The Great Assumption

SEVEN

  It matters not what mayest happen; it matters much how ye take it.

  Julius Mann, Collection, vol. 30, ch. 3

  Roy highlighted the number 236-067 on screen and clicked the call option. A man’s voice answered. Roy found himself unprepared to reply. It was happening too fast.

  The man answered again.

  “Pete? This is Reverend Hoyle,” he said, fearful of losing him.

  “Well, nice to hear from you, Reverend,” came a casual reply.

  Pete Carter was a man who loved the outdoors, and the only time he was not seen in short-sleeved shirts and shorts was Sundays in church when he wore a suit. His wife Susie always appeared cheerful, even though she had undergone five major operations in the last three years. Roy had never heard her utter a bad word about anyone.

  “As you probably guessed,” Pete continued, “we weren’t at church Sunday. Hope that wasn’t why you put this urgent call-me-now on our TC like this. I didn’t know you were so concerned for us. But,” he added with a laugh, “I’ll promise we’ll never miss another one again.”

  “Pete, what do you think’s going on?”

  “Going on with what, Reverend?”

  “With what’s happening.”

  “Why, what’s happening?”

  “Have you heard the news?”

  “No, I’m afraid we haven’t. See, we have only this minute come in the door. We’ve been away,”

  “You went away?” Roy sensed some hope starting to develop. “Where did you go?”

  “Up to Lake Bungston. We go there now and then. It was where we went for our honeymoon, see. We like to go back every once and a while, although we haven’t been able to for a couple of years now. You know how things can get away from you. We only just got back a couple of minutes ago, as a matter of fact. Susie went straight for the TC to see if we had any messages. Well, as soon as we saw it was our church requesting an urgent call, she got sorta panicky, you know? I told her she didn’t need to worry, that you don’t check up on us like the last one. You know we used to be in that awful cult, that thing started by that fraudster, that woman who said she regularly went to heaven and brought back divine messages for us? And that she had these disciples who told us they were being prepared to save the world, and they could help us do the same?”

  “Yeah, sure, I remember.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. And these people tried to check up on everything we did, and they kept records and everything. We really got panicky when one day we spotted them following us around, just keeping an eye on us. We should have guessed they were a fraud when they kept on insisting on having our money. I know the Kingdom church doesn’t do anything like that. That’s why we were both so pleased to have found your church, Reverend. It’s like being free. But anyway, as I was saying, Susie didn’t want to call you herself, seeing that she thought it was real important, so she brings me inside before I’ve had a chance to get everything out of the car.”

  “Pete, have you heard any news at all?”

  “No, what’s happened? Not a disaster or something?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me. No one is really sure about what it is, although there’s a lot of crazy ideas around. It seems that a lot of people have disappeared. No one seems to know how, or why. And they still want people to report anyone who is still missing.”

  “That’s terrible news. How many missing people are we talking about here?”

  “The current number is now up around the 80,000 mark, but they suspect there’s more.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not. And that’s just St Antipas. I’ve heard it’s a world-wide crisis, although I’ve got no idea what sort of numbers are missing elsewhere, like on the mainland.”

  “Reverend, if this wasn’t you talking, I’d swear this was some sort of joke.”

  “It’s no joke. The world’s gone crazy. And our church, the interior, especially the auditorium, has been broken into and messed up a bit by these street people, but I managed to save it.”

  “Messed up? That’s terrible.”

  “It was just street people; nothing to worry about. They thought we wouldn’t be needing our church any longer, so they tried to claim it for themselves. I was a bit too harsh, and called the police, and made the police hit on them. But I guess it’s all sorted out now. I’ll try to find them again and sort the whole misunderstanding out.”

  “Why would they think we wouldn’t need out church? Are you saying some people from the church are missing too?”

  “As far as I know, most of the congregation are missing.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I’m doing my best to locate them. I’ve found Lenny Sharma.” Roy remembered that he had reported Lenny as missing to the police. He told himself that he could call them again after he answered all the replies, and hopefully found others.

  “Lenny Sharma? You mean that young Indian fellow; plays the guitar in the youth band?”

  “That’s him. And besides you, I’ve got three other replies to answer. That means there must be three others like you, safe and sound.”

  “Who are they, do you know?”

  “I’m just putting their names up on the screen now. Here they come. The first is Ida Zarman.”

  “Good old Ida. At least she’s safe.”

