The sound of the river rushing below was comforting. I was starved but I didn’t want to leave. I felt safe here but Tetyana had other plans.
“No one will think we came down that thing in the middle of the night and survived,” I said.
“They’ll focus on the forest and the tunnels before they try the cliff, won’t they?” Luc asked. “Gives us a head start.”
“That was a hunter’s path we took last night,” Tetyana said. “If the hunters can come down, so can the police and castle guards. And faster too. Time to head on.”
We began our hike away from the river, slowly to start. Luc and Tetyana, who knew the region the best, scoured the area for berries and leaves we could chew on. It wasn’t much, but it stopped our stomachs from growling. Tetyana had already made us drink as much water as we could from the river before leaving.
And we were off.
This time, we tracked up the hill following a stream, staying under the canopy of trees, Tetyana leading the way. And this time, our destination was as far as we could walk without crashing of thirst or hunger.
We took five hours to get up the hill.
“Wow,” I said when we got to the top.
“It’s beautiful,” Katy said.
We stared at the scene below.
We were looking down on a tiny village set in a lush green valley. A church spire rose among the white buildings and a herd of cows grazed in a pasture nearby. The village looked like it had been landscaped by a magic wand—a slice of heaven created on earth.
Standing at the top of the hill now, the memories of the day before seemed far away. I wanted to run down to the town and ask the first person I met if they had a place to eat, to sleep, to shower.
“We’ve got to be careful,” Tetyana said as if reading my mind.
“Can we get some food though?” Win asked. “I’m starved.”
Tetyana’s military-trained eyes surveyed the area.
“Follow me,” she said. “Stay close and tread lightly. There could be hunters from the village around here.”
“What do we do when we get down?” Katy asked.
“We improvise,” Tetyana said.
As we began our hike down, the view of the town disappeared.
My spirits rose. With every step, I felt like we were getting closer to freedom, and with every step, I felt a sliver of hope return. Though we still didn’t know if Fred and his goons were running around looking for us and we didn’t know if there’d be a police van at the foot of this hill, waiting to haul us away, I felt hopeful. I felt I was on my way back to my original journey, on my way to Goa, closer to reuniting with Preeti.
We climbed down in silence, watching our steps, making sure the person behind was still with us. As I walked, hearing the soft footsteps of my companions, a shadow of sadness crossed my heart. Splitting up was inevitable, and I didn’t want us to break apart.
This is my family now. Why can’t we all stay together?
I knew where Tetyana wanted to go.
Luc still thought Sicily was the best place to hang his hat.
Then, there was Win. What will happen to her? She couldn’t go with Tetyana to rescue her brother as that would be too dangerous. She wouldn’t want to come trekking with us to India, a country totally foreign to her. Would she want to go back to Laos? I wondered.
Will this hike be the last time we’ll all be together?
We took three full hours to walk down the mountain and into the village. I had a feeling Tetyana had avoided open areas, opting for the longer but safer path where possible. Though we were all hungry and tired, the walk through the woods was almost pleasant.
A hare crossed our path at one point, and Luc spotted a deer and her fawn among the trees soon after. We stopped to watch them and they stopped to watch us; the mother twitching her ears, ready to spring away at a moment’s notice. In the bright morning sun, the woods were no longer dark or forbidding. The sun had banished any feelings of foreboding remaining from the night before.
When we finally got down to the village, there wasn’t a soul around.
Tetyana gathered us behind a large oak tree at the edge of the village.
“Luc,” she said. “This is your show now. You need to take the lead. Find us food and a place to rent a car, okay? If you can find two cars, even better.”
“I’ll try,” Luc said. “They’ll know I’m a foreigner though.”
“You speak German and French. That’s better than anyone else. The rest of us will have to zip it,” she said, drawing a line across her lips.
We nodded.
Tetyana looked at Katy. “Do we still have any euros?”
Katy dug into her bra and brought out some money. “Euros on the left and dollars on the right,” she said, with a wonky smile.
“Give Luc all the euros we have,” Tetyana said. “There won’t be any exchange booths in this little place. And keep those dollars safe. We’ll need them later.”
Katy nodded and slipped the wad of remaining money back under her shirt.
“Okay, let’s go see if we can find something to eat,” Tetyana said, walking out to the open pasture.
The only noise we heard was cowbells. We found a dirt path that wound its way around the field toward the center of the village. We passed farms with quaint white houses and small red barns. From here, we could see the church in the middle of the village, its tiny spire holding a weather vane in the shape of a metallic rooster. It turned as we walked toward it.
Suddenly, a large border collie ran out from a farmhouse, its tail wagging, tongue hanging, and giving us a such an exuberant dog-smile that we had to stop. The dog jumped on Katy like she was a long-lost friend, making her laugh out loud, a sound I hadn’t heard in so long. Win joined in, petting and playing. Even Tetyana smiled watching them.
“He’s still a pup,” Katy said, scratching behind his big furry ears.
“Fetch!” Win said, throwing a stick she’d found on the ground. The dog happily dashed off on his mission.
“Oh, oh,” Tetyana said, straightening up. “Trouble at thirteen hundred hours.”
