Chapter 11. Comrades-in-Arms
The Canadian authorities were not as inept as their American cousins and they swiftly rounded up Amanda and her fugitive accomplices and criminal kinfolk. Amanda felt an unprecedented and unimaginably brutal rage welling up inside her as the police clamped the cuffs on her wrists and as they shoved her into the cruiser. She wanted to scream but she couldn't find her voice. She was innocent, and yet she was being brutalized by a legal machine run by demons in human form. She was still trying to scream as the Canadian cops drove her to her next cage where she might languish until she went mad for all they cared. Amanda was burning with rage as….
`It's all right! You're just having a nightmare, ' said Pamela as she tried to comfort her distraught, half-asleep daughter.
`I thought that was real. I thought for sure the cops had got me,' exclaimed Amanda with immense relief in her shaking voice.
`No,' said Sergio, `you're still on the loose, you're still a fugitive on the run from no end of US bounty hunters, state lawmen, federal marshals, provincial lawmen, federal Canadian lawmen, Canadian bounty hunters, and all the law-and-order-loving citizens who covet the fabulous price on your head….'
Pamela then took Amanda aside and the two of them had a chat.
`Here's the deal,' said Pamela. `You and me, and Al and your dad should probably get away from Haakon and Maria.'
`You think they might snitch? You think they might try to cut a deal with the cops?
`Probably not but why should we take a chance?'
`I don't think I can say goodbye to Haakon,' said Amanda.
`Why? Do you love him?'
`I suppose,' said Amanda.
`Look. And don't be crazy. It's unlikely but certainly possible that one of them, either Haakon or Maria, might say to themselves that it is no good having to run from the law for the rest of their lives! They might cut a deal with authorities, telling them where you can be found if the cops promise to drop all aiding and abetting charges against them. It's certainly possible Haakon and Maria might make that deal.'
`Yeah?'
`Let's tell them that you and me feel guilty about putting them through the wringer. It's killing both of us to have to put the baby through the wringer, but we got to keep him around! Let's ask Haakon and Maria to go on ahead, because it is painful for us to have to make them live like fugitives on our account - and that's the truth. We just won't mention our other motivation. We won't mention the part about how we suspect they might rat on us. What we really need to do is lay low in the Canadian wilderness for a few years. We have plenty of cash. Sergio can get to Thunder Bay in a day or two. We have fake passports and phony birth certificates and drivers licenses there, just as we got the same things sitting in safety deposit boxes in Buenos Aires, Geneva and Hong Kong. No one else knows about our fake papers. The CIA taught us to have them but the CIA doesn't know about them, and no one else knows about them. Sergio can get our papers, the cash, the car, the provisions….'
`We can't give Haakon or Maria the slightest hint that we're afraid they might betray us,' said Amanda. `But I'll just have a talk with Haakon right now. I can't leave him.'
`No you won't talk to him. You listen to me. You need me to make sure you stay out of jail for the rest of your life. Your dad is going to approach them and pitch the idea that the three of them ought to hike into Thunder Bay. You, me and Al will remain here. Once the three of them are gone, the three of us can move on to a new hiding place. And we will tell your dad to meet us at midnight some night on the highway two miles above the border.'
`They will not want to leave us.'
`What makes you think that?'
`Haakon loves Al and me, and Maria and you are best friends.'
`If Haakon or Maria refuse to split with us, then we'll just leave them a nice note insisting we can not in good conscience risk their future by tying them so closely us. Then we just sneak off without them,' said Pamela.
Maria and Haakon had no objections to the idea of walking with Sergio to Thunder Bay.
Sergio was trying to divine the intentions of his inscrutable wife and prodigal daughter. They didn't think it necessary to tell him why they suddenly succumbed to a distaste for hiking into Thunder Bay. Perhaps, he thought, they thought they could better evade the police by splitting up. Perhaps they couldn't. Sergio had long since grown fatigued weighing the incriminating and the exonerating evidence surrounding Amanda's case; what else could he do but assume she was innocent as the alternative was unthinkable? Whatever he decided about her he didn't expect their ordeal to end any time soon. Complete vindication seemed so far away it might as well be unattainable.
