THE CHAIR A novel by Sheila Willar Copyright 2016 Sheila Willar
ISBN 978-0-9867101-4-8
May 1, 2017
CHAPTER 2 ............................ INVISIBLE
Erin sat on the cold, rusty floor of the van, shoulder to shoulder between two rugby players. They struggled to stay upright when the driver swerved around tight corners and hit bumps in the road at too high a speed. It was dark and unnerving and she wished that she hadn’t been so hasty to follow along.
The truck stopped with a lurch and everyone jumped out.
“Hurry!” shouted Finn as he took her hand.
“I’ll wait here,” she argued in an attempt to escape. Her arm extended fully as she pulled backwards. “I’m the look-out remember?”
Finn ignored her plea to leave and tugged her into the forefront of the tiny mob. He was high on adrenalin as he yelled “Let’s go!” and led the gang down a narrow alley to a side entrance.
The door swung open and three stocky guys grunted to acknowledge Finn’s arrival. Together they squeezed inside the tiny foyer and Erin felt smothered as they clamoured up the narrow flight of stairs.
On the top floor she tried to keep up as the others raced down the hallway to the Dean’s office, where Finn flashed an impish smile as he held up the key to the giant hand-crafted door. The rugby players chuckled and chanted “Ooh! Ah! Ooh! Ah!” as they entered the hallowed space.
Dean McColly’s office was a virtual museum of antiques and not one square inch of it was bare. Primitive tools filled curio cabinets, mariners telescopes rested on tripods, and ancient maps of the world were displayed in gold frames. Statues and religious relics blended in with stained glass windows and floor to ceiling bookshelves.
Erin stood in the centre of the room with her mouth agape. To her horror some of the students took things and put them in their pockets. They wanted to have something to brag about. Finn tried to regain their attention as he waved his hands above his head. It was time for them to get what they came for, which was the Dean’s Chair.
“It won’t budge! It’s screwed down!” yelled one of the guys. “I can’t move it!”
Professor McColly had bolted his chair to the floor since it had been stolen more than once before, and he took the precaution of using bolts that required a unique tool to be removed.
“I don’t have the right screw-driver!”
“Rip it off the floor!”
“No!” yelled Finn. He didn’t want to damage the chair, he just wanted to repay the Dean for sanctioning him for pranks he’d done earlier in the semester.
“Over here!” motioned one of the students. “Let’s take this one instead!”
When Erin turned to see what they were doing she gasped out loud and instinctively put her hands over her mouth. There, in the corner of the office, the rugby players were hoisting the “Irish Blue” stone chair off its foundation. It was the same chair that she and Father Michael had found at the site of the seventh chapel on Meade Carrick. Satan himself coveted it and was now in the arms of the rugby team. It was the same chair that Mrs. Mancinni had stolen from them, the one that had nearly fried Michael to a crisp, and the one that had translated Erin around the world in a supernatural state.
The rugby players grunted and huffed as they struggled to carry the heavy weight. It was almost too much for them. They bent over uncomfortably under the strain and had to shuffle their feet sideways to get through the door. Finn directed them as they carried the chair out of the office, and just as he crossed the threshold, he stopped and looked directly into the security camera that was hidden above the door, and gave a hearty salute, complete with a grin and a wink. Finn was well known to the Dean. Finn was the Dean’s son.
When they were outside, the lifters set the chair down on the sidewalk to wait for the van to return, but as soon as they did they heard sirens coming towards them. Some of Finn’s friends got scared and disappeared into the shadows but a couple of guys from the rugby team stayed.
Erin wanted to run but she couldn’t abandon the “Irish Blue” and so she stood there frozen in shock.
Soon the old van came screeching through the round-about, just in time so that they could load the chair into the back before the police arrived. The old lory nearly bottomed out under the weight of it all, but the rugby players were not concerned at all. They were more interested in Erin’s take-out food and devoured it, throwing the empty cartons in the air.
“We can’t go to Women’s Studies now Finn! Not now! We have to get out of here!” demanded the driver as he sped away. “Where can we take it?” he implored.
