Chapter 6

The sound of a door opening stirred Margaret back to consciousness. She expected to see Joumon, but instead the young soldier from the jeep entered. He walked towards he cautiously and undid the handcuffs.

“What’s going on?” Margaret murmured, still half asleep.

“You’re leaving.” The soldier said.

Margaret was confused now. “What, to go to another prison or something?”

The soldier looked at her strangely. “No, to go home.”

Margaret stared at him in shock. “Home?”

“Sergeant's orders. You are to be released.”

“Sergent- you mean Joumon?”

The soldier seemed surprised to hear Joumon called by his first name, but he nodded.

Margaret stood up on numb legs. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

They walked back down the long hallway and out the front door. Fresh morning air greeted her as she reveled in the morning sunshine. The soldier escorted her to the other side of the fence surrounding the compound, then closed the door and disappeared back into the building.

     Margaret stood there dazedly for a moment, then walked over to the border and climbed over the fence in Cisilon. Her best guess was that Beno, Kariss and Alistair had gone West deeper into Cisilon, so she headed off in that direction.

      As she walked through the woods, a tune rose up in her throat and she started to whistle. She felt light and free, more free than she had felt in a very, very long time. It was glorious to stroll through the forest in a country that wasn’t closing in on her. No more worrying about being pursued. No more carrying old fears. She was finally free to live her own life.

       After an hour or two, Margaret came to a small paved road. She followed it for a few more hours until buildings started appearing along the road. It wasn't long before she found herself in the center of a small town. Numerous shops lined the sidewalk and at the end of the street there was a grassy square. At the edge of the square there was a two story, official looking building with red brick and white columns. And just at that moment, to Margaret’s amazement, Alistair emerged from the building. She shouted and waved at him. Alistair turned around with a look of awe and delight dawning on his face. He ran over to her and scooped her up in a hug.

“You made it kid.”

Margaret laughed. “Yes I did.”

When he finally released her, Alistair said “Come on, we're staying in a house a few blocks away.” and started off down the street. “You have no idea how worried I was about you. We all were.”

Margaret draped her arm over his shoulders. “Well it’s a good thing I’m back then. What were you doing at the police station?”

“I was talking with someone from the embassy. They know all about the invasion plans now. Troops are probably already on their way to shore up the border.”

Margaret sighed. “And let us hope to God that they never have to fight.”

“Amen.”

They drew up to a slightly shabby looking blue house and Alistair lead the way through the front door.

“This is a duplex.” Alistair said. “The embassy arranged for us to stay on the top floor.”

They went up the steps and through another door into a small living room. Beno and Kariss were both sitting at a table in the corner. Alistair walked in first and said “Hey guys, look who I found wandering around.” Beno and Kariss both jumped up in excitement when Margaret entered the room. They ran over and gave her a double hug, squeezing the breath out of her in the progress. “Haha careful.” Margaret said.

Beno grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her over.

“Are you okay?” he said. “Did he do anything to you?’

“I’m fine Beno.”

She saw the relief wash over his face.

“But I am hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”

        Margaret savored a hot bowl of chilli as she explained that she had been asked a few questions and then let go. After hearing her story, Alistair and Kariss left to go to the grocery store. Margaret was still lost in her bowl of chilli when Beno said “I’m sorry about Joumon. It must have been awful to hate someone that you once cared for”

Margaret looked at Beno. “Do you think I hate him?” she asked

He seemed confused. “Why wouldn’t you after all that?”

“I should hate him shouldn't I.” She said

“I hate what he's done, how he's treated people. It makes my stomach writhe and I wish I could somehow make him understand the pain that he's caused. And I should hate him too, but I don't. I still love him. There's a part of us that is connected so deeply that I don’t know if I could ever convince myself that I don’t still care about him.”

Beno sat in silence for a long time, staring hard at the floor. Finally, he spoke.

“Margaret, he’s a twisted man.”

“Yes he is. Don’t doubt that I see the pain he has caused you and your family. And don’t doubt that I hold Joumon fully responsible for what he’s done. But in the face of all that, I have seen Joumon more clearly than I have seen anyone else in my life. I can see the unimaginable beauty at his core, and I can live in love with it even when on the surface he has become twisted and disgusting. I’ve grown up being taught that the highest calling of a person is to connect with God, with the deep unconditional love that sustains the universe and is at the core of everyone of us. So if I have seen God in Joumon, in the face of the horrendous acts he has committed, then I would call that a miracle, not indecency.”

