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Chapter Six The cottage would have been described by an estate agent as deceptively spacious and full of character. For Joe that meant his bedroom was pokey and despite never ever going near a cooker he thought the kitchen was too small. For both Joe and Richard it meant ducking under the beams every time they walked across the living room, and they would not be able to eat in the kitchen at the same time. And yet Joe loved it. There was a nice conservatory at the back with lovely views across the fields to the sea. ‘I couldn’t live here all the time but it’s great, isn’t it? I love that big stone fireplace and we’ve got a private garden look with a big wooden table and six chairs. If the weather stays fine we can go out there and eat it we want to.’ ‘Thinking of your stomach again Joe?’ Richard laughed. ‘Oh yes, I was wasn’t I. Had we better contact Brian and let him know we’re here?’ ‘I’ll give him a ring,’ Richard got his phone out and when he’d finished the call he said ‘Brian’s coming over in a minute.’ ‘Great, while we’re waiting we might as well sort the bedrooms out. I want the biggest,’ Joe said laughing, but Richard beat him to the staircase and galloped up the stairs. As it happened both bedrooms were about the same size but one had a double bed and one had twin beds.  ‘I bags the double,’ Richard ran into the room and sat on the bed.  ‘Not bothered,’ Joe shrugged.  ‘Yes, you are, go on you can have it if you want.’ ‘No it’s okay, my bedroom’s got a view out to the sea and yours is on the road.’ ‘Oh, bugger,’  Joe grinned and Richard pulled a face.  ‘It's like being twelve again,' he said, 'remember when we went away with your parents? We went to Devon and it was brilliant. I liked it much better than France where my family insisted on going every year.’ ‘It was a lot of fun,’ Joe smiled. How simple life was when you were twelve. It was a shame it didn’t last, or maybe it did for some people. Brian arrived about ten minutes later and Joe offered him tea. He was glad he’d had the foresight to bring tea making things and a box of cakes. If it had been left to Richard he would have just have expected it to be there, and then gone shopping if there weren't any teabags. He was brilliant at most things but sometimes it was just the little touches he fell down on.  Brian was older than them. Joe reckoned he must be in his mid-forties. He had dark receding hair and red cheeks as if he worked outside a lot.  ‘’How are you doing?’ Brian followed Joe and Richard out to the garden. It’s great. It’s a lovely cottage but we’re having a bit of trouble with the low beams.’ Brian laughed, ‘The beams aren’t low it’s just that you’re a bit high.’ ‘Six foot one,’ Richard said. ‘Six foot two,’ Joe looked at Richard and laughed. ‘Richard’s mother didn’t feed him properly as a baby and mine did so I grew taller.’ Brian laughed again and his eyes twinkled.  ‘People were smaller in the days when they built these cottages. I live in an old cottage myself but I think the ceilings are just a bit higher. I have to duck under the front door though and I’m not quite six foot. Anyway, I’m really interested in Joe’s story about going to this place Paul went to. I must admit I didn’t really believe Paul when he went on about the portal. He’s a nice enough man and he has a great sense of humour. Everyone likes him but when he tells stories you never know if it’s the truth or not.’ ‘I’m looking forward to meeting him,’ Richard said.  ‘And me,’ said Joe. ‘I was starting to wonder if the portal in Newport Pagnell was the only one until Richard heard from you. I had a pretty bad experience though.’ Joe finished his tea and then he paused. Brian seemed quite a sensible sort of person. He was a greenkeeper he said and also a member of the local male voice choir. That was where he met Paul. He told them he’d been interested in extraterrestrial life for a long time, and he was convinced that aliens were visiting the earth sometimes.   ‘So, you’ve actually been into this place you said was called Ullia, and actually seen what it’s like?’ Brian asked Joe. Joe nodded and recounted the story of how he’d been captured and how he’d escaped.  Brian listened attentively while Joe spoke and then he said.  ‘That’s fascinating. Paul claims he’s also been into Ullia but he had a very different experience to you. He’s going to pop in after he’s finished his round. He’s a postman, He shouldn’t be too long.’  ‘I don’t how he escaped from that place but I’d like to meet him,’ Joe said.  Brian looked as if he wanted to say something, but then he was quiet and it was Richard who asked. ‘What sort of experience did Paul have?’  ‘Well,’ Brian stopped again as if deciding whether to tell them or not. Then he sighed. ‘The thing is Paul is what’s known as a pathological liar. It sounds awful but he can’t help it. I mean he’s a really nice man. He’s kind and thoughtful, but sometimes when he gets a bit excited, it’s like a switch flipping in his brain and he just tells story after story. The trouble is some of them are true so you never really know whether to believe him or not.’ Joe drank his tea and then he put his empty mug on the wooden table, ‘I’d like to hear his story though and see if any of it corresponds with my experience.’ Brian smiled, ‘He’ll be delighted to meet you. None of us has been quite sure whether to believe him or not but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know that we know he’s lying. In fact, I’m not sure he actually knows himself.’ ‘Oh well,’ Joe shrugged and then Richard said they hadn’t shown Brian the rock yet. The one that Mari gave to Joe to get him out of Ullia. ‘It’s upstairs,’ Joe said as he got up from the picnic table. He ran up the steep little staircase and went into his bedroom. He opened his bag and found the rock had slipped down between the clothes he’d brought. The kitchen towel he’d used was still there, and he used it now to reach down and pull the rock out of the bag. It looked like a small piece of rock although he wasn’t sure what sort of rock it could be. He put his hand out and touched it gingerly and it stung him.  ‘Shit,’ Joe pulled his hand back. Then he wrapped the kitchen towel round the rock and carried it downstairs.  ‘Be careful,’ he said as he dropped it onto the picnic table.  Brian leaned forward and peered at the rock.  'It looks like the rock Paul's got. I'm sure it's a piece of meteorite,’ he said. ‘Some of it looks like silica and some of it looks metallic. If it’s a meteorite then it shouldn’t sting.’ He reached out and touched it and pulled back his hand quickly. ‘Hmm, it does have a bit of a sting. That’s odd. Can you feel the sting, Richard?’ 'Yes, it's really strange. It's like touching a nettle.' Richard frowned. Brian looked at the rock and inspected it without touching it again. ‘Yes, it does look like a meteorite of some sort and I'm sure I'm right about the silica. Of course, meteorites can be composed of different materials but they're not exactly common.’ He reached out and gingerly touched the rock again as if he didn't quite believe it the first time.  ‘There’s no sting now,’ he said in surprise.  Joe frowned. Now that the rock was on the table it looked a bit different to when he’d got it out of his bag. In the bedroom, it had a slight shine and a bit of a glow to it, but now that seemed to have gone and it looked like any old stone that you might find in a quarry or somewhere similar. He reached out and touched it quickly, expecting the sharp sting but there was none. ‘It’s gone,’ he said in surprise. ‘It’s not stinging any more.’ ‘That is odd,’ Brian said and he touched the rock for the third time. ‘No there’s nothing. I'm sure it stung the first time but maybe I was wrong.'  ‘Well, it hurt enough.’ Joe was wondering whether Brian might start to think he was a pathological liar as well. Richard knew that he was not, but Joe could tell he was quietly thinking. ‘Maybe it charges up in the dark or something,’ Joe said, and he shrugged. He really had no idea. He knew solar batteries charge in the light so maybe this was the opposite.  Could be but I've never heard of anything like it,’ Brian said and they all sat looking at the stinging rock that appeared to have become just an ordinary pebble. They were still sitting there when Paul turned up, and Brian introduced him . He was a small man with a shaved head and a neat goatee beard. He was about the same age as Brian. He was wearing his postman's shorts and a blue shirt, but Joe immediately looked at his ears. He’d started to get into the habit of doing that. It only needed a glance to tell him that Paul had no earlobes. It was harder to tell whether he had lunulae and so he glanced down casually to see if Paul’s shoes were wider than normal. When he saw his footwear he breathed a sigh of relief. Paul was wearing sandals and he had human feet.  'So you’re the one who’s been through a portal in Newport Pagnell?’ Paul said.  ‘That’s right,’ Joe nodded. Richard fetched Paul a drink and when they were all seated Paul asked Joe how he knew the portal in Newport Pagnell was there. ‘I didn’t know, I was lured,’ Joe said and then he stopped. He wanted to hear Paul’s story first and it was obvious that Paul was eager to tell it to such an attentive audience.