From Another Place Ch. 08

Sally glanced at me, seeing the look on my face. "Amy, are you OK?"

I shook my head. "Later." Sally squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"Anjali and Amrit run the centre, oversee the work in this area," explained the professor. "I've told them about Amy."

I heard the sound of the bell, and Amrit smiled. "Time we all had something to eat," he said.

We went through into the dining room, the assembled company now taking up all but one of the seats at the table.

This time Amrit gave the grace, and we started to eat.

When the meal was over, Amrit stood. "Let's go over to the conference room and talk."

We walked across to the training centre, and Amrit led us to a large room with a conference table in the centre. "Please, sit," he invited.

I glanced sideways at Anjali. She had no way of knowing that I was the one who had brought so much pain into her life, but I still felt uncomfortable.

Amrit began. "So, Amy. The professor has explained how the three of you come to be here, and I accept his judgement that you yourself are no longer entirely what I'd have taken you to be."

I was desperate to ask him how he and the professor could discern my true nature, but I kept silent, nodding in reply.

"So there's only one question. What's likely to happen next?"

I thought for a moment. "It won't take them long to realise we're gone from Tim's home, and to follow our tracks. I'd expect them to use whatever influence remains to them here, to confront you."

"What will their objective be?"

I hesitated. "Certainly they'll want to punish me. Apart from that, they will simply want to do as much harm as possible to everyone here, stopping at nothing."

The professor nodded. "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy."

Anjali spoke for the first time, her voice clear, quiet, with an undertone of peace and contentment that shook me to my core. What had happened to the broken girl I'd left staring blankly at her bedroom wall, her arms wrapped around herself in some vain attempt at protection, comfort?

"There's no need to be afraid," she said. Again I felt what seemed like a hammer blow, hearing the words that would have been mine, if only I hadn't let myself be drawn away, bent beyond all recognition from the purpose for which I'd been created.

"We don't need to fear," she repeated. "You know what was done to save me."

With those words, she bent her head briefly in a gesture of acknowledgment to the professor. "And we always remember."

I resolved to ask the professor as soon as I had the chance, what Anjali's words meant.

Amrit nodded. "You're right. We should let our guests sleep, while we make the preparations we can."

He turned to me. "Amy, I assume you won't be sleeping."

I shook my head. "But I'd like to stay as close to Tim and Sally as I can."

He nodded. "As you wish."

Tim got up from the table. "We'll leave you, then."

Sally and I followed him back to the main building and up the stairs. Tim wished us goodnight, and we went into our room.

We quickly got ready for bed, and Sally slid in beside me under the thin cotton sheet.

She turned to face me. "Amy?"

"Mm?"

"Anjali is the girl you talked about on the plane, isn't she."

I nodded. "I need to know what happened afterwards. I need to know how she was saved, as she put it."

Sally smiled. "I think you have more idea than you know. In a way it's like what's been happening to you – there's a way back for everyone, whether it's from your own rebellion, or hurt inflicted by someone else."

From downstairs we heard the faint sound of voices speaking in turn, and I felt an unmistakable echo of the love and compassion I'd experienced as we sat with the three young women that afternoon.

Sally settled more comfortably beside me, and I watched as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed.

I stretched out my senses, seeing Tim already asleep in the next room. I skirted the downstairs room where our hosts sat, feeling a reluctance to intrude. The children slept peacefully in their own place, and I could find no sign of any other presence or influence within the walls of the centre or approaching it. But I remained vigilant.

In the morning, Sally stirred, opening her eyes and smiling at me. "I slept really well," she said. "It just seems so peaceful here."

I returned her smile. "I'm glad. It seems too quiet to me – I can't help wondering what's coming."

We didn't have long to wait. As we were finishing breakfast, Taruni walked in, her face clearly signaling her concern.

"The police are here."

Amrit and Anjali got up from the table, and I followed them in my mind's eye. As they reached the reception area, a large man in a crumpled uniform looked up. Nearby, two of his subordinates lounged, their faces showing calculated contempt.

"I always knew we'd catch you out," he began. "The orphans – well, who cares about a couple of kids, stops them begging. I always made it clear I was against allowing your training centre, clearly a cover for some kind of subversion, and run by a foreigner at that.

"But this time you've gone too far. Three more foreigners, with no real evidence that they're entitled to be here. One of them some kind of criminal – we're waiting for confirmation from headquarters exactly what charges she's wanted on."

He smiled coldly. "So now we have every reason to close you down – hand over the foreigners to whoever's sent for them, detain the rest of you. I don't see any reason why you should get special treatment, we'll put you in the cells with the other scum."

It was clear that he and his men were only puppets – albeit willing ones – and I searched for the presence of one like me.

I didn't have to look far. In an official car, parked behind the police vehicle, sat a figure – outwardly female, but to my senses not remotely human. I veered away, but I knew she was aware of my scrutiny.

I was dimly conscious that at the breakfast table, there was a palpable feeling of power in the air, and I turned my attention again to the scene in the reception area.

