Despite the delight raging in his soul, the Soldier did not forget to listen out for his inner indicator: anxiety replaced slight strain, his palms sweating. In the rear-view mirror was the Stranger’s austere face.
“Stop here, we mustn’t keep driving. We have an ambush ahead of us, and a trap at the back…” the Soldier nodded towards the road.
“Let’s leave the car over here and cross the field, there are hills, we can wait out and move on to the Silencers’ desert,” the Stranger suggested.
“We mustn’t. They will catch us in a shake, we have no time to cross the field. But what if they are ordered to shoot to kill? Would you blow them down that far?”
“This doesn’t work like that,” the Stranger shook his head. “We should go, and then it’s all in God’s hands.”
“I see. Get out of the car!” the Soldier gasped. The Stranger understood his friend’s intention, smiled guiltily, and shook his head again. The Soldier put money in his pocket, gave a wink, turned the car round, and rushed backward.
“Let’s go,” the Stranger took the girl along. In a short while, he stopped and strained ears:
“We have to hide ourselves.” He dug a trench quickly, and erected a small hill. The fugitives flattened themselves against the ground. “Now they’ll pass by,” whispered the Stranger.
The girl was silent, she felt shivery. Soon, they heard a car roaring. The off-roader drove to the field, two young men got out to examine the terrain thoroughly.
“Nobody is here, nobody is here, nobody…” the Stranger harped on. He repeated those words as an incantation. The Agents stood looking around for a minute, then got into the car. It jerked away raising wet clouds.
“I feel sick,” the girls whispered. “Help me.”
“Don’t worry. Now, you’ll feel easier.”
The Stranger closed his eyes, felt the Wind almost at once, and not only on his head, but also in the palms. He laid his palms onto the girl’s eyes and rolled, “Get purged!” Then he put one hand to the back of her head, another hand to her heart, and heard ‘Free!’ in himself. The girl was in a slight faint. The Stranger was carefully wetting her face with water. She opened her eyes.
“Nice! I feel light and free, like a bird, I can fly…”
“I’ll call you the Bird. Nice name.”
They were lying on the ground looking into the eternal sky so difficult to make sense of.