The Power of Five Oblivion

being accused) I had to work hard to persuade myself that I’d just imagined it, that he hadn’t just trespassed inside my head. Examining him now, he looked so ordinary, so innocent. And yet I was beginning to realize that he was anything but.
    Rita took her place in one of the pews, meaning that she was watching, rather than part of the Council. The session began.
    To start with, Reade and Dolan gave their version of what had happened, each of them trying to outdo the other in being the centre of attention so that they ended up saying everything twice. They had seen me, they had asked me what I was doing, they had realized I was lying, they had come back and found me with the boy. Although they tried to dress it up and make it worse than it really was, that was about the sum of it.
    Sir Ian glared at me. “Why did you not raise the alarm the moment you saw the boy?” he asked.
    “I was going to,” I said. “But I didn’t have a chance.”
    “You lied to Mr Dolan and to Mr Reade.”
    “I don’t know why I did that.” It was certainly the truth. I must have been out of my mind. “I suppose it was because he was hurt.”
    “The safety of the village, our entire survival, rests on a single premise. We don’t let anyone know we are here. We protect ourselves from the outside world – with force if need be. If this boy came and went and told others what we have here, it could all be over for us. Do you understand that? And yet you were prepared to let that happen.”
    “He didn’t look like a spy,” I said. My mouth had gone dry and I felt wretched.
    Sir Ian turned his attention to Jamie. “Your name is Jamie Tyler,” he said. “Yes, sir.”
    “Where have you come from?”
    “I’ve already told you.” Jamie’s voice had changed since I had found him an hour or two ago. It had lost the edge of panic. He sounded more assured. “I can’t remember what happened to me. I woke up in the wood and someone had hit me on the head. There was a lot of blood. I didn’t know which way to go so I just sort of stumbled forward and then I came upon this village. I was scared of being seen so I hid behind the church. That was where Holly found me.”
    He was lying. He hadn’t told them about the door – or about the typhoon and Hong Kong … all the things he had told me. I was going to say something but there he was again, inside my head.
    Please…
    “How did you get past the watchtowers?” the vicar asked.
    “I didn’t see any watchtowers, sir. I didn’t see anything until I reached the village and I didn’t mean to come here. It was just where I arrived.”
    “And where had you come from?” Sir Ian repeated his question.
    Jamie touched the bandage around his head. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, sir. I don’t remember. All I know is that I woke up in the forest. I guess I must have been dumped there.”
    “He’s lying,” Reade said.
    “Nobody could have got past the watchtowers,” Dolan agreed.
    “Give us an hour alone with him,” Reade continued. “We’ll make him remember where he came from.”
    “We’re not hurting children.” I forget if it was Mr or Mrs Flint who said that, but both of them looked outraged. He and his wife looked very similar. They always agreed with each other.
    “Is this what he told you?” Sir Ian had turned back to me.
    This was the moment of truth. I was the only person in the church who knew for certain that Jamie was making everything up. He certainly hadn’t had amnesia when he met me and even if he had been lying then, it was a different story from the one he was telling now. All my instincts were screaming at me to separate myself from him, to stand up and accuse him. But for some reason I couldn’t do it. I had no idea who he was. I had barely spoken to him. But still I found myself speaking on his behalf. “He was very confused,” I said. “He didn’t make a lot of sense. He certainly didn’t know where he was.” All of which was true, sort of. It just wasn’t completely true.
    Sir Ian examined Jamie. “You have an American accent,” he said.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “But that’s not possible. You couldn’t possibly have come from America. Do you have any memories of being in a plane or a ship?”
    “Sir, I wish I could help you. But I don’t remember anything.”
    Sir Ian turned to his deputy. “Anne?”
    Miss Keyland drew herself up in the way I had often seen her do in class. She had put her glasses on, but she was looking