I am on one of the chapters that is my present day story. Well, not exactly present day but 2001. Why that year, you ask? Because it had to be realistic that a character from WWII could still be alive AND the added drama of the World Trade Center has to play into the character's life and motivation. And so in my present day story Caroline Grant's husband has gone to New York to enter a fashion competition, stayed there, made a name for himself and now wants equal custody of their son. The son has been with him for the summer but when it comes time to return him there have been excuses-an ear infection and the doctor says he shouldn't fly. And then the Twin Towers....
. The Venice Inheritance/Key/Sketchbooks, Legacy, Secret etc
That year in Venice, Long Ago in Venice. The (Three) keys to Venice
The first Caroline knew of it was a
strange hysterical sobbing that came from the conference room. Intrigued she
followed the sound and found people already crowded inside the door, staring at
the television screen that sat on a shelf at the far end of the room. One young
secretary had her hands to her mouth and was producing great heaving sobs while
an older editor had an arm around her shoulder. The others were strangely
silent. Caroline stared at the screen, unable to realize immediately what she
was seeing. She looked to a colleague.
“What
is it?”
“The
World Trade Centre in New York. Apparently an aeroplane flew into one of the skyscrapers. A big
passenger jet. The upper floors are on fire.”
“How
terrible. How sad.”
Suddenly
the girl at the front screamed and pointed. “There’s another one. Look!”
And
they watched in horror as a second passenger jet flew in direct line at the
second tower, striking it in a fireball.
“It
can’t be an accident,” someone said.
“It
must be a terrorist attack.”
“I bet it’s
that idiot Osama Bin Laden.”
“Oh
God. How many more of them might there be?”
Caroline
couldn’t speak. She was finding it hard to breathe. My son is in New York, she
thought. She hadn’t ever checked where exactly Desiree’s penthouse was in the
city. Surely not in the financial district where the towers were. Surely
somewhere suitably safe and far away…
She
pushed her way past more people who now blocked the doorway, rushed to her desk
and fumbled in her purse for her telephone book. Her hand was trembling so much
that she found it hard to dial the number.
“I’m
sorry. All circuits are currently busy” said a mechanical voice. “Please try again later.”
She
tried every fifteen minutes, all night, until about three in the morning the
phone at the other end rang. “Hello?” said a sleepy woman’s voice. “What is
it?”
“It’s
Caroline Grant,” She gasped out the words. “Is Josh there? And Teddy? You’re
all safe?”
“Oh
yes. We’re fine. We’re up in the nineties. Miles away. Josh tried to call you
yesterday, after it happened, but nobody could make phone-calls. It was
unbelievable, wasn’t it? Surreal, watching those towers fall.”
“Awful,”
Caroline agreed. “Can I speak to Josh, please?”
“He’s
still asleep. Hold on a minute. I’ll wake him for you.”
Caroline
heard her saying “Your ex-wife on the phone, from London. You’d better wake up.”
Then
a long pause and Josh’s voice. “Hey, Cara. We’re fine. I tried to call you.
Everything’s okay here. The kids were quite upset when they saw it, but they’ll
get over it. Talk to you later, okay?”
She
put down the phone and gave a big sigh of relief. They were fine. Her son was
fine. She swallowed back tears. News programs on TV broadcast almost incessant
updates. The Pentagon hit. Another plane crashing in a field in Pennsylvania.
All flights canceled. All transportation stalled. Saudi nationals responsible…
and yes, it was that idiot Osama Bin Laden behind it.
Again
she waited patiently to see when flights would resume. They’d all be
overbooked, of course. All those people trapped in New York, waiting to get
out. Finally she made contact with Josh. “When do you think you can fly again?Teddy’s
missing school.”
“I
was going to call you, “Josh said. “Teddy’s been having nightmares. We took him
to Desiree’s shrink. He says the child has a real terror of planes right now
and shouldn’t fly for a while. So we’ll find a school for him here.”
You might want to ask what this might have to do with Venice: well, you'll just have to wait for the book to come out next year to find out!
