by J. A. Kalis
Patrick felt sudden weariness overwhelm him. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast. He glanced at his watch. It was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon.
‘Well, I suppose I’d better stay here for the night.’
An hour later, somewhat refreshed, he was sitting alone in a small dining room having dinner: a plate of tasty dumplings accompanied by a glass of delicious red wine with a long and difficult-to-pronounce name: Marani Kondoli Vineyards Saperavi. Later, he learnt that Saperavi was the name of the grape variety from which the wine was made.
Mariam was busy cooking. Tantalizing aromas wafted from the kitchen, teasing his nostrils. Just as he finished eating and was about to retreat to his room she appeared at his side.
‘My husband had luck in contacting the driver. But what he says is strange. I don’t understand it.’
Patrick fixed her with an impatient stare while a shiver of anticipation ran down his spine. ‘Strange? How? What do you mean?’ His voice was raspy, his throat dry.
‘Well, he said only two people went with him: the French boy and his girlfriend. Your daughter wasn’t with them. He took them to Tbilisi. My husband asked around but nobody in the village has seen your daughter since. It just doesn’t add up. I don’t know how to explain it.’
It took Patrick a few moments to process what he had just heard. As the meaning of Mariam’s words dawned on him, anguish gripped him, draining all colour from his face. Sandy had gone up the mountains with her two companions and had never come back.
How could it be?
What had happened?
Did she have an accident, fall down a precipice and die? Did somebody attack the three of them in the mountain wilderness and only Lucien and Corinne managed to escape?
He blinked, trying to clear his mind. Feeling suddenly light-headed, he gripped the back of a chair to steady himself. Without warning, the air in the room became oppressive and thick. He struggled for breath, his chest rising up and down in big heaving motions. His lungs craved oxygen but couldn’t get enough. He felt the walls closing in on him.
Nothing added up. If something had happened, why did Lucien and Corinne leave without looking for help or alerting somebody? And what about the email Carol had received, and the used credit card? Who had it? Who had withdrawn money from his daughter’s bank account? He didn’t believe for a second that it was Sandy herself. Dark thoughts crowded his mind, threatening to engulf him. Again, he began to despair, losing all hope of ever finding his missing daughter alive.
But then a sliver of hope appeared from nowhere. Regaining his composure, he found his voice.
‘Are there any other villages close by? Could she … is it possible … from up the mountain where they went, to reach another village on the other side? I mean, are there any trails that lead there? Maybe they separated and she decided to travel further alone. Maybe she decided to hike from village to village checking in at different guesthouses.’
‘As a matter of fact there are a few villages scattered over the valleys on the other side of the mountains. But there’s no real trail going to any of them from here. Nothing’s marked. No path to follow. Only a few of the locals know where to walk without getting lost. But it’s possible. Maybe she thought there would be a path. People who come here sometimes forget how big these mountains are, and think they can make their own way.’ Mariam looked disapproving. ‘Why would she decide to go off on her own? What a crazy thing to do. Far too risky. You know, these mountains can be very dangerous. Mists can descend very quickly, without any warning.’
The last sliver of hope evaporated.
His voice was low, barely audible. ‘Tomorrow morning I’m going up there to look for her … or her body.’ Gripping the railing tightly for support, he made his way up the stairs to his room.
CHAPTER 4
After a few days of sustained rain, the sun had finally come out and the temperature had risen to more agreeable levels. Carol opened the balcony door to let some fresh air into her London apartment. It was only at such moments that she appreciated living on a quiet street with little traffic.
She returned to the sofa and sat down with the laptop balancing on her knees.
As promised, her father had sent regular emails bringing her up to date with his search progress and telling her he would request her help if he judged it necessary. But she didn’t believe for a second that he meant what he said. It was just a feeble attempt to mollify her anger.
And it didn’t work.
She was still mad at him for refusing to let her go with him. Claiming it was too dangerous. Always considering her his little girl, weak and in need of protection. He couldn’t see the grown-up, independent young woman she had become – a woman who knew how to deal with problems.
She awaited his emails with nervous anticipation, feeling restless. Each time, she hoped it would be the one bringing the good news, telling her that he’s found her sister. Again and again, her hopes ended in disappointment. And his most recent message was the worst.
Sandy went hiking in the mountains and didn’t come back. Her two travel companions left the hotel without her.
It didn’t make any sense. Why would they leave without Sandy? Had something bad happened? Would Sandy have decided to travel further on her own?
To walk in such dangerous wilderness alone was pure madness.
Did they quarrel? Did she have an accident? Did they get into trouble walking in high mountains on a treacherous, improperly marked trail? It maddened her that she was unable to get answers to any of her questions.
Where was Sandy?
It seemed that she had vanished of the face of the earth. Her eerie silence persisted, there were no sightings of her and no one seemed to know of her whereabouts.
Was her little sister dead?
