The Temple (23 page)

“Praise to the Lord, for He has
guided me,” Herman said. It struck him that there was a divine plan
which was responsible for taking him near the temple. Then he
realized that he, Brother Herman, was destined for greater things
than being a mere brother. It was his destiny to save the true
religion. More determined than he had ever been in his life he
hurried to the temple. He entered the grand hall and went to the
place that was reserved for Jeremiah. The sacred top hat was in its
usual place. Herman took it and put it on. Then he called for the
brethren to assemble. His voice rang strong and clear through the
building. The surprised brethren hurried into the hall where they
were astounded to see Herman again. And not only was he back, he
was wearing the sacred top hat and calling a general assembly both
of which were privileges only allowed to Master Jeremiah.

“Brother Herman,” someone said.
“We rejoice to see you again, but what is the meaning of this? How
dare you wear the sacred top hat?”

Herman briefly related what had
happened since his departure and how Jeremiah had betrayed
Dryvellism for money. The brethren looked at him in disbelief.
After a moment of silence a heated and even fierce debate broke out
between those who believed Herman and those who could not accept
that Master Jeremiah could do any wrong. Herman found himself
forgotten for the moment. He thought about what he could do to
convince the brethren of the sad truth. There was only one thing he
could think of. He hesitated for a moment because of the
camaraderie he still felt for Tancred, Richard and Bohemon, but
then he thought that they had sided with Jeremiah. And who sided
with a traitor deserved a traitor’s dues.

Herman left the grand hall and
went to Jeremiah’s office. He picked up the receiver and dialled
the emergency police number. He gave the location of the kidnapped
children and the hiding place of the kidnappers themselves before
hanging up. Then he went back to the grand hall.

Jeremiah was sitting at a table
in the flat with Tancred, Bohemon and Richard. They were working on
the revised draught of demands to the government in which they
asked for roughly the double amount of money in return for the safe
release of the hostages that Judas wanted from them.

After Herman had suddenly left
them Jeremiah suffered from a sudden outbreak of verbal diarrhoea.
He became so absorbed in his diatribe against Herman and anyone not
willing to obey his commands that he forgot about why he had come.
Finally Tancred reminded him and they were all glad to get to work
again on the matters at hand.

“You will see that I’m right,”
Jeremiah said. The government will pay anything we ask of them and
then we’ll be able to push them for things we really want.”

“You mean we won’t hand over the
hostages when they’ve paid the money?” Richard asked.

“That’s an interesting
question,” Jeremiah mused. “But unfortunately I think we’ll have to
go through with any deal we have with them. If we don’t they’ll
never trust us again and it’ll be much harder to persuade them to
do what we want. No, what I mean is when we have the money and
we’ve got rid of that blackmailer we’ll just find a new pressure
point against the government. In fact I…”

Jeremiah was interrupted by the
sound of shattering glass. Windows to the flat were smashed and
tear gas grenades came flying in. Jeremiah was petrified, but the
others dashed for their guns. Tancred was the first to open fire.
He lay under a window, held a submachine gun up and squeezed the
trigger. Moment later bullets were flying everywhere. From the
building opposite police snipers opened fire. One of the bullets
hit Jeremiah in the head.

That evening the liberation of
the child hostages and the successful operation against the
kidnappers was all over the news. People across the nation were
hugely relieved that the children were unharmed. No one cared that
the kidnappers were all dead, but people were shocked to hear that
Jeremiah, Master of the Dryvellist Temple was among them. When Cato
and Joan heard the news they jumped up from the sofa and danced for
joy.

“I knew it,” Cato said. “I just
knew that fucking Jeremiah was behind everything. Finally we’ve got
it in public. Now even our daft president will have to admit we’re
right and that Dryvellism is evil.”

“What are we going to do now?”
Joan asked. “The temple’s still there. Being rid of Jeremiah is
good, but it never was about him alone, was it?”

