1.

A Secondary Modern School close to Birkenhead Park, North West England

The morning of March 28th 2012
There is a thin veil which separates us from other dimensions of existence.

The crocodile of pupils dawdled into the scruffy and run-down classroom at
Birkenhead Park Secondary School. Simon Demont the Geography teacher was standing with
his back against the large, plate glass window that looked out onto a drizzle grey Birkenhead.
To day several pupils had returned to the school from a trip to China, one such pupil
was Brendan O’Reilly. The same young man was marching through the door with a rucksack
slung low across his back. He caught the young teacher’s stare.
He spoke as he walked to an empty desk, “Where you on X Box Assassin’s Creed on-
line last night sir?” He asked cheekily.
“Good trip Brendan was it? Er yes I was on, how did you know?”
“Easy peasy sir, your game name Demont Ford ‘cos you drive a Ford car.”
“Clever Brendan, clever. Well yes I was, but who are you, what is your game name I
mean?”
“Ah that would be telling.”
“Come on fair is fair.”
The tall pupil was unsure and faltered his response.
“It is Teaguelanders sir!” Dean Grey interrupted triumphantly.
“Hey Grey don’t say my game name without my permission you freak.” Brendan was
annoyed with the class clown’s outburst.
“Oh that is you? Wow you are very good, very skilled with a sword.”
“Thank you sir, you are not bad either.”
A sort of mutual respect began to build between the class leader and the young teacher.
Simon had one more question before he began the lesson, “Who is that Jobo, anyone you
know?”
Brendan O’Reilly shook his head slowly, he knew who Simon who was talking about.
Jobo was always on the net and a master at a number of action games Brendan had played on.
He was nearly always the high scorer no matter which game.
“Teaguelanders what is that about then?” Simon asked as he approached the assembled
class.
“It is very old English slang sir, it means Irish man.”
Simon had been teaching for five years, a career turn that was not expected when he left
University in England with a 2-1 pass in Geography and Economics. In fact Demont’s mother
would have been horrified if she could see just where he now was. The City beckoned him in
2007 to become a Banker and Lehman Brothers made an offer he could not refuse. Life was
good – for around two months. Then the financial shit hit the financial fan and the story of
the Bank’s demise was now part of history and a hit Broadway musical.
 Due to high unemployment rates the UK Government offered fast track routes into
education, and like many others, Simon was faced with little choice. A hefty mortgage and
debts meant that he needed to find an income quickly. So now in 2012 he found himself
standing before twenty eight rebellious and acne-ridden misfits who had little interest in the
geography he was about to try and teach them – or so he thought.
“Alright students let’s calm down and pull out our books shall we?” To his surprise the
collective did just that and silence reigned. Without delay the t-shirted thirty something broke
into his lesson plan. “To day we are going to look at the Park.”
“Which Park sir?”
“Birkenhead Park, Samantha.” He answered immediately.
“Boring!”
“Why so, Brendan?”
“Because sir what does the Park have to do with us?” Brendan O’Reilly was the
brightest, yet most disruptive button in the class; if he was not kept interested then he could
ruin a lesson. Brendan was still wearing his woolly skull cap. But under this he sported a soft
plastic ‘splat cap’ made by the Fulong Corporation. This was an innovation in game playing
compatibility – O’Reiily’s smuggled booty from China.
“Well listen up Brendan because there is more, much more to that patch of green very
close by to us.”
“Yeah that’s where O’Reilly picks up his ‘friends’ on dark nights for some ‘fun’” The
class joker Dean Grey piped up, the whole room laughed in unison.
“Enough thank you Dean.”
“Yeah shut it Grey!” The offended O’Reilly threatened from behind.
“Or what you misfit, are you going to randomise me with your photon wizard spell
launcher?” Dean Grey made reference to O’Reilly’s known obsession with video game
playing.
Simon showed some authority with a raised voice, “Alright! The lesson to day boys let
us concentrate on the subject shall we? As I was saying Birkenhead Park is a special place, do
you know where it has a link to elsewhere in the world?”
“Is it New York sir?” A voice shouted out.
“It is. Who else knew that?”
There was no response as Simon already felt the pupils were switching off; he
continued anyway, “So, lying on the following co-ordinates -3.037899 longitude, and
53.393896 latitude, the park covers an area of just under 125 acres. The site chosen for the
park was part of the Birkenhead Estate, owned by a Mr. F. R. Price. The land was low lying,
a mixture of fields, marsh and commons, and contained a small farmhouse which was a
known beer den where illegal gambling and dog fighting took place.” The mention of illegal
activities struck a chord with many of the under achievers in this collection of teenagers from
a deprived area of the North West of England.
“Dog fighting sir?”
“Yes Martin canine brawling. Can I carry on? The park is laid out with lakes, fields,
gardens, rockeries and pasture land and it could easily be a condensed layout of a sort of
mythical country.”
 “Mythical? What Birkenhead Park?”
“Exactly, but there is much more to know, Birkenhead Park is acknowledged to be the
first publicly funded park in Britain. It was the forerunner of the Park's Movement and its
influence was far reaching both in this country and abroad - most notably on the design for
Central Park, New York.”
