The child from the ICE train E-Book

Werner Arn

• Herausgeber: novum pro Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 410

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

A young architect is on his way to work by train, reading the newspaper and pondering his thoughts. A woman with a headscarf takes a seat in the compartment, carrying a large carrier bag. When she leaves the compartment a short time later, the bag is still there. Beat hears a soft whimper and curiously takes a look at the mysterious bag: it contains a baby, no more than a week old. Beat and his wife have already tried everything to have a child. Their desire to have a child is strong, they are wealthy and could offer a child a lot, but it just won't work out with a pregnancy. This child needs a mother, his mother. What should he do?

Leseprobe

The child from theICEtrain

The ICE train is already waiting when Beat Käser arrives at the station. It's half past eight, the commuters have already left and the excursion traffic is just beginning. Finding a good seat is no problem today, many compartments are empty and you can choose your seat.

He sets off on a leisurely drive. Relaxed, he drives towards Ilanz, picks up a daily newspaper and reads the headlines without interest. "Wouldn't it be better by car," he thinks as he absentmindedly skims the large letters. Taking the car is always stressful; if it goes well, you arrive at your destination two hours later, tired and nervous, and it takes another hour to recover a little before you can concentrate on your work.

It's much more pleasant on the train, you can still prepare for this or that, make sketches for a solution to a problem, there's a lot to study. Beat will be moving to his place of work on Saturdays anyway, so the train or car problem is solved. His wife wasn't exactly enthusiastic and didn't want to come along at first, but over time she realized that a weekend relationship wasn't the best thing after five years of marriage.

Since he was awarded the contract for a development of 50 apartments, he has been financially secure. He narrowly won the competition ahead of a local, but Beat was only awarded the contract because the developer had problems with the villagers. The developer is a capitalist from Zurich who is not on good terms with the locals. "Just throwing gags between their legs, preventing everything wherever possible, petty, stubborn and obstinate," he used to say again and again. A village with 11,000 inhabitants, not far from Ilanz. A wonderful spot with a beautiful view of the mountains and the foothills. It is there that he can build the development with 50 residential units, so his thoughts delight him.

The seats on both sides of the aisle were empty when we boarded. Beat actually wants to put the newspaper down, but one article still interests him. It's about how a woman miraculously had children after a long period of childlessness. As he and his wife are also familiar with this problem, the article still captivates him and he pays no attention to what is going on around him. When he lifts his head to relax, a woman is sitting on the next bench, unrecognizable behind her collar and headscarf, a large carrier bag next to her, which she is holding convulsively, her legs crossed tightly and her head bowed. He hadn't even noticed her when she took her seat. Without paying any further attention to her, he continues reading. Shortly before the train starts to move, the woman has disappeared, but the carrier bag is still there. "She'll have gone to the toilet and will be back soon. What do I care about the bag?" he says to himself, annoyed. But he keeps looking, she just won't leave him in peace, there's been no question of reading for a long time. After ten minutes, the woman still hasn't returned. Then he hears a soft whimper. As the whimpering gets stronger and stronger, he thinks to himself: "I don't care, I want to see what's in the bag, I'll think of something if the woman turns up unexpectedly." He goes quickly, opens the zipper very slowly, and what does he see? There is a child, a newborn, no more than a week old. He sits down next to the carrier bag, holding it firmly so that it doesn't fall down. "What should I do?"

Thoughts come as if on cue. "I'm 31, my wife 29, and we've wanted a child for a long time, we've spent a lot of money at the doctor, at the child placement agency, everywhere, and no hope of a child, just two days ago we got another rejection - and now this child here, maybe it's been abandoned. A higher power that has given us a child this way. The woman to whom the child belongs will probably come soon. But I have to do something, otherwise I'll be reported for child abduction, well, I'll go the way you have to go in a case like this."

Beat is looking for the train attendant, who is about five carriages away in the direction of the locomotive. "A woman asked me if I wouldn't mind looking after her child until she gets back. As I have to get off at the next station, I can't look after the child any longer," he tells the conductor. Beat doesn't give the child's age, would they call the mother out? "I don't know the mother's name. Five carriages back, I'll wait for you, or the mother." Beat is already back in his seat when the announcement comes on: "Child looking for mother, as supervisor has to get off."

Just before the train stops in Pfäffikon, the Kondi arrives. Beat has opened the newspaper and put it over his bag, the child has calmed down in the meantime. He pretends to be reading. "Is everything all right with the child?" someone asks. Beat answers: "Yes, yes" and lifts his head jerkily, as if he's been startled.

"The mother came, apologized and took the child with her, she had met a friend because she knew her child was in good hands, had a chat and completely forgot that the train would be stopping soon."

