Silent Angel by Antonia Arslan

Author:Antonia Arslan [Arslan, Antonia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Spiritual & Religion
ISBN: 9781642291230
Publisher: Ignatius Press
Published: 2020-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Kohar and Eleni look at each other, and at that moment they become sisters. The strength of the one will become the strength of the other, and, together, they will see to Anoush, the absentminded Makarios, and little Hovsep. They had both received the message, and they begin to speak in brisk whispers, preparing their escape.

“We need to get away from here, from this mortal trap,” whispers Kohar, who recounts what had happened with poor Yeghisapet. “And we have to do it tonight.”

“Let’s wake the others in a bit,” says Eleni. “But meanwhile, we have to decide how to flee.”

They don’t have to walk far to leave the place. The village where the refugees settled has streets and houses that grew without any particular order. They were built close to each other and with a surrounding wall to protect the inhabitants from the endless forays of their aggressive neighbors. From the corner of the empty barn where they are camped out, Kohar and her group can leave in a snap, but they have to do so without attracting attention. Above all, they have to get the book out without raising more questions.

They wake Makarios first. Explaining the situation to him is not easy. He is nervous and disheveled; he yawns and complains. Eleni puts her hand to his mouth and presses down firmly. She whispers Yeghisa-pet’s threats in his ear and tells him why it is necessary to escape from her morbid curiosity and that of the other women. He surrenders, as he too had noticed the inquisitive looks.

As for Anoush and Hovsep, all it took was getting them to move. He needs to go where she goes, and she always follows Kohar closely, as though the girl were the living portal that separates her from the unbearable reality nested in her memory.

Thus they slowly and quietly drag their feet like people who are unable to sleep and have to make their way between others who are fast asleep. They send Anoush and the little boy ahead. As soon as the two are out of sight, it is Makarios’s turn. He pretends to go out to grab a smoke with the sleepless men. Finally, it is the turn of Kohar and Eleni. They gather their things with feigned nonchalance and wrap the two halves of the book more tightly with the bit of leftover food they have. Then, in the darkest corner, they tie the bronze pot and cups they received from the village women to their waists, and calmly walk toward the exit on the high road, the one that leads out of the village and up toward the mountains. It is not really a road, but rather a goat trail that is difficult to take even in daylight.

But they have no choice. They all meet up in the dark of the cool summer night and take each other by the hand. They make up a small chain of hands that squeeze each other nervously, trying to stay close, to transmit warmth, courage.

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