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It was a small plane. Apart from David and Claudia, they were all seated at the back by the time Katerina and Noah boarded. Katerina was in the aisle opposite Claudia. It was a relief to avoid the rest of the group.
She looked out the window while they waited for takeoff, hoping to avoid conversation with the older woman too. It was a clear, cloudless day, the sun’s reflection off the plane blinding. It made the figure by the plane-wing beneath her difficult to see. Obviously an employee, dressed in an orange uniform. He was standing by the hose fueling the plane. She watched idly as he pulled a small can from his jacket, glancing around quickly. She averted her eyes with a sigh. It was going to be an interesting flight if she couldn’t even make eye contact with a stranger who was simply working.
When she looked back, the figure had gone, the hose still in place pumping unsupervised. Not a nervous flier normally it worried her, bringing the dead man in the airport instantly to mind. To her relief, less than a minute later another worker appeared to monitor it, a different one, much stockier and taller. She was obviously on edge over nothing.
They had been in the air for about an hour when Katerina looked back to see most of the others were now asleep. She could hear Alice and Madeleine talking softly. Alice seemed sweet. She could hear it in her voice; see it in her smile. Madeleine on the other hand sounded a little too pleased with herself. She suspected the girl’s confidence was that of the extremely wealthy who are accustomed to getting what they want.
When she turned back, Claudia was watching her. To her surprise, the older woman asked, “Young lady are you alright?” Katerina frowned, unsure how to answer that. “It’s just that I could see you were quite upset at the airport.”
“I just broke up with my boyfriend,” she admitted.
“Oh honey, I’m sorry to hear that. Was he a good one or not so good?”
“I thought he was a good one but it turns out I was wrong.”
“Well then, I’ll pray for a much better man to come along for you.”
“You’ll pray?”
“You know what that means, right? I’ll ask God to help you.”
Katerina grinned in amusement. “I’ll be amazed if He wants to help me, but sure, go ahead. I could obviously do with some divine intervention in this area.”
“What do you think fooled you?”
The question surprised Katerina. But it was a pertinent one, so she found herself telling Claudia all about Patrick: their meeting, their relationship, their problems — but the good things too. It felt great to offload to a stranger. Claudia was an exceptional listener, prompting her just enough to keep going. The one comment she made was, “He certainly seemed less interested in you and more interested in himself. Not a good recipe for a happy marriage.”
When Claudia excused herself eventually to go to the bathroom, Katerina leaned back and closed her eyes wearily. It was oddly tiring talking about Patrick but such a relief too. She was drifting towards sleep when David started speaking. She thought he was addressing her, but his eyes were shut. He was moving around restlessly, his words mostly indistinguishable. Just as she lost interest he said quite clearly, “It’s the last group...it has to work...you’ll take care of me, won’t you?”
The words were so strange that when Claudia returned Katerina asked, “How do you know David? Is he your nephew or something?”
“Oh no, he goes to my church. He’s just new to Seita so he’s got no family to spend the holidays with. When he told me how much he wanted time away I decided to share this trip with him.”
“You don’t know him very well then?”
“Not really, no. The break will do him good though.”
“He said something quite strange in his sleep. I was just curious whether you knew what it meant...” But Claudia professed to have no idea.
They both settled into their chairs to rest then. But sleep wouldn’t come for Katerina. There was too much running through her mind...Patrick, Patrick and Nicole, the murdered man, the blood...
After twenty minutes of mental torment she sighed and sat up. Claudia was watching her, her face concerned. “What is it?” Katerina asked.
“I’m afraid you might think I’m a bit crazy. I have no idea how to say this to you...it’s just that I feel like God wants me to give you a message.”
“Really?” Katerina asked, trying and failing to hide the skepticism in her voice. “That’s ah...interesting...”
“I know. It sounds weird, but please, would you humor me?” Katerina shrugged. “Thank you...I think He’s saying you’ve been searching for Him in all the wrong places but within a short time you’re going to find Him, because you’re really going to need Him. And, look, I don’t know what this means, but I feel like you are all,” she waved down the plane towards the group sitting, reclining, reading, talking, sleeping down the back, “going to face some pretty full-on things soon.” Katerina was silent, waiting, because she had no idea how to respond. Claudia added, “I know I sound kind of crazy and I’ve been wrestling with whether to say anything, but I guess if nothing happens you can just write it off as a crazy old lady imagining things, right?”