"Good, then everything's fine. You wouldn't believe all the things that get lost, prosthetic legs, dentures, expensive camera."

Beat doesn't want to hear about all the things that will be lost if he just disappears before the child makes his presence felt. "Have a nice day," says the train attendant and leaves the compartment, a hundredweight falls from Beat's heart when he is gone.

When the train finally stops, he gets off and calls his wife. "You have to come to Pfäffikon by car right away, I've found a child, don't ask me what, how and why, just come." Beat excitedly paces back and forth with the bag, then opens it again a little, checking that everything is in order. After a while, the little one starts to get restless. "Just don't scream," he hopes, sits down on a bench, holds the bag open a little on his knee, rocks it and talks to the child as best he can. About an hour later, to Beat's relief, Elisabeth appears.

He immediately goes to meet her. "Let's go to the trunk, it's a bit more comfortable there." He spreads out a blanket that he always keeps in the trunk, then opens the bag. Elisabeth is amazed when she sees the child. She carefully takes it out of the bag and lays it gently on the blanket. The child is very well diapered, the person knew how to do it. But the diaper is full, so it needs to be changed. "But we have nothing, no diapers, no powder, no bottle, absolutely nothing," says Elisabeth.

Elisabeth goes to the nearest store and buys the essentials. She explains to the sales clerk that she had put everything in a carrier bag in the living room at home and it is still there. "Can you please pack me everything I need, including a bottle of water and a thermos jug of warm water."

It's a girl, they realize as they dry off. "Oh watsch," Beat remarks as he admires the little girl, "that's a foreigner's child." "Never mind," says Elisabeth, "foreign children need parents too." When it has drunk without any problems, it is quiet again. "And now what?" asks Beat. "There are two options: We put her in the baby hatch or we keep her."

"Keep it," says Elisabeth with conviction in her voice, "that's our child now."

"How are you going to tell our relatives and friends?" asks Beat.

"We go straight to Graubünden, where no one knows that we don't have a child, and in Zurich we simply say that the adoption was successful."

"That could work," says Beat, "so off to Graubünden, the apartment is ready to move into, I have the key. It's just not furnished, the furniture won't arrive for another 14 days, but we can certainly make one room habitable."

Elisabeth sits in the back seat, holds the little girl in her arms and smiles at her as if she had given birth to her. Her eyes beam with admiration at the girl and she thinks: "Now we have a child. A child of our own."

"Have you thought about what she should be called yet?" Beat bursts into her thoughts. "There's still time, we'll choose a name for her tomorrow."

"Do you actually know that this should have been registered long ago?"

"You'll think of something to make sure we have our child legally," Elisabeth replies with conviction.

The first thing that happens the next day is that the room is decorated to Elisabeth's taste. She can design everything according to her feelings and sensibilities. No relatives or good friends want to sell her something that they no longer need and that would fit so well in the children's room.

The name, yes, the name is a problem. Despite the internet, they struggle to find a name. After a long discussion, they agree on "Lea".

They no longer think about giving the girl back or putting her in the baby hatch. "It's a twist of fate, so we have a right to keep it." They have never seen or heard a call that a child is missing, the child was abandoned and they found it, so the little miracle is theirs. So they argue with each other. From the color of the skin, it must be a Turkish child or from the Middle East.

But they are aware of something right from the start: they have to tell the truth to someone, because the child must have an identity and a passport.

***

Two days later, the weather is at its best. Elisabeth puts Lea into the new baby carriage after dressing her in the most beautiful dress and walks confidently along a side street with leisurely steps. They have barely been walking for five minutes when she sees that other mothers have had the same thoughts. She steers her car straight into a caravan coming towards them. Elisabeth greets them in a friendly manner, stops her car when she is level with them and engages them in conversation. Annette, as the woman is called, is not averse to a little chat. Elisabeth makes the acquaintance of a woman who has the same problems and interests. Once they know each other's children's names, ages and other things that interest them both, Elisabeth asks where the nearest doctor and baby advice center are. Annette readily provides information. "I'd like to invite you for coffee and cake, but we haven't finished setting up yet," regrets Elisabeth. "Why don't you and your husband come over tonight when my husband is at home," replies Annette, "take the little one with you, she can sleep with Björn, then we can drink a toast to 'you'." "We'd love to come," says Elisabeth.

As luck would have it, the husband of the baby carriage acquaintance is a lawyer. After much deliberation, the Käsers decide to let the lawyer in on their secret. Beat calls Annette in the morning. "It's my birthday on Friday and I'd like to invite you to dinner at the Hirschen." Elisabeth knows that the child must be registered as soon as possible.