If it wasn't Pamela's and Amanda's caprice to split up then it was Haakon's humorous condition which kept Sergio entertained on their 2 day march into Thunder Bay. The man had been indifferent to his wife a few weeks ago but now he was captivated by her, lost in her charms, always pining to be close to her as they walked along under the enormous evergreens. Sergio could see as well as the next man that Maria was captivating in her way. Why did he find it so surprising that romance was weaving its spell round those two? Well because Haakon had been indifferent to his wife just a few weeks ago. Sergio knew he wasn't dreaming about that. There was frost between them. But the ice was gone now. Evidently Maria could become mesmerizing whenever it struck her fancy to turn on a switch.
The bliss of a tropical sea-breeze once blew over a verandah in South America, a verandah on which Sergio was standing and listening to Maria converse with a man named Jules Lancereaux. He owned a mining company and was having trouble with saboteurs and extortionists; a glib flow of words flowed from the man - `Colette discovered Audrey Hepburn…Michaelangelo's infatuation with Vittoria Colonna was keeping him from producing more masterpieces; the man needed to live like a cave man to get any work done and Colonna was.…Charlotte Corday, when plunging that knife into Marat, showed herself to be a samurai in full possession of the kiri-sute gomen…the orgies of Samothrace destroyed the already effeminate Greek males… the debaucheries of Paris, London and Berlin first enfeebled and then gave the coup de grace to the voluptuous pleasure-seeking Northern European females.…'
The man was too doctrinaire in the estimation of Sergio's instincts but whether he was profound or superficial, and Sergio wasn't sure what he was, Sergio couldn't see how he was any sort of big trouble. Still, `these dilettantes might be dangerous' encapsulated Sergio's opinion of Lancereaux. It was their job to ensure that his mines weren't blasted out of operation by communist saboteurs.
Sergio was trying not to think about how cruel it was that fate had turned on them so recently and so remorselessly. The opulence of that South American verandah where they were surrounded by jonquils and orchids, by alabaster amphorae, by candle-flames stirring atop tables full of mangos and oranges, lemons and limes, prime rib and fresh seafood, were far removed from their current Canadian predicament. He forced himself to think of better days and his thoughts turned to the time he was driving through the Vendean bocage, then to the time he observed a lapis sea shining beyond emerald meadows in the Maritime provinces, the west side of Cape Breton to be precise; now he found the blue waters of Superior barely perceptible blocked as they were by all the evergreens; this Canadian wilderness recalled to Sergio's mind odysseys in former days. The gale blowing off Superior was swaying the tops of the pines far above his head, reminding him now of sea-breezes washing over Nova Scotia and over a beach on the Gulf of Mexico - that was a place where he had once memorably reclined in sunshine, just as he was doing now. Maria and Haakon, who were presently plunging undaunted down the path had asked Sergio to hang back for an hour or two and conceal himself behind the laurels and firs, so he could watch the path and remain unseen while he took note of any gendarmes in pursuit of some fugitives. By the time Sergio would shove off from this position, in another hour or two, Maria and Haakon would by then have found a place off th
e path where they too could hide and watch for cops while Sergio caught up with them. After they met they might hike for a few more minutes, at least until they found the right place to bivouac for the night. They had enough blankets to stay war assuming an arctic air mass didn't descend on them. Should Sergio witness a cop on the path he would wait a few minutes, let the man pass on a good ways, and then he would give Haakon and Maria a warning shot from his .357. Once that was done he'd have to dive deep into the woods; he would have to use his wits and his best tactics at woodland stealth, or at least he would have to do something other than back himself into a corner so incompetently that he got himself captured by the Canadian cops. Sergio shifted himself so as to stay in the center of a little golden oasis of sunlight that filtered down through a rent in the treetops. The fragrance of the fir cones and the junipers, of the pines and the ferns had Sergio wondering if he would ever see his beloved cottage again. Not likely. He missed its divine setting amid the forest primeval. The best aspect of its location was that air there was suffused with the most wonderful perfume. He liked the sweet idyllic breath of the tropics but Sergio was partial to these sublime northern forests, so redolent with the