What Changes Everything Part 13

Mandy nodded. "In that context, my son was lucky."

Zarlasht studied Mandy for a moment, then shook her head. "It is poor luck on all sides."

"Do you have children, Zarlasht?"

"A daughter. Two sons."

"Then you know what it is..."

"To see one of them hurt? Yes I know." She hesitated, then added: "Compa.s.sion is a luxury here. We don"t have extra to spare."

Mandy suddenly felt the settling in of a deep-seated weariness. "Thank you for sharing the girl"s story," she said.

"I think it is enough for this time," Zarlasht said, touching above her heart with her right hand.

Mandy did not protest. She was glad that she"d have the rest of the afternoon to herself. Her visit to the refugee camp was not until tomorrow.

"If you still want, I will try to set up a session with some of the nurses."

"That would be wonderful," Mandy said.

Zarlasht leaned forward. "It is hard," she said softly, "to be a woman in this country."

"I"m learning that."

"And when you are a strong woman, men don"t like it."

"Maybe it will change, in time." Mandy knew this was not a meaningful response, but the conversation was taking a turn she didn"t quite understand. She felt something else was expected of her, but she didn"t know what.

"You have connection with Amin, yes?" Zarlasht asked.

"We met with him at the beginning, after Todd, Mr. Barbery-" Mandy hesitated, as though it was somehow impolite to mention the kidnapping.

"And you can speak with Amin now?"

Mandy shook her head. "He"s traveling. A driver from his office brought me here."

"But you can pa.s.s on a message to the driver? Ask him to get it to Amin urgently?"

"Yes," Mandy said, surprised. "I can try."

"He will do it if you insist. You are a foreign woman. Amin must be told to remember that if Najib had agreed to leave, the story would have ended differently."

Najib? Story? Mandy wasn"t sure what Zarlasht meant, but on its surface, the message hardly seemed urgent. Still, she felt Zarlasht"s intensity.

"Can you write it down, to make sure you remember these exact words?" Zarlasht got up and produced a pen and paper from the desk. Mandy bent over to write. Zarlasht read over her shoulder, and then nodded. "He should be given this message right away," she said. "Today. As soon as you leave here. You can do that?"

"Sure. I"ll ask the driver."

"Make certain Amin is told."

Mandy looked directly at Zarlasht. "Can you tell me what it means?"

Zarlasht hesitated a moment. "It means I believe in friends.h.i.+p between our countries too," she said. "Or at least between individuals from our two countries." Then she gestured, leading Mandy back down the stairs, past the emergency room, back to the entrance. She bid Mandy goodbye with two final words-"Make certain"-and watched as Mandy headed out of Maiwand and onto the Kabul street where her driver waited.

A Call in the Dark Clarissa, September 16th Clarissa reached her hand through the dark, lifting the noisy receiver and pressing it to her ear. "h.e.l.lo," she said, not fully awake but already beginning to feel adrenaline run through her.

"This is the wife of Todd Barbery?"

The kidnappers. She knew it. She couldn"t speak.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Yes," she managed.

"Wife of Todd Barbery?"

"Yes," she said. "This is Todd"s wife."

"Good. I want you to hear from our guest."

"Who is this?" she asked. She heard the sound of a m.u.f.fled voice, something said in the background that she couldn"t make out.

"h.e.l.lo?" It was Todd"s voice.

"Oh my G.o.d."

"Clari."

"Todd. I love you."

"I love you too."

"Are you okay?" She was standing now, grabbing a pen to take notes, even though they were surely recording the call.

"Yes. I"m fine. I miss you, but I"m fine. Worrying about you."

"We"re all good here, Todd. Ruby"s fine, too. We"re strong. We"re fine. We"re working to get you home, that"s all."

"Clari, I"m sorry." His voice faltered. "Really sorry."

"Todd, it"s not your fault." Clari took a deep breath, so that her own voice would sound solid, would give him strength. She tried to think: what had Jack told her? What was she supposed to say? "Is there anything you want me to know, Todd?"

"I"m all right. They said I could tell you that at least."

"Any advice for us? Anything we should be doing?"

"Just keep-" Todd broke off. Clarissa heard a rustle, the sound of the phone changing hands.

"So you see, wife of Todd Barbery, that your husband is fine."