Beno watched the floor silently. Seeing the faraway look in his eye’s Margaret decided the conversation must be over. She stood up and went to flip through news channels on the small TV in the kitchen.

   

       Beno had been slightly cold and distant for the rest of the day. Kariss and Alistair seemed to notice his detached attitude but they didn’t say anything about it. That evening Kariss, Alastair and Margaret all sat in the small living room to discuss their plans. Alistair was explaining what had transpired at his meeting with the embassy. “Cisilon will grant us a temporary visa until they can run a more thorough background check. Assuming our story checks out with all their sources, they have hinted that they would be willing to offer us amnesty. After that, we’re free to do as we please.”

“So we’ll be in Cisilon for a good long time then.” Kariss said.

Alistair nodded. “Unless any of you have some shady dealings that would show up on a background check we should be here for the long haul.”

Just then, they heard something thump loudly against the door. Margaret got up to see what it was. When she opened the door, she could see no one around and she didn’t know what could have made the sound until she looked down and saw Joumon laying crumpled on the stoop. Kariss looked over her shoulder and gasped “What the hell”

Margaret stooped down to look at him and said “His head is bleeding. He must have fainted.”

She hesitated for a moment then said “Kariss, will you help me get him inside?”

“Margaret, he’s NPK. He probably showed up here to drag us back to Kryon.”

“He’s wounded, he won’t be dragging anyone anywhere for awhile. Just trust me okay?”

Kariss deliberated for a second and then said “Fine. You grab his feet and I’ll get his arms.”

They half dragged half carried Joumon into one of the back rooms and hoisted him onto the bed.

        Once Joumon was situated on the bed, Margaret realized the scope of his wounds. His face was bloodied and there was a puffy welt on his right eye. His left arm was cocked at a strange angle and Margaret theorized that it was broken. There was blood oozing out of a gash on his head, and dried blood matted his hair.  At this point Beno had come to the room to investigate the commotion. He looked from Joumon to Margaret and back to Joumon again.

“He fainted on the doorstep. We had to bring him in.” Margaret said

Beno nodded slowly.

Carefully, she said “I think his arm is broken. Will you take a look at it?”

Beno nodded again and started feeling Joumon’s arm. Without a word, Beno walked out of the room and returned with a first aid kit. Margaret bandaged some smaller cuts on Joumon’s arms and shoulders as Beno splinted Joumon’s arm and stitched up the gash in his head. Finally Beno straightened up and said “He should be fine as long as he drinks a lot of water when he wakes up. I think he lost a lot of blood.”

Beno started towards the door and when Margaret made no move to leave he said “Are you going to stay?”

Margaret nodded. “In case he wakes up.”

Beno was halfway out the door when Margaret said “Beno?”

He turned to look at her “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Beno gave her a half smile and walked out into the hall.

      Margaret walked over to the bed where Joumon laid still unconscious. His face was pale from loss of blood and his head looked grizzled with the long black stitches, but it was still him. Only superficially different than the face that had lived in the back of her mind ever since they met those long years ago. He started to stir and his eyelids slid halfway open. Seeing her face above him he muttered “Margaret?”

He seemed to want to say something else but then his eyes closed and he drifted back into unconsciousness.

      In that moment, she felt herself forgive him. Her whole body sighed with relief as every pain, every guilt dropped off her shoulders. She no longer had to attone for his wrong doings or carry the burden of her anger with him anymore. And she realized that at this point, none of that anger or guilt was important anyway. Life had happened and life would continue to happen weather she dragged hords of emotional baggage behind her or not. Margaret sank into a tattered armchair in the corner of the room. It was like a whole new world had opened before her as soon as she had released all that pent-up spite. It was no longer her duty to carry on rejecting Joumon’s actions or trying to beat him away. What else was there to do though? Her first and most powerful reflex was to help him heal. But, could she really do that? Would he want her help if she offered it? What would it even look like to help someone like Joumon to heal?

      As her eyes traced the stitches running up his head, she realized that she had already started the healing process without meaning to. She had allowed him into the house and bandaged him as best she could. Healing was something she did without even thinking, without even realizing what she was doing. So why not try? It seemed that every way she turned, her path lead her back to healing, back to Joumon. She might as well take the risk. The peace that settled over her was all encompassing as she relaxed into her chair, waiting for him to wake up, and she had the feeling that a power much larger than herself was with her in this endeavor.

Author's Note

This may be the last chapter... I'm trying to decide if the story has enough momentum to go anywhere from here. Let me know what you think!