A good wine with the meal, not a little, followed by a coffee, schnapps, two or three Appenzellers, until everyone has a little buzz. There's no need to worry about driving, as everyone has come on foot. The main topic of discussion is the huge overbuilding. It's a fun evening, among other things Beat asks if he can also help people in need by circumventing the law without causing harm to others. "What do you mean?" asks Kaspar, Annette's husband's name. Among other things, Beat wants to know whether Kaspar has also illegally obtained Swiss passports for children. Beat has the feeling that Kaspar is about to sober up, he stares at Beat as if he's from another planet. "That's not possible, it's a criminal offense, is your child here illegally, did you have a seizure?" Kaspar wanted to know. "No, no, everything's fine, I just wanted to know."

"Then I'm reassured."

"I have an acquaintance who wants to adopt a child, but it costs a lot of money here in Switzerland, which he doesn't have, so he was toying with the idea of buying one abroad and then bringing it to Switzerland with valid papers."

"Of course, there are always ways and means of playing such games, but I'm not offering a hand, I know that there are Italian or Ticino lawyers who have already done this."

"Could you give me an address?"

"Yes, I could if I wanted to, but first I want to get to know the family."

"No, that's not possible, give me the lawyer's address or we'll forget the whole thing."

Suddenly Beat thinks about the Internet. The Käsers say goodbye half an hour later.

Beat opens the Internet that same evening and searches for a lawyer. He finds about two pages full of lawyers in Ticino. "But which one is the right one, with a stand in Italian and German, I'll also help you get a Swiss passport for a foreigner's child, that's my lawyer," he mumbles to himself.

He takes the quickest route to Ticino the next day, without enjoying the beautiful view, but with a queasy feeling in his stomach. After an hour's drive, he arrives at the lawyer's office thanks to a driver. "Are you registered?" asks a rather unfriendly receptionist in Italian. Beat pretends not to understand, then she tries in German. "No," he replies, "good, then you can go home," she says in bad German. Without waiting for further explanations, he sits down on a chair that is actually reserved for people waiting and pretends not to have understood anything. "Please leave, my boss has appointments all day today," she says in English. Beat replies very forcefully in dialect: "I want to speak to the boss, I've been driving for three hours and I don't want to go home without an answer." He realizes that the lady has only understood the train station as she looks at him with her mouth open. Beat says this very angrily and simply remains seated, the lady gives up trying to get rid of him. Ignoring him, people walk past him, step up to the counter, disappear into a room and come out again after a short or long time. Beat simply waits, not knowing for what or for whom.

After an hour, an older gentleman in a tie, well-dressed, with a confident demeanor, a folder under his arm, a firm gait and a sharp look in his eyes arrives. "This must be the lawyer I'm looking for," Beat thinks to himself, gets up and simply stands in front of him, blocking his way. "Are you Mr. Salvadore, the lawyer?"

"No, I'm not him, I'm his father." He speaks quite good German. "Do you have a problem?" he asks unfriendly, almost annoyed.

Beat explains that the secretary simply hadn't registered him, he had just been waiting here. "For what?" the lawyer wants to know. "I don't know, probably for you," Beat replies spontaneously. "I'll call you in ten minutes, it must be an interesting thing if you just wait," says the lawyer and disappears into the next room.

"I'm Salvadore Sen and I was also a lawyer, now I'm retired, but sometimes I still take on cases that aren't too complicated, so tell me, what's the problem?"

"I don't really know," Beat points out. "I'm a lawyer and I'm sworn to secrecy," he tries to reassure him.

Beat tells him the story of the child he found and that the Käsers just want to keep it.

He listens patiently. "Yes, it's a difficult matter, what they've done here is already punishable."

"I know that myself," mumbles Beat.

He leaves the room after writing down the address and returns shortly afterwards. "That's a tricky job, it could mean up to two years in prison for you and me, but I quickly looked it up, I'll take on the case, a case like that at my age, there's bound to be some tension in it, it'll cost you 10,000 Swiss francs. But only when you can call the child your own. This case is meat on the bone, maybe a few sleepless nights, at my age it's good and fun. You know, drug addicts, divorces, cigarette smuggling, maybe even smaller frauds, I had hundreds of them. But helping a child to happiness through a passport, that's something I've never had. A passport, a document, a piece of paper that it needs for life, yes, that's what I'll do. Then the child will have a happy youth, righteous parents whose greatest wish will come true."

***

The lawyer recommends that Beat book a hotel room for himself and his wife in Lugano. "I have an idea of how it could work. In a day or two you'll have a child of your own with valid papers."

