As Hannah ran the cold tap and filled the glass, stole a glance at Zeke. He looked up and gave her a small reassuring smile. She shrugged her shoulders in response. Zeke tilted his head towards Cecily and silently mouthed, "Go on". Hannah slowly walked back to Cecily, placing the glass on the little wooden table by her side. She sat down and waited.
"I'm sorry, Hannah. It's been a very long time since I talked about this with anyone."
Cecily was hunched over in the chair, her right hand held up in a sling, her left-hand fiddling with the brocade edging on her cream cardigan. A solitary tear drop travelled slowly down her face. Hannah did not know how to respond.
"This must be all very confusing for you?" she continued. "Would you like to ask me anything?"
Hannah looked at the woman in front of her. She remembered so clearly Eastman's brief description of her. Cecily was still a beautiful woman all these years later. Hair now grey and skin now lined, but there was an ethereal beauty to her. To Hannah it was as if she was in the presence of great wisdom. Cecily looked up and stared back at Hannah. Although her milky eyes held no sight, she appeared to be searching Hannah's face for something. Hannah felt compelled to answer.
"How did you escape after...?" Cecily winced. Hannah stopped talking.
"I have this young man to thank for that," she replied and gestured towards the kitchen area. "Stop hiding over there and pretending to do some work, Zeke and come sit by Hannah and me."
Zeke sighed and slumped down heavily next to Cecily. Hannah gave him a small reassuring smile and Zeke rolled his eyes. She wouldn't have been surprised if he'd stuck his tongue out at her. His acting like a small sulky child made Hannah want to laugh, but she didn't.
"I first met Zeke when they brought him to Charlie's surgery with deep shrapnel wounds. He was so badly injured and he'd lost a lot of blood. The medics on the front line didn't think he would make it back to the hospital, so they brought him to us. Zeke wasn't the first soldier we'd treated. During the Ten Mile battle, there were huge losses of life on both sides. They fought each other with such ferocity, each trying to hold onto a useless strip of land, that nobody ever really wanted in the first place. Anyway, during the third week of the battle, the insurgents were starting to panic. The army was retaking ground quickly, due to their sheer numbers, so the insurgents started resorting to ever more dangerous tactics. They rained homemade bombs and stolen mortar rounds down on the troops. One of these injured our dear, Zeke."
Cecily reached over and patted his knee. Zeke took over the story.
"Hannah, I am very lucky; my wounds, although deep, weren't life threatening. Fortunately I don't remember the explosion or the pain. I think my mind has blocked all of that out. I do remember waking up on a trolley, in a small white room, terrified. One minute I'm ordering my section to fire, the next I was looking up through a slit in my bandages at Cecily."
"He was in a mess Hannah," Cecily continued. "We called the hospital for a bed. Charlie worried that he might go into septic shock, but they had no spaces left, so we kept him with us. It took him six weeks to be up and about. Charlie was so busy with the SPRs and his work on the front line that he left me to care for Zeke. I would cover the days and Charlie would do the nights, sleeping by Zeke's bed. It broke my heart that he had no family to visit him."
Hannah looked over at Zeke. She realised that she knew very little about him, particularly his personal life. She wondered why he had no family to visit. Did he have a wife now, children maybe? Zeke caught her eye, embarrassment reddening his cheeks.
"Zeke healed quickly over those few weeks and we spent a lot of time talking. I was initially guarded in what I said, but over time I told him all about Charlie and later about the ba..." Cecily's voice broke.
Zeke reached and took her free hand and gave it a squeeze. Hannah looked away.
"Cecily was so kind to me and put me back together. You see my mother and father had died many years ago and I had no one else, no siblings, and no girlfriend. Just a scared boy, doing a man's job and one day I woke up to find I was unable to do even the most basic things for myself. I swore to her then, that if she ever needed anything I would be there for her. I didn't expect the call to come so quickly."
"So how did you get Cecily away?" Hannah asked. Zeke surprised her, he'd said more in the last few minutes than at any time since their first meeting in the lift. Normally he was self-assured, however right now he seemed vulnerable. She liked him more because of it.
"Cecily contacted me. I told her to try to hide herself and I would be there as soon as I could. It wasn't easy, but once the battle was over, only a couple of guards remained and I managed to go round the back and help get her out. I took her back to mine and she stayed there out of sight for a few weeks."
"But what about Nancy's husband? Wasn't he asleep in the house?"
"When the shooting started Hannah, John rushed out of the house to see what was going on. Later they told me that it was a stray bullet that killed him. He never even knew I was hiding in his home and that I had sent Nancy to her death. The decisions I made that night haunt me to this day and will forever be on my conscience." Cecily closed her eyes tightly and gripped onto the arm of the chair.
"But..."
The door flew open and Jim burst in.
"There is a unit headed this way. We have to go. Now!"
Zeke jumped up. "Okay. Hannah you bring Cecily, Jim go get Mary and the kids. Cecily, are your bags ready as we won't have time to pack."
"They're always packed Zeke. Go through the bedroom just there, you will find them in the wardrobe. Come Hannah, nothing to worry about dear, this is something one grows quite accustomed to over the years. We can continue our conversation another time."
Hannah helped Cecily up out of the chair, grabbed her cane and quickly but carefully left the cottage. Zeke flew out behind them with two big holdalls. The noise of a car engine firing up behind the cottage startled Hannah, her nerves very much fraying by the second. The car came around the side to where they were waiting, driven by a dark- haired man.
