** Chapter NINETEEN

It was the last of the signing sessions, for a while anyway, and he was happy. He wanted to go back to Switzerland, to continue working on the stables until the snow was too heavy, anything to keep his body so tired that he didn’t dream.

He had a shower, dried and straightened his hair and dressed casually for dinner with the guys, Holly and Anna. Gerry had missed this little jaunt because of an audition for a part that she didn’t really want. He laughed as he thought of how much fun she was having being a housewife, how she was looking forward to moving into their new and bigger place.

Nearly time to meet David and Holly, he thought. ‘Just enough time to check my e.mails.’ There were 9 new ones and he skimmed through the senders until his eyes fixed on one:

‘October 3rd
To: Ekinamadi@ comet.net
From: Capt.NancyPrentice@canadaforcesram.ca
Subject: something precious from Afghanistan

Mr. Buhler: I sincerely hope that this will be good news for you. I’m a doctor, recently with the Canadian forces in Afghanistan. On September 9th here in Europe, the 10th in Afghanistan, when we were evacuating near Herat, a woman dressed in a chadur thrust a bundle of twin boys into my arms and begged me to take them to their father. Our chopper had no more room, she was dressed as a native and was thrust away, rather violently I’m afraid, but the boys were in my arms and I have them now, here on the base in Germany.

I tracked you from the notes she had attached to both boys arms. They are healthy, adorable, were about 4 months old, now more like 5 months. I am sorry it took so long to get word to you of Lucas and Peter’s safety. I’m sure you know how slowly the wheels of government work.

I am due some leave and would like to see this story to it’s end. If you tell me where in this wide world you are I will bring the boys to you. I also have a note from their mother for you.

Let me know.

Captain Nancy Prentice, MD, Canadian Forces Medical Corp., NATO, Ramstien, Germany’



Urs was still sitting at the desk, stunned, reading the e.mail again and again when David and Holly came in the suite.

“Hey, you ready to…Urs…Urs, what is it?”

David touched him on the shoulder and Urs looked up, his face swimming with tears. He turned in the chair and put his arms around David’s waist and leaned against his strong friend, sobbing while David stroked his back.

David and Holly read the letter over their friend’s quivering body and both cried silently.

After a few minutes Urs calmed and drew back. He looked at the screen and smiled, a timid movement of his lips.

“I had almost given up hope. I thought maybe Honey might make it but the babies….a plane crash, hostile environment….so many things were stacked against them. I should have known my Bush Baby would take care of them.”

He keyed in New on the message center and started a letter to the angel who had told him about his sons.

**

They arranged to meet in Switzerland, a convenient spot since Dr. Prentice was based in Germany and Urs needed time at home to get to know his sons.

Simon put out a misleading press release, told of Urs and Honey meeting and falling in love but said that their work had separated them and while she was working, her aircraft had crashed, the location was classified. Now their twin boys were being returned to their father. He said the hand over of the boys to Urs would take place in London, then, after a brief interview, at which Urs answered very few questions, he was spirited out of London on the Sony jet, accompanied by his dearest friends and leaving the press with only part of the story.

They arrived 3 days before the meeting, spent their time installing the nursery furnishings Honey hadn’t had time to purchase, taking long walks in the crisp October air, talking with Urs.

He was sitting in the lounge staring at the fire late the evening before the boys were to arrive. David came through on his way to the kitchen, brought Urs back a beer and they sat for a few minutes just watching the flames.

“I was thinking about how it must have torn her apart to give our boys over to a total stranger. She’s so strong, David…I don’t know if I could have managed so well.”

“Life has made her strong, Urs. Maybe that’s why you two came together…now it’s going to be your turn to be the strong one.”

Urs looked at him and smiled. “And I will be. Luke and Peter are young, they won’t miss me, so as soon as I can I’m going to Afghanistan and find her.”

“What about Simon? He likely has all sorts of things scheduled for us.”

Urs sat forward with his forearms resting on his thighs, picking at the label on his beer bottle.

“If he won’t give me the time off, then I’ll have to leave the group. I have to find her David, one way or the other.”

