Run for Home

by Dan Latus

  ‘There are no windows, Lisa. We’re in a cave inside a mountain, remember?’

  She took that in again and nodded. ‘Can we go outside? Can I play in the snow?’

  ‘Well. …’

  It was then that the spell broke and he realized they couldn’t actually stay here forever, after all. They had lives to lead.

  ‘Come and talk to me, Lisa. We’ll go outside in a little while.’

  She sat beside him happily, and held on to him with her delicate little hands.

  ‘Will we be together now for always,’ she asked, using all her accumulated female wiles, ‘like you promised?’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ he said, wondering how to make that possible – and trying to remember if he had ever actually said for always, or if it was a Lisa invention. Not that he minded; it was what he himself wanted too.

  ‘Because you said – you promised – didn’t you?’ she persisted.

  He nodded agreement. Then a solution came to him. It came with such clarity and certainty that he paused for a moment, wondering how long the idea had been gestating inside his head, or his heart.

  ‘Would you really like to go to England?’ he asked. ‘Is that what you want?’

  ‘Yes! Of course. I said so, didn’t I?’

  ‘It might be difficult. Babi wouldn’t be with us, and you will have to leave your friends behind.’

  She shrugged. ‘I will be with you,’ she said, as if that was all that really mattered.

  Dear God! He thought with wonder. Just like her mother.

  So they had decided. They would go to England. And once there, he resolved, they would live quiet, ordinary lives, like most people. It was possible. It could be done.

  He felt the lining of his jacket and satisfied himself that the British passport he had for Lisa was there still, deep in the lining. He had always known this day might come. So he had long carried with him the one thing that Lisa would need when it did.

  Briefly, he considered going just as they were, with their passports and precious little else, but he soon decided it wasn’t practicable. The money he needed for their foreseeable future was in the car parked in the street near Jan Klaus’s restaurant. There wasn’t much else of importance in the car, but he didn’t want to abandon what little there was. He would need a car at the other end, too. So they were going to have to hope it was still there; if it was, they would collect it and travel overland.

  That would be safer than flying anyway. His guess was that they wouldn’t get through Prague airport undetected by the various intelligence agencies that would be stationed there, and wherever they landed in the UK, someone would be waiting for them, alerted by the online scanning systems. Better to turn up at a ferry terminal, buy a ticket on the spot and slip in quietly through the backdoor, as he had done before.

  Lisa was excited at the prospect. She could hardly wait to get moving. So they gathered together a few things they might need, tidied up a little and then, carefully, he switched off the lights and opened the great door that would permit them back into the outside world.

  It was a wintry scene that confronted them. The snow was deeper than ever. They were not well equipped to deal with it, and he knew they would have to do some shopping for cold-weather gear as soon as possible. First though, they needed to get back to Malá Strana, and see if the car was still there.

  Fortunately, some of the trams were running. They sheltered in a shop doorway until one they could use came along. Not many people were aboard and they soon found seats. Lisa was subdued, which was a relief. He didn’t want her attracting attention.

  Back in Malá Strana, the car was just as he had left it. He started it up and got the heater going full blast. Then he got to work with the shovel he had bought at a hardware store, clearing a passage through the huge ridge of snow created by passing ploughs. Half an hour later, they were on their way.

  He drove around to Jan Klaus’s place, intending to pick up a few things from his room there. But as soon as he entered the street, he changed his mind; a small crowd was gathered outside the restaurant, around an ambulance. He kept going, and as he drove past he saw paramedics bringing out a stretcher. They were not hurrying, which was always a bad sign. Then he saw Lenka, pushing through the throng to reach the stretcher.

  A couple of blocks away he stopped the car and reached for his phone.

  ‘Daddy?’ Lisa said.

  ‘It’s all right, sweetheart. I just need to make a phone call.’

  ‘But I saw Lenka,’ she said, puzzled. ‘In the street, where the ambulance was.’

