Three to See the King

your house, they won’t be able to bring their own as well, will they?’
    ‘Oh no,’ he said. ‘It’s not like that. We’re going to be sharing.’
    ‘Sharing? What, all in one house?’
    ‘Yes, of course. Why not?’
    ‘Well…’ I began, but then trailed off. One look at Patrick Pybus told me it would be futile trying to explain the finer points of living in a house of tin. He was simply too enthusiastic to understand that primarily you needed to be alone, and miles from the next person. Maybe in time he would learn this, and certainly there was enough room on this vast and empty plain for any amount of tin houses. Meanwhile, I just couldn’t bring myself to blunt his fervour.
    ‘Well, good luck,’ I said.
    ‘Same to you,’ he replied. ‘Shall we press on then?’
    ‘No, you go ahead if you like. I think I’ll stay here a bit longer.’
    ‘Right you are,’ he said. ‘See you.’
    I watched Patrick Pybus disappear along the trail, then followed behind at a more leisurely pace, not being in quite such a hurry as him. To tell the truth, I’d been somewhat alarmed by the sight of all those tin houses. I had a feeling that the ones I’d counted were only the first of many, judging by the amount of footprints coming in this direction. True, there was a possibility that the numerous travellers we’d observed over the past year had been heading for a wide and varied set of destinations. In reality, though, I suspected they were all gravitating towards the same place. This made me wonder how I was going to cope when I got there. I was used to living in isolation with only Mary Petrie for company. The prospect of all those people, waiting less than a mile away, was frankly quite daunting, and as a result I took my time.
    Another question was where I was going to spend the night. I had no doubt that Simon, Steve and Philip would all make me quite welcome, but first I had to find one of their houses. I was now drawing near to the half dozen or so I’d seen earlier, but I had no idea whether any of them belonged to my friends. In former days I’d always known whose place I was approaching simply because of its location. Simon lived to the west of me, for example, while Steve lived west-north-west of him. Here, where the houses all stood together, it was difficult to tell them apart. Admittedly they varied slightly, some being higher than others, or having different gable ends. Essentially, however, they were all the same. Each was built entirely from tin.
    The moon had now begun to make fitful appearances amongst the clouds, and as my eyes grew accustomed to its pale light I saw many rooftops ahead. Shortly afterwards I was passing between the first of the houses, and I noticed that the shutters were all firmly closed, as were the doors. I found it pleasing to think that this tradition was being maintained in what was basically a new settlement. Up until now I’d assumed that these newcomers would be the types who’d want to keep their shutters thrown open whatever the weather. Instead, it seemed, they had more sense. Already this evening, accumulations of sand had begun to drift against the tin walls, but it looked unlikely that any was going to enter these dwellings. I paused next to one of them and listened. Inside, I could hear the sound of muffled conversation. Also, somebody singing. I moved on.
    There was no fixed distance between the houses, nor did they appear to have been laid out in any uniform pattern. Instead there were rows heading off in all directions, higgledy-piggledy, as if each had been added one after another. I recalled Steve’s remark about Michael Hawkins having shown them where to build their houses, and I tried to work out the logic of the arrangement. The only thing I could see for sure was that they were all sited very close together, but for the moment I had no idea why.
    The trouble with wandering along in the dark like this was that it was easy to forget which way I’d come. I knew I’d turned right at a house with four front shutters and two at the sides, and had then walked past one with a markedly angled roof. Yet when I returned a short distance to check my bearings, I couldn’t find either of them. Continuing back a little further, I discovered a side-junction I hadn’t noticed before. I followed it round.
    Then, somewhere away to my left, I heard the faint clanging of a bell. It was a sound I’d recognize anywhere, and soon I was standing outside Simon