“We may have to ditch it,” reasoned Finn, who was starting to feel the pressure. He wanted to irritate his father as much as possible, that was the plan, but he didn’t want to have the evidence with him when he was arrested. His criminal record was already long enough, and he’d been threatened with jail time if he was caught again.
“We can take it to my place!” pleaded Erin who was nearly out of breath.
Finn and the others were surprised at the naivety of the “new girl”. They couldn’t fathom why anyone would want an old relic, especially since it would surely be recovered by the police before the night was over.
Erin assured them that she was serious and gave the driver the directions to her apartment. When they arrived, the heavy lifters carried the chair to the front door and lumbered it up the tunnel of stairs.
Kelly, Michael and George heard the onslaught of noise and thought that they were under attack. Michael thought that the bishop and the Garda had tracked him down and had come to take him back to the church. He frantically tried to recall his civil rights so that he could use them in a protest, but then he wondered if priests had any at all.
Erin opened the apartment door and the entourage burst inside.
“In here!” she yelled in desperation.
Two husky guys followed her into her bedroom and set the chair down under the window. They were pleased with themselves and glad to be rid of the evidence. They squared their shoulders, punched each other, growled, and left with the satisfaction of a job well done, as if they had just won a game. As they passed through the apartment they saw Father Michael and dutifully tipped their head to the priest. They weren’t quite sure if they were pardoned or condemned.
Finn took one last look at Erin. He wanted to say something clever, something that would absolve him, but he was sure that their troubles were far from over. He hoped that they would meet again, but it would likely be at the police station, so he left without saying a word, knowing that the Garda would be there soon. Erin shut the door behind him and leaned against it in utter exhaustion.
Michael gave Erin a fierce stare. When he saw the “Irish Blue” being carried in, he thought that she must have gone insane. She must have become completely unglued to orchestrate the heist of the ancient chair. He hadn’t seen “it” since the day he found it in the cave and nearly lost his life during the encounter. Michael felt that the chair had tried to kill him. Just the thought of having it in the next room turned his already ashen face into an even more pale shade of grey.
Erin was about to collapse when the intercom buzzer rang repeatedly as if it was a fire alarm.
“Yes?” answered Erin.
“This is the Garda! Let us in!” demanded the sergeant.
Erin unlocked the doors and watched with alarm as a troop of helmets marched up the tight channel of stairs to the apartment. When the police entered they didn’t speak as they spread out and thoroughly searched for the Dean’s property. Erin watched with dread as two officers entered her room. She began to stammer in an attempt to explain herself, but just before she was about to confess, they emerged with blank stares. They shook their heads slowly and reported, “Nothing in there, Sir.”
The sergeant turned to Erin and said, “We’re looking for the stone chair. It was taken from the Dean’s office this evening and put into a white van. We have the van and the driver and Dean McColly’s son, but we do not have the chair. They said that it was left here. Do you know anything of its whereabouts?”
Erin opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.
Michael stepped forward. He was furious. He could barely believe that on the very night he ran away from the parish, he had become caught up in another church scandal. His peers would never believe that he had nothing to do with the heist. They would never understand that he wanted to be as far away from “that chair” as humanly possible.
“Good evening father,” said the sergeant. “Do you know anything about the chair?”
Michael wondered where to begin. He didn’t know what part of the extraordinary story to tell first. Should he explain the seven chapels and how they were unearthed so that they could sing together as one? Should he reveal that God had tested him in “the chair”? Michael loosened his collar and was going to tell the sergeant everything, but Kelly’s voice rang out to stop him.
“The father is here to marry me!” she squealed in her sweetest and most innocent voice. She reached for George’s hand and he took it with a strained smile. George didn’t want to rock the boat, especially one with a lot of police in it, so he put his arm around Kelly and kissed the top of her head rather convincingly.
The sergeant sized up Kelly in her sequin dress. She did look like a bride-to-be. He remained silent for a minute, knowing from experience that most people are unable to endure their own guilt and will confess to all sorts of things if you give them a chance. However, everyone remained tight lipped. The sergeant knew that something unusual had indeed taken place at the apartment that evening, but without any stolen goods as evidence, it was their word against Finn’s. With no one to arrest, he simply gave them a polite “good night”, and softly made his way down the stairs.
