Chapter 14
Abi was sitting quietly at the passenger's seat staring out the window. She was breathing a little heavily. After a few minutes Ben got a bit anxious and asked "Abi sweetie, are you alright?"
"Yes, just a little tired," she answered her voice a bit wry.
"Then why don't you put your seat down and try to get some sleep till we get home?" he suggested.
"You sure you don't mind?" she asked.
"Not at all," he said a big reassuring smile on his face.
Abi smiled back and lowered the back of her seat, lying down. When Ben glanced at her a few minutes later, she was fast asleep.
Ben smiled to himself, and changed to a soft music station on the radio, so Abi's sleep won't be disturbed.
Abi slept the whole ride home about 4 hours.
Ben pulled up by the legacy house and shut down the engine. He lowered the back of his seat as well, so he can face Abi, and with gentle and soft kisses tried to wake her.
Abi felt his feather like lips all over her face and with a big smile, opened her eyes staring into his.
"Are we home yet?" she asked.
"Yes. Wanna go inside?"
"Not just yet," she said puling his face closer to hers covering it with soft kisses as he just gave her.
They then heard a door open, followed by enthusiastic baby cries, "Mommy, Daddy."
Abi let go of him, smiled and said, "Well, seems our alone time is officially over."
Ben giggled, raised the back of his seat and stepped out of the car. He saw Ethaniel standing by the door with Sarah and Noah. He opened the passenger's door for Abi and only when she came out of the car, Ethaniel Let go of the children's hands allowing them to run meet their parents.
Noah made it first to his mother. Abi bent down to pick him up in her arms and covered his little face with warm kisses, hugging him tight.
"Mommy," he said hugging her with his small hands.
Sarah made it to her father and he picked her up. Her little face was glowing with so much love as she told him "Sarah miss Daddy," and kissed his cheeks.
"I missed you too, precious," he whispered in the little girl's ear.
Sarah looked at Abi and reached out her hands for her, "Mommy come," she asked.
Abi moved closer to Ben and while he took Noah of her arms, she took Sarah off of his. She wrapped her arms in a strong loving embrace. "I missed you so much sweet little girl of mine," she said.
Sarah's face lit even more at her mothers comment, and Abi felt a twitch in her heart. There was no way to turn back time, and she regretted not being there for her children from the start.
About two years ago when they were just born, she was terrified of getting to emotionally attached to them. She was so sure, if she loved them and announces the world of their existence, they would be taken from her by some terrible way. She never even breast-fed them. Not even once. She was afraid she would lose them as she lost all the people she loved. First her stepfather, then her mother and eventually was deserted by Joshua, her children's biological father.
Over the past few month though, she has changed more then she actually cared to admit. She was no longer afraid to love or show and express her love. She knew she owed it all to her father and his team, and most of all to Ben. She was so grateful to have him in her life. It was he who took care and saw the children on their first year, more then she. No wonder they accepted him as their father so easily. Besides their grandfather, he was the only male figure in their life. She was determent to make it up to them and she swore not to make the same mistake with their child on the way.
Abi took Ben's palm in her own and they headed toward Ethaniel.
"Hey E." she said a smile on her face. "So good to see you."
Ethaniel gave her a little hug, then shook Ben's hand. "Welcome home," he said. "We didn't expect you till the end of the week. Well at least not until Mooli said you are trapped in the house trying to leave."
"Oh, well. Things got weird there so we decided to come home and deal with it later. But never mind that now," she said, "We have more important things to deal with right now."
Her face turned serious, and assuming her precept tone she said, "Ethaniel, would you tell my grandmother to meet me in my office right away?"
"Sure," he answered, knowing full well that when Abi used that tone, there was no way you could argue with her.
She then turned to Ben, "Honey, mind keeping an eye on them while I talk to Hannah? I really need to talk to her urgently." She asked.
"No problem love," He said. He remembered her mention that the target of the up coming attack is Hannah, so he took Sarah off of her hands and headed with them out into the back yard.