“Straight ahead, to the right,” Luc said, translating her military directions for the rest of us.
I looked over to see a middle-aged woman walking over from the farmhouse. She had a curious look on her face.
Luc hailed her as she got close.
“Gudde moien!” Good morning!
She didn’t reply or smile but nodded her head in acknowledgment. The dog ran to her, then turned and ran back to us. Look at all these strange people I found, he seemed to say.
“Wat fur ein niedlicher welpe,” Luc said.
“Danke,” the woman replied. Thank you.
The dog jumped on Katy again. She laughed and said, “Get down, you silly pup.”
The woman looked at her curiously.
“I love your dog,” Katy said, forgetting about our no-talking rule.
The woman raised an eyebrow.
Luc spluttered and said something in German or in Luxembourgish. The woman frowned. Luc spoke rapidly. The woman looked over at us and asked a question. I heard the words “Universitat Luxemburg” from Luc. He talked while we waited, wondering, smiling politely. Finally, she nodded and pointed at the church.
“Danke,” Luc said. “Okay, folks.” He turned to us and spoke in English. “Let’s move along now.”
With a goodbye wave, we left the woman and the dog behind, the dog now distracted by a red robin perched on a fence. He ran after it, barking.
“Sorry guys,” Katy whispered as soon as we were out of her earshot. “I forgot I wasn’t supposed to talk.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” I said. “We seem to have done okay.”
“What did she say?” Tetyana asked Luc.
“I told her we’re international students and came to tour a castle,” he said. “I told her we went on a hiking trip, then got lost in the woods and missed our coach back. That’s why we’re all so dirty.”
&nb
sp; “You weren’t totally lying about visiting the castle,” I said to Luc.
“She said there’s a small hiking shop near the church where we can find a change in clothes. There’s a restaurant too. She said to say she sent us.”
We walked toward the center and sure enough, to the right of the church was a small hair salon, and to the left was a small mom-and-pop restaurant with a happy yellow awning.
“Oh, good,” Win said. “Finally, real food.”
Next to the salon was a dentist’s office, a bakery, and a flower shop. This was the town’s main street. We walked past the shops to find the hiking store the woman had mentioned.
It sold outdoor and hunting gear. The two teens behind the counter looked surprised when we trooped in until Luc talked to them, telling them the woman with the dog sent us. After that, they became the friendliest and most helpful shop assistants. Win and I found it hard to find our sizes, but we found cargo pants and T-shirts that didn’t make it look like we’d spent the night in the woods.
We walked to the restaurant afterward, following the smell of home-cooked food. As we got closer, I realized how hungry I was. Luc opened the door for us. It was just after lunch, so only one other couple was seated inside, finishing their meal. They stared as we stepped inside.
Luc said a polite good afternoon to them and pulled out chairs for us like a local gentleman entertaining his foreign friends.
In a few minutes, a plump woman in glasses bustled out of the kitchen. She came over to our table, removed her glasses, and looked at us with a hand on her hip. She doesn’t look very friendly, I thought.
“Vun wou kennst de?” she asked. “Where do you all come from?”
Luc pointed at himself and said in English, “Belgium.”
He turned to Win. Taking the silent cue from him she said in a bright voice, “Thailand.”
The woman’s eyes moved around the table.
“The States,” Katy said, with a smile.
“India,” I said, not wanting to complicate things.
“Lithuania,” Tetyana said, her face set in a half smile.
The woman seemed satisfied with our answers. After a longer chat with Luc, she said “Wellkom,” and went off to get the menus.
“What did you tell her?” Tetyana asked in a whisper.
“I didn’t have to say anything. She knew we were coming,” Luc said, keeping his voice low, just in case someone in the vicinity understood English. “The woman with the dog already phoned her. She said next time we go hiking in the woods to carry a phone. I told her we did, but couldn’t get a signal. She said she was going to complain to the telephone company because tourists were always getting lost and one day someone was going to die in the woods if they didn’t fix the problem.”
“Oh, good,” I said, partly relieved we were not getting any unwanted attention and partly guilty at lying to these kind people.
“Didn’t she ask how we got here?” Katy asked.
“There’s a large castle ruin nearby. It’s a tourist attraction, so she thought we’d come to see that. I didn’t disagree.”
“Good work,” Tetyana said. “Did you find out about a car?”
“She said there’s no place to rent cars around here or call a taxi, but her cousin, who’s got a van big enough to fit all of us, can take us to where we can get a bus to town. But we have to find him first. He’s supposed to be on a nearby hill herding cows.”
“It’s a good start,” Katy said.
I was glad we were all going to be together for a little longer. I didn’t want to say goodbye just yet.
The food came, and we ate like we’d never seen food in our lives. When the woman inquired, Luc truthfully said it was the best meal we’d had in a long time. She walked away looking pleased with herself. When the bill came, we noticed she hadn’t charged us for anything. It was a simple note that said, “Eng secher Rees.”
“Have a safe journey home,” Luc translated for us.
Everyone turned silent. Like me, I was sure everyone felt terrible for lying to our hostess. I felt like she’d just given us a warm hug to make up for all the bad people we’d met. For the first time in days, something warm and fuzzy stirred inside me. People aren’t all that bad, I thought to myself.
