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  ‘Well, if you won’t come to my church or help raise funds for its repair, I guess I’ll be on my way. I’m missing my beauty sleep you know’ Father Mathews joked as Tom just smiled at him.

  ‘Yes, I thought if I kept my good looks I might marry a super model one day and cause a huge scandal in the Parish’ the old priest laughed ‘now you can’t arrange that for me can you?’

  ‘Hardly’ laughed Tom as he just smiled at him.

  ‘Ay, you’re a puzzle indeed, young Tom, that’s for sure’ Father Mathews then smiled.

  ‘I’ll tell you, that was a mighty fine thing you did in there today to be sure. God bless you, Tom’ smiled the old priest making the sign of the cross before finally going on his way.

  Tom just remained there for a while before he then slowly made his own way home.

  When Father Mathews returned to his church later that morning he found a letter from the Vatican waiting for him there. Mrs O’Mally had read the postmark and shoved it into his hand the moment he walked through the door.

  ‘Ay, Father Mathews where have you been? You’re late! It’s from Vatican City!’ Mrs O’Mally told him, nudging his arm ‘maybe they want you to be the next Pope?’ she joked.

  ‘I shouldn’t think so, Mrs O’Mally seeing as they’ve only just elected his Holiness Pope Paul VII’ he smiled.

  ‘Go on then, open it!’ she insisted impatiently.

  ‘Isn’t post supposed to be private?’ smiled Father Mathews.

  ‘Not to me!’ replied Mrs O’Mally as she eagerly watched him rip open the envelope and then read the letter inside.

  ‘Well, what’s it say?’ she asked eagerly.

  ‘They just want us to notify them if we witness any miracles’ he informed her.

  ‘Oh, is that all?’ she groaned.

  ‘Well now, what did you expect, Mrs O’Mally, them to offer me a job in the Vatican?’ he laughed.

  ‘Miracles!’ she scoffed ‘like there would be any miracles happening around here!’

  ‘Well I have to disagree with you there, Mrs O’Mally, as I think I may have just witnessed one in our local hospital, only last night I’ll have you know’ he informed her with a cheeky grin.

  ‘Really, Father?’ Mrs O’Mally asked looking surprised.

  ‘Yes, it was a boy in the hospital’ he explained ‘he was expected to die, but he then inexplicably recovered.’

  ‘Oh, is that all?’ Mrs O’Mally winced.

  ‘Now, is that not a good enough miracle for you then, Mrs O’Mally?’ he smiled.

  ‘Well, I thought you were going to say something a bit more exciting than that!’ she complained.

  ‘Ay, happen I’ll have a word with God and ask him to make something a bit more spectacular happen for you next time’ he chuckled.

  ‘Ay and you shouldn’t be taking our Lord’s name in vain, Father’ she reprimanded him.

  ‘Ay, that you’re right, Mrs O’Mally’ he smiled as he waved her goodbye as he gently shoved her out the door of his office.

  *

  A bit later as he sat at his desk, Father Mathews pondered on whether he should report Tom’s miracle to the Vatican.

  He had witnessed Tom apparently bring life back to his best friend who by all medical accounts should have been dead and now lying in the hospital’s mortuary.

  Father Mathews was absolutely certain Tom had made Alec’s cancerous tumour disappear, but he was a little less certain whether he should report this incident to the Vatican.

  After a good deal of thought though, he decided it was his duty to report anything he saw. So he contacted the man whose job it was to investigate any reported miracles in both Great Britain and Ireland.

  Mr Raines was an expert when it came to investigating whether a reported miracle was a hoax or not. So far, he had proven all reports made to him to be no more than just mere hoaxes or misunderstandings. It was therefore with some scepticism that Mr Raines greeted the report of Tom’s miracle given to him by Father Mathews.

  Mr Raines personally visited Father Mathews and after speaking to both Alec’s doctor, his surgeon Mr Hudson, and Alec’s nurses at the hospital he soon became convinced that this was the very man the Vatican had been searching for.

  Raines had been informed by Cardinal Greco to specifically track down the man in the Van Gogh painting and he was now positive that Tom was that man.

  Raines himself had a photograph of the young man’s face in the Van Gogh painting and when he spied Tom himself he was astounded at their striking facial similarity.