Abi was turning to go to her office when she heard the two children call out for her, "Mommy, Mommy, come."
She approached them, and kissed them gently on their cheeks. "Mommy won't be long," she said to them. "Go play with dad for a while, and I'll be there as soon as I can."
Each child had one head on her shoulder and to her surprise they both kissed her on each cheek and then to her bigger amazement both kids whispered, "Love you Mommy."
"I love you too," she said, feeling a lump in her throat.
Ben then disappeared with them and Abi headed to her office. She sat at her chair and two minutes later Ethaniel knocked on the door.
"Come in," she said.
He did, escorted by Hannah.
"Abi, dear. It is so good to have you home," said her grandmother.
Abi looked at Hannah a harsh look on her face and in her eyes.
Seeing that, Ethaniel headed for the door saying, "I better leave you two alone."
"Stay," he heard Abi say. "Have a seat, both of you," ordered Abi. She continued to sit at her chair staring at Hannah for a while. Then finally she asked, "Hannah, did you have any connection to the legacy in the past?"
Hannah swallowed hard. She knew there was no point in denying it anymore. Abi could always tell when people lied to her.
"Yes," she finally admitted.
"Why did you never tell me that before?" asked Abi.
"God Abi. It was over fifty years ago. I never thought it was of any importance.
Abi buried her face in her palms for a minute. She eventually took a deep breath and with a softer tone she said, "Tell me all about it."
"Well, as I said, it was over 50 years ago," said Hannah. "I was a young woman, 25 years old. And living in Berlin. I worked as a researcher when one day our precept at the time, David Cohen was arrested by the Gestapo. We were ordered to transfer all valuable artifacts to them, but Donald Jacobs, who was about my age and handeled security managed to smuggle the most valuable stuff out of Berlin. The police arrested him, but there was no evidence against him. Being short staffed, Donald then took over as precept of the house."
"So he wasn't officially the precept," said Abi. "He is precept of the Portland house these days."
"Yes I know," said Hannah. "We've kept in touch over the years."
"Ok, so what happened next?" inquired Abi.
"Well, over the next few years, we managed to smuggle a lot of items across the border. And we also helped a lot of Jews escape from certain death. We eventually got caught by some German officers but managed to escape. They held Donald and me for a few days. Torturing us so that we will reveal to them where we hid a certain item they were desperate to find, but we never told them. And then after a few days we managed to escape. We thought that was it. But we underestimated how desperate they were in need of this item. Donald had it. And after we reached safety and parted ways, I came to Israel and he eventually ended up in London. The item was with him and as far as I know, it still is."
"So why would they target you grandma? What possible motive could they have to chase you, if you don't have possession or know where this thing is? And what is this damn thing they want so bad and why?"
Hanna hesitated for a while and Abi started loosing her patience. "Gran, this is not just you now. I'm a precept in the legacy and all of us are at risk here. What aren't you telling me?"
"To get to the item they need us both," she finally admitted. "I didn't want any part in hiding it, but had no choice. Donald didn't think he should be the only responsible person. He wanted me there so in case anything happened to him, I'll go on keeping it safe. It is hidden in a safety deposit in a Swiss bank and it can't be open with out the presence of us both there. We each have a key and only the two keys together and certain passwords we each created, can open it."
"Gran," said Abi almost pleading, "What was it that you hid?"
"A sword."
Abi had a puzzled look, "A sword? That's it?"
"It belonged to Alexander the great. According to legend, who ever owns it is invincible. Nothing and no one can touch you, hurt you, or even kill you," said Hannah her voice quiet and defeated.
Abi got up from her chair and moved over to her grandmother. "Oh gran, I love you, and I'm sorry I got angry but you should have told me that before," She said hugging the old woman. "There is one more thing I need from you."
Hannah smiled a little. "What is it you need child?" she asked.
"I need the names of the people who tortured you and anything else you can tell me about them."
"Hans Muller, Friedrich Guenzl and Alfred kainz."
Abi wrote down the names on paper and then handing it over to Ethaniel she said, "Ok, we got work to do. Get the others into the control room and start research on these people. Mostly I want to know where they are now."
