Sorry this is taking longer than normal but I want to get the research right for this one. Please bear with me, thanks.
Chapter Three
Evy stood with Masala and watched the ship until it was out of sight and then they drove back to the house. She invited him in to freshen up while she cooked him a meal. They were both tired from waiting at the dock and then watching them go.
"Please Masala, stay, I don't fancy being alone tonight"
"Okay, thank you, I'll leave in the morning" he replied.
After what happened at the dock, she needed to speak to him, so while he washed up, she cooked and was dishing it out when he walked in the kitchen.
"Sit down and eat, I hope you like it, it's not what you are used to but"
"Evy it looks wonderful, I'm starving"
Later they sat in the study and chatted about all sorts of things, Evy trying to avoid what she wanted to ask him.
"You haven't mentioned Ardeth once tonight, I think I know the reason. Why were you so surprised when he kissed you like that?"
"I…I wasn't expecting it, I never knew he felt like that about me"
"He has for a long time, but then you married Rick and he didn't pursue it"
She didn't answer and watched as he walked around the room looking at the books on the shelf. Then he turned back to her.
"I am not a fool Evy, I know what has been going on with Rick. He isn't on a dig is he? He's left"
Evy burst into tears, all the weeks of keeping it to herself and what had happened at the docks, over flowed. Masala went over and sitting beside her, put an arm round her.
"I'm sorry, I thought I was the only one who knew. Does Ardeth?"
"No, I never told him, wasn't my place, what happened?"
She told him that things were never the same after they came back from Ahm Shere all those years ago. A lot of it was her and he had started drinking again, the arguments they had and the fact he was away a lot without her, had taken it's toll.
Then when they brought Ardeth back from Germany, they had had a massive argument over Alex joining the Med-jai and he had walked out. A week later, he came back to say that he was leaving.
"Where is he?"
"South America, he got a steamer and said he would be back one day, perhaps. I haven't told Alex nor Jonathan, but I think Alex knows something is wrong"
"I'm sorry Masala, I should have told them ages ago, but I always hoped that he was bluffing."
"That's why you are so upset about Ardeth and Alex going to Germany"
"Yes, I couldn't lose them too and Ardeth went through so much last time, he might not be so lucky this time round and with Alex there, I could lose him as well"
"They'll be back, I swear they'll be back. Try not to worry, they all know how to take care of themselves and they will have help out there. Ardeth has to help, if it had been anything else other than children he might well have said no"
Evy nodded and went to make some coffee, hoping that Masala was right and that she had a chance to tell Alex and Ardeth about Rick.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The ship took about two weeks to get to Rabac in Yugoslavia and they had been quite ill on the journey. The weather had been very bad not long out of Egypt and they had to content with U-boats in the area and had to zig-zag across the Adriatic in really bad storms. At last they arrived at the port and waited till night fall before disembarking from the ship, there were a lot of German soldiers waiting for their convoys to take them somewhere else.
"I will be glad to get on dry land" said Alex "I have never felt so sick in all my life"
"Even affected me this time" replied Ardeth "I don't normally notice it"
"What have you done to your face?" Alex asked.
"It's some stuff I brought with me, I rub it over the tattoos and it hides them. It will be fine as long as I keep it topped up"
"Well it looks good, strange to see you without tattoos. Where do we go from here?"
"We cross the border about thirty miles from here and then make our way to Buzet where there is an old farmhouse where we can stay for a couple of days" said Father Shandor.
Avoiding the soldiers, they made it off the ship and disappeared into the darkness. It was raining which helped them somewhat although they hoped it would stop else they would be soaked before they even reached the farm.
They found getting across the border was easy and all they had to do was keep to the trees to stop being seen. Father Shandor was surprised in the fact that there were so many German soldiers around.
"There must be some maneuvers going on, there shouldn't be that many soldiers here"
"What do you think is going on" asked Alex.
