Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct

by Kathrin Kilambya

  “So, what are we going to do now?” Nin interrupted my thoughts. “Any ideas?”

  “I have a few, but I’d like to hear your suggestions first,” I ventured.

  Yuki looked at me alarmed.

  “Actually I have none to offer,” Nin conceded. “I’d like to hear yours.”

  Well then, easier than I’d thought.

  “About tomorrow, I was thinking that we could go visit Helen and her family in Grindelwald. It would be nice to see them once again. And we could bring Helen the things Mum has set aside for her long time ago and never got to bring to her. Afterwards we might go tobogganing in Grindelwald just as we have done so many times before. How about that?”

  Everybody looked excited at this proposition, but before anyone could comment I added, “And today afternoon we could move some stuff down in the bomb-shelter. I mean we should move our dearest and nearest things in boxes downstairs. I don’t like the idea that these things will be openly accessible to whoever chances to pass through our house, whether intentionally or not, while we’ll be down in the sub-basement. I want to pack these things away. Mine, yours, Mums, Nate’s everybody’s. Things like our documents, jewellery, paintings, books, Mum’s manuscripts, Nate’s tool’s, Alice’s paintings, and so on. This afternoon would be a perfect time to do this: we are done with all the other preparations and basically just waiting for the worst to happen, aren’t we? It would help us pass time and do something useful. What do you think?”

  It wasn’t something I just came up with now. This had been on my mind before and I really wanted our family’s most special things to be packed away somewhere safe. Maybe a crazy and stupid idea, since we might have to leave everything behind later anyway. But somehow it seemed comforting to know that what had once been important to our family would be in a safe place and remain there for years and years to come, even if no one of us should ever come here again.

  Plus, of course, it would give me the excuse to start carrying out the plan that slowly but surely took shape in my head. The plan to safe us all from Steve and his lot.

  Yuki, Nin and Alice looked at me a bit dubiously, the idea of packing some more things obviously didn’t appeal to them very much. But then Nin said, “Maybe you’re right. To think that all my things will be laying around. It would be better to pack them away. And we have lots of space in the bomb-shelter-rooms. Lots of space.”

  “Everyone can decide what they want to pack and how much”, I added. “I don’t mean to pack all my stuff, just things that mean a lot to me. Or documents that may be useful someday, things like that. And anyway, we should pack our birth certificates, IDs and passports in a separate box and bring them down to the sub-basement. Also, we should set aside money and jewellery. We might need them on the way to Uncle Phil’s and Aunt Kamene’s – and store them in the sub-basement, too.”

  “I think this is a sensible idea,” Yuki agreed. “And if we do this today, tomorrow and the trip to Grindelwald will be like a reward for all the hard work we did, don’t you think?”

  Everyone agreed with that and we set about the task of sorting out our valuables after lunch. Alice and I first went through her things and packed everything in a little suitcase. She wanted to pack some of her paintings, her pretty summer dresses, some of her toys that meant a lot to her and the children’s microscope she’d been given by Mum and Nate.

  We also packed another suitcase with her cloths and two boxes with her medium-special, her words not mine, toys. She kept her jewellery in a little pink box with rhinestones, a box she had decorated herself and which she valued a lot. We took it down in the sub-basement as well as her little photo book. The other suitcases and boxes we brought down to the bomb-shelter.

  Then we went to the studio and collected my things. I, too, packed up all my cloths in boxes, then I sorted out some photos and the little jewellery I had and other things. But the rest I left as it was.

  When we were done with this it was 4 o’clock. Nin and Yuki had by then also completed moving their things down to the bomb-shelter and we now headed all together for Dad’s little room, where we still kept some of his stuff and then on to Mum and Nate’s rooms. We opened the strongbox in Mum’s office and took out the documents, identity documents of all the family members, documents relating to the house, and money. Mum kept her jewellery in her dressing table and we took it all out and down to the sub-basement. Nate had a collection of old maps which we carefully wrapped and took down to the sub-basement, too. Then we packed up all their cloths and collected all the paintings in the house. Nin thought the climate in the bomb shelter would have a negative effect on the paintings, as it was too cold and too humid. Of course he was right, but we took them down there anyway. To leave them hanging on the walls felt like exposing ourselves unduly to the world.

  It was past 7 o’clock when we were done with everything. And we were exhausted. But I felt immensely relieved. If Steve and his cronies should ever come here, they would at least not be able to destroy anything important or too personal. And, it would look like we’d moved everything elsewhere. Which, hopefully, would set them on this false trail I was trying to set up.

  We were very hungry after all this moving and walking up and down the stairs so many times. I hoped that Ninian had not noticed how I had tried to carry anything heavy in Yuki’s stead. She’d rolled her eyes at me several times, but I wasn’t letting her take chances here. Even if it was early days for her pregnancy we had to do all we could to make it easy for her. Nin hadn’t said anything; and him being ever the gentleman he’d anyway tried to carry anything for Yuki, if only she let him.

  He also carried the boxes for Helen into the car and loaded the toboggans in it before we had dinner that evening.

