H.R.H. (12 page)

Christianna hesitated at her question. “I was thinking about public relations. My father does that, and actually he's in politics and economics a bit, too. I like business a lot. I majored in economics in school.” It was all true, to a degree, depending on how you viewed it.

“I can't do math at all. I can barely count,” Fiona said, not entirely accurately. Christianna knew it had taken her seven years to become a midwife, including nursing school, so she must have been a decent student, or at least a persevering one. And she obviously loved her work. “I think business would be too boring,” Fiona said honestly. “All those numbers. I love working with people. You can never predict it, especially here.” She lay back on her bed with a sigh. She was going out that evening to visit patients, and usually tried to rest for a while before that, so she would be fresh and alert. She had a number of patients who were about to deliver at any moment. They were planning to send runners if she was needed, and she would go out to them in the ancient Volkswagen bug that had been at the camp for years. For Fiona, it was a thrill each time a new life came into the world. And here in Africa, she saved babies' and mothers' lives more often than not. The conditions she worked in were primitive beyond belief. She was good at what she did.

Christianna lay on her cot quietly for a few minutes. She wanted to get up and unpack and look around. She was too excited to sleep, but for a moment, her body felt heavy, and her eyelids began to flutter. Fiona looked over at her and smiled. She seemed like a sweet girl, and Fiona had to admire her for coming to East Africa at her age. It was a pretty brave thing to do, and just as she looked over at her, Christianna's eyes opened wider again, as she glanced at Fiona on the next cot.

“What about the snakes?” She sounded worried, and Fiona laughed out loud at the question.

“Everyone asks that the first day here. They're scary, but we don't see a lot of them.” She didn't tell her that a puff adder had slithered into the tent two weeks before, but usually they didn't. “We'll show you pictures of which ones to look out for. You get used to it after a while.” Fiona saw more snakes than most of the workers in the camp, since she was out in the bush a lot, visiting her patients.

Both women lay quietly for a few minutes, and without wanting to, Christianna drifted off to sleep. She was absolutely exhausted, and when she woke, Fiona was gone. Christianna went outside to look for the others. There were several people walking around the compound.

Christianna saw Akuba and smiled at her. She was leading a child by the hand into one of the huts. And the man called Yaw was hammering something intently. She looked around her, and there was a beauty to the night that she had never seen in her life before, that African light that people talked about, and the air was like a caress on her cheek. She noticed then that there was another tent, behind the huts. She followed the sounds she heard from there, and discovered the entire Red Cross crew, sitting at long refectory tables with rough-hewn benches, eating. Christianna looked instantly embarrassed, though far more rested than when she left them earlier. She had needed the sleep, but was afraid it made her look lazy, which was no way to start.

“I'm so sorry,” she said apologetically when she saw Geoff and Maggie. The full crew was there, minus Fiona, who was out in the bush delivering a baby, and had been gone for hours. Including Christianna, Max, and Samuel, they were seventeen now, of actual Red Cross workers. There were at least a dozen local Eritreans who worked with them, and Akuba and Yaw, who were from Ghana. “I fell asleep.” She looked mortified, but Samuel and Max looked pleased to see her, as did the others. They had just started eating. They were eating chicken and vegetables, and a huge bowl of rice with fruit mixed into it. They worked hard, and the quantities were generous enough to keep them going.

“You needed the sleep,” Geoff said sensibly. “We'll show you everything you need to see tomorrow. I've already given Sam and Max the tour.” They had discreetly asked him to see everything, which was part of their duties as security covering her. But they had been fascinated by what they'd seen, and both men had been enchanted by the children, who seemed to be everywhere in the camp, dozens of them, all smiling, laughing, giggling, playing, as were some of their elders. The locals seemed like an exceptionally happy people, smiling or laughing all the time. Even the sick ones staying at the center were friendly and good-humored.

