Honey Suckle

Part 20

I didn't want her to leave, but there was nothing I could do to stop her. She wasn't leaving right away, she'd be here for a few days and then the train would come to take her away with the other volunteers. The train would take her in the other volunteers to a training camp for about a month and then they would be sent to the war camps. 

Before she left we spent as much time as I could with her. I didn't care that school was about to start in just a few weeks because my work could wait, and I would have plenty of time for preparation after she left. A few days before she was set to leave we hiked deep into the woods and we spent all afternoon there, dancing, I read her poetry, and we slept there in the woods that night. 

When we got back home Christopher was gone. We checked upstairs and the backyard but he wasn't there. We checked the market and asked around to see if people knew where he'd gone to, but they hadn't. I knew that he wouldn't just pick up and leave without an explanation, so we waited the night. Elizabeth went on to sleep and I stayed up downstairs in case he came back.

The sun had risen and there was still know Christopher. We were worried something had happened to him. We decided to go down to the police station to report that he was missing because we were afraid. When we got there there was an officer standing in the waiting room sipping on discussing black coffee. He looked up at us and said "You looking for him?" He pointed over to the corner of the room where Christopher was sitting in a chair.

Christopher had come to the station to find out if they had any information on Vincent and if they knew whether he was died or alive. Christopher was sitting in the chair which was close to the window. He had his head rested against the window and he was looking away from us and the officer. "Christopher?" Elizabeth said and walked over to him and cradled his head in her arms. 

I sat down next to him and took hold or his hand.

"They don't know. They don't know anything." He said. He spoke slowly and didn't look away from the window.

There wasn't anything we could do for him, so we just comforted him. We sat there for half an hour talking to him then we took him back to the house. Christopher sat staring off and he would eat anything Elizabeth gave him that day and we were worried about him because he had a history of restricting his intact on food when he was stressed or sad.

That night I prayed and prayed for Elizabeth's safety and I prayed that Christopher and Vincent would meet again.  By the end of the night we'd convinced Christopher to eat something which was an achievement even if it was just a piece of buttered bread.