The �747 took to the sky like a huge birdsilently seeking
freedom to maneuver. Its immediate goal was 35,000 feet above
sea level to reach England via the polar route. Up out of
the darkness of night it climbed, looking for the sun. At
5:30 a.m.on May12,1999, its wings spread in worship, the plane
flew out of the dark penumbra of the earths shadow into the full
glory of the suns light.
Ah, the sun. What man since time began did not welcome the sun?
Giver of life, light, warmth, and eternal symbol of renewal.
How long did it take man to realize that this comforting ball
was the source of life? Did he watch in fear as it fell below
the horizon nightly? Or did he wait in silent dread in the early
dawn and sigh with relief when it appeared again? Did he live
his life unaware of it? Taking it for granted, as he did the
water hole he shared with other creatures of the earth? Maybe
he was like the men of today who only learn respect for
something when it is lost or threatens him. It is a known
peculiarity of man that he only notices the commonplace when
it stops being what he has always taken for granted.
Was the sun always kind to us? I do not think so. For another
peculiarity of man is: He only worships that which he is in
awe of ...or fears.
And so the plane left Vancouver International Airport for its
final destination; Heathrow, England.
Many of the passengers had closed their eyes and were either
sleeping or resting when the scream began. It started on a
long high note which soon changed to a continuous outpouring
of sound.
Whatever had caused the scream to be flung at the world was
being given a recharge over and over again. There was pure
unreasoning fear in the sound that came from the direction
of the third row of seats in second class.
If anyone had noticed them before now they would have seen
only a very ordinary young couple with a sleeping baby and
two small figures, cuddled together under a blanket, in a
seat between the two parents. The young mother was the one
standing screaming and holding the baby�s blanket while the
father sat staring at the seat between them. None of the
children were in sight.
The stewardess was the first to reach the couplebut others
made a move towards them only to sit down again when it was
seen help had arrived.
The stewardess glanced at the man as she pushed past him to
get at the woman. Shaking and calling her name didn�t reach
the woman at all so she drew her hand back and slapped the
woman with some force to bring her out of whatwas clearly a
bad case of hysterics.
"Mrs. Brule! Mrs. Brule! What�s wrong? What�s the matter?"
She looked into the womans face that was now turned towards her.
In dumb silence the woman handed her baby�s blanket to the
stewardess while her mouth made movements but nothing came out.
The stewardess took it and glanced at it and was about to speak
when she stopped still and looked at the blanket again. Then she
turned and looked at the empty centre chair, picking up the
blanket that was laying there.
"Where are your children,Mrs. Brule?" She asked in a puzzled
voice.
Only a whimpering noise came out of the back of Mrs. Brules
throat, so the stewardess turned to Mr. Brule and bending over
to get his attention, asked him the same question. Then she
looked closer at the man and what she saw made her stand and
call softly to the other stewardess nearby to join her.
"Ronnie, stay with these two, will you? I have to see the
Captain." She whispered.
"Sure," Ronnie whispered back, "hey, they look like they�re
in shock! And where�s the ....?"
"Shhh, that�s what I�m going to see the Captain
about."
Knocking on the door to the pilots cabin a few seconds later,
she called out, "Captain Doyle, it�s Gail. I have to speak to
you. It�s important!"
"Come in Gail." he called out. "What�s up?"
"I�m not too sure Captain, but it�s not something I think I
can handle by myself." She stood inside the door of the roomy
cabin and stared at her Captain, who was twisted around in
his seat watching her. "I,ve got two people in some kind of
awful shock and can�t get them to speak. They�re a MR. and
Mrs. Brule. They came aboard with three small children. All
of a sudden the woman started screaming and I had to slap her
to bring her out of it. But she�s in some form of shock now
and so is her husband. Boy you should see his face...he looks
like he�s catatonic." she stopped short and grimmaced.
"You don�t have any idea what set them off? Maybe they had a
spat or a quarrel?"
"Oh, come on Captain, be reasonable. You know I wouldn�t be
up here bothering you for something like that! I�m not a raw
recruit."
"O.K., Gail. Sorry about that. I�ll go down and take a look.
While I,m doing that, have a look at the passenger list for
a Doctor just in case we need one." The Pilot rose from his
seat at the controls as he spoke and headed for the door.
"Wait, Captain, that�s not all of it. She handed me her baby�s
blanket, and the seat in between them was empty." The words
tumbled over themselves as she hurried to get them out before
the Captain got outside the door.
