Authors: Anne-Marie Hart
It is because of this, and the petered out press attention, that both Maddy's resignation and her purchase of plane tickets goes unnoticed.
She leaves her job, to a small leaving party held mostly in her absence, that rivals her welcome back party in terms of sheer lameness. She attends, gives a small speech, thanks everyone for their hard work at her company, endears herself to most of her staff members, cuts a figure much more humble that the one they remember before the incident happened, and disappears into the night before the party has even started, her bag filled with the small amount of personal belongings she wishes to take with her, the door to her office left unlocked, and the broken pencils, some two hundred and thirty two halves, deposited in the trash can.
That night - Maddy's last night at work - everyone gets drunk on the booze the accounting team sneak through expenses. There is a strange mood amongst them all, of a kind of happiness tinged with sadness, and in the coming weeks, every single one of them notices an absence around the place, as though some important and well loved member of staff is no longer with them. How much they each miss her, surprises them all.
Javier soldiers on. With Maddy's departure, he hopes for a promotion and a pay rise which doesn't come. He sees his boy getting sicker and sicker, without the help he needs, and every day he thinks about the moment he was on the way to the locker, when the news of Maddy's appearance came through, on the big TV screen in the sports bar on the station platform. That moment saved his life. His son may still be sick, and the rest of the family barely surviving on what little money he brings in, but at least they are still together. He couldn't see it at the time, because he was blinded by the need to help his son, but had he taken those bags from the locker, there was no way he'd have gotten out of the station without getting caught. He knows that now, and as much as he hates it, he owes Maddy, the woman he was using as bait for blackmail, his life.
Maddy opens her wardrobe drawers and puts everything she owns into big black plastic bags and takes them to the thrift store. She buys new outfits, new styles and new colours. These she packs into a suitcase with the very few personal possessions she owns, and with her home as sparse as it has always ever been, and all of her loose ends now tied up, there is nothing left for her to do, but wait.
At the check-in desk, the airline representative recognises her name. She upgrades her to business class without question, and wishes her a pleasant journey, a little star struck at meeting someone she has seen on TV, albeit in a news story. A request by Frank Giamatti to have all of Maddy's travel monitored has gone unapproved by the Albuquerque police department, which means that when her passport is scanned and the information is added to the system, it goes no further than that. No one knows where she is going apart from River. Her father has kept himself out of her life, and he's just happy that she's back to lead it, in whichever way she wants to do so. Frank and Garland are busy on a new case, and everyone else at her job have said goodbye and never plan to see her again. The only thing Maddy feels bad about leaving behind is the only friend she ever really had in her life before River came along, and she doesn't even know his name. Unable to bring the cat with her, she has said goodbye in the only way she knows how, with a cuddle and a saucer filled to the brim with milk.
She feels anxious on the flight. A month has passed since they saw each other last, and she hopes that what she is doing now won't turn into a mistake. She's left what little of a life she had behind her, with no intention ever to return. That's a big deal, and it begins to dawn on her on the way over. She has a small suitcase with her, much smaller than a lot of the other suitcases she sees people checking in, and she can hardly believe that her suitcase, and the future, whatever it may be, is all she has left in her life.
She thinks about River, the two days they spent together, what has happened to her since and what her life was like before. She realises the nerves she feels bring with them the same tingles of excitement she was feeling when she was with him, and as the plane moves closer to her chosen destination, she feels absolutely and completely free, in more ways than the average American will do at any point in their lives. She realises she's been given a second chance and she's going to take advantage of it, with her eyes, heart and mind all open. She refuses to be scared of life anymore, and she's intent on making sure she enjoys it, every god damn precious little minute.
Someone is there like River promised, but with the lack of police attention on her movements, it wouldn't have mattered if he'd come himself. The American and Mexican authorities are monitoring all travel channels still for River Woods, but not Madeleine Parker and no-one but River and Maddy, and the man that helped him change his name, know that River Woods no longer exists.
Over the last four weeks since River has been in the country, the Mexican police force, as already predicted by Indigo Garland, have spent as little time trying to find him as they would a kidnapped foreigner. To them, he has done nothing illegal in their country. The money he stole was American, as was the girl, and both of them have been returned.
They took long enough to look for his Lexus, which was parked on the main street three miles from the border crossing, from where he left it to take a taxi. Since then, they have all but forgotten about him, diverting the little police attention he was originally given, to something else entirely. Mexico is a busy country for criminals, and an American bank robber at large in their country isn't as much of a big deal for them as the American police forces would like them to believe it is. They are of the belief instead that River will show up at some point, and it's just a matter of waiting until he does so. Then they'll catch him and cart him back home for the American's to deal with, taking the very little reward money that has been offered for him, and will match the effort they'll put in to do so.
