Chapter 9 – Waiting's end

The Prime Minister joined the meeting of the emergency team after having spoken to the Chairman of Parliament as well as the leaders of the political parties. He found the members of the team as tense as the Parliamentarians.

´Why hasn't he made demands yet?´ Mr Tally once again said. He was the negotiator.

´Maybe he got hurt,´ Charlotte suggested, ´and the Queen escaped and is now wandering through the forest.´

Charlotte pictured Her Majesty to find a small house with non-refined though honest and kind country people who were right now making her tea. It made her smile which angered Mr Tally.

´What is so funny about Her Majesty being lost in the woods?´

Charlotte felt obliged to tell about her fantasy.

´I very much wish that were so Miss Kutaway,´ the Prime Minister kindly said.

Just like their countrymen the members of the emergency team were watching TV. The journalists had made amends for their feeble start. All Genovian channels now offered 'background information' about the kidnapping. Mr Delgana pressed the remote's volume button to hear a French analyst explain what the political consequences would be should the Genovian Queen not return.

´SHE WILL RETURN!´

Charlotte's outburst startled everyone.

´Yes my dear,´ the Prime Minister told her, ´she will.´

Her Majesty's aid angrily pushed her chair backwards to prevent the Prime Minister from padding her arm and walked to a window. She thought about the call she'd received from princess Mia, who had been informed about the kidnapping by her principal. She had reassured the crying girl that Joe would find the Queen her grandmother. She had believed what she said. Of course she had. It was just that she had thought that after Joe had told them he'd found a trace, it wouldn't take him more than five minutes to save their beloved liege. She cursed herself for being so naïve.

Something the Prime Minister said (Parliament...carte blanche...negotiating) aroused Charlotte's interest.

´I would say so!´ she commented.

´If only the kidnapper would contact us,´ Mr Tally said, ´If he would make demands, it would make things easier. He must want something. What could it be? Why hasn't he contacted us yet?´

´Are you going to repeat that every five minutes Mr Tally?´

´Really Miss Kutaway, I don't think you're handling this situation very - ´

´Very what? Is it bad to show emotion? Our Queen is kidnapped and Joe – Oh! We need tea!´

OoOoOoO

The phone in the kitchen rang. Every servant and courtier stared at the object as if it were a monster. The cook trembled when she answered it. While listening to the person on the other side of the line she neither smiled nor fainted and her colleagues figured there was no news. Still, the question had to be asked.

´Any intelligence yet Mrs Danieli?´

´No Lord Radras.´

The cook started fussing about. ´They want their tea.´

´Now? I don't understand how they can eat,´ Isabel said disapprovingly.

´They should keep their minds focused, shouldn't they?´ Lord Radras, who was having dinner himself, lectured, ´After all, they must make sure that Her Majesty returns.´

´The Head of Security will do that.´

´He is part of the emergency team, young lady,´ His Lordship replied. He didn't notice the face Isabel made and repeated: ´It is important to eat and drink in order to stay focused.´

The television showed hundreds of Genovians who were waiting outside the Castle's gates. Some had burning candles with them.

´For heaven's sake,´ Viscountess Margoli said, ´as if she is d- ´

Lord Radras grabbed her hand to prevent her from finishing her line and switched to another channel but that didn't prove a success: a former police negotiator was explaining that when no demands were made, it could imply that the kidnapper's means of communication were failing, which might anger him and that anger could be taken out on -

Lord Radras quickly switched back to the previous channel which now showed a man who looked like doctor Siegfried from All creatures great and small. Everyone relaxed. The man spoke calmly and with authority and said what the viewers wanted to hear: the Queen was alive and unharmed. When he had to stop talking to breathe, the interviewer asked him who his source was. The man replied that he had special contacts. The journalist wanted to know if the contacts could be found at the Castle. The man smiled and admitted that in a way that was true.

´Who could he mean?´ the Viscountess wondered, ´Is there a tell-tale in the emergency team?´

´Maybe the kidnapper has an accomplice here?´ Mrs Fabrice, the housekeeper, suggested.

