CHAPTER ONE
Going Nowhere
Harminda looked at her watch and then at the traffic outside. The airport was 10 kilometres away and it was already 5.15 p.m.
'Isn't there a quicker way to get to the airport? My plane leaves in less than two hours,' she asked the taxi driver.
'Are you going home for Christmas?' he smiled. The taxi was full of decorations; there was green tinsel on the steering wheel and mistletoe under the mirror.
'Yes...' said Harminda. But there was no Christmas spirit in her voice.
Harminda looked out of the window, trying not to cry. She remembered the phone call from her Mum earlier that day. She missed her parents so much.
Their argument, four years ago, seemed stupid now. Thirty minutes later, they arrived at Galway airport.
'How much is it?' she asked.
'Fifteen euros for you, sweetheart,' said the taxi driver with a smile.
Harminda gave him a twenty-euro note and got quickly out of the taxi.
'Don't forget your change...' shouted the taxi driver, with a five-euro note in his hand, but Harminda was already inside the airport terminal.
There were a lot of people, and Harminda pushed through the crowd to look at the screens for her flight...
'Cancelled? Stay calm and read it again, slowly. You've read it wrong, that's all,' she thought.
'Flight ZXY 247... destination, London Stansted... cancelled!'
All flights from Galway were cancelled because of bad weather.
'I'm sorry, but tomorrow's flight to London is fully booked. Christmas is a busy time of year,' said the man at the ticket office when Harminda tried to find another flight.
'What about another airport? Dublin perhaps?'
'Sorry...'
'You don't understand,' said Harminda, 'I have to get to London as soon as possible. My Dad's ill.'
'I really am very sorry...' the man said sympathetically. 'You could hire a car. It's a long journey, but if you need to get there quickly...'
As Harminda ran towards car hire, she saw that there were only two women waiting and she started to feel hopeful.
'I'm sorry, but this is the last car,' she heard the assistant say.
'But I was here first!' shouted a tall, blonde woman.
'Only because you pushed in front of me! I'm getting married in three days. I have to get to London,' shouted an Irish girl in her late twenties.
'And I've got a very important audition!' said the blonde woman.
'Excuse me,' interrupted Harminda. 'Did you say that there's only one car?'
'Yes, and it's mine!' said the blonde arrogantly.
'No it's not!' The argument continued.
Harminda wanted to cry. But then she had an idea.
'If you two are going to London, we can share the car! What do you think? We can share the driving and the cost.'
The two women looked at her in silence.
'They probably think I'm mad,' thought Harminda. But that didn't worry her. The only thing that worried her was getting to London to see her family.
'Well, if you want to get to your audition,' Harminda said to the blonde, 'and if you want to get married,' she said to the other woman, 'well... you've got no choice!'
Harminda was speaking angrily, and after a moment, the two women reluctantly agreed.
'Mr O'Flaherty will be pleased,' thought Chrissie, the car hire assistant, as she showed the women their car.
'Chrissie! Chrissie!' a man shouted, running towards them. It was very cold, but he was sweating, and his face was red and angry.
'Oh, that's my boss. Merry Christmas!' she smiled, and closed the door.
'Stop them, Chrissie!'
'What...? It's OK, Mr O'Flaherty. They've paid,' she smiled, waving at the car as it left.
'That car was reserved, you stupid girl!' he shouted.
Chrissie's face turned red. She didn't see the three businessmen as she ran into the airport, crying.
'Where is my car, Mr O'Flaherty?' asked one. His voice was calm, but his grey eyes were dangerous.
Colin O'Flaherty turned around nervously to talk to the three men. And he knew that he was in trouble. Big trouble.
CHAPTER TWO
Galway to Dublin
'Don't worry... I'll be there... I love you, too,' said Shauna, the Irish girl. She was on the phone.
'Was that your fiance?' asked Harminda when Shauna finished speaking.
'Yes,' she replied with a smile.
'And you're getting married on Christmas Eve. That's so romantic!'
'I know. Graeme is romantic,' she said. She took a photo from her purse and gave it to Harminda. It was obvious that she loved him very much. 'He even proposed on Valentine's Day'.
'Original,' said Vanessa sarcastically.
'What is your problem?' replied Shauna, angry at the blonde woman's sarcastic reply.
'I'm not the one with the problem. I'm not the one getting married... thank God! We left Galway two hours ago and the only thing you've talked about is Gavin, and how wonderful he is.'
'His name's Graeme.'
'Graeme - Gavin - whatever. So he's romantic? After six months of marriage it won't be romantic, when you have to wash his dirty clothes every week!'
'Vanessa, that's a horrible thing to say!' said Harminda. 'Have you never been in love?'
For a moment, Vanessa's eyes went dark. 'Love is for idiots,' she said in a low voice.
Shauna touched the small diamond engagement ring on her left hand and looked out of the window; trying not to cry. She loved Graeme and he loved her, and on Christmas Eve she was going to marry him.
'Don't listen to her, Shauna!' said Harminda.
Shauna liked Harminda. She only looked about 22, but she seemed a lot older.
'At last!' thought Shauna when she saw a sign for Dublin Port.
But Harminda didn't slow down. She was arguing with Vanessa and she didn't see it.
'Harminda... the port... you've just-missed the exit!' said Shauna.
'What? Are you sure?'
'Brilliant! This is all your fault!' I shouted Vanessa at Shauna.
'My fault! Why is it my fault?'
'Oh don't start all that again! I'll turn off at the next exit and we'll come back,' said Harminda.
But then the cars in front began to slow down and stop.
'That's all we need... a traffic jam!' said Vanessa. 'We'll never get there in time now!'
When they eventually arrived at the ferry terminal, it was late. There were no cars or passengers waiting, only a security guard.
'Where do we go to get the ferry for Holyhead?' Shauna asked him.