“My dad has been there sir.” Leticia Brown stated from the front of the class.
“Where Birkenhead Park, did he go to meet Brendan and his gamers?” Dean Grey was
taking any opportunity to goad again.
“Just wait Grey, you’ll see.” Brendan snarled from the rear of the room.
Simon Demont continued with his notes ignoring the brewing feud, “The land was
purchased cheaply because of its poor quality, and work to convert it began immediately. It
was virtually complete by autumn 1846 but the official opening of the park was delayed until
5th April 1847, in order to coincide with the opening of the Birkenhead Dock Complex. The
park was opened by Lord Morpeth and was visited on that day by an estimated 10,000
people.”
“That’s more than Tranmere Rovers get on a good day sir!”
“Yes Simian a large crowd. Does anyone know who designed the Park?” Again there
was no response from the class. ”It was designed by an English Landscaper called Joseph
Paxton who had been chosen to design the new Birkenhead Park.”
“Chosen by whom sir?”
“Er I am not sure Martin, I shall find out for you if you are interested?”
“Oh I am sir.”
Suddenly there was an excited interruption from Leticia Brown, “We live in his house
sir.”
“Whose house?”
“Joseph Paxton’s Lodge, er house thingy.”
“Do you Leticia, how do you know that?”
“My dad went down into the basement and there are all these strange signs and marks
on the walls. He wanted to paint over them but some dude from the Council came around and
said he couldn’t.”
“Strange signs what do you mean?” Simon was interested now by this ‘left field’
information.
“I dunno just weird symbols and that. Oh yeah, and a box that we can’t open, or move.
Weird stuff, you know.”
There was a silence as the information washed over the listeners. It was broken by
Dean Grey, “Ooooh Brown is a witch, a coven in her cellar. Put a spell on Brendan to make
him normal!” There was uproar of laughter again.
Brendan O’Reilly stood to his rather tall six foot three and looked serious, “You do not
ever joke about that type of thing Dean. You could end up with serious, serious problems.”
He purposefully removed his wooly hat to expose the weird plastic cap and wires covering
his shaved head.
 Simon looked intently at the strange headgear, “What the?” But before his remark
resonated the wooly hat was quickly replaced by Brendan.
To the teacher’s surprise the normally quiet gothic dressed Leticia joined in, “Yeah
Dean watch your mouth you clown, those signs are serious shit. A hex on you.” Her
demeanour changed as she pointed a bony finger at the hapless class joker, who tried to grin
it off.
This was not how Simon Demont expected the lesson to go, he quickly returned to his
notes and fumbled them. But Brendan was still on his feet glowering at the back of Dean
Grey “Be warned Grey, sir is right because there is something about the Park, and only those
who know of it respect it. You need to respect it more.” Brendan sat back down with the
warning hanging in the air.
“You are weird,” Dean Grey whispered under his breath.
Demont carried on, “Then an American Architect called F. L. Olmsted came to visit the
area in 1850 as part of his European Tour. He was later acknowledged as the designer of
Central Park in New York City. It has been suggested that he obviously saw his vision for the
Central Park here in the Birkenhead Park, although he was dealing with a landscape in a city
much larger than humble Birkenhead. It is true that there is a mystical and magical element in
the design, a very good attempt at trying to create a land fit for a God perhaps? There was a
vision for the buildings in the parks. Like Leticia’s lodge but in various differing styles for
instance a Gothic Lodge, Castellated Lodge, Italian Lodge, Norman Lodge, the Boathouse
and the Swiss Bridge.” He paused for breath and then carried on reading from his notes, “The
most impressive structure of all is the Grand Entrance, similar to a classical triumphal arch,
built to denote the pride of Birkenhead people in their wonderful park.” Simon could not
believe the attention he was receiving for his lesson script; he expected it to be another battle
of wills with him issuing detentions to the O’Reilly and Greys of this world.
“We live in the Norman Lodge sir.” Leticia had returned to her quiet character.
“Yes I know it, a lovely building.”
“So what about New York sir, is there dog fighting there, gang fighting more like!”
Simian Leech was a violent type, as he contorted his fingers into a ‘sign’ and waved his
hands above his head.
Again Brendan O’Reilly rose to his feet, “Watch it Simian, don’t mess. The signs are
powerful.”
To Simon’s surprise the normally volatile Leech, who would have created a scene on
another occasion, immediately adopted a submissive pose.
Then Simon suddenly remembered, “Oh I have some pictures to illustrate this lesson.”
The young teacher had forgotten his lap top was not powered up. He leant forward and
pressed its button. Some images immediately shone onto the classroom white board via a
small LED projector attached to the computer. Brendan O’Reilly gave a slight shiver as his
head gear picked up the Wifi signal emitted from the lap top at the front of the classroom.
The photographs of the park revolved against the screen as Demont carried on talking,
“Lying on the following co-ordinates -74.0064 longitude, and 40.7142 latitude, the park
covers an area larger than the Principality of Monaco. The dimensions are impressive
covering 843 acres, 2.6 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. But there are some other fascinating
facts which I have worked out linking the two parks.” Simon paused again as he pulled out a
separate sheet of paper from his reference book, “For instance both parks lie on the great west
geometric ley line. These are huge paths of force which are believed to control energies that
surround us all. Now I know that you have heard about numerology and the Bible from Mrs.
