Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct Read online

  “Yes. There is, actually. No use, trying to fool you, is there? I don’t know how to tell you…” Yuki began uncertainly, fiddling around with the zip of her parka.

  “How about: straight forward, no hesitations. After all, it can’t be that bad, can it?” I suggested. I was really curious now.

  “Okay”, she took a deep breath, suddenly sounding very nervous.

  “I think that I am pregnant! Lia! There, now you know!”

  What! Pregnant! She! Now!

  I was totally taken aback by this bombshell she’d just dropped and gazed at her in amazement.

  “Don’t look at me like that! I know that this is the worst possible time! I didn’t plan for this to happen. Believe me! But it did and now I don’t know what to do. Whether to tell Nin now, or later…” She sobbed and immediately rubbed her eyes, angry at herself.

  “No, Yuki, don’t cry!” I reached out for her and embraced her.

  We stopped walking and faced each other.

  “I was just taken by surprise! But it is wonderful news! Yes, I know, the timing couldn’t be worse.” She winced at that and I grinned at her reassuringly.

  “I am really glad for you and Nin. Or don’t you want it, the baby, I mean?”

  “Of course I want it! How could you think differently?” She unconsciously made a protective movement over her belly, as if to shield the foetus within.

  “Of course I want it! I am just scared out of my wits because of the weird situation we are in. And I needed someone to know.”

  She began walking again and I joined in, still trying to digest what she’d said, when she continued, “You know. Yesterday. I wanted to tell Nin, but then this thing with the computer virus happened. And after the call to Uncle Phil and everything I thought that it wouldn’t be wise to say anything now. Not to Nin and certainly not to anyone else. I haven’t felt too bad so far. You know. No bouts of morning sickness and the like.”

  She talked fast, with urgency while glancing at me sideways. “I am at the end of the second month, you know. So, I tell myself that it is still too early to be certain about this pregnancy anyway and therefore no use in telling anyone. I don’t want to tell Nin, not yet. Do you think that’s wrong?”

  “No! I agree with you. I wouldn’t tell Nin myself. It’s too early yet and he’d be useless. He’d just worry himself sick over you and wouldn’t be of much help.”

  A thought occurred to me. “Should we buy baby things now? What do you think?”

  Yuki laughed at this. “No, we certainly won’t do this! It’s too early, way too early. And your old baby things are all still in the attic. I checked the other day! I just needed you to know. To help me with this. What I want to buy is a book about pregnancy and birth, though.”

  I had started to laugh as well, but this thought sobered me up instantly.

  Pregnancy, birth! Without assistance by nurses, medics, or a midwife!

  Better not to mention any of this now. But we’d have to plan for this very well, Yuki and I. We’d have to gather at least a theoretic knowledge of the whole issue in order to deal with it.

  Yuki must have read in my face what I was thinking. She embraced me and said, “Don’t worry, Lia. We’ll manage. We’ll deal with this. Now that you know, I feel so much better. And with your help, I feel that I’ll manage.”

  Who was she trying to convince? Herself probably as much as me.

  “Yes, we’ll definitely have to buy some books about pregnancies”, I agreed. “And we’ll hide them among my books. Nin will never have a look at them. Wow, if Nin knew this, he’d go crazy!”

  At this, Yuki looked alarmed and a little hurt, and I hurried to add, “You know what I mean! He’d worry himself to death over this. He’d see dangers and risks everywhere and drive us all nuts with his concern. He’ll love the idea of becoming a father, though, this I am dead certain about. But the longer he remains in the dark about it, the better, for him as well as for us all.”

  “You are right; he’d really go crazy with worry if I told him.” Yuki paused then glanced at me sheepishly, “But I needed someone to know and I am very glad that I told you, Lia. Thanks a lot!”

  We smiled at each other fondly and I took her hand. “You can count on me, Yuki. Always.”

  “Thanks, heaps. But look, we have to hurry, the tramway is already coming around the corner.”

