Omega (63 page)

‘
You call it a wedding?'

'Of course it's a wedding. Two rather likable young people are being joined together, as man and wife, in front of their community and by a procedure recognized by that community. That defines a wedding - all the more so in the absence of any civil machinery for the purpose. If they choose to call it a "handfasting", I find it a charming word. Etymologically, "wedding" means "a surety" - sounds like a mortgage, doesn't it? "Handfasting" is much prettier.'

'It is still a
pagan
ritual, father. And you and I, as ministers of God - how can
we
be involved?'

'We are involved by our love for the people concerned.' The old priest sighed. 'And increasingly - God forgive me if I err -
I
have come to regard "pagan" as a rather meaningless label, in the two years since these young Samaritans picked up a sick old priest by Lake Vyrnwy and brought him to this camp. The Good Samaritan was a heretic, too, remember - which was the point of our Lord's parable.
...
If you did watch tonight's Midsummer Sabbat, you would see 150 witches, as naked as the day they were born . . .' He smiled at his friend's shudder and went on: 'Shame at nakedness was the first symptom of the Fall, was it not?
...
As naked as the day they were born, joyfully saluting their Maker and honouring the Earth which is the Maker's gift. It matters less than I used to think, that they visualize that Maker as a duality of God and Goddess. You and I visualize Him as a Trinity - and the vast majority of
my
coreligionists at least worship a Goddess in the shape of the Blessed Virgin, whatever we theologians may try to tell them about the distinction between
latria
and
hyperdulia.
. . . Are
any
of us wholly wrong, John? Have any of us a monopoly of the Mystery?
...
Do not mistake me; I am a Catholic and I believe as you do that Christ is the way and the truth and the life. I believe that these good people and they
are
good, you know that as well as I do - are missing much by not following that way. But nor will anyone convince me, any longer, that their way leads in the
opposite
direction. Or that I should be too proud to learn something from them. Etymologically, again, "pagan" means "of the countryside" - and we are certainly that here, all of us. And when tonight, the thirteen covens gather in their little Circles within the Great Circle, I shall be outside that Circle, but in a sense not alien to it. When they dance around the fire in honour of the Earth and the God-given currents that flow in her, I shall be with them in spirit, and I believe - if I may put it this way - that God will be, too.'

The minister was silent for a while and then said: 'I will agree with you on one point, anyway. These
are
good people, however
misguided their ways. And rightl
y or wrongly, I am happy to wish Divine blessing on the - er -handfasting.'

Tactfully, Father Byrne managed not to smile at the younger man. 'The Prince of Peace,' he said, 'moves in mysterious ways.'

The Circle of cut blossom on the grass contained the members of Nigel's coven, and Nigel and Mary themselves facing Moira and Dan, who had been invited to perform the handfasting. They were all robed, out of deference to the many village guests among the remainder of the community squatting on the ground outside the ring of flowers. There was little human sound apart from the crooning of Eileen and Pe
ter's nine-month-old daughter Deirdre
, who thought the flowers were very pretty and wanted to reach and eat them.

Moira asked: 'Who comes to be joined together in the presence of the Goddess? What is thy name, O Man?'

'My name is Nigel.'

Dan asked: 'Who comes to be joined together in the presence of the God? What is thy name, O Woman?' 'My name is Mary.'

'Mary and Nigel, we greet you with joy. . . : Unity is balance and balance is unity. Hear then and understand.' Moira picked up the wand from the altar and continued: 'The wand that I hold is the symbol of Air. Know and remember, that this is the element of Life, of intelligence, of the inspiration which moves us onwards. By this wand of Air, we bring to your handfasting the power of Mind.'

Dan said: 'The sword that I hold is the symbol of Fire. Know and remember that this is the element of Light, of energy, of the vigour which runs through our veins. By this sword of Fire, we bring to your handfasting the power of Will.'

Moira said: 'The chalice that I hold is the symbol of Water. Know and remember that this is the element of Love, of growth, of the fruitfulness of the Great Mother. By this chalice of Water, we bring to your handfasting the power of Desire.'

Dan said: 'The pentacle that I hold is the symbol of Earth. Know and remember that this is the element of Law, of endurance, of the understanding which cannot be shaken. By this pentacle of Earth, we bring to your handfasting the power of the Steadfast...'

'How long will you be away, do you think?' Rosemary asked. It was past three in the morning, with the sky already lightening for the dawn and the pale full moon sliding to bed beyond the western hills. But the embers of the big Sabbat fire were hot enough for the four of them still to be skyclad, lingering after almost everybody else had gone to bed.

