2021 (6 page)

‘
It remains here still, Your Holiness, as it would seem ungrateful to simply store away something of such immense value. Also we have occasionally had a visit from a close relative of Winston Churchill, who would come here especially to view it. When they do, we will discreetly turn the painting around again before they arrive, although we have not had to do that for many years now’ concluded Cardinal Moretti.

‘Fascinating’ smiled P
ope Paul ‘but tell me, has the painting really been authenticated as a lost and previously unknown Van Gogh?’ asked the Pope curiously.

‘Yes
it has, Your Holiness, indeed every test we have had carried out on the painting has proven it to be entirely genuine’ nodded Cardinal Moretti in reply.

‘Then it must be priceless!’ smiled the Pope.

‘Indeed it is, Your Holiness’ nodded Cardinal Moretti.

‘Then it would indeed seem ungrateful not to have it here on display
’ nodded the new Pope ‘although I agree, in view of its content maybe it should be returned back to the way you had it before’ smiled the Pope.

‘Yes
, Your Holiness’ replied Cardinal Greco, immediately asking for Cardinal Moretti’s help in turning the painting face down on the wall once more.

‘Thank you both for showing it to me’ smiled the new Pope as he finally agreed to carry on.

When the two cardinals had finally settled the new Pope in
to his quarters and introduced him to his butler, they began walking back to their own quarters again.

W
hen they were finally alone, Cardinal Greco suddenly pulled Cardinal Moretti to one side.

‘What on earth i
s the matter, Cardinal Greco?’ Cardinal Moretti asked as he looked quite alarmed.

‘Did you
not see the date on the painting?’ Cardinal Greco demanded.

‘No, I’ve never even seen the painting before
today. Why, what on earth is the matter?’ puzzled Cardinal Moretti.

‘The painting is entitled
2021
!’ replied Cardinal Greco.

‘But that’s
only next year? Why, I had no idea’ replied Cardinal Moretti.

‘No, no did anyone else I’d wager’ nodded Cardinal Greco
. ‘I think the painting has remained covered for so long now, I don’t think anyone still alive in the Vatican has even seen it until today.’

‘But w
hat are you saying? You don’t seriously think this painting is predicting what is to happen next year do you?’ asked Cardinal Moretti with an incredulous expression on his face.

‘I don’t k
now’ replied Cardinal Greco as he looked very worried. ‘It was thought by many who claimed to know, that it
does
indeed predict the coming of the Anti-Christ’ replied Cardinal Greco seriously.

‘This painting though, it was painted by an
artist who many considered was a madman at the time of his death?’ pondered Cardinal Moretti.

‘Yes, but they also considered his pain
tings not be worth anything as well. Why, I’d heard he only sold one painting when he was alive and that was only to a friend of a relative’ commented Cardinal Greco.

‘Yes, I believe that to be true’
nodded Cardinal Moretti.

Then he hesitated.

‘Is there something on you
r mind, Cardinal Moretti?’

‘I trust I can
speak to you in total confidence, my friend?’ Cardinal Moretti asked.

‘Of course’ nodd
ed Cardinal Greco.

‘When I gazed upon that painting I had the strangest feeling
of foreboding’ Cardinal Moretti admitted.

‘
Why I thought it was only
me
’ Cardinal Greco sighed.

‘Do you think his Holiness felt it too?’ asked Cardinal Moretti.

‘If he did he
probably wouldn’t say so’ replied Cardinal Greco.

‘What do you think we should do?’ asked Cardinal Moretti looking deep in thought as he gazed out of a
n open window.

‘I still
have my people all around the world investigating any reports of miracles. So possibly I should ask them to seek out anyone displaying, let us say, any unusual abilities?’ pondered Cardinal Greco.

‘You are taking this painting seriously then?’ asked Cardinal Moretti.

‘Aren’t you?’ replied his friend.

‘Yes, I am. I
’ll be honest, it gave me such a strong feeling of dread it was like there was something supernatural about it’ admitted Cardinal Moretti. ‘It was if, looking at that painting I could feel all the sadness in the world’ he commented thoughtfully.

‘Maybe this painting was give
n to us as a warning that the Anti-Christ is coming and very soon?’ questioned Cardinal Greco.

Cardinal Moretti immediately turned around and just stared at him.

‘You mustn’t even say
that
!’

‘Why not, t
hat’s what we’re both thinking?’ argued Cardinal Greco.

‘What are you going to do then?’ asked
Cardinal Moretti now looking very worried.

‘I’ll have my investigators seek out this man.
Then if he does in fact exist we will find him. It will be easy to separate him from the many reports of crying statues and people seeing Jesus’ face in items of food we now seem to get almost on a weekly basis’ replied Cardinal Greco.

‘But what then?’ asked Moretti curiously ‘w
hat will we do if we find this man?’

Greco didn’t answer.

‘Cardinal Greco, what will we do if we find him?’ asked Cardinal Moretti again.

‘We’ll have no choice
, Cardinal Moretti, he must be stopped’ insisted Cardinal Greco

‘I hope you’re not saying what I think you’re saying?’ Cardinal Moretti asked as he looked
very fearful.

‘We will have no choice
but to kill him!’ whispered Cardinal Greco.

‘WHAT?’ shouted Moretti ‘
YOU CANNOT MEAN THIS?’

‘Shssss, my friend or someone will hear us’ quickly uttered Cardinal Greco in reply.

‘But how can you speak of murdering someone so glibly? I tell you
, I’ll play no part in this’ Cardinal Moretti told him firmly.

