Illuminate

Chapter 20

It was nearly spring, and I was still away from home.  I wondered how my parents were coping with the fact that their only child was missing, gone without a trace.  I suddenly regretted getting their hopes up before I left home.

“I’m not going to be in danger,” I’d said. “I’ll be back in no time.”

My term as a journalist was nearly over.  How long ago it seemed when I ran away from my problems, Roger, and into a whole new complex that I couldn’t control.  It seemed like forever since Oliver called me into his office and since I’d accused him of betrayal.  My heart felt heavy just thinking of the fate I’d brought upon him and ultimately his family.  I didn’t like the feeling of being indebted to anyone, especially the person I had loved.

I kept coming back to the strange fact that Oliver somehow knew of me before our first encounter in London.  I didn’t have the slightest clue how, considering I was American and he was British; his family was wealthy, while mine was not.  There was absolutely no way he, in his big-city glory, could have any reckoning of a rural American girl.  Yet he did.  All his actions, intonations, and a few suspicious statements led me to believe it.  I just wished that if I could’ve asked him one more question, I would have asked that.  

•••

I groaned back into reality with the harsh sun beating down on me.  It was an uncomfortable day, the sun’s rays hot enough to make me sweat while a chilly breeze turned my perspiration ice cold.  Lifting my head from the back of the bench, my neck popped uncomfortably from the awkward angle.  I cracked my eyes open slightly in order to preserve my vision from the blinding light.  The entire place was deserted.  Not even the old man was there anymore.  I grumbled to myself and hiked to my feet.  There was no use in moping around at my hopeless situation; I might as well do something.  

I noticed a path leading away from the square of the station.  My curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to explore.  As an instinct, I flicked my eyes around to make sure nobody was watching me or following.  I was satisfied that still nobody was in sight.

I walked down the path, grateful that the movement kept me at a comfortable temperature.  The road took me into near wilderness, with a glimpse of a distant town to keep me going.

I walked for a while (I don’t know exactly how long) until I reached the outskirts of town.  An old man greeted me warily.

“How can I help you?” he asked politely.

I thought for a second. “Do you have a map I can look at?”

He nodded and motioned for me to follow him.  We entered a small house, and he told me to sit on a hand-built chair near the door while he rummaged through some drawers.

Finally, he produced what he was searching for and handed it to me.  It was a small map of France, labeled with cities and towns only.

“You may keep it.  It’s not as if our humble town receives many travelers anyway,” he said passively as he adjusted his glasses.  “May I ask, where do you intend on traveling to?”

I paused as my eyes skirted over the cities.  “I’m not sure,” I admitted.  Glancing near the Channel, I decided on a few possible candidates.  “What’s the best way across the Channel?”

He tapped a northern area on the map.  “Calais is your best option if you don’t desire to take a watercraft across the Strait of Dover.  There is an underground rail.”  He seemed very matter-of-fact for a small-town man who was not well endowed in money.

I nodded.  “Thank you.  How do you know that?”

He licked his lip and sighed.  “I used to be a geography professor in Paris.  The war drove me away to a safer dwelling.”