CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE


Both couples had spent the next day recovering from their evening activities, had dinner at the local restaurants and again shared a great deal of together-time throughout the hours of darkness, indulging in their love in privacy like they would not often have when they returned to their friends.

In the early morning they packed up for the trip back to PV, pleased with their small respite from social obligations but ready to get on with their lives… and to plan for the next escape when it could be managed.

They arrived back at the Casa within 15 minutes of each other, David and Janet pulling into the driveway first and greeted by Neto, on a ladder, Sam and Peter on the roof of the over hang, replacing a few of the curved Teja clay tiles used for roofing. Apparently a gull had dropped a rather heavy coconut on the roof and broken some of the tiles and the two men offered to help. They were amazed to find that only the first two rows of tiles had been cemented to the wooden struts of the roof, the rest held in place by the ingenious inverted v design of the actual tiles.

They chatted for a few minutes then went in to look for the ladies, found Rose, Anya, Cena and Hazel in the kitchen, laughing over some blunders Rose had made in the Supermercado trying to order a Prime rib Roast of Beef.

“Oh don’t you two look rested. Perfect timing, Davey and Jan…we get to spend a few hours with you before jetting off to the good old US of A. Our flight is at 5 this afternoon.”

“I wish we could stay longer,” Rose said sadly. “This is such a lovely place, so quiet and calm. I’ve really felt at home.”

“Then you must come back and soon,” Cena said and took each of the American women by the hand. “No need to wait for these young people to have time in their busy lives. Just come when you can find the time in your own.”

David enquired whether Urs and Elena were back and where the others were.

“Not yet, though Urs said before noon and of course he is never late,” Anya said with a laugh. “The other young people are all on the beach I think… something about trying out the Jet-skis.”

They left their carry all, suit bag for David’s Armani and long dress bag for Jan’s gown in the atrium, the wicker hamper in the kitchen and went out to the patio to look down at the beach. Sure enough both Jet-skis were out, 2 passengers on each doing lazy circles alongside the cigarette boat with Urs and Elena in it, all slowly making their way to the dock or beach. David and Janet clasped hands and raced down the steps, laughing, eager to compare their honeymoons…well, some parts of it.

**

It was very noisy on the beach for a few minutes as everyone came together, teasing about how good the newly weds looked, asking questions about where they had gone and what they had done.

David and Urs just smiled at the last question and said nothing, just hugged their new wives and grinned at the others over the women’s heads.

“Besides that, fool,” Jan said and jabbed David in the ribs.

“We did some riding,” she started momentarily confused when everyone else burst into laughter. She blushed furiously and David hugged her again.

“ON HORSES!!! We went up into the jungle to this valley that is a bird sanctuary…. It was incredible, so many birds and all different species. I’ve never seen anything like it. David took masses of photos and videos.”

David went on to describe lunch and the hot pools, the waterfalls where they soaked and let the water cascade on their shoulders, then their lovely candle-lit dinner at the Laguna Pescadoro Restaurant.

Urs and Elena took turns telling them all about Yelapa and their expedition to help in the rescue at the Turtle Beach while everyone grabbed something to carry and they all wandered chattering and laughing up the stairs to join the older house guests.

Urs was thrilled to see how well Peter looked, the clean, hot air obviously agreeing with him. Anya had a lovely tan already and he remarked on her new Mexican cotton sundress when he kissed her cheek in Hello.

“You’ve adopted Elena’s taste in Mexican clothing. Looks great on you Mami.”

She patted his cheek, pleased to see him so happy.

“We have the same taste in men too,” she said softly smiling, then turned to greet Elena with a hug.

Those who had stayed in the Casa while the newly-weds were away had developed a routine and the two couples watched with amusement while everyone pitched in to bring drinks and snacks to the patio table so they could all visit one last time before it would be necessary to take Hazel, Rose and Sam to the airport. It was decided by the three departing guests that since they hated long good byes at the airport they would hitch a ride with Maddie and Gerry when those two went in to Ley Supermercado for a batch of supplies for the house.

By late afternoon, when it was time for the American party to leave, all the chatting had been done and promises made to return as often as possible and the whole group went to the front entrance to wave good bye.

Jan decided it was time for a shower and skipped off up the stairs.

Carlos and Seb suggested a game of football on the party lawn and Urs nodded, eager for the exercise, still happy about it even after David asked to be taught how to play, though his instincts told him that this might be a bad move.

“I haven’t checked my e.mail since before W. day,” Elena said with a laugh. “I’d better see if Ian has calmed down enough to contact me. I think the last time I went four days without checking in was 2 years past, when I was on assignment in Darfur.”

“Well we’re all going to the casita to see some old photos,” Anya said then ran to catch up to Cena, Neto and Peter.

Urs cuddled her for a moment then kissed the top of Elena’s head and headed out with the Divos.

“Bring us something cold, please, Baby when you come out to the lawn. Teaching this Yank how to play real football could be thirsty work.”

She laughed at him and watched as the four friends walked off around the long side of the house, knowing that he would look back when he reached the corner and giggling when he did and waved at her with a grin.

She walked into the house, thinking about the last couple of days, how wonderful it had been to not have to share him with anyone, how content she was now and the conversation they had somehow got in to on the return journey.

“You know I wasn’t kidding about wanting children, don’t you?” he asked her as they passed the Turtle Beach and saw that one boat was pulled up on the sand but there was no sign of activity.

She had removed her sunglasses and stared at him in surprise.

“I was hoping that it wasn’t a joke. Why?”

He hesitated a moment then went on.

“It’s just…well not once when we’ve been together have you had to tell me…’Sorry, not for a couple of days…it’s that time’… Is there something I should know?”

Elena laughed and came to hug him as he stood at the wheel.

