One chilly evening in Northern Residential Benue, Rachel walks through a busy business street. She wore a bulky grey sweater underneath a heavy jacket while a scarf covers her entire face, leaving only her eyes visible. She walks through the streets in high alert, constantly checking and surveying the area. She senses that someone might be following her, that someone is watching her. She carries with her a large bag full of essentials to go, and on her left she held Philip, her 7 year-old son whom she had wrapped and covered up in warm clothing. They both looked inconspicuous, trying to blend in with their environment in hopes that they would not get spotted by anyone around. Should they continue with the journey through the night? Rachel thought to herself. They had been walking for a while and were both visibly exhausted.
“Mama,” Philip said as he tugged on her hand, “I’m hungry.”
“Yes I know love,” Rachel replied to him softly, “I’m hungry too.”
They continued to walk around, looking for an open eatery or restaurant. But it was past working hours for most businesses in Residential Benue, and as a result of this, they were being turned away at every eatery that they went to. Rachel pleaded with them, “Just one meal,” She begged, “For my son,” But no one would pay her any mind. Her spirit, as strong as it was, was starting to feel the weight of it all. She sat at the pavement, worried that she and her son might die of starvation, but their time had not yet come and there was still much to do.
“Mama,” Philip exclaimed, “Look!”
And Rachel turned her head towards the direction Philip was pointing at. She spotted a bakery at the far end of the street, the Schully’s bakery, its doors were still wide open. Rachel immediately regained her strength and rose to her feet. She adjusted the strap of the bag and held onto Philip’s hand, she smiled at him, “What would I do without you?” She asked.
“Let’s go!” Philip said as they both walked hurriedly towards the bakery. Once they got to the door, Rachel stopped and read the sign, “Open 7 days a week.” She looked at her son again, he smiled back at her, “Well, let’s go in.”
They walked into the bakery and were overwhelmed by the wonderful smell of freshly baked pastries and the sweet smell of melted butter. There were four aisles of freshly baked breads, cakes, scones, biscuits, cookies and cheeses arranged on the shelves. They walked through the aisles in awe of this wonderful and magical place, while consequently being bombarded with smells that excited their taste buds. At the other end of the room, there was a counter. Rachel walked towards it and looked around. She saw a bell and rang it, hopeful that someone would come and serve them. Beyond the counter was a wine cellar, with an assortment of different wines from different regions. Rachel ushered Philip to sit at the counter while she relieved herself of the load on her back. “Don’t move.” She ordered. She rang the bell again and continued to look around.
“Coming!” a gentle voice replied, Rachel looked up, slightly startled. “Is anyone there?” she asked.
“Yes.” The voice replied. From the door beyond the counter, right beside the wine cellar, emerged a medium height middle aged woman. Like most people on Avulan, she had a dark skin complexion. With long, thick kinky hair flowing from her head to her back, and a soft rounded face with bright and welcoming eyes. “What would you like to have today?” She asked as she rushed to grab her apron from the coat rack. She then walked towards the counter to where Rachel was standing.
“Umm… I’m not so sure. This is my first time here,” Rachel said as she looked around, “Everything looks so great. My name is Rachel.”
“Nice to meet you Rachel. I don’t recall having seen you around here before,” The baker replied, “I could give you some suggestions if you’d like.”
“Yes please.” Said Rachel.
“Sit, make yourself comfortable.”
Rachel grabbed the bag from the seat and placed it on the floor next to Philip. She sat down and, for the first time in two weeks, she felt calm and secure. She was finally able to provide a decent meal for her and her son. She had a good feeling, that a calmness was near; relieving them from the storm that has plagued their lives. The baker took out a menu from the shelf and gave it to Rachel. She leaned onto the counter to help Rachel pick out something to eat.
“I would suggest the after hours cheese special for you and maybe just do the same thing for your little one here minus the wine of course.” The baker said, “It’s actually quite popular. I have a feeling you’ll both like it a lot.”
“Will you be okay with having cheese Phil?” Rachel asked. He nodded at her, “Okay then we’ll have that.” Rachel replied.