They were laying on their stomachs, watching the men march past towards the border. It was uncomfortable as they were laying in water from the little stream that ran from higher up the valley.
After about an hour of laying there, they were able to move when the last of the soldiers disappeared. They were cold and made all haste to get to Buzet. They stopped about half way to rest and eat. There was a wood and they found a place in there that was well hidden from the tracks.
"We'll rest here for a couple of hours and then carry on" said Father Shandor.
Alex was leaning against a tree drinking the coffee while Ardeth and Father Shandor looked at the map. He still felt a bit sick and it was very cold. He pulled the thick coat around him and closed his eyes.
"Alex, we're leaving, come on" said Ardeth putting the things in the bag.
Father Shandor noticed he had his eyes closed and went over to wake him up.
"Come on, let's go" he said shaking Alex.
"What…yeah okay" he replied.
Trying to get up, he found he couldn't as his head started to spin and he was sick. The other two rushed over to him.
"Alex are you alright?" asked Ardeth placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, my stomach hasn't settled from that ship yet, I'll be fine"
Alex got up and walked to where the stuff was and picked up his bag, the other two looked at one another. They didn't believe him but would leave it for the moment.
"How far is it to the farmhouse?" asked Ardeth.
"About another fifteen miles, shouldn't take us that long" he replied.
There was no way Alex was going to tell them how he was feeling, which was lousy. One minute he was hot, the next he was cold, his head was thumping and the sickness was always just below the surface but he walked on with the others, hoping they would get to their destination quickly.
Surprisingly it didn't take long to get to the farmhouse and they went inside after checking that there was no-one around. It was nearly dark and Father Shandor placed some heavy blankets over the windows so that they could light the lamps.
"There is plenty of straw through that door, that is where we sleep tonight. Used to be for the cattle, the people here keep it next to the house. Alex you feeling better now?" asked Father Shandor.
"Yeah, much" he lied going to have a look in the room.
An hour later they were eating some soup that they had made and some rather bitter coffee but it was better than nothing. Ardeth and the Father said they would take a look round outside and then settle down for the night. While they were outside, Alex poured the soup away, he couldn't eat it, he felt worse and just wanted to go to sleep. When they came back in they found he had gone and laid down in the straw and was asleep.
"He must have been tired" said Ardeth "Still he is not the only one"
"No, I think we are safe here without having to keep guard but we will keep the guns handy, just in case. We leave in the morning"
"Where are we meeting Samuel?" asked Ardeth.
"At a place called Obervellach, about 150 miles away"
As they got comfortable in the straw, Ardeth asked if they intended to walk all the way.
"No, there is an old car in the barn at the back of this place. Should still be okay, we used it before. That will get us to Seeboden, from there we walk, to an old medieval castle, that is where Samuel will be"
Father Shandor wasn't sure if Ardeth had heard all that because when he looked at him, he was asleep. He snuggled down in the straw and hoped there weren't any rats, he hated rats. But it was warm and the sky had been full of snow just before dusk. They had to get to the castle before any heavy snow slowed them down.
Ardeth woke to a noise and in the dim light saw Alex disappear out of the door. Guessing where he had gone, he turned over and went back to sleep. He was woken again by Father Shandor shouting for him. He hurried into the other room and saw the Father kneeling beside Alex.
"What's happened, what's wrong with him?"
"I heard him get up and waited to hear him come back. When he didn't I came to see where he was, I found him laying here. He's burning up with a fever, that is what has been wrong with him"
"But he said he was alright, he seemed to be"
He helped the Father to carry him through and lay him on the straw. He opened his eyes as they laid him down.
"Alex why didn't you tell us you were ill?"
"I'm…fine…just cold" he whispered before collapsing back into the straw.
"What do we do now?"
"Well for the rest of the time we are here, we have to try and get that temperature down, then we will have to wrap him up warm in the car"
The next morning, Father Shandor went to get the car ready while Ardeth stayed with Alex. He was still out of it, sort of and still had the temperature, but they had managed to get some fluids into him.
