueline pointed to it again. ‘What’s it’s supposed to be exactly?’ he puzzled as he just stood there with his hands on his hips studying it again.

‘That’s what
I
said!’ laughed Joseph as Jacqueline just scowled at him. ‘Actually, it does look a bit violent doesn’t it, are you quite sure you want to buy it, Jacqueline?’ he queried.

‘
Yes, well I like it!’ insisted Jacqueline. ‘Look, do you think he would accept five hundred Francs?’ she finally asked realising she was getting nowhere.

‘Madam, for five
hundred Francs he would probably make love to you, for a whole week’ laughed the old man as the others all just chuckled away.

Jacqueline just looked a little embarrassed now.

‘That won’t be necessary’ she replied
soberly.

‘C
an we trust you to give him the money?’ asked Joseph as she counted out the money into the older man’s hand.

‘We are a small community here, Monsieur’ smiled the girl ‘we all rely upon each other to be completely honest with one another
, and anyway, Franz will notice the painting is missing upon his return’ she nodded.

‘That’s if he isn’t too drunk to notice’ the old man joked.

‘I reckon he
was drunk when he painted it!’ giggled the girl. ‘I can’t wait to tell Franz he’s actually sold a painting’ she smiled.

‘Yes, he’ll probably go straight back to the café to order another bottle
of wine’ laughed the older artist.

‘O
h, I hope not!’ commented Jacqueline disapprovingly ‘I hope I’m not just funding his drinking habit’ to which they all stayed quiet and didn’t comment.

Jacqueline smiled as the older man
then took the painting down and presented it to her.

‘Sold, t
o you Madam!’ he smiled bowing his head to her ‘although, I wouldn’t rely on it making you a millionaire just yet’ he commented before he began laughing with his fellow artists again.

‘Ah well, you’ve made them happy anyway’ smiled Joseph as they
waved the artists goodbye as they began to finally walk away.

‘I don’t care what they say
, I think it’s a great painting!’ Jacqueline smiled as she carried it proudly under her arm.

‘
It’s complete rubbish!’ Joseph laughed.

‘Hey!’ she complained ‘just because he’s not a
‘proper’
painter’ she laughed poking fun at him.

28
^th
August 2037

Lambeth Palace,

London, England.

L
ess than six months later, Jacqueline was dead, having died from a very quick spreading and incurable form of cancer and Joseph was absolutely devastated!

There had even been talk of the two marrying they had become so close.

A couple of weeks after Jacqueline’s funeral
though, Joseph received the delivery of an unexpected package.

He had
only just taken up his new post as the new Archbishop of Canterbury and the package had been forwarded to his new address at Lambeth Palace.

He
wondered if it were something to do with his new job.

When he opened up it up
however, he soon discovered it had been sent to him from Jacqueline before she had died and she had written a short note to go with it.

‘
Dear Joseph, I am sending you this painting as I feel it may remind you of that happy day we spent together in Paris. I still believe this painting has just ‘something’ special about it, despite your obvious misgivings. I hope it may drag you away from your stuffy ‘proper’ paintings like your favourites Turner and Constable, if only for a while anyway
.

Love Jacqueline

Joseph had a tear in his eye as he read her letter and remembering that day
in Paris, it did indeed make him smile and laugh a little as he remembered it again.

He
took the painting out of its wrapping and just stared at it.

It was just as he remembered
it that day, with its overly vivid colours painted in oil straight from the easel with no dilution, painted straight onto the canvas with bold and almost angry looking brushstrokes.

‘It still looks to
o violent to me’ he pondered as he studied it carefully.

In honour of Jacqueline
though, he had the painting placed above his desk in his office in Canterbury Cathedral, in the vain hope he might actually get to like it one day.

‘I wouldn’t count on it though, Jacqueline’ he smiled to himself
as he stared at it once it had been mounted up on the wall.

He could have had it placed above his desk at Lambeth Palace
, but he wasn’t sure if he could quite face looking at it every single day.

T
he painting remained above his desk at Canterbury Cathedral from that day on though, viewed by him whenever he visited Canterbury.

Even t
hough, he never got to like the painting itself, it did make him smile whenever he fondly remembered the day Jacqueline bought it.

20
^th
September 2037

Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury, Kent,

England.

A
lec and Jenny had got on so well, they married a year after Tom’s death.

Like everyone else, they celebrated ‘Victory Day’ over the Migrators as it was commemorated every year, and they mourned for the huge numbers who had died at the hands of the Migrators on the ‘International Day of Mourning’.

