Waiting for the Flyers. Part 17: A Tour of The Oaks

‘I imagine this is quite a shock.’ Jess said as he moved over to David and sat next to him. Placing a calming hand on his shoulder Jess continued. ‘A lot has happened to both of you in the past year. I thought it best if you only met Bob for the moment. He’ll explain his story before you meet some other people from “the old days.” If you wish of course.’

‘Other people from the old days? Have you found more people in the village?’

Jess appeared wary. ‘Not really from the village, Maam. Bob’ll stay here and talk with David while we look around the house. I can tell you more at the same time.’

We left David and Bob sitting on the chesterfields facing each other across the small table. David appeared uncomfortable with the situation while Bob looked conciliatory.

As Jess swept Junior and I through another set of double doors opening onto a wide glass roofed space, I worried a little about how David would handle the meeting.

The bright sunroom, as Jess described it, looked out onto a wide yard containing a number of weathered wooden tables with matching chairs placed around them. The walls on each side of the room had been skilfully painted into brightly coloured murals. The right depicted a three metre multi-coloured dove of peace flying through swirls of blue and lilac clouds. On the left an African savannah landscape over an orangey-pink sky with animals and flat topped acacia trees silhouetted in deep purple. The effect – of course – was stunning.

‘The whole thing was covered in a green film when we found it. The glass too. Took four of us week to clean it up. We come in here to eat and relax.’

‘Certainly looks like it was worth the effort, Jess.’ I said trying not to show my amazement.

Junior almost collapsed onto a chair and gazed at the dove open mouthed – an absolute picture of speechless.

 ‘That’s the effect it had on me when we uncovered it.’ Jess chuckled.

The house was divided into two wings with the central lounge doubled as a reception area. Doors on each side led to each wing. Jess reckoned the sunroom which led off it was designed to impress visitors. According to some of Asterix’s notes he found, important guests were “smoodged with devil’s wine and gold-plated cans-a-peas.” Neither of us knew the words, but the message was clear enough.

‘I hope you aren’t trying to smoodge me.’ I joked.

Most of the ground floor on the left side was devoted to an enormous room with two large windows and floor to ceiling curtains printed with a pattern in the style of Picasso’s painting. At one end there were four stacks of chairs and tables hidden under heavy dust sheets next to what I supposed was a bar for dispensing drinks. The walls were painted in lemon yellow highlighted with white surrounds. A number of paintings hung on them which, like the furniture, hid under dust sheets. A soft mid-blue carpet covered the floor. The colours of the rainbow subtly woven into it radiated across from the entrance. The rather sad musty odour of neglect hung in the air.

‘This was the party room apparently.’ Jess explained. ‘We had a quick look around, but we don’t use it. It’ll be impossible to keep it warm in winter.’

Other than store cupboards and two large ornate toilets there was nothing more except for a wide staircase leading to four bedrooms built around a central rest area. Each room was filled with luxurious furnishings, toilet and a shower. Jess said the upper floors on the right side were mirrored and used by him and the guys.

‘Bob managed to connect the right side with power and heating. I suggest you sleep over there tonight, Maam.’

The right wing ground floor was more interesting. Divided into four sections including a big kitchen fitted with, I guess, the latest technology from 2040. I only recognised the cooker and fridge. A room the whole width of the far end contained an enormous screen and boxes all around attached to the walls. Two rooms and the staircase separated it from the kitchen. One was small and darkened with black soft panelled walls, again with boxes attached to them, and a large soft chair in the centre. Finally next to the kitchen a bathroom and shower with what appeared to be large hand painted tiles depicting copies of various artists’ work on the walls. I recognised Van Gogh, Matisse and Rousseau among others.

‘There a lot of stuff here we don’t really understand. We haven’t tried to use any of the equipment yet. Bob said the two rooms at the end are a movie theatre and a listening studio. He’s said he could probably and “fire it up,” but I told him we’re not in a hurry. I’m not sure it’ll be any use for us anyway. . . . Just lost history.’

I tended to agree with Jess. In fact I had a concern about what effect old movies might have on people even though their schooling covered life before the population crash.

‘Wait until you see the buildings round the back, Maam.’

In the area behind the main house there were two separate outbuildings not dissimilar to the sort of structures next to the big house in our community.

One, the smaller, was linked to the house by a covered walkway. Jess opened the door and allowed us to enter. At first it just appeared to be an office with work desks, several computer screens and cabinets. Ushering us through the room, Jess opened a door at the far end. Inside was something I’d never seen or heard of in any books or lectures from my tutors. Junior and I stood at the entrance surveying a line of glass walled cubicles full of electronic equipment and musical instruments. Opposite them a bank of boxes each about a metre wide covered with buttons and leavers of different colours. Above each bank a screen the same width. The walls were covered in the same sort of material in the listening studio except they were painted with views of a city at by night and by day. I recognised the city – New York.

‘What on earth is this?’ Junior said in a breathless voice.

‘It’s Mikki Asterix’s recording studio. This is where he did all his recording and composing.’

Junior couldn’t contain himself, he ran around the room like an excited child touching things and staring into the cubicles. Once Junior got over his thrill he asked Jess what he was going to do with all the stuff.

Jess shrugged. ‘No idea. It’s fascinating, but not a lot of use to us. . . . The computers maybe and some of the musical instruments. We have some guys who play music don’t we? Perhaps they can do something with them. Anyway, let’s go over the other building.’

After closing up, Jess directed us to the long building set further apart from the house. The façade consisted of four doors each about four metres wide. I knew the building was a garage, but I wasn’t prepared for what was inside. Jess, with Junior’s help swung the doors up and slid them back.

Facing us were two low vehicles covered in dust sheets. Jess flung them back. One was yellow and the other silver. The yellow one seemed to touch the ground the front sloped almost to the floor. It had an angular aggressive face. It looked very angry. The other one although very low had a kind of mouth. It reminded me of pictures I’d seen of a hungry whale shark. Above its mouth four black circles. I recognised them a so-called supercars from about eighty or ninety years ago when vehicles ran on liquid fuel. A couple of large boxy cars sat next to them. Their featureless face seemed to make them look later. I guessed they were electric powered. The cars came as no surprise, I’d seem similar vehicles in the little museum at the big house. The ones that shocked me – along with their oily smell – were two bright green old fashioned farming tractors and a gang of ploughs lying on the floor behind them. Jess sensed my question.

‘They are in working order. Bob got them going and we have plenty of diesel from old farm buildings near here. They stink to high heaven, but they work well. They’re really powerful. I want to use them to recover abandoned farmland.’

Once again Junior got excited. ‘This is amazing, Jess. Jack and Allen have to see thi—‘ He stopped, realising what he’d said.

After an awkward silence, Jess replied. ‘Well to be honest I thought exactly the same, Junior. For Jack? No problem. Allen and I have some differences to settle first.’