The Relic Keeper Read Online Free

about the end of the world and disturbing his peace.
    “No no,” shouted Adrian, one of the younger and most vociferous men. “It is said in the Bible that a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, of seven heads and ten horns will appear upon the water, and she will be arrayed in purple and scarlet, and gilded with gold, and precious stones, and pearls. And she will be full of abominations and uncleanness of her whoredom, and upon her forehead is a name: Secret, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the abominations of the Earth.”
    “Brilliantly misquoted, my Brother,” Redmond answered. And where do you suppose Babylon would be then?”
    “The abominations of the Earth are everywhere, Brother Redmond, and so why shouldn’t this appear here, over these waters?” With which Adrian flung his arm theatrically to the grey water of the Solent.
    “Yes, but these are expressions of understanding. They are interpretations of metaphysics. They are not reality. In reality, we will see what we will see. If Babylon is everywhere, then good and evil will be everywhere too. The physical manifestations are not to be seen, but to be sensed.
    “Brother Deon, you’re a man of the world. How do you imagine the Coming?”
    Deon looked up at the group gathered around in the dorm. They seldom asked him his opinion, and he was taken aback. “Well, er, I don’t know. Yeah, maybe it’ll be like Brother Adrian says and the skies will be lit by angels and demons, or maybe, I don’t know. Perhaps everything will just stop. Or maybe we won’t even notice. I think that’s how I’d like it. If everything was good and we all felt content and just waited, and, and it just stayed that way. Like, forever. That would be critical. Yeah, that’s what I’d like.”
    “Well, as long as you get what you’d like, I’m sure the materialisations given to John won’t matter,” taunted Adrian, and a small murmur of laughter rippled through the circle of watching disciples.
    “We’ve seen the prophecies come true. People speak ill of God, the evil corruption is everywhere, false gods and untrue faiths abound. The End has been written, and it will come in the form of flames and destruction for those not present,” cried Adrian, feeling enlivened by the backing of the small crowd.
    “Well, I’ve looked all of my life for the truth, and now know I’ve found it,” said Redmond, slightly wearily. “Whatever the next few days I shall embrace them, for they will lead me to better things.” A small nod of agreement followed. Deon wished that he could discuss biblical rhetoric like his fiery brethren, but he lacked the words, the compulsion and maybe the imagination, he thought. He looked around at the group who were starting to side towards Redmond or Adrian, and wondered about the split that these discussions could produce. To one side Nasreen looked across to him and smiled, taking neither side of the schism.
    Caroline too had not been forthcoming with her idea of what would happen, when she had spoken the previous day. “Revelations is metaphor,” she reiterated, “and not a blueprint of what will be. But I have been informed when the End is to come, and that it will be glorious. The details we shall know when we know. You must remember that it is you, the Disciples who have been chosen for this glorious day. Jesus said to his disciples when they asked why he spoke in parables ‘Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.’ We shall all know the Truth. All that I can say is that many preparations are still to be made, and the remaining produce from the fields, for it has not all been eaten or sold, is to be grouped together in Hall # 3.” And so it was on the penultimate day the Brothers and Sisters of the Divine Temple of Jesus were employed in moving stock into the Hall. They laboured hard moving sacks of grain and boxes of supplies. A night of constant