“I’ll be going too,” offered George as he tip-toed towards the open door. He couldn’t stop his hands from shaking and he vowed never to pick up anyone from that address ever again.
“Thank you,” offered Kelly as she wondered where Matthew was.
Erin ran into her bedroom to see what had happened to “the chair”, but it was still there under the window where the rugby players had left it. However in front of it was an angel, translucent with giant sparkling wings that could barley fit within the confines of her tiny room. The angel peered directly into Erin’s eyes and conveyed a sense of urgency.
Erin backed out of the room and closed the door softly. She turned to face Michael and Kelly who stood in silence.
“Well? Is the chair still in there?” whispered Michael anxiously.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t the officers see it?” he asked as he rubbed his forehead.
“Because there’s an angel standing in front of it,” she said plainly.
“Dear God!” whispered Michael as he closed his eyes.
Erin’s phone rang and she hesitantly answered it.
“I know you took it!” announced Mrs. Mancinni in her deepest voice. “I want it back and I want it now!” she demanded. Her cold breath shot through the phone and gave Erin a chill.
“I thought ‘you’ had the chair.”
“Don’t play with me Erin. I don’t know how you managed to organize its removal, but that chair belongs to me and I ‘will’ have it back!” proclaimed Astor vehemently.
“The Garda were here and they found nothing,” she said as simply as possible.
“Never mind the Garda. Is the chair in your apartment? Yes or No?” hissed Astor.
Erin desperately wanted to say “No” but it would be a waste of time. Astor would know if she was lying. The Mancinni’s were used to getting their way and accomplishing things that others couldn’t. They had money, manpower, equipment, influence, and most of all, insight. When it came to fighting for the chair, Erin was up against a giant. She doubted that even the angel would be able to stop Astor.
“I’m not the one who took the chair,” explained Erin in a desperate attempt to be as honest as possible.
Astor paused. She and the Dean had already watched the security film. They saw the rugby players and Finn but they didn’t find a single image of Erin or the chair in any of the video.
“This is not over Erin,” fumed Astor as she exhaled one last blast of frost into the phone. “I want that chair,” she repeated.
Erin heard the dial tone but almost immediately it rang again.
“I’m calling from the police station,” cautioned Finn. “They showed me the security video from campus and they want me to identify everyone. I just wanted you to know that you’re not in any of it. I don’t know how, but it’s as if you weren’t there at all.”
Erin remained silent.
“The police want the chair back. They said that if they don’t get it, then I am going to jail. They said that they already searched your apartment and didn’t find anything. My father said that it belongs to someone else and that if it is not returned, then he could lose his job. He’s really angry this time,” explained Finn in an attempt to elicit Erin’s help.
Still, Erin kept silent.
“Look, I’m sorry you got involved but I need that chair. I need to know where you took it. Just tell me where it is. I’m trying to leave you out of it, but I need that chair!” he demanded in desperation.
Erin couldn’t possibly explain to Finn the importance of the “Irish Blue”, how it was akin to possessing the Ark of the Covenant. She wouldn’t be able to make him understand that people like the Mancinni’s would do anything to get it back. They were in the business of changing world order and the “Irish Blue” was a key to that end. Erin shuddered at the thought of how exposed and vulnerable she and the chair were in the presence of so many hungry people.
“Just tell me where it is!” pleaded Finn in an attempt to impress the police. They were listening in on the conversation.
“I’m sorry but I can’t help you,” said Erin in a soft voice. She pressed the ‘off’ button on the phone and looked at Michael and shook her head, as if to say “we’re in big trouble”.
Just then Michael’s phone rang. It was Astor.
“You want your cathedral back. I can make that happen. Just tell me where the chair is and you can go home,” stated Astor in her best ‘nice voice’.
Michael searched Erin’s eyes for the right thing to say. He hated the Irish Blue chair and wanted it buried so deep that no one would ever find it again, but he didn’t want to see it in the wrong hands either. He knew from experience that expensive icons can make people do desperate things. As dearly as he wanted to return to the cathedral in Kinkerry, he couldn’t in good conscience accept Astor’s offer.
“That chair,” announced Michael in as strong a priestly voice as he could muster, “does not belong to you Astor Mancinni!”