Cato frowned. “You’re right.
There’s still work to be done. At least now we’ll have everyone
behind us. What we need now is a huge rally demanding that
Dryvellism be banned. They can’t possibly arrest us now, not after
what happened to those kids. We’ll have the whole nation marching
with us. And you know what, dear? Let’s strike while the iron’s
hot. Call everyone and we’ll go into town tonight.”

The only person truly unhappy
about the day’s events was Judas. His dreams of sudden riches had
vanished into thin air and once again he had tried and failed to
get a personal gain from Jeremiah. He stayed at home feeling
depressed and drank one can of beer after the other while watching
TV. Later in the evening reports of a sudden rally in the downtown
area were broadcast. Pictures showed a huge crowd being led by the
Immortals in their unmistakable masks. That gave Judas an idea.

“Jeremiah may be gone,” he said,
“but there’s still a nice little reward out for the capture of the
Immortals.” He switched off the TV, put on his old worn out shoes
and went to the nearest police station to file a report against
Cato, Joan, Mark and a number of other leading figures in the
Immortals’ movement. When Cato and the others got home that night
the police were already waiting for them and placed them all under
arrest.

When Judas got his reward a few
days later the first thing he did was to pay The Jamaica Inn a
visit where he enjoyed the services that were available both
downstairs and upstairs.

The Immortals were taken to
court and charged with incitement and endangering national
security.

They tried to defend themselves
by showing that they had only demonstrated against criminal actions
of the Dryvellers.

The judge replied that “The
truth is no defence” and sentenced them to lengthy jail terms.

Following the Dryvellist plot
and the arrest of the Immortals there was nationwide outrage.
Newspapers called for urgent action, politicians called for
decisive action, the president announced some steps in the right
direction, and in the end no one changed anything.

And so after a few sports
events, a large number of sitcoms, soap operas and other televised
opium for the masses, not to mention an affair by a famous pop
singer, the whole sad story vanished from the public mind. In fact,
within a fortnight it had been forgotten.

Epilogue

Only the educated are free.

Epictetus, Discourses

Master Herman of the Holy
Dryvellist Temple stood in the grand hall and looked at the
assembled brethren. He felt their eager eyes resting on him, every
eye adding to the heavy burden he had shouldered.

“Brethren,” he said. “We have
gone through hard times together. The hatred and Dryvellophobia
that has ravaged our community have left indelible marks on our
soul. There are those who are not with us anymore and not a day
shall pass where we do not remember what they have done for us, for
Dryvellism and for the Lord. It is said that a generation of
Dryvellers is like a generation of leaves. The wind scatters the
leaves on the ground, but the living tree blossoms with leaves
again in the spring. And are we not gathered here in our living
tree, our holy temple from whence the green leaves of our faith
blossom and grow anew? Are we not like the green leaves that strive
up towards the sunlight to reap the energy and power they need in
their daily fight for survival?”

A spontaneous burst of
applause.

“I know that things have seemed
very bad at times. Let us not forget that war is the last of all
things to go according to schedule. We must learn to let go of our
expectations and hopes and at the same time learn to accept and
indeed cherish those things the Lord has thought it wise to bestow
upon us. It is manifest to all of us here that we are engaged in a
bitter struggle for survival, a war, against all those who deny
Dryvellism. It would be foolish to pray for an untroubled life in
this much troubled world. Rather we should ask the Lord to give us
enduring hearts. We must endure the hate and hostility of the
outside world, a world that has conspired against Dryvellism, while
at the same time we must always be ready to welcome with open arms
those who have the courage to admit to the truth in this hostile
world. As such it gives me special pleasure to introduce you to my
young friend Bill Slayer who has taken the first step away from the
benighted existence he believed to be life. Let us give him a warm
welcome, let us pray together.”

The congregation drivelled and
drooled and chanted a prayer of welcome to Novice Slayer.

By the same author

Captain Kim Pottinger has been
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