Lia's files 2_Heading down south

by Kathrin Kilambya

  It was only five-thirty. The sun would be rising soon, but the air already hummed with the noise and sounds of early morning. It promised to be another hot and glorious day.

  I quickly tidied Alice and me up a bit. We brushed our teeth and I combed her hair into two braids before tying mine in a low knot. Then we joined the others by the car.

  Somebody had prepared tea. It was hot and delicious, if maybe a bit on the sweet side. We ate some more apples and granola bars with it. The sun was rising, when twenty minutes later, Degu, Daniel and the young man took their leave of us.

  It was harder than I had imagined. I guessed that it was especially hard for Mahlet. After all, now the last of her fellow Ethiopians were about to leave. She would be with us, now, for good or for worse.

  However, she looked quite contend and very much in love. She and Paul kept holding hands and exchanging speaking glances. It was very cute to watch. And we all did. Watch them, that is. Winter gave me a wink and grinned mockingly, but Rob silenced her with a tender kiss on her hair. It was too beautiful to see, this new, growing, excited love. No place for mockery or jokes.

  We said our good-byes to the three men and embraced them all heartily. No one knew whether we would see each other again. They walked over to their cars, got in and drove a bit to the side, so that we would be able to taxy to the tarmac airstrip just beyond the hangar. Apparently, they wanted to wait and see us take off.

  There wasn’t much to do and Paul pressed us to hurry. So, we packed up everything and scrambled into the plane. Nin got in last, closed and checked the door, stopped by Yuki to inquire how she was doing before disappearing to Paul in the cockpit. We all sat down, making sure to distribute our collective weight evenly on both sides of the aisle. Alice and I sat on the left side, Josh just across the aisle on my right. He held my hand. Yuki and Mahlet had chosen seats in front of us, with Rob and Winter opposite to them.

  Almost immediately, the plane lurched forward and began taxiing to the airstrip. Alice who sat in the window seat craned her neck to see as much as possible. The sun had just risen above the horizon and blinded her. Josh waved one last good-bye to Degu and the others outside in the cars, then we were scuttling fast down the airstrip at ever increasing speed and suddenly the well-known surge in the stomach told me that we were in the air. Alice shouted happily that we were fast gaining height. We all kept glancing outside the window, back toward Mega, loath to see vehicles approaching in the far distance. However, there was nothing. The plane flew a circle over the airstrip, to send a last greeting to the men down below, and then we headed south.

  “How will they navigate?” I shouted to Josh. What with the noise of the engines, it was difficult to communicated, one had to shout.

  “On sight. It won’t be easy, but they know, what to look for. If they keep a steady south-south-western direction, we ought to see Mount Kenya within a couple of hours.”

  It was all really just incredible!! Utterly and mind-bogglingly incredible!!

  Just a couple of hours until Nairobi! And then home!!

  Mum! Nate! The twins! Uncle Phil and Aunt Kamene! And everyone with them. We would finally see them, be reunited with them.

  It felt utterly surreal.

  Yet, I almost burst with joy at the thought of reaching Blue-Hill-Farm within less than forty-eight hours.

  I wondered, though, where Paul intended to land the plane. Blue-Hill-Farm wasn’t accessible by plane. Uncle had taken care of that. He had always wanted Blue-Hill-Farm to remain as hidden as possible. There was a little dirt track leading to it. To transport equipment and building material he’d always used donkeys and camels. Only occasionally had Uncle Phil used trikes to get to Blue-Hill-Farm. We, too, had on several occasions travelled there on horseback; never had we gone there by car.

  I asked Josh what he thought where we’d land and how we would get to Blue-Hill-Farm.

  He grinned. “We discussed this this morning, while you were still fast asleep, my pretty. You remember that lodge that is about two hours’ drive from Blue-Hill-Farm? Paul intends to land there. And then some of us will have to leg it to Blue-Hill-Farm to get the horses and camels.”

  “So, we won’t make it to Blue-Hill-Farm today?”

  “It depends. But if we have to stay another night at that lodge, it wouldn’t be too bad, would it?” He grinned happily; he was obviously just as excited as I was.

