Where the Sea Takes Me

by Heidi R. Kling

  Whoa.

  I hadn’t realized how firm I was in that conviction until that moment. Until the words rushed out of the place they’d been marinating, deep in the hidden, secret depths of my heart and fluttering from my lips.

  Who cared if on paper we were impossible?

  We were real.

  Our feelings were real.

  And they should matter just as much as anybody else’s feelings.

  So he was from the other side of the world, another culture, another religion, another life? So what?

  What was inside our hearts and souls mattered more than logistics.

  “Our feelings should count. We should count. Who cares if it’s hard? We should try. Deni. I want to try.”

  I sucked in a deep breath and waited. Hoping he agreed.

  “Sienna,” he said, his vote tight. Choked up. “Me, too.”

  “So what do you mean by Australia?” I managed to squeeze out from the swelling depths of my heart.

  Ten years from now, fifty years from now, I wouldn’t forget the smile that crossed his face as he leaned in, squeezing both of my hands in his. “I want to go there. After this Cambodia trip. I’m finished with school, and Australia is a place many can travel and it is cheap. There is not so much rain there…”

  Suddenly, I understood what he was saying. What he was about to ask.

  My heart pounded like crazy, hoping I was right as I braced myself.

  He squeezed my hands harder. “I want to go there with you, Sienna. I want you to come with me. To Australia.”

  “You want me to come with…”

  “I love you,” he said, out loud, for the first time.

  I was overcome with emotion. “Deni…”

  “Wait. Please let me finish. I never said it that day because I could not. I said it in the letter, I know. But I love you. I love you so much. I cannot live without you.”

  By the shores of the Indian Ocean where we said goodbye…I’d almost said it then, but held it back. I was done holding back with him.

  “I love you, too,” I said. I cupped his face in both of my hands and showed him how much I meant it.

  The next afternoon at swim lessons everything felt different.

  I was different, so different.

  Glowing and bursting from the inside out.

  “You’re in a good mood,” Amelie said with an eyebrow raise.

  “Um. Yeah.”

  I grinned.

  “Ohmygod you did not.”

  “I did.”

  “Girl.”

  “I know.” I flushed, remembering.

  “Good for you. That hottie is too much of a keeper to ever let go.”

  I caught Deni’s eye as he edited footage poolside. It was a beautiful day. The air sweet with last night’s rain, the sun not oppressive, but warm and soothing.

  “Yeah, and I guess your dad has been talking to him about Australia? Because now he wants to go there. Next, I mean.”

  “What?”

  “Yep. And he asked me to go, too.”

  “Are you going to? How great. You can visit my Australian people,” Amelie said.

  “Are you going back soon?” I asked.

  “Not sure. It depends on what happens with this…”

  She pointed at her shark.

  Later, Deni knocked on my door, quietly, more of a knuckle wisp than a knock, and I let him in.

  “Hi, Deni,” I said shyly, like we’d only just met.

  “Hi,” he said.

  Getting to know each other in a whole new way was like learning a new language, adventuring to a new land. Together.

  Being with Deni was everything.

  I hadn’t confided in anyone other than Amelie; it was no one’s business.

  So the two of us felt clandestine, carrying this secret.

  We turned off the light and whispered in the dark, making plans, telling stories.

  The next day, I emailed Dad and Vera.

  Dear Dad and Vera,

  Things are moving along well here. Today at the pool we made progress. I can’t get the quiet one to do much because she’s scared of her own shadow, not that I blame her, and Bubbles slaps at the water like she’s out for vengeance, which surely, she is.

  Though we’ve made little progress with the actual swimming, I can see that they like being in the water, or the distraction anyway. And they all seem to be okay with me. Even the quiet one, as long as I don’t touch her much.

  Dad, I need to talk to you about something important. I don’t want to send it in an email. Can we figure out a good time to talk on the phone? You can call my hotel room. We’ll be here the next two days for sure.

