The Charm School (93 page)
Lisa and Hollis looked at each other across the table. Lisa said finally, “You look sad.”
Hollis didn’t reply.
Lisa said, “We’re all sad, Sam. We’re happy that we’ve saved our own necks, but sad about the others.”
Hollis nodded. “This was the ultimate betrayal. The government betrayed those men once and now again. We’ve swept the last wreckage of that war under the rug for all time.”
“Will you try to put it behind you now?”
“I’ll try. Once you’ve come full circle, any further movement along that route is just going around in circles. I’ll try to move on now.”
Lisa removed a satin box from her pocket and laid it on the chart table and opened it. She stared at its contents awhile, then lifted out a string of amber beads and held them draped over her fingers. “Seth gave me these while we were waiting for you outside Burov’s house. May I keep these?”
“Of course.” He added, “Just don’t wear them.”
She looked at him and couldn’t tell if he was serious. She dropped the beads back in the box and closed it.
Hollis took some crumpled sheets of paper from his pocket and spread them on the chart table, holding them down with lead map weights. “These are the names of the men, living and dead . . . all dead now, who were in the Charm School from the beginning.”
“That was what Lew Poole gave you?”
“Yes.” He stared at the curled papers. “Simms . . . here’s Simms. . . .” He looked off into the distance and spoke. “On the Vietnam memorial, they have crosses beside the names of the missing.”
“Yes, I’ve seen that.”
“And if a missing man is confirmed dead, they carve a circle around the cross.” He looked at Lisa. “I want these men to be officially recognized as dead and their families notified. I want this list put to some good use.”
She nodded, then asked, “Is that list . . . dangerous to have . . . I mean, the Charm School never existed.”
Hollis replied, “I think it would be dangerous for us
not
to have it. This is the only real evidence that you and I have that the Charm School did exist. It is our insurance policy.”
not
to have it. This is the only real evidence that you and I have that the Charm School did exist. It is our insurance policy.”
She nodded in understanding.
Hollis said, “I’ll send this along with a letter to my father in Japan. I’ll have a seaman post it in Liverpool before we get off the ship. Then when we get to London, we’ll talk about things with our friend, Mr. Banks.” He looked at her. “So what do
you
want from all this?”
you
want from all this?”
She smiled. “I’ve got it.
You.
”
You.
”
He smiled in return.
She added, “And we have Gregory Fisher’s murderer, don’t we? I mean, I know that Burov is not the sole murderer. The system is a killer. But a little justice was done.”
Hollis sipped on his coffee. Lisa yawned. Through occasional breaks in the clouds, shafts of sunlight came in through the portholes and lay on the table for a time. A seaman appeared at the door and said, “Captain Hughes wishes you to know that we’ve passed Kronshtadt. We are in undisputed international waters.”
“Thank you.”
Lisa looked at Hollis. “Another step home.”
“We’ll get there.” Hollis stood and went to the starboard porthole. He stared out to sea awhile, then turned and found Lisa standing in front of him. They looked at each other, then spontaneously she threw her arms around him.
The steward opened the door of the chart room, mumbled something, and backed out.
She buried her face in his chest. “My God, Sam, I’m so tired. . . . Can we make love this morning . . . ? My parents buried their daughter. . . . They’ll be delirious to see me. . . . Come home with me. . . . I want to meet your odd family. . . . Sam, can I cry for Seth? Is that all right?”
“Of course. You’re shaking. Let me take you to your room.”
“No, hold me.” She said softly, “Can we pretend that after our lunch in the Arbat we flew to New York and nothing happened in between?”
“No, we can’t do that. But we can try to make some sense of it. Try to understand this whole mess between us and them. Maybe I’ll teach you about Soviet air power, and you explain Gogol to me. We’ll both learn something that no one else cares about.”
She laughed. “I’d like that.” She hugged him tighter. “Later I’ll tell you a Russian bedtime story.”
They stood silently for a long time, listening to the sounds of the ship and the sea, feeling the roll and forward momentum of the freighter as it moved westward, away from Russia. a cognizant original v5 release november 24 2010
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