by Anne Patrick
Jack pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight as she sobbed against his shoulder.
“I don’t wanna leave them,” she barely managed. She thought of all the tiny faces she left behind in Kirabo that still haunted her.
“Look at me, Gwen.” He lifted her chin and peered into her eyes. “Remember why you came here. If you stay behind and get killed you can’t make a difference.” His thumb moved across her bottom lip. “But if you leave and tell their story, you can.”
“We’ll be okay,” Tau said. “God will protect us.”
Gwen smiled. She knew now what it meant to have faith. If a child who had seen as much as this one could still be at peace with himself and God, the only thing stopping her was an open heart.
“Jack,” Tom called from the doorway, “Omar is ready to leave.”
“Let’s not keep him waiting,” Gwen said, wrapping her hand around Jack’s.
Robbie and Kay met her at the door and gave her a hug.
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” Gwen said. “You’re an amazing couple.”
Robbie slipped his arm around his wife. “Be sure to come back and visit once it’s safe.”
“You can count on it,” Jack answered for her.
* * * * *
Omar had only driven a couple of blocks from the orphanage when a truck forced him to the side of the road. “I think we are in deep trouble, guys,” he announced, as another truck pulled up alongside them, forcing Omar to stop.
A dozen or more men, including four young boys armed with AK-47s and wearing ski masks, poured out of the back of the trucks. “Out, all of you,” one of the men ordered. Only his eyes were visible as he motioned with his rifle for them to exit the van.
Gwen reached for her backpack, but one of the men reached in and grabbed it from her hands.
“Who are you, what do you want?” Omar demanded, scrambling from the van.
The rebel closest to him shot him in the stomach and he collapsed to the ground.
Evelyn quickly looked away. “Oh, dear God, have mercy on us.”
“Do as they say,” Tom warned as he took Evelyn’s hand.
They were quickly ushered to the first Toyota and ordered to lie down in the back end.
Gwen refused to budge, fearing if she did, she would never make it out of Dewana alive.
“Come on, Gwen. Do as they say,” Jack urged.
She thought of Kirabo and the brutality she’d witnessed as they fled the village. Maybe if she did as they said no one else would get shot.
“Go!” one of the men yelled before slamming the butt of his rifle into the side of her head. The blunt force knocked her into Jack who quickly caught her around her waist and guided her into the truck.
Her vision blurred, she clung to Jack as he eased her to the bed of the truck. She felt blood trickling down the side of her face and reached up to wipe it away. A persistent throbbing continued above her right eye.
“Are you okay,” Tom inquired, gazing down the length of his body to where she lay at his feet.
“Quiet!”
Fearing another blow, she merely nodded.
A green tarp was then draped over them, and within seconds the truck took off.
The roads they traveled seemed as though they were littered with pot holes. Being crammed together like sardines in a can did cut down on the jostling back and forth on the bed of the truck, but it still felt as if every bone in her body would be broken if the ride were to last too long.
The truck finally stopped, and the tarp was thrown aside. “Out,” one of the men shouted.
The rebels led into a two-story building, adjacent to an empty field on the outskirts of the city. It appeared to have once been a school, now abandoned and damaged by mortars.
“I guess it’s pretty clear as to who the real enemy is now,” Jack commented.
“I was pretty clear on that from the start,” she snapped, her head still throbbing from the blow to her head.
The armed men stopped at the end of a hallway and motioned to a room on their right. Inside, all the windows had bars and several with missing glass. Metal chairs and old mattresses were scattered around the room. Standing in front of the blackboard was General Kabassa.
Gwen’s stomach sank.
The general wore a red felt beret with two pinned stars, combat camouflage, and a silver pistol on his right hip.
“Why are we being held prisoner?” Tom demanded.
“You’re not prisoners, Mr. Richards. You are our guests.”
“We appreciate your hospitality, but we’d like to return to the orphanage. I’m sure with all the gunfire the children are very frightened.”
“I’m afraid I can’t allow you to leave right now, for your own safety.”
The man with her backpack walked to the front of the room and handed it to the general. Gwen felt sick to her stomach as he read from her latest notes.
“Both pro-government forces and the RFAGC have been accused of human rights abuses. But unlike most wars where civilian causalities are an unfortunate by-product of the fighting between the combatants, the RFAGC is particularly cruel in its policy of deliberately targeting civilians. Their campaign includes the systematic destruction of property, as entire cities, towns, and villages have been annihilated.
“The RFAGC is also responsible for the crude amputation of limbs as a tool of terror. Men, women, and children have fallen victim to these atrocities, their hands, arms, and even their feet hacked off by these monsters.” He grinned and proceeded to rip up the pages as a young child soldier scampered to pick up the pieces. The general then took the camcorder and turned to leave.
“Don’t think this is going to stop me from getting the truth out,” she screamed.
The general turned back to face her. His cold stare raised the hairs on the back of her neck.
