31 The Great Escape [Part 3]

"We've arrived, Emma," a man who seemed to be in his early forties with dark brown hair spoke to the girl sitting by his side on the driver's seat. "Welcome to Calais Ville."

The girl stirred from her slumber. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked outside the truck's window. It had been ten hours since she hitched a ride after leaving the vicinity of the forest. When she saw the bustling town out the truck's window her drowsiness faded away.

"Thank you, Uncle Jack," the girl with reddish brown hair replied with a smile.

She gazed at the town with a sad look on her face. It had been a few hours since she was separated from her parents. She already knew the outcome, but deep inside her heart, she was hoping for a miracle to happen.

"Are you sure you will be fine on your own?" Jack asked with a worried expression. "Traveling alone is dangerous, especially for a little girl like you."

Jack's question broke Emma from her stupor. Indeed. A nine-year-old traveling alone spelled disaster, but there was nothing she could do. She needed to leave Paris and go to England like her Mama said.

"Don't worry, Uncle Jack," Emma answered. "Mama is waiting for me in England. I just need to board the ferry and we will be able to see each other again. Thank you for bringing me here, Uncle."

Emma cooed which made Jack's worried heart soften. He was looking at her with gentle eyes. The young girl beside him was the same age as his youngest daughter. Based on Emma's story, she ran away from home because her step mother was physically abusing her.

She even showed him the bruises on her arms and legs which made Jack curse in indignation. The light bruises came from the rocks and trees that Emma bumped during her travel through the forest. Her light injuries gave her the perfect excuse to get sympathy from Jack. Although she felt guilty for lying, it was something she needed to do.

Jack was a good man. He helped her without asking anything in return. The man even drove her to the town that had a ferrying service bound for London. Emma was very thankful because the man delayed his return trip back to his own family in order to escort her all the way to Calais Ville.

"Are you sure you don't need anything else?" Jack asked one more time. "Since I'm already here, I might as well escort you unto the Ferry Terminal."

"Uncle, you really don't have to do this. I don't want to trouble you any further."

"Silly girl, I'm already here. I might as well see it through. It would also lessen the worry in my heart. After you boarded the ship, I will be able to sleep better at night knowing that you were able to be reunited with your mother."

Emma paused because Jack's words pricked her heart. She knew that Jack would insist to accompany her to the Ferry Terminal even if she rejected his offer. Since this was the case, then she would gladly accept his care. After all, it would be too suspicious for a nine-year-old girl to travel alone without a guardian.

"Thank you, Uncle Jack." Emma bit her lip. "If there will come a time in the future to repay this favor, I promise to repay it in full."

"Alright, we have a deal." Jack chuckled as he drove his truck towards the Ferry Terminal.

-----

"Where is the girl?!" A man wearing a black suit slammed his hands on top of the table in front of him. "You incompetent fool! I sent so many agents and you can't even do such a simple job?!"

They were inside a conference room. Although all the lights were on, the man being interrogated felt that his surroundings were dark. It was as if he was at the bottom of the well and his fate would be at the mercy of the people who were seated in front of him.

Eight people sat side by side. They were all looking at the agent who became responsible for the man hunt operation. All of them had faces of anger and frustration as they stared at the man in contempt.

"Sir, we didn't know that there were traps in the area. Also, they were fully armed," the leader of the operation explained. "It took too long for the backup to arrive. When we thought that we finally suppressed the couple, they chose to commit suicide instead."

The man named Jacques felt very bitter about his current plight. Although he only became the temporary leader after the original one died, his superiors blamed him for everything that happened.

"According to your report, when your group was finally able to breakthrough their resistance the couple decided to commit suicide instead of being captured.

"Is that so?" the man wearing a black suit asked with a frown. He didn't expect the two deserters to be resolute in protecting their child from them.

The man in the suit, and the other heads of the organization had no intention of killing any of them. They just wanted to bring them back to the organization. They even went out of their way to send someone to negotiate peacefully, but Jonathan, Kate's father, made his stance clear. They were not going back to the organization. He even said that they would only return to the organization as corpses.

Sweet talking and threats didn't work, so they had no choice but to use force. No one expected that the couple had prepared for this scenario a long time ago. They held their ground and delayed the agents to give their daughter time to escape.

It took an hour before the Hounds managed to catch the trail of the little girl in the forest. However, they were a step too late. The girl was very careful and she did her best to create false tracks that led the Hounds astray.

Her trail ended near a river and no matter where they looked, no other traces were found. The leader of the Hounds concluded that the girl jumped into the river to escape. The agents were currently checking the riverside for any possible signs that the girl had emerged in that location.

"Is there any news from the search teams?" One of the eight heads of the organization asked with a frown on his face. "Although our manpower was spread thin, we should at least have some results by now."

"No news as of yet," the man wearing a black suit replied. "I even sent some people into the nearby towns to look for any child below the age of ten that looked suspicious. They were told to pay extra attention to girls with dark brown hair."

"Hah! As if that would work," another one of the eight men chided. "Almost everyone in this country has dark brown hair. Her father had blonde hair. Did you ask your men to look for girls with blonde hair as well?"

"I did and I know we're trying to find a needle in a haystack, but what else could we do?"

The other men in the room said nothing. Yes, what else could they do? They could do nothing. This was the reason they were all frustrated! They spent years looking for the child, and when she was within their grasp she still managed to escape.

"Find her! Find her at all cost!" The man wearing a black suit spoke to Jacques in a threatening manner. "Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir!"

"Go!"

Jacques left the room in haste. He still didn't know how a nine-year-old was able to escape their encirclement and leave the forest successfully. She was even able to fool the Hounds, the organization's best tracking team.

"Are we really dealing with a nine-year-old girl?" Jacques sighed helplessly as he moved his exhausted body to help search for the mysterious girl that managed to elude the organization for many years.