“Five minutes, Miss. That’s all you’ve got left, I’m afraid.”
Katherine ignores the man.
“We’re talking about the girl, Gabriel. You do know who I’m talking about?”
Gabriel nods. He knows who she is talking about.
“But you don’t remember when you first saw her? Is that it?”
Gabriel speaks quietly. “It is difficult to remember everything. It all happened so quickly. I get confused.”
“Yes, of course you get confused. Who wouldn’t? But tomorrow you will be in a very difficult position if you cannot remember these things. Remember, you have no rights in this country and they can just throw you out. If the worst comes to the worst, you might have to go to prison for a very long time on these charges relating to the girl. Either way it’s not good for you. I’m sure that you can see this.”
“I understand.” Gabriel pauses, and then he continues. “Can you please send a letter to the family of the man who used to be with me in my cell. He asked me to help him before he left the earth and went to heaven.”
“He died? How did he die?”
“He died in the cell and they let him lie there on the floor like a dog.”
The woman looks up at the warder.
“Is this true? You left this man in a cell with a dead man?” Katherine glares at the warder. “Well, is this true?”
“You’ll have to speak to the boss. None of my business. Anyhow, your time’s up, Miss. I’m afraid you’ll have to go now.”
The woman turns back to Gabriel. As she stands up she straightens her trousers. “I’ll look into this, and if there’s any way of contacting his family I’ll let you know.”
Gabriel gets to his feet.
“He asked me to inform his brother. I promised Said that I would do this for him.”
The woman reaches up and places a hand on Gabriel’s shoulder.
“Get a good night’s rest and I’ll see you in the morning. And try to remember anything that you can about the girl. The more you remember, the better it will be for you. Stuart may be a little blunt, but he’s your best hope.” Gabriel nods. “Think about it, Gabriel. You must remember something about the girl. Anything will help.”
The warder takes a step forward.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but you’re already way beyond your time.”
Katherine picks up her bag and hooks it over her shoulder.
“Until tomorrow, Gabriel.”
The warder points to Gabriel.
“You can sit down there and wait. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Gabriel listens as the door is unlocked and then locked back again. He sits alone in the room and looks at the empty table. He knows that at some point in the future he will probably have to start to remember about the girl, but he is not ready. Not yet.
During the day there is a thin strip of light at the edge of the plastic window screens, but at the moment everything is black. Everybody in the compartment is asleep apart from Amma, who takes this opportunity to feed her child without having to endure the heavy scrutiny of men’s eyes. Gabriel speaks to her in a whisper, repeating the same plea that he has been making in a variety of ways for much of the past hour.
“But you must try and reach England. They are friendly and will give you food and shelter. We are not welcome in France. I will help you.”
Amma listens and then she looks at her child. She speaks without raising her eyes.
“I do not wish to be a burden to anybody. My husband told me that if they kill him, then I must learn to be by myself. I must trust nobody.”
Gabriel reaches into the pocket of his jacket and offers her a piece of bread that he has hidden there. Amma takes the bread and thanks him. Gabriel watches as she breaks off a small piece, then carefully breaks the small piece into even smaller pieces and feeds them to her child.
The door slides open and Joshua’s exhausted face is suddenly staring at them. Gabriel understands and he climbs slowly to his feet. He tries not to disturb any of the other men as he slips out into the corridor, and he carefully closes the door behind him. The uniformed men still stand guard at either end of the carriage, but they ignore Gabriel and his uncle.
“Is everything all right?” asks Gabriel.
“We will be in Paris within an hour. The train will stop just outside of the station and everybody must get off. For those who want to go to England, there will be a bus that will take them as far as the tunnel.”
“And what happens then?”
“They keep telling me that it is possible to go to England. That is all that I know.” Joshua pauses, and then he lowers his eyes. “I will not be coming with you. Another journey, and this time without these men.” Joshua glances down the corridor and then shakes his head. “It is too much for me.”
Gabriel stares at the older man, but he knows that it would be disrespectful to argue with an elder.
“Do not say anything, my nephew. Go back inside and get ready. Everything will be fine.”
But Gabriel already knows that for many of them everything will not be fine. In the past few days his uncle has aged many years, and Gabriel feels as though he too has added considerably to his thirty years. Despite his uncle’s assurances, Gabriel knows that in many ways their journey is only now beginning. And only the strongest among them will survive.
When the train stops, Gabriel opens his eyes. He listens to the thunder of footsteps as people rush by in the corridor, and then he hears a knock on the door and once again his uncle’s tired face appears in the doorway. Gabriel jumps to his feet and then everybody stands and begins to gather their belongings about them. Gabriel positions himself closest to the door, but Joshua blocks their path into the corridor. A constant stream of men flows past them, and then one of the uniformed guards appears and bellows at Joshua.
“Now!”
