I had neglected my duties those days due to Sealand's death, but I felt well enough to get back. I made a call to summon the Parliament, so they informed me of what was going on and decide together what we were going to do. It was not the time to make decisions on my own, as others had done.
"I give you the day off, Lance, Malcom" I told my escort.
"Sir, it is dangerous out there to..." Malcom tried to warn me.
"I have lived almost a thousand years without someone who held my hand, I think I can get to Westminster" I replied.
It was only ten minutes by foot. Less, surely, since I have a fast pace. It was night and so I wouldn't be recognizable.
But I didn't know about the gravity of the situation, having been isolated.
When I saw them coming, I thought they were just hooligans who celebrated some sports victory or protested for a defeat. I must admit the flares they held in their hands, the shouts and the balaclavas they wore scared me, but humans today are very scary in several ways. It was then when I saw one of them was burning something. It was my flag. I stopped to listen what they were saying.
I still have that choir in my ears. 'God kill the Queen'.
Yes, running seemed like a good idea.
I could only advance a few meters when somebody grabbed me and dragged me into a narrow alley. I thought it was one of them and I was about to give them a taste of my fists.
"If you want me, you're going to get me!"
"What are you saying, dude? It's me!"
"Sarah! What are you doing here?"
It was her. The young lady who irrupted into my house. She still dressed like a beggar. She peeped at the street we had just left before answering.
"You shouldn't have come out alone. They're looking for you. If you had Facebook, you would have known they're looking for you to hang you upside down from the London Bridge."
"But you came into my house and threatened me with a gun."
Sarah looked away as she placed a lock of auburn hair behind her ear.
"...It's not what you did, that hand trick. I still don't like you. It's just...eh...well, it turns out you were righter than I thought...Those people are killing other people, and they're not even from the military or politicians...They're destroying century-old treasures...We were supposed to be better than all those brutes who..."
"I'm glad you changed your mind."
"Yeah, well...Listen, there's something you should know. Come. Let's go to my house. We shouldn't be here."
She removed her wool hat, put it on my head and after checking there was nobody outside, we walked out of the alley. She dragged me in the opposite direction I had in mind. We walked at fast pace during a long while. It may have been better to take the Tube, but she avoided crowded spaces. We moved in the dark, like shadows. Eventually, we arrived to the suburbs. She stopped in front of a brick row house. She took her keys from the back pocket of her trousers and opened the door. She came in first, then I did.
I found myself in a warm place, so warm the first thing I did was removing the hat, where a smell of something roasting filled the space. It was a small living-dining room, where a bit withered Christmas tree took over a lot of space. A man watched television sat in a sofa; in the background I could see a kitchen were a woman with an apron on moved back and forth.
"Sarah?"
The woman walked out cleaning her hands and stopped when she saw me. The man turned his head and when he saw me his body suffered an spasm. Both of them recognized me immediately. She snapped out of her astonishment to groom her mane shyly. He tried to get up from the sofa; I noticed instantly he couldn't or it was too hard for him.
"No, no. Please. There is no need" I stopped him.
"Mum! Did you see where's the...?" a seventeen or eighteen year-old boy, very tall and slender, trotted down the stairs and stopped when he saw us. He moved back like he had just seen the Devil, and soon another boy no older than thirteen, with spiky hair peeked out without daring to come down.
"W-Welcome to our house, Mr. England. It's...an honor for us to have you here" the man stammered.
"Pleasure is mine, mister..."
"John Vaughan, sir."
"Mr. Vaughan."
"Sarah, what...?" I heard the woman ask Sarah in low voice, not taking her eyes off me.
"They were following him, mum, they wanted to hurt him" she replied.
Very opportunely, they rang at the door. There was a tense silence, in which only the voice of the conductor of a talent show on the television could be heard. Mrs. Vaughan muttered something and encouraged me to run upstairs (not daring to touch me, I noticed). I did so, I hid behind the two boys, who looked at each other as if they couldn't believe what was happening. Sarah's mother breathed deeply and opened the door.
"Yes?" she asked with deflated voice.
"Good night, madame. Anglaterre, come out, I saw you coming in!"
I couldn't believe it. I made my away between the two boys and descended.
"France!"
Yes! It was him! With his clown face!"
"What the heck are you doing here?"
"I almost caught up with you in your way to the Parliament, I've been following you for a good while from the car, and you didn't pay attention to me, you were running."
'France?'. The apparition of another nation caused even more sensation in the family. Shyly, Mrs. Vaughan let him in, looking like she couldn't believe we were there.
