Glass Curtain, | |||
|
Chapter 59 - Coromandel Peninsula || All Chapters | |||
| |||
| Tadek Vangard felt he was fed up with his vagabond life,the constant movement across both Islands of New Zealand with his car,Ford Mondeo.He dreamt about going back to normal life,to be able to sit down in an apartment or a house he would rent,and do so for long days,weeks and months.There were already the last days of August 1992 and the winter was being swept away by the winds of spring.Oh,he thanked God the winter was finally coming to an end! New Zealand was relatively a warm country but the winter nights could be deadly. How many times he shivered from cold he was unable to say.He felt energy was returning to him,especially in the mornings of the Sun�s beaming rays.They brought life,enjoyment and optimism to him.They cured the deep wounds in his body and soul.As deep as a human being could expierence. He emigrated out of Poland,his native country,in search of freedom and,instead,had to hide himself.He emigrated to the outskirts of the world only to realize he did not find peace he was looking for. Entire world seemed to have forgotten about him.Ironically,except of those who wanted him dead or mortally wounded.No doubt,Carlos and the guys sent by Andreyev Golubin,must have sought him over the entire country.They must have been like vultures which if they caught him would tear him to pieces,without bothering whether he were alive at that moment.They were like the vultures which circled around the caves of freedom fighters such as Nelson Mandela and Yaser Arafat.They had no regard to the sanctity of life at all! They enjoyed killing and spreading death. Unfortunately,the world was still full of the messangers of death,from Bosnia and Kosovo to Israel and Palestine.People did not want to learn to appreciate each other,to accommodate each other and fulfill one�s desire to live in his own home,the home of the many levels,from the material one which sheltered him and his family to the one which embraced entire nation and was called a country.Why there could be beloved America and no place for Palestine? Why there could be equally beloved Russia and no place for Chechenya? Why the world seemed to have been so indifferent? Why the Israelis and Palestinians were so blind towards each other? Why they did not want to accept each other and reach with generous hands to themselves? Both nations had equal rights to their nationhood and peaceful coexistence in the Middle East,yet they played a never ending deadly game which directed them nowhere.They were Abels and Cains blinded by hatred! They gave way to violence and terror too easily and the bloodbath on both sides seemed to have no end.Holly Land of Jerozolima had colour of blood.Even during the holly days of Jesus Christ's anniversary of birth and His agony of dying for the sins of people of the world.Bullets and bombs were flying through God Allmighty who was sitting on his throne there,in the Holly Land,and looked,with astonishment,at the madness around Him.Who dared they do what they did! Who dared they do what they did in the Holly Land! The land He chose! The world was at the crossroads.Tadek Vangard did not doubt it.First the bolshevism,then the fascism,then communism and finally fanatism yet once again like through long centuries before,with all its brands.What was wrong with the human civilisation? Was there a way out? He thought there might be a way out but only if people will ever want so.Religions in his mind should be split from the state affairs of any country of the world because it were the religions-as systems- who breeded fanaticism of all brands.He was not against religions but he was against using them and implementing them as systems in many countries around the world.Such countries were as much dangeorous for the world as the nazi Germany of Adolf Hitler or the Soviet Union which finally was being dismantled,to the relief of the entire world.He envisioned the world as the one which would be governed by the forces of liberalism,typical to the one which was rooted in the United States and much of Europe.Furthermore,he envisioned the world as one which would respect human rights,freedom and individuality of every single person.This was the case already in the West.It just needed to be spread.Yet there was a tremendous unequality in the levels of prosperity around the world,from malnutrished countries of sub-Saharan Africa to handsomely rich countries of the first world.There was nothing wrong with the riches of the Western countries but there was omen simply with underdeveloped regions of the third world. Could anything be done? Tadek Vangard thought there was a chance.The chance was as much in free trade and fair globalisation as in a free movement of international companies across the world and finally,what was the most crucial matter,in ability for the international companies to be able to move their headquarters to any part of the world they wished,without being afraid for sanctions and punishment.This last model,of moving headquarters,was not existent in any part of the world or just exercised in a minimal way.In the meantime it guaranteed more justful spread of wealth across the world.If it were implemented,perhaps Microsoft might move its headquarters to Hungary,Airbus to Nigeria and Daimler-Chrysler to Mexico�Who knows!!! At first Tadek Vangard travelled much across the South Island which he regarded safer than the North Island.He was in Dunedin for some time,in Queenstown and youth hostels along the Milford Sounds and even came to the Dick Butterby�s estate once but realised he was away.The lady who looked after his house told him he was in the States.In May when it became more and more cold because the autumn was being replayced by winter he decided to move back to the North Island,promising to himself to be more careful. Despite it,the first thing he did when he found himself in the vicinity of Wellington he visited Angela Butterby at the hospital he knew she stayed.It was the Victoria Hospital in Brooklyn,one of the several Wellington�s districts.He was thrilled and shocked when he saw her.She was nearly completely paralysed and grimaced from pain.She could move a bit only her right hand.Tears appeared then in his eyes. -�This is because of me!