automatic weapons. He twisted away from the arms that tried to hold him, and gave his father a shove that sent him staggering back.
‘Run,’ he yelled. ‘Run, Vicky!’
He wasn’t trying to escape. He was just trying to warn me. He was standing perfectly still when they cut him down. I heard the rattle of weapons, and I heard him cry out, and saw him fall. Another, shriller, cry echoed his. It came, I thought, from Feisal’s father.
People were screaming and running and I ran with them, blindly. My throat ached with rage and horror and grief. What sort of man would turn in his own son? I hoped it had been the old man who had cried out. I hoped he was suffering. Maybe he hadn’t expected they would fire without so much as a preliminary warning. But he ought to have known, he ought to have trusted his son, given him a chance to explain . . .
I threw myself in front of a taxi, pried myself off the front fender and wrenched the door open. ‘The American Embassy,’ I gasped. ‘Shari Latin America.’
I’m as patriotic as the next guy, but the sight of the flag had never affected me as it had that day. The farther you are from home the better that star-spangled banner looks. I marched up to the door with my chin held high and demanded entry.
It’s nice to be famous. As soon as I mentioned my name I was passed from flunky to flunky till I ended up in an office few tourists see. There was a flag there too, and behind the big mahogany desk hung a picture of the President. I had voted for him and I had always thought he had a nice friendly smile. It had never looked friendlier.
‘Dr Bliss? Dr Victoria Bliss! Thank God! You have no idea how relieved I am to see you.’ The man who hurried to meet me didn’t resemble my idea of an ambassador. He was too young and his hair wasn’t grey. He sure was glad to see me, though. He invited me to call him Tom, and took both my hands and shook them, and went on to tell me exactly how relieved he was.
‘The ambassador’s in the States, which left me holding the bag, as you might say. A hostage situation is a diplomat’s worst nightmare.’
‘Gee whiz, I’m really sorry to have upset you,’ I said.
He flushed, and I gave myself a mental kick. I was getting to be as bad as John, making smart-ass remarks when I should be trying to gain his support and attention. It was imperative that I remain calm. If I lost my temper or broke down he’d think I was just another hysterical female, and I’d never convince him in time that my wild, improbable story was true.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, with a smile so charming it must have been one of the qualifications for the job. ‘Our primary concern, of course, was for your safety. Sit down. No, I insist, I won’t ask you any more questions until you’ve had a chance to catch your breath.’ He went to the desk and started punching buttons. ‘Joanie, will you come in here, please? Joanie’s my assistant, she’ll take care of you.’
‘But I want you to ask me questions! There’s been a mistake. I was never – ’
Joanie must have been waiting for the summons. By that time everybody had heard of my arrival, and they were all wild with curiosity. She was older than her boss. Being female she would of course rise more slowly up the diplomatic ladder.
‘You have to listen to me!’
Joanie put her arms around me. ‘Sure we will, honey. Don’t worry about a thing. Come along with me, I’ll bet you’d like to freshen up some.’
If she hadn’t had grey hair and a lined, motherly face I might have resisted. There was shock on that pleasant face as well as sympathy. It gave me some idea of how awful I must look. I suddenly realized, as well, that I had to go to the bathroom. (I know, that’s not ‘romantic’ But it’s true.)
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Five minutes. I’ll be right back, Tom. Don’t go away.’
Joanie was very kind. She even offered me some of her makeup, and after I’d seen the wild face glaring back at me from the mirror, I accepted. I wouldn’t have listened to anything that came out of a face like that.
She only asked me one question. ‘Did he hurt you, honey? He didn’t . . .’
It was the wrong question. I thought of Feisal, making jokes and worrying about his mother and falling, falling and screammg, trying to warn me with what might have been his last breath. I turned on her like a madwoman.
‘Hurt me! He was . . .’ It was the wrong tense, too. I threw her lipstick wildly at her. ‘Damn it, why I am I standing here doing stupid things to my stupid face? Maybe he’s not dead. Maybe he’s . . . just dying and being tortured and – ’
‘Take it easy, honey.’
‘And don’t call me honey!’
I thought I had behaved quite rationally and reasonably until Joanie escorted me to a small room that was obviously an infirmary or clinic. Another motherly grey-haired woman, wearing a sweater over her white uniform, rose to greet us.
‘So this is the young lady. Welcome home, my dear. We’re all so relieved to see you.’
I felt as if I were being smothered in cotton candy. They closed in on me, one on each side, and Tom entered, barring my way to the door.
‘How is she, Frances?’ he inquired, rubbing his hands and smiling. He thought the worst was over. He was in for a shock.
‘I haven’t had a chance to look at her. If you’ll just sit down, Miss Bliss – ’
I started to argue. Then, belatedly, I realized what I had done. Defending Feisal had been a bad mistake. Hostages sometimes end up identifying with their captors, and when the captor is young and handsome and the hostage is female . . . I made a last desperate effort to control myself, but in retrospect I admit I didn’t succeed very well.
‘What are you going to do?’ I demanded, backing away from the nurse. ‘I won’t have any shots. I hate shots.’
‘Just your blood pressure and pulse,’ the nurse said, as she would have spoken to a child. ‘No nasty shots, I promise.’
‘All right.’ I let her push me into a chair and fixed Tom with what I intended to be a firm, unhysterical look. It must have been more like a wild-eyed glare. ‘You stand there and listen to me.’
‘Believe me, Dr Bliss, there are a number of people who want nothing better than to listen to you. But,’ he added, with the first touch of kindly consideration he had displayed, ‘I’m damned if I’m going to let them at you until I’m sure you’re okay. I called your – uh – your friend. He’s on his way.’
‘My friend?’ A wild hope dawned. Had Schmidt and John made it? If they had caught the 10 a.m. train . . .
‘Yes.’ Tom smiled. ‘He’s been calling every hour on the hour.’
‘Normal,’ the nurse announced, unwinding the blood pressure cuff. She sounded disappointed.
‘I told you so. Now – ’
‘Open wide.’
She propped my mouth open with a stick and peered in.
I don’t suppose it would have made any difference. The whole business only took a few minutes. But if I had had a chance to ask one question . . .
I had forgotten that I wasn’t the only important American in Egypt. I had forgotten it takes only sixty minutes to fly from Luxor to Cairo. They brought him directly to the clinic. Well, wouldn’t you escort a distraught millionaire into the presence of the fiancee he has lost and just recovered?
When I saw him I jumped up, spilling the glass of water the nurse had offered and the little white pills she was trying to persuade me to take. There was no place to go. The room had only one door. When he caught me in his arms I tried to fight free.
‘Darling, it’s all right!’ he exclaimed, holding me tight. ‘Oh, Vicky, I’ve been so worried. Don’t talk, sweetheart, just let me hold you.’
Calm, reasoned behaviour might have saved me, though that is questionable. It was also impossible. I couldn’t stand having him touch me. Instead of expensive aftershave and fresh linen I smelled sweat and blood; instead of his smooth well-groomed face I saw the gaping hole that had been Jean-Louis’s face, and Feisal falling, and John slashed to bloody ribbons by the people this man had hired. I struggled and screamed and tried to bite. I
