The Boudicca Parchments

Chapter 47

“Okay girls,” said Julia. “Hurry up and finish packing. It’s one suitcase each.”

Suitcase was a relative term. The twins’ suitcases were actually quite small, typical children’s suitcases. Little Romy, on the other hand, had managed to persuade her mother to give her one of the unused “grown-up” suitcases.

“Why does Romy get a bigger suitcase?” one of the twins asked, plaintively.

Julia tried to ignore it, knowing that whatever answer she gave, she’d find herself facing a mutiny.

“Because I need to pack all my shoes,” said Romy, smiling sweetly.

Romy was very much a girlie girl and by the age of four she had already become intensely fashion-conscious — definitely her mother’s daughter. While the twins had always asked for toys whenever presents were due, Romy had developed a taste for shoes and a mature sense of fashion. One of her favourite questions to her mother was: “do these shoes go with this dress?”

Although a long way short of Imelda Marcos’s record, Romy had built up a sizeable collection of footwear, enhanced by the fact that she tended to outgrow them quickly but had a profound aversion to actually throwing them away. Not content with merely owning them, she insisted on taking them with her on this unexpected holiday to Israel.

The Sassons had decided that they could not afford to hang around as sitting ducks to these lunatics who were trying to harm them. Julia’s parents in Jerusalem had invited them to stay with them for the summer, and although it would be a bit crowded, they decided to accept.

It had not been an easy decision. After the attack, Nat and Julia had sat down and thought long and hard about it. The problem was that they didn’t actually know how long it would be before whoever was doing it was caught. They knew that it had something to do with Daniel’s predicament, but precisely what was unclear. And they also had no inkling of how long Daniel’s current situation would persist. But they couldn’t stay in Israel past the end of the school holidays. That would be completely impractical.

On the other hand there was a possibility that the situation might be resolved before school resumed in September. And although Nat couldn’t afford to take time off work, he could stay in contact with them via the internet and know that they were safe. That would be a weight of his mind and at least it would give them some breathing room.

Against that, the police had offered them police protection and assured them that they could protect the children against any further abduction attempts. They did not think it had been a murder attempt. The way the driver had almost hit them as he lurched forward, was merely a sign of his ineptitude, as proven by the fact that he had acted alone. The fact that it was a lone attacker, was in some way reassuring, according to the police. It implied that he had limited capacity to obtain assistance.

On the other hand they conceded that the attack on the police van carrying Daniel had been the work of career criminals. Indeed the two who were shot by the unknown man on the motorbike were themselves known to the police as violent thugs.

“Ready,” Shir announced, arriving in the living room with her suitcase.

“Me too,” echoed May, lugging her case along.

“Romy!” Julia shouted out to her youngest in the other room. “Are you ready?”

“Not yet. I’m still arranging my shoes. I don’t want them to get damaged. You know how the people at the airport throw suitcases about without caring what’s inside.”

Julia smiled.

Where on earth did she get that from?

Then Julia remembered that it was something she had said when they got back from America.

Kids! They remember everything — especially the things you want them to forget!

“Hurry up Romy. Or the nice policeman will go without us.”

The police had agreed to give them a lift to the airport and stay with them until they were safely airside. Romy had taken a shine to one of the young policeman. So it was no surprise when, seconds later, Romy appeared in the living room, struggling to drag her suitcase behind her.

Julia smiled again. The incentive had worked.

The police kept a vigilant eye out for anyone around them as Nat loaded up the people carrier and Julia strapped the children in — one of the female Community Support Officers even helping with the seat belts. But they were only on the look out for actual threats. A man innocently sitting in his car down the road was not a threat. And in any case, he drove off while the Sassons were still getting ready.

For his part, the man in the car had seen enough. The sight of the suitcases alone told Sam Morgan that they were going to the airport. He guessed that it was Heathrow and he figured he even knew where they were flying to.