Beyond The Rainbow by David Forrest

Author:David Forrest [Forrest, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Comedy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

‘What’ll happen now?’ asked Father Benoir. He peered over the tops of his glasses at the police trucks, their reverse gears whining as they bumped backwards down the mountain track.

Colonel Lorraine twirled his cane and looked at the villagers gathered around him. ‘It is quite predictable. First we will be visited by members of the Press. It is also predictable that they will arrive shortly. You can be certain that at least one of those policemen augments his salary by passing information to local newspapermen.. .’

Constable Chaminade spluttered in the background.

‘But we don’t want any publicity. It would bring appalling problems,’ said Father Benoir.

Colonel Lorraine adjusted his monocle. ‘They will come. We will ignore them. No one will cross the gorge.’

‘And afterwards? When they go away, what then?’ asked Joliot.

‘The journalists will simply write that something is happening in a small French village. There is nothing for them to write, if they know nothing. And then, we will be attacked.’

‘Attacked? Seriously attacked? ‘ Father Benoir was horrified.

‘Your forces of evil, I’m afraid, Father,’ replied Colonel Lorraine. ‘Knowing the military mind, and the mentality of local government, we will certainly be attacked.’

‘Guns? Tanks? Bombers?’

Colonel Lorraine smiled grimly. ‘I doubt it. Remember, this is Admiral Dordogne’s village. No, they will do what I would do if I were in their boots. First, a diplomatic approach, which we had yesterday. Then if that failed, which it did, a small show of force, which we’ve just had. Finally, the military . . . stone shields, face masks, steel helmets, perhaps even a whiff of tear gas. They will expect us to surrender immediately.’

‘But why?’ asked d’Arle. ‘We haven’t done anything wrong. There are no criminals here. No demonstrators. This is no hideout for a Martin Bormann.’

Colonel Lorraine coughed. ‘Regrettably, authority is a pyramid. And we are the bricks at the bottom of the pyramid. If we are allowed to remove ourselves, a brick above us will slip, then another and another until authority itself ceases to exist. It’s unfortunate, but that is how it is. And that is why authority must interfere with us, why it interferes with hippies and those who don’t conform. It likes to keep the bricks of the pyramid secure. Unfortunately for authority the world over, we are in the happy position of knowing that its time is drawing to an end.’

‘There is only one authority,’ cried Father Benoir. ‘And it is for that superior authority that I must fight, for which we must all be prepared to fight.’

‘Amen,’ said Mortimer Moreau, the village undertaker.

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