“Right,” Katerina really did like the older woman. There was a calming warmth about her.
“There’s something else,” Claudia continued. Before Katerina could register what she was doing Claudia had taken her hand, dropped something into her palm and closed her fingers around it. Surprised, Katerina uncurled her fist. A slightly tarnished white-gold ring was nestled in her palm. It looked ancient. “It’s one of several rings my late husband brought me back from his trips overseas. It’s engraved on the inside in Hebrew with ‘the truth will set you free.’ Don’t look so horrified. I’ve been wearing it for the last few months just waiting for the right person to give it to.”
“But you hardly know me...and this looks expensive...I mean, we only just met,” Katerina objected.
“It doesn’t matter, I just know this ring is for you. Now put it on.” Shaken, Katerina obeyed. “It’s a very special ring actually. It was given to Rick by a Messianic Jew in Jericho. He told Rick it was centuries old and had been passed down through his family. He seemed to think it had some sort of supernatural power but I imagine that’s just superstition. It’s just a ring.”
“Supernatural good or supernatural bad?”
“Good of course,” Claudia laughed. “I wouldn’t give it to you otherwise. He claimed it would bring blessing to its owner.”
“And has it?” Katerina asked, serious though Claudia was brushing it off.
“Well, I became a Christian within a week of him giving it to me and that’s the most blessed thing that has ever happened to me,” Claudia mused. “But then a year later Rick was killed by a drunk driver and that’s definitely the least blessed thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, I know I’ll see him again,” Claudia said. Then she shook her head, “I’m sorry. That came out a little sharply. I’m still tender even after all this time.”
David chose that moment to wake up. He smiled at them both, stretched then got up and wandered down the aisle to the bathroom. The speed with which he had woken struck Katerina — had he been eavesdropping? She had to laugh at herself for the thought. She had always been naturally suspicious; her criminology lecturers commending her on her powers of observation. Her boyfriends had hated it...but then it had certainly paid off with Patrick.
She shook the line of thought off and asked Claudia, “Did Rick tell you anything else about the ring?”
The older lady looked embarrassed, “He did, but if I tell you, you mustn’t take it too seriously. He was given a quote with it, but it’s written in Hebrew and we’ve never had it properly translated. The man only gave Rick a rough translation.” She was reaching down to her bag.
“You have it with you?”
“Well I thought I would probably pass it on with the ring. I mean, I put it in my bag when I started wearing the ring intending to give it away. I carry everything in my bag anyway.”
“You certainly do,” Katerina had never seen such a jam-packed bag, a black imitation leather thing bursting at the seams. She looked idly out the window while she waited. It felt like they were starting to descend and indeed the cloud cover was thinner, wispier. Through a break in the white she suddenly saw the ocean below, pea-green and aqua merging together rimming the edge of an island in the near distance. Their prize island perhaps?
“Here it is!” Claudia held up a piece of paper, waved it triumphantly and handed it over. It read: ‘In danger wisdom will shield you. In uncertainty wisdom will guide you. From deception wisdom will guard you.’
Thoughtfully, Katerina put the paper down and studied Claudia. For some reason a huge sense of destiny was rolling over her. The woman was right — the ring was meant for her. It made her nervous.
She needed to move around, rising to go to the bathroom, then paused and said gratefully, “Thank you. You are very generous to give me such a valuable thing.”
“You’re a very special young lady. It’s right you should have this.”
Noah, Caleb and Madeleine all appeared to be asleep as Katerina reached the back of the plane. David had taken a seat across the aisle from Josiah talking quietly with him, and Alice was in the bathroom. While she waited, she occupied herself with unobtrusively comparing the four boys.
