Gann stopped the vehicle under a stand of tall palms and said, “Here we are.”
Everyone got out and Gann opened a small wooden door in the plain, windowless façade. Miriam entered, then Gann waved his guests in.
It wasn’t that palatial, Purcell saw, but the whitewashed walls were clean and bright, and the floor was laid with red tile. Niches in the walls held ceramic jars filled with tropical flowers. They followed Miriam and Gann through an open arch into a paved courtyard where the round pool that Purcell had seen from the air sat among date palms. Black African violets grew beneath the palms, and bougainvillea climbed the walls of the other wings of the house.
Gann indicated a grouping of teak chairs and they sat.
A female servant appeared and Miriam said something to her and she left, then Miriam said to her guests, “I can offer you only fruit drinks and some bread.”
Purcell informed her, “We have about a hundred pounds of coffee beans in the aircraft. Please consider that our houseguest gift.”
Miriam smiled, turned to Gann, and said something in Amharic.
Gann, too, smiled, and Purcell had the feeling that Colonel Gann had briefed the princess about his friends.
Vivian said, “This is a beautiful house.”
“Thank you.”
Purcell went straight to the obvious question and asked Gann, “So, how did you two meet?”
Gann replied, “I was a friend of Miriam’s father back in ’41. Met him in Gondar after we kicked out the Italians.” He explained, “The Falashas own most of the weaving mills and silver shops in Gondar, and the bloody Fascists took everything from them because they are Jews, and arrested anyone who made a fuss about it. I found Sahle in a prison, half dead, and gave him a bit of bread and a cup of gin. Put him right in no time.” He continued, “Well, Sahle and I became friends, and before I left in ’43, I came to Shoan to see the birth of his daughter.” He looked lovingly at Miriam. “She is as beautiful as her mother.”
Vivian smiled and asked Miriam, “Are your parents… here?”
“They have passed on.”
Gann said, “Miriam has an older brother, David, who unfortunately went to Gondar on business a few months ago, and has not returned.” He added, “He is said to be alive in prison.” He added, “Getachu has him.”
The servant returned with a tray of fruit, bread, and ceramic cups that held purple juice. Everyone took a cup and the servant set the tray on a table. Miriam spoke with the woman, then said to her guests, “The aircraft is being hidden, and your luggage has arrived.” She also assured Mr. Purcell that the coffee beans were with the luggage, and coffee would be served later.
Gann raised his cup and said, “Welcome to Shoan.”
They all drank the tart juice, which turned out to be fizzy and fermented.
Gann said, “You must tell me everything.”
Purcell replied, “Henry is good at telling everything.”
Mercado started with their separate arrivals in Addis, and his finding Signore Bocaccio and his aircraft. Gann nodded, but he seemed to know some of this, and Purcell was impressed with the Royalist underground, or whatever counterrevolutionaries Gann was in touch with.
Mercado then described their aerial recon, and Vivian’s wonderful photography, and remembered to thank Gann for the maps, but forgot to compliment Purcell on his flying. Purcell noted, too, that Henry didn’t tell Sir Edmund that he, Henry Mercado, had recently fucked Frank Purcell’s girlfriend. But that wasn’t conversation for mixed company, though Henry might mention it later to Sir Edmund, man to man.
Purcell looked at Gann, then at Miriam, then at Mercado and Vivian. He hoped he was as lucky when he hit sixty. He thought, too, of Signore Bocaccio with his Ethiopian wife and children. If all went well — which it would not — they’d be in Rome in a few weeks; he, Vivian, Henry, Colonel Gann, Miriam, and the Bocaccio family, sitting in Ristorante Etiopia, drinking wine out of the Holy Grail. That was not going to happen, but it was nice to think it.
Henry was getting to the good part — the part where Frank Purcell shot down an armed Ethiopian Air Force helicopter. Henry said to Purcell, “Perhaps you’d like to tell this, Frank.”
Purcell understood that this was a good story for a bar, far away from Ethiopia. But here, it was not a good story. In fact, he had put them all in mortal danger. Though in Ethiopia, that was redundant.
“Frank?”
“Well, I think this chopper was looking for us, and I think our old friend General Getachu had sent him. So the game was up, one way or the other, and we — I—decided to take this guy out.”
Gann asked, “Do you have weapons with you?”
“No.” He explained about the rocket pod, and his creative use of the smoke markers. He didn’t go into detail, but he did say, “I rode in a lot of Hueys in ’Nam, covering the war, and I saw them using smoke rockets.” He added, “Looked easy.” He also explained, “We were dead anyway. Or worse than dead if we landed in Gondar.”
Gann nodded. “Quite right.”
Vivian let Gann know, “They fired a machine gun at us. Frank was very brave. I was petrified.”
Mercado admitted, “I was a bit anxious myself.”
Gann thought about this, then asked, “Did you see any other aircraft?”
Purcell replied, “No.”
Gann said, “They’re probably looking for you on the way to the French territory.”
“We thought about heading there, instead of here. Or Sudan.”
“Well, good that you didn’t.” He informed them, “You wouldn’t have made it.” He let them know, “The Ethies don’t have many jets — just a few Mirages — but they are getting Russian helicopter gunships with Russian pilots, and you would probably have met them on your way to Somalia or Sudan.”
Purcell nodded, then said, “Sorry, though, if we’ve put you in a difficult situation.”
It was Miriam who said, “We are already in a difficult situation. You are most welcome here.”
“Thank you.”
Vivian assured her, “We won’t be here long.”
Miriam looked at Vivian and said, “You are welcome to stay, and you are welcome to leave for French Somaliland, and we can help you with that journey.” She continued, “But I would prefer if you did not go to the place where you wish to go.”
Vivian replied, “We have come a long way to find this place.” She assured Miriam, “We mean no harm to these monks, or to their religious objects.”
“I understand that from Edmund. I understand, too, that you think you have been chosen to find this place. And I respect your beliefs. But I can offer you no assistance with your search.”
Purcell asked, “Why not?”
She looked at him and replied, “We here in Shoan have a sacred covenant with the monks of the black monastery.”
Purcell reminded her, “You’re Jewish. They’re Copts.”
“That does not matter. We are of the same tradition for two thousand years.”
“Right. Well, all we’re asking then is a good night’s sleep and food to take on our journey.”
“I will gladly give you that, but I wish you would reconsider that journey.”
“Can’t do that.”
Miriam didn’t reply.
Purcell said, “And we may have to return here at some point.”
“You are welcome to do that, but we may not be here when you return.”
Purcell looked at Gann and reminded him, “You let us know you were here.” He asked, “Why?”
Gann hesitated, then replied, “I would like to go with you.” He explained, “I’ve spoken to Miriam, and she understands that we believe that the object you are looking for is in danger, and it must be taken to a safe place, though she believes the monks themselves could do that.”