The Watchers (71 page)
‘Hey, Harper, I didn’t even ask you how you are.’
‘Ask me now.’
‘How are you?’
He put his weight on the cane and pulled himself up from the fountain wall and made himself steady.
‘I’m good. Taking a bit of vacation.’
‘Send me a postcard?’
He waved.
‘Sure.’
Car doors slammed and the convoy rolled quietly over the cobblestones of the esplanade, down the hill and out of sight. Harper hobbled to the base of the belfry tower. He saw the cars speeding over Pont Bessières, flashing blue lights chasing evening shadows from the road. The cars rounded the corner at Rue Caroline and were gone.
Six deep-throated gongs rang from above.
Harper looked out over the lake, all that was left of paradise.
He turned and hobbled to the cathedral façade, standing at the massive wood doors. He waited till all the bells began to sound. He placed his right hand on the iron handle. He stood perfectly still, waiting for the bells to finish, waiting to pull open the doors and enter the nave before the last bell faded.
He saw the coin tucked in the palm of his hand.
He curled the tips of his fingers and felt the dent at the side.
He looked at his watch. Five fifty-five. Still running five minutes slow.
‘Bloody hell, what’s the rush?’
He pulled his hand from the door and turned away. He dropped the coin in his mackintosh and hobbled across the esplanade. He tucked the walking cane under his sling, grabbed the side rail and slowly counted his way down the wood steps of Escaliers du marché.
acknowledgements
My deepest gratitude to Renato Häusler, who at the time this story was written was serving as le guet de la cathédrale de Lausanne. His genuine kindness and devotion to the cathedral were the inspirations for this story.
To M. Patrick Addor, secrétaire de la Direction de l’enfance, de la jeunesse et de l’éducation for le Canton de Vaud.
To M. Giulio Pistolato, l’intendant de la cathédral de Lausanne.
To Sœur Marguerite and Mme Maret of the Lausanne Cathedral gift shop.
To Julian Magnolly of
24 Heures
and Omid Safi of Colgate University.
To Paul Reed, military historian and author.
To Georgina Capel and Doug Young for their never-ending belief.
To J. J. Gauer, l’hôtelier extraordinaire, for his never-ending encouragement.
To a handful of friends who were there when everyone else wasn’t.
To the bells of Lausanne Cathedral for allowing me the honour of their very fine company over the months I spent in the belfry loge writing the first draft.
Author’s Note
Author’s note: In writing the prologue
Quietus
, lines of Edward Thomas’s poetry, as well as lines from his diary and letters, are used as dialogue and/or narrative, sometimes without quotes, to create a realistic portrait of the man at the moment of his death, based on his own thoughts and emotions. This is also the case with the description of Edward Thomas’s War Diary. It is taken from the web page of the University of Oxford’s First War Poetry Archive.
About the Author
Jon Steele
was born in the American Northwest in 1950 and was raised in Great Falls, Montana. He worked an assortment of legal and illegal jobs all across America before joining Independent Television News of London. Jon earned a reputation as one of the world’s top cameramen in dangerous environments. His autobiography,
War Junkie
, was published in 2002 by Transworld and is today recognized as a cult classic of war reportage. In Baghdad, on the day before the Iraq War began, he put his camera on the ground and quit. Jon moved to the South of France and lived without a television, radio or newspapers for a year. He spent his days writing and taking walks in quiet places. In 2007 he travelled to Iraq, alone and without the support of any news organization. He lived for three months with an American combat unit, filming their lives and recording their emotions for the award-winning documentary,
The Baker Boys: Inside the Surge
. Currently Jon lives in Switzerland with his Jordanian-born wife and the two abandoned cats they found in an Amman road.
Also by Jon Steele
War Junkie
TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS
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A Random House Group Company
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First published in Great Britain
in 2011 by Bantam Press
an imprint of Transworld Publishers
Copyright © Jon Steele 2011
Jon Steele has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction and, except in the case of historical fact, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781446486771
ISBN 9780593067512
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Table of Contents
Book One: The Forty-Sixth Latitude of Planet Earth
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Book Two: The Place of Broken Angels
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Book Four: The Thing in the Well
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty