THE JOURNEY 

By Tessa Harvey

    Alice shut her eyes against the sun's glare. She felt disorientated and confused.
Suddenly a voice yelled in English "Get outter the way!" A bike was heading straight for her. A man was waving frantically with one hand, trying to steer with the other.
    He crashed spectacularly. A jangle of tangled metal, cry of pain and some words in several different languages that Alice thought she probably ought not to know.
She untangled herself from a broom bush in the hedgerow and bent to help the 'Flying Cyclist'. "Brakes worn out. Sorry. Hard to get parts. War on, don't you know!"
    He looked at her. "You are English, aren't you? Tell by the clothes." His face was scratched and grimy. He looked tired, worn out and wore a clerical collar.
    With a smile, he rubbed one hand on hid jacket, then held it out. "Name's John Paul." "I'm Alice," she said, "are you okay?"
    "I think so. Could you help me get the bike out of the bushes please? I'm going to the coast. If the bike still goes, would you like a lift?"
    With surprise Alice could see the bicycle was actually a tandem....

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