Joshua steps to one side, and Gabriel follows the uniformed man the full length of the train corridor, through the open train door, down onto a metal step, and then he makes a short leap onto the dirt below. Gabriel dusts himself off and then stands to one side ready to catch those who will jump after him. One by one they jump, until Amma appears. Gabriel reaches up his hands for the child, whom she passes to him, and then she leaps and pitches forward, but two of the men catch her. After Amma there is only Joshua, who looks around before edging his way down onto the step, all the while clutching the hand rail. Joshua looks directly at his nephew and then jumps. Gabriel moves forward to pick him up, but Joshua is already climbing to his unsteady feet and dusting himself off. Joshua points towards a man with a rifle slung over one shoulder.
“If you wish to go to England, then you must go with that man.”
Without bidding farewell to his nephew, Joshua begins to half-limp, half-run towards an embankment, and then he slithers over the edge and disappears from view. In the distance Gabriel can see a wide ocean of lights, and he realises that this must be Paris. Amma waits patiently for Gabriel to either move towards the man with the rifle or say something, but Gabriel remains silent. Somewhere in the pit of his stomach Gabriel knows that should he fail in his efforts to reach England, then there might yet be an attempt to lose himself among these lights.
Three hours later the bus stops for the first time. Gabriel rubs his eyes, but having found it impossible to achieve any sleep he has been simply drifting in and out of consciousness. However, the others on the bus have not only been sleeping, but most of them remain asleep. Gabriel looks at Amma, who lies sprawled on the back seat of the bus, her child so tightly wrapped up in the folds of her dress that it is impossible to see him. He wishes that he had some water to offer to her, but his thoughts are interrupted by the driver, who stands and opens the door and then turns around and stares at his two dozen passengers. He claps his hands and begins to shout, achieving his desired effect of startling everybody. Then he claps his hands again and redoubles his shouting. This time he points into what Gabriel can now see is the twilight that prece
des dawn. “Go! Go!” Clearly this is his only word of English and he is using it with vigour. Those at the front of the bus begin to stand and leave. Gabriel makes sure that Amma is awake, and then he stumbles down the aisle. Once they have all alighted, the bus pulls quickly away and they now realise that they have been set adrift in the French countryside. Gabriel looks around and sees that to either side of them are wheat fields, and before them lies a narrow country road which quickly disappears into a tight bend. His fellow travellers look helplessly at each other, but as the sky brightens it is clear to Gabriel that in the field beyond the one to their left, there is a cluster of tents and he can also see plumes of smoke twisting into the air.
Gabriel scans the fatigued group, which contains many whose faces and languages are new to him, and he can see that these people appear to have adopted him as their leader. Despite his desire to protect Amma, he is reluctant to formalise this arrangement, and he therefore decides to move off in the direction of the tents without saying anything to any of them. He clambers through a gap in the hedge, holding back the branches between finger and thumb so that he will not be injured on the spikes, and then he steps into the first field. Now that it is brighter he can see that this brown field, and all the fields around him, are the colour of stale blood. The ground is damp underfoot, as though it has been recently raining, but it is only when Gabriel is halfway across the field that he decides to turn around and see if the people are following him. One by one they have made their way through the gap in the hedge and into the muddy field, and like a band of pilgrims they are strung out, one behind the other, with Gabriel at their head.
When Gabriel reaches the far side of the field he passes through another gap, one which he finds easier to squeeze through, for there are no thorns or brambles blocking its entrance. He sees a man in a white coat and black boots striding towards him across the muddy expanse. The man seems to be neither angry nor hostile, and Gabriel immediately senses that he is some kind of official. When he reaches Gabriel he speaks slowly, but Gabriel knows that this man’s English is not the English of an Englishman.
“How many are you?”
Gabriel looks behind him. “I am not sure.”
“And of course, the men who dropped you on the road, they are gone, yes?”
Gabriel nods.
“Are there more of you?”
Gabriel is not sure what the man means, and so he hesitates.
“Are there more of you in France?”
“Yes, in Paris.”
“Many? One hundred? Two hundred?”
“No, no.” Gabriel is adamant. “Perhaps one hundred, but they are not coming here.”
The man sighs loudly. “Well, I am happy. The truth is we can take no more. It will be difficult with this many of you.”
Gabriel says nothing, and together with the man he waits until the whole group gathers together. The man then leads them towards a large tent which seems to be unstable in the light breeze. The flaps at its entrance are blowing noisily, but the man takes little notice of this. He escorts them inside and points to the empty cots in the far corner.
“Some people left last night and I doubt if they will be coming back. Please rest, and later there will be food.”
Gabriel looks around at the scene of lethargic misery, and he can see others in the tent who either lie on the cots or sit cross-legged on the floor. These sullen people look up at the new migrants as though keen to understand the mystery of their origins. Gabriel turns his attention from their prying eyes to the recently vacated cots. These flimsy canvas beds, set atop thin metal frames, look hardly fit to bear the weight of a grown person. Gabriel walks over to Amma and leads her to the first cot, which he discovers to be surprisingly sturdy. Most of the others move slowly, but a few of the men appear to be squabbling and they make a desperate rush to secure a place for themselves. Gabriel says nothing, but he makes clear his displeasure by the manner in which he stares at these men. And then he looks again at Amma, and he sees that she has already discovered a coarse-looking blanket and is lying down curled around her child. Gabriel lies down on the cot next to her, but as he closes his eyes and prepares to sleep he hears a noise to the side of the cot. He opens his eyes quickly, and sees a man with thick glasses and bushy hair standing over him.