�-He whispered.Despair covered his face. -�No,Tadek,this is not because of you!�-He heard suddenly.He looked up towards the bed and noticed Angela Butterby looked at him.He even had impression she tried to smile to him.He rushed then to her bed side,reached to her hand and kissed. -�Oh,dear Mrs.Butterby,I�m so sad,so thrilled! I can�t express the anguish for what he,Carlos,did to you! Oh,my,God,why he did it?!�� -�It�s just a fate,Tadek.�- He heard her say.A nurse came up then to him and reminded him he had to cut down the visit because for Angela Butterby it was too much.He gave then a long look at her. -�Good bye dear Mrs.Butterby.I love you like my own mother! You�ll always stay in my heart!�- He said to her with all the warmth he could express.She gave a thankful sign with her hand then. -�Bye,Tadek,and�be careful!�-She just said. How many times he had the picture of that meeting before his eyes! He sat at a side of a river of a lake and he recollected that meeting.He climbed a mountain he still had her before his eyes.He knew she stayed in him forever.In the vicinity of Wellington was not only dangerous because Carlos,most likely,might be there but also because it was too cold and even freezy there,what was caused by the never ending winds.Nothing strange that Wellington was called Windy Wellington! So he just went up north to the very northern part of the North Island and continued his vagabond life alongside many picturesque towns in the region and spectacular chain of mountains called Coromandel Mountains which were part of the same named Peninsula.The biggest town,naturally,was Auckland,not only the biggest in the region but also for the entire country.Its population numbered over eight hundred thousand inhabitants.Similarly as Wellington,it was chained by mountains and seasides around.The lookouts were breathtaking from every corner of the town.Two long and cold months passed,and finally also August was passing away,and there were first signs of the spring.How astonishing was it all! Winter in August and spring in September while there in his native country it was summer and autumn respectively! If not the cold nights under the open air,sometimes even freezy and bitter to an unbelievable point he would just be filled with never ending astonishment. In one morning he decided he will visit a family of Debbie and Bryan Butterby who were part of Angela Butterby�s family.He did so and was surprised how warmly they greeted him.They have already known what happened and now learnt from him he was a vagabond. -�No way!You no longer do the vagabond life! You stay with us!�- Debbie Butterby announced. -�But�my presence can bring a disaster to you!�- He weakly protested. -�Why?�- Bryan Butterby asked,despite that he certainly knew why. -�Carlos might find me here!� Bryan Butterby bursted with laugh. -�No,no way,my dear friend! He won�t find you!�- He simply said. -�I wouldn�t be so sure��- Tadek Vangard had a traumatic picture of Angela Butterby before his eyes. -�Don�t be afraid.We have another house,a beautiful villa hidden deep in the Coromandel mountains and yet staying just next to the seaside.No one will ever find you there.You can stay there as long as you wish!� Tadek Vangard did not know how to express his gratitude.He had definitely enough of the vagabond life and he simply dreamt of delicious nights as close to the fireplace as it might be possible.He was astonished a fireplace could rise to such a high esteem.But,probably,it was the case with all the vagabonds and homeless of the world.He accepted their proposal and the next morning they were on their way to Coromandel.When they arrived finally there,to the villa on the beach,Tadek Vangard thought he found himself in paradise.Devine blue sky and as much blue sea in which were mirrored the Coromandel mountains on the far end of the sea. -�God must have done a footstep here!�- He just whispered.Debbie and Bryan Butterby who heard his remark just smiled to themselves.Their sons arrived with their wives and children in the weekend.David,the older son of Bryan Butterby and his wife,Ursule,had two children:five year old Benjamin and two year old Angus.The other son of Bryan Butterby,Andrew,and his wife,Jenny,had two daughters,six years old Chelsea and four years old Claire,and also one year old son,Daniel.The kids were noisy every time a cat,Pathy,approached them.They stayed rather at the beach side most of the day.In the evening wives of both sons of Bryan Butterby went to their sleeping rooms with their children and the rest of the family and Tadek Vangard stayed downstairs in the living room and listened to a nice music Debbie Butterby played on a stylish,nineteenth century,mahogany fortepiano.The next day they