After reserving rooms for three people in a good hotel, Beat takes a short walk through the beautiful little town of Lugano, he is in a good mood and could hug half the world. He lingers for a while at every store selling baby clothes, imagining what his daughter might look like in certain outfits, but his wife is sure to do a much better job. Beat is already looking forward to being able to legally walk through the village with his baby carriage with his head held high. "We won't give up our Lea, whatever the cost."

After the meal, Beat wants to have a drink in the hotel bar to celebrate his pleasure. There are few guests in the bar, so he can talk to the waitress undisturbed.

He gets very excited when the cell phone rings and he sees that it's the lawyer. "I've found the solution, that's how it should work, details will follow later. Come to my office tomorrow at nine o'clock and I'll fill you in."

Beat orders another whisky, then another, until he has a little buzz so that he can sleep well, because he is so excited and can hardly believe his luck.

He is lost in thought, imagining his happiness with his child, when a drunken guest enters the restaurant, staggering. "Oh, him again," says the waitress, more to herself. "What do you want?" she asks in Italian. "A whisky soda," he slurs. "Go home to your family, your children and your wife, who are waiting for you, instead of getting drunk here." At first he gets angry, insults the waitress, then calms down, orders the same thing again, gets quieter and quieter, suddenly he starts crying, he's got the blubbering misery.

The waitress's daughter explains to Beat that the man has five children and his wife cheats on him with other men; he is usually drunk in the evening, but he goes to work every day.

Then a boy about twelve years old comes running into the restaurant and talks to the drunk man, who is very frightened and Beat has the feeling that the man has sobered up on the spot. He leaves the restaurant immediately without paying. "That was his boy, his wife has been hit by a car and is injured," explains a customer who has now taken a seat next to Beat and understands Italian. "I'm going to take over the consumption of the gentleman who has just left," Beat explains spontaneously, "Why actually," he thinks, "tomorrow he'll be drinking again, trying to drown his sorrows in alcohol." With troubled thoughts, he leaves the pub and goes to bed.

"In eight hours, my greatest wish will come true, I will be able to call a child my own, I should actually be very happy and content. A family I don't know has problems. Why is this bothering me, what's it to me? It's her own fault, why wasn't she faithful to him, why is he drinking and not fulfilling his duties, the children," my conscience asks, "are they to blame too? I don't know, now it's time to sleep, I want to forget what I experienced with this man."

But somehow Beat can't enjoy the pleasure. "Another whisky from the room bar, maybe I can wash away my worries with alcohol. Not too much, I need to keep my head together today. When my wife comes with the baby tomorrow, I can't be drunk."

Beat is very excited when he enters the lawyer's office the next morning to clarify details about the birth. "The whole thing is illegal and will be punished with prison if it gets out, I've done some research on you. No child has been reported missing in Switzerland recently, so I'll take your word for it. Your financial situation is good to very good, you have no criminal records, you are married and your reputation is in order, so I will dare to legalize your child. I know a doctor who also costs 10,000 Swiss francs. Together with him we will issue a birth certificate," explains the lawyer. "Your wife has to come to his private clinic, should ring the doctor's emergency bell at the back entrance at half past eleven that night, with a big belly and veiled face, a nurse will come and open the door, accompany her to the doctor, who will be concerned that a room is available for clients who don't want to be recognized. The nurse is then turned away with the remark that the woman does not want to be recognized. Another thing: your wife must be covered up so that she cannot be recognized later. You then go there as quickly as possible and fetch your child, who has hopefully slept in a carrier bag in the car in the cellar in the meantime. Your wife has to stay in hospital for three days so that everything looks real. The staff are informed that there are always people who don't want to be recognized when giving birth, the doctor always brings the food personally and the door must always be closed from the inside. After three days you can go home, then she has given birth herself, it's legal and you have your child."

First the doctor wants to see the child, do a few examinations. "Oops," he says when he has the child in front of him, "a foreigner, from the Middle East, that will require some clarification from time to time, it's best to report an infidelity. Apart from a birthmark on the breast, everything is fine, the child is perfectly healthy."

After three days, the Käser family leave the clinic and spend another night in a hotel, wanting to be pampered and really enjoy the baby, just the three of them.

Finally at the hotel, they take the child in their arms, hug it, play with it, lie down in bed with it and stroke it. "Now we have a child, our own child." Then they take each other in their arms and dance without music, she whispers in his ears: "Our child", he almost screams, "our child", they are both so happy, looking at each other again and again, "now we have what we have wanted for a long time, a child of our own", they were both as happy as only real parents can be.

When the child falls asleep after about an hour, they decide to have a drink in the bar and celebrate their happiness as parents. Someone is playing the piano and the atmosphere is peaceful and relaxed. When Beat asks Elisabeth to dance, she agrees without hesitation. They dance closely together and are very, very happy until a man enters the bar during a break in the dancing. He's totally drunk, it's the one with the five children. "A beer," he slurs, then he takes Elisabeth by the sleeve, looks at Beat and says: "I'd like to dance with your wife for once."