Nantwich. So I thought that it may be fun to use that so called magic number six-six-six
here.”
“Ooooh scary stuff sir!”
“The distance between park centres is 3330 miles, which if we divide by 666 exactly
equals five. And in the same vein when it was created way back, area was measured in Rods.
The area of Birkenhead Park is equal to 9,980 Rods or, 30 times 666. Who finds that
interesting?”
Leticia brown put her hand up, “Did you also know sir that when they made the Park
they imported 3 million cubic yards of soil from China?”
“Er no Leticia I did not know that, why would they do that?”
“Because of the buried deity, silly.”
Brendan interrupted before Demont had time to ask more of Leticia,” If you divide that
number by 666 you get 4504.504504504 to infinity sir.”
“Yes Brendan I am certain you do, but I should move on with the lesson.”
It was Simian Leech who now contributed to the lesson - which was a first. “In Central
Park they planted 270,000 trees sir.”
Simon was bemused, “How do you know that Simian, and so what?”
Brendan again, “270,000 divided by 666 equals 405.405405405405 to infinity, the
same number.”
“Tell him about the Chinese top soil for Central Park Brend’” Leticia turned to look at
O’Reilly.
“OK I will. In Central Park 13,500 square meters of top soil was imported from Hong
Kong.”
Simon Demont by now had pulled a small calculator from his pocket and was in fear of
being upstaged by his pupils on a subject he had spent weeks researching, “Well that divided
by the number six-six-six does not work!” He exclaimed as if winning a minor victory.
“Now multiply the answer by two.” Simian suggested.
Simon pressed the keys, then, “Shit.” He whispered a little shocked.
“My dad says that the two parks are linked on an astral plane of invisibility
purposefully administered by a group called the New Thought Movement through the soils
that are used to make up the ground. That is why the top soil came from China.” Leticia
sounded like a lawyer resting her case at a trial.
For the second time in as many minutes the young teacher struggled to understand why
his students were so involved, and how they knew so much. But he had a lesson to complete
and resigned to finding out later as he pressed on.
He paused as the pictures revolved behind him, “Before the construction of this new
park could start though, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants. Yes people actually lived
on the area. Most of these were quite poor and either free African-Americans or immigrants
of either German or Irish origin. It also included a Convent of the Sisters of Charity.”
“The Sisters.” The whole class whispered in unison.
 Simon was uncertain if he had heard this anomaly correctly, but he carried on with his
sermon of knowledge, “There were an estimated 1,600 working-class residents occupying the
area at the time who were evicted under something called the rule of eminent domain during
1857. We know this as compulsory purchase. There was also a village called Seneca Village
which was a community but this too was torn down and removed in order to make room for
the park.”
Again a trance-like whisper from the class sang out, “The village, blessed is Seneca!”
Simon looked up this time and could see that everyone in the room was transfixed on
the white screen; he had never experienced such a studious lesson. To him this was a magical
moment and he did not wish to break it. “The park was officially completed in 1873. It marks
a point in respect to planning suburban areas which has never been surpassed.” He completed
his lesson and looked up.
Demont noticed that the projected pictures on the white board were spinning very
quickly, gaining speed. A quick glance at the pupils and they were transfixed on these
images, a low hum of their voices seemed to grow in volume, “Seneca, Seneca, Seneca.”
They chanted.
“Stop it, stop now lesson is over.” Simon was uncertain what was being played out
here, some stunt perhaps.
“The Sisters are calling us, do you not hear them?” An anxious Leticia Brown was
standing and gripping onto Simon’s arm, “Listen sir.” She pointed that same bony finger at
the white board.
Then instantly a dazzling white light appeared from where she was pointing filling the
whole room. The pupils immediately put a fore arm across their eyes to shield from the
intense light. All pupils that is, except Brendan O’Reilly who once more removed his woolly
hat as he held out his arms to accept the light to his body. The energy seemed to be pulling
him from his chair and raising him off the floor, slowly he was floating towards the white
board.
“The Sisters have summoned me I have to go and fight for them. Who will join me?”
Brendan asked as he levitated and moved, “Hold onto my hands warriors and join me in
Seneca.”
Immediately Simian Leech grabbed onto the outstretched hand, he in turn joined with
Martin Greene suddenly every pupil was hanging onto somebody connected to floating
Brendan. Leticia Brown held out to Brendan as he drifted past her, “Take me Brendan I hear
their cries too.”
This was too much for Simon Demont who pulled Leticia back, “No, no this cannot be
happening.” But the force was too strong and as he pulled he seemed to be lifted along too,
his feet were off the floor and unable to create a purchase.
Then suddenly the light disappeared back into the white board and along with it the
teacher and all of his pupils. The classroom was empty and deserted, the teacher’s notes lay
strewn across the floor, and the lap top stuttered then switched itself off. A black rucksack lay
on the floor next to O’Reilly’s empty chair.
All was quiet on this side of the dimension.