Eddie’s expression became more serious. ‘So how are you?’ he asked her. ‘Have there been any more . . . symptoms?’
She gave him a sad look, then discreetly rolled up the hem of her thin cotton shirt. Several lumps, ranging in size from the width of her little finger’s tip to slightly smaller than a golf ball, ran in a ragged line up from her waist. ‘The first one appeared last year,’ she said, indicating the largest. ‘The others came soon after. They are only growing slowly . . . but they are growing all the same.’
The sight of the tumours filled Nina with a sickening chill. Was this a glimpse of her own future? She had to clear her throat before speaking, mouth suddenly dry. ‘Have you seen a doctor?’
Natalia shook her head. ‘I did not want to risk anyone learning that I was still alive. I was afraid that the Russians or Americans would come after me again.’ She lowered her shirt.
‘They won’t,’ said Eddie. ‘I promised you eight years ago, the only way you’d ever see me again was if I was one hundred per cent sure that wasn’t going to happen.’ He spread his hands wide. ‘And here I am!’
‘You are completely sure?’ she asked, hesitant.
‘The second eitr pit has been destroyed,’ Nina told her. ‘The Russians developed a substance to neutralise the eitr, and as far as we know, it worked. And I heard Lock say there’s nothing anyone could learn about the eitr from your DNA. So if you want to see a doctor . . .’
‘I do not think they will be able to help me,’ the German said with a sigh. ‘You did not say that the Americans or Russians had developed a cure.’
‘Afraid nobody’s found anything. Yet,’ Eddie added for Nina’s benefit. ‘But if you want or need anything, we can arrange it.’ He nudged his wife. ‘See if Seretse cancelled your IHA credit card yet, eh?’
Natalia shook her head again, but this time in gratitude. ‘There is nothing I need.’
‘Really?’ Nina said.
‘I have everything I want here already. I have lived my life the way I promised Eddie.’ Seeing that he was unsure what she meant, she continued: ‘That I would make the most of everything I had.’ She smiled. ‘It was very good advice.’
‘Maybe I should write a book about it. I might get a six-figure advance too,’ he said, grinning at Nina.
‘But if you could get medicines and toys for the children, that would be wonderful,’ Natalia went on. ‘Anything you can give them will help.’
‘I’ll see to it,’ Nina assured her.
The three of them continued to talk for some time, curious villagers occasionally joining them with questions for the visitors. Even the boy with the missing leg, now in his teens and keen to show off his agility on his prosthetic limb, made an appearance. Eventually, however, the conversation came around to what Eddie had been doing since his last visit, which in turn led to the events in the eitr pit. ‘You . . . were infected?’ Natalia asked Nina in a quiet voice.
Nina touched the little mark on her cheek. ‘Yes,’ she said, sighing. ‘Just a drop, but that was all it took. I don’t know how long I’ve got left.’
‘I am so sorry.’ She looked down at the ground. ‘This is all my grandfather’s fault. He was an evil man. I wish he had never been—’
‘It’s not your fault, though,’ Eddie cut in firmly. ‘And Nina, I didn’t just bring us here to tell Natalia that she was safe. I wanted to see if she was still okay – and to show you that it’s not all over. You can’t just give up and accept it. You might have years, bloody decades even, before any symptoms show. That’s plenty of time for someone to find a cure. You just don’t know. Christ, look at everything we’ve survived up till now. We should be dead fifty times over, but we’re still here! So I’m not going to give up on you, ever, and I won’t let you give up either. Like Mac always told me: fight to the end.’
Nina tried to take solace from his words, but struggled to overcome the gloom in her heart. ‘I wish I had your confidence.’
‘No, Eddie is right,’ Natalia insisted. ‘Because of him, I have had eight more years of life. Sometimes they have been hard, but they have always been worth it.’ She smiled at the American. ‘And you are very lucky. You have a wonderful man to share your life with. He will look after you and protect you – I know this, because he did the same for me.’
Eddie put his arm around Nina. ‘She’s right. I’ll always be here for you, love. You know that.’
Nina’s gloom evaporated as she turned to look at her husband’s smiling face. He was not handsome in any conventional sense, yet she couldn’t imagine anyone else she would rather see each morning for the rest of her life. ‘Yeah, I know. I love you.’
‘I love you too.’ They kissed, making Natalia smile and blush.
They stayed in the village for a few more hours, talking. ‘Afraid we’ve got to go,’ Eddie eventually told Natalia after checking his watch. ‘We’ve got a plane to catch from Da Nang tomorrow, and I don’t want to drive back there at night.’
‘That is a shame, but I understand,’ she replied, with a small grin. ‘I love the people here, but they are very bad drivers!’
‘I’ll make sure that the medicines and other things are couriered to you,’ said Nina.
The German nodded in thanks. ‘Oh, and I’ve got something else for you,’ Eddie told her. He produced a slip of paper and offered it to her.
‘What is it?’ Natalia asked.
‘Your dad’s phone number. He’s still in Hamburg.’
She regarded the paper almost fearfully before taking it. ‘I . . . do not know what I should say to him. It has been eight years – he will have thought I am dead . . .’
‘Yeah, I know,’ said Eddie with sympathy. ‘But whatever you say to him, I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy to hear it.’
Tears glistened in her eyes. ‘Thank you, Eddie. For everything.’
They went to the 4x4, and made their farewells. ‘I will say to you what Eddie said to me,’ Natalia told Nina. She paused for a moment to remember his words. ‘Make the most of the life you have got.’
‘I will,’ said Nina, smiling. ‘Thank you.’
Natalia kissed her cheek, then did the same to Eddie. ‘And you too.’
‘I never do anything else!’ he said, kissing her in return.
The couple got into the Patrol. Eddie started the engine, giving Natalia a final wave before turning the vehicle back towards the jungle track. The sun had wheeled around the sky during their stay, illuminating the jungle with a gorgeous honey-like glow as it began to descend towards the tree-shrouded horizon. Nina took in the view. ‘Look at that,’ she said. ‘It really is an amazing world, isn’t it? And I want to make the most of it with you while I can.’
Eddie hugged her, then they kissed again. ‘I’ll be with you all the way,’ he told her.
‘Fight to the end,’ she replied, smiling.
Another kiss, then they set out into the waiting world.
Andy McDermott, The Valhalla Prophecy_A Novel
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