The Devils of D-Day (26 page)

‘In a way.’

‘Can you tell her something for me?’

‘I’m afraid not. She will know nothing of what went before.
But she will be happy. I hope that is some consolation for you. She has served
us well, and deserves happiness.’

I wiped my face with my handkerchief.
‘And
what about Father Anton, and Antoinette?
Elmek
promised that
Adramelech
would revive them.’

If such a thing was possible, the blackness smiled. Or at
least, it radiated affection. It said: ‘The promises of devils are rarely kept.
Only the Lord thy God has the final power of life or resurrection. But you may
know that Father Anton is in his heaven, where he deserves to be; and that his
Antoinette is with him. Those who struggle against evil are rewarded in the
life hereafter.’

I was beginning to feel very tired. It was a long, long time
ago since those two old men had come down the road on bicycles and interrupted
my map-making
to tell me about the tank at Pont
D’Ouilly
.

I said: ‘What about the devils? Are we ever going to see
them again?’

‘As long as man makes wars,
Adramelech
and his thirteen acolytes will survive, in one form or another. A demon of the
evil
sephiroth
cannot be totally destroyed, except by
disbelief. The same is true for angels of the divine
sephiroth
.
If no man believed in glory, which is my realm, then I should vanish for all
eternity.’

‘I see,’ I told the angel, although I wasn’t sure that I
did. I looked round at the ruined basement, and said: ‘What do I do now? Is
there anything else you want me to do?’

There was no answer. I turned around, and the black glow had
disappeared. I was alone again in the world of mortals.

Very wearily, very slowly, I climbed the cellar steps, and
opened the door that led out into the hallway. There was nobody around. Up
here, the building looked as ordinary and normal as when we had first pushed
the doorbell. The front door was open, too, and I could see my rented Citroen
parked outside, with a parking ticket tucked under the windshield wiper.

I went down the steps into the wintry street. It was almost
dark now, and it was beginning to snow. I lifted up my wiper and took out the
ticket, and as I stood there on that wet, cold London pavement, I was glad of
the icy drizzle, because nobody could see that my eyes were filled with tears.

The End

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