They wrapped a couple of the blankets round him and laid him in the back of the car, Ardeth sitting next to Father Shandor as they drove off towards Seeboden.
Driving none stop along all the tracks and lanes, they made good time, Ardeth kept checking on Alex in the back and he was still very hot, but he was awake and trying to stay that way. The weather had held off and although it still looked like snow, it hadn't started yet. Father Shandor decided to take the car as far as he could up the old track which ran round the mountain to Obervellach on the other side.
"Right we can't go any further, there is not enough room to get a car along there. The castle is over there, about two miles away. If it had snowed last night then we would never have got this far. We have been very lucky" said Father Shandor "I'll get the stuff, you get Alex"
Ardeth helped the young man out of the car and was going to carry him but Alex stopped him.
"I can walk if you help me, it isn't that far. I will not be carried"
"But you are too weak to walk Alex, just do as you are told"
"No, help me Ardeth, I'll be fine"
The man tried to argue with him but Alex was adamant that he was feeling better and would rest when they got there.
Rudi was on the top of the castle when he saw the three men walking towards the castle. Using the binoculars, he saw that it was Father Shandor and called down to Samuel.
"Father Shandor is here but one of them looks hurt"
Samuel waved and opened the great door of the castle and went outside to look. Rudi came up beside him panting, he had run all the way down from the battlements.
"Tell Helga and Ester we need their help now" shouted Samuel as he ran towards the three men."
Father, Ardeth, it is great to see you safe, but your friend, he is hurt?"
"No, he has a fever, we need to get him somewhere warm" said Ardeth.
"Come, bring him into the castle, Helga and Ester will take care of him"
Rudi took Alex and despite protests, carried him into the castle and up the stairs, followed by the two women.
"He will be well taken care of, don't worry. Come let us get you food and drink. This is the safest place for miles around"
They followed him into a massive great kitchen where the fire was roaring and four children were sitting at the table, peeling vegetables. They smiled at the men as they came in.
"This is Father Shandor and Ardeth, their friend Alex is not very well and is upstairs. This is Aaron, Batia, Rachel and Joel. They are the first of the children that we have to get to Romania"
"Who were the two women?" asked Ardeth.
"They are two people from the village who have been helping us. Don't worry they will take good care of your friend. He will be well in no time. Please sit down and help yourself to food, then you can rest or read while we are here. There is a wonderful library here"
"Why haven't the Germans taken over this place?" asked Ardeth.
"Because it belongs to someone very high up in what was the Austrian Government. He agreed to give the Germans what they wanted, ie the towns and factories if they agreed to leave the castle alone. They did. They have no interest in an old castle, they needed the factories and power plants, it was the only way they could get them peacefully you might say"
"Does anyone know you are here?" asked Ardeth
"No I don't think so, we haven't had any problems, but we keep watch just in case"
Just then Helga came in and told them that Alex was asleep and although he was still running a temperature, he would be fine in a couple of days.
"It is only flu Sir" she said "Please don't worry"
"Do you want to go and see him, I'll show you where you can sleep at the same time. You will have to get used to the size of the rooms, they are huge but very comfortable."
"Can we afford to be here a couple of days?" asked Father Shandor.
"Yes, as long as we can reach Linz by the end of November, we will be okay. That is when the weather closes in here, you remember some of that from last time Ardeth. Being around mountains when the snow is fresh is too dangerous. Avalanches etc. not only that we want to be in Romania before the winter really sets in"
Ardeth checked on Alex and finding him asleep and being looked after very well by the two women, he left to go to the room that Samuel had given him. He shut the door and went over to the window.
Why had Samuel reminded him of the winter last time he was there, he had been trying to keep the memories at the back of his mind. Suddenly being made to think of them, made him shiver, as though someone had walked over his grave.
He just hoped that they would make it to Romania okay. Things had been going too well so far, with the exception of the flu that Alex had and he was worried.
