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Eloise had been firmly put in her place, but she looked grateful for the curator’s kind handling of the situation with Hector. Nevertheless, she groaned when the curator reached into her handbag and pulled out a laptop. Hector looked on in amazement, although he struggled to hide his slightly puzzled expression. He gestured at the designer bag and looked over to Damien. ‘That must be like a Mary Poppins bag!’
Chuckling, he retorted, ‘Didn’t your Ehefrau have a handbag? Us guys all know that their bags are a mystery and don’t follow the usual laws of the universe.’ He sat giggling to himself like a naughty schoolboy.
Nancy frowned at the men and tutted. ‘Don’t be so rude, you two. The curator will whip your butts. I see that death hasn’t dampened your cheekiness, Damien.’
The four women exchanged knowing looks, their eyes twinkling with mischief. ‘It’s good to know that you boys are still under the thumb, even after you’ve died,’ said Maxine while pushing her thumb down on top of an invisible head.
Both Hector and Damien looked down at their shoes, having been put firmly in their place. Maxine and Nancy cackled like witches while Eloise sat with a smug smile. ‘Make the most of having a laugh, guys. Today is going to frazzle your brains.’
The curator perched her glasses on the end of her nose, looking for all the world like a teacher as she smiled kindly at Eloise.
‘Thank you, Eloise, you have sat through this lesson many times, so feel free to help them with their learning.’ She turned her attention to the new members of the SMG. ‘Make no mistake, today is going to be hardcore learning. Be heartened though, for there’s no exam, and from here on in, it’s practical learning.’
With no visible projection machinery inside the room, a mystery patch of white appeared on a wall, closely followed by a familiar screensaver. A photo of the bay appeared, and the men relaxed as if a vision of their childhood comfort blankets had been displayed before them.
‘As you know, this is where everyone first arrives on the island. It is also where all of you, except Nancy of course, found a portal. Damien destroyed it.’ The curator peered at the culprit, who looked at his hands as a way of avoiding eye contact.
‘No matter,’ she continued, with a businesslike smile and a wave of her hand. ‘You don’t need portals now to move between here and Earth. And we can speak about why and when you may wish to generate new portals in the future.’
Turning to the wall, she clicked her fingers, and a long bullet-pointed list of topics appeared. There were about a hundred in total, all in a tiny font, presumably to make sure they all fit on the display. Eloise smirked, but the newcomers gasped and looked at each other with their mouths agape.
The curator clapped her hands together to refocus everyone’s attention. ‘Settle down. Any questions so far?’
Maxine half raised a tentative hand. ‘How are we meant to take all this in? This looks like harder work than doing a degree.’ She made a face, and her eyes looked about ready to pop from their sockets.
The curator smiled and nodded thoughtfully. ‘My dearest Maxine, forget about your academic ability from when you were a pre-dead. Now you have supernatural ability and will be able to absorb the lessons with ease. The practical side takes practice, but just remember that you are in charge of any situation and you won’t go wrong.’
Turning back to the group, the curator fixed her hands on her hips. ‘Anyone like to hazard a guess as to why we have a forbidden area on the island?’
Damien shrugged and set his mouth in a line. ‘I’d say to do two things: to hide the control screen hut, and, moreover, to set down a test barrier. After all, the border wire isn’t difficult to cross physically, but mentally, it’s a tough decision to make. It’s helping to keep the inhabitants under control. That’s my guess anyway.’
A proud smile spread over the curator’s face. ‘That’s right. The people need to know their place, and they can only do that by following our rules. You need to rule with a hard line, usually, but that’s not to say you can’t be compassionate. The reason you knew that you didn’t know what the rules were, especially the unspoken ones—the ones that scared you—is that they didn’t exist. Your own mind kept you prisoner. It’s up to you how you want to play it when you have your own island, but I promise you it is more straightforward to keep the people under control than it is to try and regain control once it’s been lost.’
The curator looked at the new members, who, as she expected, looked pretty shell shocked. ‘With me so far?’
Of the group, Nancy looked the most calm at this point. ‘So, in a nutshell, we get to be the boss and lay down the law, when all our lives we’ve been trampled on by other people?’
The curator nodded with a steely expression. ‘Exactly that, Nancy. You’re a fast learner.’
‘I’m beginning to like being dead. And it’s a bonus that I still get to be with Damien.’ She gasped as a frightening thought took hold of her. ‘What about Marcus and Hope? Can I see my children?’ Her eyes glistened with pleading as she stared at the curator, desperately hoping for a positive answer.
