Chapter thirty-one
January 1983
Cape Town
Irina and Jack hurriedly entered the school's foyer, where they had to wait for a few more agonizing minutes before the principal arrived. Jack had been out in the vineyards with Andrei when the phone call had come that there was a problem with Sydney at her new school. Irina had abandoned the preparation she'd been doing for her lectures and ran outside to call Jack. They'd driven to the school as fast as they could, going from feeling worried about Sydney one minute to frustrated at the slow traffic the next.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lewis?"
They turned to face the principal. "What happened?" Irina asked.
"Maybe we'd better talk in my office."
Irina reached for Jack's hand. They've taken Sydney. Something's wrong.
Elise van Rooyen noticed how pale Irina suddenly turned and quickly added, "Your daughter's fine. But I really think we should talk in private."
Irina nodded, and she held Jack's hand as they followed Elise down the corridor. Once they were in the office, Elise pulled her chair around the desk so there was nothing between her and Jack and Irina.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lewis," she said, "I'm not exactly sure what to say to you."
Irina felt panic rise again. She glanced at Jack; his expression was cold, yet she knew behind the mask, he was as worried as she was.
"Where is Anya?" he asked.
Elise sighed. "Anya." She drummed her fingers on the table. "Anya is with the guidance counselor at the moment."
Irina and Jack exchanged confused glances. "Why?"
"When you came to see me last week, you mentioned that you'd only recently moved to South Africa."
Irina nodded cautiously.
"Could you tell me a little bit more? How are things at home?"
"Just where are you going with this?" Jack asked, ice in his tone.
"In period three, Anya went into hysterics. She began screaming that her name wasn't Anya and that she wanted her mother."
Irina stood. "Where is she?"
"Mrs. Lewis, I have Anya's best interests at heart, please believe that."
Irina could kill this woman, find Sydney and be out of the school in under five minutes; no one was ever keeping her from her child again. She looked at Jack and wondered if he was thinking along similar lines.
"Mrs. Van Rooyen, my child needs me. Now, are you going to show me where she is or do I have to find her myself?"
Elise picked up her phone and dialed through to the office. While she spoke, Irina sat down. In Russian, she said, "Maybe it was too soon."
Jack reached for her hand again. "She'll be okay. We'll work something out."
"Um, excuse me." Elise spoke a bit more timidly now. "If we're going to be able to help Anya, it will still be helpful to know more of her history. You were very vague last week."
"Anya was separated from her mother for a long time," Jack said after a while. "The reason we came here is so we could all live together." He launched into the cover story: an American journalist who married a Russian; they moved to the States and lived there for a few years, then Sonya's father died and she returned home only to have her passport confiscated. He was halfway through the story when there was a knock on the door and a woman entered, gently tugging on Sydney's hand.
Sydney saw Irina and ran to her. She climbed onto her lap and clung to her. "Mommy!"
"Sweetheart, it's okay."
"Don't leave me again, Mommy!"
The story, and Sydney's reaction to Irina, was enough to convince Elise that it was the truth. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lewis. Mrs. Lewis. If there's anything we can do to help . . ."