  ‘Yes, I did, too. Don’t worry about it. I’m just going to make this phone call. Then we’ll be on our way.’

  He made the call.

  ‘I’m busy right now,’ Lenka snapped.

  ‘I saw that, as we passed. What’s going on?’

  ‘Jan Klaus has been shot.’

  ‘Badly hurt?’

  ‘Dead. I have to go.’

  The phone went blank. He stared at the screen for a moment. Then he slid the phone into his pocket and stared unseeingly through the windscreen. Klaus shot dead? That was something else to think about.

  Fortunately, he reminded himself, he wasn’t the one who had to do it.

  They stopped at a big supermarket on the edge of the city and bought a few things for the journey. Then they got going again, winding their way through the outer suburbs and onto the motorway leading, via Ústí nad Labem, to the German border.

  They made surprisingly good progress. Snow fell from time to time, especially on the autobahn across the high plateau of east Germany, but the authorities were well prepared to deal with it and the roads were kept passable.

  Cocooned in a big quilt he had bought, Lisa would sleep from time to time and then come back to life and talk. Lord, how she talked! He didn’t mind. He was glad to let her, and sometimes to listen. She seemed happy, and so was he, as they travelled towards their new life together. He wasn’t going to worry about Jan Klaus, or the few possessions he had left in Jana.

  It was as they rolled off the ferry in Dover that Lisa became concerned about where they were going. He hadn’t thought much about that but almost instinctively he knew the answer when she asked.

  ‘Will we go to London, Daddy?’

  ‘Not London, no. Somewhere smaller.’

  They spoke English now. He had told her that it would be best to practise the language now they were on their way to England. The last thing he wanted was someone, some observant official perhaps, becoming suspicious because Lisa was speaking a different language to him. Such little details were always a potential hazard in the life he had led for so many years.

  ‘Where?’ Lisa demanded. ‘Where will we go?’

  ‘You’ll see. Somewhere you haven’t heard of. We should get there late this afternoon.’

  Then the conversation faltered, as Lisa became excited at seeing so many cars and trucks driving on the wrong side of the road.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  He drew up outside The Running Man, switched off the engine, and stretched. They were here. And nothing had happened on the way. They were out of it. Safe.

  He smiled wearily, but also with relief and satisfaction. Then he turned to see how his passenger was doing. Now their motion and the engine noise had ceased, she was waking up. A head emerged from the confines of the quilt. Bleary eyes opened. A smile began to form when she saw him.

  ‘Where are we, Daddy?’

  ‘We’re here! This is where we will stay, I hope.’

  Lisa scrambled forward. ‘The Running Man?’ she said slowly, reading the inn sign. ‘That’s a funny name.’

  ‘Isn’t it? Come on! Let’s see if they have a room for us.’

  ‘Looking for a room?’ said a man usually seen behind the bar, but now polishing brasses.

  ‘That’s right, George.’

  ‘I’ll just get Ellie.’

  Lisa was fascinated by the décor of the reception area. She stared w
ith intense curiosity at the fox’s head, before turning to the huge salmon in a glass display case.

  Harry smiled. ‘This place used to be a hunting lodge.’

  ‘In the olden days?’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’

  ‘Harry!’

  He turned and smiled at Ellie as she bustled along the corridor from the kitchen.

  ‘You’re back!’

  ‘Hello, Ellie!’ He nodded happily. ‘Yes, I’m back.’

  She held out her hand. He took it, and held on for a moment longer than necessary. She seemed to want to give him a hug.

  ‘You look … different, somehow,’ she said, her eyes searching his face for clues. ‘Tired again, but … happier?’

  ‘All of that,’ he agreed, letting go reluctantly of her hand.

  Lisa tore herself away from the fox’s head and came to stand between them, looking up at Ellie.

  ‘Oh, my!’ Ellie chuckled. ‘Now, who are you? Hello, dear!’

  ‘Dobrý den,’ Lisa said, forgetting. ‘I mean, hello.’

