فصل 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Red eyes

She must have fallen asleep. But not for long. There was a loud knocking at the door. She got up and opened it. Carla was standing in the corridor with two bottles of wine in her hand. She was crying.

‘Carla!’ Katy said in astonishment. ‘What’s the matter?’ Carla wasn’t the sort of person who cried.

‘Everything’s the matter,’ Carla said, walking into the room. ‘Drink with me.’ She went to the bathroom and came back with two plastic glasses. She poured the wine and handed one glass to Katy. ‘Drink!’ she commanded through her tears.

‘Why? What for?’ The woman in front of her was so unlike the Carla that Katy knew. She was suddenly afraid.

‘We’ll drink to Vlada and Imrana and the others. Because we have failed. Because we did nothing for them and now there’s nothing to be done. Oh, my God,’ she cried, falling onto the bed and pouring her wine all over the floor.

‘Carla, what’s happened?’ Katy asked.

Carla got up and poured herself another glass. She lit a cigarette and went to stand by the window. When she turned back her tears had stopped and her face was suddenly white and blank. ‘You remember the guns,’ she said, ‘at six o’clock. Up there on the mountain. You remember?’

‘Of course I remember,’ Katy replied.

‘Well, one of them, two of them, I don’t know… We saw them… the music… Vlada, Imrana…’ She stopped speaking. For a second Katy thought she had stopped breathing. Then she lifted her head and in an expressionless voice said, ‘The shells landed next to the steps of the old concert hall. The shells exploded in the crowd at Zeljko’s concert. They’d just started playing. And sixteen people, innocent people, died in seconds. My friends, Vlada and Imrana. And two of the saxophonists, killed, just like that.’

‘Zeljko?’ Katy couldn’t stop herself. ‘What about Zeljko?’

‘I think he survived,’ Carla said. ‘That’s what I heard. But I don’t know.’

Katy woke up early the next morning. The sky beyond the hotel window was still grey. There was silence all around. No voices. No traffic. No guns. She realised that she was still dressed although she was under the bed covers. She had a terrible headache. The room smelt of cigarette smoke.

She managed to get out of bed, take off her clothes and go into the bathroom. The water was hot and made her feel slightly better. Afterwards she put on a clean pair of jeans and a blue shirt. She stood blankly at the window and watched the sky gradually getting lighter over the quiet city. Without really thinking she switched on her laptop and read the emails that were waiting for her. One of them was from her friend Benjamin. She read it, but without interest.

Hi

I hope this won’t come as an unpleasant shock, but I’ve betrayed you! Yes, that’s it. I’ve actually gone off with someone else. In fact I’ve moved in with her. Millie. A lawyer. You’ll really like her, I know you will. How are you out there? Please stay safe. Will you ever forgive me?!

Your ex-would-be-lover Benjamin

Your piece about the girls was really excellent. It’s on our front page today. Keep up the good work.

Caryl

Still moving automatically, without thinking or feeling, she switched off her computer, left her room and walked to the lift. When she got to the dining room it was empty except for one figure seated in the far corner with her back towards her.

‘My God,’ Carla said to her when Katy tapped her on the shoulder. ‘You look terrible.’

‘So do you,’ Katy said, ‘although with those dark glasses it’s difficult to be sure.’

‘I didn’t sleep at all last night after I left you. I don’t want people to see my eyes.’ Red eyes. Red from weeping.

Katy sat down opposite her friend. Then she stood up. Then she sat down again. There was something she had to do if only she could think straight. But her mind was still full of guns and children, rifle shots and music. Music! Suddenly she knew. She got up.

‘Where are you going?’ Carla asked. ‘They haven’t even started serving breakfast yet.’

‘I don’t want breakfast!’

‘It’ll do you good. We have to go on, you know. We have a job to do. That’s why we’re here.’ She was trying hard to be the old Carla again, not the Carla from a few hours before.

‘I don’t care about my job,’ Katy said. ‘I’ve got to find him.’

‘Find who? What are you talking about?’

‘Zeljko,’ Katy said, the name almost a cry, and she ran out of the room.