Olivia has returned with Ben in his Mini after their day out in Liverpool. Her father was has unexpectedly been released from captivity in a dangerous country and has flown back to Manchester Airport. Olivia's mum Liz has come to the airport too to meet him.
-----------------------------
The family, now reunited, quickly went out of the terminal and ran over to the Mini that was waiting in the drop-off area.
Dennis lifted the suitcase onto the back seat and climbed in, followed by Olivia. Liz jumped in on the front passenger side, Ben pressed the accelerator to the floor, and the car disappeared into the traffic.
Media vans with satellite dishes on the top were arriving but they were too late.
“Dad! Dad! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe you’re here,” said Olivia, hugging him.
“I can’t believe it either!” he exclaimed happily.
“So what happened? Tell me! How did you get released?”
“I was locked up in a basement room the whole time, 70 days. They let me out in the middle of the morning. One of the two guys just dropped me on the side of the road, close to where they’d picked me up. It was near the airport. I waited and stopped a jeep belonging to an international organisation, and explained who I was.”
“The middle of the morning our time” said Liz, “so at that exact time, we were sitting in the kitchen, waiting for Ben to arrive. Livvy went to Liverpool with Ben, thanks so much Ben for giving us a lift, you’re a star.”
Ben nodded, pleased.
“So the officials said, well the usual thing is you have to go for a debriefing, and go to the embassy. The embassy was closed as it was a Friday, it would take a couple of days. I said ‘I don’t want to go for a debriefing, I don’t want to go to the embassy, I just want to go back to my family’. I told them to drop me at the airport. I went to the airline desk. I was able to get the flight, my ticket was still valid. The people at the airline were very good, they got clean clothes, I was able to have a wash before the flight.”
“But what happened, why did they kidnap you?” Olivia asked.
“Because that’s what they do in that part of the world, it’s a kind of a sport, a competition, it’s how some people like to pass the time. It’s also a way of making money. But I think the guys who captured me were amateurs. There were two guys, one I called the hothead and the other was a bearded guy, he seemed more reasonable. I heard them arguing. They kept on saying ‘British, Chinese, British, Chinese’. I don’t think they could make their mind up.”
“What was it like?” Olivia asked
“It was terrible. I was kept in a small room, but there was a small window and I could just see the sky. At night I could make out some of the stars – Orion, the Plough, Jupiter. I wondered how you were, and if you could see the same stars.”
He held Olivia’s hand tightly as Ben drove along Ringway Road directly under another plane that was landing.
“The place where they were holding me, it was near the airport, I could hear planes taking off. Every night, around two or three in the morning, there was a military plane, with weird sounding engines that took off. I wished I could climb through the window, break into the airport and get onto that plane. But it wasn’t possible.”
“How did they treat you?”
“The hothead, the angry one, was the worse of the two. I was always worried when he was around. He looked like he could be dangerous. But the bearded guy was better, not friendly but civil, polite. I had the feeling he thought they shouldn’t have kidnapped me, but he couldn’t convince the hothead. But Livvy, I found out about the television appeal! I saw you! When the bearded guy let me go, on the side of the road, he showed it to me on his phone. I think that was what got me released. I’ll never forget what he said to me: ‘There Mr Dennis, now you can go back to your daughter and your wife.’”
“Really?”
“Yes, I think what happened was, the bearded guy was arguing with the hothead. I could hear them through the wall. I heard them shouting, and then all went quiet. I think the bearded guy was showing the hotheaded guy the video, but they turned the sound down. Then there was more arguing. Actually the hothead was illiterate.”
“Illiterate, how do you know?”
“Because when he came in, there was another guy, he had to read things to him. He couldn’t read his own language, and he certainly couldn’t understand English. But when he saw your appeal, I think he got the message... So thanks Olivia, I don’t think there can be any doubt: you saved my life.”
Just then Liz’s phone rang, and she burst out into conversation with another friend..
“So what’s been happening? How did you do in your exams, Livvy? Are the results out now? “
“Yes, I got the results yesterday. I got an A* in Art, an A in Physics, Maths and Chemistry!”
“That’s fantastic, Livvy, I’m so proud of you! I knew you could do it!”