We waited to thank the woman, but she only shook her head, patted Luc’s back, and said “wellkom,” before returning to the kitchen with our empty plates.
We walked outside and huddled on a street bench to take stock of our plans.
“I don’t like hanging around here for too long,” Tetyana said. “The castle isn’t that far away from here. Who’s to say they won’t come looking for us here?”
“The thing with a small town,” Luc said, “is everyone knows we’re here now.”
“You think they called the police?” I asked.
Luc shook his head. “We’ve been good customers and nice to everyone. No reason for anyone to call or complain.”
Tetyana nodded. “Okay, why don’t you go find that farmer and his van. The rest of us probably shouldn’t stand out here for everyone to see. We need to stay away in a quiet spot for an hour or two.”
She looked around the street and pointed at the hair salon. “How does everyone feel about a haircut?”
“I could do with a trim,” I said. “I probably look like a jungle girl.”
“I’m not talking a trim, girls,” Tetyana said, her eyes narrowing.
We looked at her puzzled.
“I’m talking a wholesale makeover.”
Katy gasped. “But I love my hair.”
“Do you want to make it easy for Fred or the police to find us?” Tetyana asked, with an eyebrow raised.
We remained quiet, contemplating this.
“Do I have to change my ’do as well?” Luc asked. I knew he was more vain about his looks than any of us were. This was going to be hardest for him.
“Yes, but later,” Tetyana said. “You’ve got an important job to do right now. For now, go buy a hat and sunglasses at the hiking shop, then find the farmer.”
Luc sighed in relief.
“And I’m going to get my short hair back,” Tetyana said.
“No!” Win said. “Don’t cut your hair.”
“It’s time I became myself again, hun,” Tetyana said.
“Your hair’s gorgeous just the way it is,” Katy said.
“I’m a short-haired brunette who used to teach kids how to speak English in a little town near Kiev,” Tetyana said, with a smile. “I know you don’t believe me, but I’m not a redheaded vixen who likes to wear heels, like you.”
Chapter Fifty-three
By the time we had our hair cut and colored by a team of friendly hairdressers, Luc was back.
The farmer had agreed to take us to the castle ruins, or “back to the ruins,” as he put it.
It was only a twenty-minute drive. He left us at the foot of the hill near the parking lot. Nearby was a stop sign where buses came to pick up tourists and take them into the city. A group of Chinese tourists had overtaken the bus stop. It was nice we weren’t alone but I worried we’d find space on any bus that came by.
We huddled in a corner, trying to figure out our next steps.
We could now pass as any cosmopolitan student group. Luc had switched his black bomber jacket and pants for an athletic suit with a hoodie and a baseball cap. Win was sporting a purple bob cut, which made her look like she’d come from sunny California.
Katy had her hair done up. She refused to color her hair but allowed them to trim and pin it up, making it look short, though we all warned her that meant a ton of work every morning. Mine was cut to the shoulders, layered and dyed a chestnut brown. It would take some time to get used to, but I was happy to be a step ahead of Fred and his goons.
“Next best step is Luxembourg City, for all of us, right?” I asked.
“Better if we can get into France directly,” Luc said.
Tetyana was unusually quiet. She looked unusual as wel
l, with her hair cropped short and colored brown.
“What do you think, Tetyana?” Katy asked.
She didn’t say anything at first. When she looked up and spoke, her voice was solemn. “One step at a time. First, we need to get out of here safely.”
“Hey.” I looked over at Win who was standing quietly aside, her face scrunched up. “You all right?”
Tears were welling in her eyes. “I just want all of us to stay together,” she said, wiping them away.
Katy pulled her in and hugged her.
A long coach pulled up to the bus stop cutting our conversation short and making the tourists twitter excitedly.
They gathered their bags, called out to each other, and swarmed the bus.
“We’ll never find space in there,” Katy said, shaking her head.
“That’s a private coach,” Luc said. “They won’t take us, anyway. We need a city bus.”
“What about hitching a ride in a car?” Tetyana said, looking at the parked cars. “We could try to get one of the tourists to take us.”
“That means splitting up,” Win said, her voice slightly high pitched. “We won’t all fit in one car.”
Nobody said anything.
We knew Tetyana was itching to return home, to find a way to rescue her brother, even though she still didn’t have enough money to pay his captors.
“We’ll need a van,” Luc said.
“A bus is best, I guess,” Katy said.
Just then, from the corner of my eyes, I saw an official-looking car with a bar of lights on top slowly turn into the parking lot.
Oh, no. Did they find us?
The coach driver who’d gotten out to load the tourists’ bags in, jumped back in and started the engine. I didn’t wait. I ran up to the door and leaped up the stairs.
“Excuse me, do you have space for five more?” I asked the driver.
“This is not a city bus,” the driver said, with a thick German accent.
“We’ll pay extra.”
“I’m going to Luxembourg City.”
“That’s where we’re going too,” I said nodding.
I glanced behind me. Everyone was staring, wondering what I was up to. Behind them, the official car was inching its way slowly by the parked cars, as if checking for something.
The Girl Who Made Them Pay Page 28