"So? What is that supposed to mean?" He looked at her with
eyebrows up in surprise.
"Well, my God, Captain, they had three children with them when
they came on board, but I didn�t see any of them with her just
now."
"Well, maybe the kids are playing somewhere. Have you looked
for them?"
"I,m sure I would have noticed two little kids playing in the
aisle�s. And where did the baby go on it�s own?" There was an
idea she wanted to convey to him, only she wasn�t sure in her
own mind what it was. She was hoping he could put it in form
for her.
"Well, we won�t find the answer here. let�s go."
When they arrived in Second Class, a number of passengers were
out of their seats and going up and down the aisles, peering
between the rows.
Captain Doyle asked the Stewardess that had been left with the
couple what the passengers were doing?
"They�re looking for the children," Ronnie aswered. "Mr. Brule
said the children vanished. That�s all he keeps saying, over
and over. Well, they�re not here, Captain. We can�t seem to find
them."
He leaned over Mr. Brule. "Can you tell me exactly what happened,
Mr.Brule? Just take it easy and tell me what happened."
Mr. Brule turned from staring at the empty seat beside him. The
face of a young man in his late twenty�s, wearing a look of
horrified disbelief, stared at the Captain for a long minute
before responding. "They just vanished! I was looking at them
and they went...they...they just vanished...!" His voice trailed
away as he turned back to gazing at the empty seat.
Captain Doyle patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly way, then
leaning over to speak to the woman, asked her, "Mrs. Brule, can
you hear me? Mrs. Brule? Look at me. Where is your baby, Mrs.
Brule?" He spoke in slow,clear words, as if the problem was only
one of hearing. "Did someone take your baby? Is that what
happened?" Then reassuringly, "There�s no way anyone can get off
the plane with three children without getting caught,Mrs. Brule.
We�ll find them for you."
"I was holding the baby...I was holding Abbie and then she was
gone. The blanket was empty..she just wasn�t there anymore." The
voice of the woman that spoke was close to hysteria again and
she wore a dazed, wide-eyed look.
Captain Doyle straitened up and stood looking at the two of them
for awhile, then turned to watch those passengers that were still
searching the seats. One elderly old lady was even prodding a
bag beside her with a king sized knitting needle. He shrugged
and turned back to look at the couple.
It�s amazing what shock does to some people,He thought to himself.
Well, it�s obvious that someone has grabbed the kids. Christ! Am
I in the middle of a new form of highjack? I might as well stop
these people in the aisle from looking for the kids.If this is
a highjack, I don�t want them to gum things up. Turning to Gail
he asked her if she had located a Doctor on board.
"No. There isn�t one listed on the passenger manifest at all sir.
They both look like they could use a sedative though." She nodded
at the Brules. "I have some in the emergancy supplies. Can I give
them some?"
"O.K. Give them both a sedative and stay with them."
He turned to the other stewardess. "Ronnie, get the other
passengers back in their seats and then start at the tail and
work your way forward with two of the other attendants, and see
if you can locate the kids. Look in washrooms and cupboards.
Look everywhere. But if you see them with someone, don�t do
anything. Understand? Let me handle it. Just walk past, then
report to me on the phone. I�ll be on the flight deck."
They were too close to their destination to turn around now. He
notified the Airport at Glasgow of what had happened and they
agreed with his assessment of the situation. In the meantime,
Ronnie reported that there were no signs of the children in either
the passenger area�s, the lounge, or the service stations.
Gail had given the two parents sedatives,although they just sat
there without making any move to seek the children."You know,
Captain, that�s really odd when you come to think of it,"she reported
later, "If they were my kids, I�d be tearing the plane apart by now
if some person had taken them. They would have been seen too,
wouldn�t they?"
Doyle looked at her bemused. She hit the nail on the head. That�s what
they should be doing allright, and they weren�t, which was odd.
He was still awaiting some form of ransome or highjack demand when
they finally landed at Glasgow safe and sound to be greeted by
Scotland yard, the army and Airport Officials.
Five hours after the 747 entered the sunlight and just minutes prior
to its landing, it had passed over the General Hospital in Inverness,
Scotland, where the following crisis had taken place:
Nurse Cairns had been assembling diapers and powders in the room
off the maternity ward. She was getting ready for the daily bath
of the babies. She was also thinking to herself as she gazed out
at the Sun riding above the buildings across the way from the
hospital. "What a beautiful day to be born." The nursery beyond
the door was full of the mewling sounds of one
or two of the latest arrivals who were still protesting the
change of existance that had just recently befallen their lives.
