Joan has spent almost four years in prison now. It has been lonely years, she has had to work hard, but that was not the worst of the captivity. She was an outcast, a pariah. Everyone knew why she was in prison, because she had a German fiancé, because she had betrayed her country. At least, that was what her fellow inmates seemed to believe. And Joan could not explain that she was not a traitor. That she had only tried to meet and protect the man she loved.
But since nobody talks to her, only the jailors now and then, yelling commands or making degrading, humiliating comments, she has not been able to explain to someone what really was going on back then. At last, she she withdrew to her own cocoon, her own head and thoughts.
"Die Gedanken sind frei, wer kann sie erraten", a sentence that Anton her once had told, from an old German proscribed protest song, had become her guidance. "Thoughts are free, who can guess them?" And in her own, free thoughts, she drifted off to Anton, to the fact that he too had survived the war and that, somewhere in the future, there would be space for happiness for her and Anton. But it was still difficult to bear the present, jailed en humiliated.
She had not been visited often. Her mother is too old to, and her friends were too afraid, afraid to be regarded as traitors themselves.
Matron Carter did write her, though. And after the Armistice, she visited Joan several times. But Matron was now on her way to India, so Joan was surprised when one of the jailers had barked to her that she should come with him right away, because there were visitors for her.
She has no clue who might come to visit her. But it is a good break from the drudgery of the dull, grey days.
As she sits in the visiting room, she sees her visitors. It's Kitty and that captain, what's his name again? She remembers just in time, it's Gillan.
They're impressed by the big, sombre building. When they are entering through the gate, the gloom lies like a thick blanket over them. The sounds are loud and shrill, the light is dim and the whole ambience is really unfriendly.
They are both searched and Kitty's bag is searched by a prison guard. He finds a box of chocolates, which Kitty brought as a gift for Joan. He looks menacing at Kitty and asks: "Do you believe that she deserve these?"
Thomas answers calm: "That's not yours to judge." He looks in the man's eyes and after a moment the jailor turns his gaze away and Kitty gets the box of chocolates back.
They walk down the long hallway. When they're entering the visiting room, they see that Joan is already there. Lean, grey, with big eyes and a surprised smile on her face. She stands up and they shake hands.
"That's a wonderful surprise," says Joan. "I wasn't expecting any visitors. I mean, I'm happy to see you both."
She trails off and Kitty says: "You mean, you didn't expect the two of us together?"
"Yes, well, no, I think the two of you together is something that's beyond my imagination? I mean, I really didn't know this."
They're laughing and that takes some of the tension from all three of them, it's really strange to see each other again after all these years especially in these circumstances.
Joan says: "The prison has really killed my good manners. I'm sorry. I'm glad for you."
"Thank you, but how are you?" asks Kitty.
"Well, given the circumstances, I'm fine,"Joan says. She tells about the life in prison. "It's hard labour and dull. Really boring, in fact. But well, I'm in here for a reason. And that's what matters."
She tells about Anton. She writes him and she gets letters from him, but she hasn't seen him for four years now. "That's the hard part. But we survived, the war is over, it can't be long now before we will be together."
"And then? What are your plans?" Thomas asks.
Joan says that most likely, they're moving to Germany or France. "I can't work in England anymore, not after my time in jail. And I guess that's the same for Anton. So we have to build a life elsewhere."
They'll speak about their mutual friends, Flora, Rosalie, Miles. As Thomas conveys Miles's greetings, Joan smiles: "He's such a funny, sweet man," she says.
When the hour is – way too soon- passed by, they are summoned by the jailor to leave. They say goodbye to Joan and Kitty finds it heartbreaking to leave her here. But Joan reassures her and says: "It won't be long now, you know. The war is over and soon I will be free".
They promise to stay in touch. And then, Tomas and Kitty are outside the prison, on their way home. Along the street outside the prison, they found it strange to discover that the world just continues, colourful and full of life, after the grey and chilly atmosphere inside. They feel relieved and excited, like children, coming home after school.
Kitty turns towards Thomas and says: "Thank you, thank you for coming with me".
"No, I think it was very selfish of me to argue this" points Thomas out. "You were right. It was a good idea to visit Joan. Though I'm glad you were not alone here."
"But actually, you should really thank Miles. It was his idea after all".
"Well, we should ask him for dinner, then, " replies Kitty with a big smile on her face.
He can't help it, it isn't a proper thing to do in the middle of a street in the clear daylight, but he gives her a long and passionate kiss.
"Let's do that, let's ask Miles for dinner," he grins. "I'll peel your potatoes."
Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading this. If so, please tell me. Also any other feed-back and/or suggestions are very welcome.