Chapter Three
Evy stood with Masala and watched the ship until it was out of sight and then they drove back to the house. She invited him in to freshen up while she cooked him a meal. They were both tired from waiting at the dock and then watching them go.
"Please Masala, stay, I don't fancy being alone tonight"
"Okay, thank you, I'll leave in the morning" he replied.
After what happened at the dock, she needed to speak to him, so while he washed up, she cooked and was dishing it out when he walked in the kitchen.
"Sit down and eat, I hope you like it, it's not what you are used to but"
"Evy it looks wonderful, I'm starving"
Later they sat in the study and chatted about all sorts of things, Evy trying to avoid what she wanted to ask him.
"You haven't mentioned Ardeth once tonight, I think I know the reason. Why were you so surprised when he kissed you like that?"
"I…I wasn't expecting it, I never knew he felt like that about me"
"He has for a long time, but then you married Rick and he didn't pursue it"
She didn't answer and watched as he walked around the room looking at the books on the shelf. Then he turned back to her.
"I am not a fool Evy, I know what has been going on with Rick. He isn't on a dig is he? He's left"
Evy burst into tears, all the weeks of keeping it to herself and what had happened at the docks, over flowed. Masala went over and sitting beside her, put an arm round her.
"I'm sorry, I thought I was the only one who knew. Does Ardeth?"
"No, I never told him, wasn't my place, what happened?"
She told him that things were never the same after they came back from Ahm Shere all those years ago. A lot of it was her and he had started drinking again, the arguments they had and the fact he was away a lot without her, had taken it's toll.
Then when they brought Ardeth back from Germany, they had had a massive argument over Alex joining the Med-jai and he had walked out. A week later, he came back to say that he was leaving.
"Where is he?"
"South America, he got a steamer and said he would be back one day, perhaps. I haven't told Alex nor Jonathan, but I think Alex knows something is wrong"
"I'm sorry Masala, I should have told them ages ago, but I always hoped that he was bluffing."
"That's why you are so upset about Ardeth and Alex going to Germany"
"Yes, I couldn't lose them too and Ardeth went through so much last time, he might not be so lucky this time round and with Alex there, I could lose him as well"
"They'll be back, I swear they'll be back. Try not to worry, they all know how to take care of themselves and they will have help out there. Ardeth has to help, if it had been anything else other than children he might well have said no"
Evy nodded and went to make some coffee, hoping that Masala was right and that she had a chance to tell Alex and Ardeth about Rick.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
The ship took about two weeks to get to Rabac in Yugoslavia and they had been quite ill on the journey. The weather had been very bad not long out of Egypt and they had to content with U-boats in the area and had to zig-zag across the Adriatic in really bad storms. At last they arrived at the port and waited till night fall before disembarking from the ship, there were a lot of German soldiers waiting for their convoys to take them somewhere else.
"I will be glad to get on dry land" said Alex "I have never felt so sick in all my life"
"Even affected me this time" replied Ardeth "I don't normally notice it"
"What have you done to your face?" Alex asked.
"It's some stuff I brought with me, I rub it over the tattoos and it hides them. It will be fine as long as I keep it topped up"
"Well it looks good, strange to see you without tattoos. Where do we go from here?"
"We cross the border about thirty miles from here and then make our way to Buzet where there is an old farmhouse where we can stay for a couple of days" said Father Shandor.
Avoiding the soldiers, they made it off the ship and disappeared into the darkness. It was raining which helped them somewhat although they hoped it would stop else they would be soaked before they even reached the farm.
They found getting across the border was easy and all they had to do was keep to the trees to stop being seen. Father Shandor was surprised in the fact that there were so many German soldiers around.
"There must be some maneuvers going on, there shouldn't be that many soldiers here"
"What do you think is going on" asked Alex.
They were laying on their stomachs, watching the men march past towards the border. It was uncomfortable as they were laying in water from the little stream that ran from higher up the valley.
