Turning Point
Kirstin rested her arm on the window ledge and adjusted focus. Humphrey had been using her binoculars. She wondered why he was so hopelessly short-sighted. All of her family had perfect eyesight so it must have come in on his father’s side. But she knew so little about them she couldn’t be sure.
A helicopter had just passed overhead. Humphrey claimed to know something about it. She watched as it made for the chateau and hovered above the tower.
‘It looks like it’s preparing to land,’ Humphrey said.
‘Yes, Mother. There’s a helicopter pad up there.’
‘Do you think it’s them?’
‘They should be arriving about now. Cuthbert Maguire sent his private jet to Maputo to pick them up.’
Kirstin put down the binoculars.
‘How do you know?’
‘Olaf. He’s a font of information.’
‘What else did he tell you?’
‘Mario phoned his mum and dad at the chateau. He told them that he and Petra had given David the slip. He said they took a taxi into the centre of Maputo and booked in to one of the top hotels. Mario’s dad put through a phone call to Cuthbert Maguire and … Vum!’
‘Vum? Humphrey?’
‘Well, whatever noise Cuthbert’s jet makes. It arrived within hours and whisked them away.’
‘What happens now?’
‘Olaf will arrange a meeting.’
’With whom?’
‘Us, Mother. It’s a turning point in history.’
‘Really? Humphrey?’
‘Do you remember the sealed train that carried Lenin back to Russia from Germany during the First World War? It was a cunning move by the Kaiser to bring down the Tsar’s government and knock Russia out of the war.’
‘And you see yourself in a similar role to the Kaiser?’
‘I see Mario and Petra as a means of bringing down the Cabal. They have the knowledge and determination strike a blow for freedom.’
‘Sort of upper-class revolutionaries?’
‘You could put it that way.’
‘Let’s hope you are right, Humphrey.’
Kirstin picked up the binoculars and returned her attention to the chateau.