  Alice still busied herself with watching out of the window. She reported that she had seen a heard of antelopes near a dry riverbed down below. About an hour after take-off, she said that she could see a mountain in the distance and wanted to know its name.

  “Marsabit, I guess.” Josh replied, just as Paul stuck his head through from the cockpit and shouted. “Marsabit! We are about to fly over Marsabit. Have a look at the geology, all of you! There are some fine extinct volcanoes and craters to be seen. On your right. In about five minutes.”

  With a huge grin, he turned back to the cockpit while we all broke out in laughter at this comical display of his.

  We obliged him, however, and all craned our necks to have a look. Mount Marsabit looked impressive; raising up from the huge plain it was situated in. Around the mountain, we saw a wooded area, probably because of the rain catching capacity of the mountain. Yet further away from the mountain, the land was arid and desert-like and, strangely, dotted with several smaller and bigger craters.¨

  “What are these? Look, they look like holes in the ground.” Alice exclaimed.

  “They are craters, of long extinct volcanoes. It is a complex geological setting up here.” Josh replied.

  It surely looked incredible. Beautiful. Wild. Strange.

  “Have you ever been up here before?” I inquired.

  “Yes. Of course. It’s basically where I was initiated to the secrets of geology. By Phil, of course. It’s a wild country. But utterly beautiful.”

  He raised my hand to his lips and pressed a fervent kiss onto it. “We’re almost there, Lia! We’re almost at home!”

  His eyes locked with mine and he gave me his beautiful, radiant smile. I banished whatever thoughts of anxiety lurked in my mind. For, we’d been so lucky all the way. Could we be that lucky and make it without any hitch to Blue-Hill-Farm? It seemed too good to be true or to last. Maybe something showed in my eyes, because Josh immediately demanded. “What’s the matter? What’s troubling you?”

  I shook my head, but answered truthfully nonetheless. “Nothing, Just wondering whether we aren’t a bit too optimistic. Something might still go wrong. I daren’t be happy. Not quite yet. I daren’t think we might really make it.”

  Josh was having none of that. He said I ought to trust life and luck a bit more. Be a bit more optimistic. All would go well. To hit his message home, he bent over to kiss me.

  Yet, I couldn’t help feeling anxious. Consequently, the flight wasn’t anything I enjoyed much. I kept glancing at my watch. Every time wishing that we’d already come nearer to Nairobi than we were. Josh saw and understood my restlessness and tried to calm me by holding my hand.

  Yuki glanced back at us several times. She seemed to be going through the same emotional turmoil as I did. Her face betrayed hope, anxiety, fear and happiness, all at the same time.

  To pass the time, I tried to trace the way to Blue-Hill-Farm from that lodge Josh had mentioned. However, I couldn’t remember much. It’d been too long ago, our last visit to Blue-Hill-Farm. Then I tried to picture Mum, Nate and the twins. But it kind of didn’t work. I was too hyper.

  At least Alice had been able to fall asleep. Holding Malinda in her arm and laying halfway on Piglet, she had curled up on the seat beside me. I was glad for her.

  Short before noon, Nin informed us that we were fast approaching Nairobi.

  “One can see the city ahead. Still far away, but clearly visible.” He shouted.

  Josh got up and walked to the front of the cockpit. He didn’t reappear for fifteen minutes. By which time we had reached the outskirts
of Nairobi and I could discern that we were flying past Nairobi on its Eastern side. Everybody peered out of the windows, eager to see as much as we could.

  Would we see anything suggesting human presence? We hadn’t had the time to study the documents we’d found in their plane yet, so we had no idea whether there was a Nemesis base in Nairobi or not. If yes, they must have spotted us. For sure. I silently mused, all the while craning my neck to get a better look. Rows and rows of houses, streets, shopping malls, industrial buildings. Then the outskirts of Nairobi, just lately built rows after rows of semi-detached houses with gardens. But no humans. None at all. Ten minutes later we’d left it all behind.

  Josh came back and sat down next to me again. A strange, triumphant smile hovered on his face. I shot him a questioning look, but he just shook his head, gave me his lopsided smile and remained silent.

  Rob had noticed the change with Josh too. He sent him a quizzical look and shouted. “What have you been doing, bro? Anything happened that we ought to know?”