David just stared at him for a moment then grinned.

“I have an idea….and if it doesn’t work then I’ll quit too and go with you.”

**

Nancy and her husband had decided on a skiing holiday in the Alps, with a slight detour to bring the boys home. Because Urs face was so well known, they had settled on them coming to Kussnacht am Riggi. Since the house was full, Urs paid for a suite for them for the night in the local Hotel before they would go on with their holidays.

Everyone was up early, counting down the time, peering out the windows , mentioning how far the Prentices should be now…. ‘they should be landing in Luzern about now’. Urs tried to remain calm but the collective nervousness was getting to him and he put on boots and jacket to go out and shovel the path …again.

He had just finished and returned to the house when a rental 4 x 4 turned in at the driveway. He opened the door again and stepped out onto the porch, saw a woman get out of the front and wave.

It seemed as if his feet were made out of lead weights as he approached the vehicle. A man came around from one side, carrying a warmly wrapped bundle in a hooded blue sweater. Nancy, he was sure it was her, stepped back from the side door with another wrapped bundle in her arms, a yellow sweater this time. She smiled at him as her husband joined her and they stood side by side.

As if they knew, both boys turned to look at him and Urs saw his own eyes staring at him from the tiny, serious faces. Then they smiled and his heart melted.

He wasn’t aware of what was said, only that suddenly his arms were full of babies. David and Seb had come out of the house to invite the Prentices in. Carlos came out and led Urs into the lounge, gently pushed him into a chair and they all left him to absorb the feelings coursing through his mind and body.

One of the boys had fallen asleep and he gently lay him across his lap on a pillow that had appeared from somewhere. He unwrapped the warm blankets from each of them and found that each wore not only a one piece footed outfit but a narrow plastic bracelet with his name. Lucas was the one still awake, watching his father with a wide eyed gaze that mirrored Urs own. He touched the tiny pink hand with his long fingers and smiled at the immediate reaction of little pink fingers closing over his.

Urs raised his son up, the tiny curly head cradled in his large hand and leaned in to smell the sweet baby scent of soap and talc as he kissed his son on the brow. It must have tickled for the boy gurgled and a smile creased his face and he waved his arms about, clutched a handful of hair and gurgled happily again.

Holly came to his rescue and untwined the baby fingers from Urs’ hair.

He looked up at her smiling.

“This is Luke. Look, he has a little mole by his right eyebrow, just like I did until Simon got hold of me.”

He offered to let Holly hold the boy, smiling as she cooed and tickled Lucas. The others crowded around as Urs had a closer look at Peter. Already the slant to his eyes was pronounced, even more like Urs than Lucas. No mole but the same curly hair.

Urs laughed outright when Peter made sucking faces in his sleep.

“He’ll be hungry soon….they both adjusted well to formula, but I’m sure they only had breast milk until…..that’s why they survived so healthily.”

Nancy had come over to stand behind him and Urs looked at her with glistening eyes.

“You can’t know how much this means to me. Honey was only 5 months along when the chopper went down. I never thought the twins would make it.”

Nancy looked like she had more to say but not now. This was a time for rejoicing. She sent John, her husband, to the vehicle for bottles, clothes and so forth and Carlos went with him. They brought everything in, including the two car seats Urs had paid to have installed in the rental.

The boys started to stir and all of the women needed a turn with holding one or the other so Nancy took Urs to the kitchen and gave him a quick course in baby feeding. When they returned to the Lounge with two warmed bottles, David was on his knees on the floor, a blanket spread out and Luke in the process of getting a fresh diaper.

“What’s this big guy? A hidden talent?” Urs said laughing at him.

“Sisters….there’s a few things about babies I can teach you, Swiss Boy.”

“David, I have 3 married sisters and I lost count of the nieces and nephews..…. my family reproduce like rabbits.”

“Well, Bunny Boy, you get to do Peter then,” Holly said with a grin as she lay Peter on the blanket.

In spite of everyone wanting to be the one to do it, the babies got fed, wrapped up nice and warm and put to sleep in the little cots Jonas had carved for the lounge.