Lifting her cup, the curator raised an eyebrow when she realised it was empty. ‘Of course you can decide when to see them. However, they won’t be able to see you; that would really screw them up forever, and I am sure you wouldn’t want that. I’d advise you to see them sparingly in the flesh, and only from time to time via monitoring. It will be far less upsetting for you to see them only occasionally and be proud of them, rather than seeing them all the time and becoming overly frustrated at your inability to influence their lives. You can directly influence other people, but family...’
Nancy, feeling satisfied and happy with the curator’s answer, sat back in her chair and prepared for the next part of the day to commence. Hector had already scuttled off to the kitchen; the curator’s raised eyebrow had been enough of a cue for him to fetch the next round of hot drinks.
The group sat chattering amongst themselves for ten minutes. Eloise wasn’t included much because, although she was now at the same level as Damien and the others, they still viewed her as being their island’s keeper.
The curator was happy to keep her distance too, preferring to stand and look out of the window so she could watch the other villagers. Mel always amused her; he was such a fun guy, always making other people laugh when he could. I’ll think about giving him more jobs. I think he’d like the challenge.
Once she had drained her drink, which was far too hot for a normal human to swig, the curator resumed the meeting. It didn’t matter that the others weren’t quite ready, no one dared to ask her to wait.
With a serious face, the curator spoke in a low voice. ‘As you saw yesterday, the decisions that you make have eternal repercussions. Maxine did a sterling job. The key is to not think too hard in those situations where you have a lot of decisions to make; instead, let your own subconscious and moral compass guide you.’ She began to laugh. ‘My God, you lot look so serious. There is no right or wrong here; it’s all up to you. Nancy, you didn’t see what happened yesterday, but Maxine looked at a screen and decided the next step in the spiritual journey for a couple of people.
‘You won’t be able to retrospectively change anyone’s journey—that’s my pay grade. Nancy, you met Eloise and myself in what was your living life, so you know it is possible to visit life on Earth. When you met Eloise in the hospital, she made sure that there were no problems with yours or Hope’s care. I made it absolutely clear that I didn’t want there to be any problems for you, not so soon after Damien had come here, so I organised for her to be there. You met her at the Sheffield Dog’s Home too, and I knew you had to have Rocky. Eskimo wouldn’t have smelt your illness or seen Damien when he visited you.’
Nancy interrupted. ‘How about at the grooming parlour?’
The curator smirked. ‘That was to play with your mind, and it worked, it seems.’
Damien shuffled uncomfortably, even though his wife seemed to see the funny side. ‘I’m sorry, but why would you want to play with Nancy’s mind?’
She leant forward and whispered, ‘You are on thin ice now, Damien, questioning my personal motivations.’ She sat back and clasped her hands together. ‘However, let’s not sour the day. I just wanted to keep her on her toes and see if she might consider a supernatural connection. Subconsciously, she joined the dots, and that’s when I knew she would make a grand addition to the realms of the SMG.’
Maxine had a glint in her eye. ‘So what you are saying, is that we get to see what happens in people’s subconscious?’
‘Hang on a minute,’ interrupted Hector. ‘So you knew where Damien and I were when we had our grand exploration of the island?’
Giggling, which was quite strange for the authoritarian figure, the curator nodded. ‘Yes, I did.’ She turned away from Hector and cleared her throat. ‘Let’s move on. We’ve used a lot of time looking back—quite right, too—but now, let’s look to the future. There is a lot of it now you are immortal.’
Her statement broke the ice that had crept in since she had spoken to Damien with the venom of a snake, and a feeling of happiness settled over the attendees.
‘Damien and his family became a project for me, simply because he came to be on this island. I have not come across a couple like this, who are so dedicated to each other and their offspring, for many years. Over a hundred I’d say. It has been an honour to host someone whose spirit wants to look forward and make the most of the day ahead. Hector too has benefitted from Damien being here. Anyway, before I get too sentimental, let’s get back to business.
‘In a nutshell, anything you want to do, you can. Eloise was a midwife when Nancy was giving birth to Hope, and you may wonder why the staff at the hospital didn’t raise an eyebrow at a stranger in their midst. The answer is simple—supernatural power is amazing. But, always remember, with power comes responsibility. You know what is in the future for the person you are dealing with, but they don’t. So be kind, and be mindful that there might be unforeseen consequences.
‘As you know, Eloise and I made sure that Nancy got the only dog from the shelter that would indicate that she needed to go and see the doctor. That dog also saw Damien in the family’s house. Remember, Damien, when you jumped through the rock pool?’ Damien suddenly felt like a child being called out in class. He averted the gazes of everyone in the room by pulling at a loose thread on the sleeve of his jumper, trying his best not to blush.