  “And there’s Sheri-Anne Wendell.”

  “I don’t think I know that one. Let me think.”

  “She’s the solo mother with two daughters.”

  “I can’t place her.”

  “The other name is Lenny Sharma. At least he still wants to talk to me.”

  “Why do you say that? Doesn’t he want to talk to you?”

  “I met him at the church last night. He was really scared and talking all this nonsense, this doom and gloom stuff, scaring himself with some book he’s been reading. He ran off before I could talk sense to him.”

  “What was he saying, exactly?”

  “Oh, end-times stuff, you know; doomsday stuff, he must have got from some end-time book, you know the sort.”

  For the first time Roy wondered if it was Lenny who broke into the church library. The missing books were on the same subject, and he had never heard Lenny talking about it before. But he could not understand that if Lenny was the thief then why he did not simply ask for the books. He had used the library numerous times. Roy told himself to forget it, realising that the missing books could not be compared to missing people.

  “Was it premillennialist eschatology?” asked Pete.

  “It sounded something like that, yes. Do you know that teaching?”

  “I do, yes. I know end-times stuff may not be one of the official teachings of your church, but Susie and myself have a certain leaning toward it.”

  “I understand, and I’m not about to enforce my personal end-time opinions on you or anyone else. I just wish the people who write books on the subject would follow the same policy. As far as I’m concerned, the future is entirely God’s business.”

  Roy stopped when he heard Pete talking to Susie. She cried at the news and Roy grimaced. “Just stay calm,” he called. “I’m doing everything I can. The police are out there doing everything they can. We’ll get it sorted out soon enough, but just stay calm.”

  “Susie says that both of our neighbours are out. Man, they never go out.” His voice was weak with fear.

  “Watch your TC, the NewsText especially, to keep up-to-date with what’s going on. I’ll be over to see you as soon as I can.”

  “Yeah, sure. Look, Reverend, you wouldn’t mind cutting this conversation short, would you? See, I would like to call my niece, she’s minding our children, you understand.”

  “You mean your children aren’t with you?”

  “No, they’re with my niece. Have been since Friday.”

  “Yes, call them now. Call me if you find out anything, all right?”

  Roy tried to sound calm, but he knew there was a good chance that Pete’
s niece was one of the missing. They both said good-bye and hung up. Roy whispered a prayer that their children were safe. He read their names on the screen, all with accompanying notes that signified their participation in the church. Marlene the daughter, Reed and Lewis the two sons. All three were involved in Sunday-school programmes. An additional note added to Marlene said the twelve-year-old was currently going out with the oldest son of Cindy Dewar, another regular attendee. Kingdomite policy was to encourage marriages in the church, and so this budding relationship was seen as something to monitor and encourage.

  They must still be here, surely.

  Roy looked at the other names on the screen, waiting for his call. He had not yet contacted two of them. He wondered if they too had missed the news. Explaining it was more difficult than he imagined it would be. He told himself to get on with it, if he wanted to find everyone.

  Be professional, Roy.

  Ida Zarman was an elderly widow, and a missionary in her younger days. Now she was happy to put her energy into making the tea and coffee for the services. She was an important member of the congregation too, as her voice would always sound out clear and strong. Roy knew he had to be gentle with her, as her mind could sometimes wander and she would forget where she was.

  “Ida?” Roy said as soon as the call was answered.

  “Yes,” she said uncertainly.

  “Ida, this is Reverend Hoyle.”

  “Oh, Reverend Hoyle,” she said with relief. “How nice to hear your voice again. You’re the first soul I’ve heard from, do you know that?” she said pleasantly.

  “Ida, I’m sorry I’ve not called earlier, but I have been so busy, and I didn’t know who was here and who wasn’t. Thanks for returning my message.”

  “Reverend, I was so pleased you sent me a message. I’ve been hearing all sorts of dreadful things. But I’m so glad you’re here with us.”

  “Is everything all right with you?”

  “Yes, I’m coping just fine, thank you.”

  “Ida, you stay where you are. I’ll be right over to see you.”

  “Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” she replied with happiness in her voice that always came when she was about to receive a visitor.

  When Roy said good-bye and rang the next number on the screen he was pleased that Ida did not ask him about the church. He would prefer to share such bad news with her in person, just in case she took a turn for the worse.

