wait. He wanted to lure the people from the village to the school with the screams.” She drew a shaky breath. “But you’re in a hurry. I have to tell you why I need you. Almost half the villagers were killed that day, most of them parents. But some are left, and there are other relatives, grandparents, uncles, aunts, who also loved those children. But after the massacre, those relatives were devastated. They don’t even know which of the children are their own. The damage was too great. The government of Kiyani offered a common grave, but they’ve refused the offer. They want to bury their own children in the village where they were born.” She added softly, “It seems the feeling is universal. They want to bring their children home, Eve.”
Eve nodded. The story had touched her unbearably. “Have they tried DNA?”
“It was a bloodbath. With the fires and scattered remains, only a few had enough quality DNA left to be matched. And even those parents wouldn’t be satisfied. These are simple village people, Eve. They don’t want to be given a piece of paper with a DNA result. They’re willing to wait for the years it will take to DNA the bodies, but not the skulls. They want to see, to touch, to recognize.” Her eyes were glittering with moisture. “They need you, Eve.”
“Not necessarily me, Jill. I’m good, but I’m not the only one who could do this. Besides, it would be a massive undertaking to gather those remains and send them to me. The U.N. should hire several forensic sculptors and set up studios on-site at Robaku. That would be the quickest way to get it done.”
“The quickest, not the best. Having you do it would be the best.” Jill shrugged. “And U.N. funding isn’t an option. They’ve already refused to approve anything but the least expensive methods of disposing of those children. Maldara has turned into one huge cemetery they don’t want to face. If a mass grave wouldn’t be such bad press, they’d probably even approve that over working with DNA.”
Eve felt a ripple of shock. “That’s pretty harsh.”
“It’s the way of the world,” Jill said wearily. “The U.N. has too many fires to put out for sentimentality. They regard Maldara’s fate as settled, so they want to put a period to it and move on in the most economical way possible. That’s only good business. Zahra Kiyani would even like everyone to forget about that massacre and has been pushing to move the villagers to another location. I’ve been writing story after story about Robaku to keep the interest and sympathy high and not let the wishes of those relatives be forgotten.”
“There are many charitable organizations not connected to the U.N.,” Eve said. “I’ve worked with a few over the years. Ask for money and volunteers.”
“I am,” Jill said simply. “I’m asking you to volunteer. I can gather enough money together to pay you to come to Maldara and do the reconstructions on those children. You’re the best one for this job, and they deserve the best.”
“I’m sure they do, but there are other fine forensic sculptors.” Eve had seen where this was going and had tried to offer alternatives to avoid having to refuse her. She could see that Jill Cassidy was passionately committed to helping those children. The story had touched and horrified Eve, and she could almost feel the agony of the parents who had lost their children to those butchers. “Not me, Jill,” she said gently. “I have a career with commitments. I have a family who needs me. I can’t go flying across the ocean to work in a country in the middle of Africa.”
“I know I’m asking a lot.” Jill’s face was tense. “But they need help. If you could see…” She reached in her briefcase and pulled out a manila folder. “Here. You can see them.” She thrust the folder at Eve. “You could put off your other commitments for a little while, couldn’t you? These people have lost so much already. Someone should care enough to give them something to make—” She broke off, then said, “I can talk about your work, but there’s nothing I can say that would make leaving your family any better. I don’t even have a family any longer, but I know it would suck.” She drew a deep breath. “But if you could give those kids just a few weeks, it would give me time to try to work