The happy couple eventually raised four children together, two girls and two boys
. The first of the boys they named ‘Tom’ in Tom’s honour, just as he had asked them to.

They occasionally got t
ogether with Jenny’s father Stuart, but not as often as they liked, as Stuart actually ended up marrying Joan, resulting in him permanently moving to America after he secured a post in the same university, Harvard, where she worked.

They all kept in touch with Jack and Andre who ended up running scientific expeditions all around the world
, by airship of course.

Before they did that
though, they were awarded the contract for delivering Migrator bodies to research facilities all around the world. They secured the contract as they were the only people with the transport capable of doing the job!

All in all, life was good for both Alec and Jenny
now though, if a little tiring at times looking after their four children.

So when one day Alec
’s mother insisted they take a short break together down on the coast, they accepted willingly.

The weather itself wasn’t
at its warmest, but the freedom to actually have a peaceful lie in was a rare treat for them both now and neither of them was that interested in sun bathing at the best of times, as they both much preferred to visit historic buildings and monuments instead.

As they were in the Canterbury
area it seemed ridiculous not to go and see the historic over 1,000 year old Canterbury Cathedral, so off they went to see it.

Still keen on filming
, Jenny took her camcorder with her, whilst Alec was keen on still photos instead.

He obtained a special pass that enabled him to take a few pictures inside the Cathedral using his tripod, which rather delighted him.

Rather infamously, Canterbury Cathedral was where St. Thomas a
’ Becket was martyred (murdered) in 1170 but Alec wouldn’t hold that against it, as he was more interested in its impressive architecture.

‘It’s just amazing isn’t it, Jenny’ he enthused as he looked all around him.

Both he and Jenny were having a really relaxing time when just walking passed an open do
or something just caught the corner of Jenny’s eye.

‘Oh
no, did you see
that
?’ she asked Alec as she suddenly grabbed hold of his arm.

‘See what? Jenny, I don’t
even know what you’re going on about?’ he puzzled.

‘Through
that
door’ she insisted as she pointed back towards it ‘I just caught the sight of it’ she explained.

‘Caught the sight of
what
exactly?’ puzzled Alec.

Alec just sighed as he walked back to take a look himself.

‘It’s an op
en door, so what?’ he moaned.

‘No,
not the
door
!’ she complained ‘up on the wall, Alec’ Jenny told him just as someone walked passed them.

‘Is everything OK here?’ he asked cheerfully.

‘Yes, fine, fine!’ stated Jenny immediately
as she just smiled back at him.

The
moment he had gone by she grabbed Alec’s arm again.

‘Will you just look
up on that wall!’ she insisted as she pulled him around so he was in the right direction to see it.

‘But it’s an office, Jenny, I do
n’t understand what you’re making all this fuss about?’ he puzzled.

‘Oh
, Alec!’ she just huffed ‘you’re driving me
nuts
!’ she complained ‘I told you, up on the
wall
!’ she pointed again.

Alec now look
ed again and he immediately saw what Jenny had become so animated about.

‘
Shit! It
can’t
be?’ uttered Alec as he now stared into the room.

‘
Don’t swear! We’re in church, Alec’ she scolded him. ‘Go and take a closer look, just to be sure’ she then suggested as she shoved him forwards.

‘I’m not doing
that
’ he complained ‘it has ‘Staff Only’ written up on the door. I might end up like St. Thomas a’ Becket or something’ commented Alec with a grin.

‘
Oh yes, like some knights are going to rush in and strike you down or something’ huffed Jenny in annoyance.

‘Well, it could happen’ he smiled as she nudged him in the ribs
again.

‘
You might end up like St. Thomas a’ Becket if you don’t do as I ask in a minute’ stated Jenny.

Then she looked all around her.

‘
Look, there’s no one about now, go in there and have a closer look’ she suggested as she shoved Alec forwards again.

Alec quickly lent in
to the hall leading to the room and then he came out again.

‘You didn’t even go
far enough inside to even see anything!’ Jenny complained again.

‘But it does
look like it, Jenny’ Alec informed her ‘but how could it end up here?’ he queried.

‘Well I don’t know’ answer
ed Jenny ‘I’ve never even seen the thing myself’ she uttered. ‘It just seems to depict exactly what I saw, that’s all I know’ she shrugged.

‘Maybe
it’s just a picture of Jesus on the cross or something?’ pondered Alec as he just strained his eyes.