  Only a few days left until I’m supposed to go home.

  Kiss Maxi for me.

  Miss you.

  Love,

  Sea

  I had a thousand bucks saved up in my checking account at home from teaching swim lessons, lifeguarding and working at various camps, babysitting Max, etc. If I could figure out how to work the ATMs in Cambodia, I could get it tomorrow.

  He had money, too. Money from working odd jobs in Taiwan. He was a busboy for a while, then a waiter. “I made good tips,” he bragged, grinning.

  “I’m sure you did,” I said, not at all surprised. No one could resist Deni. “So, when we run out of money, we can pick up odd jobs in Oz?”

  “Yep.”

  “You said ‘yep,’” I said.

  “Yep,” he said.

  I pushed him playfully and he tackled me, kissing my nose.

  “I’ve been saving my money for a rainy day,” I bragged back as lightning streaked by, and thunder rattled the hotel. Flash floods expected. Again. “Maybe this is that rainy day?”

  “I am tired of rain,” he said.

  “Me, too,” I replied, leaning into his waiting arms.

  And we forgot about the rain.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  When we walked into the clinic the next day, my heart shot straight into my throat.

  “Deni,” I said, clutching his forearm. “It’s them.” The two girls spoke to Dr. Chhim in rapid Cambodian. Although I knew many abuses were hidden in places you never knew by looking, I quickly scanned their fragile bodies for signs. Outwardly, they look fine, but shaken. The fact that both of them wore the same raggedy clothes they left their village in filled me with relief.

  “Hi, Dr. Chhim,” I said meekly, not sure what to do. Should I say something? Linger back? Tell her where I recognize them from? “Hi,” I said to them. Not wanting to freak them out, but I was so excited they were here. “Remember me?”

  “Sienna! These girls said you gave them our address?” Dr. Chhim explained with a question in her voice. She didn’t know every detail about our trip, about how we tracked them down, spoke to them, risked certain danger with their captor to give them the safe house info.

  “I…yes. We spotted them on the junk boat, something was just very off, especially after talking with Amelie about what to look out for. We lost Tom for a while and saw them again in town. We followed them into a hotel, and Deni and I told them you had a clinic in Phnom Penh… I gave her your address.”

  I smiled at the girls. They smiled back. Obviously still incredibly spooked, at least they knew they were in a place of friends, where they would be safe.

  Dr. Chhim nodded once. “Well, whatever you said, they listened. They showed up here last night. They ran away from the local hotel where they were staying and found their way here. Apparently, the man they were with split when he saw his face on the posters around town.”

  “Go, Tom!” I cheered. “Are they…have they been…” I cringed, waiting to hear the answer.

  Raped. Abused. Sold.

  If they had been, we’d face that, together. But please say no.

  She knew what I meant.

  “They are two of the lucky ones. They escaped just in time. I think the man you saw, the German, was about to sell them to one of his pimps.”

  Effing De
vil Man. My fists balled up.

  “Did you catch his name or get any further information?”

  “The good police I know are coming. One is from a small village where girls have been stolen; he knows. He wants to stop the traders as badly as we do. They are on their way here to talk to the girls. You can tell them everything you know, too.”

  “Gladly,” I said. “I hope they catch him so he can’t hurt anyone else.”

  I faced the girls. I was so damn happy to see them. “Can I…talk to them?”

  “Sure. I’ll translate.”

  “Hi,” I said, eyes flickering toward Dr. Chhim. “Can you tell them I’m so glad they are okay. That I’m so glad they escaped.”

  “Yes.”

  She did. They answer back in Khmer before facing me.

  “Tell them I think they are incredibly brave.”

  She did.

  The smaller one who had the sheets pulled up to her chest opened her mouth, small as a bird, and uttered a strong, “Thank you.”

  My heart swelled, and I burst into relieved tears. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m not upset, I mean. Thank God. You’re very welcome.” I wanted to hug them but thought better of it.