'Not more than a couple of weeks,' Dan said. 'It'll take the helicopters about three days to get all the representatives to Windsor and three to get us all home again. A week in between for the discussions.'

'How long will the fuel stocks last, ferrying people back and forth to Parliament?' Greg wondered.

'That's one of the items for discussion - how to use the helicopters best in the public interest, for as long as the stocks
do
last. There'll be people there who know how much Beehive had stockpiled. . . . Anyway, it's not a Parliament. It's a Constitutional Conference under the King's chairmanship, to arrange the rules for a Constituent Assembly, which'll decide the basis for a Parliament, which will then have to be elected. It's a long process and we've got to get it right.'

'The King's certainly thrown his hat in the ring,' Greg said, 'announcing that he'll offer his abdication to Parliament once it's elected.'

'Yes, but he did make it clear why - and he had to do it well in advance, to give people time to chew it over. It's so that we can start with a clean slate, politically - and that includes deciding whether we want a republic or a monarchy. My guess is that Parliament will hang on to the King
as
King - or even if they plump for a republic, they'll elect him President. He'd be the obvious choice.'

'I'm glad you and Moira have been called to the Conference,' Rosemary said, 'but I'm not sure I'd want either of you to be an MP. Camp
Cerridwen needs you both. And I
think Camp Cerridwen's important. Not just for the two hundred of us.'

Moira smiled. 'Anyway, that'll be out of the question for me for a few years - so I doubt if you could drag Dan away.'

'You're pregnant
!
' Rosemary cried.

Two months.'

Greg laughed delightedl
y and Rosemary said:' 'Well, t
hat's marvellous. I'm about six weeks. We were going to ell you when we were absolutely sure - but I am, really.'

That ended the political discussion.

There were rather more people coming and going in the echoing corridors of Beehive these days, following the necessarily rough-and-ready decisions of the Constitutional inference.

The guardhouses at the entrances were manned, for private looting had to be replaced by public salvaging; but the guards had little to do but keep an eye open for brigand groups attempting an organized raid - for such groups still existed, though their number was rapidly diminishing.

Then there was the Mint. Few people, even in Beehive, had known of the heavily protected 'Fort Mini-Knox' under Finsbury Park, in which the nation's gold reserves and much silver had been stored. After the Conference, it had been officially breeched and coining machinery, salvaged from the ruined Royal Mint by Tower Bridge, moved in beside it,
the
plan for getting a workable currency in circulation gain was also rough-and-ready but practical. As soon as enough gold, cupro-nickel and bronze had been coined, distribution would start, as simultaneously as possible;
£100 to
each man, woman, and child in Britain, against a thumb-printed and signed receipt (parents or guardians signing for children under sixteen). That should be enough to start the replacement of clumsy barter by cash trade, though it might lean a certain temporary revival of brigandage, but district posses were being organized to deal with that. The funding f government, special allowances, loans to capitalize cooperatives, paper currency once confidence was established - all these could be decided upon in due course by Parliament.

The power workers were very busy. The nuclear submarine-type generators at the London Beehive, and at each of the regional hives, were being rehabilitated as fast as
the
few available experts could deal with them, for linking the National Grid which other gangs were working hard
to
restore on Surface. Generation by oil or coal was out i the question, probably for many years ahead; but it looked as though it might be possible to restore one or two of
the
hydro-electric stations.

Any rehabilitation of the Mohowatt couples, even if had been practicable, was rejected out of hand.

Brenda and Gareth had returned to London, to organise the removal of her library to a suitable building near Bedford, as the nucleus of a conveniently central Nation Library. Both the British Museum Reading Room and
the
Bodleian at Oxford were unusable, but guards had to be placed on their ruins against the day when manpower could be enlisted to salvage what remained of their contents.

Philip, too, had been briefly recalled to Beehive to inspect the ventilation system and ensure that it would remain adequate for the people who were having to work there Betty had been unable
to go with him, for they now had
a month-old baby, but he had gone to their old cubicle at brought her back one or two of their personal belonging

Among them was a poster which now hung on the cabin wall: a Zodiac painting by Johfra, a winged Virgin carrying a stem of barley in one hand and a flame-enclosed crystal egg in the other. Behind her were tilled fields at an open sky and she was surrounded by numinous symbols which Philip felt he was beginning to understand.

On her face was a secret smile.