  Raines immediately contacted Cardinal Greco to inform him of the news.

  ‘Are you absolutely certain this man fits the description I gave you and the face on the painting?’ questioned the Cardinal.

  ‘Yes, exactly’ replied Raines ‘but tell me, Cardinal Greco what is this painting?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘You don’t need to know about that, Mr Raines’ replied the Cardinal ‘tell me, what miracle did this boy actually perform?’

  ‘He cured another boy his own age who was dying of cancer’ replied Raines. ‘He definitely fits the description you gave me’ he assured the Cardinal again. ‘He’s facial features are remarkably similar to the man’s in the painting. Tell me, has no one else found anyone, anywhere else around the world?’ asked Raines keenly.

  ‘No, no one’ replied Cardinal Greco.

  ‘Then he must be your man. So, now I’ve found him, what do you want me to do?’ asked Raines curiously.

  Cardinal Greco gazed outside a window as he paused for a second.

  ‘I believe we have no choice other than to eliminate him’ he then whispered down the phone as he peered all around him to ensure that no one in the Vatican could overhear him.

  ‘Pardon me, Cardinal?’ queried Raines ‘I thought you said you wanted me to ‘eliminate him’ for a minute there?’

  The Cardinal took a deep breath as he closed his eyes as he considered what to do again, then he confirmed what he had just said.

  ‘I do!’ he then whispered ‘no, you didn’t mishear me. That was what I said’ he repeated. ‘I feel we have no other choice but to do this.’

  ‘But you cannot be serious about this, Cardinal Greco?’ queried Raines ‘I mean, this is unprecedented, I am loyal to the church, but to ask me to arrange something like this? Exactly what has this man done?’ now queried Raines.

  ‘You don’t need to know that’ muttered the Cardinal.

  ‘Well I’m afraid I do if I am to try and order something as heinous as this!’ insisted Raines.

  Cardinal Greco paused again before answering.

  ‘We believe this man to be the Anti-Christ’ whispered Cardinal Greco.

  ‘The Anti-Christ, Cardinal Greco, you can’t be serious?’ asked Raines.

  ‘I’m being deadly serious’ replied the Cardinal ‘he has the power to destroy the world if we do not destroy him first!’ he told Raines firmly.

  Raines now agonised over what he should do.

  ‘I’m not sure about this, Cardinal Greco, this is a truly heinous crime you are asking me to order’ he now repeated again. ‘How exactly have you come about this information anyway?’ he now asked.

  ‘It has been known in the Vatican for many years, my friend, we only realised yesterday when Cardinal Moretti and I were showing his new Holiness around. This man is predicted to wreak havoc upon the world in the year of our Lord 2021’ Cardinal Greco explained.

  ‘Then Cardinal Moretti knows of this also?’ asked Raines.

  ‘Yes he does’ replied Cardinal Greco.

  ‘My God!’ uttered Raines in shock. ‘Then if this man intends upon doing these evil deeds he must be stopped!’

  ‘Exactly!’ nodded Cardinal Greco.

  Raines now blew a long sigh.

  ‘Well we both know of people who are capable of carrying out such a crime, but I’ll need some
money if I am to arrange this’ Raines insisted.

  ‘How much do you think?’ Cardinal Greco inquired.

  ‘Possibly as much as ten thousand English pounds’ replied Raines.

  ‘HOW MUCH?’ exploded Cardinal Greco, temporarily forgetting himself. ‘I can’t raise that kind of money’ he immediately added whispering quietly again.

  ‘How much can you afford then?’ Raines asked.

  ‘I could wire you two thousand pounds tonight’ he answered.

  ‘OK two thousand it is then, for now’ Raines agreed ‘then three more after the deed is done, I don’t think I can get it done for any less than that’ he explained.

  ‘OK agreed’ whispered Cardinal Greco.

  ‘Tell me though, Cardinal Greco, does His Holiness know about this?’ asked Raines curiously.

  ‘Of course he doesn’t! He’d never approve of this. You must understand though, Mr Raines, this must be done, do you hear?’ insisted Cardinal Greco ‘as humanely as possible though.’