“Gwen!” Evelyn moved forward and took her by the hand. “Don’t… Please.”
Once the general had left, the young soldier lowered his gun and stepped toward them. “Watch your selves,” he spoke almost perfect English. “Do not cross these men. I have seen what they are able to do, and they don’t much like Westerners. Last year I watched them massacre a whole village because of Westerners. They had gone there to find two who were spreading lies about the RFAGC. The rebels had no mercy for the people and took all their lives. It is they who are to blame.” He looked right at Gwen. “One of these troublemakers was a woman reporter, like you.”
Jack moved to the other side of the room. Gwen knew by his expression he had figured out she was the reporter he spoke of.
“Surely Gwen isn’t the only woman journalist foolish enough to enter this country, look at us,” Tom said.
“You are good people. I know of the work you have done here. This is why I tell you story. So you will do as they tell you and be safe.” He repositioned his rifle at his side and backed up to the door. “I’ll bring fresh water and towels for you later.”
Jack waited until the boy had gone before turning back to Gwen. “So is it true?”
“You mean am I the one responsible for at least a hundred deaths, most of which were women and children? Yes, I suppose I am.”
“How do you live with yourself?”
“Celeste!” Tom quickly chastised.
“Don’t worry about it. Nothing she could say… Nothing any of you could say or think could make me feel any more remorse than the images and screams that haunt each waking moment of every day.” Unable to face them any longer, she sought refuge on one of the mattresses in the corner of the room.
Gwen was glad the group had allowed her some privacy as tears began to fill her eyes. She wondered if she would ever forget the sights and sounds she’d experienced in Liberia, the innocent bloodshed she was partially responsible for.
Was this kidnapping God’s punishment for her actions?
* * * * *
As Gwen prepared for bed that night, Tom joined her, sitting beside her mattress. “May I pr
ay with you?”
“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Tom, really I do, but…”
“Please, Gwen.”
She nodded, giving into his request.
“Lord, have mercy on this troubled soul. You alone know that which is in her heart. You alone in your wonderful glory can grant forgiveness. Bring healing to this lovely spirit, Dear Lord. Assure her of the grace that you offer freely. Convict her heart of the new covenant established by the shedding of your blood at Calvary allowing her to drink from the living waters of salvation. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
“I don’t think it worked,” she said afterwards.
“If you are sincere in your remorse, which I believe you are, then it worked.”
“How come I don’t feel any different?”
He took her hand in his. “That’s because you haven’t forgiven yourself yet. I assure you, Gwen, there is nothing you have done that Christ hasn’t forgiven. You are saved by grace, not by works. By faith alone you receive salvation.” He then stood and joined the others.
Gwen lay back on the mattress and closed her eyes. She thought of the night she spent in the basement of the police station with ‘Fred’ the fly. Figuring at this point she had nothing else to loose, she began to pray the only prayer she had known as a child. Now I lay me down to sleep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.
Chapter Eleven
A woman’s scream jolted Gwen awake. A bright stream of sunlight nearly blinded her as she searched the room for the source. Near the door she saw Evelyn pulling on Tom’s arm. She and Celeste were both crying as four soldiers attempted to remove Jack and Tom from the room. Gwen scrambled off her mattress and ran to join them just as the door opened and the general came inside.
“Can’t you idiots carry out a simple order without complete chaos?”
Gwen stepped forward. “Look, it’s me you want. Let them go.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Miss Jacobs.” The general leveled his eyes on Gwen. “I wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if it were you I was after. If that were the case I would have slit your throat that day in the café.”
“Why are we here then?” Jack asked.
He turned his glare on Jack, “You are going to help negotiate the release of Akua Chidike.”
“Why me?”
“You have powerful friends at the embassy. Why else would they have let Miss Jacobs go after her arrest?”
“They let me go because they had nothing on me. The notes I took at the interview were destroyed.”
“It’s unfortunate you didn’t follow through with your assignment.”
Before she could respond, Jack spoke up. “It’s true that Mr. Whittmier and I are friends, but all embassy personal have been evacuated and even if I could contact him I doubt he’d be able to intercede.”
“You should pray that he can, or else you all die.”
General Kabassa and his soldiers forced Tom and Jack from the room and locked the door.
Gwen knew the general was lying. He didn’t want Chidike released anymore than the majority of Dewana. It would spoil his plans of ruling the country. So what was his real plan?
“This is all your fault,” Celeste spat.
Gwen met her glare. “I know.” She had made a real mess of things. She didn’t even have the video now. Somehow, she had to get it back and get them all out of there alive.
“Don’t take what she says to heart. She’s just blowing off steam.” Evelyn took Gwen’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
* * * * *
It was almost an hour before Jack and Tom came back to the room. Evelyn and Celeste ran to greet them. “We’re you able to get through to your friend at the embassy?”
Jack nodded his head as he moved further into the room. “He’s going to speak with the president and get back with us later this afternoon.”
But as the day wore on and darkness befell them, there was no more contact.