  Josh looked suddenly very self-conscious. He disclaimed, however, that anything special had happened. And then he grinned in such a mischievous way that I was dead certain whatever this was all about it would turn out to be a pleasant surprise not something to worry.

  Apparently, Rob’s thoughts went along the same line, because he just shot Josh a sceptical look before turning his attention to Winter, who pointed excitedly to something down on the ground on their side of the plane.

  Mahlet turned toward us and excitedly exclaimed. “Elephants, there is a herd of elephants beneath! Oh, how magnificent they look, even from so far away.”

  Alice who had woken up just before and had sat rubbing her eyes, excitedly jumped up at this. She climbed over my lap to get to Mahlet and have a look.

  Just then, Paul stuck his head through the cockpit curtain, an excited grin on his face. He nodded toward Josh and shouted. “Message delivered. They are expecting us!”

  Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared back into the cockpit, leaving us all in stunned silence.

  Rob was the first to recover. “What the heck did he mean by that?” He wrathfully demanded of Josh.

  Josh was clearly enjoying all this. He got up and shouted for all to hear. “Nothing to worry, bro. Only dropped a message to Phil. As discussed with him months ago. And it worked. They are there! They are expecting us!”

  With this he kneeled down beside my seat, pulling me close, kissing me ardently.

  “We are almost there. They are awaiting us!” he whispered into my ear.

  “How far?” I whispered back excitedly.

  “Two hours to go – max.” He grinned.

  “And they are there? Waiting?” I could hardly wrap my head around this latest development. Neither could the others, for they bombarded Josh with questions now. He answered us all in his calm voice, only his radiant smile betraying how excited he was himself.

  “My message was answered. That means that somebody is there and has access to the special communications room, which, by the way, lays hidden away from the rest of the rooms and buildings. Plus, this person knows the secret codes Phil and I agreed upon. That makes me reasonably confident that it is Phil himself down there.”

  “Unbelievable!” Rob exclaimed. “And you never deemed it necessary to inform us about this?”

  My sentiments exactly!

  Josh shot us all a rueful glance. “The more people know, the more difficult to keep it a secret.”

  “Yeah, and so what. I thought we were team. All in this together and what not!” Rob sounded seriously peeved.

  Josh held up his hands as if in mock defeat. “As I said, sorry, mate. I was under instructions.”

  “That doesn’t make it any better.”

  “Hey, it doesn’t matter, does it! They are there. Waiting for us. That’s what’s important. Nothing else.” Winter interjected indignantly. Yuki and Mahlet nodded vigorously to this.

  That sobered Rob and me up. I shot Josh a rueful glance and whispered, “Sorry.”

  But he just grinned and raised my hand to his lips.

  “They are really down there? Safe and sound?” Yuki asked incredulously. She had tears in her eyes.

  “As I said. My message was received and answered. Other than that I have no idea.” Josh sat down in his seat again, but kept holding my hand.

  “And how long did you say, until we land? Two hours?” Winter was just as excited as we all were.

  “Yeah, max two hours.” Josh grinned.

  “Will they come and get us?” Yuki wanted to know.

  “I don’t know, Yuki. But I think they will. That’s why I contacted them from Nairobi. So that they’d have time.”

  “Oh, it’s just incredible.” Yuki pressed her hand to her mouth and burst into over-wrought tears.

  “Yuki!” Alice, who still sat on Mahlet’s lap, exclaimed.

  She lifted her face and said. It’s okay, Alice. It’s okay. I am just so happy and so surprised.”

  “We all are.” Winter replied. “We all are. Two hours max!” She shot a radiant smile at Rob and snuggled up to him; he gladly obliged and kissed her.

  Alice, Yuki and Mahlet talked among themselves, which left Josh and me alone for some precious moments.

  “You okay?” Josh whispered. “Am I forgiven?”

  “Stoopid. Of course. I am just stunned.” I grinned. “You’re unbelievable, you know!”

  “Really?” He was happy, though. And radiant. And mine. And we were almost home!

  I got up and settled on his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck.

  “Just hold me for a while, while I try to take it all in. I am so happy!” I whispered in his ear as I kissed his earlobe.