"Zeke, who is that?" Hannah asked, surprised to see somebody else. She thought he looked familiar but couldn't place his face.
"Not now Hannah."
Mary, the kids and the dog came running up. Zeke opened one of the back doors and threw in the bags into the back of the estate car. The dog bounded in after and jumped over the seats into the back, barking excitedly. Mary looked over to Hannah wearing a mask of concern.
"Mary, please go quickly, for the kids," Hannah shouted.
Mary nodded and ushered the children into the back with her, both of them crying, their little hands waving sadly at her. Zeke walked Cecily over to the car and opened the front seat. He gave her a quick hug and she got in. The minute her door closed, Zeke had to take a leap backwards as the rear wheels of the car spun; throwing out gravel in all directions and the car sped off.
"Hannah, get in the car. I have to go back for something," he said and ran off back into the cottage.
Hannah climbed into rear of the car, which Jim had already turned around and now faced forward.
"Where is he?" Jim shouted to her, his voice taught.
"I don't know? He just ran back into the cottage. Look, there he is!" Hannah breathed a little easier now she saw Zeke fast approaching the car, but it did little to make her feel any less scared. Zeke ran around the car and jumped in. The car pulled off and Zeke's door slammed shut.
"Where to?" Jim asked.
"Back roads, up through Hailsdown," he said, his breaths coming quickly, sweat beading on his forehead.
The car screamed up the gravel drive, its' unmade surface making the ride choppy and uncomfortable. Hannah felt nauseous already, but now she really did feel like she was going to be sick.
"Will they be okay, Zeke?" she asked, more concerned for their safety than her own.
"They'll be fine, Hannah. They're headed away from town to another safe house. Right now it us I am more concerned about!"
Hannah looked back, the cottage was now out of sight and the hedging and tree that once looked protective now appeared dominating and oppressive.
"What the f...!" shouted Jim as the car skidded to a halt; the smell of burning tyres filled the car. Hannah turned to face the front, but could only just make out a car in front of them, obscured by the dust kicked up by the tyres.
"Hannah, stay here," Zeke ordered. He took out a hand gun from his inside jacket pocket and jumped out of the car, the door opened with such force, that the momentum caused it to close itself. Zeke disappeared into the brown cloud.
"Who is it, Jim?" she asked.
"You don't want to know," he replied flatly.
The dust cloud quickly dissipated.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Hannah shouted. There sat in the car in front of her, talking to Zeke through the open window was Scott. Both the men looked pretty angry at each other, Zeke especially. But then he turned ran back to the car, opened Hannah's door and pulled her out.
"Jim, you head back as planned, we are going to find an alternate route. Any problems abandon the car and get out of dodge."
Jim nodded and Zeke closed the door.
"Hannah, I haven't time to explain, just get in the car and do whatever he tells you."
Zeke's voice was stern and Hannah knew not to question his decision. She got into the back seat and Zeke got in beside her. He rested the gun on his knee.
"Hannah," said Scott and gave her a grim smile in the rear view mirror.
"Scott," she replied back. Her voice was now trembling, her body chilled.
Scott moved the lever into reverse and the car lurched backwards, the engine whined, pleading with its' driver to slow down. After a couple of hundred yards, Scott shouted, "hold on" and he swung the car round where the road suddenly widened, so it was now facing forwards. He pushed the lever forward to drive and they pulled away, the force of the acceleration pushing Hannah into the back of her seat. She grabbed at the door handle, making her knuckles go white. She turned to see Jim in the other car travelling equally fast and very close behind them. A sudden bright flash and a loud explosion shook the windows and Hannah felt the car shudder. From the direction of the cottage came a black mushroom cloud of smoke, rising high into the air and she could make out tall flames shooting skyward above the tree line.
"Oh well, at least you did something right today. Zeke," Scott said and then laughed.
Zeke said nothing, but his jaw clenched tightly. The car soon reached the junction with the main road and they turned towards town. Jim's car turned in the opposite direction and sped off.
"There is a blanket behind you. Get it out and when I say, duck down, pull it over yourselves and for god's sake don't make a sound."
Hannah reached over and grabbed the blanket and shook it open. They travelled at the same speed for several minutes and then the car started to slow.
"Now," shouted Scott.
Hannah dropped herself into the foot well and Zeke sprawled out across the back seat, pulling the blanket over the pair of them.
The car came to a stop and Scott got out. Hannah could make out voices in the near distance.
"What are you doing here, sir, shouldn't you be resting up?"
"I'm fine. Just on my way to unit 37, but I got the call on the radio. Any sign of the car?"
"No, sir. Reports are coming in of a fire in one of the Cottages, but nothing else. Wild goose chase, I reckon. Some idiot got nothing better to do."
"That may be, but remain vigilant. If you find anything, let me know."
"Yes, sir."
A moment later, Scott got back in the car. "Ouch," he groaned, "damn leg".
He started the engine and drove slowly off.
"We should be able to get you back for your meeting with Briggs on time. Okay, you can sit up now."
Zeke pulled removed the blanket up and sat upright. Hannah inched her way out of the foot well, her muscles aching.
"Is someone going to tell me why you two have been meeting with our most wanted criminal?"