  ‘Are you absolutely sure there is no other way, Cardinal Greco?’ queried Raines.

  ‘Do not think I am making this decision lightly, Mr Raines. I believe this man to be the Anti-Christ, the evil one who if left alive will wreak death and destruction on us all in the year 2021!’ explained Cardinal Greco.

  ‘Then consider it done!’ assured Raines.

  Then he paused for a moment.

  ‘When do you want me to arrange it?’ he asked.

  ‘Straight away of course’ whispered Cardinal Greco.

  ‘OK’ replied Raines ‘I’ll let you know as soon as it is done and you can pay me the balance then, so I can then in turn make the final payment to whoever carries out this task’ and with that he hung up.

  Later that night, Cardinal Greco met up with his good friend Cardinal Moretti and he confessed to him what he had done.

  ‘You’ve done what?’ stared Cardinal Moretti as he looked at his friend in dismay ‘but you can’t even be sure that this is the right man?’

  ‘He is!’ insisted Cardinal Greco ‘this man has already performed one miracle that we know of, and he fits the description of the man in the painting exactly. He is the Anti-Christ I tell you and he must be stopped before he destroys the entire world!’

  Chapter Six

  31st December 2020

  New Years Eve

  The Great Pyramid

  Of Giza,

  Egypt.

  Four Americans taking their gap year before they took up their full time jobs were in the middle of a holiday taking them all around the world.

  New Years Eve in the year 2020 saw them getting drunk on whisky as they raced around the sand dunes of Egypt as they had fun in a rather fast dune buggy.

  By around 11.30 in the evening they were all now pretty drunk.

  ‘I KNOW, LET’S GO AND SEE THE GREAT PYRAMID!’ shouted one of the men before they raced off towards it, all screaming like banshees.

  Finally, pulling up right at the base of the great pyramid one man immediately jumped out and began using the buggies headlights to read from a guide book he took from his back pocket.

  ‘HEY! LISTEN, GUYS, LISTEN!’ he shouted to the others as he tottered all around drunk and almost fell over as the others all laughed at him.

  Undeterred he began reading from his Egyptian guidebook.

  ‘The Great Pyramid of Giza’ he started as he patted the pyramid’s side ‘right here’ he smiled ‘was the tallest man made structure for some 3,800 years, hic! Belch!’

  ‘Yeah, then they ain’t seen the Empire State Building have they?’ commented one of the others before his friend nudged him in the ribs.

  ‘Na, that wasn’t built until the 1930’s, stupid!’ he laughed.

  ‘SHUT UP, YOU LOT! I’M THE TOUR GUIDE!’ their friend with the guide book shouted before he continued.

  ‘The Great Pyramid of Khufu..’

  ‘BLESS YOU!’ another of his friends interjected as they all laughed as their friend with the guide book just paused before continuing again.

  ‘The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheeeeops, Belch! Is four hundred and eighty one feet tall’ he explained as he waved his hands all around him in an over animated fashion ‘and its corners at its base coincide exactly to the four cardinal points and, get this, its base is level to within one inch. Oooo! One inch, fancy that! Hic!’ he chuckled away as he swayed all around.

  ‘OH, SHUT UP, HANK, AND JUST GET BACK INTO THE BUGGY WILL YA!’ shouted one of his friends as another grabbed hold of him and just dragged him back into the buggy again as he still continued to try and read out aloud to them all.

  ‘Do you know, it says here that even today they don’t know how the Great Pyramid was built, hic!’ he smiled.

  ‘Don’t be stupid, everyone knows that, it was E.T. of course!’ laughed another of their friends as they set off in their dune buggy once again.

  ‘All I know is, it makes a great thing to race around!’ laughed the driver of the buggy as he raced off sending a cloud of sand dust shooting high up into the air behind them!

  ‘WEEEEEE!’ he shouted as they now all struggled to just about hang on.

  ‘Give me the wheel it’s my turn!’ argued the man with the guide book as he just reached over to grab the steering wheel off him.

  ‘GET OFF, HANK, OR I’LL END UP CRASHING THE DAMN THING!’ shouted the driver and just as he finished saying the words he lost control of the buggy and it went completely off course and smashed headlong into the Great Pyramid itself!

