Tabitha was now our communications expert. She spent the entire night translating for us. Among the many promises we made Yvette; one was that we’d definitely return to the village to visit her. We also assured her that we’d bring dolls and lots of good food back with us.
We chatted until the first rays of dawn streaked across the sky. Troy, true to his word, had already set off in search of a phone for us.
He returned empty-handed in the afternoon appearing rather dejected. He did, however, bring this offering, “I think I saw some policemen in the village. Do you want to head over and take a look?”
We were elated at this news. Nora, however, looked rather suspicious. She asked cynically, “Why did those policemen come here all of a sudden, though?”
Troy halted. “They’re looking for someone. I don’t know the specifics, but you can go and take a look.”
Looking for someone?
We exchanged glances amongst each other. We were equally bewildered. There was no discernible reason for policemen to be looking for someone in such a remote location.
It had taken the four of us days to get here across the rugged terrain, scaling numerous peaks. It was a tremendous distance. Why would these policemen have made the same, if not more, perilous journey? Besides, weren’t they worried about appearing conspicuous?
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked doubtfully, noting our troubled faces with concern.
Out of consideration for Troy, we chorused in tandem, a little too brightly, “Nothing! It’s fine!”
Nora was the most street smart among us. She was closely guarded, refusing to trust others unless they’ve proven themselves. She now paused, then remarked wisely, “No matter what, let’s be careful. If it’s really impossible, we can continue to the city. We’ll definitely meet fellow countrymen there. If we’re indeed that close to the border, there’ll definitely be an embassy we can seek refuge at.”
Upon hearing Nora’s tempered reasoning, we nodded in agreement. Besides, it didn’t seem like there were any other alternatives.
Having made up our minds, we regretfully bade farewell to Troy and Yvette and hurriedly set off.
Before we could even step out of the door, however, we heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from outside, beyond it.
“What shall we do?” Laurel shrieked. She clung tightly to the hem of my shirt, petrified.
“Let’s wait and see,” I declared firmly, trying to keep my voice from quaking. Together, Nora and I watched the door in trepidation.
Troy’s house was rather cramped. There was absolutely nowhere to hide.
Besides, even if we managed to, we’d be leaving Troy and Yvette to fend for themselves. If these were indeed assailants coming for us, they might even torment Troy and Yvette for helping us.
We decided that we had to confront them head-on. As we peered out of the crack of the door, what greeted us was the sight of a few dark-skinned men attired in police uniforms. They stood haughtily in the yard with their chests puffed out.
“Venrian policemen!” Nora muttered; her brow furrowed. She squared her shoulders and walked out into the yard somewhat defiantly.
When the policemen saw us, looks of astonishment flitted briefly across their faces. Troy, who’d followed us out, began rattling off a string of explanations. Unable to follow the conversations, we fixed our gazes on Troy in complete trust.
After a brief exchange, the apparent leader of the policemen turned towards us and uttered a command. Naturally, we made no response and merely looked at him, mystified.
The policeman looked equally confused. His arrogance seemed to have taken a blow. He turned towards a sallow-looking man standing just behind him and gave another order.
His chosen interpreter stared at us with piercing eyes and asked, “Are you illegal Chanaean immigrants?”
Nora pursed her lips. “Good sirs, can we discuss this civilly? We weren’t trespassing. We were running for our lives!”
The interpreter frowned slightly, then reported back to his leader. The policeman looked at us for a moment, then directed his reply to us through his interpreter again.
In this way, we achieved a semblance of understanding. The Venrian policemen were here on border patrol, having heard rumors of missing people.
From what information we’d managed to piece together, they didn’t sound like terrible people. In fact, we managed to glean the fact that some of our family members were searching for us.
Nora’s eyes roved across each of our faces. At last, she said lightly, “Which of you has such influential family members? How did they manage to mobilize even the Venrian policemen?”
We had all been equally confounded by the revelation. Tabitha volunteered rather uncertainly, “I’m not too sure either, but my Dad’s job involves border surveillance. I don’t think he’s important enough a figure to get me out here, though, much less know where I am!”
Laurel shrugged as well. “Don’t look at me! My parents are ordinary people. They live along the coast. If I was ever kidnapped, all they would do would be to call the police. It isn’t likely that Chanaean policemen would cast their net this far.”
We all looked simultaneously in Tessa’s direction. She had been standing aside calmly and was startled to see us gazing questioningly at her. “It must be fate!” she blurted out.
Speechless, we turned back. It was evident that we couldn’t count on Tessa for answers now, either.
Nora squinted at me. “Sienna, now that I think about it, you’ve never told us about your past or your family, have you?”
I bit my lip, then replied ruefully, “I grew up an orphan in R Province. My Grandma was the one who took care of me as a child growing up, but she passed away. I’ve been working at A City alone ever since. I’m not close to my colleagues and I don’t think any of them would notice if I went missing.”
My reply was evidently not what Nora was expecting to hear. She awkwardly patted my arm and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
I smiled faintly at her. “It’s nothing. I’m used to it.”
Tabitha seemed the most likely cause now. Her parents must have gotten hold of some thread of connection that had led them all the way here to Venria.
We thus said our goodbyes for real to the Laanders. Together with the policemen, we traipsed out of the village towards what we hoped was home.
The long ride eventually sobered us up from the initial rush of joy. A sudden hush descended on our group. Then Nora spoke, “I hope we can truly return home this time around. If we all survive this, let’s be sure to keep in touch.”
Laurel forced a chuckle. “Of course we’ll survive!”
It was a five or six-hour drive to the city. We were supposed to be headed towards Marsingfill, but the route took us instead to Ocean City. It was located, as its name suggested, close to the sea.
An uneasy feeling stirred among us. Nora turned towards the sallow-skinned man and demanded, “Why did you take a detour around Norham to bring us here to Ocean City?”
The man smirked aggravatingly. “Well, well, it seems like someone knows her way around Venria pretty well!” he said.
Nora frowned slightly and asked the man, “Are you not a police officer?”
All of us tensed up at the question and the man scoffed. “We are indeed the police, but we are not the police who will send all of you home. Don’t you know that there are different types of police in Venria?”
Upon hearing his confession, Tabitha shrieked in fear, “Let us go!”
Meanwhile, Laurel was so terrified that she started to shake uncontrollably, and Tessa began mumbling philosophical quotes.
Nora turned pale as her hope of returning home vanished in an instant.
She was so upset that she could not even speak. Glaring at him with her blazing eyes, she looked as if she was going to murder the man.
I clasped my hands tightly and took a deep breath to compose myself. Then, I looked at the man with a steady gaze. “So, where are you guys bringing us?”
He turned towards me and smiled. “Oh, you must be Sienna Stanhope.”
I frowned. “Do you know me?”
He gave me a nonchalant shrug and replied, “Nope, I don’t know who you are, but I’ve heard of you. The police in Marsingfill are looking for you now. You seem to be worth a lot of money.”
The police wouldn’t be finding me without a reason. Perhaps Anthony has known that I’m in Venria, so he contacted the police there.
When he saw the baffled look on me, he continued, “Don’t worry, Ms. Stanhope. I can’t guarantee the safety of the ladies here, but I can definitely guarantee yours. As long as you cooperate with us, you can go back to your country safe and sound after we receive the ransom.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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