Chapter 15

The afternoon lay heavy on the landscape and the denizens of Windhoek. There was no breeze stirring, and the heat-laden dusty smell of the air scourged as it was inhaled.

Although it was only 39 degrees Celsius, with a few scattered clouds, the dryness of the air seems to magnify the heat. September and October are the two months when the humidity in Windhoek is at its lowest.

The Auas Mountains to the east of Windhoek are rich in flora and fauna, and shimmer slightly in the afternoon sun. Moltkeblick at 2479 metres, (8133 feet) is the highest peak in the range and the second highest in Namibia. Mount Brand, or Brandberg, in the north-central Namib Desert with its highest peak, Königstein at 2500 metres, (8200 feet.) is believed to be the highest in the country of Namibia.

Again, the black Mercedes was employed to transport the guests to the house outside of Windhoek. Angie was a little nervous as they pulled up outside the “safe house”, as Lorie called it. It was a two-story building in the old colonial style, surrounded by tall green trees, and looked cool and inviting to Angie.

Angie thought she caught a glimpse of the tail section of a helicopter visible under the trees at the side of the house but dismissed it. There were more pressing matters at hand.

As Angie stepped out of the car with Lorie, a shout of joy came from the top of the stairs. She looked up and saw her mother and father standing at the top of the steps. Ignoring her luggage and everything else in the car, Angie ran. Gretah started charging down the stairs.

“Mama!” Angie shouted, addressing her mother in the German endearment so common in Namibia, and nearly bowled Gretah over when they met halfway up the stairs. They embraced each other and tears of joy flowed freely. After three years of not seeing or hearing from each other, the reunion was epic. Lorie watched the scene with a grin and blithely gathered Angie’s and her luggage and handed them to Alex to carry into the house.

(What is Lorie up to?) In her allotted bedroom, Lorie turned to Alex while he was placing her luggage neatly on the bed. It was just a medium-sized duffle bag but carried all that she would need.

“Alex, how is Ash?” Lorie asked, half afraid to hear what Alex would say.

He turned from the bed towards her and placed his hands behind his back. “Mister Windsor is doing well, Miss Lorie. In fact, he is complaining about being cooped up in bed and is demanding to get up at all cost. The doc and the nurse threatened to tie him down if he did not co-operate.” Chuckle.

“Sounds like him!” Lorie said. “But how serious is he, and Alex, don’t sugar coat it for me. Facts please.”

“The doc seems to be satisfied with his recovery. The wound on his lung has sort of self-sealed, and he seems to be breathing shallow, but strong. The doc still has him on oxygen.”

“Can I see him?”

“Of course, Miss Lorie. I think he’s awake and grumpy!” Alex laughed.

“Good, let’s go. Please take me to him.”

They left the room and descended the stairs to the basement.

“Doc’s orders, Miss Lorie. Use a mask and sanitize your hands before you enter his room. Doc doesn’t want any bugs giving him a secondary infection.”

“Of course,” she replied, as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Good. I’ll leave you with him, but doc’s orders. No longer than 15 minutes.”

“That’s in order. I want him around for years to come.”

Alex misread her statement as that she might be in love with Ash. In love, yes, but as a sister. He didn’t know about Ash and Lorie being siblings.

She did the sanitation protocol and stepped through the clear plastic sheets, protecting the clinical cocoon where Ash lay in the bed. With his eyes closed he looked asleep. Silently she approached the bed.

“You took some time getting here, didn’t you?” a muffled voice under the oxygen mask challenged.

“Well, I had to watch the baby,” she replied.

He opened his eyes, and they softened as he turned his head towards Lorie. “And how is the baby?”

“Fine. She’s with her parents right now.”

“Here?”

“Yip. She doesn’t know you are here or that you’re hurt. We’ve kept that from her.”

“Good. I don’t want her to stress. But I would like to see the little rascal.”

“I’ll prepare her and bring her down. Anything for my big bro.”

“How are you doing?”

“Oh, as usual, nothing new. Not much excitement.”

“Oh come on, Lorie. You wouldn’t be here with Angie in tow if something had not happened.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But I didn’t want to bother you. You need your rest.”

