Imagine There's No Heaven - 2. Chapter 2

You may say I’m a dreamer

But I’m not the only one*

Colton gripped Jack’s hand, then climbed onto the bed and lay beside him. ‘Shhh…you need to rest my baby. We can talk about this
some other time when you’re feelin’ better.’

Jack shook his head. ‘Can’t. Need to show ya so’thin’. Notes…I wrote notes. I want you to read…’

Colton dug into his crinkled trouser pocket and brought out the postcard sized notebook. ‘You mean this?’

Jack nodded.

‘Now? You want me to read this now?’

‘Whene’er….water…water…’ His voice was crackling dry.

Colton pressed the buzzer and a nurse stepped into the room. She took advantage of the situation by feeding him water and washing him with a cool, wet towel. Colton sat on a bench outside the ICU and shuffled through the pages of Jack’s notebook. At first glance it contained dates and quotes and then he began to read.

1^st Jan, 1993

Today I met Peter Hunt. Seems like a pleasant person. Not as abrupt as some fella’s have told me. Seems to like me. One thing he did say was that he would need loyalty and trust. How can I prove to him that I am trustworthy? He said the cause is worth much more than a life. I dunno if I can do this. Causes have brought men to their knees.

7^th Jan, 1993

Peter is planning to make a hit. No – one knows who or where or how. So far, he has welcomed me into the cell with
open arms. I need to prove my loyalty and trustworthiness. He said that the operation will include me, and this will be my test. Nothing more. He will tell me when he’s ready.

24 Jan, 1993

Hunt took me to a bar in Omagh last nite and he landed up fucking a woman x2 his age. He invited me to a x3sum but I feigned illness. Headache. Called me a loser.

3 Feb, 1993

x1 plans thru. A bombing of some kind. x0 knows yet. All speculation. I have been w them x3 months. x0 active service. Hunt has allowed me to speak to some others for the 1st time. All want total independence from the British government. They want to win this war.

26^th February, 1993

They have planned the attack for mid March. No date set. I heard a rumour that Hunt is also planning to bomb a gas storage facility. He’s a busy man. I don’t know if he sleeps at night…

10^th March

I learned today that the town of Warrington is x1 target. They are working on a coded message to send the police. They will give the
authorities two warnings. This will be the moment of truth for the British government.

No further entries until the 25^th March.

I think I am going to be sick.

A newspaper clipping was stapled to the page.

Boy of four dies as IRA bombers attack
shoppers: Many shoppers injured as blasts rip through busy market

MALCOLM PITHERS IN WARRINGTON AND IAN MACKINNON

SUNDAY 21 MARCH 1993

A FOUR-year-old boy was killed yesterday and 56 people were injured, 21 seriously, when two terrorist bombs exploded within seconds of one another in a market crowded with Saturday afternoon shoppers. Screaming and bleeding children and adults fleeing the devastation of the first blast in the Golden Square market area at the heart of Warrington, Cheshire, were caught in the second explosion 100 yards away.

A 12-year-old boy was last night said to be critically ill. Four other people were very seriously ill but stable. Sixteen others were seriously injured. Police said a deliberately misleading warning using an unrecognised code was telephoned 27 minutes before the blast, suggesting that a bomb had been placed in Liverpool, not Warrington. They said the attack had all the hallmarks of the IRA.

The area was sealed off by police and firemen were pulled out as Army bomb disposal officers investigated a number of other suspected bombs and carried out one controlled explosion. Fears about other possible bombs, and the desire to preserve forensic evidence, meant that the body of the boy, described by a witness as angelic-looking with blond hair, lay in a shop doorway for four hours. The devices, planted in cast- iron litter bins and plainly targeted at shoppers, followed almost exactly the same pattern as the IRA bombing in Camden, north London, less than a month ago, which injured 18 shoppers.

The day before that attack, Warrington had been the focus of another IRA attack when three bombs exploded at a gasworks. A police officer, Mark Toker, was shot twice as the gang made made its escape. Two men were captured after a car chase, and a third was later held in Nottingham. They have been charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

Yesterday's bombs exploded within 60 seconds of each other at about 12.25pm in Bridge Street, outside a Boots store and a McDonald's restaurant, as crowds of shoppers took advantage of the warm spring sunshine. Those caught in the blasts lay bleeding and blackened on the pavements, with presents bought for Mothering Sunday lying discarded beside them.

Michael Bowdon, a newspaper photographer, his voice shaking, described the carnage: 'There was an almighty bang and I could see paper everywhere like confetti. People were staggering around dazed. People shouted 'Get away, get away'. hey ran up the street . . . straight into the path of the (second) blast in a litter bin. People were just lying everywhere.'

Ian Rylance described how the second blast blew the bin into the air. 'It was outside McDonald's, where a lot of kids hang out.'