again enjoyed the beach and somehow the weekend was soon over.All the Butterby family went back to Auckland and Tadek Vangard was left alone in the beach house.There was a library with all sorts of books so,in the case if he had nothing to do or felt bored,he could always reach for one of the books and enjoy reading it in the peacfulness of the Coromandel nature.Could there be a more breathtaking peacefulness? It was also this what he needed,as much as a fireplace he missed so much during his vagabond life.Days by days passed and he still enjoyed staying in the wonder house.Sometimes he just sat for hours in the veranda and had a look at the queen,the nature.New Zealanders had two queens as he once realised,with a smile in the corners of his mouth.One of the queens was the royal head of the British monarchy and also of the Commonwealth to which New Zealand belonged,Queen Elizabeth II.The other queen was the nature of the Coromandel Peninsula. The following weekend the Butterby family was back in the beach house,together with children and grandchildren and life pulsed with all its strength once again. They watched a movie on TV in the evening when a telephone rang.Debbie Butterby came up to it and reached for the handle. -�Debbie Butterby here!�- She said. She listened and became pale and then more pale on her face with every escaping second.Her eyes got moistured and then tears were going down her cheeks. -�God,it can�t be,it can�t be��- She finally whispered.Then she just droped the handle and collapsed to the chair.Everybody was already at her side. -�Debbie,what happened,for God�s sake,what happened?!�-Her husband demanded while holding her gently on both hands. -�Emilie�Emilie��- Debbie Butterby somehow was unable to say what she wanted to say.It was sure something terrible happened,something what concerned Emilie,the over twenty five years younger wife of Joseph Butterby. -�Something bad happened to her? He beat her again?�- Bryan Butterby inquired. -�Emilie is�dead!�- Debbie Butterby finally said and began to cry.Tadek Vangard thought he was hit by a lightning out of the blue sky,despite that there was already an evening.He remembered Emilie,from the Christmas party at the Angela Butterby�s estate.She was one of the most beautiful women,one of great stature and so young! Especially when compared with her husband,Joseph Butterby.He knew also,she had a cancer and despite that,she was often mistreated by her own husband who was rude to her. -�Debbie,and who spoke to you on the telephone?�- Bryan Butterby asked gently his wife. -�He�Joseph��-She continued to cry. -�Shit!�- Bryan Butterby cursed.He was also white faced from the agony. -�What now with their children,James?�Helene?�Agnew?�My God,such small kids and with no mother��- Debbie Butterby despaired. -�We�ll be looking after them.Don�t cry,mommy.�-Both,Ursule and Jenny tried to calm her down.David and Andrew stood at the window,silent,unable to say anything from the shock which engulfed them.This family had their new drama.First it was Angela Butterby,now it was Emilie Butterby. The phone again began to ring.Bryan Butterby rushed to it. -�Hallo,Bryan Butterby here.Who�s speaking?�Oh,Herman,hello!�Yes,how terrible!�Of course! You can be sure!�See you soon!�� He put aside the handle when he was finished with the telephone conversation. -�It was Herman�Herman van Veenen.- He announced.- He proposed in case if there are further problems with Joseph we take his children away from him,with his consent naturally,and bring them up.� Debbie Butterby already did not cry but she still loked devastated. -�That�s good,Bryan.At least this can we make for poor Emilie!� The evening was ruined and there was nothing else left as going to the sleeping rooms what everyone did.All the family Butterby was gone in the morning.Tadek Vangard in the meantime had again two long days of meditations and decided enough was enough.He spoke with Bryan Butterby on the telephone and let him know he goes away just in case if something terrible might happen again,this time because of his presence.He will participate at the funeral and then leave.He was very sad when he looked at all the members of Angela Butterby�s family who arrived for the funeral from all corners of New Zealand.Even Dick Butterby,the oldest son of Angela Butterby was present. Raquel Hendriks,Tadek Vangard's girlfriend just a year earlier,pretended not to see him.It was the least of a problem to him because the love he once felt to her was gone away like a morning mist which evaporates to the sky.But why she have not looked at all at Johan Dandermond? Was their relationship also finished? No,he preferred not to think about it at such an event. He,however,felt himself devastated by the suffering of all the other members of the Butterby family and could not simply look at the tragic expressions on the beautiful face of Helene Van Veenen and especially at her reddened eye sockets which proved she must have cried a lot.He felt himself devastated even more by the realisation of what Angela Butterby must have been going through because of her unability to attend the funeral. Emilie,the rose of the Butterby family,stayed in the hearts of all of them and they knew she was gone to God's embrace. One thing Tadek Vangard could certainly do for them was to wish them all the best and no more dramas.He did it with all his heart� | |||
|
|
|
| glasscurtain.funworldstar.com | funworldstar.com | funworld.be | funworld2.com | funworldgold.com | funworld.com.pl |