opiate of the evergreens. Though your tamarinds and oleanders, your banyans, lotus blossoms and mangroves won't survive in these high latitudes…That Amanda! What had that mercurial girl of his actually done? What exactly was she guilty of? Or was she innocent? Couldn't she be acquitted in court someway, somehow? A week ago Sergio was reading his books in his cozy cottage before a fire in his hearth and now he was sitting on damp grass watching for cops while trying to stay out of an Ontario jail cell. What mysterious steps might they take to best orchestrate their escape from this nightmare? Sergio was talking to himself. Sergio was also telling himself to keep watch on the forest behind him as well as on the path in front of him, as new troubles had a way of piling on top of the troubles you already had. Getting bit by a rabid skunk seemed a distinct possibility. Sergio dined on some bread and pate de foix gras which was washed down with champagne; these delicious provisions were supplied by Angeline and Bergitta. `What the hell happened?' Sergio was apostrophizing his daughter. Sergio was soon thinking they were crazy to think they could soon risk taking a boat from Halifax to South America, assuming they got as far as Halifax. In another twenty minutes Sergio had to be quick about hiding the goose liver when a golden retriever walked right up to where he was sitting and put his muzzle in Sergio's face. Sure enough a little boy then came running down the path calling for his dog. The dog ran off leaving Sergio to wonder how he and the goose liver had both avoided detection. Sergio fought off some melancholia while two hours slowly elapsed. His little oasis of sunshine had long since darkened now that the sun was descending in the west. When he stood up to begin his hike Sergio estimated he had two hours of daylight remaining. That was plenty of time to find Haakon and Maria. And just where was the nearest policeman, right now, wondered Sergio, as he walked beneath the pines trees, scanning to his right and to his left, looking for lawmen.
Pamela, Al and Amanda were concealed amid the pines and birch trees on a headland that jutted out into Lake Superior. They were sitting in the sunlight outside their tent, wrapped in blankets, drinking coffee or soda and eating smoked whitefish.
Amanda was reading Time Magazine. Pamela found it lying beside the highway half a mile away. It had a picture of Amanda on its cover, and an unflattering one at that. `It wouldn't have killed those prima donnas to use a better shot of me,' said Amanda to no one in particular.
Time was saying,
`In America, where Amanda Molina is a pariah among her own people - we want her loaded with chains and dragged off to the nearest gas chamber post haste - she is not only a murderer but she is seen by some as a person who embodies the flaws and complexities of both Lucrezia Borgia - the daughter and the concubine of Pope Alexander VI, and therefore the archetypal fallen woman - but also an Alcibiades, the traitor and the desecrator of all that is holy. But is she really a complex, multi-faceted psychopath as some commentators have insisted? And of course it has also been claimed ad nauseum by the perverse European press that her bodyguard parents - these preposterous, modernized, soi-disant Bartolommeo Colleonis and Castruccio Castraconi degli Antelminellis - are the real villains of the tragic drama. Like Giulia Farnese, another concubine of the promiscuous aforementioned pontiff, Amanda Molina exhibits unrestrained precocious sensuality, witness her insatiable desire for food and intoxicating spirits so soon after she murdered the FBI agent in cold blood…'
Amanda didn't care much for that article in Time so she tried another:
`The 70 million unwed mothers in the USA who constitute the largest sub-faction of all the sub-factions which make up the 120 million marginalized females in America, alienated women whom the power elites in Washington D. C. have decided are too inconsequential to pander to…'
`It's odd how some magazines manage to stay in business,' Amanda was saying to Pamela. `I suppose being a fugitive makes you a marginalized female, ma, you've been shunted to a side track, in case you weren't aware of that fact. It seems you are now too inconsequential for the power elites to pander to.'
`That applies to you more than me. I can always go back to Chicago. But you're marginalized wherever you go: Minnesota, Michigan, Ontario…'
`You're in a bad mood. Cheer up. Look at all this great food we have from Angeline and Bergitta. It's diner sur l'herbe for us, but it's not like we have to live on cuisses de grenouilles, pain et beurre d'arachide, corbeau, anguille, oeufs de mouette, cailletot, cou d'oie, tete de veau.…which so many millions of marginalized French people must subsist on. And what about you, Al? Haven't you been marginalized terribly by the power elites?