  I turned to Dr. Chhim and asked quietly, “Have you called Amelie? She’s going to need to hear this.”

  She nodded. “She’s on her way.”

  “Did you ask them about her sister?”

  “They don’t know any of the other girls, but they have the address of the pimp. If Pearl is there, they will find her.” Dr. Chhim touched my elbow. “Sienna?”

  “Yeah?”

  “In Pearl’s case…I’m afraid even if they do find her, her story is not going to have such a happy ending.”

  My smile faded. “I know,” I said.

  “I’m sure Amelie knows this, too. She is going to need you to be there for her, and just listen. And be a friend. Okay?”

  “Yeah. I get it.”

  I got it, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared to death on her behalf.

  The police arrived about twenty minutes later and interviewed the timid girls, then Deni, then Tom, then me. Turned out they’d been looking for him for a while, a German expat who worked with a group of local pimps, showing up to villages pretending to be a missionary who helped their poor girls and gave them an education. Gross. He paid off desperate parents, claiming his charity was a donation, that the girls would be loved and would come back educated, Christian ladies who could one day support their parents.

  Total carpetbagger scheme.

  Absolute sleaze.

  I hoped he rotted in a Cambodian prison for many, many years.

  I described him, careful to leave in every grotesque detail so they’d know exactly who he was if they saw him. The girls described him, too. They trembled when speaking of him, and it made me hate him more.

  The police took notes, agreeing our perp sounded like the guy they were looking for.

  Dr. Chhim planned to keep the girls for a few days and then arrange someone to escort them back to their village north of Siem Reap, which I questioned. “What if some other perv comes back and steals them again? It doesn’t sound like their parents have the best judgment.”

  That was when Amelie burst in. “I’m so glad the girls are safe. I’m sorry but do they know anything about my sister?”

  “Amelie,” Dr. Chhim said. “There you are. The police are here and are interviewing her. These girls are unharmed, thankfully. We asked about the floating village, and one of them said she heard the man say he wanted to stop at one of the floating villages, the first one outside of Phnom Penh. There is a house there where some of the girls live.”

  “Which one? There are so many.”

  “The one with the pink house,” she started to say. “No…”

  The girl frantically talked with her hands, correcting Dr. Chhim.

  “No, not pink, more like purple. A purple house.”

  “Okay.” Amelie turned to the girls. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  Her green eyes flashed. I knew exactly what she planned to do. Beat the police up river, or, better yet, make sure they go investigate. Hunt arrived right after, caught the look in his daughter’s eye, and intercepted her at the door.

  “Oh no,” Hunt said, drawing out the no.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The police are handling this. You need to stay here.”

  Amelie eyed me. “Don’t tell us what to do, Hunt,” Amelie snapped. “My sister could be in that house. I’ve been looking for her for two years. You don’t get it.”

  She tried to move past him, but he blocked her.

  “I understand that, but what are you two going to do, burst into a pimp’s den and try and rescue a bunch of girls? You could get hurt. You could get killed.”

  “I have to try,” she said, her eyes shining.

  Her desperation obvious, I had to jump in to help. “Deni and I will come with you,” I said.

  “Yes,” Deni said, holding my hand. “We will all go.”

  “Guys, come on,” Tom jumped in. “Let the police do their job.”

  I had an idea. “Dr. Chhim. Can you ask her again if it’s a purple house on the floating village, if she remembers? We passed that house, remember?” I asked Deni and Tom. “While Tom was below deck snoozing, we saw it, remember, Deni, because the colors were so vibrant? I said it was like an Easter egg.”

  Deni nodded. “Yes. We know where that is. We can show you.”

  Encouraged, I grabbed Amelie’s wrist. “Right, we know exactly where it is. We saw it from the roof deck! If there’s a chance Amelie’s sister could be there, we have to go!”

  Hunt and Tom looked at each other before Hunt asked me, “How would we get there? The junk boats don’t stop at those floating villages. You have to get in a canoe or a row boat.”

