The Thetford Forest Park held back some of the fierce winds and snow which increased during the day. Columcille felt a sense of unreality seeing the snow blow up in high waves. The think pines and beeches held the worst back, and, like a little Hansel and Gretel cottage, a small house stood at the edge of the part, far from the high road.
The cottage had been given to the priests years ago by a woman who was known as a hermit, a contemplative, who died alone, but in grace. She was related to Samuel, and he inherited her cottage, but let a young couple stay there and take care of it. This couple, two of the new generation of traditional Catholics, had been artists until the supplies dried up and the light grew dimmer because of the winter conditions. They had been painters of beautiful landscapes as well as portraits. But, in these days of survival, art was not valued except by the very few. They had tried making paints from the earth, but water was too valuable to use for paint.
Sonja Jens was from a Swedish family which had come to Great Britain when she was a toddler, over 20 years ago. Her husband, Aidan Parker came from a family in Bury St. Edmund's. For years, he did pottery, but switched to painting, which is why he met his wife, in a shop buying brushes. That was six years ago. They were married by Samuel last spring. They both bartered for food and necessities, making signs or decorating, until supplies such as paint could no longer be found. At this time, the young couple were in a survival mode, living off the land, and relying on help from Aidan's Catholic family. Sonja was a convert. She and her husband, with the spiritual aid of Samuel, had decided for a celibate marriage. They had dedicated themselves to God in this way in a small service at the cottage last year, only a few weeks before they were married. Despite the canon of Trent on this subject, some young Catholics had chosen this way after prayer and fasting, under spiritual direction. Sonja and Aidan had felt called by God to protect and harbor priests, dedicating their lives to the remnant. Samuel felt this call was genuine and accepted, as the alter Christus, their life-long commitment to a Josephite Marriage. This state gave both young people a focus and a burning desire to help each other serve the surviving Church. Such was their call.
They both loved Samuel and Columcille, and the four considered each other as family. The cottage had been used a few times for Mass. Some of the seminarians used the cottage for "desert days", which was a bit of a joke, as all Catholics lived in desert, isolated conditions. But, to go up to Thetford was a bit of a treat. Diss had an odd spiritual cloud hanging over it.
The roads were in terrible shape as a small earthquake had split the motorway. It could not be mended until the global government allowed cement and tarmac to be used for roads not used by the military. Stanford Training Area had been abandoned after the troops loyal to the King had been defeated by the GATS.
The once important army base, built up for the old Afghan wars, basically in ruins. Some Catholic families actually lived in some of the old huts. Eastmere, likewise abandoned, was a stronghold of recusants, but many had left after a stand-off with the GATS resulted in deaths. That was several years ago. Some families came back to the ruins and were living in the odd village. STANTA, ironically, was now in the hands of poor, starving, Catholic families, living much like the Romanies of old.
Samuel remembered the hay-days of the English army facilities, but the younger priest and the Parkers only knew ruins and refugees. How odd it was that the old base and village had become places of relative peace after months of fighting, when some Catholics had weapons and the idea that such rebellion would create others to rise up against the GATS. That hope faded quickly.
The forest was actually encroaching on the old base. Trees grew in old fields, making new copses. Like marching men, the firs grew up on old, unused roads, albeit small and still young trees. The whole area seemed haunted by WWII soldiers and the returning vets of the Middle Eastern Wars. In reality, it was haunted by Catholics on the edge of disaster.
The great advantage for the refugees were water supplies and wood for fuel. If Great Britain had been more organized, the globals would have destroyed these make-shift Catholic refugee camps. But, small pockets were being ignored until the GATS regrouped. GATS were much more successful on the continent. France was under martial law, as were the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and other countries east of the Danube.
Scandinavia was under ice. The globalists in Greenland, the only center with electricity and computers, were trying to deal with more primitive conditions then they had expected. Pockets of resistance were found in Italy and Germany, as well as Luxembourg. The globalists were planning to set up the center of their one world government in Dublin, which was now the center of anti-religious sentiments, and a completely destroyed church. All the real Catholics in Ireland, both in the north and in the south, were "underground" again. The others, including bishops, melted away into the secular global vision and disappeared once their usefulness was over.
The anarchists had been used by the globalists and then destroyed. Some had come over to the "Catholic cause" in conversions which delighted all and showed that grace was given to all at some point. Sadly, thousands of anarchists perished after their usefulness in destroying infrastructures and churches was deemed "done". If America's situation of the four zones, and China's situation of being buried in ice because of the retaliation of the American's in destroying North (and therefore, South) Korea seemed dire, Europe's chaos seemed to be a better scenario for the Church, as armies could only hold onto scattered pockets at this time, and as the leaders of some of the countries themselves, such as in Latvia, Lithuanian, Poland and the Ukraine, openly opposed the globalists, with weapons. Sadly, some of those countries were falling into "the long winter" as the ice grew. Many Catholics had fled to Africa, where the Church was thriving except in areas long held by Islamists. Sicily was so crowded it was jokingly called The Metropolis, or The Met. Over 8 million people, at least, were squashed in that country and Anselm had stayed there for a short time. Most were living in dire poverty.
Anselm was in Africa, so the rumors said. But exactly where was a huge secret.
Columcille had to deal with a new suffering. He was not sure when or how to tell Samuel that he was going blind. The young priest did not know why this was happening, but in his family there had been early onset macular degeneration. He now had a permanent "blind spot" in the left eye. He was concerned about becoming a burden to the cause. He was waiting for a time to share his problem with Samuel. He would wait for the right time.
to be continued....