Their hope dwindled.
Sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, Gwen shoved her full plate of rice aside and scanned the faces of her fellow captives. “We need to do something or we’re all going to die here.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” Jack said. “If your hunch about the general is true, he has no intension of letting us go anytime soon. My guess is he’s planning on using us as collateral for when the U.N. gets involved.”
“That makes perfect sense. Now all we have to do is figure out how we’re going to get out of here?”
“There are at least a dozen of them,” Celeste reminded, “And they’re all armed.”
“What about that young boy from yesterday?” Tom suggested. “Maybe we could gain his trust and get his gun.”
“Yeah, about that...I...”
“We don’t care about your past, Gwen. We love you for who you are now,” Evelyn said.
“I know, but I need you to know that I was a different person then.” Her eyes fell on Jack, who sat next to her. She feared he would get up and walk away as he had done yesterday, but he didn’t. “We had good intentions when we went in there. But we were the only correspondents in the area, so we were under a lot of pressure to get the news out.
“Michael, my boyfriend at the time, and I had been covering the up-coming elections in Liberia for the BBC when we met an ex-rebel from the village of Kirabo. We’d been trying for months to get proof of Kanneh’s involvement with the RFAGC and this guy offered to take us to the small village, near the border. We spent six months living in this village that consisted of mostly ex-RFAGC rebels and their families.
“We knew the danger involved; that if Chidike or his commanders learned of their betrayal and whereabouts they would be killed, but we continued to give special reports. We had a job to do, and no one had ever infiltrated the RFAGC. We were making journalism history.
“We had just learned the intricate process of delivering weapons to the rebels and were planning to film an actual airdrop when the RFAGC raided the village. Unknown to us, several had snuck into the village and just after daybreak gunfire erupted throughout our compound. We never knew what hit us. Fleeing with only the clothes on our back we hid in the bush overnight before heading to the Guinea border. We learned several days later that every man, woman and child had been massacred.”
No one spoke for several minutes. Evelyn finally broke the silence. “God spared you for a reason, my dear. We’ve all made bad choices in the past, some worse than others. You must forgive yourself, though.”
Jack stood and pulled her into his arms and within seconds the others had joined him. Gwen had never felt such love and absolution, and with it came a deep sense of relief and hope.
“Now, that’s settled, let’s get down to business, and figure out how we’re going to get out of here.” Tom sat back down and motioned for the others to join him.
Instead of concentrating on their escape, Gwen found herself reliving the past week. She was in awe of all her new friends, but mostly the man sitting next to her. Not only had he forgiven her for Kirabo, he came to her rescue when she was tossed into jail.
She recalled their breakfast the day she was released from jail and Craig’s promise to them. “Did Craig give any indication that he already knew we’d been kidnapped?”
“He was on speaker so even if he did, he wouldn’t have said as much. Why?”
“If the man he assigned to us was following the van when we left yesterday, it’s a good possibility they know our exact location and are only stalling the general in order to size up the situation.”
Jack leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. “Even if that were true, don’t you think the military might have their hands full trying to keep the rebels from taking over the city?”
“That’s exactly what they want General Kabassa to think. The police and military knew I’d spoken to the general which means they’ve been watching him. They want to take him down because he’s the second i
n command. Without him, there is no real organization and the movement will crumble.”
“So why haven’t they tried to rescue us?” Celeste asked.
“You don’t just go charging into a hostage situation without knowing the layout of the building and how many adversaries you’re going to be faced with,” Gwen explained the usual scenario she had encountered while covering similar circumstances. “You calculate the risks very carefully and wait for the opportune moment for entry.” She glanced over her shoulder at the windows. “There’s an open field on this side of the building. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were men with binoculars watching us right now.”
Jack tossed Gwen a gorgeous smile. “You know, you’re a lot smarter at this than I gave you credit for.”
Gwen slapped his leg and the others laughed.
“How much longer do you think they’ll wait?” Evelyn asked.
“Keep in mind I’m judging from situations I’ve seen take place in the U.S. and London, things are a lot different here. If they’ve had any kind of special training, though, they’ll strike fast and hard, probably before morning when most of the men are either asleep or just rising.”
“We need to be ready when they do come.” Jack looked around the room. “We could use the metal chairs to clobber the first soldier who comes in the room and grab his weapon.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Celeste asked. “I mean what if we weren’t followed yesterday?”
“Then I guess we’re on our own.”
“If that’s the case, once we get out of the building we need to head for the bush,” Jack said.
“Why there? Why not seek shelter in neighboring buildings?” Evelyn asked.
“Because that’s the first place they’ll look. And there’s a lot more of them than there are of us.” Jack looked at Gwen. “I remember the interviews you did at the hospital and refugee camps. Almost all the children you spoke to said they hid in the bush.”
“Okay, I think we should sleep in shifts tonight,” Tom suggested. “The person on guard is to wake the others at first sign of trouble. I’ll take the first shift.”