Jeremy Green was walking towards McDonald's with his four children when the first bomb went off. He saw people blown into the air and others fleeing in complete panic. 'Young children were running around crying not knowing what to do,' he said.

Ron Riley, 49, a former soldier who is now a porter at the Golden Square centre, was among the first on the scene. 'It was just a cold-blooded massacre,' he said. 'There were bodies lying all over the place. One girl appeared to have lost both legs and her father had a big hole in his leg.'

He said he attended a woman in her twenties whose main artery was pouring blood. 'She must have lost at least four pints. I had to get into the ambulance with her and grasp her artery.'

Kaleen Ullah, 28, who runs a clothing store, said: 'I saw two men and a woman lying on the ground and there was a teenager . . . lying unconscious on the floor. The bottom part of her leg was covered in blood. It could have been blown off. I have never seen people look so frightened.'

Sharon Campbell, 16, said she and a friend, Sharlene Jones, 13, were about 30ft from the seat of the first blast. 'There was a young kid of about two-and-a-half with a leg blown off and a man who had lost an arm.'

Paramedic teams and 17 emergency ambulance crews were sent to the scene. David Todhunter, of Merseyside Ambulance Service, said: 'The scene is appalling. It is a shameful disaster. We were picking up casualties far and wide who were running away in fright.'

A consultant at Warrington General Hospital, Barry Taylor, was close to tears as he described the injuries of those caught by the blast, which included the 12-year- old boy who had sustained fractures to his skull and had most of his face blown away.

Mr Taylor said: 'There is a mood of disbelief at the hospital. We have contingency plans for a major incident but when it happens it is very difficult to cope.'

Later, at a police press conference, Cheshire's assistant chief constable, Brian Baister, explained that a man with an Irish accent telephoned Samaritans' offices in Liverpool and said that a bomb had been placed 'outside Boots', but no mention had been made of Warrington.

Mr Baister said the message had been immediately passed on to the Merseyside police, who had sent officers to various Boots shops. Other surrounding police forces, including Cheshire, had been notified of the call, but Mr Baister said when the first message reached Warrington the explosions were actually taking place.

He said he could not give a precise reason why Warrington might have been singled out, but pointed out that three arrests had been made after the earlier bombing in Warrington: 'This may be a reprisal for the success of that operation,' he said.

John Major, the Prime Minister, said: 'The wickedness of this act defies belief. The purpose was to kill and to maim.'

Colton slammed the notebook shut and buried his face in his hands. They were wet from the tears of shame that fell onto the notebook. His heart pounded, not from remorse, but pure anger. He had never felt like this before. He dashed to the ICU doors and stopped. He wanted to wrench out all the pipes that kept Jack alive. Feeling lightheaded, he took a step back and collapsed in the chair as the full impact of what he had read smacked his soul.

Colton couldn’t bring himself to face the one man whom he thought he loved. The only question that hung over him like a sword of Damocles was more complicated than any other: Was he prepared to walk away from the man he loved?

A nurse, leaving the ICU, pushed a trolley and stopped in front of Colton. ‘Sir…are you all right, sir.’

Colton gazed at her through dead eyes. The nurse had placed her hands on his shoulders and he shrugged them away. He didn’t have time for this. He felt no pity towards Jack. Only disgust.

‘Sorry, sir, you don’t look well. Would you like to see a doctor?’

‘I’m fine. Fine,’ he stood and walked around her towards the ICU doors, pushed them open and ambled towards Jack’s bed. He threw the notebook towards him and it landed on his left shoulder, missing his face by millimetres.

His breathing was hard and heavy. Colton leaned in and whispered in his ear. ‘I…I don’t know what to say to you. You lied to me. The one man whom I trusted more than anything. You. Lied. To. Me. I gave you everything, Jack. Mam treated you like a son-in-law,’ he straightened and spoke in a loud monotone. ‘I’m goin’ now. I never want to see you again.’

He turned and walked away. Didn’t look back.

Jack tried to maneuver himself out of the bed, his arms flailed about as a harsh groan left his throat. ‘Colton…Colton…Colton’

Colton ignored him. He walked with stooped shoulders. Head low. He was alive. But he was also dead. At reception he called for a taxi.

As he waited for his lift, only one thing echoed in his mind. One thing. One word. Why? The answer evaded him. Five minutes Colton stepped into the taxi. '59 Angus Drive, please.'

'Are you sure, bloke?'

Colton stared angrily at the taxi driver. 'Yes,' he said after a moment's silence.

'No problem,bloke. I just ask because 59 Angus Drive is the address of the police commissioner's office.'

'I know.'

In the back of his mind, Colton knew this was the right thing to do.

I hope someday you’ll join us

And the world will be as one*

To be continued