After about an hour of laying there, they were able to move when the last of the soldiers disappeared. They were cold and made all haste to get to Buzet. They stopped about half way to rest and eat. There was a wood and they found a place in there that was well hidden from the tracks.
"We'll rest here for a couple of hours and then carry on" said Father Shandor.
Alex was leaning against a tree drinking the coffee while Ardeth and Father Shandor looked at the map. He still felt a bit sick and it was very cold. He pulled the thick coat around him and closed his eyes.
"Alex, we're leaving, come on" said Ardeth putting the things in the bag.
Father Shandor noticed he had his eyes closed and went over to wake him up.
"Come on, let's go" he said shaking Alex.
"What…yeah okay" he replied.
Trying to get up, he found he couldn't as his head started to spin and he was sick. The other two rushed over to him.
"Alex are you alright?" asked Ardeth placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, my stomach hasn't settled from that ship yet, I'll be fine"
Alex got up and walked to where the stuff was and picked up his bag, the other two looked at one another. They didn't believe him but would leave it for the moment.
"How far is it to the farmhouse?" asked Ardeth.
"About another fifteen miles, shouldn't take us that long" he replied.
There was no way Alex was going to tell them how he was feeling, which was lousy. One minute he was hot, the next he was cold, his head was thumping and the sickness was always just below the surface but he walked on with the others, hoping they would get to their destination quickly.
Surprisingly it didn't take long to get to the farmhouse and they went inside after checking that there was no-one around. It was nearly dark and Father Shandor placed some heavy blankets over the windows so that they could light the lamps.
"There is plenty of straw through that door, that is where we sleep tonight. Used to be for the cattle, the people here keep it next to the house. Alex you feeling better now?" asked Father Shandor.
"Yeah, much" he lied going to have a look in the room.
An hour later they were eating some soup that they had made and some rather bitter coffee but it was better than nothing. Ardeth and the Father said they would take a look round outside and then settle down for the night. While they were outside, Alex poured the soup away, he couldn't eat it, he felt worse and just wanted to go to sleep. When they came back in they found he had gone and laid down in the straw and was asleep.
"He must have been tired" said Ardeth "Still he is not the only one"
"No, I think we are safe here without having to keep guard but we will keep the guns handy, just in case. We leave in the morning"
"Where are we meeting Samuel?" asked Ardeth.
"At a place called Obervellach, about 150 miles away"
As they got comfortable in the straw, Ardeth asked if they intended to walk all the way.
"No, there is an old car in the barn at the back of this place. Should still be okay, we used it before. That will get us to Seeboden, from there we walk, to an old medieval castle, that is where Samuel will be"
Father Shandor wasn't sure if Ardeth had heard all that because when he looked at him, he was asleep. He snuggled down in the straw and hoped there weren't any rats, he hated rats. But it was warm and the sky had been full of snow just before dusk. They had to get to the castle before any heavy snow slowed them down.
Ardeth woke to a noise and in the dim light saw Alex disappear out of the door. Guessing where he had gone, he turned over and went back to sleep. He was woken again by Father Shandor shouting for him. He hurried into the other room and saw the Father kneeling beside Alex.
"What's happened, what's wrong with him?"
"I heard him get up and waited to hear him come back. When he didn't I came to see where he was, I found him laying here. He's burning up with a fever, that is what has been wrong with him"
"But he said he was alright, he seemed to be"
He helped the Father to carry him through and lay him on the straw. He opened his eyes as they laid him down.
"Alex why didn't you tell us you were ill?"
"I'm…fine…just cold" he whispered before collapsing back into the straw.
"What do we do now?"
"Well for the rest of the time we are here, we have to try and get that temperature down, then we will have to wrap him up warm in the car"
The next morning, Father Shandor went to get the car ready while Ardeth stayed with Alex. He was still out of it, sort of and still had the temperature, but they had managed to get some fluids into him.