"Please," said Amrit, "by all means invite your superior officer to join us."

Again I wondered how he could know. The senior policeman was clearly taken aback, but gestured curtly to one of his subordinates, who walked back out to the road and leaned cautiously over to the window of the car.

The door opened, and she stepped out of the car, ignoring the junior officer as he scrambled to keep up with her. She faced Amrit and Anjali.

Amrit began to speak, and I waited to see how he would confront her. But instead of a challenge, or even a defence, his words were quiet, as if he spoke only to himself.

"Even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said: The Lord rebuke you!"

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. I felt a suffocating presence, as though I was struggling to breathe, but the sensation quickly passed.

I saw Amrit's accuser clutch at her throat, her face a mixture of shock, anger, frustration. She tried to speak, but no words came. She turned, stumbling out of the door toward her car. Her lieutenants followed her, but she ignored them as she wrenched open the car door and threw herself in, gesturing curtly to the driver to move off.

Amrit relaxed visibly, and he and Anjali rejoined us at the table.

"Our accusers will think twice before returning," Amrit said. He looked round the table. "I think this calls for a celebration."

Akuti spoke. "The children haven't had the chance to greet our guests properly."

Anjali nodded. "That's a great idea."

Akuti got up from the table, and we watched her walk over to the children's building and go in through the door. When she emerged, the children were following her, each one carrying something.

As they approached us, I saw that each child held a garland of flowers, and Akuti smiled. "If you'd like to stand up..."

Tim, Sally and I stood, and each of us received a garland. The children lined up, and at a nod from Akuti, they began to sing, accompanying their words with actions.

When they finished their song, we clapped enthusiastically. "Well done," smiled Akuti. "Now, children, please go back to your rooms to tidy up, and I'll be over in a little while for class."

"Now," said Amrit, glancing at Tim. "We should talk about your plans. It seems obvious that you should remain with us for your own protection."

Tim nodded. "I'm going to need your help. I can get in touch with my brother to ask him to handle things at home – sending on more of our things, clearing the house, putting it up for sale. But he'll need to send documents for me to sign, that sort of thing."

He turned to Sally. "I'm sorry, darling – this will mess up everything for you at college."

Taruni spoke. "I know the principal at the university here. I can arrange for Sally to meet him, go through her studies so far. I'm sure he'll allow her full credit, and she'll be able to carry on here."

I glanced across, seeing tears in Sally's eyes. "Thanks," she managed.

Amrit look at me. "And Amy. I think you still have some way to go on the path that's been prepared for you."

Sally looked alarmed. "Amy has to leave?"

Amrit shook his head, smiling. "No, I think Amy's journey lies inside her now."

I nodded. "I'm going to need a lot of help."

I turned to Anjali. "You need to know that I –"

She held up a hand to stop me, smiling. "I know. It will be part of your journey – and mine too – for me to tell you how grace came to me."

As she spoke, the room seemed to fill with an irresistible scent, like the freshest of apples, the clean smell of a pine wood, newly mown grass.

I saw Sally's nostrils flare, and Tim looked around, searching for the source.

Amrit smiled. "Another sign we've come to associate with the presence that protects us here."

The scent faded, and Tim shook his head. "I can see I have a lot to learn."

The professor spoke for the first time, amusement clearly evident in his voice. "Amy, I can think of a role for you here. The students will be returning for their classes soon, and I can't think of anyone better qualified than you to teach on... Well, on things we've only read about, but you were there."

I nodded thoughtfully. "You have to remember, for most of the time I was on the wrong side. A lot of what I was told was lies, propaganda."

The professor's smile broadened. "Even better. You can talk about how the lies were supposed to work."

He glanced around. "I'm sure I had a copy of the Screwtape Letters somewhere..."

***

And so it turned out. Tim's house was sold, and Tim gave Amrit part of the money to buy land, extending the centre. Amrit built in the extra space, giving Tim a place of his own, and in the same building creating a self-contained flat for Sally and me to share. Sally got into the college as Taruni had expected, and I soon discovered that the professor was right – the courses I taught were always oversubscribed.

I noticed, though, that Amrit was still worried. He succeeded in keeping his concerns from Tim and Sally, but I could still read his thoughts.

One day when Tim and Sally were elsewhere, I found him during the coffee break. "I know something's bothering you, Amrit."

He nodded. "I don't need to tell you that our adversaries will use truth as well as lies when it suits them. It's true that the three of you don't have any valid residence papers – I know how you got through the border controls when you arrived."

This time it was my turn to try out my growing belief in the power that had brought us all to this point. "Have faith, Amrit."

We didn't have to wait long. A few days later, Sally and I were sitting on the verandah, and we heard Amrit's car arriving. He and Tim walked through the reception area, but our attention was diverted from them by the young woman accompanying them. She seemed a few years older than Sally, and I detected an air of sadness in her thoughts, a sense of loss almost but not quite accepted.

Tim approached us, hesitation evident on his face. "Girls, I want you to meet Sushanti..."