Mary indicated an empty place for her to sit, next to Laure, and Christianna climbed over the bench and sat down. Didier was on Laure's other side, chatting to her in French, and Ernst was on Christianna's other side. He had been making idle chitchat with Max and Sam, in Swiss German since they were all Swiss by nationality, although Samuel was half Israeli and had served in both armies. Christianna understood them and laughed a couple of times. Then she turned to Laure and said something in French. There was no response. She blatantly ignored Christianna, and continued talking to Didier. She obviously had a chip on her shoulder, and Christianna had no idea why. She had done nothing to offend her.

Christianna chatted easily with Mary Walker across the table instead. She was explaining the AIDS epidemic they were dealing with, and then went on to explain to Christianna what kala azar was, which was actually black fever, and sounded more like the plague, which involved blackening of the feet, face, hands, and abdomen. It sounded awful to Christianna, especially over dinner. Geoff added a few more gory details. But Christianna found it all fascinating, particularly their AIDS work. Mary mentioned that the Médecins Sans Frontières team, Doctors Without Borders, would be coming back in a few weeks. They flew in once a month, bringing a larger medical team than the one they had on hand at the camp in Senafe. When necessary, they brought surgeons, and did surgery as needed. They flew in for emergencies as well, although most of the time Mary and Geoff handled everything that came up, including emergency appendectomies, and cesarean sections. They were a full-service operation, Geoff said, teasing. He spoke highly of the Doctors Without Borders teams, which flew all over Africa in small planes, and delivered medical services wherever required, even in war zones, or the most remote places.

“They're an amazing bunch,” he commented, as he helped himself to a huge portion of dessert. He was rail thin, and obviously burned off whatever he ate. He had eaten a healthy dinner, as had all the men at the table. The women seemed to eat less, although they ate well, too. They all worked hard, and enjoyed their evenings talking and laughing together over dinner. Most of them ate lunch on the fly, and Mary told Christianna that breakfast was served in the same tent at six-thirty. They started work early. Local women did the cooking, and had learned the kind of European dishes they all liked. Maggie was the only American on the team, and said the only thing she really missed from home was ice cream. She said she dreamed of it sometimes. She was a long, long way from home, but seemed immensely happy. They all were, except Laure, whom Christianna had noticed all through dinner. She always looked sad, and spoke very little. The only one she spoke to, in undertones in French, was Didier. She said very little to the others, and nothing at all to them throughout dinner. The others were all making an obvious effort to get to know Christianna and the two men who had come with her. Geoff had poured her two glasses of wine they had served in celebration of their arrival. And Max and Sam already seemed to be integrated into the group, among the men. There was a lot of bantering during dinner, and bad jokes in French, English, and German, all of which she spoke. It was a wonderfully international group.

It was late when they all finally got up, and walked out into the warm African night, still talking and laughing. The men invited Max and Sam to play cards with them, and they accepted and said they would be back in the tent in a few minutes. They couldn't say it, of course, but they had to be sure that Christianna had settled into her tent for the night, which was after all why they were there. Geoff and Maggie went back to their tent arm in arm, and the cluster of women wandered slowly toward theirs, still chatting. Fiona hadn't come in yet, and the others assumed she was delivering a baby somewhere. The mortality rate among newborns in East Africa was terrifying, mostly in the twenty-four hours immediately before or after delivery. Fiona was single-handedly trying to improve those statistics, and she had convinced many of the local women to get prenatal care, and attended every delivery she could.

Christianna asked if they worried about her traveling around alone at night. Mary Walker commented that she was fearless and the surrounding areas were pretty safe. They were close to the Ethiopian border, which was always somewhat concerning, but there hadn't been any problems or overt violations of the truce in several years, not that it couldn't happen. She said that the truce between the two countries was always tense, and the Ethiopians continued to feel that they had gotten a bad deal. They still wanted Eritrea's ports, but there had been no problems in Senafe, and the young Irish midwife was much loved by all those she tended. One of the other women Christianna had met that night, Ushi, was a German woman who was a teacher, and worked with the local children. She said that Fiona always had a gun on her, when she traveled at night, and she wasn't afraid to use it, although she'd never had to. Carrying weapons wasn't encouraged, but Fiona did it anyway, and given the circumstances, it was probably smart. Ushi, short for Ursula, had been warm and welcoming to Christianna and the two men. They all were, except for Laure, who walked back to the tent ahead of them in silence. She seemed like a very unhappy girl, and she had continued to glance at Christianna with inexplicable but visible dislike.

