Page 101 of Longing for Liberty
I thought about all of this and what might happen in Italy as the hours passed.
Finally, the guard got up to use the bathroom at the back of the bus. He eyed us both.
“You.” He pointed to Jeremy. “Move to my seat. Don’t try anything. The bus driver has been alerted to keep an eye out if I have to get up.”
“Yes, sir,” Jeremy said crisply, and it was the first time I’d heard his voice in so long. The mountain twang sent a sensation over me like I was walking up a hill of lavender. The guard didn’t move until Jeremy was in the other row, seated.
Jeremy craned his neck after a minute to see if the guard was gone. And then he looked straight forward toward the bus driver, who had his eyes firmly on the road.
My husband then looked at me, and our eyes crashed, holding strong as if we could swallow each other whole, just by looking.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he whispered.
I took in his set jaw and laser-focused eyes.
“You didn’t get the message?”
“What message?” he whispered.
I wanted to reach out and touch him so badly when I said, “We’re going to Italy.”
“What?” He blurted the word and then glanced around. “Why?”
“It’s a gift trip for me,” I quickly explained. “I don’t have time to tell you everything, but you had to come with me because I can’t travel alone as a woman. He doesn’t know what’s there, obviously. And I don’t have a plan…yet.”
I watched with joy in my heart as his entire face morphed. He grasped his forehead and smiled, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a breath of joy.
I faced forward and spoke low, glad nobody sat in front of us. I spoke quickly, knowing the forceman would be back any second. “You’re going to stay in a hotel with the guard while I meet Fitzhugh at some house. We need to brainstorm.”
We both went rigid at the sound of the bathroom door opening. I heard Jeremy murmur under his breath, “Holy shit.”
Yep.
“Move.” The guard waved his hand at Jeremy, who moved back over next to me.
A quick glance down at his hands showed me they were trembling. He clasped them together and fidgeted; I imagined he was trying to come to terms with the shock of what he’d just learned. It was hard to brainstorm when we didn’t know what awaited us in Italy. If the three of us were flying commercial, the guard wouldn’t be allowed to take a weapon. What if we overpowered him when we got there and called for help? We could tell the police we’d been kidnapped, or airport security that we’d escaped the State. If Amos thought we were so brainwashed and terrified that we wouldn’t try to fight his one man, he was a fool.
A fool who trusted me and thought he loved me. That might have made me feel bad before, but not anymore. Now, I would use every advantage I had to get back to my babies and overthrow these bastards. I wasn’t going back to the State, no matter what. Neither was Jeremy.
And neither was Amos Fitzhugh.
FORTY-SEVEN
STATE NEWS: VICE PRESIDENT WALINGER’S WIFE PREGNANT WITH CHILD NUMBER SIX!
After nearly thirtyhours on a bus, I was stiff, and my stomach ached despite the two peanut butter sandwiches we’d both been given with water. I probably smelled bad, but the whole bus was rank with unwashed bodies, so it was hard to tell. I almost reached for Jeremy’s hand as I stepped off the bus into the breezy autumn sunshine, but I stopped myself just in time. We all three stretched. I rolled my neck.
An old sign lay on the ground covered in dirt, but the lettering was visible: Norfolk Train Station. Coastal Virginia. One state away from where I grew up. Emotion clogged my throat as I breathed in the salty East Coast air.
State Force had a heavy presence here, just like in our community. Our guard spoke to one of them, and he followed us into the station, keeping the extra set of eyes on us as we went into the bathrooms to do our business. I used paper towels to clean under my arms and felt a little better when I came back out. I tried not to stare at Jeremy, but everything about him was so comforting. The shape of his hands with scars from nicks and fights over the years. His wiry, strong arms. The light curve of his nose and crinkle of his brown eyes, which took on the glow of honey in the sun. He caught me looking and we both dropped our eyes, but not before I saw the satisfied, small smile on his lips.
“Let’s go.” The guard poked Jeremy in the back and pointed us toward a darkened government vehicle. We did as he asked without question. Jeremy and I sat in the back with room between us. The guard sat in front with a driver. But we didn’t drive for long. We stopped at a port. Not far away were Navy ships. I didn’t know enough about them to know what kind, but they were large, gray, and appeared ready for war.
We got out and followed our guard to a small fishing boat that looked to be a former personal vessel. The man wore worker clothes, just like Jeremy. He spoke to our guard and nodded, motioning us to board. Jeremy took my hand to help me step up, and the guard yelled.
“Don’t touch her!”
I pulled my hand away and saw Jeremy grit his teeth in silence.