“Coming right up.” The baker responded. She bent over and took some plates and cutlery and arranged them on the counter. She took one large tray and walked towards the aisles where the cheeses were. She turned and looked outside, the darkness had started to creep in, “I might need to light some candles.” She murmured. She grabbed a pack of feta cheese and some goat cheese and walked back to the counter. She grabbed a knife from the drawer and began cutting a slice from each and put them on the plates. She then took a loaf of bread that was heating in the oven and cut it into 8 thin slices, four slices for each plate. “Would you like some warm milk with that?” The baker asked Philip. He hesitated and glanced at his mother. Rachel giggled, “Yes he would love that.” She answered. The baker poured a glass of warm milk and handed it to Philip. “What do we say to the nice lady?” Rachel asked as she looked at him, “Thank you.” He said to the baker. She smiled back at him, “You’re welcome.”
“Let me get you that wine.” The baker said as she took out one large wine glass, “Which one do you prefer?”
“Syronian, if you don’t mind.” Rachel replied.
“You have quite an expensive taste.”
“It’s the best wine on Avulan.” Said Rachel, “Much better than the ones they make around here.”
“You’re not from Benue?” The baker asked, she was intrigued. She briefly looked back at her mysterious customer.
“No, We’re just passing by.”
“From where? Are you from Syrona?”
“Yes. But I haven’t lived in Syrona for almost 8 years now.”
“You’ve lived here in Benue for the past 7 years and I haven’t met you or came across you around here before? I don’t think so.” The baker said.
“Actually we came to Benue some days ago. Before that we lived at Kamasha.”
“Well, you’re quite the tourist,” The baker said. She took a bottle of Syronian wine from the cellar and opened it. There was a loud popping sound followed by a crackling sound as the wine was poured into a glass. “So you moved to Kamasha from Syrona. I don't get it," the baker commented, "Why would anybody want to live at that place? It’s always so busy and crowded. Especially in Maintown. The air is always full of smoke.” She said as she turned towards Rachel and handed her the glass of wine.
“You know the locals there have this belief. That if you stay around Maintown Kamasha for too long, you become greedy. Something about the air. Maybe it’s that smoke you mentioned.” Rachel replied sarcastically, “Believe me, if I could stay at one place and not have to move around as much then I definitely would. There’s nothing that I would love more than just being able to settle down. You know… live my life and watch my son grow up.”
“Why don’t you?” The baker asked, “Benue would be a great place to settle down. It’s always quiet and everybody minds their own business. Plus anyone can start up a business, like I did some years back.”
“I can't,” Said Rachel, “There are some bad people that are looking for us. I can’t let anyone touch my kid.”
“Wait what?” The baker exclaimed, “Are you on the run?”
“I have been, for almost 7 years now.”
“On the run from who?” The baker asked, “Who is chasing you halfway around the globe?”
“Some people in very high places who will stop at nothing until they get what they want.”
“What is it that you have that they want?”
Rachel paused for a while. She looked at her son who in turn looked at the baker. She took the fork into her hand, picking up a small piece of cheese and ate it. She took the wine glass in her hand and had a long sip. She then looked back at the baker, “Information.” She said, “I have a lot of information on things that the Kamashan government don’t want people finding out about.”
“So that’s why you left and came to Benue,” The baker concluded, “Is that the only reason they are looking for you?”
“Yes. And I know they will stop at nothing to get me and my son. I’m good at covering my tracks, I learnt from the best. But I’m running out of places to go to. And I’m running out of numbers to call.”
“What about friends? You must surely have family somewhere back in Syrona.”
“No. I can’t risk putting anyone else in danger. I already fear for my son’s life and I can’t bear the thought of endangering any of my friends or family. I don’t know if they’ve already been contacted, if they’ve been threatened to give out my location in case I contact them. I can’t risk it. Right now, remaining out of sight is our best bet for survival.”
The baker looked around, it was dark. The oven place kept the room slightly lit and warm. She watched as Rachel removed her headscarf, revealing a tired looking pale face. She then wrapped the scarf around her shoulders. “Let me light up the candles.” The baker said, “I don’t like the darkness.”
“No one like the darkness.” Rachel replied as she pulled her braided hair away from her face, “It is always uncertain.”
The baker took a match box from the shelf and lit 4 candles which she then placed at each corner of the room, “I’m curious as to how your life has been these past couple of years” She said to Rachel, “It must have been tough for you.”