"You're drunk, go home to your family," Beat says in a stern voice, very firmly. "I'm not drunk and the rest is none of your business," the man contradicts in very good German. "How's your wife, is she feeling better after the accident?"

"Yes, of course, but why?"

"You know, I paid your tab back then."

"It was you! My wife's fine, she's got one arm in plaster, abrasions all over, nothing to speak of."

"Your children, what are they doing?"

"I don't know, they're doing well too, they're very intelligent, they can look after themselves, they don't need a chaperone any more. My 14-year-old daughter looks after the youngest, she should also do something and help my wife, she doesn't have to do anything, she can do everything, the others are also so intelligent that the eldest was able to skip a class. He'll be a member of the Federal Council one day, he's already interested in politics. Another bar," he called out to the waitress. "In the store where I work, I'm the boss of 50 people, so nobody can fool me. I've only been with this company for three months, but I've already come up with a lot of new ideas. Today, for example: thanks to my initiative, we finished work at four o'clock, for the time that was scheduled until six, the others were still cleaning, but I went home and clocked out, it's no good just wasting time and hurting the company. Another bar."

Beat wants to go dancing with his wife again when there is a crash behind his back. When he turns around, Beat sees the man on the floor. "I'll call the police," says the waitress, "no, don't do that, I'll take him home, give me the address, I'll find his home with the driver's aid, it's only five minutes away from here, my wife and I will deliver him home. I was already happy to have strangers take me home."

The 13-year-old daughter opens the door. "You know very well that our mother needs you now, and you're drunk again."

"I'm not drunk, just tired. We had a lot of work today."

"Come in, have another coffee and schnapps with me to say thank you."

"You'd better go to bed."

"Fine, I'll do it. After the coffee."

"No, we have to go, our little one is sleeping in the hotel room, we don't want to leave her alone for too long."

The Käsers are already outside when they hear a shout: "What have you been doing all evening, instead of studying and tidying up the apartment, you've been watching TV and playing computer games! I want to learn you already!" he shouts, strides towards the computer, stumbles and falls before he reaches his destination. Then he pulls himself up again. "I'll throw the TV out the window," he threatens. In distress, the daughter runs to the door. "Please, please, come in, he'll calm down quickly."

Elisabeth asks Beat to stay here. "I'm going to the hotel room with the child." Beat goes back into the house with the girl, Paul is at the TV and wants to lift it. "Have you got up again, slept in?" Beat asks hypocritically. "I lost my pocket knife, I wanted to see if it was anywhere," he tries to justify his return.

"Wait, I'll help you look." Paul leaves the television. As he tries to bend down, he falls rather roughly to his knees. "It's not here," he realizes after a brief search. "There, there," Beat bends down and shortly afterwards has a penknife in his hand.

"Now have a coffee with me and a schnapps with it." Beat reluctantly agrees. Over coffee, Paul is an angel in person, kind and obliging. "Mother, put out another pastry for the guest," he asks his wife, who has entered the room in the meantime. Beat refuses without success. Suddenly there is a cry from the children. The little one has woken up. Paul gets him out of bed, swaying. The way his father handles him, you'd really think he was an angel.

A short time later, he lays the little one on the floor and he immediately starts crawling towards Beat, pulling himself up by his trouser leg until he stands. "Look, he's only eleven months old now, he'll soon be able to walk on his own, you know, we all have such intelligent children." The woman tries to put things into perspective, but he simply claims that his children are the best. Beat takes the little one in his arms, he is not at all strange, his mother gives him a toast and he keeps still.

Then Paul starts: "If the children are so good and so intelligent, you have to make more than one, we certainly want another one, right mother, we don't want to stop until we have nine or ten." The woman says: "Five is enough."

"No, no, there are enough stupid and simple-minded parents, they should be castrated or made infertile, they can have sex, but they shouldn't be allowed to have children, I'm not a monster and I like to give them pleasure."

After about an hour, Paul goes to bed and Beat wants to go to the hotel. "I have one more request: could you come over in the morning before you start your journey home, my husband will be at work."

Beat sleeps restlessly that night, always thinking about his family. Five children, all healthy, almost certainly intelligent and decent. The family comes from German-speaking Switzerland. Paul told Beat what happened to him: "I came to Italian-speaking Switzerland as a butcher, then I opened a small butcher's shop with my wife. At first, the locals avoided me, but because I made very good sausages, I suddenly got customers. I was able to keep my head above water, I was doing better and better until a large butcher's shop came to town, which I couldn't compete with. People stayed away again. One day, the manager of this store came and made me a very good offer, which I almost had to accept. When my wife urged me to take the job, I reluctantly gave up my business and got hired as a foreman. They were just afraid of the competition, so they wanted to take me on."