“So, what happened?”

“Roland or Max, or both, traced Angie to Etosha. Well we think it is so. Angie got a cell call about some hiccup with her bank account. The boss and I think that it was a bogus call trying to trace her. So we came here.”

“Kill her cell phone. Take the battery out and trash the phone. Get her a new one. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Already done.” Lorie laughed. “I made a full back-up on my laptop, factory reset the phone, and then as we flew out south from Etosha and over the desert I dropped it out the window then changed course to here. I left it switched on with a full charge. It should be good for about fifteen hours, if it survived the fall” Giggle. “And don’t worry about a new phone. I’ll take it out of my expense account.”

“You left it out on the desert as a decoy?”

“Yip! Let Max and Roland run wild for a spell. It will keep them busy.” Giggle.

“Remind me to hug and kiss you when this stupid mask is off. Thanks, Sis.”

“Pleasure Bro. Now my fifteen minutes are up. Let me go get a certain little redhead.” Giggle.

“Thanks, Sis. I know we make a good team.”

“Yeah, just try to dodge the bullets sometime!” Lorie said and turned to leave. “I want my old ancient big brother to get old together with me.”

“I can’t dodge them if they sneak up on me, and who is ancient and old?”

Giggle. “Yeah, Bro, no one knows where, when, or how...”

“See you, Sis. And drop by sometime again. It’s boring here. They don’t want me to even read the damn newspaper!”

“Will do. If the little redhead is not going to take up all your time!” With that she ducked out the screen and went in search of Angie.

(In the side lounge at the “guest house.”) In the cool and elegantly furnished side lounge, Angie sat next to the bar with her parents, Friederich and Gretah slowly told the story of how it happened they went “absent” for around three years and how Angie came to be under Roland’s care. The “why they disappeared,” had been an eye-opener to Angie and heightened her hatred towards Roland.

This was something she needed to discuss with Ash. But she kept that to herself, not wanting to upset her mother about what all had happened to her while they were “dead”, how Roland had been treating her, and how she was connecting with Ash as he helped her find the two of them.

Her parents had discovered that Roland had been “salting” his diamond concessions with diamonds out of Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To pay for his lifestyle and to keep his operation going, Roland needed to get hold of “easy diamonds”, since the deposits of diamonds in his concessions were dwindling.

After a meeting with a “friend” who suggested he could get diamonds at a reduced cost, Roland proceeded to “mine” these diamonds in his concessions, without any suspicion from people working for him.

When his “friend” didn’t deliver a consignment on time, Roland tried to get the diamonds directly. This resulted in him contracting his brother to ferry the diamonds for him out of Angola, hidden inside other semi-valuable products. Friederich and Gretah were completely fooled until one day a container broke loose during a flight and spewed raw uncut diamonds out into the cargo hold floor of the DC-3.

After Friederich and Gretah confronted Roland about the diamonds, the two brothers’ relationship deteriorated to the point where Roland forced them to keep on flying the diamonds out of Angola by threatening them with his knowledge of some of their suspicious “cargo” dealings. Friederich came up with the idea to ditch the DC-3 in the desert and the two of them “disappear” for a few weeks, and since Angie was away at school there would be no impact on her. Had they known it would last three years, they would have got Angie and then gone on to either Botswana or South Africa.

Angie sat in silence as she listened to her father and mother talk. There were still other issues to be discussed: where they were and how they were captured, as well as the missing submarine and how they learned about it and its whereabouts.

“Angie, may we continue this discussion after supper? I feel a little tired and I believe your mom is too?”

“That’s good, Papi. I have a lot to digest. I think I’ll just sit here awhile and think about all you told me.”

“Don’t think too much about it. We will sort it out, your mom and I.”

“I’ve been up to my eyeballs in this. I hate Roland. I don’t want to see that man ever again!”

“Well, meine liebchen Rose, just be calm and leave it to your Papi and me,” Gretah soothed, putting her hand on Angie’s shoulder. “Don’t you worry about anything at all. We are here now. Let us be together and make up for the lost time.”