  Shari-Anne Wendall was a familiar name to many church leaders in town and was sometimes mentioned in their regular get-togethers. She was known to try one church for a while and then move on to try another. Over the last six months she appeared to have settled down. She was now infrequently attending two churches; Roy’s and Rick Rheem’s. When the two leaders met to discuss the problem they decided that since she was known to be such an unstable person, they would let her do as she wished in the meantime. It was an interesting experience for both churches when they shared their Shari-Anne computer files. Roy was particularly interested in what had been recorded by Rick Rheem’s church. He had imagined it to be extensively detailed, but it only contained the barest material, which made Roy’s file look all the more conspicuous and even intrusive. No comment about it was made by Rick, as it was a well known ethic between leaders to not question how others ran their ministries.

  “Hello?”

  It was Shari’s voice. Roy remembered it when he heard her. He had only spoken to her a couple of times when saying farewell at the door after services. She was always polite but gave little away. Although the details were sketchy and only provided by other church leaders, he knew she had a life of misfortune. He would need to be gentle with her too.

  “Shari? This is Reverend Roy Hoyle.”

  “Oh, hello Reverend.”

  “Thanks for returning my message.”

  “Yeah. You said you wanted me too, so I did.”

  “Is everything all right with you and the girls?” He called up her file on screen and glanced over the notes about her two daughters. One was aged nine, the other seven, and both had different surnames from their mother.

  “We’re fine, thank you.”

  “I take it you’ve heard the news?”

  “Yeah. I haven’t been able to go to work, you know? School’s out, and all. I just wish it can all be sorted out. It’s weird.”

  “Shari, I’d like to pay you a visit sometime soon. Just to be able to chat, and get us all through this time of uncertainty.”

  “If you want.”

  She was keeping her voice expressionless and Roy did not know if it was her usual personality or it she was being evasive.

  “Shari, I’ve been in contact with several other people from our church, the ones I’ve managed to contact so far.”

  “You mean people from your church are missing too?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “How many?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “One of two? How many?”

  “Shari, it’s most of them.”

  “Oh, no.”

  For the first time her voice showed emotion and Roy took heart from it.

  “But it’s not all bad news, Shari. So far, I’ve located Ida Zarman, Pete and Susie Carter, and Lenny Sharma.”

  “I don’t know any of those people,” she said with her voice back to her usual drab tone.

  “Well, it’s a start.”

  “What about Christine Harrison? Is she all right?”

  Roy smiled as he remembered Christine becoming friendly with Shari. If anyone could break through and be a good friend to a new church member, it was Christine. She was one of the strongest believers Roy knew, and he was only too pleased to have her in his church and on his board. She was one of many he dearly wished he knew the whereabouts. His smile was heavy with regret.

  “No, I’m sorry, I don’t yet know where Christine is.”

  “Oh.”

  “But don’t worry; I’m hot on the trail to locating them. I’ve found you and your girls, haven’t I? It won’t be long before I’ve rounded up everyone else in the church, God willing.”

  “But I’m not really a part of your church; not really.”

  “Of course you are.”

  He spoke with confidence, looking at her attendance record. According to the latest update, she was an official “good attendee”. That was better than many others who had been attending the church for all their lives.

  “Reverend, I’ve got a confession to make. See, I’ve not only been going to your church, but I’ve gone to another one, at the same time.”

  “You have,” Roy asked innocently.

  “I hope you don’t mind.”

  “No, I don’t mind. But I hope you understand you can’t keep alternating between the two. One of these days you’ll have to decide which one to attend and which one to let go. I mean, you must think of your girls. They need a stable religious platform to base their faith on. Their Sunday School activities will get a little mixed up if they are attending two at the same time, don’t you think?”

  “Oh, they only do Sunday School at your church. We go to this other one at night, when they don’t have Sunday School. Although last Sunday I tried another church.”

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, I think the pastor’s name was Doug Paull, or something like that.”

  “Yes, that’s right; I know him quite well,” Roy said as he nodded to himself, remembering that Doug’s church was one of the few left in the city that she had not tried. “How did it go?”

  “Real bad. There was no one there, no one turned up. We just went home. It was too late to go to your church then, so we just went home.”

  “I see.” Roy decided to tell her nothing about what happened to Doug’s house.

  “Do you think I would be missing too if I went to his church, instead of yours and this other place?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Well, his church was all empty. I’ve heard of other churches
where only a few have been left, a few where about half were gone, and others that only lost a few. The one I went to, they’ve all gone. Why do you think that happened? Why would some churches have a few missing, and others have everyone missing?”