Almost everyone got involved in the heated discussion that followed. Lord Radras was one of few who tried to listen to Dr Siegfried's verbose explanation.

´Stop it!´ he cried out a while later on. His commanding tone made people shut up.

´It's a clairvoyant!´ the nobleman said with disgust, ´His sources are King Rupert and prince Philippe. Merde! They should have prevented that idiot from speaking.´

He switched to another channel where the pale faced leader of the liberal party tried to calm the nation by repeating the statement that was previously made by the Chairman of Parliament: everything would be done to meet the kidnapper's demands.

´I think that's a really stupid thing to say,´ a gardener commented, ´What if he wants like... A, right? And now he hears that he can get anything? He'll make impossible demands like... I want... I don't know, something stupid, like...´

´Every rose bush in Genovia,´ a fellow gardener suggested.

´Yeah, that is really stupid Claude. But say, OK, every rose bush from every garden should be brought to the Grand Square in Pyrus within three hours. Can't do that can you? Or like he wants to become Prime Minister. Or -´

´I am sure the replies the MPs give to the press are just what they should be,´ Lord Radras judged.

In the silence that followed the water started to boil. Mrs Danieli prepared a tray. Without thinking she placed cookies on it, muffins, china, sugar, a pair of scissors, and some kiwi fruits. Isabel raised her eyebrows. When her boss turned around she replaced the fruits with the heavy tea-pot and removed the scissors.

The cook left to return within a minute. A heated discussion about whether or not information was kept from the press died away. Everyone watched the cook place the tray on the sink and add tea to the pot. Mrs Danieli rested her hands on the sink and composed herself.

´Mrs D,´ Isabel softly asked, ´could you ask them if there's news?´

´Of course dear. Of course.´

´Just in case they're not telling everything any more.´

´Of course dear. Of course.´

When the door fell close behind the cook no one spoke. The TV showed how a camera man and a journalist who had made it into the now famous forest near the Spanish border (the circling helicopter and the lack of road blocks south of the forest had been quite telling) were stopped by a guard. Everyone recognised Dilson, but seeing a colleague on TV didn't evoke reactions. The journalist told Dilson that she had the right to walk wherever she wanted and Dilson replied that she had no right to bring harm to the rescue mission. When the journalist protested again the guard damaged the camera and the screen turned black. After a few seconds it showed another journalist giving a summary of the way the foreign media covered the kidnap.

OoOoOoO

Mrs Danieli found the members of the emergency team awfully quiet. She placed a cup and saucer in front of each and got a 'thank you' in reply from Mr Motaz. The others seemed too focused on the television to heed her. The cook felt faint. She didn't give in to it and addressed the Prime Minister: ´Sir, if I may, is there any news yet?´

´No Mrs Danieli, there is no news. But just like you and everyone else at the Castle, I have fullest confidence that the Head of Security will find Her Majesty.´

He cast an eye on a clock and swallowed hard. ´He will find her,´ he reassured both the cook and himself. The cook bravely nodded and wiped her moist hands on her skirt. She placed a plate with muffins on the table and busied herself by arranging them to her satisfaction. When a phone rang Mrs Danieli jumped backwards and held her hand to her heart.

Mr Tally, Teballi and Charlotte all reached for the phone. The secretary grabbed hold of it. Mr Tally activated the speaker.

The Head of Security's gruffed voice came through: ´We've got her. Rome-´

´Joe! Joe! Is she a- alive?´

´Yes.´

The connection was broken.

´She's all right!´ Charlotte cried and she kissed the phone.

Mr Motaz jumped to his feet and hugged the smiling and crying Mrs Danieli while Mr Tally hid his head in his hands, repeatedly whispering: ´Thank goodness´.

Mr Delgana just sat there, a huge grin on his face, even though Teballi hit his shoulders and shouted: ´I knew he'd do it! I knew it! He did it! I knew it! He saved her!´