Crissa's Mate

Chapter Three

As the two Americans and one Canadian set down in their plane at the Berlin's Brandenburg International Airport, they immediately went through customs. From there they claimed their bags and passed into the busy reception area. There as Crissa, Mary, and Josh entered the main arrivals terminal, they looked for their project contact. The individual materialized soon enough carrying a sign simply with a wolf's head drawn upon it. There could be no doubt it was their specific connection.

The man carrying the sign was easily in his sixties. He had white hair and a short-cropped, equally white beard. He sported a pair round eye-glasses and could have passed for actor Sean Connery were it not that the Scottish accent was now closer to a homegrown dialect, sounding typically West Coast, American.

"You all look like you just stepped off a Stateside campus somewhere," the professor said smiling. "Hello again, you two . . ." This he said gleefully, extending his arms and greeting Mary and Josh both with a warm hug.

"And you must be Crissa," he added, reaching a hand out to her, formally. "I'm Professor Dekker, the expedition coordinator. But also, chief cook and bottle-washer for these things," he said, laughing heartily.

Crissa took his strong hand and nodded timidly.

"Yes. I'm Crissa Palmer . . . from British Columbia."

"Of course!  Glad to have you along, Crissa. Impressive work for such a young person. Loved you letter of inquiry."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You're going to thoroughly enjoy this project, I assure you."

Crissa was momentarily speechless. She just smiled back.

"Well," the professor announced, more officiously. "Are you all ready to get over to the Berliner Hof Hotel, where we'll stay a while?"

"Sure," Josh said, stepping up and taking charge. "So how do things look. Over near the border?

"Weather's been great here in Berlin. Wetter than usual for summer, but dry in the mountains where we'll be. And lots of sightings!  Reports of sheep and cattle kills and nightly howling."

"Excellent," Mary weighed in. "Can't wait to get into the field!"

"OK then," Dr. Dekker happily responded. "As soon as we get you through a bit of jetlag, I'll share some info . . . then, yeah, we'll be out there in the village."

Crissa, though feeling extremely tired from a full day and a half in a plane, was excited by the camaraderie shown by the researchers. What a great life, she thought, to be able to go around the world, just studying animals.

Soon they were out on the street putting their luggage into a hotel mini-van. They then crowded themselves into the vehicle. The driver, a blond young man of nineteen or twenty, smiled back at them. He gave rehearsed greeting in English but it was heavily influenced by a strong German accent. Crissa realized then just how far away from her home she was.

"So. Welcome to the Saxony region of Germany," the professor began as the van pulled away from the curb. "We'll be here in the city of Berlin for two nights. After some rest and a debriefing, we'll head out to a rural area known as Rietshen."

Crissa, like the others, fastened her seat belt and looked outside to see the lights of the massive airport fade away in the darkening evening. The brighter lights of Berlin were up ahead.

"This area where we will be headquartering has mostly farming communities to the west toward the  interior. Mostly hops growers. For that amazing German beer which you'll be sampling soon enough." He laughed.