‘I would ask Helen Campbell to make a short statement,’ said Abdul. ‘Please do not ask questions, or subject her to unnecessary strain. She has been through a traumatic time. Although she is holding up well, as you will see, she must naturally still be fragile.’
There was a flurry of camera clicks and flashes as the media attention turned to Helen. ‘I would like to thank all those who facilitated our rescue,’ she began. ‘The last weeks have been traumatic and painful. Both Kate and I are fine, although we now need to mourn the death of our beloved friends at the mission, Zebediah, Mary and Duncan. They were truly lovely people whose early deaths, for no understandable reason, leave us both severely upset. At another time, I will give a fuller explanation of what has transpired since we left the Mission, but for now, you will need to excuse me. I should add that I have an unparalleled love for Africa, and it is my intention to stay and carry on the good work that Pastor Zebediah and Mary Johnson set out to do.’
Epilogue
Kate McDonald, in time and with the counselling and support of a stable family unit back home in the United States, gradually adjusted back into society. She had recovered better than most would have expected. It was to be another year before she met Edward Albright, an up and coming local politician in New Orleans. In the years that followed, she would move into the Louisiana mansion in the countryside that she had envisaged with Bill Cleavers. There were to be two children, and life was good for her. She would never again visit Africa; the memories were too painful, too suppressed for her to return.
Her friendship with Helen and Fatima remained intense and, whenever the opportunity arose, they would meet up. She was an avid supporter of Helen’s work, regularly organising fundraising events amongst the socialites of Louisiana.
Helen Campbell, remarkably unaffected by her ordeal, would spend the rest of her life on the African continent. As she had stated at the press conference in Maiduguri after their rescue, she would dedicate her life to continue the good work of Pastor Zebediah and Mary Johnson. Initially, she had opened a home for disadvantaged children close to where the old mission had been. In time, there were to be many more missions around the country. Liberia, the Congo, Somalia, Southern Sudan and several other countries were all to feel the benefit of her devotion to the continent.
It was on a lecture tour of England that she again met Sally O’Rourke, her school antagonist and so-called friend when the promiscuous Sally had needed a fat friend to ensure that the best-looking guy available laid her. No longer pretty, the years had aged her. The three husbands and the screaming delinquent children had driven her to despair. There was no malice on Helen’s part and she treated her as an old friend.
Feted now as a saintly figure on the African continent, there was even mention of a Nobel peace prize, but Helen remained unaffected by the attention. She only wanted to be in Africa with her people. The lecture tours and the awards were a necessary part of attracting funds for the ever-expanding missions. There was always a Duncan Nicholson building or room, and the homes always called the Pastor Zebediah and Mary Johnson Home for the people of Africa. Sammy, the horse, lived for another three years in resplendent luxury in the north; he always received a carrot every time Helen passed.
Edith Smith, her saviour that day on the side of the Mersey River, would occasionally visit. Helen was always sure to spend a few days when she was in England. Benny, the dog, succumbed to old age, but another Benny, who was equally fond of her, had replaced him.
Her parents devoted their time to generating funds for Helen; it was their interest that kept her father active beyond his years, and he died at the age of eighty-five. Her mother died soon after. There was never to be a man in her life again.
Fatima quickly bonded with Helen, and she became an integral part of her activities in Africa. They were to become lifelong friends and colleagues.
She was to be the silent partner, a position she cherished. She would never speak of her past, and that she had been married to Sheikh Idriss Deubet, the slave trader. Whenever there was a lecture tour for Helen in the United States, she would accompany. Both Helen and Fatima always ensured to spend several days at the mansion in Louisiana with Kate.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phillip Strang was born in the late forties, the post-war baby boom in England; his childhood years, a comfortable middle-class upbringing in a small town, two hours drive west of London.
His childhood and the formative years were a time of innocence. Relatively few rules, and as a teenager, complete mobility, due to a bicycle – a three-speed Raleigh – and a more trusting community. It was the days before mobile phones, the internet, terrorism and wanton violence. An avid reader of Science Fiction in his teenage years: Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, the masters of the genre. How many of what they and others mentioned have now become reality? Science Fiction has now become Science fact. Still an avid reader, the author now mainly reads thrillers.
In his early twenties, the author, with a degree in electronics engineering, and an unabated wanderlust to see the world left the cold and damp climes of England for Sydney, Australia – the first semi-circulation of the globe, complete. Now, forty years later, he still resides in Australia, although many intervening years spent in a myriad of countries, some calm and safe ‒ others, no more than war zones.
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