`Mana go jail.' Said Al.
`You don't even know what jail is. You're like a parrot, Al.'
`Mana go jail.'
`If you don't have anything good to say about someone, Al, then don't say anything at all.'
`Why don't you go back to writing your memoirs, or whatever it was you were writing earlier,' said Pamela.
This idea struck Amanda`s fancy. She picked up a pen and a notebook and began to write where she had left off earlier…
`The black damask and the crimson brocade under the colonnades of Von Hellemann's Castle could hide their daggers but it could not conceal the cabal of extortionists who had come to collect millions of dollars from Wolfgang Von Hellemann. Von Hellemann's wife, Joanna, clad in a dress of exquisite silk, shimmering in hues of amethyst and bluish-green, diaphanous and daring in its plunging décolleté, stood before the desperate men as they pressed their claims that the millions of dollars they were demanding would buy her husband excellent protection from every sort of criminal syndicate and undesirable element in modern society. But like Esther from Jewish antiquity, Joanna was a powerful aphrodisiac and she only had to find some means to use her allure to bring destruction upon these Gentiles…'
Amanda put down her pen while she thought about aphrodisiacs and Haakon. She thought it was strange how she so effortlessly confessed to her mom that she was in love with him. She just blurted it right out. Now she jokingly told herself she only had to find a way to get rid of Maria.
Sergio met up with Maria and Haakon. The latter two had some time on their 50 mile hike into Thunder Bay to guess for themselves why Pamela might have wanted to get away from them. They told Sergio that they wanted to stay together, but, they would separate if that's what he and Pamela wanted. Haakon and Maria insisted they would not be offended if they were asked to go their separate way, but they also insisted that they might be a big help in helping Amanda elude the cops. Sergio said that was all he needed to hear to know they all ought to stay together. Sergio didn't think it necessary to mention to them that he would do whatever Pamela asked him to do.
Sergio made his errands in Thunder Bay: he got their identity papers and the cash; he bought a big car and filled it with supplies
. While he was doing his errands he left Haakon and Maria wrapped up in their blankets, huddled under a bridge which spanned a stream - it was thought too risky to rent a motel room, too risky for the three of them even to be seen together on the streets of Thunder Bay. Later that night Sergio drove back to pick up Pamela, Amanda and Al. They were right there by the side of the highway, at midnight, on the second night, as planned. Before he left Haakon and Maria to pick up his wife and kids, a few awkward moments passed between them. Sergio didn't want to abandon them, and just drive on and leave them under the bridge, though of course Haakon and Maria now had money and papers. Still everyone could see there were some excellent reasons to split up. Sergio knew he might never see Haakon and Maria again when he left them in Thunder Bay.
Sergio had to plead long and hard with his wife to convince her to trust Haakon and Maria. It took an hour but at last he prevailed with Amanda's help.
Haakon felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw Al and the other Molinas pull up in the Crown Victoria as it swung under the bridge. Amanda could tell that Haakon and Maria were getting emotional when they saw that their friends hadn't deserted them. Amanda thought she wouldn't give a big hug to both Haakon and Maria, because she wanted to act like nothing happened, to make it seem like she had never seriously contemplated, for the last few days, deserting Haakon and Maria forever, without even a goodbye. But she couldn't help running straight to them and embracing them both.
The rest of the night crept by and no police cars with wailing sirens rushed in to disturb their sleep or to haul everyone away in chains. They were all up and awake by 7 o'clock. Amanda spread out a map of Canada on the ground. Where do you want to go? What do you like, East or West?'
`Let Al decide,' said Maria as she brought the tot over to the map. `Where do you want to go, kiddo?'
Al surveyed the map and then brought his fist down hard on New Brunswick.
`Let's rethink this,' said Pamela.
`Let's go North and West. What do you say to lonely wastes and a midnight sun above the Arctic circle?' asked Sergio. It was agreed they would go North and West.