“It was, at first. I would cry a lot thinking about how my life changed so drastically. One day I’m a young woman trying to live a happy life and the next I’m...” Rachel paused and looked at her son. He was already done eating; Philip always had a big appetite. “Hey, how about you take a basket over there and pick out some stuff you want for the road.” She said to him, “Okay mom,” He replied, she held onto his face softly and reluctantly let go. Philip got off his chair and took a basket from the counter. He walked towards the aisles and swiftly disappeared into the shelves. Rachel watched on as he picked out some cheeses, she grabbed the glass in her hand and took another large sip. “…The next I’m a mother.” She said as she glanced at the baker.
“You seem like a pretty awesome mom,” The baker said as she grabbed another wine glass. She took a bottle on Benuan wine from the cellar and poured some into the glass, “Philip seems like a very well behaved child.”
“When you’ve lived the kind of life he has, you start to learn things at a very early age. Your mind processes information very differently. How to behave and how to deal with certain situations. I made sure of it.”
“A child on the run,” The baker contemplated, “I can’t imagine what that would do to a child mentally.”
“A lot,” Rachel replied, “But I have a special one.”
“He sure looks special to me.”
“He’s just like his dad.” Rachel said, “Always adventurous, sometimes even a bit incautious but he’s always listening, and is always honest with me.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to Philip’s dad?” The baker inquired, “You seem like you’ve been alone for quite some time”
“He umm… he died, a long time ago. Before Philip was born.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss him. I keep seeing him in my dreams at night. They are always so vivid.”
“Maybe he is trying to tell you something.” The baker said as she took a sip of her wine, “What are the dreams about?”
“Umm...I’m in this big town. It’s always busy, there are cars on the street and people are walking left and right. And I see him walk by me, I try to call his name but he doesn’t hear me. I see him walking past me again, I scream and shout but he never hears me. It’s like I’m not even there. Like I’m invisible to him.”
“That must be very intense. To then wake up the next morning and realize that it was only a dream. How do you feel about that?”
“I’m reminded of my grief. That I’m alone. That I’m never going to be with him again. It’s pain that I’m never going to heal from.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s been that way for over 7 years now. It’s a part of who I am now. My grief is a part of me.”
“Don’t you think it’s time?” The baker asked Rachel.
“Time for what?” Rachel inquired.
“Time to let go of him.”
“What are you saying?”
“You’re still grieving. It’s been 7 years now.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t know there was a limit to how much a person is allowed to grieve.”
“I haven’t said that.”
“But it was implied.”
“All I’m saying is that you’ve been through a lot. I can tell by the look on your face that your spirit is exhausted. You just want to settle down, to breathe with ease. To not feel like you constantly have to look over your shoulder. You’ve immersed yourself into your grief, that’s why you will never be able to free yourself from your husband’s ghost. Even after 7 long years, you’re still grieving. The wound is still as fresh as the day it was inflicted upon you.”
“Of course I’m still grieving. He had a tragic death, and for some reason, fate decided that it wanted me there to witness it. It haunts me. I could never get over something like that. No matter how much I try to.”
“But I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”
“But I know whose fault it was. And I will never rest until my husband gets justice. Until my family gets justice.”
“So that’s why you left Kamasha. You witnessed your husband’s death and some people wanted it covered up. These big people that you mentioned, I presume.”
“Yes. And I know it sounds really absurd. That I, a 30-something year old woman, have dedicated my life to exposing the Kamashan government for what they really are, which is a group of terrorists masquerading as an averagely competent governing force. Who do I think I am? Right?” Said Rachel as she took another sip of her wine. She looked back into the aisles at Philip, he was trying to grab a bunch of cookies from the top shelf, “My husband and I moved to Kamasha to start our family together. We had so many plans for the future. Syrona was not a place for a man like him, he was intelligent; he often wondered about things that were beyond human understanding. Then one day one of our friends happened to come by, he had just returned from an expedition trip to Kamasha. He described it as a place full of wonder, a place where people live life according to their own potential, and right then and there we knew that it was meant to be, that our destiny lay in Kamasha. So we decided to move. We didn’t even think twice about it. And the first few years were great, I thought that our life was finally falling into place.” Rachel paused for a while and looked at her son, “No chocolate!” She exclaimed, “Put them back and take the plain ones.” Philip looked back at her with a disappointed look on his face, “Can I just have one?” he begged, “Just one.”
“Okay you can have one.” She replied.
“I try to keep him happy,” she told the baker, “If we’re going to be in this together we have to always have to be on good terms.”
“Are you sure that’s the reason why you can’t say no to your son?”
“I have no one else but him. He is my world and my everything. My little Tyran.”