  The dune buggy was now turned onto its side and all four men were thrown clear, all landing head first into the sand!

  Almost immediately arguments broke out as to whose fault the accident was as they all spit the sand out of their mouths and brushed its fine dust from their faces, hair and clothes.

  ‘OH, CHRIST, FELLAS, WE’VE ONLY GONE AND DAMAGED THE DAMN THING!’ one of them suddenly shouted.

  ‘Damaged what?’ they all replied in unison.

  ‘THE DAMN DUNE BUGGY OF COURSE!’ the driver shouted angrily as the arguments continued once again as to whose fault it was.

  ‘This was your fault, Hank, you grabbed the steering wheel and now you’ve gone and damaged the dune buggy’ the driver complained.

  ‘OH, SHUT UP, YOU GUYS! FORGET THE DAMN DUNE BUGGY! LOOK! WE’VE ONLY GONE AND DAMAGED THE GOD DAMNED GREAT PYRAMID ITSELF!’ shouted another man as they suddenly all fell silent.

  ‘Where exactly?’ asked one man as he went over to investigate.

  ‘Are you sure about this, Jack? Hang on, I’ve got a torch somewhere in my bag’ replied another of the men as he went over to grab it before he came running back again.

  ‘Christ, Guys, we’ve only gone and knocked a great junk of rock out of the base of the Great Pyramid!’ now responded the man with the torch as he investigated the damage more closely. This is what comes of you two idiots arguing!’ he complained.

  ‘Look, let’s not start that again, anyway, help me push the buggy upright again and see if it still works’ suggested the driver as they all did as he asked.

  He managed to fire up the engine and then just nodded his head.

  ‘Well, one headlight’s broken, but at least it still goes. Look, we’d better get out of here before anyone notices what we’ve done to their famous ancient monument. I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t much fancy spending the rest of my life in an Egyptian jail’ he muttered.

  ‘No, me neither’ uttered another, jumping straight back onto the buggy again.

  Then as the one headlight on the buggy shined onto the base of the pyramid, one of them noticed something.

  ‘HEY!’ grab the torch someone, I think something is down there’ he announced, as reluctantly they all bundled out of the buggy once again.

  ‘What it is?’ asked one of them curiously as the man nearest reached into a crevice they had
opened up at the base of the Pyramid.

  ‘I thought I saw something metallic, but I can’t quite reach it. Who has the longest arm?’ he asked.

  ‘Hank!’ the others respond as they immediately all shoved the tall man forwards.

  ‘I’ve got the longest everything, hic!’ he smiled as the others all just laughed at him.

  ‘Yeah, you wish!’ one of them joked as he just shoved him again.

  Doing as he was told, Hank reached down into the crevice they had opened up.

  ‘Hey, he’s right, there is something down here!’ he then commented excitedly.

  ‘What is it then?’ they all asked keenly.

  ‘It’s my mummy of course!’ laughed Hank.

  ‘Oh, just get on with it will you, you dope! We need to get out of here quickly before someone notices what we’ve done’ complained another of their friends and with that Hank reached down again and pulled out what appeared to be a large metallic cup of some sort.

  ‘Heck, maybe it’s the Holy Grail itself?’ puzzled the driver.

  ‘You’ve got rocks in your head, it’s far too big for that’ commented another.

  ‘I don’t know you’d get a lot of wine in that, hic!’ joked another of their drunken gang.

  ‘Heck, Jesus would have had to be an alcoholic to drink out of something that big’ laughed another.

  ‘That top part though, it looks like a lid, but it’s moving around?’ puzzled another.

  Hank just pulled at it and eventually something moved.

  ‘Hey! Look at this, it’s an ancient scroll!’ announced the driver, now sounding very excited as hank now removed it from inside the large metal cup.

  ‘OOO!’ laughed Hank, who happened to be the drunkest member of their group ‘let’s just see if it burns!’ he chuckled away, immediately lighting his cigarette lighter right underneath it.

  ‘PUT THAT DAMN THING OUT WILL YOU, HANK! WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY?’ shouted one of his friends as he snatched the scroll from his grasp ‘THIS THING COULD BE THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD FOR ALL WE KNOW’ he insisted as they all now gathered around to study it.