  Helen and her family rented out the little cottage in Grindelwald where we had spent a lot of skiing holidays as well as holidays throughout the year. We’d gone there already when Dad still lived with us. Helen and Mum having been friends since a long time ago, they had studied together and their friendship had withstood time and the different courses their lives had taken. Whenever we went to Grindelwald, we spent some time with Helen and her family.

  She and her husband Peter ran a small but very charming hotel, a family inheritance on Peter’s side. The cottage they rented to us was near the hotel, but a bit set aside within a grove of old trees. We all loved it very much. In all seasons it was a wonderful place to be and we’d last gone there for Christmas.

  Since then Mum had set aside some boxes for Helen but had never found the time to go and deliver them. I didn’t really know what they contained, but I was sure she’d appreciate us delivering them. And it would be grand to see Helen and her family. Maybe we could even drop a hint or two about the looming crisis so that they might prepare themselves at least a bit. We’d see. I would certainly try.

  After dinner we were all whacked and went to bed early. This time we decided to sleep upstairs. Alice and I slept in her room, it was a bit tight together in her bed, but it was okay.

  I couldn’t sleep for a long time. Mulling over what I had learned today and trying to find a way out, a way to keep us safe all the while setting Steve and his people firmly on a false trail. But whenever I thought my plan was watertight, I detected another snag and almost frantically started afresh.

  And then there was Yuki and her pregnancy to think about. It scared me to hell just to think about it. I knew nothing about pregnancies or giving birth. The little I remembered from when Mum was pregnant with Alice wouldn’t be helpful. How were we to get Yuki safely through this? What if there should be any complications? I didn’t dare thinking about it. And yet, we would have to prepare. Yuki and I, and later we would have to tell Nin. He would freak out! The worry about Yuki would drive him mad! We really would have to postpone telling him as long as possible.

  Unless!

  A thought occurred to me.

  Yes! It could work.

  Which meant that it would be necessary to tell him soon.r />
  Not a bad idea at all – this might actually work!

  It definitely should and it would kill two flies at the same time!

  Not bad at all, this idea!

  And finally, after what seemed hours and hours of thinking and with a pounding headache, I managed to fall asleep.

  Chapter 5 – a holiday

  Tuesday, 15th March 2072

  We slept too long the next morning and then had to hurry a bit. It would take us a good one and a half hour to reach Helen and Peter and we’d better get going if we wanted to go tobogganing as well. At 10 o’clock we were finally ready and set out.

  Everybody wore their skiing trousers and warm pullovers. The jackets, gloves, scarves and hats were stored in the trunk of the car, as well as our heavy duty winter boots. Alice had wanted to bring Piglet and Malinda, but we had talked her out of this. So, after a bit of grumbling, she had arranged them on the sofa in the living room upstairs and had declared herself ready to go tobogganing.

  Ninian was driving, with Yuki beside him and Alice and me in the back seat.

  I glanced around as we left Muri and got onto the highway, trying to figure out whether we were being followed or not. But I didn’t notice anything peculiar.

  There was something else which had occurred to me last night and which I didn’t know how to broach without Ninian and Yuki realizing what I was up to, or, more correctly, what danger was heading our way.

  And they mustn’t know yet. Otherwise they would never allow me to carry out my plan. Nin being Nin, he would act rashly, of that I was sure. But we needed subtlety here, we had to tread very carefully and softly, and this was not a thing Nin could do. He was transparent as glass and couldn’t keep a secret, even if he tried very hard. If I wanted to succeed in leading Steve and his lot on a false trail, I had to act alone.

  What I really needed to know was whether Steve or this stupid guy from the bookshop or someone else from their group had attached a tracking device on our car and could monitor it’s movements from afar. In order for my still a bit hazy plan to work, it was absolutely vital that there be no such device.

  Finally I decided to broach the subject head-on, as this had often proved the best way of going about a problem.

  “Nin, I know that Dad and Josh think there’s no reason to worry, but I like to go along with Uncle Phil. To be over-suspicious and to double and triple check is vitally important here, I think.”

  Nin glanced at me in the back mirror, clearly without a clue what I was getting at.

  “Meaning?”

  “You know, I have been wondering whether this Nemesis whatever won’t keep a tab on Dad, Uncle Phil and Josh and therefore, by association also on us? And, if they did, wouldn’t it be possible that they would install a tracking device in or on our car to know about our every move? Could you check tomorrow whether our car has something like this?”

  This prompted a roar of laughter.

  “Aren’t you going overboard a bit here?” Nin teased me. “You know, it isn’t so easy to stick such a device to a car and we haven’t left the car unattended in the last few days, haven’t we?”

  “Not easy to stick a tracking device to a car?” Yuki’s voice sounded high-pitched with indignation. “How can you say something so stupid and we see every day in the movies how easily such devices can be attached to cars! Someone only has to bend down and touch the car briefly. It doesn’t take even a minute to do this! And just remember how we used the car for shopping these last few days and how it stood on the parking lots of the shopping centres and stores for time on end, unattended at that! Anyone could have fitted it with a tracking device while we were in the shops!”

  She turned around to me and added, “I think Lia has a point here. What if they did this? At least we should check. We may always decide later what to do, should there be such a tracking device.”