"Well, at least the McDonald kid has shut up for a change." she
thought. Ever since it had come into the world, weighing in at 13
lbs, it had been testing its lungs out at fullblast. That had
been seven days ago. Longer than most babies got to stay in the
wing. It had been a little too much for the mother and she was
still here recovering from that feat.
Whistling in a whispery way, she passed through the swinging door
to get the first baby. She wouldn�t start bathing it just yet, at
least not until the other girls were here. But she loved to hold
and cuddle the babies and this was a good chance. She stopped at
the first bassenette and picked up the baby and with it in her
arms, passed around the row and headed over to checkout the
occupant of one of the incubators. As she did so her glance fell
on one of the bassenettes at the end of the row and noticed it
was empty except for the bedding. She stopped short in surprise.
"Oh, I say, where have you got to?" she questioned out loud, as
her eyes traveled up and down the rows that were closest to her.
She received another shock. There were other beds that should
have been filled with babies and they were empty too. Her arms
started shaking. She was scared she was going to drop the baby in
her arms before she could get it back to its crib at the beginning
of the first row. She counted eight babies gone. Sandy and Elise,
who shared this shift with her, were both out on errands on the floor
and would be back soon. But they couldn�t have the babies with them.
She had seen them go! One with reports in her hand and the other
empty handed.
Frightened and acting by instinct, she ran out the door and grabbed
another nurse passing by. "Quick! Go to the front desk and get me the
Supervisor as fast as you can."
"Hold on a minute! I�m not your flunky dearie. Do your own work."
The girl glared as she pulled away from the clutching hands of
Nurse Susan Cairns.
"You get me the Super now and be quick about it or I�ll see you
up before Staff." With those words, Susan turned and ran back to
her charges. My Gawd, she thought, I must be scared or I�d never
have had the nerve to speak to her like that.
The other nurse raised her eyebrows in surprise and then continued
on her way to the Nurses Station on the same floor at her original
pace.
"Mrs Gates, Susan would like to see you in the Nursery. She�s in
a panic over something as usual." Her manner was one of calculated
calmness, as if to say, �I never get in a snit over things the way
that girl does.�
Mrs Gates looked up from her reports with a distasteful look on
her face and thought to herself, �I�m just getting too damned old
to want to go on with these personality clashes around here. I
wish I could just chuck it all and walk out those doors. But then...I
guess, what job wouldn�t be fine if it wasn�t for the paper work and
the people?� Sighing under her breath she rose from her chair and
folded the reports neatly in place before heading towards the Nursery.
She made it to the door just as the other two girls on shift came
back from sneaking a cigaret break.
"Hello, Mrs Gates. Paying us a visit?" called Sandy.
"Good Heavens, girls, didn�t you know? I�m hooked on the smell of
dirty didies and need my daily dose to live." she laughed as she
walked in with them. These two were really the nicest girls on
the floor and they had a way of lifting her spirits when they
were down, like to-day. It wasn�t what they said but just a
general cheerfullness about them.
She caught sight of Susan standing tensely at the door into the
inner part of the Nursery, staring through the glass window set
in the top half of the door.
"All right, Susan, what is it this time dear? She stopped short
when Susan turned her face towards her and she could see tears
streaming down the girl�s cheeks.
"Why, whatever is the matter, Susan?" she cried.
"Oh, Mrs. Gates! There�s babies missing! I swear I never left the
Nursery maam!. I swear!" she cried out and started to hiccup.
"What!" came out in chorus from the other three.
"Oh, you�re joking Susan. You�ve got to be." cried Sandy, heading
for the door, pushing through and running for the bassenettes,
while the others followed close behind.
The three women began going up and down the six short rows that
had contained twenty-eight babies, not counting the two in
incubators over by the back wall. Elise was the first to come up
with a head count and called over to her Supervisor. "There�s
eight missing, Mrs. Gates!" and just as the words left her mouth,
Sandy let out a muffled scream from behind her hands.
They both turned to her in surprise. What..?
Sandy was running now to a bassenette at the end of her row that,
seconds before, had held a kicking baby. When she got there she
started to feel in the crib with frantic hands, pulling the
bedding apart. "I saw it! It just dissappeared. It was here a
second ago. Where did it go?" she glanced at the other two women
who were staring at her open mouthed with astonishment. "What�s
going on? Don�t you believe me? Count the babies again."
