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‘Today, Maxine, I want you to be in charge of deciding where people should go to. You’ll be posted in the HQ hut. You have all had a couple of days exploring, so it is time to start looking for what you enjoy doing in the SMG. Maxine showed great promise and it isn’t a laborious task, but it has eternal importance for the souls involved. How do you feel about that, Maxine?’ the curator asked the raven-haired woman. Eloise and the other explorers looked across at Maxine, waiting for her reply.
Maxine inhaled sharply. ‘Yes, I would like to do that for an hour or so. I don’t want to be pigeonholed though, and I wish to take part in other activities today.’ She looked back across at the curator with a steely look in her eyes. Maxine always knew what she wanted, and like Damien didn’t appreciate being held back. Maxine had never held the curator or Eloise on a pedestal, unlike Hector. She continued, ‘After all, I am meant to be management like Eloise and yourself, so I should be able to choose what to do and when to do it, until such a time comes when I’ve experienced everything I can.’
‘Very well. I think an hour in HQ for you, and then we shall reconvene. How about that?’
Maxine felt pleased that she had managed a compromise with the curator, who seemed to be becoming more like a colleague now. ‘I agree. Nancy, do you want to come and help?’ Maxine looked across at her new friend and winked.
Nancy didn’t miss the non-verbal communication and nodded eagerly. ‘I would love to, Maxine. This is so unlike anything we could do on Earth. Let’s do it!’
***
MAXINE AND NANCY MADE their way over to the hut in the forbidden zone, relishing the smell of the sea and woodland on the walk.
Nancy said, ‘It’s a shame that this is a forbidden area. It’s so nice here, like a national park or something.’
Maxine glanced over to Nancy and sighed. ‘It’s a control thing from the curator. She’s a bit of a dictator I think. Before you got here, I was in a kind of solitary confinement because I continued looking for new portals when I was told to stop. I mean, why shouldn’t I have looked for them? I wanted to see what I could see from my old life. It doesn’t make any sense. Anyway, I’ve digressed. I suppose it’s because they didn’t want to force the next part of my journey and it was a punishment. Not as bad as Cuthbert though...poor sod. He was punished for something or another, by being put into solitary in the forbidden zone, basically forever. He was something like two hundred and fifty years old before he was allowed to continue on his spiritual journey.’
Maxine stopped talking and looked into the distance, seeing nothing but more trees. She had a mischievous glint in her eye, making Nancy frown. ‘What is it, Maxine? What are you planning?’
‘You’ll see, love. They are expecting me to sit like a good girl today, making good decisions about where to send people. I’m not known for having a rebellious streak for nothing.’
Nancy laughed. ‘I’ve been a good girl all of my life. I was faithful to Damien in my heart, even when I was with his best mate after he vanished. And I dedicated myself to bringing up the kids on my own, so I might well join you in being rebellious for once.’
Maxine looped her arms through Nancy’s, and they walked with a spring in their step right to the control hut. Before they entered, Maxine pointed at a single chair that sat incongruously in the centre of the huts. ‘That is where Cuthbert sat for all those years. Long after cataracts claimed his eyesight.’
‘That is shocking.’ Nancy shook her head. ‘Come on, let’s get sending people on their way.’
When the pair entered the hut, Nancy took a step back, gobsmacked by the interior. Looking around at all the screens, she said, ‘I could never have even guessed that something like this existed in the afterlife. We’re conditioned to think it is heaven or hell—or nothing, I guess, if you aren’t religious. And not forgetting the reincarnation route for Buddhists. I think.’ She screwed up her face, trying to remember her religious studies classes from school.
Maxine laughed. ‘And even if they did believe in that stuff, what did it ever matter? In the end, it comes down to a pair of middle-aged women, not their God.’
‘Middle aged? Speak for yourself!’ Nancy playfully elbowed her friend in the ribs. That seemed to snap Maxine out of her melancholy, and the spark in her eye began to twinkle once again.
