Safe Haven

  ***

  Isobel smiled to herself as Frank pulled the car around the back of a butcher's shop.

  "What's so funny?" He asked. He always got suspicious when he thought he was missing a joke.

  "Just thinking about when I first met Darcy, back when he had hair."

  Finally Frank cracked a smile. "Jesus, he did, didn't he? I had forgotten about that."

  The back of the butcher's was the latest Church of Reachers. Since she'd known Darcy he'd had five places in S'aven and spent two years roaming Britain and going wherever God led him. It didn't matter where the church ended up she always got that feeling of coming home whenever she was with Darcy.

  He was waiting for them inside, as much at home surrounded by hanging carcasses as he was sitting at a kitchen table. He shook Frank's hand first, but his attention as always would soon fix on Isobel.

  "How's it going Darcy?" Frank asked, shaking the old priest's hand with enthusiasm.

  "Same old, same old. Worthy cause and an uphill struggle. Come inside, I've got some paperwork for you. You can see where your money is being spent."

  Frank was the biggest donator to the secret church. He put everything he could into Darcy's hands to help the priest in his quest to save Reachers. For all the awful things Frank had done - continued to do - this was his redemption. His money had saved countless Reachers, paying for their travel, documents, food and clothing. His money had paid for her sister's safety.

  Isobel remembered that fact every time she returned to Darcy. Sometimes she thought that was why Frank brought her, so she would feel grateful for what he had done and the sacrifices she had made herself wouldn't seem so bad. It worked usually but today her past was weighing heavily.

  She embraced Darcy as they entered the butcher's shop. As usual she found the altar and spent a few moments alone with Christ, praying to him for forgiveness. Forgive me for what I have done, for what I will do. She had never prayed for her sister, never in all these years, after all she had control of Rachel's future. She did what Frank wanted and he paid to keep Rachel in the convent. At least that was how it had been until now. She stared at the crude carving of Christ on the wall. Please keep my sister safe; please keep her out of S'aven.

  A hand touched her shoulder. She turned around surprised to see Darcy had occupied Frank so easily. He always tried to distract Frank by some article or news story about Reachers so he could have a few moments alone with Isobel. These moments were a highlight for her but today they were a necessity.

  "The letter you gave me from Rachel. Do you know what was in it?"

  Darcy gave a regretful nod. "I think I can guess. I received a similar letter from a friend at the convent. The army have realised the church is hiding people. It was only a matter of time before they paid Rachel's convent a visit. But the Sister there has an evacuation plan. The nuns will do everything they can to protect her. Frank is having a look at some ideas for a new sanctuary now."

  Isobel shook her head. "A new sanctuary? Darcy, she's coming here. In her letter she said she was on her way to S'aven. Here! This is not a sanctuary, not for her." She felt her eyes starting to well.

  Darcy shared Isobel's troubled look.

  "She said she has a job here already, that the nuns have sorted it all out for her."

  Finally, he sighed and sat down beside the small nativity scene crafted by the altar. "Things outside of S'aven are bad. What you two saw in Red Forest..." Darcy shook his head. "It's everywhere now. The diseases, the hunger. Safe Haven didn't get its name for nothing." He gestured to the room; "This place is a sanctuary. Not the best, but by no means the worst."

  Isobel sat beside him. "Not for most, but Frank has so many enemies. If they found out about Rachel I can't even imagine what would happen to her. And if she comes here, if she's here now Frank will find her and he won't let her go."

  Darcy shifted uncomfortably. This was ground neither of them liked to cover. When Frank Morris had offered to buy one of the girls Darcy was not in a position to refuse. They needed to move and he'd only found a place for one of them. Frank was the answer and he was so generous, he would see that both girls were comfortable, he would dedicate everything he had to the Reacher cause. All the people Frank would help - just for one girl. And Darcy knew that the choice would save one while condemning the other.

  Isobel knew that too and her father's words rolled around her head, becoming more instinct than memory. She had stepped forward, volunteered her life for her sister's. And if she had known what awaited her in Frank Morris' care she would still have made the same choice.

  "I don't want her to do what I've had to do," Isobel confessed. "And I don't want her to know what I have done for her."

  "You have nothing to be ashamed of," Darcy started.

  "I prostituted myself. I allowed men to have sex with me and I used my powers to steal their secrets. And do you know what Frank has done with those secrets? Every one of them has ended up with someone dead. I'm just fuelling Frank's paranoia. Back at the start I thought I was helping him, but I'm not, I'm making him insane."

  "You are not responsible for the man Frank is. And I am the one who let him have you." Darcy paused, sparing a glance at his saviour.

  It was Isobel's turn to comfort him. She squeezed his arthritic hands. "I never told you but when we arrived in S'aven, I knew where to come. We found you so quickly. I think back to that time, how we made our way here. It all just fell into place, but it was only when I arrived that I knew where I was going."

  "A lot of Reachers have said that to me before," Darcy said.

  "What is it that draws me here?"

  He nodded to his icon. "He does."

  "What if He brings Rachel back here?"

  "Then it will be His will."

  "She's special, I've always felt that. You'd think I'd be jealous that Dad favoured her life over mine. He made me run, but he would carry her. He told me to look after her, not to keep us both safe. I should be outraged, but I just feel, deep in my heart, that she is special and I would do anything to keep her safe. We haven't spoken in ten years and I still would do anything for her."

  "Then He will keep her safe. And He will keep you safe too. Don't sell yourself short Izzy. You are not just a cog. You are one of His servants, a far worthier one than me. Whatever happens, whatever you need to do, remember that you are special. And your sacrifice has not just saved your sister but saved countless others. How many Reachers live now, because of what you have given up for them? Izzy I can't even count them anymore."

  Frank coughed behind them. "We should go, our table is waiting."

  She gave Darcy a hug. "Will you look for her?" She whispered.

  "I never look for you, you come to me if you need me."

  "There's an envelope on your desk Darcy. I'll bring the rest in the morning."

  "God bless you Frank. Enjoy your dinner, and your celebrations."

  ***

  "Will she be safe?" Isobel asked Darcy as Rachel drove away.

  "She'll be in God's house, there isn't a safer place in the world."

  "Will I ever see her again?"

  "I'm sure you will."

  She wouldn't. The car dissolved into the distance and the sisters were separated forever.