‘What other choice will we have
? If this man
is
who we suspect he is?’ questioned Cardinal Greco ‘he could destroy the world if we do not destroy him first!’ he insisted.

‘No, I’ll play no part in
this!’ insisted Cardinal Moretti again before he stormed off.

Later on, after giving the matter some more thought, Cardinal Greco composed a letter to go out to all Catholic Churches around the world.

‘
It has been anonymously reported to the Vatican that a person exists, a man who has performed miracles, but his exact whereabouts in the world is unknown to the Vatican.

Cardinal Greco in Vatican City requests that all priests report any sightings that may have been witnessed of any such man.’

30
^th
December 2020

Upper Compton,

Surrey, England.

A
fter leaving their secondary school, Alec and Tom both started work in the motor repair works owned by Alec’s father.

Alec took responsibility for all the company’s accountancy, tax returns and payroll from a former worker who had retired, whilst Tom, having now passed his car repair theory exams at school, began work as an apprentice mechanic, now learning the practical side of the business.

Both settled in
to their respective jobs very quickly and soon became very adapt at their work.

The two teenagers remained the best of friends
and in their spare time still went everywhere together.

One day towards the end of Novem
ber 2020 however, Alec collapsed in the work’s office and had to be rushed to hospital by ambulance.

The moment Tom heard the ne
ws he just dropped what he was doing and rushed to be by his best friend’s side.

‘Where is he? W
here’s Alec James?’ asked Tom urgently as he arrived at the hospital and was then directed to his empty bed as Tom’s heart immediately missed a beat fearing the worst!

‘He’s having tests, Tom’ explained Alec’s dad looking very grim faced as Alec’s mother
sat crying by his bedside. ‘I’m afraid, Tom, I’d rather be honest with you, it’s not looking very good at all’ Alec’s dad admitted to him frankly.

‘Is it OK if I stay?’ Tom asked politely as Alec’s mum just nodded her head.

So Tom just pulled up a seat and waited for more news alongside them.

Just over three hours later
, Alec’s specialist arrived to speak to them all.

‘What is it doctor, will he recover
OK?’ asked Alec’s mother as she jumped to her feet upon seeing him.

‘Is it all right to tell everyone here?’ asked the s
pecialist cautiously as he now directed them towards a separate office.

‘Yes, Tom is Ale
c’s best friend, he’s one of the family now’ nodded Alec’s dad.

The surgeon now sat down and spoke to them quietly.

‘I’m afraid Alec
has a large malignant growth in his brain’ he explained.

‘Oh God!’
uttered Alec’s mum as she immediately began to cry.

‘What can you do, Doc
tor, can you operate?’ asked Alec’s dad.

The specialist
consultant just sighed before replying.

‘I have a couple more tests to carry out
just to be certain, but I’m afraid it looks very unlikely that I will be able to operate’ he explained calmly. ‘The size of the growth and its exact location makes any surgery impossible. The brain would be permanently damaged and would only hasten the inevitable’ the surgeon informed them. ‘I’m really very sorry’ he uttered sadly.

Alec’s mum and
dad were now distraught.

‘Tell me, Doctor,
realistically, how long has he?’ asked Alec’s dad, now with tears in his eyes.

‘Not very long I’m afrai
d. He will do well to last to Christmas’ the surgeon openly admitted.

‘But you must be able to
do something to save him?’ insisted Alec’s mother.

‘Obviously I’ll keep looking, but I would
be lying to you, Mr and Mrs James, if I said I really hold out much hope’ the specialist admitted. ‘I’d rather be honest with you both’ added the surgeon.

‘No, we appreciate that, Mr Hudson’ nodded Alec’s dad
as he tried to consol his wife.

Tom visited his best friend in hospital every day after that and at first Alec seemed quite chipper, cracking jokes and admiring the prettier young nurses.

Gradually though, Alec started on a decline, until in the end he had fallen into a deep coma.

Then
on the 30
^th
December 2020 Tom received a phone call in the middle of the night from Alec’s mother. He immediately suspected the worst when he heard her voice in between her floods of tears!

‘Oh, Tom, they say Alec won’t make it through the night’
she uttered breaking down in tears again. ‘My husband has called the priest to issue Alec with the last rites’ she informed him. He’s so upset he can’t even speak to you at the moment’ she explained.

‘Can I come to the hospital
to see Alec?’ asked Tom.

‘Yes, of course,
you have been his best friend all his life. It’s only fitting you are with him at the end. This isn’t fair though, it isn’t fair. Why did this have to happen to us? Alec had such a bright future ahead of him’ she added tearfully.

‘I’ll come straight away!’ Tom
told her as he quickly said goodbye and then rushed off to get dressed.

Tom’s m
um had also heard the phone ring and she now looked at him as she stood on the landing dressed in her night gown.

‘Is it about
Alec?’ she asked.

‘Yes, it’s not looking good, Mum’ he replied.

‘Oh, Tom, I’m so sorry’ she replied.

‘I’m going to the hospital, Mum’ he explained.

‘Did they say it was all right for you to go?’ she asked.

‘Yes’ he nodded.

‘OK then, give them my love
will you’ she smiled.

‘I will’ he nodded before he ran back to
his room to quickly get dressed.

Tom then
went to rush out of his room when he just hesitated.

He
had been contemplating praying for his sick friend ever since he had discovered Alec was very ill, but he was too afraid he might be praying selfishly again.