THE DOOR

4 - Technology

I read all of the instructions twice. The English translation from Chinese wasn't particularly well formulated, but I managed to charge and fit the batteries satisfactorily.

Next, I had to use an app on my phone to connect to the camera using Bluetooth. It only had a short range, but I just wanted a look, not a full survey. The camera would continue to record, even if I couldn't see what it was filming when it was out of range.

Our lounge was small by modern standards, about ten feet square with a very comfortable floral design sofa, a couple of upholstered wooden chairs in the same material and a large glass-topped coffee table. The machine sat on our Persian carpet beside the coffee table.

I switched on. The phone, when turned sideways, showed our inglenook fireplace and logs. I slotted it into the clip on the top of the control box and pressed 'on'.

The four rotors began to whir, but the drone sat motionless on the carpet. I pressed lightly backwards on the right joystick and the machine began to rise from the floor. At a height of about three feet I released the control and it hovered.

I eased the rotation control and the drone began to rotate anti-clockwise, the camera view changing to take in our electronics corner, the television, the curtains, the casement window, the door and then me, sitting on the sofa with the control box. I rotated it back towards the door and pushed the direction joystick forward. I was surprised how quickly it reacted and before I could do anything to prevent it, the craft struck the door and stayed there. The tiniest flick moved it back a few inches, I pushed forwards on the altitude control and it slowly settled back onto the rug. I'd better not play with it indoors any longer or I'd break something.

I jumped up and carried the device through to the back garden. Ours had a deck with patio furniture, a gas barbecue, and steps down to a long stretch of grass which filled the space between the walls. A small shed containing tools and junk stood in the corner at the far end, partially shielded by an ancient privet hedge which was suffering from neglect. Neither of us had the time nor inclination to spend time pruning, planting, or maintaining flowerbeds. It got a quick mowing once a week and that was it.

The garden was perfect for experimenting. I could control the drone quite easily as long as I didn't rush my movements or try to combine more than one movement at a time. The range of the Bluetooth was only about thirty feet or so and the picture started to break up at the far end.

Back inside I checked the memory SDXC card and it had recorded fine even if the image hadn't reached the phone. The card could hold more video than the drone had flying time so was perfect.

However, I'd have to be careful to keep it in sight if I was flying over the convent garden or I could easily lose my sense of direction and crash it into a tree or the wall or some other obstacle. Heaven knows how I'd ever get it back if that happened.

Later in the evening, when Hazel had returned home, I told her what I was planning.

'Not sure how legal that is, Henry.'

'Well, the property is derelict, isn't it?'

'Yes, but it's still owned by Caruthers and Basing and they could complain about invasion of privacy.'

'What, really?'

'Yes, but, as you say, it's a derelict property so who is going to do the complaining? Keep clear of that cottage where the old lady lives or she could get funny about it, though.'

'I suppose so.'

- o O o -

The following morning, I took Addy for a quick walk down to the beach promenade then left her in our walled garden and set off for the convent with my new toy fully charged and ready to go. The instructions said I'd get about twenty minutes from a full charge so I resolved to keep it to less than fifteen for safety.

At the bottom corner of the property, where the path behind Abbess Road met Station Road, there didn't seem to be anyone about, although there was some light traffic going into the town centre. It was a little too public so I walked briskly along the footpath to the bottom of Convent Lane, where it backed onto the rear gardens of the Abbess Road properties. It was really quiet here. Ideal.

I slotted the phone into its housing on the controls and switched on. The drone gave me an image of the bottom of the wall running alongside Convent Lane.

Being very cautious and not making any sudden movements, the drone climbed vertically. I watched the screen image to observe how the perspective changed.

At four feet above the wall height, I rotated it anti-clockwise and the convent garden came into view. In front of the machine were some trees which were sorely in need of pruning. I increased the altitude until I was above the height of the tallest branches, then rotated the view left and right.

To the left, I saw the inside of the wall running away towards Station Road. As I swivelled to the right, the extent of the orchard became clear. It was all badly overgrown and what had once been a half acre vegetable garden along this bottom end of the compound, was now just a mass of shocking magenta willow herb which must have taken years to spread so thickly. I brought the view back to parallel to the bottom wall and then moved the drone forward into the garden. It hovered about twenty feet or so inside the property, then swivelled back to the right and there was the chapel.

It appeared to be intact. It was constructed of the same stone as the wall and sported a red roof which was overgrown with lichens and moss.

I pointed the craft in the approximate direction of the convent house and could see the roof and several windows overlooking the garden. These hadn't been bricked up, boarded up or broken.

What about the mystery door or gate or whatever I should call it?

I swivelled back in the approximate direction of the centre of the Station Road side of the property. I could see the top of the wall in places, but the fruit trees were too high to let me see to ground level and the mysterious, vanishing green door itself.

I rotated it back towards the convent and increased altitude to some fifty or sixty feet, but the image broke up and left me with a blank screen. I saw it was facing directly towards the convent even though I'd lost the picture on my phone.

It continued in that direction until almost out of sight, then, as it began to be lost beyond the treetops, I made it hover, did a three sixty degree rotation, then a further one eighty, to point it back towards the bottom wall. I breathed a sigh of relief when it returned to view. I swivelled it towards where the gate had been, tipped it forward to look down, then brought it back over roughly where the chapel was. While still over the property and now in plain view, I dropped it almost to wall height and it continued its return. Once it was over the wall, I held it stationary before bringing it back to earth, safe and sound. Phew!

'What are you doing?'

A man standing in his Abbess Road garden, just a few yards from me.

'Oh, hi. I was looking at the walled property on Google Earth and decided it'd be fun to fly the drone over it to see the chapel in more detail,' I said cheerfully, hoping it was a pleasant enquiry and not the beginnings of a complaint.

'What chapel?'

'There's a chapel in the grounds. Presumably that's where the sisters conducted their services.'

'Oh. Right. That's interesting.'

'How long have you lived here?' I asked him.

'Three years. Didn't know it was a convent. You used the past tense. They're gone, are they?'

'Yes, apparently, they all died of tuberculosis.'

'Good God! All of them?'

'Yes. It's very contagious if you live in close quarters to each other.'

'I must go and look at it on Google. Interesting. Thanks.'

Relieved he wasn't going to cause trouble, I picked up my spy camera equipment and started homewards, wishing him a good morning.

©2019 Tony Harmsworth