“Yes, I remembered what you told me.’
And she repeated his words:
“Gēnsuí nǐ de míngxīng.” He smiled.
“So what are you going to do now?”
“I’ve got high enough grades to study Chemistry at Manchester, but I’ve decided I’m going to put it on hold and take a year off. After what’s happened, I need more time. I might be able to do a placement at Jodrell Bank for three months, and the art lecturer, Georgina, also wants me to take part in an art project she’s organising. Then I can decide what do to.”
“It’s so exciting,” said Liz, beaming, “everything has turned out so well but, Dennis, sorry to mention it now, but… we’re way behind with the mortgage. It’s quite urgent. Do you think you can help?”
“Well,” said Dennis, smiling, “I have some money put aside in an account, you know, just for a rainy day.”
“Sorry, but…” said Liz, sighing, “we really need to make a few payments, and the next one’s due next week. D’you think there’ll be enough in the account to cover it?”
“Liz, there’s enough money in the account to pay off the mortgage ten times over. We can buy the house outright with plenty to spare!”
“Really? I can’t believe it! What happened Dad? Where did you get the money?”
“Let’s just say, a wealthy sponsor had set aside some money for a ransom and in the end, he decided to give it to me!”
“Wow, Dad, wow wow wow! So the house is going to be ours?”
“I’ll pop down to the building society in the village on Monday and write them a cheque”
“Oh, and Dad! Guess what? You’ll never believe it! I’ve discovered a supernova!”
“What?”
“I’ve discovered a supernova, oh, hold on a minute, I’ve got a text message. It’s from Alan”
She looked at her phone and read from it:
‘Just switched on the radio and heard the good news, congratulations. Sorry I’ve not been in touch. Trying to get my extension finished but builder a rogue trader. Been very depressed.’
Oh, I see! So that’s why he’s been feeling down, the extension to his house! Well I’m going to text him back…
‘Is that ALL? Thanks L xxxx’
Ben knew all the little lanes around the back of the airport, and was able to stay out of sight, well away from the media. He went round the back way, the secret way, xby Stanneylands Road and then onto the bypass. The word was spreading, soon news reporters would be keen to chase them, but for now they were invisible.
“So what were the Olympics like?” said Dennis “I wish so much that I’d seen them”
“Oh, they were fab!” said Olivia.
“I’d love to watch them,” he replied. And then Ben spoke up.
“It’s OK, sir, I recorded all the games on DVD. I’ll lend them to you.”
“Oh, thank you, Ben, that’s very kind you.”
“No problem, it’s great to meet you.”
Ben continued along the bypass a bit further and then turned left towards their house and out of the street lights again, down by some of the expensive houses further up the lane. They were nearly home.
Liz had finished her conversation and another person was phoning her but she put the phone aside.
“Ooh, we’re nearly home! Ben, can you just stop for a minute on the left, off the road there, where it’s dark. Dennis, I have to warn you, the media will be there. Some of them are not very nice”
“No, no, that’s fine. I want to tell my story.”
They sat silently for a few minutes in the darkness.
“I can’t tell you what it was like,” he said in a quiet voice, “to be kept in that basement room. The silence reminds me of it. I used to stare at the wall. I saw you both, Jessie, the house. And then I imagined all my familiar places. I can tell you, in my mind, I played every golf course in Cheshire!”
He sat silently for a few more moments.
“When you’ve been where I’ve been, and seen what I’ve seen, this place, where we live, to me, it’s the most beautiful place on Earth. I’m so happy to be back.”
There was nothing anyone could say in response to that.
“Okay, Ben,” said Liz, “we need to get home now and get ready for the next bit! I think it’s going to be exciting!”
Ben started the car and continued down the lane. Suddenly Olivia sat up and turned to him.
“But Dad! Hold on a minute? How come they let you out now? Why today of all days, just after the day of the results? Did they know, or was it just a co-incidence?”
“Livvy,” said Dennis, surprised, “don’t you know what weekend this is? Did nobody tell you?”
-----------------------------
I love the title of this chapter and it has a special significance. More in 'Secrets of Stargirl of the Edge'. Another remarkable revelation and co-incidence follows...