  She was right. We ran the last few meters and got to the platform just as the tramway came to a stop. We entered and sat down, breathing hard from the running, smiling at each other. We passed the trip to town in silence, only as the tramway started to cross the bridge over the river Aare, Yuki asked, “Are we going to your book store straight away, or how to you want to play this?”

  “Yeah, I would like to go there first. Afterwards I would like to see if we can find a Malinda rabbit girl for Alice. Don’t you agree that this would be a nice surprise for her?”

  “Oh yes! That’s a wonderful idea! We must absolutely find a Malinda for Alice.” Yuki exclaimed enthusiastically.

  “And then we’ll have to shop some more medicine and maybe something fun for us all? Like some new films, some good food, and a few special treats. Don’t you think?”

  “Oh yeah, let’s do this. So, to the book store first then. While you get your books, I’ll hop over to the health section and scout for some books on pregnancy and birth. You can join me there later, right?”

  We got out at the main station and walked over to my favourite bookstore, which I patronized mainly because they offered home delivery. Usually I had my books sent to me by mail, but right now I had some vouchers to cash and had therefore opted for picking up this latest batch of books at the store. It wasn’t far from the station, we entered by one of the side entrances and Yuki headed upstairs to the health section while I went over to the counter for picking up orders. I was a good customer here, and they knew me, if not by name, then at least by face.

  Two persons were at the counter: a very nice elderly lady with whom I liked to chat, and a young man who hated me probably just as much as I despised him. I couldn’t remember his name, but our mutual dislike went back years. He had a PhD in English literature and thought very highly of himself. He’d once tried to counsel me on my taste in reading and had suggested something else for me to read than my usual science books or criminal stories. I had declined his suggestions with some scathing remarks about their shelf with recommended books, courtesy of the staff. To be fair, I had then been completely unaware of his degree in literature and had certainly not meant my comments as a personal insult to him, but that’s exactly how he had taken it. And ever since, he’d been treating me like some lowly idiot who didn’t appreciate the higher echelons of good literature, whereas I generally found him too conceited and far too full of himself to make an attempt at reconciliation.

  When he saw me approaching now, he told the lady that he would serve me.

  Odd! Usually we tried to avoid each other as much as we could.

  Anyway, I stepped up to the counter, greeted them both politely and asked for my books. After greeting me, the elderly lady busied herself in the background with sorting books, while he stepped forward.

  “Coming to collect some books, aren’t we?” His tendency of addressing people in pluralis majestatis was another thing I detested. He sounded so condescending, it was really vexing. But before I found something witty to answer, he went on, “I am glad you came, actually. I have been waiting to see you for some days. Ever since your books arrived that is.”

  Wow, this was seriously weird! Waiting for me! He! Why on earth?

  “You know, I have a message to deliver to you … from Steve.” He scrutinized my reaction to these words and saw the shock wash over me with apparent pleasure.

  He went on maliciously, “I knew you would be pleased to hear this. Steve has by no means forgotten you, you know. In fact, he asked me to tell you something the next time you’d show up. We are friends, you know, Steve and I; very good friends.
”

  I tried hard not to reveal how much this information unsettled me.

  “Good for you, I hope.” I said as nonchalantly as I could.

  He just sneered at me. “Well, I told Steve it was no use bothering with you. But he insisted that I deliver his message. Want to hear it? He says to tell you that we know about you, your Dad and Uncle, what they do and say about us. And he says to be aware. We’ll come, you know, we’re the Nemesis. And we’ll come for you. We know where you hide.”

  The words hit me like a physical blow; I felt almost nauseated.

  Steve, and this idiot here members of the Nemesis? How could this be? Then my thoughts jumped to Yuki, to Nin and Alice. I must protect them! I must do something!

  “Oh really”, I tried, my voice croaking like a frightened mouse. I cleared my throat while he smiled at me condescendingly, clearly gloating over the effect his words had had on me.

  “I mean, tell Steve, that you delivered his message and that I don’t care about it. And now, give me my books, I want to leave.”