“Please, listen.” The man’s eyes dart around in his head as he speaks. “I take you to England, but you decide quickly. I can take only three.”
Gabriel sits up and looks at this man in disbelief. He assumes him to be French, for he speaks with the same accent as the man who led them into the camp, but there is a wild energy about this man’s speech and his gestures.
“I come for you tonight after dark. In this place we live for the night.”
Gabriel continues to look at the man and he wonders why he has chosen him.
“Of course, I need money from you.”
“I have no money.”
“I have money.” Amma’s voice is quiet but firm.
The man turns to look at her and he speaks quickly. “I need two hundred United States dollars from each person.”
Gabriel looks at the child.
“But nothing for the child.”
“The two of you and the child, four hundred dollars.”
Gabriel looks at Amma, and then he turns back to the man.
“Please, allow us a few minutes to talk.”
“It is a good price,” says the man. “You make a new life, new friends, and forget your stinking country. In England everything is given to you. Food, clothes, house. You live like a king.”
Gabriel repeats himself. “Please, a few minutes.”
The man shrugs his shoulders, then turns and walks reluctantly to the entrance of the tent. Amma speaks first.
“You are angry with this man, is that it?”
Gabriel shakes his head. “No, but I cannot accept any money from you. You must save it for yourself and your child. I will find my own way of getting to England and I will meet you there.”
“Are you sure?”
“I will come with you tonight and make sure that this man does not cheat you.”
The impatient man returns, as though on cue.
“Well?”
“Just the woman and the child.”
The man seems unconcerned, and he now squints at Amma as though he is having difficulty focusing his eyes.
“I come for you after dark. If you have identity papers, please lose them so they cannot send you back to where you are from. And wear many clothes, for sometimes it is cold.” With this said the man turns and walks quickly out of the tent.
As the light begins to fade fast from the sky, Gabriel and Amma follow the guide towards the entrance to the camp. Gabriel notices two men with short, cropped hair and stubbled faces standing by the makeshift wooden gates, and as they reach the gates the guide stops. In the evening gloom he speaks a few hurried words with the men, and then he points at Amma, and Gabriel understands that these men are being told that Amma is to be their travelling companion. On receiving this news, the men begin to gesticulate and they eye Gabriel and Amma with barely disguised disgust. The guide returns to Gabriel and Amma.
“Filthy gypsies. Now we go to the train, but I must have money.”
Amma reaches into her clothes and hands the man some crumpled twenty-dollar bills, which he carefully counts and then tucks into his pocket. Gabriel looks angrily at the bushy-haired guide, for he neither seems grateful, nor does he appear to understand what it has probably cost a woman like Amma to acquire such a sum of money. Amma, sensing Gabriel’s rising anger, simply puts her hand on Gabriel’s arm.
Gabriel and Amma follow the three men out of the camp and down a deserted narrow lane where the hedgerows have cut off any possibility of a view, which makes Gabriel feel as though they are walking through a long tunnel without a roof. Night is beginning to fall and Gabriel tries to memorise the route, for he knows that later tonight he will have to return to the camp.
; They walk on in silence for what seems an age, until the guide steps into a cornfield to relieve himself. Having finished, he then produces a cellular phone from his back pocket and conducts a short, whispered conversation before folding the phone in half and once more tucking it into his pocket. Gabriel watches him carefully, as do the two other men, fearful that he may try to bolt with their money. Having completed his phone call, the guide now returns to the narrow roadway. He cleans his thick glasses on the sleeve of his jacket, and then he replaces them. He points to a glow in the sky just a short way off.
“It is the place for the train.”
As they move in the direction of the light, Gabriel reaches over to take the boy from Amma, and for the first time since she jumped from the train she allows him to feel the weight of her child. She walks on, unburdened, and Gabriel feasts his eyes upon the graceful lines of her body.
A few hundred yards beyond where the guide relieved himself, he stops and gathers them around. Although there is no need to whisper, the man speaks quietly.
“We cannot go the whole distance by this road, for there are guards and police between here and the train. However, beyond this turning there is a bridge. The train passes below the bridge and you will drop down onto the top of the train.”
Gabriel can hardly believe what he is hearing.
“Onto the top of the train?”
The two other men are equally animated in their disbelief, but their guide is indignant. He raises his voice now and begins to gesticulate.
“What did you expect? Did you expect to travel in the train?”
Gabriel speaks up. “Yes, in the train, please. In the train.”
The man simply laughs. “You people are stupid.”
Gabriel turns to Amma, who seems unperturbed by this news.
“We must demand the return of your money. This seems too dangerous.”
Amma shrugs her shoulders. “Let us wait and see the bridge. It may be possible.”
But Gabriel is adamant. “You have your child. You cannot jump from a bridge with your child!”
A Distant Shore Page 12