Of course, this will never happen. River has used his time in the country wisely, and now will be impossible to track. He has a brand new passport, provided by friends of Buck Tavern, and another one to give to Maddy when she arrives. There is nothing the authorities can do to find him, and there is no way he is planning on making it clear to them where he is. His brief stint into the world of bank robbing is, as far as he's concerned, completely over. He was a good crook, but he wants to be a better lover, and if there is anything that he has learnt, it's that those two things never sit well together.
Maddy and her driver communicate in broken English and hand signals. The city is a sprawling mess of activity that she's happy to leave behind when they finally make their way out of what seem to be never ending suburbs. This isn't the America she has grown used to over the years. It's raw, active and rough around the edges. She tries to ask about River, but the driver either doesn't understand her, or knows nothing about him. She wonders for a moment whether she is with the right man, but knows she can't be with anyone else. The board he was holding up, now sitting on the back seat, said Madeleine Parker, with (Princess) in brackets underneath, and it couldn't have come from anyone else.
They stop to eat and refuel the car, a battered motor that must be twenty years old and a day, and on its very last legs. She has tortilla and guacamole, washed down with a beer, in a hut filled with Mexican men, who all look at her with smiling eyes, and tip their hats, if they are still wearing one. The spiciness of the food tingles pleasurably on her tongue and the beer makes her feel warm and sleepy.
They continue, carving out from the centre of the country to the east, although for Maddy, it all looks pretty much like dry rural sprawl. She could be anywhere in the world for as much as it looks familiar to her.
Eventually, they leave the main road and take a smaller road that cuts through several towns, each one of which Maddy thinks is going to be the one they stop in, her heart speeding up and then slowing down again as she sees them disappointingly disappear, one by one in the wing mirror.
Approximately seven hours after they leave Mexico City's Benito Juárez international airport, Maddy's whole body tired and achy, they pull into a small town called Los Dos Pajaritos.
There, she sees him for the first time in a month, leaning against a small mud and brick corrugated iron roof shack, as cool as ever, cowboy hat and boots on, cigarette in his mouth, clean shaven, blue eyes as blue and beautiful as ever, as though it's only been a day since they were together. There are children playing in the street and other Mexican villagers sat outside, who watch the car pull up. Maddy can barely wait for it to stop, before she's out of the door, tears in her eyes. She rushes to him and throws herself into his arms, desperate to feel him, and make sure he's real. Once there, safe in his grasp, she breaks down into tears, the weight of the month of his absence, and the reality that she's finally here for good, and with him for keeps, coming to her all at once.
'You're here', she says, through sobs, all the children gathering around them now and the other villagers looking on and clapping.
'Of course I’m here Princess, where did you think I'd be?'
They hold each other tightly, and Maddy can't stop crying.
'Come on now Madeleine', River says, lifting her chin up and kissing away the saltiness from her cheeks.
'I can't help it', Maddy says, overwhelmed. The journey, the anticipation, the fear and excitement of the last month hitting her all at once.
Some of the children are hugging each other, mocking what River and Maddy are doing. Others look up to her, beaming with their big white smiles and soft brown eyes.
'Are we safe here?' Maddy asks.
'No-one will find us Maddy', River says. 'This is the beginning of the rest of our lives.'
Maddy hugs him even tighter and rests her head on his shoulder.
'I love you', she says unable to stop the tears flowing. 'I know it's crazy, but I've never felt more sure of something in my life.'
River moves her head from his shoulder so they can look at each other in the eyes.
'Well hell Maddy', he says, 'looks like that makes two of us then, because I love you too, crazy as it sounds.'
Maddy laughs, 'It doesn't sound crazy at all', she says. 'It sounds just about right.'
They kiss passionately, and the gathered crowd, now all stood up around them, clap again.
'Who are these people?' Maddy says.
'Friends', River says. 'Real friends.'
'You made friends without taking them hostage?' Maddy quips.
'You know I knew you always had a good sense of humour Princess.'
River interlocks his hand with hers and squeezes. 'You want to see your new home?' River says, excitedly. 'It aint much, but it's a start.'
'If it's got a bed, I'm sure it's perfect', Maddy says as River leads her inside.
That evening they drink and dance and make love in a makeshift bed in a room just big enough for it to fit inside, and they watch the stars overhead that create a blanket of white so bright it looks like the universe itself is changing colour, just for them. This is the start of a brand new life and neither one of them could be happier. One journey may be over, but for River and Maddy, another one has only just begun.
Anne-Marie Hart lives in Bristol with her partner, their beautiful baby boy, Jack, and their two naughty cats, Scratch and Tickle. This is her first book.