The Pandora's Box, 11

[svetlanacat6]

 

***

The telephone ringing gave him a start. He wasn't in the desert. He looked around: home. He was at home.

 

“Dr Mallard ... I am sorry, I know that I have disturbed you. You were not on duty... But we had a pile up on the motorway.. So, everyone is busy, and Dr Parsons told me to call you.”

“Don't worry. What is it about?”

“Well, er... it's... Do you remember, last month ... this child...?”

“Yes... I remember... the young boy... Do you mean...”

“Yes, doctor, ... sadly, yes. We ... we have another one. A little girl, this time. They found her in a trunk. They said that.. There is really no time to waste, because, you know, there are four others kids missing... The detectives are waiting for your report, as soon as possible. When I say that they are waiting...”

“How... how old is she?”

“About seven, eight years old, you'll see, Dr Mallard... Doctor Parsons said that if you weren't at your home, I should call... If you want... I could say...”

“It's very nice of you, Jack, but... I'll come. Mrs Laney will take care of Tonya.”

...

“So, she died almost “accidentally”? He didn't intend to kill her? Is that supposed to be good news, doctor?”

“I read all the previous reports... According to them, yes.”

“She is dead, Doctor, a beautiful little girl is dead. How can you say...”

“She has been knocked, and, yes, she died outright, detective... She wasn't dying for hours in that trunk. She didn't die of asphyxiation. She didn't survive for... for what was waiting for her. So, yes, as you wouldn't have find her in time, she was... lucky... Here is my report. I'll send some more results in one or two hours.”

“Medical examiners are always so ... insensitive. And you're so cold... This little girl... doesn't she mean anything to you? She had parents, perhaps brothers, and sisters... She loved animals, dance, she laughed with her friends, she played, she... If you had children, you'd understand that... Anyway, doctor, speaking of parents... there is a family, well, a father. He's here to... identify his daughter. I'll leave it to you ... You could try to be a little more ... human, to show some compassion. Don't tell him how lucky his little girl has been... I'm afraid that he might not understand your standpoint...”

Illya Kuryakin sighed.

“I don't understand. How a doctor can choose to become a... that. You could save lives, instead of...”

The faithful Jack cut in flatly.

“But he does. All the forensic pathologists save lives. The Dr Mallard is extremely competent. And... respectful towards the... victims. He treats them like human being, not like ... bodies. You'll perhaps get something important in his report... And that could save lives.”

“That's enough arguing. Here is the father.”

And the world froze.

“Sir ? That's our forensic pathologist, the doctor... Sir ? Doctor Mallard?

“Napoleon...”

“Ill... Illya?”

A little girl... She had been killed. He had performed the postmortem examination on her. A beautiful little girl, with long dark hairs, hazel eyes. About eight years old... And... she was his daughter. Napoleon looked at him, horror stricken, and there was nothing he could do.

He felt cold. An heartbroken. The pain had too strong a grip on him. He could hardly breathe. When he opened his eyes, his vision was blurred with tears. A familiar place... A terrace. A house. His house ? He rush into the dark rooms, and he lit up. All of them.

At the top of the staircase, he hesitated, and pushed the door. The night light was dim... but the little sleeping beauty was here. She was here. She was real... Pastry and strawberry... He pinched himself... but she was still here... He remembered.

He had tidied the kitchen, and gone out on the terrace, to... have a think... And he had fell asleep. He knew that he wanted to meet Napoleon. To meet again his closest friend. But he was panicked. Nervous. As an actor... Stage fright. Guilt and remorse. Awful nightmares.

He packed up his case and a bag for Tonya, got them in the trunk, and cautiously carried the little girl. He hoped that she wouldn't wake up... Ten minutes later, a sleepy smiling Tonya, hugging a panther, was settled in the car. He wrote a message for Mrs Laney, and dropped it in her mailbox. He had called the hotel... They would have a room... And of course, he had insisted that "It was a surprise..."

The die was cast. He believed that Sasha would forget, would give up. He hadn't. Illya Kuryakin knew at the moment for sure that he had made a fool of himself, remembering his argument with Ell, the day before.

“One day, Sasha could meet Napoleon, on the beach, in the street, in a Museum... anywhere, Napoleon would instantaneously recognize him, Illya: Sasha has your hair, your eyes..”

“And if my son is stubborn, yours is full of his mother's hopefulness... This will never happen, Ell.”

“Why?”

“Why... this will never hap...”

“No, Illya. Why did you part this way?”

“I had to, Ell.”

“You decided that you had to... I disagreed, Mr Waverly disagreed, and Napoleon disagreed. At least, he should have, if you had mentioned it to him. You ... disappeared, Illya. When we met, by the merest chance, nine years ago, I couldn't believe my eyes... I thought that you had probably left our country, that you were in England, in France... I saw you as a teacher, a scientist... and I got ... a forensic pathologist...”

“The merest chance”? A stroke of luck I am very grateful for...Ell, that's all in the past. We would never have talked about that, if...”

“But Sasha found the box, and you opened it. Do you know Pandora's box story?”

“Yes, and I would remind you that all the misfortunes, all the evils of the world came out this box.”

“Except for hope, Illya. And you didn't answer.”

“I didn't disappear. Not really. The Old Man... The Old Man knew what I was doing, where I was living. He disagreed, but he understood, Ell. And...”

“And?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, no, Illya, my boy. You won't do that. Tell me. And...?”

“You found me, Ell.”

“I didn't, Illya. It was pure luck. I thought that... Napoleon would be so happy... But you asked me not to call him. I shouldn't have obey.”

“Please, Ell... Okay, you want to know I never changed my name, I lived in Boston, then, Philadelphia, and I came back to New York... If he had wanted to, he could have found me... I had to leave, he realized it, and he ... acknowledged...”

Ell had rolled his eyes in dismay, muttering something about stupid boys who never grew up.

She was right.