Gretah had used the endearment nickname she gave Angie a long time ago. Angie looked at her and smiled. She remembered how good it was every time her mother called her “Liebchen Rose”.

About then Lorie entered the small lounge and looked at the three sitting on the couch.

“Hi ye’ all. Am I interrupting?”

“No, not at all, Miss Lorie. We were about to go rest up a bit before supper. Besides, I want to make a turn at mister Windsor, see how he is healing,” Friederich said.

Angie’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Ash! Is Ash here? And why is he injured?” Angie exclaimed and jumped up.

“Slowly, girlfriend! I was about to take you to him,” Lorie said.

“Do you know this mister Windsor, the helicopter pilot, Angie?” Friederich asked.

“Do I know Ash? Of course, I know him! He flew the DC-3 out of the desert! He’s been my rock in this whole chaotic mess! Where is he, Lorie?”

“In the basement. In a sterile environment. I’ll take you to him. He wants to see you too,” Lorie said. “He asked if you were here.”

Angie started towards the door as Gretah and Friederich looked at each other, question marks etched on their faces.

“Wait up, Angie!” Lorie exclaimed.

“Ash has been injured! Why? What happened?” Angie asked over her shoulder. “Come on, Lorie. Let’s go. Tell me on the way! Just take me to him.” And she strode out into the entrance hall.

I heard the screen curtain move. Expecting the doctor or the nurse, I lay with my eyes closed. They will just check my status on the monitor and then leave. No need to show them I was awake, else they will ask some stupid questions, like; “How do you feel Mister Windsor.” Well, I feel with my bloody hands. Dammit!

I smelled Channel number 5 perfume just before a soft warm hand touched my shoulder. I turned my head and looked at Angie. Her face looked sombre.

“Hello, there chili-pepper-pip. How’re you doing?” My voice was hoarse from the oxygen mask and not talking too much.

“I’ve been better. What the hell have you been up to?”

“Just doing a friend a favour.”

“And getting shot?”

“I was flying the damn helicopter. It was the team, not me that was going into the lion’s den, guns blazing.”

“Shit, Ash! I could have lost you...”

“Your father would say, ‘don’t cry too long, there’s another love to come... ‘“

“He may be right or, he could be wrong...”

“Well, I’m here, doing okay.”

“With bandages all over, and things in the room going, ‘pleep,’ and ‘beep.’ Smelling of disinfectant and sterile? Nope, Mister, you’re not okay.”

“I missed you too, Angie.”

“I find my mom and dad, just to nearly lose you ... I suppose I’m okay too and missed you too. Lorie is fun, but she’s no Ashwin Andrew Windsor.”

“So, where’s my smile?” I said and tried to crawl higher up the pillows. “Ow!”

“Take it easy, Ash!”

“This stupid mask,” I said.

“Just a little while longer, then you can take it off,” Angie said.

“I suppose you’re right. I’ll keep it on just because you asked me to.”

Giggle.

“That sounds better. Yay! Angie’s back!” I said and Angie drew up a chair and sat down, taking my hand, and holding on to it like she would never let it go.

“Seriously now, Ash. How are you really doing?”

“Fine. I can’t breathe too deep, but the two holes in me feel fine. I don’t feel them. They don’t hurt at all.”

“That’s because they pump you full of those painkillers, so strong that it would make me grow horns.”

“Black or white horns?” I asked, smiling a little.

“What does it matter?”

“Well, Maleficent had black horns, and she was beautiful.”

“Well, Angelina Jolie can play the devil himself, and she will still be beautiful.”

“But she’s no Angelique Rothman,” I said.

Angie looked down and blushed. “Maybe...” she said and then kept quiet.

“Doc said I might be able to get up a bit by tomorrow or the day after,” I said, changing the subject.

“Yay! Then we could maybe go out in the garden,” Angie said looking a bit more at ease.

“If I can make it to the damn bathroom, I’ll be happy.”

“Oh shit, did they place one of those horrible tubie things in you?” Giggle.

“It’s not funny, but yes, they did!”