There was no denying Noah was gorgeous; he looked like a movie star. In truth, she had never met such an attractive man before. It was in the sculpted structure of his face, his wavy black hair and dark blue eyes, his pent-up intensity even when sleeping. It was even in the way he was dressed — jeans and a tight knitted black top, casual but becoming. Enough, she told herself. He was rude and quick-tempered.
Caleb was handsome in a different, somehow calmer way. Like you could safely take him home to meet your parents. He had light brown hair, calm brown eyes, a steady quiet air. She assumed he must be reasonably clever to be a lawyer.
Josiah was more mysterious. She suspected he had a touch of Arab in him. His features certainly suggested it — black curly hair, olive skin, the ‘Arab’ nose. He was intently focused on David, unaware of her perusal.
David on the other hand was looking at her quite deliberately, catching her eye boldly. He was attractive in a way though not her type; a little Scandinavian in his features, more forward than she appreciated. He was still talking with Josiah when she came out of the bathroom, again studying her pointedly.
She had just started back down the aisle when the plane lurched violently. She would have fallen but Josiah grabbed her arm, moving so she could sit by him as it pitched again. “Thank you,” she got out before the plane swooped up and down so dramatically several people cried out.
The ‘fasten seatbelt’ sign was flashing and she obeyed it hastily. Everyone had woken now as the plane staggered again. “What’s going on?” Madeleine called over the cries filling the cabin with each fresh jolt.
“Perhaps we’re landing,” Josiah answered. He was shoving photos back into their packet — reaching for some on the floor beside Katerina. She bent to grab one that was sliding away as the plane jolted violently again, then froze, staring at the glossy rectangle. Staring right back at her was the man she had seen shot dead in the airport just a few hours ago.
“Who’s this?” she got out, thrusting the photo at him.
“Simon. He was meant to come with me. He missed the flight. Hopefully he’ll catch the next one.” He was stuffing the photos heedlessly into a computer bag.
She turned away because she couldn’t face telling him the truth. And she had to focus on not throwing up because the plane was like a roller-coaster now, dipping and rising, nausea-inducing. Turbulence? Or the pilot fighting for control?
When it jolted again more violently and lurched sideways the loudspeaker crackled. “This is Kevin Grimsey, your pilot. We are experiencing some turbulence. Please remain in your seats and, as a safety precaution, use the oxygen masks and put on your lifejackets. Our landing may be a little rough today...” He sounded strained.
“This is a joke, right?” Madeleine cried. No one answered her.
Straight away Josiah was yanking two jackets out from under their seats. He planted one in Katerina’s hands and commanded, “Put it on — quickly!”
Moments later, with a popping sound, oxygen masks dropped out of the compartments above them. She glanced out the window and immediately knew the pilot’s prediction was a euphemism. They were clearly going to crash-land. Not only was the plane tilting, bumping, shaking, they were rushing frantically towards the ground. Worse, far far worse, there were sparks flying from the wing nearest her — a cloud of bright-red embers — by the fueling hose.
They had completely cleared the cloud cover now. She jammed the oxygen mask over her face and started breathing into it. She could see the ocean rushing to greet them. It made her head spin.
She had heard no one ever survived crashes at sea. The plane’s weight would draw it to a watery grave. Whether true or not, the idea drowned her with dread. She got her lifejacket on with difficulty, fingers shaking with fear.
She missed the pilot’s next announcement until Josiah’s urgent voice got through to her. “Hey! Get into the crash position!”
“The crash position?”
“We’re going to crash!” He was shouting at her. She obeyed hastily.
Time froze as they waited for impact. All Katerina could think was I’m going to die. Over and over like a mantra.
The plane went into a sliding, vicious nose-dive. The cabin filled with screams, muffled by the masks. They missed the water by inches and hit the beach instead, a violent massive impact.
They were flung about, seatbelts just containing them. Luggage compartments burst open, expelling suitcases onto them.
The plane kept going, skidding wildly in the sand. There was a brief glimpse of sky and sand and jungle then a final massive impact as the plane collided with a towering rock-face.
The nose of the plane imploded in on itself as they spun round again with a grinding, crushing, deathly sound. Then, finally, the shuddering slowly subsided, though their screams continued to split the air.