  “We’ll figure it out, come on. Let’s all go.” I eyed the guys. “Safety in numbers.”

  Tom joined Hunt in the doorway, trying to block us. Like a linebacker wall. He eyed me, crossing his arms. “You sound exactly like her.”

  “Like who? Amelie?” I gestured to my friend who was eyeing alternate exits and about to bolt with or without the rest of us. The desperate look she gave Hunt could make a grown man cry. “Well, she’s awesome. That’s a compliment.”

  “I meant your mom,” Tom said.

  Wow. “Well, good! That’s a compliment, too. Now we’ve got to go. Tom, Hunt. It’s either the police check it out, or we do.”

  He touched my wrist. “I can’t go back to California without you, kid. I promised your dad.”

  I blinked. “Well then, make sure I don’t get hurt.”

  Deni put his hand on my back. “We are all in this together, Tom. The Team Hope sticks together, no?”

  Tom looked between us, his lips pressed in a tight line, then sighed, relenting.

  “I can’t go up against the both of you. It’s impossible.” But then he smiled, his eyes crinkling up, and I could tell he was proud of us. The both of us. “But that won’t be necessary.” In his rare assertive doctor voice, he said, “Dr. Chhim. Make sure the girls tell the police about the floating village, specifically the purple house. Have them check it out. If they need…bribe money, feel free to raid my wallet.”

  He offered the last part seriously.

  She translated, and they took down all the pertinent information.

  “Will they send police to the house?” Amelie asked as we reentered the room.

  “They said they will. They know the area—it’s known for drug dealers, too. They can do a raid and have a big payout.”

  “Yeah, well, if they don’t take bribes from the dealers and pimps and get their payout.”

  “Dr. Chhim says they are trustworthy.”

  Amelie and I looked at each other. The restraint was killing her, but she knew it was the right move. We both did.

  “Please find my sister,” she pleaded with the police officer in English.


  “I’ve wanted to bust these devils forever. They ruin lives. You people, you save lives,” the police officer said to Amelie, to Tom, to Dr. Chhim.

  Collectively, we were quietly filled with hope. We listened as he radioed the water police to search the purple house on the floating village.

  It didn’t seem like they needed a warrant, which would’ve slowed things down.

  Go get them. Screw warrants.

  “How many police will go?” I asked.

  “Three boats carrying armed police.”

  “Okay,” I said, holding on to Deni’s arm. “Now we wait.

  We sat and waited and waited for news on Amelie’s sister.

  Waited and waited some more. Someone went for food. We ate quietly. Amelie wasn’t hungry.

  We all knew that if they found her—and that was a huge “if”—if she was there, and had been there for the past two years, she was not going to come out the same way she went in. She was only thirteen when they took her. She’d be fifteen now, all her innocence stripped.

  Amelie paced around the clinic. I alternated between feeling sick with dread and flurries of hope while the girls who escaped slept. We let them dream.

  Dr. Chhim contacted their parents who were mostly…confused. She said it was hard to explain to them what had happened to the girls, where they were headed, where they’d been. They didn’t understand, which was frustrating to us and made Amelie furious.

  “You can’t send them back home! They’ll get taken again,” Amelie protested.

  “I agree,” I said. “Can’t they stay here?”

  Dr. Chhim shook her head. “Unfortunately, this is only a temporary solution. We don’t have room in our long-term facilities. They can only stay a few days until we find them alternate housing. I’m sorry, girls. We’ll think of something.”

  “Can’t you make an exception?” I said.

  “Sienna.” Dr. Chhim squeezed my arm. “I see where you’re coming from, but these girls are the lucky ones. They are okay. They will go back home. We can’t protect everyone from everything.”

  “That’s bullshit.” Amelie stormed out. Before slamming the door behind her, she growled, “This temporary solution is just a Band-Aid, which will be ripped off exposing the bloody wound again. I don’t believe this.”