Chapter 94

While Catarina and Bianca retained their Austrian citizenship, they traveled on a special class U.S. Diplomatic passport as a result of their political asylum. This insured their un-hassled reentry into the United States on their return. John and Cindy traveled under normal U.S. passports. Cindy’s showing a slight shift from her actual date of birth.

When they landed they were greeted by the Vice-Chancellor and the U.S. Ambassador. They accepted the hospitality of each for one night respectively. The Austrian government desiring to monopolize their time as Catarina and Bianca had become celebrities in their absence.

Their faces had become were well known to the slightly over eight million residents of the small country. John and Cindy had become just as well known.

After a night in a castle -which Cindy adored, and dared not tell Sally about- and a night in the Ambassador’s mansion they managed to obtain their freedom.

Traveling by train to the largely tourist community of Innsbruck in the state of Tyrol. On the train, total strangers walked up to them and thanked John for saving Catarina’s life. Both Catarina and Bianca acting as interpreters, as John’s high school German was woefully inadequate. Most of the strangers would shift to broken English when they learned of John’s illiteracy of their language. A fact that made John feel deficient. He did his best to answer them back in their own language. This yielded many amusing moments for both the strangers and Catarina and Bianca. Catarina took pity on him and began tutoring him in German.

The ride to Innsbruck didn’t take very long, as the whole country was slightly smaller than the state of Maine. The longest part of the journey was due to the mountainous terrain.

Once in Innsbruck, Catarina and Bianca came alive. Acting as tourist guides for John and Cindy. They took them to many lovely places. Cindy felt like they were still on their honeymoon. John greatly encouraged this feeling, as he was attentive and affectionate. They checked into the nicest hotel in town. John putting both the adjoining rooms on his credit card.

After another stroll around town, during which John purchased a magnifying glass, a jewelers loupe and some hand tools, Catarina led them to the warehouse where her things were stored. They spent half an hour or so, unstacking and unpacking boxes until Catarina discovered the box containing the Cuckoo Clock her father had given her. They repacked and restacked the rest of the items and then returned to the hotel with the clock.

John spread out a newspaper on an old coffee table to protect the finish. He sat on the floor and began examining the clock.

“This must be hundreds of year old.” he commented to Catarina.

“Yes, when I had it appraised, that is what they told me, but they could not give me an exact date.” she replied.

“Well, I have no doubt that it’s from at least the eighteenth century, possibly the seventeenth. I don’t know the history of Cuckoo Clocks, so I couldn’t really say. But it’s definitely old.” John said.

“So that is its value?” Catarina asked, “It was only appraised for seven hundred dollars, American.”

“Oh, only partially. Do you mind if I take the back off?” John asked.

“No. But please be careful. It is one of my few memento’s from my parents.” Catarina replied.

“I shall be as gentle as I can.” John replied.

Catarina nodded.

John carefully examined the back. There were small wooden pins that held it in place. Using the tools he purchased, he carefully removed them one at a time, placing them in a small dish. Once all were removed, he carefully removed the back, revealing the intricate mechanism. John examined the back with the magnifying glass and then set it aside, turning his interest to the inside. He carefully laid it face down on the paper. Using a penlight he continued his investigation.

“This looks like Russian or Cyrillic. Catarina, do you know these characters?” John asked, using a small screwdriver as a pointer.

Catarina took the magnifier and examined the area he indicated. John held a penlight to illuminate the area.