  Nin caved in right away. “Okay, okay, I’ll check for it tomorrow. Promise. But explain why they should do this?”

  I was amazed at his naivety. Was it possible that he really didn’t get it? Didn’t he see that they might be ready to hunt us down, all of us? And to get hold of us and use us as a bait would mean to get hold of Dad and possibly also Uncle Phil, coz they would never let this happen to us. If he hadn’t thought about this, I wasn’t going to tell him, certainly not in front of Alice; it would only scare her out of her wits. So I just rolled my eyes at him and kept quiet.

  Yuki kept speculating for a while why the Nemesis people would want to do such a thing, but I didn’t pay attention to what she said anymore. My thoughts drifted as we reached the highway junction before Spiez. I paid extra attention because this stretch of road was vital to my plans. And it was all just as I had remembered – the bends, the visibility, how far a car could be seen, everything as I had remembered!

  Yes!! Perfect! So this part might work.

  It simply had to!

  Shortly afterwards Alice got bored and wanted to be entertained, so we all played that old game where one person had to choose an animal and the others had then to find out which animal it was by asking questions which could only be answered by “Yes” or “No”. We had to keep the choice of animals fairly simple because of Alice, but it was fun all the same. And it helped kill time.

  The closer to Grindelwald we got the more the snow was piling up. It was clearly still winter up here. Before spring would finally take over up here, it would take at least another month if not two. The roads were clear and dry as it had not rained or snowed recently and we got to Grindelwald and to Helen’s by shortly before 12 o’clock.

  Helen was very happy to see us. Her husband and kids were not in, which was a shame, we had wanted to see them very much. They would come later in the afternoon.

  We gave her the boxes and sat and talked with her a bit. When she learned that we wanted to go tobogganing, she sent us packing before it would be too late for this. We had to promise to come back for an early dinner to which suggestion we readily agreed.

  We went tobogganing on the South facing slopes. One could take a bus up the mountain, load the toboggans on it and then come racing down, partly on the road, partly on some specially prepared toboggan-tracks. One run took about half an hour and it was always great fun. We went up and down four times before we’d had enough. It was cold by now and we longed for a warm drink and a rest. Maybe Nin and Alice would have gone on, but Yuki and I were tired, and felt cold, and wanted to go to Helen’s. Also, I was a bit worried for Yuki, but she just glared at me when I dared suggest she should take it easy.

  So we packed up and headed back toward Helen’s. We’d parked our car at her place and so we had to walk through the entire village back to their hotel. We just got there in time for tea and the promised early dinner. Helen’s husband and children were at home now and we spent an enjoyable few hours with them.

  Nin, Yuki and I tried to broach the subject of the impending crisis several times, but Helen and especially her husband Peter remained unimpressed. They all knew about our Dad’s crazy notions in the past. He had told them about some of them himself. And they thought that this time was like all the other times before and that nothing would come off it. We urged them that it was different now, that they must prepare. To which they asked, why, if it were different and we all stood in immediate danger, why on earth would all of our parents choose this time to go to Canada or remain in the States, instead of being with us? Why were they not here to protect us?

  And what were we to answer to this?

  They were right, of course. In a way. But then again … In the end we decided to let this topic rest and instead concentrated on having a good time with them. It was good to be there, the food was excellent and in the end it got so late that Helen and Peter decided that we must spent the night there.

  We relented after just a little discussion. We had missed our calls to Uncle Phil and Josh as well, they would all worry where we were. But we could call them all tomorrow. It was late now and we were glad
to spend the night in their wonderful place.

  Chapter 6 – it starts

  Wednesday, 16th March 2072

  When we arrived back home by Wednesday shortly before lunch time, everyone was frantic about where we had been. Dad, Uncle Phil with Mum and Nate, but also Josh. Simply everybody had left messages on the satellite phone in the sub-basement and everybody wanted to be contacted immediately. We felt guilty about our “day-off” and set about calming down our collective family’s ruffled feathers.

  Uncle Phil, Auntie Kamene, Mum and Nate were the first ones we called. They had left messages telling us to call them immediately, no matter what the hour of the day it would be.

  It was now 11 o’clock here, so it was late at night over at their place, but we called anyway.

  They must have been waiting beside the phone coz they answered immediately.

  “What on earth have you been doing?!? What has happened! Are you all well? Why on earth did you miss your daily appointment with us!! Can you imagine how worried we were?”

  They all yelled at us, and rightly so, I guessed.

  We hadn’t planned to stay in Grindelwald overnight and we would have called them, had we been able to. After a while this message got through to them and they calmed down a bit and heaved a collective sigh.

  When she finally listened to what we had to say, Mum was very pleased that we’d gone to Helen and Peter. But it was overshadowed by her anguish at being separated from us.

  Uncle Phil had told them the truth by now and had convinced her and Nate of the severity of the looming crisis. And where she could never have listened and believed Dad, she knew that Phil spoke the truth; the truth as he saw it, but a truth that she must listen to and accept.

  Of course, she and Nate were now totally freaked out by the idea that they would not make it back to us and that we’d have to face everything on our own. Mum cried and apologized over and over again.