When you walk through a storm hold your head up high

And don’t be afraid of the dark.

Walk on through the wind.  Walk on through the rain

Though your dreams be tossed and blown

Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart

And you’ll never walk alone.

Vivius was a man who had always walked alone, his tormented childhood had forced him into that.

He was a man who thought he was strong enough to protect the wife he had chosen, the children he had given life to, and the harsh realities of a Rome filled with conspiracy and intrigue – and then he discovered he wasn’t.

For when he is wounded and imprisoned, it is left to his drunken brother-in-law Dorio, to rescue Vivius’s heavily pregnant wife and children and set about proving Vivius’s innocence for murder. This historical thriller reflects the dangerous political atmosphere in Rome and Jerusalem ten years after the crucifixion of Christ,’

This is a story of hope and courage – and isn’t that what we all need right now?         

  This is a true story.

One night, an American B17 bomber, having dropped its bombs on a German industrial estate, was returning to its base on the English countryside, when the probing fingers of German searchlights picked up its silhouette. Within seconds, the powerful anti-aircraft batteries had opened up sending a barrage of shells towards the homebound plane. 

The first thud rocked the aircraft sending a sickening apprehension through the crew. On nights like this it wasn’t unknown for less than half the squadron to return.  More thuds, the plane trembled, and then one hit the fuselage. The young men clenched their teeth, waiting for the inevitable explosion. It never came.

The bomber made it back to base.  Mechanics and support staff swarmed on to the runway, and within minutes an engineer emerged from under the belly of the plane. He had found a dozen or more unexploded shells. The one lodged in the fuselage was carefully dismantled but to the amazement of the crew and engineers it contained no explosive charges. It was empty, except inside they found a piece of paper, hastily written and in Czechoslovakian.  It read: ‘This is all we can do for you for now.’

Somewhere in a Munitions factory in Germany, Czech slave labourers, who knew full well the penalty for sabotage, had, in an effort to help the Allies, made non-exploding shells.

It’s all about having the courage to persevere when the going gets rough, isn’t it?

It’s all about doing your bit – even if that means staying at home and co-operating with the rules and regulations to prevent the spread of the virus.