Codebreakers

She could see that Martha was waiting for something. For some reason, she felt the urge to tell this girl about what she’d done, what she’d experienced. For some reason, she thought Martha would understand. But she couldn’t – that’s all there was to it.

Martha’s face changed. She’d gone from laughing to smiling and now she was frowning. She turned her back on Jo and walked to the door. She looked over her shoulder at Jo.

“Okay Jo. I give up. I get it – you don’t want to let anyone into your world. You don’t want anyone to get to know who you are or who you were, so fine. I won’t ask you anything ever again. I’ll just do my job the best that I can, okay?”

Jo didn’t know why but she thought she might cry. Ridiculous. She never cried. She watched as Martha walked down the hall.

After Martha left for the day, Jo laid down. Martha made her something tasty for lunch but unlike other days, she said little and asked nothing as they ate at the kitchen table together. This was her fault. She managed to turn this spirited girl into a silent yet efficient caregiver because of an oath she’d sworn so long ago. She looked up at the ceiling and realized how much she’d enjoyed Martha’s stories; how much she’d enjoyed how they laughed together. And she thought about Fred.

After she left the Farm, she tried to find Fred by writing to the address he left. She never heard anything so she wasn’t sure if he received the letter and didn’t want to reply or he moved or any number of reasons ran through her head. The Farm was of no help – as soon as her services were no longer required, it all but disappeared and no one would talk about it.

She thought back to the night before he left. He’d taken her hands in his and asked her to wait for him.

“I don’t know where I’m going – could be France or Germany – but I will be back. And once all this is over, and of course if you like, maybe…”

Jo laughed and looked into his green eyes.

“You are the shyest man I’ve ever met. Yes Fred, I would be very happy to be your girl. Can I write to you?”

“No. They won’t tell us where we’re going and anyway, they want no contact with anyone. You know how secretive this is.” He let go of her hands and waved his hands toward the buildings they spent so much of their time in.

He kissed her on her cheek and walked back towards his quarters. He was whistling and Jo realized what the tune was: “I’ll be Seeing You”.

Martha was standing over her. Jo opened her eyes and was met with Martha’s smile.

“Jo, it’s time for dinner – I’m making your favourite: pepperoni pizza!”

Jo looked at her quizzically.