They wrapped a couple of the blankets round him and laid him in the back of the car, Ardeth sitting next to Father Shandor as they drove off towards Seeboden.
Driving none stop along all the tracks and lanes, they made good time, Ardeth kept checking on Alex in the back and he was still very hot, but he was awake and trying to stay that way. The weather had held off and although it still looked like snow, it hadn't started yet. Father Shandor decided to take the car as far as he could up the old track which ran round the mountain to Obervellach on the other side.
"Right we can't go any further, there is not enough room to get a car along there. The castle is over there, about two miles away. If it had snowed last night then we would never have got this far. We have been very lucky" said Father Shandor "I'll get the stuff, you get Alex"
Ardeth helped the young man out of the car and was going to carry him but Alex stopped him.
"I can walk if you help me, it isn't that far. I will not be carried"
"But you are too weak to walk Alex, just do as you are told"
"No, help me Ardeth, I'll be fine"
The man tried to argue with him but Alex was adamant that he was feeling better and would rest when they got there.
Rudi was on the top of the castle when he saw the three men walking towards the castle. Using the binoculars, he saw that it was Father Shandor and called down to Samuel.
"Father Shandor is here but one of them looks hurt"
Samuel waved and opened the great door of the castle and went outside to look. Rudi came up beside him panting, he had run all the way down from the battlements.
"Tell Helga and Ester we need their help now" shouted Samuel as he ran towards the three men."
Father, Ardeth, it is great to see you safe, but your friend, he is hurt?"
"No, he has a fever, we need to get him somewhere warm" said Ardeth.
"Come, bring him into the castle, Helga and Ester will take care of him"
Rudi took Alex and despite protests, carried him into the castle and up the stairs, followed by the two women.
"He will be well taken care of, don't worry. Come let us get you food and drink. This is the safest place for miles around"
They followed him into a massive great kitchen where the fire was roaring and four children were sitting at the table, peeling vegetables. They smiled at the men as they came in.
"This is Father Shandor and Ardeth, their friend Alex is not very well and is upstairs. This is Aaron, Batia, Rachel and Joel. They are the first of the children that we have to get to Romania"
"Who were the two women?" asked Ardeth.
"They are two people from the village who have been helping us. Don't worry they will take good care of your friend. He will be well in no time. Please sit down and help yourself to food, then you can rest or read while we are here. There is a wonderful library here"
"Why haven't the Germans taken over this place?" asked Ardeth.
"Because it belongs to someone very high up in what was the Austrian Government. He agreed to give the Germans what they wanted, ie the towns and factories if they agreed to leave the castle alone. They did. They have no interest in an old castle, they needed the factories and power plants, it was the only way they could get them peacefully you might say"
"Does anyone know you are here?" asked Ardeth
"No I don't think so, we haven't had any problems, but we keep watch just in case"
Just then Helga came in and told them that Alex was asleep and although he was still running a temperature, he would be fine in a couple of days.
"It is only flu Sir" she said "Please don't worry"
"Do you want to go and see him, I'll show you where you can sleep at the same time. You will have to get used to the size of the rooms, they are huge but very comfortable."
"Can we afford to be here a couple of days?" asked Father Shandor.
"Yes, as long as we can reach Linz by the end of November, we will be okay. That is when the weather closes in here, you remember some of that from last time Ardeth. Being around mountains when the snow is fresh is too dangerous. Avalanches etc. not only that we want to be in Romania before the winter really sets in"
Ardeth checked on Alex and finding him asleep and being looked after very well by the two women, he left to go to the room that Samuel had given him. He shut the door and went over to the window.
Why had Samuel reminded him of the winter last time he was there, he had been trying to keep the memories at the back of his mind. Suddenly being made to think of them, made him shiver, as though someone had walked over his grave.
He just hoped that they would make it to Romania okay. Things had been going too well so far, with the exception of the flu that Alex had and he was worried.
