doesnât even have a cause that heâs fighting for. All he cares is that he makes a profit and is a big man in his town. He should be charged as a murderer.â
âNo. It isnât right,â agreed Bandi. âThere is something evil about that. I canât say, though, that I am against making weapons to defend yourself with. I mean if someone wanted to invade us.â
âIâm not sure that is right either. If you have weapons then people are far more likely to use theirs on you. I mean, could we really defend ourselves against an invasion here on Joh without it resulting in the complete destruction of all of us? Actually, I think I would rather be killed than kill someone â even if they were evil.â
âBut what if they were going to kill someone else, someone you love?â
âOh. Bandi, you make things so complicated!â
âSorry. But the thing is, that the more you think about things the less black and white they become. But I do agree with you about your Big â whatâs his name â Plo and his factory. I expect youâre glad it is all blown up.â
âYeah. But I keep wondering who it was that did it. It wasnât someone who was against killing people â they would have killed thousands.â
âYou mean millions!â
âWell, perhaps thatâs exaggerating it a bit⦠Bandi, are you laughing at me?â
âWho, me?â
âStop teasing me! This is serious.â
âAgreed. They have an enemy that doesnât mind using their own weapons against them⦠you know you mustnât ever go back there. You and Mum will be prime suspects, you know.â
âYeah, Iâve thought about that. I doubt weâll have a gate there again. But if we do, weâll have a reason for going. And you can count on me being very careful to watch my back.â
âGood,â said Bandi.
4
Things were just settling back into some kind of routine when one day, as Jack got up to make his wife a drink, he became aware of something unusual through the kitchen window. His brain was registering a sensation in the visual cortex. It was rather frightening after so long as his brain had got used to not receiving signals from his damaged eyes. It appeared to be something beyond the kitchen window and he thought he knew what it was â another white gate. It was many years since he himself had last experienced one. Yet for Jack, blind though he had become, the âsightâ of a white gate could still be made out even though he couldnât see anything else.
Jack was not given to panic and he had become even more stoic as he had matured, so he made the tea and took it up to Jalli. She sat up to take the mug from him and saw concern on his face.
âWhat is it?â she asked.
âJalli, I am aware of something outside. It feels peculiar inside my head. I⦠I think it is a white gate⦠Will you look out the window and check in the hedge?â
Jalli got out of bed, padded down the stairs into the kitchen and looked across the back lawn. Sure enough there was a special white gate and beside it a small wooden shed, the kind that was used to contain stuff for the world on the other side. Jalli quietly remounted the stairs.
âI do see it. There
is
a white gate⦠with a shed too⦠Jack you realise what this means! Weâve
both
been invited to visit another world. Do we
have
to go?â
âItâs been more than twenty years for me!â sighed Jack. âAnd it was a bit of a shock âseeingâ something again after all that time. It feels quite⦠well, quite peculiar. Rather disorientating. But I knew what it was.â
âYou know what we say. If we see a white gate, then we are meant to go through it. We have a job to do.â
âYes, I know. When should weâ¦â
Jack never managed to finish his question because there was a sudden burst of excitement