  ‘My daughter, Lisa,’ Harry said shyly, but proudly.

  Ellie stooped to give the little girl a hug. ‘How wonderful that you’ve come, too!’

  ‘It was a long way,’ Lisa said solemnly.

  ‘Was it? Was it, really? Well, you’re here now. And no doubt hungry and thirsty. And wanting a room with a small bed, as well as a big one?’ she asked, straightening up and addressing Harry.

  ‘If it’s possible,’ he agreed.

  ‘Oh, yes. It’s possible.’ She smiled and added in a shy undertone, ‘I hoped you would come back one day.’

  ‘I was counting on that,’ he told her gravely.

  They ate supper in a corner of the bar, where there were several other couples who had eschewed the pleasures of the empty and rather forlorn dining room. Lisa was intrigued, and tempted, by traditional bangers-and-mash. Harry had poached salmon – fresh, local salmon, Ellie told him with a gleam in her eye.

  ‘Poached?’ he queried, eyebrows raised.

  ‘Oh, yes! The very best.’

  Afterwards, Ellie brought coffee and joined them.

  ‘Is the room all right?’ she asked.

  ‘Perfect, thank you,’ Harry assured her.

  ‘I really like my bed,’ said Lisa, not to be sidelined.

  ‘That’s good!’

  Later, much later, when Lisa was fast asleep and The Running Man had grown quiet and dim, Harry opened the door to a gentle tap.

  Ellie smiled at him uncertainly. He reached out, took her hand and gently drew her inside. He closed the door and turned back to her. When she slipped off the coat she was wearing, he saw why she had needed it.

  ‘You’ll catch cold!’ he whispered, taking her in his arms.

  ‘Don’t let me,’ she murmured.

  In the morning, Lisa woke before him. He surfaced to the sound of her chattering to a teddy bear she had somehow acquired. From Ellie? He kept his eyes closed for a few moments longer and felt in the empty space beside him. Ellie was gone, he realized. Of course she was. She had a hotel to run.

  He sat up and glanced at his watch. Nearly 8 a.m. God! In Czech time it was 9 a.m. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept this late.

  Lisa leapt onto the bed and snuggled up to him.

  ‘You’re awake bright and early,’ he murmured. ‘Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. I like it here. Babi would like it, too. Look!’ she added. ‘Ellie gave me this teddy.’

  He looked and admired, and wondered when that had happened. He certainly had no recollection of it.

  ‘I’m hungry,’ Lisa announced. ‘Can we have breakfast?’

  ‘Of course we can. Let’s go and see what Ellie can find for us.’

  ‘I like her,’ Lisa said thoughtfully. ‘I like her a lot.’

  ‘Me, too,’ he admitted, remembering how Ellie had come to him in the night, and knowing that he had wanted that to happen since the first time he had laid eyes on her.

  ‘I like to live in a hotel,’ Lisa confided after Ellie had taken their order for breakfast. ‘Will we stay here, Daddy?’

  ‘For a while.’

  He distracted her with talk of what they might do that morning. For the moment, at least, his ideas and plans didn’t go any further than that.

  ‘Did you sleep well?’ Ellie asked, her eyes sparkling, when she brought them bacon and eggs.

  He smiled at her. ‘Eventually,’ he said. ‘But then I couldn’t wake up.’

  Ellie laughed and turned to Lisa, who had brought the teddy bear to breakfast.

  ‘You must have been up early?’ Harry said, when she looked back at him.

  ‘Six. The usual. I’m used to it. What will you do now?’

  ‘Look round the village, I think. I’ve seen next to nothing of it.’

  ‘There isn’t a lot to see, but make the most of it.’ She hesitated and added, ‘Will I see you … later?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She seemed relieved that this time he wasn’t leaving immediately after breakfast.

  ‘We’ll come back for lunch.’

  ‘Yes, do. Now I’d better get on.’

  She touched the back of his hand with her fingertips. He turned his hand over and briefly pressed her fingers. She smiled and left them to it.

