Part 7- Things start to take shape.

Things start to take shape.
James and Marcel became fast friends.
Both were in awe of each others talent.
They would practice singing together at every opportunity with James sometimes writing new things on the spot to challenge the mighty voice of Marcel.

David would lie under the open window in the garden outside the music room with other brothers.
While the other members of the order where delighting in the God given gifts of the voices emanating from the room David was calculating box office receipts and album sales.
David had managed to find an ancient reel-to-reel recording device in some of the donated goods that the townspeople often left in the cloister of the Abbey.
David prepared the recording device and used old reels of tape he found in the box with it.

Unknown to David it was a 4 track recording device. So while he taped the brothers singing – playing along side it were the contents of the original recording. Recordings of unknown French punk rock bands.
David in his haste quickly grabbed the tapes and gave them to one of the truck drivers who knew someone who could transfer the music onto CD.
What happened next was a comedy of errors that must have been directed by divine intervention..
The truck driver gave the tape to his son who knew a guy who worked in a commercial recording studio. The truck driver’s son said to the recording engineer if he transferred it to CD there was 4 dozen bottles of St Benedicts beer in it for him.
While the recording engineer transferred the tape with all tracks playing in unison, the head of Shidot Records came into the room: Mr Sincerity .

Mr Sincerity’s only claim to fame was the fact he discovered Plastic Bertrand back in 1977 and had been living off that glory ever since. He longed for another great discovery and when he heard the chants of Marcel and James mixed accidentally with the punk music his brain registered one sound only
“KA CHING”

Part 6- St Benedict's Brewery - David

One way David stopped from going insane from boredom in the Abbey was to work at the Abbey Brewery.

Here he discovered three things.
1. He had a good job that was more like a hobby.
2. He had beer to drink
3. HE could take advantage of the Abbey and the Brother’s good nature and make an alternative living running his own distribution network.
David loved the Brewery.

The St Benedict’s Brewery was instrumental in keeping a usually impatient David at the Abbey

Part 5 - In the beginning - Mr. Blanc

Mr Blanc thought he was being clever when he tried to courier the Epiphany stone in “plain sight”
There were many a World leader who would love to get their hands on it.
Mr Blanc’s exploration teams had discovered the mythical stone in Ethiopia and whilst bringing the stone to England it was hijacked by one of his own men.
Mr Blanc was sure the man who stole it wasn’t aware of it’s supposed powers but Mr Blanc knew the stone may try to stay hidden.

Mr Blanc was incensed and sent the only man who knew he could trust to search for the thief : – his brother Edward .
Meanwhile while he spread rumours of a million Euro contract for David.
Only days into his search Edward disappeared.

Part 4 - David's discovery

Marcel had left to do other chores when James came to and asked for the other Brothers not to tell anyone – but he did ask if they could they tell him where he could find the boy with the magic voice.
Outside the window David’s ears were transferring sounds to his brain
They sounded like this: Ka –Ching!

Part 3 - In the beginning – Marcell

Marcel always wanted to live a pious life.
He grew up near the Abbey of St Benedict’s, was taught by it’s brothers and worshipped in it’s chapel. He often played in the grounds and volunteered his services to help in the gardens or the fields and when he was old enough he joined the Order.
Marcel had no theologian ambitions he was in love with his God and the atmosphere of the Abbey. Marcel loved the simple life. Marcel also loved to sing and every moment he had spare would be practising Gregorian chants with the other brothers or leading works songs in the fields picking the hops.


Sometimes Marcel singing rivaled St Francis of Assisi when came to calling on the birds and beasts

Marcel from his earliest memories wanted to live his life in the Monastery succumbing to a life of devotion.
The Lord blessed Marcel with the voice of an angel and sang every chance he could. Most times it had a calming effect on those around him.

Marcel was in the room leading singing practice the day James discovered the music room. Marcel was one of the brothers who discovered James and found the note clasped in his hand. Marcel hadn’t had the opportunity to talk to James since he had recovered and came back from the hospital, though he did intend to. The numbers and letters on the note which he read were tantalizing familiar to Marcel.



But when James played Marcel forgot all about the note and his heart filled with joy as the music James played entwined with his own voice to create something other-worldly. As James picked up a new instrument Marcel changed in pitch and tone in perfect synchronicity. It all came to a halt when James collapsed.
When it ended Marcel felt as if his heart had been squeezed.

Part 2 - In the beginning - James

James woke up in the Monastery one day and doesn’t remember how he got there. He was discovered unconscious on the Abbey grounds dressed only in jeans and
T-shirt- in his hand he grasped a piece of paper.
Written on the paper was an alpha-numerical codeT407R005B that seemed to be some sort of password.

He was taken for tests at the local hospital who found him in excellent health and with no reasoning for his condition or why he was unconscious to start with; his body was clean of any traces of narcotics.
When James eventually awoke some hours later he had no recollection of his past life. The brothers even left photos of him and details of where to find him with the local constabulary in case someone came inquiring.

Because he couldn’t remember his real name and he was found on the feast of St James the brothers started to call him by that name.
Due to his lost soul status the Order of St Benedict offered him shelter which James accepted wholeheartedly. After some adjustment James came to love his new home and the brothers who were kind and didn’t push for him to remember. James found the life of the Abbey and the Order tranquil and much to his liking.
But sometimes he felt as if someone or something was calling him, but he couldn’t quite catch who.
The voice and recognition of who it was always danced on the peripheral of his mind.
One day James stumbled upon the Abbey music room. The brothers were practising Gregorian Chants and the sound filled James with joy. He sat down at the piano and his fingers played along with the baritones then he added the melody line, soon both hands were dancing over the keys. The singers stopped to marvel, except one who followed and melded with James playing. James then picked up the violin and once again he played it like a virtuoso. James tried the cello, guitar and flute all with same result. James smiled at the singer and felt a tinge of familiarity he then fainted on the spot. When he was revived the Brothers proclaimed him a miracle and a gift from the Lord.
James for some unknown reason felt compelled to beg them to tell no one outside the Abbey.

Part 1 - In the beginning - David

David is hiding in the Monastery after stealing €500,000 worth of untraceable valuable stones from his employer Mr Blanc- a shady entrepreneur who dabbles in international conflict diamond smuggling.
There is now a contract on David’s head.
David did have a plan of escape – the only problem was – he formulated it while “off his head on acid”. This included hiding the stones in a locker somewhere.
Of course when he came down he had huge memory black outs of what he had done and these included where and what he did with the contraband and the key that released it..
All he has is a receipt with the writing:

Key 74071200– Locker 513.

The top of the receipt identifying the location had been ripped off.
When word had got out that David was responsible for the missing stones, Mr Blanc was furious that some lower level courier boy had stolen from him made it a high priority that David was wiped from the planet, whether he got back his diamonds or not.
David in a fit of panic thought of the least likely place Mr Blanc’s henchmen would find him.
David escaped to a Trappists Monastery in the French countryside The Abbey of the Righteous Order of St Benedict- where he was given sanctuary and he tried like mad to remember his Catholic upbringing.
David knew he would be safe living with the monks but wasn’t sure if death wasn’t a better option when boredom hit him an hour and a half after entering the grounds.
It wasn’t until he discovered the brewery that he found solace.
David liked home brew, David liked anything that gave him a buzz but he managed to find his chops working in the Monastery Brewery where he was forbidden to partake in excess amounts of tasting.
The brewery was a traditional operation and brought in much needed financial support for the Order by being a popular seller in the surrounding areas. It wasn’t long before David’s enterprising ways and the Order’s misguided trust in him led to David’s alternative business operations.
Of course a percentage always went back into the Monastery which was now his new home