  “Love you, super-girl.” He whispered as he held me close.

  “You are utterly unbelievable!” I told him.

  “No, I am not,” he murmured happily. “Just love you so much.”

  “Ditto.”

  “Good.”

  We sat in silence for a little while; contend to be close, to hold each other.

  Btu, of course, we couldn’t sit still for long.

  Soon, we all took up seats along the window. Everybody wanted to be firsts to see the lodge, the landing strip and who was awaiting us there. It was so exciting.

  Alice sat in the seat in front of me. She held Piglet and Malinda to the window and kept telling them to watch out for Mum! Then she would turn around in her seat and beam at me excitedly.

  “Lia, do you think Mum and the twins are waiting for us by the airstrip, too.”

  She had apparently decided that Nate would certainly be there.

  I cautioned her, but she wouldn’t’ listen. She couldn’t, she was so hyper.

  As we all were.

  The last half an hour seemed endless.

  We had crossed over the Chyulu hills and were heading over the semi-arid plains toward our destination. Several times I thought, I had glimpsed Uncle Phil’s volcano, only to be cautioned each time by Josh. Not yet. Not just yet.

  It was Alice, who saw them first.

  “Look, Lia, look! Down there. There’s the landing strip and there are people!!” She literally bounced up and down like a ball and Josh caught her up in his arms, cautioning her not to make the plane crash with all her jumping around.

  We all peered down to where she’d pointed.

  “I can see the runway. We’ll land any minute!!” Yuki exclaimed.

  She was right. There was the airstrip, fast approaching. Just moments later, we landed on the grassy airstrip with the familiar thud. The plane quickly lost speed and left the airstrip, scuttling to the right toward a low shade.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes! Alice shouted out in sheer joy. “Nate, it’s Nate!!! And Uncle Phil! Look, Lia, they are there!!!”

  She couldn’t sit still anymore but climbed over us and ran down the aisle to the door.

  It was absolutely incredible!

  There they were! Uncle Phi
l, and Nate, and old Daniel Mutinda, the keeper of Blue-Hill-Farm. They all stood there by the shade, smiling broadly all over their faces. We waved frantically. Everybody wanted to get out and greet them. Nin and Paul appeared from the cockpit and Nin opened the door. Alice was the first to jump out, straight into the arms of Nate.

  She wailed out in joy and burst into tears all at the same time. Nate held her close, kissed her and murmured soothing, loving words to her. He looked around and welcomed us all with a laugh.

  “So you made it, you rascals. We are so happy to have you finally here with us.” Still carrying Alice on his arm, he strode toward me and enfolded me in his arms.

  “Lia, so glad to see you. So proud of you. You have taken good care of Alice and Yuki. Good girl.” He whispered into my ear before releasing me and holding me at arm’s length to have a good look at me. Grinning broadly and Alice still on his arm, he then turned to welcome the others.

  Uncle Phil strode forward to embrace me now. He did this in his usual brisk, but nonetheless heart-warming manner. “Lia! You did well. Proud of you!”

  He shook hands with Josh, who had never left my side, and smiled benevolently. “Very well done! Kamene and your Mum are anxiously awaiting you all. So, let’s not linger here. We have still a long way to go.”

  It was unbelievable! Finally!

  “Is everyone okay?” I asked, giving Uncle Phil a big smack on his cheek.

  “Yes, yes. Of course. But hurry now.”

  Uncle Phil motioned for us to hurry and unload the plane. He insisted that we needed to hide the plane before anyone might find it.

  “Why, sir? Are there planes patrolling the area?” Rob wanted to know.

  “Not yet. Better to be careful, though. Right?” Uncle Phil answered, as he strode over to Paul and Nin.

  But it took several more minutes, before anyone would listen to him and start unloading the plane. Mze Daniel came forward and shook our hands, welcoming us to Blue-Hill-Farm. I inquired after his wife and he thanked me and assured me that she was all right and in good health. We would soon meet her. Josh interrupted this polite back-and-forth and inquired whether there had been any signs of Nemesis. Old Daniel denied and explained that after the initial flyby some month ago, he had never again seen any signs of human beings right until Phil and his group had arrived one week ago.