The moment the lorries pulled up outside the casualty department, Amie was thrilled to see Sohanna Reddy walk out to supervise them unloading the children.
31 MEETING IAN FLEMING
“Sohanna!” she shrieked “what are you doing here?” She raced over to her and they hugged.
“I’m back as the Matron, which I suspect has a lot to do with your friend Ben Mtumba, who you may have heard, is now our Vice President.”
“Yes, someone told me.”
“Little did we know your cameraman was so well connected.” She laughed while she watched the men lifting the children out of the trucks. “Come, we need to check you all out and then a nice cup of coffee.”
“Oh, yes please. I could kill for a coffee! Thank you.” Amie followed Sohanna into the hospital with Winnie clinging to her like a limpet.
Considering everything the children had been through, except for the car crash, they were in a reasonable physical condition, but their mental health was another matter. All of them had been deeply traumatized, the least distressed were the three Amie had taken care of. She felt guilty she’d not been able to spare them this last nightmare but it was too late to change things now. While they sat around on the plastic chairs waiting for the nurses and doctors to assess them, she noticed that Linda had perked up and was even beginning to complain at the long wait. Everyone heard how hungry and thirsty she was and how she needed a bath. Amie couldn’t help but smile. The girl was tough; one of life’s survivors. Next to her, Fazia sat patiently. She looked totally defeated, still uncertain she was safe. Amie determined not to leave the hospital until she could take them all to the British Embassy.
A kind member of staff must have heard Linda’s complaints as they were all shepherded to the hospital canteen and let loose. Even Winnie let go of Amie’s hand and made for the plate of chocolate donuts she’d seen on the counter. Sohanna Reddy carried a tray of coffee and cakes over to Amie and sat down beside her.
“Poor little souls,” she said looking at the girls crowding around the refreshments. “What’s the story behind all this? What’s happened?”
Amie told her about the kidnappers, the auction and how, once chosen they had to undergo the appalling mutilating circumcision.
Sohanna Reddy shook her head. “There have been rumours, but I didn’t believe them. Throughout history rich men have bought and sold young girls for sex, but to mutilate them as well, that’s a new perversion.”
“But why would they do such a thing?” Amie asked. “At first I thought they’d been willingly sent by their parents as part of their old tribal customs. But these children were not going to be sent home again. Who knows where some of them will end up?”
“Those parents trusted the wrong people, that’s for sure.” Sohanna sipped her coffee. “Once word gets out about this in Britain, no other families will dare do the same. It must be made as public as possible.”
“The Frenchman I met up with told me there hasn’t been one criminal prosecution in Britain, even though it’s illegal.” Amie toyed with the slice of apple pie the Matron had brought her. She felt sick inside, sure she’d throw up if she tried to eat.
“Try it.” Sohanna nodded. “You need food inside you, Amie. Drink some water first.” She paused. “When I heard about this practice, I did some investigating. In Britain very few police officers knew what it was. But, there is evidence that FGM parties have taken place in Birmingham, Bristol, London and Manchester. It’s a big problem.”
“I’m not even sure how you’d begin to stop it,” Amie said miserably. “It’s all done behind closed doors.”
“Yes. But if they know FGM is illegal in Britain, they send them back to Africa.” Sohanna reached over and patted Amie’s hand. “Eat, Amie. Perhaps this time, it will crack the whole thing wide open.”
“What I don’t understand is that those awful men, the buyers, could have bought local children. Why did they go to the trouble of transporting them from Britain?”
The matron thought for a moment and then replied. “Because it would be very difficult for parents to go to the British police to explain what they’d done. As you say, it’s illegal. So they’d be forced to keep quiet. Now, if local children were abducted that would be more dangerous for the kidnappers. The parents would have tracked them down and taken revenge. Those men were much safer selling Afro-English children. I hope this becomes very public; scare anyone else from doing it,” Sohanna reiterated.
“I hope so. I was ...” Amie was about to explain her involvement when she realised the Matron knew nothing about the explosion: her death, her funeral and the fact she was now Felicity Mansell. How was she going to explain all that when she was supposed to be undercover?
“Amie, although this has been traumatic for these little ones, maybe it’s for the best in the long run. It will open the door on the trafficking, perhaps stop it for good.”
“Someone else who calls you Amie?” Unnoticed Linda had wandered over. “Just what is your name?” She plonked herself down in a chair clutching a large slice of chocolate cake and a bottle of Coke.
“Uh, that’s a pet name I used when I was living here.” Even to Amie’s ears her explanation sounded a bit lame. “Nothing to get in a tizz about, darling.” She hoped Linda would drop the subject.
“I still don’t understand. Why would anyone choose a pet name like Amie when your real name is Felicity?” Linda wasn’t going to give up, she never did. “What does it say on your passport, then? That’ll be your real name.”
Amie sighed. “I don’t have a passport, Linda. I’ve lost it, remember. I told you I had no papers. That’s going to be a real hassle at the embassy.”
Sohanna stood up. “I’ll arrange for the hospital minibus to take you all over there. The sooner the families are informed their children are safe, the better. They must be worried sick.”