Carol shuddered at the thought but couldn’t deny the crude facts staring her in the face. She was a realistic person, saw things as they were. She wasn’t going to fool herself into believing that things were okay when they weren’t. Preparing for the worst was her way of avoiding later disappointments. Yet sorrow was consuming her spirits. In a feeble attempt to comfort herself, she crossed her arms over her chest and fought back the tears already welling up in her eyes.
***
Patrick set out the next morning, following the same trail Sandy and her companions had taken earlier. He continued walking until he reached an abandoned village perched on a rocky slope. The trail stopped there. There were no other paths anywhere in sight. Not giving up, he trudged a few hundred metres along a sharp ridge running behind the last house of the village until the terrain got too rough to continue. The danger of getting lost or skidding downhill was too big.
He hadn’t found any trace of Sandy.
Feeling there was not much else he could do up there, he returned to the guesthouse, collected his luggage and drove in his rental car back to Tbilisi. He was going to tell the police what he had discovered and ask them to continue the search, extending it to the whole country. Contrary to Carol, he couldn’t bring himself to believe Sandy was dead. And he intended to keep on looking until he found her.
***
What bothered Carol most was the odd behaviour of her sister’s two fellow travellers, Lucien and Corinne. She couldn’t shake the feeling building in the pit of her stomach that they were somehow involved in her sister’s disappearance. The more she reconsidered all the known facts, the more she became persuaded they must have had something to do with it. If an accident had occurred and Sandy died because she had lost her footing and fallen down a steep slope, then why didn’t they call for help or tell anybody what had happened? Why didn’t they contact the police or Sandy’s family?
Too many questions without answers. If she wanted to get them, she should start digging instead of wasting time indulging in empty speculation. No doubt, Sandy would have helped look for her if the roles were reversed. What’s more, she wanted to prove to her father that she could be resourceful, be of so
me use.
The more she thought about the situation the more convinced she became that Lucien and Corinne knew where Sandy was. The best way of learning what had happened to her sister was to ask them. Yes, she thought, I’ll focus my efforts on finding the couple.
But it was easier said than done. All she knew were their names and nationality. She needed to find more.
She began with Lucien Chabert. Disappointment crept across her face when she saw the search results. Only a couple of hits. As she was scanning the second Facebook profile matching the name, Mike – her boyfriend of two years – emerged from the bedroom. He came up behind her and leant over her shoulder to have a better look at the computer screen.
‘What are you up to? You shouldn’t spend too much time on your laptop. Especially today, the weather’s nice, for a change. Don’t tell me you are going to stay indoors all day. What a waste.’
Without looking up from the screen, she explained what she had hoped to find.
‘Come on, you can do it later. There’s no urgency. Do you really believe it will help? Leave the search to your father and the police. They are there, in the country where she disappeared. Be realistic, you can’t do much from home. I understand what you’re going through. I know you feel guilty you didn’t go to Georgia with her but you can’t change that now.’
‘I don’t trust the police there. According to my father they haven’t done anything to find them. They don’t seem to take the case very seriously. Finding missing foreigners is not their priority; they’re too busy solving other local crimes.’
‘Knowing your father, he’ll be doing everything he can to find her.’ Mike paused. ‘I promised my parents I’d visit them this weekend. I want you to come with me.’
‘Okay, but I need to do some shopping first. There’s hardly any food in the fridge. Oh, and tomorrow I must call on my mother, check how she’s doing. She sounds fine on the phone but I’d prefer to see her.’
Mike suddenly straightened up, a light kindling in his eyes.
‘I’ve got an idea. You know what, not far away from where my parents live is a café run by a Georgian couple. Maybe we could ask them for help.’
‘What do you mean, ask for help? I don’t see how they could help us.’
‘Well, I don’t know. It’s just an idea. It won’t hurt to try. They speak the language. Maybe they could publish some photos of Sandy and the couple on social media and ask if anyone knows anything. Or check the news sites for reports of accidents in the region she was in.’
‘But if there were any accidents reported, surely the police would know about them and inform my father.’
‘Not necessarily. Judging from what you said about their reaction towards Sandy’s disappearance, it seems they don’t care. Perhaps they’re not even looking for her.’
Carol didn’t say anything to that. Instead, she switched off her laptop, put it on the side table, and headed to the bathroom. On the way, she stopped, turned around to face Mike and said, ‘Your idea’s not bad. Maybe we should give it a try. Wait, I’ll get ready and we’ll go. I guess you’re right, I can resume the Internet search later on.’
***
The Georgian café owners weren’t there, and both waitresses working that day were too busy to listen to their story, so they decided to go to Mike’s parents and try the café on their way home.
But Carol couldn’t stop worrying. While her feelings wavered between guilt and anger, she couldn’t stop speculating about what had happened to Sandy. Mike was right, deep down she felt guilty she had refused to go to Georgia with Sandy. By doing so, she had let her sister down. Guilt washed over her in suffocating waves. Then, a few minutes later anger would take over. She was angry with herself but also with her father for not letting her accompany him and even with Sandy for going there in the first place, taking risks and being so careless, not giving them more details about her travel companions.