They adjourned to the dining table, still able to see the cots and Urs put the Baby Monitor on the table right in front of him.

Gerry and Anna brought the big kettle of Hot Schokolade and announced that lunch would be ready in a few minutes but they could start on the hot drink if they liked.

Nancy reached in her pocket and gave Urs the little written tags, now encased in plastic, that Honey had put on the boys. He read them and sighed, was going to pass them on but Nancy stopped him.

“There’s something on the back too,” she said gently.

He turned them both over and saw that one came first, and started to read it.

‘Urs: So sorry.,, Luv, did my best. I pray our sons get safely 2 U. Always remind them I love them & I love U. U R my special someone meant to complete me…. Will…

‘try 2 reach safety……much danger….. T. kill me if find not native…Will try 4 Allied base……if not survive, raise our sons and get on with life, remember me from time to time….. one who loved U more than life. Honey’.

Urs gently placed both tags in front of David and excused himself, going back in the lounge to stand beside the cradles with his head bowed.

David took the tags and softly read the message out to all the friends, dissolving into tears before he finished and Seb had to read the last tag.

There were no dry faces at the table when Urs came back and sat, shook himself, wiped his face with his palms and softly asked Nancy to tell about when she had received the babies from Honey.

She took a breath and told them all she could.

“It was insanely congested. We were trying to evac the wounded and all the civilian workers, most of the medical staff. The last chopper was jammed with people but I’m little so they squeezed me in. There was a crowd of people around the chopper and soldiers keeping them back, mostly women wearing the long black burkas, chadurs some call them, some with children beside them, all screaming and crying. The noise was deafening, the guards yelling in French and Farsi and English, the rotors winding up.

“They were just going to close the door when this small woman ducked under a soldier’s arm and thrust a baby sling at me. I was terrified, they had done this before with bombs, using women in chadur, but the sling started to move and cry and I peeked, saw the babies and held on to them. The woman was screaming at me, trying to be heard over the rotors and the yelling of the women and soldiers. ‘I’m Canadian, please save my sons, take them to their father.’ I heard her just as the door closed and a soldier butted her in the head with his rifle. I never saw her again.”

Nancy gave them a few minutes to calm from what she had told them then went on.

“I saved the sling for you and this….I thought you might want to have them.”

She pulled a plastic bag out of her large handbag and dumped it on the table to reveal a roughly made sling of some homespun black material, very dirty and encrusted with something…and Honey’s pendant watch, the batteries dead and the chain broken and tied.

“We had to go through a lot of red tape to get the boys to the hospital in Germany, but I recognized your name when I read her note and contacted you, hoping that if things got sticky you might be able to pull some strings. Your lawyers actually got all the paperwork speeded up and made it possible for me to bring the boys to you.

“It’s a long way from Herat to Kandahar, 400 or 500 K, over a mountain range then across the hills and plains. It’s full winter now and very dangerous. She will likely have to walk because she’s female, and she is right, if they discover that she is not Afghani, one of the more zealous fanatics will kill her. The boys would not have survived that trek so I understand why she gave them to me…that and if it was discovered she had twins someone would have stolen them. Twins are considered a blessing from Allah. Her only hope of survival herself is to get to Kandahar and request medical aid. Once she is with a worker, she can reveal who she is and they will likely take care of her.”

“How did she look?” Gerry asked but Nancy shook her head.

“All I ever saw of her was bloody hands, everything else was covered.”

“Bloody hands? You think she was injured?”

Nancy looked uncomfortable now and John took her hand.

“I was suspicious so I had the notes tested…that isn’t ink. Where would she get a pen and ink? It’s blood. Which explains the dried blood on her hands.”

Urs had paled when he realized what Nancy had said but recovered quickly.

He took the two tags and went into the Lounge, took down the family bible his Mami had given him at Christmas time and placed them inside for safekeeping, came back and sat.

Urs sat quietly for a few moments then looked up and smiled at the girls.

“I think we should have lunch and while we’re eating I want to tell you about a little plan David came up with last night.”

By the end of lunch spirits had risen around the table to the extent that a few smiles were seen and some of them even laughed at David’s corny jokes.

**