The next day, the Käsers pay a quick farewell visit to the Baumgartner family, as they are known. Doris, the mother,Paul, the father, Karin, 13, Jan, 12, Risto, 5, Leila, 3, Scheol, 11 months, one after the other.

"Just a quick goodbye," thinks Beat. After knocking, the mother comes to the door with Scheol in her arms and offers Käsers to have a coffee with her. Elisabeth immediately notices that Scheol's diaper is full. "Shall I put him to dry?"

"I'd love to, if you don't mind. I almost can't, with my broken arm, Karin always does that when she comes home from school." The three older children are at school, only Leila and Scheol are at home.

Over coffee, the woman starts to talk. "The butcher's shop went well at first, we made a living, but my husband wanted to show the people of Ticino how it's done, and that didn't go down well. We had fewer and fewer customers, in the end we were happy that he was able to work in the large butcher's shop, but since then he has changed four times. He always wants to show the managers how it should be done. That never goes down well. Sometimes he drinks a beer or two in the morning and he's already handed in his driver's license twice, but we could really use the money. If my father didn't give us money from time to time, we would have gone bankrupt a long time ago. My husband is a kind-hearted man, he helps everyone and everywhere. If someone has no bed, no money, they can sleep with us. If you have to put up posters or collect signatures for the party somewhere, my husband does it, but he usually doesn't have time, then he gets frustrated and depressed, then he drinks again. He can never say: "I don't know." He always says something, and it's usually wrong. Last night, one of his drinking buddies said to him in the restaurant: "My wife only ever watches TV." To which he replied: "Mine does the housework, plays with the little ones and the older ones do homework." When he saw that we were also watching TV, he wanted to throw the TV out of the window. Thank goodness you still came. If my husband wasn't so good to me and the children, I would have left him a long time ago. People in the village say I have several lovers. Two or three colleagues come for coffee here and there, help me or my husband, but I've never had an affair with anyone else. When he's sober, he's the best lover you can imagine.

They chat for a while longer. In passing, she mentions that Scheol wouldn't need to be dried if he was just a little older. "He always has to be in the dirt until Karin gets home. There are no more children, I had myself stopped without my husband knowing anything about it." Elisabeth looks at Beat with a questioning look, he just nods. "If you don't mind, we'll take Scheol on vacation until your arm is good again," she says, "Leila can come too." Doris says nothing at first, then: "Would you do that? I don't like giving up the two children, but I can hardly stand on my feet. You don't know what a pleasure you're giving me. A little rest, just a week or two. Of course, I still have to discuss it with my husband, but I know that if I have a wish, he won't refuse me." After a brief hesitation, she prepares the clothes for both of them. "Let's load them into your car now, go out for a meal somewhere, I'll pay for it."

"That's out of the question," protests Beat. Doris presses 100 Swiss francs into Elisabeth's hand. "Go eat now, then I'll tell my husband at lunch and leave him in the belief at the end that he has decided that they can go on vacation and that he will allow me to relax." The tears flow freely as the children get into the car and say goodbye.

So Doris and Beat come home with a child of their own and two vacation children.

***

"The new apartment isn't ready yet, three children in one go, will my wife be able to cope? Now she's just happy that she has a child of her own. She took the other two on vacation out of gratitude or pity," thinks Beat.

He came to Valais for work, he is an architect and has taken on a project with 50 apartments, a contract volume of 25,000,000 Swiss francs and a working time of four to five years. Beat is looking forward to the challenge. The excavators and construction machinery have already started digging. The first thing he has to do tomorrow is inspect the construction site, as he has been away for almost a week without checking on the progress of the work. Of course, he called every day to discuss the biggest problems. Beat went from Zurich to the construction site once a day every week for two months to make clarifications, discuss details and organize the work assignment.

Now the preparatory work has progressed so far that the first stage of four blocks of 24 apartments each can be started, which will be an exhausting time until everything is running smoothly.

This means Beat is not much help to his wife in caring for the children. "She'll manage, it'll only take 14 days with Leila and about a month with Scheol before they go back to Ticino," he thinks. It's also a challenge for Elisabeth. Don't think twice, just do what you feel, one step at a time, somehow it always works out. When Beat asks her about the problem with the large family and the three children on the outward journey, she simply says: "I don't know how I'm going to manage, but what do I want to get worked up about now that won't start for another hour?" That's Elisabeth, why worry and get upset. Firstly, things turn out differently, and secondly, things turn out differently than you think.