  Roy remembered Rick Rheem saying something about losing some of his people. He then dismissed the thought and told himself to concentrate on Shari.

  “I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the churches. It’s bigger than that.”

  “Then what has it got to do with? What’s going on?”

  “I wish I knew, I really do. But just stay where you are, keep watching the TC, and I’ll be keeping in touch.”

  “If you want.”

  “I do. I care for you, and for your girls.”

  “Well, all right. But remember, I’m not sure if I want to keep going to your church or not.”

  “At this time none of us can be sure of anything. But I think it’s important we stick together. I don’t mind if you continue to stay with me, or go to Rick Rheem’s church full time. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

  “How did you know I went to Rick Rheem’s church?”

  “You told me you were attending another church.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t say what church it was.”

  “You didn’t? Well, I guess I must have heard it somewhere. I’m good friends with Rick, and perhaps he mentioned you sometime. We talk about a lot of things to do with church activities, and who may be attending. We really do care for you, you see?”

  Shari accepted his answer and Roy breathed a sigh of relief after he said good-bye. Few people knew the lengths they went to keep tabs on them, and none of the church leaders wanted it to be common knowledge. To make it worse, Shari seemed like exactly the sort who would overreact to the idea of being monitored. Roy feared it might destroy her confidence or even her trust in them. It said that in her record too.

  After trying to reach Lenny with no success, Roy left a message for him and went to visit Ida. She lived in a small house designed for retirees, part of a long row of others of identical construction. Roy parked his car in front of her door and she had it open for him as soon as he stepped out.

  She had a wide range of food ready for him, as well as tea that she could make just right. They chatted about the church and Roy felt at ease, like everything was normal again; Ida could talk about her past and Roy could be the good Reverend who enjoyed listening to her. Then she began to talk about one of her favourite subjects: God’s graciousness.

  “God told me, I heard his voice clearly, that he had allowed many of his people to be removed, for his glory, but he had not allowed me to go. That was what he said.” She nodded to herself with an infectious smile that showed her white teeth. Her face was heavily lined, and her large glasses somehow remained fixed atop her tiny nose. Her white hair was long, but Roy had only ever seen it tied up as a bun.

  Roy himself wondered why God had allowed the church to be overrun by the street people, but he was not prepared to share that with Ida. He let her speak on.

  “And when they came,” Ida continued, “and they did come even thought they were not allowed, I rebuked them in Jesus’ name. Oh!—you should have seen them run!”

  She laughed heartily and Roy laughed with her, wondering if she had been dreaming the incident. Over the years he had heard of all kinds of strange stories from her, mostly involving her days on the mission field, and he knew never to express his doubt. She was old enough to be humoured in whatever she said.

  After staying a good part of the afternoon without mentioning the state of the church, Roy drove home with a few detours. He wanted to pass by the houses of some of his board members and other important people in the church. By now he easily separated the houses of the missing with those occupied by people unable to venture outside, either though fear or through obeying the government restrictions. The house of the Staley family, and the Van Allen’s and Christine Harrison’s, looked lifeless. Roy was consoled in that at least they were not vandalised like Doug Paull’s. But he wondered how long they would remain untouched.

  Once he was home his TCS sounded. Roy ran over to it and answered it.

  “Roy Hoyle speaking,” he said expectedly, hoping to hear from another one of his congregation.

  “Alex Malone,” the man said in his instantly recognisable manner. He would speak clearly but lifelessly, which made him difficult to listen to for too long. But Alex was a respected church leader and Roy appreciated the call.

  “Alex, it’s good to hear from you.”

  “Good to have you still with us too, Reverend Roy.”

  “Alex, I think I’ve lost my entire congregation, expect for a couple of people I’ve managed to locate. Other than that I think they’ve all gone.”

  “Well, I’m sorry, Brother Roy. Yeah, I’ve heard of some communities where the entire congregation has gone. A couple of my own weren’t in attendance either. I don’t know what to make of it all, to be perfectly honest with you. I can’t tell you much other than that, I’m afraid.”

  “Alex, what do you think happened to them? This is all crazy. I can’t believe it.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine. Everybody is wondering the same thing. It doesn’t make much sense.” Alex began to chuckle as he said, “But, you know, some people I know of would say the rapture has taken place. But, you know, that’s about the best option I’ve heard all day.”

