The Venice Sketchbook(14)

She wondered how much Teddy had grown during the summer and looked forward to buying his uniform. Would he sound like a little American now? She counted off the days, but on September 1, Josh called and said that they’d arrived back in New York, but that Teddy had a bad ear infection. The doctor said he shouldn’t fly for a week or two. He was sorry that Teddy might miss the first few days of school, but, since he was only six, it didn’t matter that much.

It did cross Caroline’s mind to wonder if what Josh said was true. Was he stalling? Did he never intend to return her son to her? She tried to quell the alarm bells. Be patient, she told herself.

And then, on September 11, the Twin Towers in New York City fell.





CHAPTER 6


Caroline, England, September 2001

The first Caroline knew of it was a strange hysterical sobbing that came from the conference room. Just coming back from grabbing lunch, she followed the sound and found people already crowded inside the door, staring at the television screen that sat on a shelf at the far end of the room. One young secretary had her hands to her mouth and was producing great heaving sobs while an older editor had an arm around her. The others were strangely silent. Caroline stared at the screen, unable to realize immediately what she was seeing. She looked to a colleague.

“What is it?”

“The World Trade Center in New York. Apparently, a plane flew into one of the skyscrapers. A big passenger jet. The upper floors are on fire.”

“How terrible. How sad. All those poor people.”

Suddenly the girl at the front screamed and pointed. “There’s another one. Look!”

And they watched in horror as a second passenger jet flew in a direct line at the second tower, striking it in a fireball.

“It can’t be an accident,” someone said.

“It must be a terrorist attack.”

“The news said it is most likely that idiot Osama bin Laden,” said a man’s voice from the back of the room.

“Oh God. How many more of them might there be?”

Caroline couldn’t speak. She was finding it hard to breathe. My son is in New York, she thought. She hadn’t ever checked where exactly Desiree’s penthouse was in the city. Surely not in the financial district where the towers were. Surely somewhere suitably safe and far away . . .

She pushed her way past more people who now blocked the doorway, rushed to her desk and fumbled in her purse for her telephone book. Her hand was trembling so much that she found it hard to dial the number.

“I’m sorry. All circuits are busy,” said a mechanical voice. “Please try again later.”

Caroline sat beside the phone all afternoon, fighting back tears of frustration as the “all circuits are busy” message was repeated over and over.

“Of course, your son is there, isn’t he?” a co-worker said, putting an arm around her. “No wonder you’re worried out of your mind. I would be, too. But I’m sure he’s okay.”

Caroline wanted to tell her to go away, to leave her alone, but she knew the woman was just trying to be kind. She continued at home every fifteen minutes, all night, until at about three in the morning the call went through.

“Hello?” said a sleepy woman’s voice. “What is it?”

“It’s Caroline Grant.” She gasped out the words. “Is Josh there? And Teddy? You’re all safe?”

“Oh yes. We’re fine. We’re up in the nineties. Miles away. Josh tried to call you yesterday, after it happened, but nobody could make phone calls. Unbelievable, isn’t it? Surreal, watching those towers fall.”

“Awful,” Caroline agreed. “Can I speak to Josh, please?”

“He’s still asleep. Hold on a minute. I’ll wake him for you.”

Caroline heard her saying, “Your wife is on the phone, from London. You’d better wake up.”

Then a long pause and Josh’s voice. “Hey, Cara. We’re fine. I tried to call you. Everything’s okay here. The kids were quite upset when they saw it, but they’ll be all right.”

“Can I speak to Teddy?”

“He’s still asleep. Let him be, Cara. We’re trying to downplay it as much as possible. No TV. Let life go on as normal. Talk to you later, okay?”

And he hung up. Caroline stood staring at the phone, fighting back anger. She put down the receiver and heaved a shuddering big sigh of relief. They were fine. Her son was fine. She swallowed back tears. News programmes on TV had been broadcasting almost incessant updates. The Pentagon hit. Another plane crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. All flights cancelled. All transportation stalled. Saudi nationals responsible . . . and it was Osama bin Laden.

In England, once the sensation was over, interest in the Twin Towers waned. In a country used to terrorist bombings over the years and having been through the Second World War, this was only one in a long line of tragedies, soon supplanted by something new. After a few days, nobody even mentioned it at work. Caroline couldn’t put it out of her mind. Teddy in the same city where planes had crashed into buildings. How was she to know that the same thing wouldn’t happen again? She tried calling daily, getting through only every now and then.

Josh seemed reluctant to let her speak to Teddy. “He’ll hear how upset you are, Cara. He’s doing okay. Let him process this in his own good time.”