Chapter 26

Arun returned just as I was checking out the cupboards next to the fridge, looking for some dishes if he was bringing back food. I stepped to the side as he placed a box on the counter and watched as he reached into the cupboard above my head, bringing down two bowls. He'd brought marinated beef and jasmine rice and it tasted amazing, a slight tartness that I was now recognizing as lime, that seemed to be included in a lot of the recipes I'd seen. As we finished and rinsed the plates Arun was keen to tell me again about what he'd done after I'd disappeared. The conversation led to where we would be going in the morning.

"Who exactly will I be meeting with?"

"My family to start with. There are a lot of us that live together as a unit. The women share responsibilities, so it makes it easier while the men work"

"So who are the people I need to talk to?"

"The men were the ones who went to Ronteah, but men from several villages had been involved in trying to find out what was going on"

"What time do you want me to be ready?"

"9am. I don't take the tuk-tuk to the village, are you okay on the back of the bike?"

"Yes"

There were questions that I wanted to ask Arun, questions from when we'd been found. I didn't think Arun had anything to do with it, but I knew I would regret not asking.

"Arun. Those men finding us that day. Do you know how they did that?"

I saw the look of horror he gave me, as though I thought it might have been him.

"Not me"

The way he looked down at his feet though told me he knew something else.

"Arun"

"I think it may have been Chea"

"The guy with the boat?"

It made sense, I mean he always seemed to be listening in even though Arun didn't think he spoke English.

"He called after I dropped you off at the hotel asking if I had another tourist for the next day. I told him I was taking you to the mountain"

I waited as Arun turned from me, obviously getting upset. In a low whisper his next sentence made my heart break for him.

"He's disappeared. His boat is still there, but no one's seen him"

I moved to Arun and wrapped my arms around him to try and allay what he must be thinking because if it had been Chea who had told someone from Ronteah then he could be dead.

"Maybe he's just visiting relatives"

I wasn't going to shatter the denial that Arun was using by telling him any different.

After Arun left, I made sure that the door was locked and placed a chair under the handle. As I undressed, I knew I didn't have any other clothes to change into and was wracking my brains with what to do. In the end I washed out my panties and bra and left them to dry then used a silk robe that was hung up on the back of the bathroom door. I suppose my T-shirt and trousers weren't overly dirty and I was sure that they wouldn't dry overnight. As I slipped into the bed, I felt comfortable and, in some ways, safe, which was weird considering I was on my own. I knew that I'd done the right thing by leaving Juan and Maia. I would have always regretted not continuing my search for Ranger. While the capital seemed to be where things had gone badly for him the fact that Ronteah was here near Siem Reap seemed a much better place to start and find any clues. Maybe my visit to the village tomorrow would uncover something useful, like where else the men from Ronteah might have gone.

I woke early the next morning, well I thought it was early, it felt early. I'd slept well for once, with no dreams so felt refreshed and alert, ready for the day ahead. I dressed quickly and had just removed the chair from the door when I heard a bike outside. Maybe it wasn't as early as I thought. I was still struggling to do something to tame my hair and realized that if I was on the back of a bike it would go crazy anyway. I had my rucksack on my back as I climbed behind Arun and we were soon motoring out of the complex and onto the road.

The road soon turned into a sandy track with lots of twists and turns as it wove through the trees. It felt cooler as we travelled, and I was enjoying the freedom that came from the air rushing through my hair without a helmet on. As we progressed along the road, I started to see the occasional house and children playing outside. Then there were women and older girls walking along the road carrying bags. I wasn't too sure what was in the bags because I was sure there weren't any shops close by.

At last Arun slowed down and it became obvious that we were now in the village. There were more houses around, more children playing, and older girls sat on the roadside. Arun slowed the bike down until we came to a stop outside a group of three houses close together. The houses were still built on stilts, though I wasn't sure how close to water we were. As we both got off the bike young children came running over to look at us, well me probably. As I bent down toward them their hands were constantly touching my hair, probably trying to work out why it was so curly.

"Lilian"

I stood up and followed Arun between the houses to where a group of women were sat under the shade of some trees. They were sat around a table and looked to be preparing vegetables or something similar. I heard Arun shout out as we approached and as the women stood up smiling. Their hugs weren't just for Arun, I was included as well, making me feel very welcome.

"Lilian, these are my aunt, my mother and my older cousins. The children by the bike, they were my sisters and cousins as well"

I smiled at the faces around me and was shown a seat by one of the women. As I sat down Arun disappeared and came back with a bottle of coke and a plate in his hands. The plate had all different types of fruit on it, some I recognized, like banana, mango, pineapple and melon with others that I wasn't too sure about. As I ate the fruit the women chatted with Arun, sometimes glancing at me so I assumed they were talking about me. The women were of all ages and their conversations were constant making me consider how closely knit a community like this was.

I'd never felt that closeness from my own family, no that wasn't true. It was mainly my mother and sister who always seemed at a distance from me. It made me think about the people back in Trenton, what they were doing or even if they thought about where I'd gone. I sighed wondering if I wanted to go home or not and decided that a few more days here wouldn't hurt. I could always rejoin the group with Daniel but realized I had no idea where they would be. I'd have to send my apologies to him for not contacting him.

Having finished the fruit, I placed my plate next to me observing the way Arun interacted with the women. I was beginning to feel that maybe I was a bit redundant being here when Arun stood up and went around each of the women giving them a hug. I hoped that meant that we were moving somewhere else and was relieved when Arun looked at me and then started to walk back the way we had come. I was quick to join him as we walked back between the houses toward where he had parked his bike.