Elise turned around and began a swift count again of the cribs
that had babies missing. "My Gawd! she�s right. There�s nine
missing now."
Mrs Gates looked at the two nurses and back to the cribs. Never
had she heard of this many being taken. It was always just one
baby that was snatched; but nine babies? It would take five or
six people to do that. But how? She would have to move quickly to
alert hospital staff. "Stay with them,girls. I�ll get the
Hospital Supervisor down here and we�ll find out what�s going
on." With her heart pounding, Mrs. Gates ran to the Nurses
Station down the hall. She didn�t even notice Susan sitting on
the floor of the outer room with a stricken look on her face and
tears running down her cheeks.
In the south of England, a woman woke up with eagerness to the
day ahead of her and hurried down to the kitchen to start
breakfast for her family.
She hummed to herself as she moved quickly doing all the familiar
things that would end in a good solid breakfast. When all was
ready Maude Fielding clumped back up the stairs to the childrens
bedroom to hurry them up. This was the day they were going to the
seashore and she was puzzled at the lack of noise from their
room.
"Hummph,� she thought, with all the fuss they made getting off
to bed last night, you�d think they�d have been the first ones up
this morning. Rounding the corner of the hall off the top
landing, she stopped to straighten a picture that hung askew.
Dear old Grandpa, she smiled, can�t have you leaning over like
that now can we, and you all gussied up in your best uniform.
She had never seen the Grandfather who had been killed in the
second world war, and the young man with the plump face and body
that smiled out at her didn�t fit the phrase of �dear old Gramps�
at all. In fact she often felt rather sad when she looked at the
young face these days. A Grandfather who never aged, while her
mirror told her how she was aging, made her feel silly.
She was still smiling as she opened the door to the room the two
children shared and the smile was still stuck on her face when
she looked at the empty beds. Now where have they got to?
After a quick tour of the upper floors and finding no sign of the
children, she headed back down to the kitchen, calling out to her
husband, "Dad? Have you seen Wendy and Thomas go by? Stop them if
you do,mind, as they don,t have too much time to eat before we
get away."
Maude was a large comfortable woman and she wasn�t in any mood to
move fast with her bulk.
Up from the depths of the kitchen came the slow easy voice of her
husband, "I ain�t seen em yet, my dear. Not up there, luv? It�s
only about sevenish, they can�t be too far away. I�ll look in
woodbin, happen they�re out there , maybe."
By the time she reached the foot of the stairs her husband was
returning from the backyard where he�d called for the children
and recieved no answer. "They�re not out there, Maude. Are you
sure they aren�t upstairs hidin out from you? You wait down here
and I�ll take another look �round."
Maude watched him go up the stairs and felt the warm surge of
love for this man that always came with the little jobs he was
constantly doing for her. They had been married late in life and
the children had been a welcome surprise to the both of them. That
didn�t stop them from being a bit more than Maude could handle.
The desire to do for them wasn�t lacking, just the energy
because of the extra pounds she had put on after Wendy�s birth.
That brought her back to thinking of the two children.
Wendy and Thomas were four and five years old and not the type of
children to be silent when together in the house. Maude cocked
here head towards the ceiling as she listened to the footsteps of
her husband going from room to room. Her eyes were screwed up in
puzzled thought. It wasn�t right somehow. By now the two of them
should be charging around the kitchen getting all the many
objects they insisted on taking with them everytime they went to
the seashore for the day.
Her eyes glanced over to the back door where Wendy�s shovel and
bucket lay."Here, Tom? You don�t think they�ve gone to a friends
house to borrow more gear do you?" she yelled up the stairs.
"Ooooh, might be." he hollered back. "We�ll just have to wait for
them then." His feet could be heard coming up to the top of the
stairs. The Fieldings were not the kind of parents to panic at
every little thing that happened and it they got away a little
later than they planned on, well, so what? Life wasn�t something
to rush through but to be savoured.
For the next 30 minutes they puttered around the house and fussed
while they waited for the truant children. It would be 8:00a.m.
before they realized the children were really missing and by then
the others on the street were out looking for their young ones too.
While all this had been going on,the sun had been slowly inching
its way across the Atlantic and heading towards the coast of the
Atlantic seaboard. Dawn would be there soon.