"Thank you so much, madame. Good night to all of you" France turned again towards me. "I was starting to feel worried about you. After what happened to Sealand...I understand you haven't felt well, but..."
"Thanks for your concern, but there was no need for you to follow me."
"Didn't you see what is going on in the streets? They are looking for you! They want to hang you or something like that! They go around with flares and burning things, like a mob!"
"I know, miss Vaughan here just told me."
Sarah raised a hand like a greeting.
"Ah, well done, mademoiselle. You are very brave" France said to her, smiling at her, and it was funny to me to see her turning red.
"Well...That...was the right thing to do, wasn't it?" she then glanced at her mother, who looked at her so proud.
"I have been through some terrible weeks too. The movement had a lot of repercussion at my place. I thought I would croak. But the die is not cast yet. I want to fight and I came to offer you cooperation."
"America, Russia and China have already allied for it."
"But we both know their methods are not ours."
"Mph...You're right about that. We could use some common sense."
"Come. I think I could help you" Sarah took us upstairs.
"Mr. England..."
I stopped to look at her father.
"Listen, Mr. England...I know they have been saying horrible things about you, but...But I am very proud of you. I know all of that are lies...That goes for you too, Mr. France..."
I smiled.
"Thank you so much, sir."
"Come on" Sarah hurried us. She made us come into a bedroom and closed the door.
So much furniture and she had everything on the bed and on the floor, I thought when I came in, smiling inside. Sarah touched her hair again with embarrassment as she closed the door to protect us from the curious eyes and ears of her brothers and tossed the clothes on the bed to the floor.
"I found the movement in Internet. In social media. Uhm, do you know what social media...?"
"Yes."
"Ah, okay. Well, I attended one of the meetings they did, in Portobello. They used newbies like us to make the messages on the Internet viral, hand pamphlets in the streets. There were lectures. From time to time a German albino came. His name was Gilbert. He was really passionate. I wrote down the location."
"Thank you, Sarah. We will send people there to clean it up."
"Another thing. I was talking to Gilbert. Since they didn't give us newbies much info and I wanted to do something more than yelling in front of the Prime Minister's house, I sucked up for him, I pretended I was madly in love with him and he was like my leader. He didn't trust me much, but, talking, I got to make him tell me he wouldn't stay in London for long, because he had to get ready for a trip. He mentioned they had made a new vaccine against meningitis and he hated that shit. I don't know it can be useful to you, but..."
"Countries who have introduced that vaccine recently..." I muttered.
"Sub-Saharan Africa" France immediately replied. "And I think I've heard it just became mandatory in Congo. I am not entirely sure, though..."
"At least we can start discarding with that..."
"What will you do to them when you find them? Will you shoot at them, like your friends are doing?" Sarah frowned at us.
"No" I replied. "We will send them to trial. We will do things right, following the rules."
"Alright. Because everybody seems to be playing dirty lately...At least you try to do the right thing."
"...Thanks for everything, Sarah."
"Okay, but don't you think I'm doing this for you, eh? Don't let it go to your head. You're not that important."
"I've been telling him for a long time" France nodded.
We walked out of the room. We noticed the whole family was there, listening, and dissimulated pretty badly when we came out.
"I am so thankful you took us in. We won't bother you any longer" I told them.
"Oh, no, you didn't bother us at all. Our door will always be open for you, both of you" Mrs. Vaughan replied.
"Greg, drive these gentlemen wherever they want" the father told his oldest son.
"Me?"
"Yes. You have the driving license."
The boy didn't seem very sure about that, but obeyed. France, him and me left the house, leaving Sarah with a lot of explaining to do to her family. I wonder what lies she said to them...or if she was brave and told them the truth.
The Vaughan's car looked nothing like the ones I usually take. Old, worn-out, with one foot in the scrapyard. But that was it's biggest virtue. It didn't draw any attention. Nobody would have ever thought European powers would travel inside of it.
"Let's go to the Parliament. We will tell them what we know and elaborate an strategy."
"Ah, like in the old times, eh, Anglaterre?"
"Yeah, whoopie."
"After this Brexit issue I thought you'd build a wall around your isle, but I am glad you are open to collaboration."
"I would have rather had Germany's visit, but what can we do about it."
"Oh, come on, you love to fight by my side."
"It is better when it is against you. Breaking that idiot face you have."
"Hey, question. You two are gay, right?"
France and I went quiet and looked at young Vaughan. He glanced at us through the rear-view mirror.
"It's okay if you are" he added, shrugging.