"Sorry, but there's no way we can come here and not talk with the women first, they'd be annoyed with me"

"No problem. You have a large family"

"Well some are related but others are more people that have grown up together"

"I understand Arun"

And I did. I'd read how families had been separated and others killed. Children left without parents and homeless all because of a regime that tore the country apart.

Once we'd left the group of houses Arun led me across the road and up a narrow track. Here I could see a group of men of all ages sat on the ground under the shade of the trees. They weren't as open about seeing me, in fact I felt like an intruder as we approached, their talking coming to a halt. I felt very awkward as they watched me and then noticed when one of the men, who'd been sat talking with another man, stood up and came over to me. He smiled as he approached me allaying some of the worries that I'd had in coming here. He was an older man with darks long hair but with a face that looked as though he'd had a hard life. The clothes he was wearing were what as I saw as typical attire, old worn jeans a pattered shirt and trainers that were probably white once upon a time. The rest of the men carried on talking amongst themselves as though this man in front of me would be the one who would be dealing with me.

"Lilian. I'm glad to see that you're alright. We were there that night, but we couldn't find you. Please come and sit"

He gestured to a grassy area in the shade where the three of us sat down.

"My name is Narith and I was here when Arun told us what had happened to you. A lot of us already had concerns about what was happening at that place. Young men had disappeared from the area and we never heard from them. Several men had gravitated here, looking for lost sons and grandsons so we were looking for ways of breaking into that place. So many rumors were around about the horrendous conditions that captives were being kept in. Arun was so insistent that we tried to find you. He was so shocked at the way you were taken that we pulled forward our plans to visit. How did you get away?"

"I, err, messed with their computer system and as they panicked to put it right, I ran"

I wasn't too sure if Narith was amused or not at what I'd said but when he placed his hand on my arm it felt that he couldn't quite believe me.

"Messed with their computer system. You did a damn good job because it took down all of their security. That enabled us to get inside and subdue the guards"

"Did you find your young men?"

"Yes we did and others that were being held there. Though they were in a bad way, malnourished and exhausted. Some are still recovering. Batair in the next village is making sure they get well before they leave to go back home. There are a lot of people who will be indebted to you for what you did"

As Narith said that he waved over to the man who he'd been sat with and said something to him. The man looked older to me with grey hair hanging down to his shoulders. He had glasses on the end of his nose and as he looked toward me, he rested a book onto the ground. In response the man placed his palms together and with the tips of his fingers at the bridge of his nose bowed his head down to me. I presumed that the man had found a family member so nodded my head back in response.

"I'm glad you found them. Do you know what Ronteah were up to?"

"They were using the men as slave labor for construction. There were some deep levels, subterranean, and talk of electronics and computers. Where have you been?"

The change in conversation threw me slightly but I knew that Narith would be curious as to where I had been, especially as I couldn't be found when they stormed the place.

"A man helped me to get out, I got hurt so needed time for my injuries to heal"

"Hurt, how?"

"I got shot"

I slowly pulled down the collar of my shirt to reveal the scar that was now nearly healed and watched as Narith ran his fingers gently over it.

"I'm sorry you were hurt but glad that you are better now"

"Is anything happening there now?"

"No, it is deserted. We destroyed what we could"

"Do you know where they are now?"

"No, but I can ask around. Maybe one of the men we rescued might know"

"Thank you for that"

"Why did they want you?"

Okay so now I needed this to be the truth but without giving anything away.

"They thought I had information or knew where it was"

He just nodded his head as I said that, but I was sure he didn't really believe me in fact I was a little worried as to what he thought my involvement was. It was time to leave though so standing up I thanked the man again and looked over to Arun.

"I think maybe it's time to go back Arun"

Once back at the cabin I sank down onto the bed in my thinking position. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. Who did I think I was, trying to get information from Narith today? I was an amateur and was only going to get myself into serious trouble, again. I mean what if I did find out who that man at Ronteah was, what could I do?

The problem was what the hell was I going to do and who was it that I was up against? There were so many possibilities. The FBI? The man from Ronteah? Juân? Maybe. I knew he'd said that he'd known Ranger for a long time and that Ranger had asked him to help him in Phnom Penh. Maybe one of the men who'd been with Ranger? Hell, I couldn't remember their names, but I remember that Juan had said that he hadn't seen them since. Then there was that man Seang, what was his involvement in all of this?

There were no other ideas coming to me but that didn't mean there weren't other groups interested in the information that Ranger had taken. The problem was what to do about it. In some ways I felt at a loss. I'd done what I'd wanted to do, hit Ronteah where it hurt, but that didn't give me any feeling of satisfaction. Was I stupid enough to think that Ranger might still be alive and if he was that I could find him? I didn't think I could do that but what I'd managed to do was to land myself into the middle of something I knew nothing about. I knew I was feeling down, maybe sad and probably lonely. I didn't want to indulge my thoughts anymore, tomorrow I would decide what to do next. Maybe it was time to go home.

The clothes came off as I walked into the bathroom knowing that I needed a shower after the bike ride. I shook them out to get rid of most of the dust from them and washed through my underwear. I would definitely need some new clothes tomorrow so maybe Arun would take me into town. Wrapped in a towel I decided that was all I needed as I fell onto the bed, pulling a cotton sheet up to cover me. I didn't think that I would fall asleep easily, the fan on the ceiling was noisy but it's rhythmic drumming must have lulled me to sleep.