“Thank you, Sohanna, that’s really kind,” Amie replied. “I can’t see us walking there and I need to keep them all together.” She began counting them. “I don’t even know all their names; they’ve barely said a word.”
“Not surprising, they’re still in shock. It’ll take a long time and a lot of counselling when they get back to Britain. At least they have all the right services in place over there, not like here.” Sohanna smiled and scurried off to make the arrangements.
Linda nudged Amie. “Yer not gonna send me back are you? Can’t I stay with you? Life’s a lot more exciting here.”
“Linda! Honestly! It’s been nothing but danger since we met. You can hardly prefer this to going home, and I remember you saying how awful it was and you couldn’t wait to get out of Africa!”
“Ah well, it’s different now. Nothing like this ever happens over there. It’s dead boring. An’ you and I get on fine, right?”
“Uh, yes we do. But not a chance, young lady. Not going to happen. This time I’m making quite sure you’re on that plane.” Then seeing the look on Linda’s face, she added more kindly. “Without you we would never have made it back safely, we all owe you our lives.”
Linda grinned, her mouth full of chocolate cake, and gave Amie a huge hug. “Yer really mean it?”
Amie hugged her back. “Yes. I do. I admire your strength. You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever met.”
“But I still have to go home?”
“’Fraid so. Your family must be worried sick.”
Linda shrugged and Amie wondered what kind of home life this sassy youngster had. She was streetwise way beyond her years.
“Just think of all the stories you’ll have to tell everyone. Bush fires, kidnappers, car chases – you’ll be quite the star back home.” She was pleased to see Linda grin. She looked a lot more cheerful thinking about telling everyone about her adventures. Amie suspected she’d add a few extra facts, like how she, Linda, single-handedly saved them all.
Sohanna returned. “All organised, Amie. The minibus will take you to the embassy as soon as we’ve finished checking out the littl
e ones. Let’s get them back to out-patients.”
“Might be a problem separating them from the food counter,” Amie chuckled. “They’ve not seen such nice cakes for a while. Oh, by the way can you find out about a guy called Trevor? I don’t know his last name, but he’d have been brought in by the game rangers in the last couple of days with a bad chest wound.”
“Of course I will, and I’ll let you know.”
A couple of hours later after the girls had been discharged, the hospital mini bus pulled up outside the British Embassy in Togodo’s main street. Amie climbed out and slid the side door open to let the children out. She suppressed the butterflies in her tummy as they stepped onto the pavement and stood in a forlorn huddle outside the gates. The two guards on duty, both dressed in smart Togodian army uniforms looked surprisingly alert. Initially, they ignored the new arrivals, but the moment Amie approached the gates they stepped in front of her and refused to let her through.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Amie cried. “Out of the way!”
But the guards shook their heads and raised their guns.
Amie gulped. “I am a British citizen,” she said slowly and carefully not sure how good their English might be. “And so are these children. So please let us pass.” She took another tentative step forward, but the soldiers stood firm. She put her hand out to brush past the taller one, but he reacted aggressively, prodding her so hard with his gun that if Fazia hadn’t been standing behind her, she would have fallen flat on her back.
What was she going to do now? It was only minutes away from closing time and she was stuck out on the pavement with fifteen children, no papers, no money, and she didn’t even have a phone to call for help. All Amie wanted to do was walk away, find a quiet corner and have a good cry. She was beyond tired, still wired from the events of the last few weeks, even though the couple of hours she’d spent in the hospital talking to the matron had been such a welcome contrast. It reminded her of the normal, predictable life she’d led with a loving husband and family before all this nonsense had invaded her world.
She tried again, pointing to the children, repeating over and over they were British and she needed to see the Ambassador urgently. She could understand why the guards were not letting them in. All the children were of African origin and did not look typically British. They looked more like neglected street urchins in their ragged clothes, broken sandals and downcast expressions. In fact, most of the street children Amie had seen in Apatu were a lot more cheerful and better dressed than this sad little group.
It was stalemate.
Once it was obvious that Amie was ignoring the guards’ instructions to move away they used their guns to push them further along the pavement. Amie resisted and kept yelling they were British citizens and the soldiers had no right to refuse them entry. Then the guards started getting angry. A large crowd had gathered, chattering and pointing at the free entertainment.
Just as Amie was about to throw a temper tantrum second to none, she heard a car drive up, horn beeping and to her relief Sohanna Reddy hopped out of her little SEAT. She was waving her own British passport and within minutes she had persuaded the guards to allow the children to enter. Her Togodian was fluent and although Amie didn’t have a clue what she’d said to them, they reluctantly gave way and let them all through.
“Dawned on me that you might have problems getting in with no ID on you. The security on the embassies and such has been tightened up since the war. Oh, and good news. Your friend Trevor is recovering well.”
“Oh, that’s great to hear. Thank you so much, Sohanna. I don’t know what I would have done without you. I was beginning to get desperate.” Amie gave her a warm hug.
Her efforts to get them all into the building did nothing to stop Amie cringing as she walked inside. This was the place where they’d kept her prisoner after the trauma of losing her husband; and it brought back so many bad memories. She’d not met many of the staff at the time and she didn’t recognise any of them now. The two people she’d had most contact with were now dead.