“We’re not done Michael. You and Erin won’t get away with it!”
Astor was so loud that Erin could hear her, and after Michael ended the call, she and Michael shuddered.
“What’s all the fuss about a stupid chair?” asked Kelly incredulously. She was still upset that Matthew hadn’t called. “Did you steal the Throne of God or something?” she mocked in a derisive tone.
Erin and Michael laughed at the irony of just how close Kelly was to the truth, even though their smiles were really hiding tears. The physical and mental exhaustion had left them with nothing else to do but to laugh and cry at the same time. Kelly could see that Erin and Michael were in some sort of trouble, but she had problems of her own to deal with.
“We have to get the chair out of here!” insisted Michael.
“And take it where?” asked Erin. “Back to the Dean’s office?”
“That’s not where it belongs,” said Michael. “It’s from Solomon’s temple and it wants ‘you’ to take it back. For some reason it trusts you.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’ve got to take it to Jerusalem.”
Erin laughed. “I can’t get a three hundred pound chair to Israel, especially with everyone watching so closely. We’ll be arrested as soon as we leave the apartment.”
“Do you remember when you sat in the chair?” asked Michael.
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what you saw? Did you see gold walls carved with flowers? And lamp stands lining the corridor?”
“Yes,” recalled Erin. “It was so beautiful.”
“That was Solomon’s Temple and that’s where the chair belongs,” urged Michael. He placed the palm of his hand over his chest to try to calm his heart from beating so fast. “I almost died in that chair and if you hadn’t resurrected me, I’d be gone.”
“You looked like a piece of coal,” whispered Erin. “There was smoke coming off your clothes and your skin was sooty.”
“The only people who can survive the “Irish Blue” are people free of vengeance. I’m an ordained priest. I love God and my parish with all my heart, and yet I couldn’t resist the power of that chair,” sighed Michael.
“So what do we do?” asked Erin. She hoped that the priest side of Michael would have all the answers.
“Tea and sleep,” he answered.
No one wanted to go near her room for fear of the angel, so they wrapped themselves in blankets and quilts and tried to get some rest. They would need it to get through next few days.
……………………………………………
Officers Aidan and Declan sat in silence on the ride back to the police station. Normally they were quite talkative but this time they were mute. They had experienced their fair share of strange encounters but what happened to them at Erin’s apartment had shaken them to the core.
Earlier that evening when they entered Erin’s bedroom in search of the stolen chair, they were each blinded by a flash of blazing white light, so bright that each had temporarily been rendered blind. Aidan wanted to say that it was because of his heart medication, and Declan tried to pass it off as the effects of high blood pressure. Their doctors had warned them that stress could make such things happen. However, when they stumbled out of Erin’s bedroom, each was afraid to tell the other that they had seen an angel. They didn’t want to lose their jobs so they both kept quiet.
Aiden brushed a white feather off of Declan’s shoulder, and Declan picked a feather from off the top of Aiden’s hat.
“I think I’ll take some time off and go fish’n this weekend,” said Aiden.
“I think I’ll come with ya,” said Declan. “I need a break.”
……………………………………………
Sergeant Carbury was meticulous about details and had asked his officers to search the white van for clues. One of the items they found was Erin’s receipt from the pub. They followed up on the lead and discovered that a young woman matching Erin’s description had been at the pub that evening, and had left with Finn and his friends. While it still did not prove that Erin was involved in the robbery, and while they did not find the missing chair in Erin’s apartment, the sergeant was sure that the young woman had something to do with the theft.
One of his favourite ways to get people to talk was to stir the pot, so he made a late night call to a bishop friend of his to ask questions about a priest named Father Michael.
……………………………………………
Matthew thought that Kelly wanted to get married. He was sure of it. He tried calling her but she wouldn’t answer, so he called her father for help but that only made things worse. Kelly’s father told him that she had left a message saying that she was going to marry some guy named “George”.
“George! Who’s George?”
“I don’t know, but she seemed rather taken with him. I could hear him in the background. He seemed like a nice enough guy,” teased Kelly’s father mercilessly.
Matthew squinted his eyes and growled in a low rumbling tone.
“Goodnight,” was all that Matthew could say in remorse.