Ethaniel left her office in search of the other team members, and a few minutes later they were all seated in the control room in search for as much information as they could get.
Abi went into the control room, "I'll be outside for a while, call me the minute you find anything," she requested.
"No problem," said Ethaniel and the others.
Abi left the room heading outside to find Ben and the children. She found them outside playing. Noah and Sarah were laughing and chasing a ball their father was tossing at them gently. She stood and looked at them for a few minutes until Sarah noticed her and ran in her direction. "Mommy, you came," she said still laughing.
"I promised I would," said Abi. She let the girl back down, "Go play with Noah for a minute sweetie. I need to talk to daddy."
Abi walked toward him and seeing the serious look on her face, he knew it was something bad. She briefly informed him of the situation.
"Ben, you're not going back to work just yet are you?" she inquired.
"Not if you need me. I'm not due in till next Sunday. Why do you ask?" he questioned.
"I want you to stay in and help Ethaniel. The house might be under attack soon. If those people are as desperate to get to the sword as grandma said, they will probably be coming after her in no time."
"Of course honey," said Ben kissing and hugging her.
In spite of the cold they played with the children for a little while longer till Abi said it was time for dinner. They gave the children their dinner then a bath and then put them to they're beds that were now in Abi's old room. "They did a great job turning this room into a children's nursery," said Ben as they left the two sleeping babies.
"They sure did," said Abi. "Now let's go see what they did in ours."
"I thought you'd want to go to the control room and see what the guys dug up," he said.
"I will. In a while. Right now I need a bath and a change of clothes," she answered.
They're new bedroom was also redecorated while they were away, according to Abi's specific orders and they both enjoyed how it looked now.
"It's beautiful Abi," said Ben as he walked over to the new closets to get some fresh towels and clothes for them both. As he went into the bathroom he saw the new Jacuzzi that was installed and the two of them decided to put it to use immediately.
About an hour later they finally made it out of the bathroom and headed downstairs to see what the others have found.
Abi was sitting quietly at the passenger's seat staring out the window. She was breathing a little heavily. After a few minutes Ben got a bit anxious and asked "Abi sweetie, are you alright?"
"Yes, just a little tired," she answered her voice a bit wry.
"Then why don't you put your seat down and try to get some sleep till we get home?" he suggested.
"You sure you don't mind?" she asked.
"Not at all," he said a big reassuring smile on his face.
Abi smiled back and lowered the back of her seat, lying down. When Ben glanced at her a few minutes later, she was fast asleep.
Ben smiled to himself, and changed to a soft music station on the radio, so Abi's sleep won't be disturbed.
Abi slept the whole ride home about 4 hours.
Ben pulled up by the legacy house and shut down the engine. He lowered the back of his seat as well, so he can face Abi, and with gentle and soft kisses tried to wake her.
Abi felt his feather like lips all over her face and with a big smile, opened her eyes staring into his.
"Are we home yet?" she asked.
"Yes. Wanna go inside?"
"Not just yet," she said puling his face closer to hers covering it with soft kisses as he just gave her.
They then heard a door open, followed by enthusiastic baby cries, "Mommy, Daddy."
Abi let go of him, smiled and said, "Well, seems our alone time is officially over."
Ben giggled, raised the back of his seat and stepped out of the car. He saw Ethaniel standing by the door with Sarah and Noah. He opened the passenger's door for Abi and only when she came out of the car, Ethaniel Let go of the children's hands allowing them to run meet their parents.
Noah made it first to his mother. Abi bent down to pick him up in her arms and covered his little face with warm kisses, hugging him tight.
"Mommy," he said hugging her with his small hands.
Sarah made it to her father and he picked her up. Her little face was glowing with so much love as she told him "Sarah miss Daddy," and kissed his cheeks.
"I missed you too, precious," he whispered in the little girl's ear.
Sarah looked at Abi and reached out her hands for her, "Mommy come," she asked.