Sohanna took charge and within minutes she’d explained their predicament. They had all been ushered into a meeting room and an official had arrived to take down their particulars. He introduced himself as Ian Fleming which made Amie want to burst out laughing: with his bald head, ruddy cheeks and rotund figure he was hardly a James Bond look-a-like.
Amie gently pushed Fazia forward. “Fazia is the daughter of a British Government minister,” she told him.
Ian, looking suitably shocked at Amie’s announcement, coughed, left the room and returned with two other members of staff, both ladies. They separated the children into two groups and began to talk to them quietly but earnestly. Names and addresses were taken and arrangements made to contact the families. None of the little ones were keen to leave the group, they were terrified of being left alone, so in the end, telephones were brought in and the girls were able to talk to their families back home. There were tears and one or two smiles but generally they remained subdued.
“I thought they might have relaxed by now,” Amie whispered to Sohanna.
“It will take a long, long time for some of them,” she replied. “Even the loud one,” she nodded towards Linda. “She sounds cheerful enough but I suspect at some point she’ll go downhill. Depression and nightmares will be the least of her troubles I fear. The more you jest the more you suppress. That’s what I was taught at Medical School.”
Listening to Linda on the phone boasting loudly to her family about her adventures, Amie had her doubts. The staff let her prattle on while she gave a blow by blow account of events, and they recorded it all.
Ian took Amie’s elbow. “Come, we need to talk,” he whispered.
Prising Winnie from her vicelike grip, Amie left her in Fazia’s care, said a quick goodbye to Sohanna and followed him out along the corridor and into an empty office. He pointed to the coffee table with a chair on either side. “What would you like to drink?” he asked as he waved her to a seat.
“Coffee, please.” She sank into the softest chair her rear end had encountered in days.
Ian lifted an internal phone placed the order, then took the seat opposite her. “So, tell me how you fit into all this.”
“I suspect you’ve already got a good idea.” She smiled.
He grinned. “I’ve been informed you work for us.”
“Simon told you?”
“Yes. He left with others several days ago.”
“I’m sorry but Bill is dead and I’ve not seen Jake at all. I think Jean-Pierre killed them.”
Ian looked puzzled.
“And Trevor was brought back to the hospital by the park rangers. He had a bad chest wound but Sohanna tells me he’ll recover.”
Amie looked up as the door opened and a lady brought in a tray with the coffee and biscuits.
Ian nodded at the girl as she left the room and spooned sugar into his cup. “May we start from the beginning, please? Talk me through it.”
Amie used her memory skills to recount the train of events: leaving Durban, her brief stay in Botswana, her escape with the four children, her encounters with Doug and Jean-Pierre, right up to the time she’d arrived outside the embassy. She left out the part about Tony running over the child in Zimbabwe, the less the authorities knew about that the better; she’d been a witness and had no intention of complicating the issue. She also omitted meeting her parents in Johannesburg – that was her secret.
“Have any of the others returned? Simon or Jake?”
“Sorry no. We were alerted by a tracker, with the interesting name of Beehive. I’ve not seen Simon or Jake since they left with the others.”
Amie’s heart sank. Only Trevor and Jabu had survived. She held back her tears, damned if she was going to cry in front of this man.
“Maddy!” Amie suddenly remembered, “I must get in touch with Maddy.”
“She’s your handler?”
Ian’s words reminded Amie of her pu
ppet status, but she just nodded. “As soon as you’ve finished your coffee, you can contact her on a secure line.”
“Just as well I lost Animal Farm,” Amie said.
“Pardon?”
“Ah, nothing, just some ‘Maddy and me’ stuff,” Amie mumbled. “Where are you going to put all the children? How long will it take to get them back to England?”
“This is something we can rush through; just for a change.” He chuckled, his double chin wobbling at his little in-joke. “We should be able to fly them out by tomorrow night. In the meantime, we’ll find space for them to sleep here, get them fed and watered and maybe some new clothes.”
“Yes, it will be cold for them back in England.”
“We need to get your papers sorted out as well. Simon had a new set for you. I guess you don’t have them?”
“No. If I had, then there wouldn’t have been all that fuss with the soldiers outside. Simon told me he had them, but whether they were in his pocket, or somewhere in the Toyota I have no idea. At the time,” Amie’s voice took on an edge, “we were escaping from the camp, and frankly papers were the last thing on my mind. The Toyota’s lying out there wrecked.”
“Yes, yes of course. I wasn’t thinking.” Ian looked embarrassed. “Well, if Simon comes back he may still have the set we prepared for you.”
If? Amie gulped. He could be anywhere out there. With no food or water, he wouldn’t last long. She prayed he would survive; life would be pretty bleak without him.
32 JEAN-PIERRE RETURNS
Amie decided that Maddy could stew a little longer as she enjoyed a leisurely meal with the children. Once they had food, chocolate drinks, four solid walls and a proper roof over their heads a few of them were beginning to act more normally. Even Winnie wasn’t clinging to her any more, but cuddling up first to Fazia and then to Linda. She even laughed at some comment and Amie relaxed. She would miss her, but was glad she was returning to her family and friends.
Cut for Life Page 31