The security guard pointed behind him at the ferry, which was already sailing away from the port.
'No...' they said at the same time.
'The next ferry is tomorrow morning, at ten to seven,' said the guard.
'This is all your fault!' shouted Vanessa.
'Oh, shut up!' Shauna and Harminda shouted back.
Luckily, they found a small hotel. They started to relax as they began to take their bags out of the car in the hotel garage.
'Don't forget your briefcase,' Harminda said to Vanessa. She was pointing at a dark brown, expensive leather briefcase.
'It's not mine,' Vanessa said, pulling it from the car. It was quite heavy. 'Shauna, is it yours?'
'No.'
'And it's not mine,' said Harminda. 'So, it was already in the car when we left the airport. Somebody has obviously forgotten it.'
'What do you think is inside?' said Vanessa, and for the first time that day she smiled.
CHAPTER THREE
A Sleepless Night
'I want to open it!' said Vanessa.
'But it's not ours,' said Harminda. It was one o'clock in the morning and she was in bed, trying to sleep. 'We've got to be up in less than four hours if we want to get the first ferry. So please... Go to sleep!' Vanessa turned away from the briefcase and pulled the blanket over her head.
'We couldn't open it anyway. It's locked,' said Shauna, getting into bed. But then she noticed Vanessa's smile. 'What? Why are you smiling?'
Vanessa took a clip from her hair and held it between her fingers.
'That'll never work,' laughed Shauna.
'It always works in films.'
'Go on then!' said Shauna, 'Do it!'
Harminda pulled the blankets over her head.
Vanessa worked on one of the locks, using her clip as a key.
'I knew it,' said Shauna after a few minutes, 'I didn't think it was going to work...' but before she could finish her sentence there was a click and the lock opened.
Harminda sat up in bed. This didn't seem the right thing to do. But now it was open, she wanted to know what was inside.
Vanessa soon opened the other lock... Slowly she opened the briefcase. Her eyes became big and round when she saw what was inside.
Harminda watched their shocked faces, 'What's in it? Show me!'
Vanessa turned the case towards her.
The briefcase was full of money.
After a few moments, Harminda said, 'There are hundreds of thousands of euros here!' She laughed nervously, 'I've never seen so much money! There's only one thing we can do now.'
'What are you doing?' Vanessa said when she saw Harminda with her mobile phone in her hand.
'I'm going to phone the police.'
'You can't do that! Do you realise what a difference this money could make to my... to our lives!'
'But it's not ours!'
'We don't know whose it is. There's no label, no name... Tell her, Shauna!'
'Shauna... you know we have to go to the police, don't you?' said Harminda.
'I don't know... my fiance and I really want a honeymoon. We could go anywhere in the world with this money: the Maldives, the Caribbean, New York, San Francisco... anywhere. At the moment we're going to stay in my parents' caravan.' Shauna looked into Harminda's eyes. 'We've never had a holiday together... I'm sorry, Harminda.'
Vanessa held Harminda's hands. Her voice was soft and kind and Harminda remembered that she was an actress. 'You said your Dad's ill. Think about it. With this money, you could pay for the best doctors...'
Harminda's phone started to ring. Slowly Harminda picked it up and answered. 'Hello... oh, hello Mum. How's Dad?'
When the phone call finished ten minutes later, her cheeks were wet with tears.
'What is it Harminda?' asked Shauna.
'My Dad... He's got worse. They're not sure if he will survive...'
Vanessa closed the briefcase. 'Well then, you need to get there quickly. If we go to the police now, they'll ask us questions for hours...'
'OK,' said Harminda quietly.
'Maybe not until tomorrow,' continued Vanessa.
'I said OK! We won't go to the police now, but when we get to London, after I've seen my Dad, then we'll go. Do you all agree?'
Shauna nodded reluctantly, but Vanessa only said, 'Let's get a few hours' sleep now. We don't want to miss the next ferry.'
This time they arrived early and waited in the car. It wasn't snowing, but it was cold and everything looked very dark.
When they started to drive onto the ferry, Harminda saw the face of the driver of the car behind her. 'That's strange,' she thought. 'It's still dark outside but he's wearing sunglasses.'
'Are you OK?' asked Shauna.
'I'm... cold... that's all.' Harminda answered. But she didn't seem sure of what she was saying.
CHAPTER FOUR
On the Ferry
It was dawn and Shauna and Harminda looked at the red and orange sky over Dublin as the ferry slowly left the port.
'When was the last time you saw your parents?' Shauna asked Harminda.
'Four years ago... At my eighteenth birthday party,' she answered sadly.
'Wow... That's a long time.'
'They wanted me to marry someone else... Somebody they chose.'
'An arranged marriage?'
'Yes,' said Harminda.
They stood in silence for a while.
'In Indian tradition, a marriage is more than just a woman and a man being together. It's a marriage of two families. I've always known that it was very important to my family. But then I met Declan. I was only 17, but I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. We saw each other in secret for months. I was too frightened to tell my family about it, because they believe in arranged marriages. But then my parents told me the big news: at my eighteenth birthday party they wanted to introduce me to my future husband, an Indian boy. I knew that I had to tell them the truth. I'm the only daughter - I've just got one brother - and my father was very angry. I had to choose, he told me... And I chose Declan.'
'Are you still together?'
'Yes,' said Harminda, and she touched her stomach.
'Are you pregnant?' Shauna asked with a smile.
'Yes, I only got the news last week.' She laughed, 'You're the only other person that knows. I haven't told Declan yet!'
'I'm sure that when your Dad knows he'll be happy too!'
'Maybe...'
Three hours later, they were in England.
Harminda drove fast; they had to drive for another six hours before they arrived in London.
After a few miles, Harminda noticed that Vanessa was looking over her shoulder.
...
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