Chapter 17
Seven days passed and Nate and Georgi spent most of that time resting and sleeping. Nate wanted to go, wanted to get to a phone as quickly as possible to call Sophie and let her know he was not dead, he was very much alive and he was going to come home to her, to his family, but he also knew trying to take on a hike such as Georgi had said they needed to do he had to be stronger or he would just end up getting himself into more trouble. By the morning of the sixth day Nate was feeling a lot better, a lot stronger and so was Georgi and they agreed that they would leave after they had had some breakfast. The food in the little cabin was also starting to run out and the vodka was almost finished, Nate had rationed it out making sure that he would not start experiencing withdrawal symptoms on top of his injuries.
"So we go." Georgi said after breakfast.
"We do." Nate agreed. "At a slow steady pace we should be able to do it in about seven hours."
"Yes." Georgi said. "The terrain is not that difficult it is mostly flat and through the woods."
"Well luckily it isn't winter." Nate smiled. If it had been he did not think they would even have made the cabin on that first hike let alone think of taking the twenty-mile hike they were about to embark on.
"Mmmm Russian winters are not easy, so we finally have some luck on our side no?" Georgi laughed as he filled two bottles with water and handed one to Nate.
"Any chance of running into undesirables along the way?" Nate asked him as he accepted the bottle and put it into the bag the man had given him earlier. He was sure Bronovich thought they were dead and would not be looking for him or Georgi, but that was not to say he was the only lowlife in the area and the last thing they needed was to run into more trouble.
"I don't think so, not in the direction we are headed." Georgi told him.
"Good, ok well let's go." Nate said putting the bag on his back and heading for the door.
It was a long and arduous journey, although the terrain was flat it was difficult going through the woods and both were still in rather poor condition. Seven hours later they arrived at the edge of the little town and Georgi led them to the boarding house that he usually used when visiting the place to stock up before going out on a hunting trip. The sign on the little road they had emerged on said the name of the town was Razvilka and Georgi told him it had a meagre population of around a hundred people. Arriving at the boarding house Georgi was greeted warmly and so was Nate when introduced. Georgi smiled at the oldish Russian woman and spoke to her in Russian telling her that they had just come back from his cabin and that Nate was his American friend who had come to spend some time with him hunting. Then he asked for rooms and some food to which the woman nodded and showed them to the table in the middle of her rather large kitchen and told them to sit she would give them supper before they headed to their rooms for the night.
"I need a phone Georgi." Nate said as he sat down wearily.
"Yes, yes of course." He said and asked the woman if they could borrow her phone so that Nate might call his family in the US. She smiled and walked back to the front desk returning with a satellite phone which made Nate raise his eyebrows slightly.
"Lot of people come here to hunt, some foreigners and hers is the only boarding house for miles." Georgi said at his unasked question.
Nate nodded and accepted the phone immediately dialling Sophie's number. It rang for a few minutes then the line went dead. Nate frowned slightly but then assumed that Sophie was sleeping or in with their son and did not hear the phone. Before he could try again a hot plate of stew arrived in front of him and he put the phone down deciding he would call after the meal and after he had had a hot shower, another hour or two was not going to make much difference anyway.
They ate in silence both men hungry after their diet of tinned soup for the last week and then they both made their way up to the rooms they had been given. The woman had agreed to let Nate keep the phone until he had made his calls after cleaning up. An hour later Nate sat on the bed feeling like a new man and dialled Sophie's number again.
"Hello." Nate heard her voice it was heavy with sleep and he realised it must be early morning in Portland.
"Sophie." He said softly.
"Nate…Nate is that you?" Sophie said coming fully awake and sitting up in the bed.
"Yes it's me Sophie, I am so sorry."
"Nate where…how…where…" Sophie said trying to get her bearings. Was she dreaming, she had to be dreaming, Nate was dead, but he wasn't he was speaking to her, he was alive, how she did not know, but he was alive and that was all that mattered.
"Sophie, I am alive, I am fine, and I am going to be coming home." Nate said, he could hear from her voice the angst mingled with surprise at hearing his voice and decided that Don Antonio had honoured his request and delivered the letter to her, he closed his eyes at that thought.
"Nate." Sophie said again. "You are alive. But you…you are alive?"
"Yes, yes I am Sophie I am sorry it took so long to contact you but…well there were complications. I am so sorry…"
"It doesn't matter, nothing matters except for the fact that you are alive." Sophie said and he could hear the emotion in her voice. "Where are you?"
"A little town called Razvilka, about twenty miles out of Moscow." He told her. "How are you Sophie, are you alright, how is my son?"
"I am fine…no I'm not" She said interrupting herself. "I thought you were dead Nate, we thought you were dead."
"I know." Nate said softly. "I…Sophie I am so sorry I really am."
"It was not your fault Nate and it doesn't matter, whatever happened before doesn't matter. Your son is fine your family is fine and…and you are alive." She said as tears formed in her eyes at that knowledge, he was alive, he was alive and he was going to come home to her, to their son, he was alive she kept telling herself. "We will come and get you."
"No…no Sophie I will come home. We will make our way to Moscow tomorrow, if Hardison could…"
"Tickets will be waiting." Sophie said knowing what he was going to ask.
"Soph…"
"Are you alright Nate." She asked, now that she had calmed down she listened to him and could hear that he was short of breath and that he was also in a little pain she knew him so well, knew his voice, knew when he was in pain, physical or otherwise. God she thought, he was alive, and he was coming home to her.
"Fine my darling." He said. "I am fine and when I get home I will be perfect."
"Nate I…I…"
"I know. I have to go Soph, give my son a kiss for me ok and I will see you tomorrow."
"I love you Nate."
"And I love you, I will see you tomorrow my darling." He said then hung up the phone.
Sophie sat staring at the phone for a few minutes trying to get her emotions under control, then she heard her son and stood walking over to the crib and lifting him into her arms.
"Your Daddy is alive Michael he is alive, and he is coming home." She said holding him tightly as he gurgled in her ear. Quickly she made her way to the nursery door and then down the passage and into the living area. Eliot was sitting on the sofa with Parker and Hardison drinking coffee as she entered.
"Sophie are you alright?" Parker asked looking up and seeing the woman standing there with the baby in her arms and tears in her eyes.
"He's alive." Sophie blurted out. "He just called, and he is alive."
"Who…What?" Eliot asked standing and turning to face the woman.
"Nate…Nate is alive, he just called me, he is alive Eliot."
"How…where…how…" Hardison asked trying to get the words out as the reality of what Sophie was saying sunk in.
"I don't know." Sophie said as she moved to take a seat. "I don't know Hardison, he said he was in a little town outside Moscow and that he was coming home tomorrow. He asked that you have tickets…"
"Done." Hardison said before she could finish knowing what she was asking for, he swiftly moved to his computer to get tickets for Nate's return. "Did he say…"
"He didn't say anything about time or anything just that he was coming home." Sophie said and Hardison nodded. He would book a ticket on every flight out of Moscow so no matter what time he was at the airport he would have a flight ready for him.
"Did he say anything else Sophie." Eliot asked.
"No Eliot, just that he was coming home." Sophie said softly. "He is alive Eliot, I don't know how, and I don't care, he is alive and he is coming home."