"Wait! I"m not-"

"Listen to me. He is fine for now. Your negotiators need to respond to our requests. Time is important. You understand?"

"Yes, but-"

"We are not interested in a conversation with you. Only pa.s.s this information. You understand?"

"Yes, but-"

"Goodbye, then, Todd Barbery"s wife."

And the line went fully, frustratingly dead.

Kitchen Conversations Danil, September 17th Danil hung in a breath of s.p.a.ce, frozen, as if he were one of the pinned b.u.t.terflies Piotr used to collect. He lifted his hand, hesitated, then rang the doorbell, committing himself. Within a heartbeat, he regretted it. He half-turned away, imagined das.h.i.+ng down the street, ducking behind a car, and realized how bizarre that behavior would be. He turned back just as the door opened. A woman about his age stood there in jeans and boots, her hair pulled back.

"Yes?" She looked stern, and puzzled.

"I"m here to see Clarissa."

"Are you with the...?" She trailed off, obviously taking in his paint-stained s.h.i.+rt and jeans stretched at the seams. "Who are you?"

"No one, I"m just..." He suddenly put it together. "You must be Ruby."

She took a half-step back, distrust on her face.

"Clarissa gave me some food you"d made."

Her eyes narrowed.

"It was delicious."

She neither replied nor moved.

"Is Clarissa here?"

"What"s this about?" she said.

"Ruby?" He heard Clarissa"s voice and then could see her coming down the stairs, behind Ruby, rubbing her damp hair with a towel. She seemed distracted, but oddly unsurprised to see him. "Hi," she said to both Ruby and Danil at once.

"The door was unlocked, so I-" Ruby began "Sure, of course," Clarissa said. "You two have introduced yourselves?"

Danil glanced at Ruby. "Actually, I"m not sure I..."

"This is Danil," Clarissa said. "He"s an artist. And this is Ruby. Todd"s daughter. Come in." She gestured toward Danil.

"Thanks," he said, but even before he could step in, two men pushed open the gate from the street and walked up behind him.

"This is my brother Mike," Clarissa said, speaking quickly now. "And Todd"s boss, Bill. Mike and Bill, meet Danil."

"Does he know my dad?" Ruby said.

Clarissa shook her head.

"Is this a bad time?" Danil asked. Clearly it was, but he"d had to work up to this moment once and didn"t know if he could do it again.

"Come in, all of you," Clarissa repeated, adding directly to Danil: "You too."

Danil stepped in, shaking hands with the two men. They moved as a group toward the kitchen. Danil hung back.

"Not a social call, is it?" Clarissa asked, hesitating outside the kitchen door.

Danil leaned toward her. "I wanted to...ask you about something... but I"m sorry, this isn"t..."

"No, it"s fine. You guys help yourself to juice or whatever," she said to the others, and then turned to him. "I heard from Todd. The FBI wants to give us some guidance based on that. But we have a few minutes."

"Oh man," Danil said. "I can"t interrupt-"

"Let"s go in here," Clarissa said.

She sat on the bench at the entryway, and he joined her. He knew she didn"t have much time, so he started right in. "It"s about my brother, and..." He knew he sounded inarticulate. "I feel kind of silly."

"It"s okay. Go on."

"There"s this gallery owner in the city, and he"s offered me a place in a show."

"Danil. That"s great."

"But there"s an issue to do with my mom and my brother and what happened in Afghanistan. I haven"t talked to anyone...and I thought maybe you..." Clarissa leaned toward him, listening in a concentrated way.

"Clarissa." It was the daughter. "Any minute now."

"I"ll be right there," Clarissa said without looking away from Danil.

The phone rang, and, Danil saw Ruby moved to pick it up. She set the receiver in the middle of the table.

"I"m sorry. This is rude."

"Danil, listen," Clarissa said in a hushed tone. "I"ve already talked to the FBI once today; this is really more for everyone else. It should take under fifteen minutes. Then I"d like to hear your question. Really I would. So please just stay."

"Clarissa," Ruby, who"d approached them, said in a loud voice, "Jack told us not to-"

"Danil already knows, Ruby."

Ruby raised her eyebrows and her lips, impossibly, narrowed.

"He lost a brother in Afghanistan," Clarissa said, as though that would explain everything to the daughter.