Kidnapped and a Daring Escape (31 page)

    
Bianca notices that he fails to mention the conclusive point 4, namely
that the morning’s edition of the newspaper cites police saying that ‘
la
bête
’ was
ex-paras
.

    
"These are very astute observations. I must say, they sound convincing. I will pass them on in time to the ambassador, and I also admit that
I am glad to hear that you consider FARC misguided. Journalists often
seem to have a romantic view about them.
Signor
Villier, rest assured
that I will do my utmost to see that Miss Pacelli has valid travel
documents by tomorrow."

    
To Bianca’s surprise, he again shakes hands with André. It seems that
his initial rather hostile view of André has changed one hundred and
eighty degrees. She leaves the photocopies of her passport with him.

* * *

They walk the two blocks to the Swiss Embassy. It takes not long to
complete the formalities for a replacement of the stolen travel documents. André does not report that he was taken hostage and escaped, only
that the passport and driver’s license were stolen. He lies about the exact
place, indicating San Agustin as the location.

    
Back in their hotel room, the first thing they do is to phone Bianca’s
mother, using the bluetooth connection between the computer and his
iPhone. Both can then listen to the conversation via the computer’s
speakers. It is a long and difficult call. Initially, her mother is highly
confused and becomes hysterical when she hears Bianca’s voice.
Apparently, her father did not call her himself, but asked his secretary to
do so.

    
"Are they treating you well? Do you get enough food? They have not,
I mean … you know …"

    
"Mother, what are you taking about? Who is supposed to treat me
well?"

    
"The men who are holding you."

    
"But I’m free. I escaped. Didn’t papà tell you? Nobody is holding me
anymore." That’s not quite true, she reflects bemused. André is holding
me now, but that does not feel like captivity, rather like true freedom.

    
"Oh, I thought this was the call the kidnappers promised us already
twice, you know, to prove that you are still alive, and each time they
canceled it in the last minute. Your father refused to negotiate the ransom
unless he had proof that you were safe and sound. I begged him to pay
and have it done with, but as always he didn’t listens to me."

    
"No, mother, I am free. I’m now in Bogotà. I’ve just come back from
the Italian Embassy. I need a new passport. They stole mine."

    
"Oh, I’m so glad." She begins to sob again. "I already thought you
dead since the calls were always cancelled. I can’t wait to have you back
home, and I never want you gallivanting around like this anymore. I will
have to tell Franco that he must not do this again. He will be so happy to
hear that you are free. You know, he especially called to tell that he will
return from Argentina —"

    
"You mean Peru."

    
"Whatever! How should I know? He said that he would return three
days earlier, already this Friday. You must be eager to be reunited with
him. He is such a noble man."

    
Noble? Bianca screws up her face. How can I answer that? I would
either shock my mother or would have to lie. So she simply avoids an
answer and instead replies: "It’s a pity that I missed out on Machu
Picchu."

    
"Is that the lost city of the sun?"

    
"No, you are confusing two places.
La Ciudad Perdida
is in Colombia, on the Atlantic coast. The city of the sun is Machu Picchu in Peru."

    
"I did not know Colombia was on the Atlantic. I thought it was on the
Pacific."

    
"It is on both, mother."

    
"Anyway, what should I care? Tell me when will you be back?" But
she does not wait for an answer. "Now that both of you will be back
before the weekend, we will invite the families on both sides and our
friends to a big celebration party, you know, as a confirmation of your
engagement, so-to-speak."

    
"Please, mother, don’t do that. I need a few weeks of quiet to recover
fully from my ordeal. I could not face a large crowd of people."

    
"But everybody will want to see you and congratulate you on your
escape. There is no way to avoid that, you know. I would not dare to
disappoint all these people, particularly the Viscontis. We must keep up
appearances. It is now more important than ever to show that we are a
strong family, you know, one that comes out even stronger when faced
with adversity. That’s what is expected in aristocratic circles, you know."

    
"Mother, we live in the twenty-first century. There have been no
aristocrats in Italy for over sixty years —" She surprises herself for
saying that.

    
"Child, you know what I mean. You now just make sure that you will
be home by Friday, so that you can help with the preparations for
Saturday."

    
"Mother, be reasonable. I do not want a party."

    
"No, child. You be reasonable." They hear a firm click of the phone
being banged down.

    
"Oh, my mother." Bianca screws up her face again. She sees André’s
amused expression. "She is impossible, and it isn’t funny, and I don’t
want to see Franco ever again. I don’t want a celebration."

    
He hugs her. "Bianca, don’t be angry. We have to take our relatives
the way they are. We can only choose our friends. Look at it from the
bright side. You can introduce me to all your family and your friends and
announce to all and sundry that we will get married. That will make it a
real surprise party, won’t it, and celebration for us."