Only when they want to put the children to bed after dinner does Beat realize that a bed is missing. "Fine, we'll sleep on the floor in our sleeping bags and the two vacation children will sleep in our beds," Elisabeth decides. Beat agrees, of course. An hour of wailing because the children are homesick and want to go home. Then Elisabeth simply lies down in the middle and sings a lullaby while Beat looks after Lea. When both vacation children are asleep, Elisabeth joins Beat and Lea in the bedroom. They play for a while with the two-week-old child, who now belongs to the Käser family. "It will probably be another month or two before we really understand this," Beat thinks, "my wife is just happy."

When Beat enters the temporary site office in the morning, which consists of an old caravan that he set up first, he realizes: "I have to find a permanent home next. But for now, I'll continue here." He starts to plan his daily routine.

The first call at five past seven, the first breakdown. The excavator operator has torn a line that was not laid according to plan several years ago. 20 families have no electricity. "That's trouble," thinks Beat, "and after the vacations, so I'm here and can take the necessary steps." He immediately informs the relevant authorities and then goes to the construction site himself to see what's going on. The first delay of two days. "If that's the only one, it'll be fine," he thinks.

An hour passes before the first specialists arrive to carry out the repairs. Beat then discusses with the foreman of the repair company how long it will be before they can continue and the people have power again. While the clarifications are being made, a Land Rover pulls up. A well-dressed gentleman gets out, you can see from a distance that he is angry. "How dare you just turn off the power!" he shouts at those present. "Excuse me," Beat speaks calmly. "Hello, who are you? You can see the cause yourself, you'll probably have to wait five hours for a temporary solution to be put in place."

"That won't work," he shouts back. "You know what, why don't you mend the cable, then it might work faster," Beat shouts back. They argue loudly and clearly for another five minutes, then Beat makes the suggestion: "Come on, let's go for a coffee together and discuss the problem there, in peace and quiet." After a brief hesitation, the other agrees. It turns out that he is also an architect and would have liked to have this job. But the farmer who sold the land made it a condition that he should not get the architecture under any circumstances. "He even lowered the price per square meter by five francs if someone from Zurich or Bern would do the planning, just not someone from the mountains. Now I had a project in the neighboring municipality, the last submission deadline is at twelve, now this. I'm not quite finished yet, and now this job is lost too." "Force majeure," Beat replies, "don't you think they'll understand and grant you a postponement?"

"If all else fails, you can work for me if you like. I need two employees for this large property anyway." Beat offers him a good salary. After a moment's hesitation, he agrees if the other contract falls through. Then they sign a contract that very morning, each of them can withdraw if they wish.

As a result, Beat now has a good employee who knows the authorities and understands the tone with the local population.

"Do you know me an office? The fact that I can leave the caravan is not a long-term solution." "You can set up your office at my place, I still have three free rooms. One is enough for me. If I tidy up a bit, I can give you two. Ideal for an architect's office, I've actually planned this for myself. Separate entrance, five parking spaces, the rent is 700 francs."

Thanks to a torn cable, other problems have been solved.

Tomorrow Beat is expecting the builder, an elegant, self-confident person, not particularly likeable, treats people as if they were dirt, if possible you have to agree with him and then do it the way he thinks is right. That's how you get on with him. The man has a lot of money, which makes him bearable. Beat won't mention his employee, he doesn't want to start unnecessary discussions. The client will reproach him anyway because of the torn cable.

The next day at half past six in the morning, Beat's cell phone rings. "What is it again?" he says in a rather annoyed voice. He has seen on the display that it is the foreman who reported the damage yesterday. "There's a dead woman in the excavation."

"What, a dead woman?" Beat asks, as if he can't believe what he's just heard. "Yes, yes, a dead woman," the foreman repeats, "we've already called the police."

"Good, I'll be right over too."

The woman is between 20 and 30 years old, a beautiful woman from the Arab region, her head is bleeding a little, but not badly. You can't tell if that's the cause of death. The hole in the excavation is already about eight meters deep, and a fall could be fatal.

"We started excavating on site four days ago and already have so many problems. I hope that will change soon. Elisabeth isn't doing so well with the three children either. I'd be happy if I could give her a hand, but that's not possible right now," says Beat.

The police are already on the site when he arrives. Beat introduces himself and is then asked questions. He has to look at the woman, explain whether he knows her - she's probably a foreigner. "Did she commit suicide?" Beat asks, "We don't know yet. From the look of her, she could be from the Middle East," the investigator explains to Beat.

The delay lasts about three hours.

"Misfortune rarely comes alone," thinks Beat, as he sees a sports car with two people in it speeding towards him in the distance. "That could be the builder with his girlfriend, does it have to be right now?"