“That is an interesting name choice.”
“Yes, his uncle picked it out. He was born on the 1st Tyran sighting of that year. It felt appropriate.”
“What a lucky lad. His life is tied to that of the stars.”
“A special one. I’ve always had a feeling that he would grow up to do great things. I just hope I can keep him alive long enough for him to pursue all his desires and live out his dreams.”
“He will,” The baker said reassuringly, “Like I told you before, you’re a good mom.”
Rachel took another bite of the cheese and bread. She had gotten so immersed in the conversation that she had forgotten to eat, “I’m definitely taking this to go.” She said while pointing at the slice of blue cheese on her plate.
“Did you say that Philip was named by his uncle?” The baker inquired, attempting to pick up the conversation. She stood up and walked towards the back counter and organized some of the pastries that had been cooling on the rack..
“Yes he did. His uncle Wesley. We lived with him for a while, till Philip was 5 years old.”
The baker paused. She looked up then looked to the side. She then turned towards the counter and walked back to her seat.
“And where is he now?” The baker inquired, ‘Where’s Philip? I mean Philip’s uncle.”
“I don’t know.” Rachel replied.
“What?”
“That day my husband died, was one of the worst days in my life. I was left distraught, heartbroken and I didn’t know what to do or where to start. I stood and watched my husband’s lifeless body as it lay on the ground. As men in suits took pictures of him and stared at him, as if his death was something to be marveled at. I don’t even know if they buried him or not, they wouldn’t allow me to ask questions, the only thing that they wanted to hear from me was answers. And just when I thought that it was over for me, he took me in. Philip was a very kind and very generous man. He watched over me and taught me the most important skill a human could have, the will to survive. He couldn’t stand to see me all alone in the world, I was about to have my first child. He took me in knowing that I had a target on my back. And that meant that his life was also at risk. But he took me in regardless and kept me safe for all those years. I was able to have my son Philip and we lived a quiet life for the most part. Until they came for him. I was out with my son that day. We loved to drive to the beach and play, maybe collect some shells if we found any, some of our better memories. But when we got home, we found the door wide open. I looked around the house, and it had been completely trashed, someone had been rummaging through our things. And since that day, I never saw him again. He has never contacted me or tried to look for me. I even tried to file for a missing person’s report but the police department kept refused to investigate. That’s when I knew, it was only a matter of time before they would try to come for us too. ”
“How do you know that it was them who took him? The people who also killed your husband, how do you know that it was them?”
“Because I know what they were looking for. Philip worked for those people before, he was a detective working on a case that involved my husband, that’s how we met. He was there that day my husband died, he was working on that case. But he chose not to cooperate with them any further. He said that he was done with the Kamashan government and their antics. When he left, however, he left with something very important. A collection of documents that is of particular interest to the Kamashan government. It contained classified information from I.C.C.A detailing their involvement in the death of my husband.”
“Your husband was killed by some I.C.C.A officials?" The baker gasped, "How come no one ever heard about it?”
“Do you remember the first instance of the phenomena? The one that interfered with every radio network on Avulan?”
“Yes I remember.” The baker replied, “We were told that it had something to do with bad weather.”
“That’s the story they decided to go with here?” Rachel asked sarcastically, “Bad weather indeed.”
“Did you at any point question why and how it happened? Why it kept on happening?”
“I must admit it did seem kind of suspicious but I never really thought much about it.” The baker replied, “Benuans don’t ask too much questions. Nobody wants to go looking for trouble.”
“They wanted to control the narrative. Whenever the story would get picked up by a media outlet they would get notified and block any channel that was about to have an expose about it. And because they didn’t want it to seem suspicious, they blocked all the radio networks on Avulan, passing it on as a phenomena, as they called it.”
“How did they do that?”
“The government can do anything, especially if intelligence is involved. They will spare no expense in their pursuit.
“And you got entangled in all of this. You and your son are innocent.”
“My son is innocent. I on the other hand, am not. The Kamashan government tried to reach out to me several times. An agent would be sent over to the house occasionally to check up on us and try to manipulate me into turning myself in. Do it for your child, they would insisted. They were trying to bait me. They thought I was weak and that I would give in to them soon enough. Then I got to thinking, if they couldn’t spare my husband’s life or Philip’s life, and they both worked for them, what makes me think that they would keep their word in regards to my son?”
“He is always your first priority.” the baker commented as she took another sip of wine.
