January 25th
9.30 pm
We spoke to Katiya's teacher, and she agreed to make sure that Katiya was kept busy through the day, so that she did not have time to brood. When she got home from school, Wint and I also made sure she stayed busy. Not in doing dull chores, but doing things that kept her mind occupied. Simple things, like asking her to draw me a picture of the first house she remembered living in, so that we could put it on the wall and frame it.
Then Winston wanted her to help him feed the animals after school, so she went and helped him with the pigs and the hens. She came back red faced and hungry as a hunter…and quite prepared to eat whatever was put in front of her!
We took her to the zoo in central park. She was sad at first, because she said it was one of the first places her papa had taken her to. But we told her that when she got home she would be asked to draw a picture of all the animals she had seen in the zoo, along with a picture of the food they were given to eat. That forced her to pay close attention to everything she was seeing, and then later to remember it all.
That child has an amazing memory. I think she must have inherited that from Illya. All in all, we did a reasonable job of keeping her mind occupied, but it was not easy. She has a mind like her papa, and was not easy to keep her attention diverted. It may be that she was aware of what we were doing and letting us think….but no that is silly. She's only seven years old. Whatever the case, although she was still very worried, she remained busy enough for a few days to keep her worry to a background level. And then we received a visit from April Dancer. April was serious and official, and that in itself frightened Katiya before April even opened her mouth. April took Katiya on her knee and spoke to her directly, which I thought was a thoughtful touch. I will report the visit in dialogue form as closely as I can remember it.
APRIL: Hello again sweetheart. How have you been doing? Miss Lisa Rogers tells me you have been very worried about your papa?
KATIYA: Is he alright? Have you come to tell me that he is coming home?
APRIL: Well, you know that Mister Waverly sends your papa and Uncle Napoleon away on difficult and sometimes dangerous missions? (Katiya nodded) Well, this last mission was a very hard one and it took a long time. And because it was secret, they were not allowed to call anyone at all. The problem, Katiya, was that it took a lot longer than was expected, and so Mister Waverly sent myself and Mark along with two other agents to find them and help them.
KATIYA: Did you find them? Are they alright? Are they coming home?
APRIL: Yes, we did find them eventually, but it took us several days. They had completed their mission, but they had been hurt… (here Katiya's lip started to tremble)
KATIYA: Badly hurt? Did they die? I kept dreaming that papa was dead, and I am scared… (that was shocking news to me.)
APRIL: No, sweetheart, papa is not dead, neither is Uncle Napoleon. We found them in a hospital in a foreign country. They were both unconscious. They had been unconscious for several days, but the doctors at the hospital didn't know how to help them, and because they were both unconscious, and they didn't have anything with them to say who they were, They didn't know who to tell about them. Now Katiya, you are going to have to be a big girl for a while. Mister Waverly sent a special plane to fetch them and bring them back home. Yesterday morning they were brought into UNCLE medical here in New York, and our doctors examined them.
CECILY: Do you know what happened to them, April?
APRIL: Not fully, Ce. The doctors treating them told us that both men had been physically hurt…THRUSH, you know, but easy to treat. The thing is they are both still unconscious and there seems no sign of either of them waking any time soon.
CECILY: Are they in a coma?
APRIL: (Shrugging) That is what it appears to be. They show no responses at all. Scans of their brains revealed some brain activity, but that is intermittent. The medical team tell me that their vital signs are stable at the moment, but they are weakening. The Lab is working hard to try and identify the components of the substance that was found in their blood, but it is slow work. In the meantime, they are both gradually getting weaker and weaker.
KATIYA: Please, I want to see my papa! I'll be good, I won't cry or anything, but my papa needs me!
At this point, April herself looked like she wanted to cry, and she gave Katiya a hug.
"I'll tell you what, I will ask Mister Waverly, alright?"
Katiya started to cry then, but she knows April, and indeed UNCLE well enough to know that Mister Waverly's word is law, so she nodded and sat for the rest of the visit, sniffing quietly and clearly crying, but trying not to show it. It is times like this that impresses upon me the trust that Illya has placed in Wint and myself; the care of his daughter. The one thing in the world that he cares about more than anything and anyone else. I really hope Mister Waverly will allow Katiya in to see her papa, if only for a few minutes.