‘Right, let’s get to it.’ Maxine plonked herself down in a massage chair and turned to the screen that she had used previously. Nancy breathed in deeply, enjoying the aroma of nature coming in through an open window. Spotting the delightful sight of a wine fridge, she reached in and retrieved a bottle of Prosecco and a pair of expensive looking, finely decorated wine glasses. Without asking Maxine, she poured them both a large drink then sat next to her new friend.
‘Here’s for the new order of things around here. Cheers!’
‘Cheers’, replied Maxine, and they clinked their glasses together. ‘You haven’t seen this before. The boys and me only saw it before you arrived. People will pop up on the screen who have died before their time, and we decide what happens to them. We don’t even have to say, we can just think it and they will meet their fate, though I think we should discuss each one. When we have decided, a coloured banner will appear, signifying the decision, then the next person will appear.’
‘What happens to the people who have died without someone here to decide their fate?’ Nancy asked, lines of worry creased across her forehead.
‘They just float in limbo, in blissful ignorance, until their fate is sealed. Anyway, as I was saying, banners. Red sends them to hell, orange means eternity in a cold dark grave, blue for heaven, and brown for reincarnation.’
They sat facing the screen, and a young man appeared. He wore a pair of thick glasses and had a look of sadness that being teased often brings. Maxine waited for the accompanying information to appear, but nothing did. She looked at Nancy and shrugged. ‘What do you think?’
Nancy took a long look at him and said, ‘He looks sad, doesn’t he? I think heaven for him.’
Before Maxine could comment, a blue banner appeared and the man disappeared to be replaced by a slim woman. This time, text appeared underneath the photo.
––––––––
Erica
Age 42
Dedicated mother and wife
Died from carbon dioxide poisoning cooking a barbecue by a tent
Defrauded her employer of £200,000
‘WOW, THIS IS A TOUGH one, Nancy!’ said Maxine, her eyebrows making a bid for freedom in the space below her hair. What do you think?’
‘Her motherhood and devotion should say heaven, but her crimes say otherwise. Not enough for hell, so I think reincarnation.’ The screen flashed brown.
This routine continued for an hour, and the women thoroughly enjoyed themselves. On the way back to the village, Maxine said, ‘You know what? I intended to send everyone to hell just for the crack, but there must be a glimmer of humanity in my soul after all.’
Nancy laughed loudly. ‘Of course you have humanity, you daft bat, or you wouldn’t be here.’
Maxine nodded with gratitude and smiled across at Nancy.
They were negotiating the pigs when Nancy gasped. ‘What is it?’ Maxine asked.
‘I haven’t had a chance to tell you yet. I couldn’t tell you in front of the curator or Eloise...’ Maxine stopped and looked at Nancy with wide eyes, waiting for the bombshell that she knew was coming. ‘When Damien and I went to my funeral, the vicar spoke to us at the graveside after all the mourners had gone.’
‘What? Really? Are you joking?’
‘No. I am not joking, and you’ll never guess what...he is the curator’s boss! He is called The Vicar.’
‘Get out of town!’ Maxine exclaimed, her jaw dropping open. ‘The curator has always ducked that question—the one about if she is a God or whatever—but now we know the truth. Eloise is the same as us, and the curator is just one notch above. No wonder the woman has been acting all high and mighty to keep us under control. Wow, I can’t wait to see her face when I pull her up on it.’
‘No, Maxine, think about it. We should keep it under our hats that we know about her. We can use it to our advantage when it’s called for. If she knows that we know, then we won’t be able to use it as leverage. The vicar did say that whatever the curator says is law, but I don’t know if that is entirely true or not.’
‘I think I love you, Nancy. What a brilliant idea.’ Maxine nodded. ‘Of course, you and Damien are completely right about keeping hush hush. This is going to be epic!’ The pair continued their walk back to the village, but with a much more happy and optimistic feeling about the future.