From: Philippa Chapman (Glastonbury, Somerset, UK.) Date: Sun 16 Feb 1997 18:00 +0000 Subject: About Time?, Part 1/3 ABOUT TIME? 'Have you noticed how the mirror tells the time?' Adrian Snell, singer/songwriter: 'In your Eyes'. The first thing that Sam felt when he finished Leaping was the sunshine. It wasn't overly hot, but pleasantly warm. He took a couple of breaths. "I can smell the sea..." He opened his eyes and looked around him. Tall pines just in front of him, emitting their own faint odour, then, through them down the hill, the unmistakeable twinkle of blue sea. Sam smiled as he felt the gentle breeze and the warm tree trunk under his hands. "This is extremely nice. I wonder where Al is." "Right here, Sam. This is some spot, eh? Ziggy has no idea why you're here...she keeps muttering the word 'peregrination' and won't elucidate." Sam looked at Al, who for once nearly blended into the background in a green suit with a brown shirt. The tie, however was gold and sparkled fiercely in the sunlight. "I think that word means 'pilgrimage'. Does that help at all?" Al consulted his Handlink. "Well, let's see where and when you are...... This is the south coast of England; the holiday resort of Weymouth is several miles to the left. You're in the grounds of a retreat house, but not monks or nuns - this place is run by a community. They are open to people of any faith or none....that's quite a development since I last went to one of these places," Al looked into the middle distance and Sam could guess what he was remembering,"Anyway, this is Summer, to be precise June 95. That's incredibly close..... You're a new worker who's just been taken on and you answer to the name of Christopher Walker, age 41. He's been a drifter, a kind of hobo. No wife, no kids, not even a girlfriend. You've got the rest of the afternoon until about 5.30 free. Ziggy says....ah, here it is; Christopher died while swimming. You have to go and take a dip and make sure he doesn't die." Sam wriggled uncomfortably. "Al, I've got no costume...." Al looked at Sam, then punched the Handlink again. "No sweat. These guys have their own private beach, clothes optional. There's no-one down there now, so the only things that are going to see you are the fish and they won't tell." 'You must take off your clothes for the doctor....' Charles Causely Sam stood up slowly and somewhat reluctantly. He spotted a narrow path going down through the trees and followed it. The wood was cool and green, the splashes of sunlight revealing sprinklings of woodland flowers and brambles. Al guided Sam to the gate at the bottom of the wood which led out into a sunlit field. "Ah, a kissing gate. A wonderful invention. You let the lady half-way through, then steal a kiss or two in payment before letting her out. I must try that with Tina some time...." "Al, please..." Sam turned to his right, climbed over a five barred gate, then continued down the next green field towards the stile at the bottom. Beyond the stile was a swathe of tall reed-like grasses which swished in the gentle breeze. A narrow wooden causeway between the rushes led down to a tiny pebble beach with soft yellow sand near the water's edge. Sam looked around, smiling with delight. "This is really beautiful. I wish I could come here for a holiday sometime." "Yes, I know what you mean. It's so unspoilt *and* secluded. I wish I could smell the sea. It's been years since I was last aboard ship," Al looked at Sam with a mixture of humour and encouragement,"Well, are you going skinny dipping or not? If I was here, I'd join you." Sam decided to give in. He took off the green jumper, jeans and T-shirt readily enough, then his socks and shoes. After a moment's hesitation, he peeled off the underpants and walked towards the water. Al smiled as Sam tested the water before diving in. Sam found that he enjoyed the liberating feeling of swimming nude so much that he stayed in for longer than he had first anticipated. "This is actually very enjoyable, Al." Al looked surprised as he hovered over the water near Sam. "C'mon. You *must* have tried it before, Sam." Sam trod water as he replied. "Not since I was a teenager....and then it was in the local lake at night." Al's eyebrows quirked upwards. "Yeah, I remember that period in *my* life. Were girls involved, too?" Sam blushed. "Well, once, yes. My first....well, the woman I first...you know. We were 19 and I was her first, too. We'd been to this rock concert the previous week and one thing had led to another. It had been really special, but the skinny dipping the following week was a disaster. I guess that put me off the idea till now. The next woman I fell for was Donna and we both know how *that* ended up. Sometimes I wish I'd had the courage to make love with her, but perhaps that would have made it worse for both of us, especially if she'd got pregnant by accident." Al looked quietly out into the distance as he kept the knowledge of Donna a secret, yet again. Al pulled out a cigar to hide his thoughts and sent smoke rings over the water. "Hey, there's a ship out there! Will you be okay for a second or two if I go and take a closer look?" Sam turned in the water as fast as he could, blushing furiously. "A ship?! Where? Can they see me?" Al chuckled. "It's barely a dot on the horizon, Sam. Not even the highest powered binoculars could spot you. A satellite, maybe. Perhaps there's a gorgeous woman in NASA who is even now drooling over pics she's down- loaded... I wish those spy satellites had been around when I was in space. I could have had Ziggy reproduce them all in 3-D. Maybe even a cute hologram babe or