Abi moved closer to Ben and while he took Noah of her arms, she took Sarah off of his. She wrapped her arms in a strong loving embrace. "I missed you so much sweet little girl of mine," she said.
Sarah's face lit even more at her mothers comment, and Abi felt a twitch in her heart. There was no way to turn back time, and she regretted not being there for her children from the start.
About two years ago when they were just born, she was terrified of getting to emotionally attached to them. She was so sure, if she loved them and announces the world of their existence, they would be taken from her by some terrible way. She never even breast-fed them. Not even once. She was afraid she would lose them as she lost all the people she loved. First her stepfather, then her mother and eventually was deserted by Joshua, her children's biological father.
Over the past few month though, she has changed more then she actually cared to admit. She was no longer afraid to love or show and express her love. She knew she owed it all to her father and his team, and most of all to Ben. She was so grateful to have him in her life. It was he who took care and saw the children on their first year, more then she. No wonder they accepted him as their father so easily. Besides their grandfather, he was the only male figure in their life. She was determent to make it up to them and she swore not to make the same mistake with their child on the way.
Abi took Ben's palm in her own and they headed toward Ethaniel.
"Hey E." she said a smile on her face. "So good to see you."
Ethaniel gave her a little hug, then shook Ben's hand. "Welcome home," he said. "We didn't expect you till the end of the week. Well at least not until Mooli said you are trapped in the house trying to leave."
"Oh, well. Things got weird there so we decided to come home and deal with it later. But never mind that now," she said, "We have more important things to deal with right now."
Her face turned serious, and assuming her precept tone she said, "Ethaniel, would you tell my grandmother to meet me in my office right away?"
"Sure," he answered, knowing full well that when Abi used that tone, there was no way you could argue with her.
She then turned to Ben, "Honey, mind keeping an eye on them while I talk to Hannah? I really need to talk to her urgently." She asked.
"No problem love," He said. He remembered her mention that the target of the up coming attack is Hannah, so he took Sarah off of her hands and headed with them out into the back yard.
Abi was turning to go to her office when she heard the two children call out for her, "Mommy, Mommy, come."
She approached them, and kissed them gently on their cheeks. "Mommy won't be long," she said to them. "Go play with dad for a while, and I'll be there as soon as I can."
Each child had one head on her shoulder and to her surprise they both kissed her on each cheek and then to her bigger amazement both kids whispered, "Love you Mommy."
"I love you too," she said, feeling a lump in her throat.
Ben then disappeared with them and Abi headed to her office. She sat at her chair and two minutes later Ethaniel knocked on the door.
"Come in," she said.
He did, escorted by Hannah.
"Abi, dear. It is so good to have you home," said her grandmother.
Abi looked at Hannah a harsh look on her face and in her eyes.
Seeing that, Ethaniel headed for the door saying, "I better leave you two alone."
"Stay," he heard Abi say. "Have a seat, both of you," ordered Abi. She continued to sit at her chair staring at Hannah for a while. Then finally she asked, "Hannah, did you have any connection to the legacy in the past?"
Hannah swallowed hard. She knew there was no point in denying it anymore. Abi could always tell when people lied to her.
"Yes," she finally admitted.
"Why did you never tell me that before?" asked Abi.
"God Abi. It was over fifty years ago. I never thought it was of any importance.
Abi buried her face in her palms for a minute. She eventually took a deep breath and with a softer tone she said, "Tell me all about it."
"Well, as I said, it was over 50 years ago," said Hannah. "I was a young woman, 25 years old. And living in Berlin. I worked as a researcher when one day our precept at the time, David Cohen was arrested by the Gestapo. We were ordered to transfer all valuable artifacts to them, but Donald Jacobs, who was about my age and handeled security managed to smuggle the most valuable stuff out of Berlin. The police arrested him, but there was no evidence against him. Being short staffed, Donald then took over as precept of the house."
"So he wasn't officially the precept," said Abi. "He is precept of the Portland house these days."
"Yes I know," said Hannah. "We've kept in touch over the years."
"Ok, so what happened next?" inquired Abi.
