A Flash of Red

Chapter Forty-Nine

Harry

Five days passes almost too quickly. It's the night before they take off and Dimitri is running through the plan one more time before everyone heads to bed for an early night.

"We're going in three groups. Do I need to go through the groups again?"

"Who's group am I in again?" Ella asked. Lisa groaned beside her. "Sorry."

"It's alright. Better safe than sorry." He looked down at his pad of paper. "Group one consists of Mr. Andrews, the Hains, Deanna, Jess and the baby. Getting all the kids out at once, yeah?" We all nodded. "Group two is Lisa, Ella," he looked pointedly at Ella and she smiled weakly. "Harry, Scarlett, Mrs. Wayde, Jackson, and Noah." He paused to flip to the next page. "Group three is Mr. Ventris, Ms. Adalyn, Mr. Sawyer, Tara, and MaryAnn. I'll be making the trips back and forth with each group. The plane will only be 3 miles away."

I frowned. I still wasn't happy about that. I wasn't going to complain though. Mr. Ventris had expressed a concern with getting the two elders to the plane. Tara had jumped at the opportunity to help. Knowing she would be with Dimitri made me feel better.

"We're leaving early so we can get to the UK tomorrow at a decent time. I was able to contact an old friend over there who's handling the landing. They're aware of my standing and the cargo that will be on board. Everything is set. The others here have no idea. Any questions?"

"You're going to walk 15 miles tomorrow?" Jessica asked.

"That's the plan."

The room remained silent.

"Right. Alright, group one, we're leaving at 4:30AM. Best to get some sleep."

There were mumbled remarks of agreement and goodnights before people made their way to their rooms.

Dimitri caught my eye and motioned me over.

"How're you feeling about all this?"

"Good. I can tell that this was thought out and not rushed. I trust you." I trust you with Tara, I said in my head.

"What a relief."

I chuckled in response. He looked behind my shoulder and nodded towards whatever he was looking at. I turned to look and saw Tara leaning against the doorframe that led to the hallway, absentmindedly picking at her nails.

I turned back to Dimitri.

"Go turn in. I'm going to grab some water and put together some packs for the trip."

I nodded.

"Thank you for doing all of this."

"Don't thank me until you're home."

"Noted."

"Night."

"Night."

I turned and walked towards Tara, her head raising when she heard me. She smiled softly and reached out a hand. I grabbed it, tangling my fingers in her's. She looked over at Dimitri and smiled, waving. He nodded back.

As we walked back to the room, she kept her eyes on the floor, walking at a languid pace, almost savoring it.

"Hey," I said while shaking our tangled hands. "You okay? Something wrong?"

"This is just our last night walk to the room." Her eyes remained on the floor.

"Is that really it?"

She shrugged. I stopped walking.

"Look at me." I said.

"Harry-." She sighed.