The women chatted once they were in the tent, and put on their pajamas. Christianna would have loved a bath, or a shower, but had already been told it wasn't possible. There was an outdoor shower they all used in the morning, or early evening, as young local girls poured water over them, and boys did the same for the men. It was primitive, but Christianna had been told about it beforehand, so she wasn't surprised. She wasn't afraid of the discomforts she might encounter, and the other women teased her about snakes and lions, and told her they might get into the tent at night. They teased everyone about it when they arrived. They were all like girls at camp, and Christianna loved it. It was everything she had hoped for, and she already loved the gentle Senafe women she'd seen. They were so beautiful and exotic and always smiled.

Christianna was asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Some of the women read in the light of their battery-operated lamps. Others slept. They had taken her to the bathroom outside, and one of them had stayed with her, because she was still afraid of snakes, but nothing terrible had happened. It was a rudimentary outdoor affair that in essence was nothing more than a hole in the ground with a seat over it, a shovel, and a big bag of lime. That was going to take some getting used to, Christianna thought to herself with a small shudder, but one did what one had to. She suspected she'd get used to it in time. She was sound asleep before any of the others, some of whom talked in quiet whispers, and said they liked her. She seemed like a very sweet girl, and would be a good addition to the team. They had the feeling she came from a good family, probably from money. She was well spoken, discreet, polite, and spoke several languages fluently, but she was also without artifice or pretension and seemed extremely straightforward and natural, and they liked that about her.

Laure shrugged as she listened and said nothing. Mary wondered if she was jealous, since they were about the same age, but she wasn't close to the others in the camp either. Laure was the only squeaky wheel in the group, and seemed unhappy most of the time. She was going home in two months, according to plan. She was one of those rare people who hadn't fallen in love with Africa, neither the continent nor the people, and hadn't enjoyed much or anything about it. She had brought her problems and sorrows with her. Mary knew from Laure's aunt, Marque, that she had been jilted nearly at the altar, two days before her wedding, and her fiancé had run off with her best friend and married her. Laure had been miserable ever since, and still was, and even the distraction of working there hadn't helped her much. She was going back to working at UNICEF in Geneva, and seemed to have benefited little from the extraordinary experience she'd had here. She was surprisingly cynical, and even bitter, for someone so young.

Fiona came in at four in the morning, and the others were all asleep by then. She had delivered two babies that night, and everything had gone well. She got into her bed, and was asleep within minutes. At six o'clock, their alarm clocks started going off, and the women began to stir. They were all good humored when they got up, and headed to the shower together, in their bathrobes, with their towels over their arms. Fiona was up and on her feet with the rest of them, and in good humor, after two hours of sleep. She was used to it, and did it often. She almost never slept in, unless she'd had an exceptionally rough night. But even then, she was usually in good spirits. She loved to sing old Gaelic songs in the shower at the top of her lungs, just to annoy them, and they always groaned and told her how awful her voice was. She loved it. She was the camp clown.

Christianna was dressed and in the dining tent promptly at six-thirty. She ate a hearty breakfast of porridge and eggs, with a bowl of berries that had been grown in the camp. She drank an enormous glass of orange juice and smiled at Max and Sam when they walked in. Breakfast was quick since everyone was busy, and by seven o'clock everyone was doing their jobs and hard at work. Christianna saw Max leave in an old car shortly after that, and Samuel told her quietly that he was going into Senafe, to the post office, to call her father and report in. She nodded, and as directed, followed Mary into the main hut, where the women and children with AIDS were treated and housed.