“Always. Whenever I think about giving up. When I feel sad, alone or exhausted. I always think about my son. My little Tyran needs me to keep pushing and keep on moving forward. He goes wherever I go, I’m never going to leave him behind, not to anyone, not even friends or family. Not even if I trust you with my life. I can never trust anyone with my son, he is safer by my side.”
“So you’re going to be on the run for the rest of your lives, that’s not fair for either of you.”
“My dear, life was never designed to be fair. There are some of us who have to fight, some of us have to make the sacrifices so that others live better and longer. Some of us carry our fates in our hands like fragile glass; one step in the wrong direction and it’s game over.”
“Do you believe you’ll get justice? For your husband and for Philip.” Asked the baker. She was engrossed, her mind was pondering on the reality of a life like Rachel’s. It seemed so unreal.
“Justice will be served, even if I’m not there to serve it myself. I might just be the messenger, equally important in my own right.”
“And what of you, what of your life?”
“Like I said before, some of us have to make the sacrifices. My only purpose right now is to keep my son safe, everything else is secondary to me.” Rachel looked back at her son again, “Are you done?” she asked,
“Yes mom.” Philip replied.
“I think it’s time we get going now. We still have a long way to go.” Rachel said as Philip walked towards her with the basket full of pastries and cheeses. It was getting late, Rachel knew that it was time to move, she couldn’t risk staying at one place for too long; someone somewhere might be watching her.
Philip placed the basket on the counter, “You’re sure you got everything?” The baker asked him,
“Yes I’m sure.” He replied. He bent towards the bag next to his seat and started rummaging through it. “Well okay then,” The baker said as she got off her seat, “Let me go get a bag to put these.” She put the wine glass on the counter and walked towards the back door. She went into the next room and took out two large plastic bags. Just as she was about to walk through the door, she heard someone call her, “Joanne!” A deep commanding voice exclaimed, “Are you still in here?”
“Yes I’m here love.” She replied, “I hope you don’t mind, I had a last minute customer and I decided to stick around for a while.”
“We were supposed to meet at the lake an hour ago Joanne.” The voice said. It was a man’s voice, Rachel concluded, he sounded slightly annoyed. “You should have called me.” the man said sternly.
Rachel could hear his footsteps getting louder and louder until a shadow appeared next to the baker. “You owe me for making me come all the way over here to get you.” He said.
They walked through the door and the man stopped and looked at Rachel. He was a tall, muscular looking man, casually dressed and was wearing a pair of glasses. He had big dark hair which it created a pleasant looking dome shape at the top of his head. “Hello,” he said to her, “How are you this evening?”
“I’m quite alright.” Rachel replied. The man kept sneaking glances at her, inspecting her, trying to make out her face. Occasionally, his gaze would meet Rachel’s eyes and they would stare at each other briefly until Rachel looked away.
“I’ll put the cheeses and the cookies together in one bag so you can easily find them.” Joanne said to Philip as she sorted through the basket and arranged everything inside the plastic bags, “Thank you.” He said while he was still underneath the counter rummaging through the bag.
“Her son Philip is down there somewhere,” She chuckled, “Such a lovely boy.”
“Joanne,” The man said, “May I speak with you privately in the other room.”
She looked at him, confused by this impromptu request. She looked at Rachel and handed her the plastic bags, “I’ll be right back.” She said and immediately accompanied the man into the other room. “What is it?” She asked.
“Do you know who that is?” The man asked her.
“She’s Rachel.” Joanne replied, “I just met her today.”
“Joanne, she's no ordinary Rachel. That’s Rachel Arbury.”
“Is that supposed to mean something to me?”
“7 years ago her husband commits suicide at I.C.C.A. Rumor has it that he was involved in the radio wave phenomena that happened that year and the feds have been chasing her ever since. She’s a fugitive.”
“You mean she’s that astronaut’s wife?”
“Yes she is. His name was Matthew Arbury.” The man said, “You can’t be associated with her. She’s bad news.”
“She doesn’t seem like it. Rachel is a good person and I believe her side of the story.”
“I’m sure she’s probably innocent in all this. But when you get on the wrong side of the government, you become a problem to everyone else that is around you. Speaking to her, or being seen with her ultimately makes you and accomplice. I didn’t even know she had a son.”
“Philip, he is such a joy child. She just wants to protect him and keep him safe.”