  “What?” Roy asked, unable to see why Alex should be laughing. “Did you say rapture?”

  “Well you know what those flaky fundamentalist-types are like. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the next great solution to this mystery. But we know it hasn’t happened—how could it?—we’re still here, aren’t we?”

  Alex laughed heartily at his own joke and Roy managed a polite chuckle. Don’t laugh, Roy—this is no laughing matter!

  Roy then remembered the extreme liberal stand of Alex’s church, the New Reformed United Brethren. He could not help but wonder if the rapture indeed happened. Disregarding all the fear-mongering and misinterpretation of scripture, Roy asked himself if he was really sure he did not miss the rapture. He remembered how much controversy had broken out a few years back, when homosexual weddings were conducted, and all free of charge. Fundamentalists picketed outside the church and Alex accused them of being dreamers who only wanted to fly away to heaven and not address the needs of society. Roy knew that if anyone opposed the rapture idea, it was Alex. He had even gone so far to say that if it were true then he would rather stay on Earth. Roy began to feel fearful in just hearing him joke about missing it.

  “Anyway,” Alex said as he finished his laughing, “the reason I called is to invite you to a meeting we’re having. Thursday night at the hall down Mannering Avenue, you know the one?”

  “Yes, I know the one.”

  “Yes, where a lot of our popular speakers hold their meetings. Well, Thursday night we will be holding a special meeting. All church leaders in the city will be gathering to discuss this time of need. We will be discussing what to do, on behalf of the local Christian communities, with this great trial that has come upon us, and where we go from here. Can I count on you being there, Brother Roy? Don’t worry about the driving restrictions; we’ve been in contact with the police chief and, just between you and me, he assured us the restrictions will be lifted tomorrow, or at least Thursday morning.”

  “I’d love to be there, Alex.”

  “Great. Be there by seven, please. I’ll see you there. And tomorrow night be sure to watch the local TC. Yours truly will be interviewed by Blair Laraine.”

  “Really? Why’s that?”

  “Oh, she’s had everyone you could think of on her show, since the news first broke. Every sort of expert and pseudo-expert in the city. And you know, I’ve been kind of put out that she’s taken so long to invite me to come in and share my opinion, seeing I’m one of the top religious leaders in St Antipas.”

  “I’ll be sure to watch you
. I promise.”

  “Yeah, I’d appreciate your prayers, too. Been kind of nervous since I accepted their invitation.”

  “Nervous? You? What have you got to be nervous about?”

  “Well, they’ve had all sorts of weirdoes and nuts on that show lately. From what I hear, they’re not too ready to accept our Christian perspective. I’m going to have to put myself down to their level, just to be able to compete.”

  “Well, knowing you, they will at least have to hear you out; I’ve never see you stuck for an answer in your life.”

  Alex laughed and thanked Roy for his support, and after a final encouragement he said good-bye and closed the call.

  Roy wished he too could have the chance to appear on Blair’s show. But he concluded that if Alex, with all his experience, felt worried about how his Christian beliefs would be received, then he was better off just being a spectator. Although he knew that if he was invited it would be a good chance to meet Blair Laraine in person.

  He switched on the TCS in the hope of seeing her, but she was not on. He switched instead to the NewsText and grimly read the latest update.

  NewsText. 5:48 p.m. Tuesday 6 October 2026. Major world crisis: mass disappearance on millions of people. Missing in St Antipas: 23,640 reported, total of 82,000 suspected or known missing. All citizens advised to remain indoors. Prime Minister Marvin Francis issued a statement at 5:10 p.m. [edited]: “We continue to require your co-operation in keeping the streets clear while the crisis is handled as best as our resources can manage, but we are all stretched to breaking-point. It’s been a hard few days for all involved and you can play your part by staying indoors. Allow me to clarify one thing: This government in no way endorses the rumour of alien abductions being responsible for the present crisis.”

  Roy stared at the report for a few minutes. In some way he was relieved to see the Prime Minister come out and debunk the alien-abduction idea. But to see it on the screen made him realise how seriously the people must have believed it. For the Prime Minister to take time to speak against it could only mean that it held significance for him and the island.

  “So at least that idea’s not true,” Roy said to himself.

  But what is? What’s happened?

  As he contemplated his question he thought of another that was far more relevant to him. What can I do to find out?