  He sniggered but handed me my books enjoying every minute of this. I paid and left, my legs shaking. When I was around the corner and in the elevator to go upstairs, I started to tremble.

  They really existed – these Nemesis! It wasn’t just a bad dream or joke by Dad and Uncle Phil!

  They existed!

  And they knew!

  They knew about Dad, Uncle Phil! They would come after us! What should we do now? And, did they also know about Josh?

  Calm yourself! You’re about to face Yuki and she must not know what you just heard, she must not!!

  I tried to breathe in and out slowly to calm down. It worked. A bit. Meanwhile my thoughts were racing. ‘We know about your hideout!’ he’d said. Could this mean that they knew about the sub-basement? Nin and I had never talked about it to Steve, of this I was certain. We’d been instructed by Dad long ago to never, absolutely never, tell anybody about it. And we’d stuck to this. That I was certain of. Neither Nin nor I had ever told anyone of our friends about the sub-basement. Only last week had he told Yuki. And Uncle Phil had assured me yesterday that our phone lines were secure. What could this mean then?

  Suddenly, it occurred to me that maybe, maybe Steve had meant something else entirely when he’d talked of our hideout. We had rented a little cottage in Grindelwald almost every winter these last ten years. And Steve had once accompanied us there. Nate had shown him how it was equipped for an extensive stay. Maybe, if we were really lucky, Steve now thought this cottage was our hideout. If this were the case, we’d be safe. At least we’d gain time and I could come up with a way of concealing our real hideout from him.

  Already a plan was forming in my head.

  Yes!! This might work!

  I would have to think it through, every angle of it.

  But it might work!

  It would be risky.

  Yes, of course.

  And I would keep quiet about it.

  Not a word to anyone.

  But I would prepare, now.

  I was almost at the health section now where I was to meet Yuki. I told myself to act calm and let her see none of the turmoil going on inside of me.

  I needn’t have worried. Yuki was so excited and preoccupied about her pregnancy, my knowing of it, us selecting books about it that she never noticed a thing. We bought two books. I didn’t show my customer card and paid cash, because I didn’t want them to have this purchase appearing in my account with the book store. Then we left and I made sure that we took the exit furthest away from the counter where I had picked my books.

  Once outside, I felt relieved. What I’d been told before, felt almost surreal now. But I had heard it, the threat was real, no escaping this and it sure as hell scared me.

  We headed for a big store near the tramway station now. We took the elevator to get to the toy section. But at first, I wasn’t really concentrating, when we looked for the rabbit-girl for Alice. But when Yuki had glanced at me inquiringly several times I pulled myself together and showed some more enthusiasm.

  I mustn’t make her ask me questions. So I made an effort and pushed the unsettling thoughts that whirling through my head aside and concentrated on Yuki and what we were doing.

  IT worked. We found a nice Malinda teddy-rabbit that looked every bit like a Malinda Yuki had described to Alice yesterday night. She had a nice brown fur, large, very girlie eyes and eyelashes and a big pink bow between her ears. Alice would just love her!

  Afterwards we bought some films. Mostly light entertainment, a bit of action, comedies, and cartoons. Then we went to the specialty shop and bought some rare treats, special tea, chips, cookies and pasta.

  Finally we passed by the Chinese restaurant near the tram stop and picked up take-away food for everyone. We were quite packed with bags and parcels and I wondered how we would carry them all home. But then Yuki’s phone rang. It was Nin, he wanted to know where we were. He was on a walk with Alice and suggested that they come to the tramway station to meet us and help with the carrying. Yuki agreed readily and as she hung up the phone, she looked at me anxiously, “You won’t breathe a word to Nin about me being pregnant, will you? Promise me!”

  “Of course not”, I assured her. “I won’t. Don’t you worry. Come to think of, it’s good we bought Malinda. She’ll prove to be a nice distraction. Just in case we both don’t look and act our usual selves, I mean. Once Alice will see this girl-rabbit she’ll be so happy that Nin will have nothing else to notice.”

  I smiled at Yuki, trying to convince her as much as myself with these words.