“That should not be at the expense of anyone else. She might get you into trouble. What if someone saw her here? What if they’ve already reported her to the authorities?”
“Relax,” Joanne replied as she grabbed a bottle of Syronian wine from a large wooden crate that was next to the door, “She came here when the sun was almost about to set, most people around here had already closed shop. I doubt if anyone spotted her.”
“I hope you’re right,” The man said, “I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Nothing is going to happen,” She said as she turned and proceeded to walk back to the counter, “Rachel I wanted you to have this,” Joanne began. But to her surprise, there was no one at the counter. Rachel and Philip had already left the bakery. Joanne was perplexed, 'Where did she go?' She thought. Just as she put the wine bottle down on the counter, she looked to the side and noticed something was lying on the counter. She moved closer and saw a worn out grey file and next to it, was some money. She looked around, 'Where did this come from?' She thought, 'Did she leave this here?'
“Robert!” She called out, “Could you come in here for a second?”
The man walked towards her, “What is it?” He asked. Joanne looked at him, there was a worried look on her face. “I think she left this here.” She said as she curiously looked at the file. She hesitantly took it and started to go through it page by page, “It’s a case file on her husband Matthew Arbury.”
“What?” Robert exclaimed, “Let me see that.” Joanne handed the file to him and he went through it. Each page he turned revealed more information about the tragic death of Matthew Arbury. It also contained some information about the mysterious mission to Tyran which shocked Robert, he had never heard about it before. “There was a mission to Tyran 7 years ago?” He asked, “It says here that the government of Kamasha attempted to make base on Tyran 7 years ago. What other secrets have the people been keeping from us?”
“I don’t know,” Joanne replied, “But Rachel left this file here for a purpose.”
“You said that you talked, what did you two talk about?” Robert asked.
“She said that her only focus right now is to keep Philip safe. But justice still needs to be served, whether she was the one serving it or not.”
“So that means that she wants you to do it.”
“No. not me”
“Who else then?” Robert asked. Joanne looked at the counter yet again and noticed something at the surface, it was a note. She stared at it from a distance and glanced at Robert before she picked it up. She stared at it in silence, “What?” Robert asked, “What does it say?”
Joanne looked at Robert, she was confused and worried, she contemplated about what had been written on the note. She took the note and raised it towards him. Robert read the note and was startled, he looked back at Joanne with worry written all over his face.
“What does that mean?” Robert asked her.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” She replied anxiously.
He took the note from her hand and placed it on the file. “We need to go.” Robert said to Joanne, “It’s not safe to be here.”
“You’re right,” Joanne said, “Let me lock up the front door then we can leave.”
“Okay then. But be quick.”
Joanne shuffled from behind the counter and walked towards the front door. She drew the curtains to close them and locked the door. Her nerves were all over the place. She peeped through the window and looked around. It was quiet, the electric lamps kept the streets lit while a few people moved around and about. She blew out the candles and peeped through the window again, “I sure hope no one saw her coming in here.” She said out loud. “Okay we can leave now.” And as she was walking through the aisles, something overcame her and stopped her in her step. She felt a very strong urge to look around. She started to look around the shelves, then something caught her attention. There was something in the aisles, something that she could see but she could not quite make out what it was. She stood and stared at it for a while and did not say a word. Joanne was caught in a trance. Oblivious to the fact that her life had now become entangled in a continuity of events that would soon come to change the course of humanity on Avulan. However, her mind remained unaware of it. She continued to look at this strange image that had her mesmerized. “Joanne!” Robert shouted again, “Joanne we really need to go.”Joanne jerked back to reality and hurriedly walked towards the counter, “We can go now,” she said.
‘’Are you okay?” Robert stopped to ask her, “You seem a bit disoriented.”
“I’m okay. Let’s go.” Joanne replied. She blew out the other two candles, removed her apron and grabbed her coat from the rack. She and Robert then walked through the back door towards the alley way. Joanne locked the gate and they walked towards Robert’s car which was parked right at the pavement of the street, and they got into the car and drove away. Joanne remained quiet during the entire ride home. Her mind was still trying to process everything that happened. It had been a very long day. Robert looked at her, worried that she might have gotten involved in something potentially dangerous. Joanne looked at the file, which Robert had placed at the back seat. She thought about Rachel and Philip, where they could be and where they were planning to go next. She thought about herself, about her past and her plans for the future, a future that was now in the hands of a much higher force.
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