"Well, over the next few years, we managed to smuggle a lot of items across the border. And we also helped a lot of Jews escape from certain death. We eventually got caught by some German officers but managed to escape. They held Donald and me for a few days. Torturing us so that we will reveal to them where we hid a certain item they were desperate to find, but we never told them. And then after a few days we managed to escape. We thought that was it. But we underestimated how desperate they were in need of this item. Donald had it. And after we reached safety and parted ways, I came to Israel and he eventually ended up in London. The item was with him and as far as I know, it still is."
"So why would they target you grandma? What possible motive could they have to chase you, if you don't have possession or know where this thing is? And what is this damn thing they want so bad and why?"
Hanna hesitated for a while and Abi started loosing her patience. "Gran, this is not just you now. I'm a precept in the legacy and all of us are at risk here. What aren't you telling me?"
"To get to the item they need us both," she finally admitted. "I didn't want any part in hiding it, but had no choice. Donald didn't think he should be the only responsible person. He wanted me there so in case anything happened to him, I'll go on keeping it safe. It is hidden in a safety deposit in a Swiss bank and it can't be open with out the presence of us both there. We each have a key and only the two keys together and certain passwords we each created, can open it."
"Gran," said Abi almost pleading, "What was it that you hid?"
"A sword."
Abi had a puzzled look, "A sword? That's it?"
"It belonged to Alexander the great. According to legend, who ever owns it is invincible. Nothing and no one can touch you, hurt you, or even kill you," said Hannah her voice quiet and defeated.
Abi got up from her chair and moved over to her grandmother. "Oh gran, I love you, and I'm sorry I got angry but you should have told me that before," She said hugging the old woman. "There is one more thing I need from you."
Hannah smiled a little. "What is it you need child?" she asked.
"I need the names of the people who tortured you and anything else you can tell me about them."
"Hans Muller, Friedrich Guenzl and Alfred kainz."
Abi wrote down the names on paper and then handing it over to Ethaniel she said, "Ok, we got work to do. Get the others into the control room and start research on these people. Mostly I want to know where they are now."
Ethaniel left her office in search of the other team members, and a few minutes later they were all seated in the control room in search for as much information as they could get.
Abi went into the control room, "I'll be outside for a while, call me the minute you find anything," she requested.
"No problem," said Ethaniel and the others.
Abi left the room heading outside to find Ben and the children. She found them outside playing. Noah and Sarah were laughing and chasing a ball their father was tossing at them gently. She stood and looked at them for a few minutes until Sarah noticed her and ran in her direction. "Mommy, you came," she said still laughing.
"I promised I would," said Abi. She let the girl back down, "Go play with Noah for a minute sweetie. I need to talk to daddy."
Abi walked toward him and seeing the serious look on her face, he knew it was something bad. She briefly informed him of the situation.
"Ben, you're not going back to work just yet are you?" she inquired.
"Not if you need me. I'm not due in till next Sunday. Why do you ask?" he questioned.
"I want you to stay in and help Ethaniel. The house might be under attack soon. If those people are as desperate to get to the sword as grandma said, they will probably be coming after her in no time."
"Of course honey," said Ben kissing and hugging her.
In spite of the cold they played with the children for a little while longer till Abi said it was time for dinner. They gave the children their dinner then a bath and then put them to they're beds that were now in Abi's old room. "They did a great job turning this room into a children's nursery," said Ben as they left the two sleeping babies.
"They sure did," said Abi. "Now let's go see what they did in ours."
"I thought you'd want to go to the control room and see what the guys dug up," he said.
"I will. In a while. Right now I need a bath and a change of clothes," she answered.
They're new bedroom was also redecorated while they were away, according to Abi's specific orders and they both enjoyed how it looked now.
"It's beautiful Abi," said Ben as he walked over to the new closets to get some fresh towels and clothes for them both. As he went into the bathroom he saw the new Jacuzzi that was installed and the two of them decided to put it to use immediately.
About an hour later they finally made it out of the bathroom and headed downstairs to see what the others have found.