Beat goes to meet him and when he sees that he has left the car in the middle of the road, he greets him in a friendly manner. After a grumpy greeting from the builder, he goes on to inspect the construction progress. "Haven't you made any progress yet?" he says with a sour undertone after looking into the excavation pit.

Beat wants to explain why and how. "Come to the Sternen for a coffee, we can discuss it there," he says, cutting off the conversation.

Beat follows him a little later in his car. He has already had a few problems on the construction site in the last few days. Hopefully that will change soon. There's nothing to laugh about at home either, the wife is also running at the limit with the three children and would be happy if he could give her a hand, but that's not possible right now.

When Beat arrives at the Sternen a little later, the landlady takes him to the Sali. An attractive young woman, certainly 20 years younger than him, sits next to the owner. When Beat has taken a seat, the client begins: "Two weeks behind schedule, nothing is on time." Beat tries to explain the delay: "Even before we started building, we had a problem with a farmer who didn't want to allow us to drive our heavy machinery through, because it's a private road, he could refuse. The farmer wanted money, and in the end we paid him 5,000 francs so that he wouldn't cause any more problems. That caused a delay of a week. Then a cable broke, that was another day. And today the dead woman."

"None of my business, you have a schedule and you have to keep to it, otherwise your fee will be cut," he replies uncomprehendingly, he was rather harsh and dismissive.

When the beauty leaves the room for a moment, the client asks: "What do you think of my new conquest? She really loves me, she's a stunner, I'm really proud of my Birgit." Beat lists all the advantages he can see. Birgit doesn't talk much, so he hasn't been able to get a real picture of her. They discuss the next steps in the construction process, then the client suggests to Beat that he should hire another worker or two, but please not one from the region. Beat says yes and thinks: "That's my business, my employee can also work from home, he can make detailed plans, changes and construction programs at home."

After an hour, the meeting is over and Beat can leave the restaurant. He is very happy, he is actually much more concerned about the dead woman from the building site. When he mentioned the dead woman to the builder, he simply said: "That's none of my business, you'd be better off dealing with the building site than with a dead woman we don't know."

***

Things are pretty chaotic at home. Elisabeth is really overwhelmed with the three children, often the food isn't ready, nowhere is tidy, she shouts at Leila at mealtimes, she is still homesick and doesn't want to eat what's on the table. They can only spoil and enjoy Lea when the others are asleep, but they savor it, they notice every little progress, they don't even have time to watch TV anymore, the little one is much more important to them. Sleep is also in short supply, as soon as Lea is asleep, another one of the other children is sure to come. The bad weather, which has been going on for three days now, is also getting to them.

After a week, Beat decides to take a day off and take the children into the forest to play with them so that Elisabeth can relax a little. It is a wonderful day and all four of them enjoy it, but it is only now that Beat realizes how exhausting the three children are. After careful consideration, Beat decides to take Leila with him from time to time or to leave her at the office with a colleague. Irene Wagner looks after her there. Robert Wagner, the employee, is not married, his sister lives with her boyfriend in the same house, but she cooks and does the housework for everyone. She works 50% in the community. "Maybe she'll look after Leila until my wife has recovered a bit," thinks Beat. "No problem," she says, "leave Leila here, I'll look after her, when I'm working I'll just take her with me, she can play and draw there." But Leila clings tightly to Beat, crying, "I don't want to stay here", despite promises of all kinds. "We'll try it another time, then I'll play with her for a while until she's acclimatized. This time I'll take her to the construction site," says Beat.

"You'll just have to wait in the car."

"Yes, I'll stay in the car."

"Fine, but it's an hour. I have several meetings."

When Beat is in a discussion with the foreman, a worker shouts: "Hey, pull over, pull over!"

Nobody stops. When Beat takes a closer look, he realizes that it's his car that's taking a joyride without a handlebar. After 50 meters, the car ends up in the ditch, probably because the handbrake wasn't on. "I'm an ass," he curses at himself, "I always put the handbrake on, of course I did, I left the girl in the car." Suddenly he doesn't care, "I hope nothing has happened to her", he thinks and runs quickly to the car. At first he was still swearing about the car, but now he only has one thought: "I hope nothing has happened to the child." He has really grown fond of the little girl.

She is lying on the floor of the car next to the front seat, but is not moving. "Is she unconscious, or no, no, I can't even think about it, what else? She's alive." She lifts her head. "Where am I, what happened?" she asks. Beat explains everything to her, simply takes her in his arms, so glad that nothing has happened to her. "The car, what the hell, the fender bender can be patched up and it's no big deal anyway. It's the driver's fault, why didn't I put a stone under the wheel?" He reproaches himself, he still had it in mind, but he was in a hurry and too comfortable.