Throwing my stuff into the backseat, I closed the door and turned to do up my seat belt. A hand gripped my shoulder and jumping I spun round to see Janine standing outside, her hand curled in a fist.
"Good luck dear" she said, I smiled softly, "Don't worry bout me" I reassured her, "I'm a survivor"
She nodded before taking my hand and placing something in the palm and closing it over, "Take these, they'll protect you"
Stretching over I hugged her one last time before Emma started the engine and drove us away.
I never saw her again; years later when I tried to track her down nobody had ever heard of her, I could not even find her house though I searched for months, as if she had never existed. Her parting gift to me had been a long strand of coral rosary beads engraved with the words,
May you see God's light…
I realised that she must have been a Catholic, Catholic myself I ran the prayer over in my mind.
May you see God's light on the path ahead
When the road you walk is dark
May you always hear,
Even in your hour of sorrow
The gentle singing of the lark
When times are hard may hardness
Never turn your heart to stone
May you always remember/ when the shadows fall-
You do not walk alone
Janine had been my captor, but when I had needed-she had been my friend and a partner in suffering of Emma's tyranny. I would always be grateful to her for that.