  ‘Why did she do that?’ Lisa asked with all the curiosity and powers of observation of a 7-year-old.

  ‘I think Ellie likes us,’ he said quietly.

  ‘Good. I like her, too.’

  It was a delight to venture outside and begin exploring the village that had given him sanctuary. It was not a very big village, but it did have a decent complement of facilities. You could do or buy most things here, he thought. There was a school too, for young children. And a playground near the river.

  Lisa did some exploring, without ever going far from his side, and without her eyes ever leaving him for long. He knew, could see that, like him, she was relishing their time together. The way he felt just then, there wasn’t much more that he wanted out of life.

  Maybe they could stay here. For good? Why not? No one here knew him, and no one he knew was aware that he was here. Not even Babi, or Lenka.

  He frowned, thinking of them, wondering if he ought to let them know. There was no pressing need, he decided. Better that no one at all knew where they were. In time, he would send Babi a postcard to let her know they were well, but not where they were. He wouldn’t give away information that would be dangerous in the wrong hands.

  So perhaps they could just stay here? He thought about that again. The cash from the safe house, now stuffed into the back seat of the car, would last him a long time. When it ran out – even before then – he could look for some sort of work. It didn’t have to be much of a job. There was bound to be something he could do around here. Then they could rent a cottage, and Lisa could go to school. Why not?

  He shrugged. He didn’t know why not. There was no reason at all that he could see. Perhaps Ellie could help him find work and get settled. Ah, Ellie! He smiled softly. Ellie was another good reason to think of staying here.

  Ellie came to him again that night, when The Running Man was quiet and still. Winter rain pattered gently on the window and the sodium-lit street was washed bare and shiny clean. They made love in the big bed while Lisa slept on the far side of the room, not waking. Ellie didn’t suggest moving to another room. She seemed to know instinctively that he wouldn’t want to be separated from Lisa. He was grateful for that, as for so much else.

  They made love quietly but with great intensity. He explored her, and relished the way she responded to him. When she eventually came, she shuddered in great silent convulsions that spurred him on to complete their union with excitement and wonder.

  ‘Don’t go,’ he urged afterwards. ‘Stay.’

  ‘You want me to?’

  ‘Of course.’

  She settled happily and whispered, ‘I’m glad you came back. I wonder
ed if you really would.’

  ‘So did I,’ he admitted.

  ‘Why did you?’

  He pondered the question so long that he wondered if she had fallen asleep. How could he tell her that he had feared he wouldn’t be able to return?

  ‘It just felt right,’ he said eventually. ‘Something I had to do.’

  She kissed his neck and slid away into sleep. He lay awake for a little while before he, too, went that way, holding her in his arms still.

  The next morning it was as if they were no longer customers of the hotel. Instead, they were part of its family. People – waitresses and cooks, cleaners and receptionists – were growing used to them being there. And they cherished Lisa, little Lisa who was simply everywhere.

  ‘She’s such a lovely little thing,’ Ellie said, watching as in the distance Lisa helped load a tray of dishes to be taken away to be washed. ‘And she’s into everything!’

  Harry smiled. ‘She is. You’re right. I never tire of watching her.’

  Ellie gazed at the little girl a bit longer. Then she turned to him. ‘You said that as if you’re not used to being with her?’

  ‘I’m not,’ he admitted with a shrug. ‘We haven’t been able to spend a lot of time together.’

  Ellie could then have asked him why not. He had given her the opening. But she didn’t, and he blessed her for not taking advantage of it. He chided himself for being so unguarded. It was as if his normal defences had fallen away. Yet, and yet, he didn’t want to lie to Ellie or mislead her.

  She didn’t ask him how long he would stay either. He was grateful for that, too. The truth was that he wasn’t up to explaining about either the past or the future. This was an existential time for him. He simply wanted the moment to last.

  But there were questions in Ellie’s head. Inevitably. One or two leaked out in a roundabout way.