“Ag shame, poor Ashie,” Angie said making pouting lips.

“So, tell me, are your mom and dad, okay?”

“Yes, they seem fine, although they tire quickly.”

“They’ve been through an ordeal, Angie. Give them time to recover. They’re safe now.”

“Dad said he comes to visit with you?”

“Yes, he comes around a few times a day. Your mom too. They seem to be concerned about me. I told them not to worry.”

“That’s mom and dad for you. Always caring and trying to help. That’s what got them into this mess in the first place, but I’ll tell you about that as soon as you are up and about.”

“Shouldn’t be too long. I feel like getting up now and just get out of here to where I can see daylight and sleep without lights on,” I complained.

“I can try and organize one of those eye-patchy blackout thingamajigs for you.”

“With that thing on plus this stupid oxygen mask, I think I would suffocate ... even with the cold bloody oxygen blowing in my nose and mouth. You won’t believe how dry my throat feels. Like my tongue is sticking to my pallet.”

“You want some water?”

“Juice! I hate water. I want to taste something. This damn water they give me has no taste.”

“I’ll try to get you some juice. Is cranberry juice okay?”

“Yes! Any damn juice, but if you can get cranberry, it will be like nectar of the gods. Speaking of nectar of the gods, you couldn’t, say by accident, sneak me a bit of coffee, could you?” I said smiling up at her. If I was a cute girl, I would have fluttered my eyelashes, if I had any of those.

“Sjuu! I’ll see what I can do,” she smiled, a naughty twinkle in her eyes. “But just a little bit. I don’t want to prolong your stay here at this five-star institution of torture.” Giggle. Fluttering her eyelashes, and smiling mischievously, like showing a fondness for causing trouble playfully.

“Don’t get caught. They will ban you from seeing me, and that won’t be good for my speedy recovery.”

“Nope! I’ll hide it well. You don’t know me!” And there was that twinkle in the eyes again.

“If they catch you, I can’t come and rescue you...”

“Do you want coffee or not, buster?”

“Yeah, okay ... That; ‘sister of the devil’ things coming out, I suppose. You could swing it. Getting me the coffee, I mean.”

“Now be a good boy and get well. We need you.”

“Who’s the ‘we’ that need me?”

“Lorie and me.” And Angie blushed again.

“Okay. I’ll be good.”

“Great.”

“Does your dad know I took the DC-3 out of Dooievlei?”

“I told them.”

“Okay. So does he know that Roland has the diamonds?”

“No, I’ve not told him yet.”

“Don’t tell him. I’ll do it. I’ll tell him about the diamonds and why I let Roland have them.”

“Yes, maybe it is better if you tell him,” Angie said pensively.

“You just go on being Angie and make up for lost time with them. Lorie and I will handle the rest.”

“Just...”

“Just what, Angie?”

“No ... Never mind. It’s ... It’s okay.”

“What did you want to say, Angie?”

“Never mind. I’ll tell you some other time. When you’re up and about again.”

“Okay.”

“I better go now. My fifteen minutes are up.”

“Your fifteen minutes were up twenty minutes ago, young lady. You are tiring my patient out.” A voice came from just inside the plastic screen. The nurse was there to come and check me again.

“Sorry, I did not keep track of time...” Angie said.

“Just don’t let it happen again.”

“Oh, get real! Miss Rothman’s presence is better for my health and healing than you lot put together,” I said, just a little pissed off at the nurse’s attitude.

“Well, I see you think you’re fighting fit again, Mister Windsor.”

“Yeah! When the hell am I going to get out of here? I want to see daylight and sleep with the lights off. Here, I am disorientated. I don’t know if it’s day or night!”

“Calm down, Ash. They are doing their best to get you well,” Angie said, trying to calm me down.

“I’ll convey your request to the doctor, Mister Windsor. Now, please take your medication,” the nurse instructed

“Nope! Not until I can get out of this torture chamber.”

“Please, Mister Windsor. Please take your medication,” she pleaded.

“NO! What part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? The ‘N’ or the ‘O’?,” I asked.

Angie sat silently, looking at us with her mouth half-open in astonishment.