Читать книгу A Long Way from Home - Cathy Glass, Cathy Glass - Страница 20

Chapter Eight

Return

It was a clear but cold day, 3°C, the captain said over the public address system as the plane began its descent, ready for landing. Ian took Elaine’s hand and smiled. ‘Not long to go now.’ Their excitement had grown during the flight, but so had their apprehension. Once they saw Anastasia and Dr Ciobanu and knew all was well, they would feel more reassured, but for now they held hands and drew strength from each other as they looked through the window and the land below gradually rose up to greet them.

When they’d booked the cab they’d asked specifically for Danny to collect them, but it was nearly an hour before their cases arrived in the baggage hall. ‘I hope Danny has waited,’ Elaine said nervously, imagining something else that could go wrong.

‘If not there’ll be plenty of cabs waiting outside the airport,’ Ian reassured her.

But as they emerged through the arrivals door, pulling their cases and with bags over their shoulders, they saw Danny straight away. He was directly in front of them, holding up a large piece of cardboard with Hudson written in black marker pen. He spotted them and began waving frantically. Relieved, they quickened their pace. ‘Good to see you,’ he said, greeting them with the warmth of an old friend or relative.

‘And you,’ Ian said, shaking his hand.

‘So the time has come for you to return and you are happy!’ he said, taking their cases.

‘Yes, indeed,’ Elaine replied, and they began towards the car park. ‘How is Anastasia?’ she asked. ‘Did you have a chance to visit her?’

‘I am sorry, I didn’t have time. I have been very busy. But I took another couple to the orphanage and they saw her.’

‘Really? Did they say how she was? What was she doing?’

‘She is well. She was talking to the children in the cots.’

Elaine smiled, pleased and partly reassured. ‘That sounds like her.’

Danny loaded their bags and cases into the boot of his cab and Elaine and Ian climbed into the back. He was then silent as he concentrated on navigating out of the busy airport car park, but once on the road he said, ‘Dr Ciobanu told me you can go straight to see Anastasia if you wish. That good?’

‘What, now?’ Elaine asked.

‘If you want to, then I take you to your hotel after.’

‘Oh yes, please, that would be fantastic. We’ve missed her so much.’

‘Thank you,’ Ian said.

‘The couple you took to the orphanage, are they adopting too?’ Elaine asked out of interest.

‘Yes, two boys, with disabilities,’ Danny replied. ‘The children are very lucky. They no longer have to live in cots.’

Immediately Elaine’s eyes filled, for that was the truth of life in the orphanage for children with disabilities – they did live in cots.

Danny continued chatting as he drove and asked them about the weather in the UK, which although cold wasn’t as cold as it was there now in November. Ian then asked him about his own family and how his children were.

‘They are well, thank you,’ he said. ‘My daughter is studying hard at school but my son messes around sometimes and gets into trouble. I tell him off, and told him he needs to study hard and do well or he will end up driving a cab like me for a living.’

‘He could do a lot worse,’ Ian said. ‘Cab drivers are always needed.’

‘But I want him to use his brain, earn good money and be respected.’ Which of course is what most parents want for their children, wherever they live in the world.

Half an hour later they turned into the lane that led to the orphanage. The trees were now bare in winter and the cold outside could be felt even in the heated cab. ‘I hope the children are warm enough,’ Elaine said.

‘They have heating sometimes,’ Danny replied, ‘and wear woollens.’

He drew up outside the orphanage, parking in virtually the same spot he had on all their previous visits. Elaine’s heart missed a beat as she looked at the decaying building, even more desolate now that the surrounding trees were barren. But one positive was that a children’s slide had appeared in the strip of land at the front. ‘That slide is new,’ she said.

‘Yes, it was donated two weeks ago,’ Danny said. ‘It was cemented into the ground so it can’t be taken away.’

‘Good,’ Elaine said. Although of course it would only benefit the children if the care workers had enough time to help them play on it, which from what they’d seen before was highly doubtful.

‘I wait here like before,’ Danny confirmed as they opened their car doors.

‘Yes, please,’ Ian said.

They got out and went to the tall metal gate. As before the only way of attracting attention was to rattle it. Danny also gave a blast on the cab’s horn. ‘Not much has changed then,’ Ian said.

‘But that slide is nice,’ Elaine said, wanting to stay positive.

A few moments later Dr Ciobanu appeared at the orphanage door and with a wave came down the path. ‘Hello Mr and Mrs Hudson. Good to see you again.’

‘And you,’ Ian said.

He unlocked the gate, waved an acknowledgement to Danny and then shook Ian’s and Elaine’s hands and relocked the gate behind them. ‘So three months wasn’t so long and passed quickly,’ he said as they went up the path.

‘It was long enough,’ Elaine said.

‘Some families have to wait much longer,’ Dr Ciobanu said. ‘The flight was comfortable?’

‘Yes.’

Inside, Dr Ciobanu didn’t show them into his office but stopped in the lobby, which was exactly as it had been on their last visit. ‘There are no more forms for you to sign until after the court hearing,’ he said. ‘You have the time and date of the hearing in your diary?’

‘Yes,’ Ian said. ‘And seared in our minds. Eleven o’clock on 23 November.’

Dr Ciobanu nodded. ‘You need to book a cab to take you to the court and back to your hotel afterwards when you will have Anastasia with you. Arrive by 10.30. Use the same cab firm. They know where the court is and will wait for you.’ Ian and Elaine nodded. ‘Take your passports with you to court. Sometimes the judge wants to see them. Take a warm coat for the child. If you haven’t brought one with you then you must buy one here.’

‘We have one,’ Elaine confirmed, ‘and boots, gloves and a warm hat for her.’

‘That is because you have come from the UK,’ Dr Ciobanu said with a smile. ‘Some families fly in from warmer countries and forget it is cold here. Also bring a drink for the child. She will have been waiting around for some time. Although the court hearing time is set for eleven o’clock, things in this country don’t always happen on time.’ They nodded again. ‘And prepare yourselves for meeting the child’s mother. You don’t need to talk to her but the waiting room is small so she will be seated close by.’ They’d already been warned this could happen, but even so Elaine felt her heart clench. She knew she was going to have to be very brave when she met Anastasia’s mother, especially when the time came for her to say goodbye to her child.