Darian Bridge
by Stephen BrownPublish: Mar 27, 2024MysteryBook Overview
Hendrik Glauston is a retired bureaucrat, recently widowed and even more recently homeless. Despite an early role in helping his country recover from an economic collapse, that same country has now turfed him from his state-supplied cottage, a clear indication of the present administration’s displeasure. Why? Hendrik is no fan of the present administration, but Hendrik is small potatoes. The government has real critics who can do it real damage, yet it ignores them. Hendrik can’t think of anything that he’s done or said to warrant being evicted, let alone being followed by an agent of the security police.Hendrik and his late wife, Gisela, were ‘old warriors’ from the time of the economic collapse. In their youth they’d been part of a movement that embraced radical ideas like spending no more than you make and taking no more than you can replenish, antiquated ideas that have fallen out of fashion. In a world again awash in borrowed money, Hendrik’s and Gisela’s lifestyle, growing their own food, living within their means, is considered quaint. Gisela is gone, but Hendrik has found a new interest. An American reporter, Amanda Prethergill, is writing a series of articles about the murky, early days of the movement and needs insight from someone who lived through it. Why not? After all this time, what harm could come?
Being followed by the security police is worrying, but Hendrik has a more pressing problem. He has nowhere to live. He receives an invitation from another old warrior, Klaus, who offers his spare room. He also offers some advice. The security police have recommended that Klaus persuade his new lodger to shut up. Hendrik agrees. He’ll start a garden, grow veggies, prepare healthy meals and mind his own business. For an ordinary person in settled times that would be enough, but these are not settled times, and although Hendrik views himself as an ordinary person, someone in the security service knows that he is not.