  “You are right! You know, I long to tell Nin. To share this all with him. But it’s too early…” She trailed off, lost in thoughts.

  I would have to do something here; she was hopeless in keeping a secret from Nin, but he must stay in the dark for some more days. At least until I could carry out my still sketchy plan ref Steve and his lot. I yearned for some time by myself. To think it through and to prepare. At least mentally. But I must be patient for now. We were approaching Muri station now and got ready to get off the tramway. Yuki positioned Malinda at the upper edge of her bag, so that her head was sticking out. She descended first when the tramway stopped.

  “Yuki, Lia, we came to meet you!” Alice shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down beside Nin. Nin smiled indulgently but had eyes only for Yuki.

  Seeing this, their mutual love, the thought that they were going to have a baby, made me both happy as terribly anxious.

  Nothing, absolutely nothing must ever harm them! Not them, not Alice, not Mum and Nate, Josh, Uncle Phil and Aunt Kamene and Dad. Not if I could help it.

  Then Alice saw Malinda, her eyes grew big and excited. Already guessing that this could only be for her, she whispered, “Oh, who is this?”

  “This is Malinda, Alice! We found her in town and she’s come to stay with you.” Yuki handed her the little rabbit and Alice took it with tender care. Cradling it in her arms as if it were a live animal, she exclaimed, “Oh, she is just as I have imagined her to be from your story yesterday! Malinda! Oh, she is so lovely! Thank you very much, Yuki, thank you so much!”

  She clearly loved the little rabbit already and I was happy that we’d found her.

  Meanwhile Nin had spotted the Chinese food, “Wow! You got Chinese food for us all! A super idea. We are very hungry, aren’t we, Alice? After all the walking we did! Let’s hurry up and get all this home.”

  He took almost all the bags from Yuki, save her purse, and started walking along the road. Yuki laughed and took over some of my bags, while I took Alice by her hand and we all headed home.

  On the way, Alice happily chatted away about her Malinda. How Piglet would love to see her. She made up quite a story about why Piglet and Malinda had been separated until now and where Malinda had been. How she was a brave little explorer girl and had just now come back from an expedition to the South Pole …

  “Aren’t you overdoing it a bit?” I teas
ingly asked her. “I mean, a little rabbit girl going to the South Pole? And Piglet knew nothing about it?”

  This set her off with another lengthy story about why this was very, very possible indeed. How stupid of me to think otherwise! After all, Malinda was a girl, wasn’t she? And didn’t I always say that girls could do just as much if not more than boys. And, Piglet had been busy living with us and had kind of forgotten to tell her, Alice that is, that his sister was on this expedition. He would be very happy to see her and to play with her.

  It was cute to hear her spinning out her story with such creativity and aplomb. Yuki and Nin were suppressing a laugh, too, and we all beamed at Alice affectionately.

  By then we were almost home and I couldn’t help glancing about me a couple of times. Were we being watched? What would be the signs if we were? Would I see, notice?

  I certainly didn’t see anything that seemed suspicious. And in a way, it didn’t matter whether we were being watched. As long as nobody knew about our sub-basement we were safe.

  But this meant that we had to set up a blind. We’d have to make it look like we were planning to hide out in the normal bomb-shelter Dad had built in the basement of the house according to construction regulations. It was a big bomb shelter, bigger than average and certainly bigger than required according to regulations. It had two rooms and the second one contained the washing machine and door to the sub-basement. We could move some supplies and things in the bomb shelter rooms. By this, nobody would ever suspect that the real hideout was below these rooms and come looking for us there. I would have to find a way of making Nin and Yuki do this without revealing any of Steve’s threat to them.

  But as we were approaching the front door, I banished these thoughts for now and concentrated on the others, on unloading the shopping, helping Yuki disguise her books among mine, carrying everything where it belonged and then settling down for a late lunch. We ate in the living room, spreading the food containers out over the coffee table and sofas. It was a nice and cosy affair and it felt good to eat in a place with a view. We’d miss this as soon as we’d have to stay downstairs for good.