The turmoil in her mind grew, and it took some time before she managed to calm the boiling emotions and figure out what else she could do to find contact information for Lucien and Corrine. Up to now, she had only googled Lucien’s name, but hadn’t found anything on him. Running both names through different search engines would boost the chances of getting a result. There were also travel forums where you could look for travel mates, the same forums Sandy had looked at. Maybe posting their photos on a few of them might work. Carol felt a spark of optimism. No matter how slim the odds of success were, she was ready to do anything, even if it only brought her a small step closer to finding her little sister.
She wasn’t going to let her down again. No way.
Feeling impatient, wanting to put her ideas into action, she looked a few times at Mike in a way that told him it was time to leave. But being deeply engaged in conversation with his father he didn’t react. She had to wait another long half an hour before they left.
Outside, a gentle breeze stirred the air giving some relief after the unexpected warmth of the day. A quick glance at Mike’s face on the way to the car, made Carol realize something was wrong. He looked annoyed. It was the hard set of his jaw and the glint in his eyes she knew so well that betrayed him. When she asked him what was the matter he said he didn’t like her behaviour at his parents’ – her brooding mood, her irritating silence. She should have made a bit more of an effort.
‘Sorry, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Sandy. Don’t be upset. I’ll make it up to you next time.’
She hugged him and kissed him on the cheek, even if she didn’t believe he would be so easily mollified. And he wasn’t. His jaw muscles stayed tense, and looking at his face, Carol could almost read his thoughts. It had already been more than a week that Carol had been thinking about her sister’s disappearance. He understood perfectly well that she was worried. Who wouldn’t be? He tried to comfort her, came up with the idea of the Georgian café owners. But it didn’t help. Why couldn’t she let it go and trust her father to find Sandy? Why didn’t she want to accept that she could do nothing to help? He was gradually becoming more fed up with her, the whole situation getting on his nerves.
Back at home, Carol didn’t lose any time. After a quick snack and a cup of tea in the kitchen, she sat at the table, opened her laptop and switched it on.
‘I’m going to resume my search. I thought about a few more things I could do,’ she told Mike who was sitting on the couch at the other end of the room reading a newspaper.
‘But what exactly are you looking for? Frankly, Carol, you should leave the search to your father. You’re just wasting your time. Why don’t you go to the local police? It’s their job to look for her.’ It was clear from the tone of his voice that he was tired of her dogged, irrational determination.
‘The local police? How will they find her, from so far away? Do you really think they’d even look for her? You didn’t believe the Georgian police would, so why would the police here? Sandy is my little sister; I must look for her. It’s so simple, but you don’t seem to understand.’
She sensed his impatience as he came and stood by her side, watching her closely.
‘You just can’t accept that there is nothing you can do to help her.’
‘You’re wrong, there is something I can do and I’m going to do it. I will not rest until I find the couple. That’s what I am going to look for now, for their contact details.’
‘And what if you find them? What then? Maybe they don’t want to be found because they have something to do with your sister’s disappearance, and they won’t tell you on the phone where she is. Haven’t you thought about that?’
‘Yes, I have. But it won’t stop me. If I manage to get their address, I will go and talk to them personally and I won’t leave until they tell me what happened to Sandy.’
‘That’s a crazy idea. It’s too risky. You can’t go and meet them alone.’
‘Will you go with me?’ She looked straight at him.
His eyebrows lifted a fraction. The question caught
him off guard. His eyes roamed around the room as if looking for an answer.
‘I … you … you aren’t there yet. Find their phone number, call them first. Maybe the French or Spanish Embassy could help you locate them, if you tell them all three of them went missing.’
‘But Mike, you haven’t answered me. Will you go with me if I have to?’ She kept staring at him. He stared back without saying anything. For a long awkward moment their eyes held. Then, slowly, he turned his gaze away.
‘Do I have a choice? I can’t let you go there alone, can I?’ He walked towards the hallway. ‘I’m not going to stay here the whole evening with you sitting behind your laptop. I’m going to the pub for a drink.’ He hesitated as if he was about to say something else. But he didn’t. Then, with a few quick strides he reached the hallway.
‘Don’t stay out late!’ she called out.
A moment later she heard the front door slam.
She didn’t mind him going out. Maybe he would come back in a better mood. His controlling and disapproving gaze made her feel uncomfortable. At times like that he really got on her nerves with his constant craving for attention. He always coped badly when she needed some space to do her own things. Living with him sometimes gave her a constricting feeling, as if she’d lost all her freedom.
She returned to her laptop and ran Lucien’s name through other search engines but got no results that suggested she’d found the right person. Then she typed Corinne’s name in and waited. When the results loaded, she scrolled through them. There were five different Facebook profiles with that name. When she saw the profile picture on the second one, she couldn’t believe her luck. There was no doubt it was the Corinne Bonnet she was looking for. She was so glad, she almost laughed out loud. Her face flushed with excitement. One by one, she examined the info page, the photo gallery and the most recent posts, looking for any useful information. On the info page, she saw the name of the town where Corinne Bonnet lived. Nothing more.