“Poor Baby… I never thought to mention it. Urs, the job I was in before meant that I didn’t have the luxury of a normal cycle. Every six months I would get a shot of depro prevara, something that stopped me from ovulating. Once a year for a month, usually timed for my holidays I would take a breather from the shot and then do it again. My six months was up while I was in Columbia and I had a normal cycle the last few days I was there. I should have got another shot but…well we have been rather busy.”

The look of relief on his face was priceless.

“Did you think I couldn’t have children and hadn’t told you? Shame on you Urs. I would never keep such a secret from you.”

“NO, worse than that…I was afraid you were really sick and didn’t want me to worry. And Elena…don’t get another shot…. Please?”

She had hugged him and promised, she remembered now as she went down the stairs and entered the room just off the gym. Her heart was still throbbing with love for this precious man, the man she had promised to love forever and would, gladly, when she scanned through the list of messages in her in box.

There was one from Ian and she clicked on it, smiling as he pleaded for her not to quit, offering a permanent position as instructor rather than lose her talents. She printed it and scanned through again, noticed one dated 4 days past from Hawk. She clicked on it, thinking it must have come in on her Wedding day but the last thing she was thinking about that day had been e.mails.

She started to read it and felt the blood leave her face, her breath stopped for so long she felt dizzy before she remembered and gulped in air to her starving lungs. Her hands felt icy, heavy and frozen as she clicked on Print and read the message again, waiting for the old familiar darkness to envelope her.

Elena sat for a moment staring at the screen while the printer hummed as it did it’s thing. She searched frantically in her mind for calm, for the cold, dark place where it was possible to be dispassionate and logical about decisions but it had deserted her. All she could think of was getting to Urs, leaning on his long, strong body and sharing her pain with him. She knew what he would do, what he would say, needed to hear his words, feel his warmth to thaw her frozen body.

She ripped the sheet of paper from the tray and raced from the room, up the stairs and out the patio doors to the walkway around the side of the house, desperate to reach him, to be comforted so she could think, her love and respect for her new husband forcing aside the voice that screamed in her head….. “Danger!! Don’t involve him!”

Way out in the center of the expanse of green lawn she saw him with the other three singers and began to weep in relief, racing across the grass to the haven of his arms.

**

Urs was on the party lawn, involved in trying to teach David how to play European football, soccer, the American called it.

“No hands, fool. You can only use your feet, body or head but no hands.” Urs said slowly and clearly, not for the first time and David just laughed at him.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me and my hands just do it on their own. I can’t help it.”

Seb and Carlos had given up protecting the goal they had formed by dropping their shirts on the grass and now were sitting down leaning back on their hands, watching as David played the fool. They knew that he understood the rules and was just trying to wind Urs up… and doing rather well.

Gerry and Maddie had gone in to town to pick up some supplies for Cena and to drop the Millers and Hazel off at the airport, Jan was in the shower and Elena had gone down to the lower floor, more out of habit than anything else, to check her e.mail for the first time in 4 days. The Buhlers, Cena and Neto had gone to Cena’s house to look at old photographs.

Urs spun around in disgust, trying to control his temper and when he did he saw Elena running across the grass to him, weeping hysterically and waving a sheet of paper in her hand.

He dropped the ball at his feet and ran to meet her, wrapping his long arms around her and speaking softly, trying to get her calm enough to speak to him.

The other men raced over and stood helplessly watching as Elena sobbed against Urs chest. David reached over and took the crumpled paper out of her hand, smoothed it, saw that it was in Spanish and gave it to Carlos.

He scanned it quickly, looked up at the others, stunned speechless then cleared his throat before speaking quietly.

“It’s from a friend of Elena’s in Columbia. He says ‘The Abuela came to see me and I was intrigued so investigated. She is correct. The boy is your brother, the son of Penny and Philippe Ruiz, not the child of Emilio and he is in great danger.’ He goes on to explain…. It’s bad, very bad.”

Elena had calmed somewhat and Urs wiped the tears off her face with his big hands then sat her on the grass, leaning against him while the others quietly sat as well.

She gulped for air and calm, motioning to the paper Carlos held as she started to speak.

“Hawk says that the old lady I met in Jurado befriended the boy and when she learned that he would be eight this coming July 6th she started thinking. He has bright green eyes, she said, just like mine and his hair is lighter than most of the Columbian children, more brown than black. The lady she knew as Maria called him Flip….. my fathers name was Philippe and she called him Flip. Hawk has seen him and he says Flip looks like me but is tall.

“She contacted Hawk, actually took the autobus to Quibido and gave him a cloth she had used as a bandage on the boy’s leg when he cut it on a jagged rock. He had the DNA checked and found that Flip is a mix of Spanish and Caucasian. He went to Jurado and with the advice of Abuela Teresa got drunk in the cantina with Emilio, talking about the old days. He learned that when his wife died in an accident, Emilio was given the pregnant survivor of a plane crash, a Gringa, to keep him happy so he would do good work for the Jefe. She bore a son, July 6th only 6 months after she went to live with him, 7 after the plane crashed, with the help of the nuns in a nearby village and the boy was registered in the church but only to the mother and as Philippe Nino de Dios {Philippe, Child of God}…they were never married. The woman was a dutiful wife to Emilio as long as the boy was well treated, though she never regained all her memory or her health and when the Jefe and his operation where terminated they left the area, no one knew where.”

She stopped talking for a moment and rested against Urs with her eyes closed but tears still streaming down her face.

She turned to look in his eyes with pleading. “I promised you that my old life was over, and it is…even with this news I can’t think what to do, can’t reach that cold heart I used to have….but I can’t leave him there, can’t wait for a legal way to do this. Urs, Emilio is going to sell him, along with other orphans that will be delivered to him on Saturday, to some men who want to make child porn movies. Please Urs, help me!”

**