    
For a moment, her eyes continue blazing in indignation and then her
mien changes into bemusement. "Yes, yes, that will be my revenge," she
cries. "Snubbing noble Franco in front of all those people. The headlines
in
Il Messaggero
will read: Pretender aristocrat snubbed in front of
hundreds of guests."

    
"That’s the spirit, Bianca … still angry?"

   
"No, André, it is impossible to remain angry for long around you."

* * *
 

Next, they notify Visa that their credit cards were stolen. When they are
told that new cards will be ready for them on Thursday morning at the
main office of the Banco Uniòn Colombiano in Bogotà, André asks for
the name and direct phone contact of the person they are talking to,
explaining that they will call back within fifteen minutes to confirm
whether they want that or rather prefer to wait and get new cards at their
home location.

    
Should they wait that long? At first, both feel that it would be best to
leave Colombia as quickly as possible.

    
"Mind you, there may be no seats on a direct flight out of Colombia,"
remarks André.

    
"There are no direct flights from Rome into Colombia. We flew via
Caracas," replies Bianca. "So it must be the same the other way round."

    
"I came via Madrid and still have an open ticket to return that way. Do
you have your ticket?"

    
"No, Franco kept them all. He got a group discount."

    
"So we will not simply be able to alter the ticket to different flights,
and I doubt there will be a refund on your unused leg. We will have to
book anew. Maybe what we really should do first is to check what flights
are available. If there are none before Thursday, we might as well pick
up the cards here. I feel almost naked without a credit card."

    
"And I, on second thought, don’t want to be in Rome too early. In fact,
if possible, I would like to arrive early Saturday morning, just in time to
join the party. I don’t think I could suffer my mother for two or three
days, pretending to go along with that party or even face Franco. And I
don’t want to be without you."

    
"Nor do I. All right, I’ll check if there is a flight out of Caracas on
Friday evening. Agreed?"

    
"Yes."

    
He searches the Internet via the wireless connection with his iPhone.
There are indeed no direct flights from Bogotà to Rome. All flights
require a change, either in Caracas, New York, London, Paris, or Madrid,
but there are direct Alitalia flights to Rome out of Caracas late each
afternoon and several daily flights from Bogotà’s Eldorado Airport to
Caracas. The Friday flight still offers seats. Flying Alitalia implies that
he cashes in his open ticket via Madrid, which should create no difficulties. He makes the call to the Visa office to pick up the new credit cards
on Thursday.

    
Without a credit card, they can only book the flights through a travel
agent. André counts out one hundred and fifty US twenty-dollar notes
from the opened bundle, the exorbitant amount in US dollars he figures
the two one-way tickets will cost, even after cashing in his unused Iberia
Airline return fare. They book the flights at the student travel agency at
the university. The salesperson is somewhat surprised when André asks
to pay with US bills. However, he converts the net cost of the tickets into
US currency at the official cash rate, plus a five percent surcharge.

    
Later that afternoon, André writes the promised short report of their
kidnapping and their escape. He gives few details on their escape,
mentioning the gun skirmish, but omitting stealing a motorcycle,
outsmarting the roadblock, or the Popayàn shoot-out. He e-mails it to the
Italian Embassy, attention Mr. Baldetti. Then he marks the presumed
journey in the Toyota and Landrover, their track into the mountains, the
location of La Punta, and their escape route. He will leave the map with
Baldetti when they pick up Bianca’s new travel documents next day.

    
He again encourages Bianca to call Franco. She is reluctant. The very
thought of talking to that man seems repugnant.

    
"Remember, you’re not doing it for him, but for your fellow students."

    
That convinces her. She looks up the number of the hotel in Cusco
that is listed on the detailed travel itinerary Franco prepared for all tour
members and dials on André’s iPhone. When she asks for Professor
Visconti, the woman at the reception informs her that he is out. It feels
like a heavy stone is lifted off her heart. She will not have to talk to him.

    
"Are any of the other tour members in the hotel? It is important I
speak to one of them."

    
"
Señorita
, a moment. I will check." South American Indian music
plays while she is on hold. After a minute or so, the woman returns.

    
"Anna Fabbri offered to talk to you."

    
"
Aqui
Anna Fabbri," a timid woman’s voice announces.

    
"Anna, this is Bianca."

    
"Bianca?"

    
"Yes, Bianca Pacelli."

    
"Oh Bianca," she exclaims excitedly. "You’re free? Oh, what a relief!
Did the kidnappers release you already?"

    
"No, I escaped."

    
"You escaped? I can’t wait to tell the others. We were all so worried
about you. It really cast a pall over the whole group. Many of us were in
tears for days."

    
It feels good to hear Anna’s voice. "Yes, it was frightening, but I got
away and am now in Bogotà. I’ll fly back home later this week. Will you
please tell all the others that I’m fine and unharmed."

    
"I will, oh, I will. We will celebrate it. Naturally, I’ll tell
Professore
Visconti the good news when he comes back. You want him to call you?"

    
For a moment she hesitates, seemingly unsure of what to say. André
shakes his head.