The Somber Side of a Scientific Mind. Christian Tyoder
up the handset, listened, smiling. “Are you serious, Henry? What? I can hardly believe it. Are you really hopeful in finding the third piece? Is it too late to get these two pieces on this afternoon courier? Thanks so much for your effort, and my best to you and Olivia.”
The mechanic went back to sit near the stove, facing the two travelers. “The junkyard’s owner that I mentioned to you earlier has successfully located the axle and one of the two strut rods we are searching for. The second one remains to be found, but Henri reassured me that, one way or another, he should be able to find it, very likely from the yard of steel scrap one of his friends owns. The first two components will arrive here in two days at the most, and if the second rod could be located within a couple of days, you two should be able to get back on the road by Thursday or Friday this week.”
Abd immediately replied, “Thank you very much for all the troubles. We would prefer that you do the repair.”
“Fine, I will be able to give you the final figure once I receive all the parts. My guess is that the total cost would be less than 80 FF [the exchange rate was $1.00 US for 4 French francs approximately]. Is it acceptable to you?”
“Certainly, it is very reasonable.” Abd knew he still had plenty of cash to pay Mr. Langvin. But the next urgent step was to find a place to stay until the car was repaired. He asked the mechanic the permission to use his phone. He called Mrs. Bojeau, who told him that both of them were welcome to stay at her place until her son’s monthly visit in two weeks. He informed the mechanic that they were going to stay at Mrs. Bojeau’s place.
Hans and Abd stood up, ready to leave, when Mr. Langvin reassured them, “I will give you a call as soon as the first two parts arrive. You are welcome to come and see how I will start the repair process, but I want first to know whether you want me to tow your car myself.”
“Of course! Please go ahead at your convenience. Is there a bank in town? I want to cash a check to pay you for the parts.”
“No rush! The local branch of Banque de Lyon is located on the south side of town. If you don’t need cash right away, I will take you there in a couple of days when I’ll go there myself to make a deposit of my customers’ checks.”
Abd and Hans left the shop, returning to Mrs. Bojeau’s house. At the door, Abd looked back and said, “Please give us a call when you get the news on the second strut rod.”
Walking back on the same path, the two visitors were shivering in the cold gusty wind but very content with what had been accomplished so far. Mrs. Bojeau brought to them two steamy cups of freshly brewed coffee then turned to Abd. “Well, any luck with Mr. Langvin?”
“Yes, we are very lucky indeed. He seems to know how to solve our problem. With a little more luck, we should be able to get back on the road by the end of this week.”
Hans asked Mrs. Bojeau about the daily meals. Since there was no restaurant within walking distance, she explained to the men that she only cooked twice a day for herself, and if they didn’t mind to have only two simplified hot dishes each day, they were welcome to be at the dining table with her until they would be back on the road. The men accepted her offer to cook their meals with pleasure.
While waiting for the men to return from Mr. Langvin, she called her daughter-in-law Natalie, with whom she got along very well. She found out that her son Jacque might not be able to stop by her house in two weeks. He was sent to New York City for business by his company and would not be back until the first week of next month. As a matter of fact, three days ago, Natalie drove him to Le Havre where he boarded the Transatlantic Crossing Queen Elizabeth of Cunard Line that took five days to get to the destination instead of less than a day by propeller planes. Jacque had flight phobia.
After finishing their coffee, Abd slowly climbed up to their rented room. He showed evidence of exhaustion and had to lie down. Just at the moment when Hans was about to go upstairs, Mrs. Bojeau, with napkins and silverware in her hands, gently called out, “It’s already five to one. Would you like to have lunch in about thirty minutes?”
“Yes, thank you. Abd told me on our way back from Mr. Langvin that he was also hungry.”
Once in the room, Hans noted that his travel companion had a gray facial look with his eyes closed. He worried about Abd’s overall health. “Are you okay, Abd?”
“I am very tired, possibly because my red blood cell level has come down to below the normal count or simply because I am hypoglycemic.”
Hans could not hide his worry about Abd’s health, as he knew of Abd’s serious illness. The idea of taking Abd to the hospital for an urgent evaluation came to his mind. He slowly and gently closed the door behind him and tiptoed down the staircase. Mrs. Bojeau, hearing the wooden squeaking sound, reappeared at the end of the dining table then looked up. “The dejeuner [lunch] is not quite ready yet. I will call you in about fifteen minutes.”
“I am not trying to rush you. I just want to ask you whether I can use your phone to make a long-distance call to my parents in Liechtenstein.”
“Absolutely, Hans. By the way, can I call you by your first name?”
“Of course! How do I know how much the call will cost?”
“Very simple, dial zero. The local operator in Baumont will come on, and you dial the number you want to call. At the end of the call, she will tell you the total cost with federal and departmental taxes included. She will also ask whether she could bill our telephone number. It’s that easy. I will close the kitchen door so that you would have some privacy.”
Hans did exactly what Mrs. Bojeau had told him. He informed his parents where he was staying and the reason why his trip with Abd had to be temporarily suspended. He was reassured that his parents were fine, even after shoveling the deep snow for hours. He reopened the kitchen door to thank her for letting him use her phone and to let her know that everything was okay with his parents. By this time their look at each other inspired reciprocal trust and good feeling.
After lunch, Abd thanked Mrs. Bojeau for the nice meal then excused himself and went back to their room for a nap, while Hans remained downstairs to help the host clear the table and clean the dishes. While working side by side at the kitchen counter, Mrs. Bojeau and Hans exchanged information on their family, background, hobbies. At the end of their conversation, she thanked him and then, with utmost discretion, she softly uttered, “Is your friend well? He looks pale to me.”
Without going into details about Abd’s general health, Hans, in a discreet manner and with his regard vaguely directed to the kitchen floor, responded, “Abd is not used to a long walk in the snow, especially when the gusting wind was strong enough to blow a frail body away.”
Abd woke up a couple of hours later feeling somewhat better. The two men spent the most part of that afternoon in their room mapping their travel route on a Michelin road map. They decided to enter Switzerland at the Basel border checkpoint. Since Hans knew fairly well the international trade and circulation agreements between European states, he asked Abd whether he was a French citizen. Showing a sad facial expression, Abd informed Hans that he was a legal war refugee and had been living more than twelve years in France; but because of his personal family problem, that he was going to explain later, and his illness, he had not come around to apply for the French citizenship. However, as a law-abiding person, Abd had carefully prepared his trip. It took him more than two months to obtain passport visas of all the countries he had anticipated to drive through until he reached Kabul. Being a citizen of Liechtenstein, Hans could freely travel between Western European countries with his driver’s license. He was not required to have a visa.
Hans continued to be concerned about Abd’s health. With utmost discretion, he found out that his companion was going to have a “repeat blood count” once they arrived in Basel. Sensing that Hans was a trustworthy individual, Abd started to gradually confide in him his illness, his boyish secrets, his successful career, his personal sentimental past, and then eventually his family problems. The two men continued their conversation on many personal matters such as ethnicity, religion, family, education, health, and job. Remarkably, Hans noted that Abd seemed to