two." Sam continued to blush as he made for the shore. "I hope you're wrong about the satellite, Al." Al shrugged eloquently. "Hey, this is the end of the twentieth century, Sam. I sure wouldn't mind some beautiful woman checking *me* over. I don't know what you're problem is; you're a good-looking guy. I bet you'd have brightened up her day." Sam scooted into his underpants. "That's the problem, Al. Women recently seem to have got a whole lot more demanding and I just can't handle it." Al's eyes narrowed speculatively. "So that's the problem. You got burned." Sam pulled on his T-shirt. For once, the circumstances had enabled him to uncover an old memory. "Skinny dipping just now brought it all back, Al. I won't tell you her name, but as I said before, the first time was very special. I was young and more than ready to try again. You know what teenage hormones are like. A whole crowd of us went out to the lake, but we were really discreet. I started off feeling as keen as the next guy, I suppose; but when it came down to it, I just *couldn't*." Al nodded sympathetically. "Yes, I know. Over-eagerness can do that to you." Sam closed his eyes. "It gets worse. She laughed at me." Al's eyes filled with compassion. "Ouch. That's *terrible*, Sam." "The final pay-off came later. I found out that she'd spread the word. It ate away inside me for *years*. I kept worrying that next time would be the same, but longed to find a woman who would really love me and *not* laugh." Al crouched down close to Sam. "She wasn't worthy of you, kid. Nice women are sympathetic and you know as well as I do that there's more than one way of giving a woman pleasure. On the...rare occasions I've been in the same situation, the old libido has kicked in eventually and the love-making has been if anything, even better." Sam gave Al a very straight look. "Thanks, Al. But perhaps you understand now why I get nervous around women and why I long for something that goes beyond the merely physical." "Yes. Actually, we all do. I just find the physical stuff rather addictive." "I'd noticed." Al chuckled, then the Handlink beeped. "Hey, we saved Christopher's life! You can sit back and relax and wait for the Leap." Sam seemed doubtful. "I don't think it's over yet. I'm going to get dressed, so why don't you go and visit your friends in the Navy?" Sam pointed at the distant grey blob on the horizon. "Okay, Sam. I'll be back with you in a minute." By the time Sam had put on all his clothes again, Al returned. His eyes were gleaming. "That's a fine Destroyer they've got in the British navy. They've even got a few WRENS on board. I'm glad I'm not still serving. The temptation of women on board for weeks on end would be *torture*. It's a good crew, though, I'll give them that." Sam stood up and brushed sand from the seat of his jeans. "Back up the hill?" Al nodded in answer and they went back through the wood towards the complex. Sam got his first really good look at the place. Although it was made of grey stone, the house seemed warm and welcoming. "Victorian?" Al answered Sam's query. "Yes, some of it. Part of the building is all that's left of an earlier farmhouse, then there's a modern wing that you can't see behind to the right and a chapel over there on the left. Your mission, Sam should you decide to accept it, is potato peeling duty in the kitchen, thataway." "You've been watching old re-runs of 'Mission Impossible' again, haven't you?" "Yes. It's Barbara Bain. I have this weakness for ice-cool blondes with guns inside their stockings and nifty spy gadgets." Sam grinned. "I'm with you on the gadgets. I always fancied doing that espionage stuff, all plot and counter-plot and not knowing for sure till the end who is really on your side. They ought to make a movie of it." Al grinned back. "Last I heard, they were going to shoot it. I'll keep a copy of the video for you when it comes out." [Author's note: This is as close as I get to paying tribute to Mr and Mrs Smith. Another excellent show down the pan. IT'S NOT FAIR!] Sam dutifully made his way to the kitchen and started on the potatoes. After five minutes or so, a petite dark haired woman entered. "Evening, Christopher. I'll get on with the cheese." Al gave the lady the once-over. "Hmmmm, not bad. This is Karen, she's joint leader of this place with her husband, James. Apparently they're trying for a baby, but no luck yet. Ziggy doesn't tell me whether they were successful or not. Speaking of James....." A tall man with dark brown hair and eyes entered the kitchen and kissed Karen's hair. "Okay, love?" The beautiful smile that came over her face said the rest. Sam thought, He turned his attention back to the potatoes, fighting a mixture of loss and jealousy. Once the potatoes were done, Sam laid the table in the dining room next door whilst the other members of the Community came in and helped with the evening meal. At last they all sat down and Al went round the table, 'introducing' them to Sam. "Okay, you know James and Karen. This is Tom, the groundsman - actually they all pitch in on most jobs here - this is their craft expert, Sonja. She's Swedish. Boy, she could paint me in the nude any day.....sorry, Sam. I do mean her, not me; although if we were both naked..... Okay, then," Al pulled his attention away from Sonja's considerable charms with some reluctance,"Then these are the current guests; the Reverend Tony Draper and his wife Stella, another Reverend - ah, this one's a Catholic priest - Father Riley, then the old dear at the end is a widow, Alison Mitchell. That's your lot. I'll go and check on Ziggy and Christopher and get back to you."