try begging
It worked.
Grace looked down at her passport with the departure permit stamp and date stamped on it, folded it up, and stuffed it into her handbag.
I went straight through the departure hall and followed the passage to the dock. I felt sorry for making the child cry on purpose, so I held him in my arms even though my arms were about to fall off. As I turned the corner, I could already smell the faint scent of the sea on my nose.
"Ellie, now you can see the ocean to your heart's content."
Grace wiped away the tears still welling up in the child's long eyelashes and eyes with her hand.
"good?"
"Woah-."
Not only was that not the answer, but even if it was, it certainly wouldn't mean that she liked the sea. Ellie had stopped crying and was now focused on the piece of scone she had been given. She didn't even notice the bonnet she was still wearing.
As she continued to walk, the dark passage gradually became brighter. As soon as she stepped out the door into which sunlight poured in, Grace was speechless at the sight that unfolded before her eyes.
"and...."
Standing in front of the magnificent passenger ship, all I could say was exclamations of admiration.
The passenger ship anchored at the dock was as long as a whole skyscraper. It was so tall. You had to tilt your head back like you were looking up at a 20-story building to see the tip of the red-painted chimney. It was overwhelming to see its overwhelming size.
"Ellie, look at that."
The child raised his head to where his mother's finger was pointing.
Black smoke rose from the top of the huge chimney, rising high into the sky, dispersing into the clear late autumn sky. Seagulls circled leisurely around the chimney, and passengers leaning on the railings of the deck below waved to the farewell guests gathered in the fenced area at the end of the pier.
As she stopped at the exit, families of passengers pushed carts loaded with heavy luggage and passed her by. Their faces, obviously filled with excitement, were like Grace's. The joy and excitement of those looking forward to a new future was clearly conveyed to Grace.
"Isn't it cool?"
It was a pity that the child was too young to remember this magnificent sight.
She turned her head toward the noise. At the other end of the dock stood a huge warehouse. It was a cargo warehouse, and porters were busily pushing carts back and forth.
In the empty space between the departure hall and the warehouse, luxury sedans were parked in a row. It seemed that wealthy first-class passengers could simply drive to the pier and complete the entire process from departure to boarding without having to wait in long lines.
As she happened to see a certain man getting off the sedan and heading to the ship under the guidance of a sailor, she naturally thought of that man. At that moment, Grace gave a slogan to the man who was not there.
Leon Winston, this is all you can do.
If you really wanted to catch me, why don't you have private soldiers stationed at the departure lounge who know my face?
Pick, not long after the laughter leaked out, the arsenic slowly disappeared.
Are you sure you really want to catch me?
For the past half year, the man has been very quiet.
"Uh, where should I go?"
Grace muttered to herself, scanning the long passenger ship from stern to stern. There were six entrances in total. At each ramp from the pier to the entrance, sailors stood holding up large signs with the names of the classes written on them and shouting at the top of their voices.
"Second class passengers, this way!"
Grace whispered in Ellie's ear as she pushed the stroller in the direction of the screams.
"We're getting on that boat now."
And we leave this hellish land. Forever. We will live a new life.
Grace walked out with a cool step, leaving all her foolishness to the refreshing sea breeze.
Grace handed her her boarding pass as a sailor holding a sign extended his hand in front of the ramp leading to the second-class cabin.
While the sailor checked the boarding pass, she sat the child in the stroller. Then she covered the child with what appeared to be a blanket and moved her small lips ceaselessly as if she were talking to the child.
What are you talking about?
It seemed as if the voice I had last heard was lingering in my ears, as if it had been a long time since I heard it.
Grace, who had her boarding pass returned, started moving again. I was mistaken in thinking that she would not be suitable for pushing a stroller. Of course, my prediction that she would be cute was correct.
Grace pushed the stroller up the ramp with the help of the sailor who was ahead. The baby was always facing away from him, so he couldn't see her face. As if to comfort him, Grace's face, smiling brightly, was clearly visible even under her hat.
You're laughing. You must think that boat is an escape route. You don't realize it's a giant trap.
As Grace disappeared into the trap without hesitation, Leon finally handed the binoculars over to Campbell and smiled.
"You look completely clueless."
Leon stood leaning against the empty sedan that had been parked so as to block Grace's view, searching through the inside pocket of his suit jacket. A cigar case soon appeared in his hand, and he leisurely took out one, cut the end with a cutter, and handed it to Campbell.
Campbell waited for his partner to cut a different cigar and put it in his mouth, lighting the end with his lighter before lighting his own.
"In my ten years of experience in counterinsurgency, I have never arrested a big shot so meticulously."
The supervisor laughed and joked. It had been about a year.
The major, who had been smoking a cigar lately and whose cheeks had become even thinner and sunken, exhaled as if he were exhaling. The white smoke was carried away by the sea breeze and dispersed in an instant.
This was not a celebratory firework. It was just a ceremony to relax and wait for the right moment. Campbell knew that the Major's appearance of relaxation was only superficial.
It was only when I received a call yesterday morning, telling me to go to Newport, where the last ship to Columbia was leaving, that I learned that the woman had appeared in the capital. And yesterday afternoon, the major canceled all his plans in the capital and came down to Newport.
The woman who was supposed to board the ship was the last to show up here. Where on earth did she get on the train? As if by magic, the woman whose whereabouts had not been confirmed at any station in the capital got off an overnight train early in the morning.
After a long chase, she finally appeared before my eyes. But I could only watch. She was a woman who had a history of easily escaping from the train station despite her heavy body.
"Don't touch the trap door until it closes."
He meant that he would approach only after the woman had boarded and the passenger ship had departed. There was no way to escape from a ship isolated in the middle of the vast ocean.
The immigration office was instructed to allow the woman to leave the country. In case the woman was discovered midway and ran away, personnel were also stationed tightly from the immigration office to the second-class cabin area where the woman had been booked.
The reason the major didn't board the ship in advance was because he had to prepare for an emergency. Once on board, it was difficult to quickly escape or receive reports in case of an emergency.
She had already missed several times, so she had thoroughly calculated and prepared for all the unexpected events. However, the woman boarded the ship without any doubts, making her numerous concerns seem meaningless.
The second and first class compartments are strictly separated, but the other person is that woman. I smoked a cigar to make up for the time difference so that I wouldn't meet her while moving, and it was finally coming to an end like a year-long chase.
Beep. Beep.
On one deck a whistle blew once, briefly, then once longer. This meant that a woman had entered the cabin.
Leon immediately threw the cigar he was holding onto the floor and took out his sunglasses from the front pocket of his suit jacket and put them on. He even tilted his fedora forward to cover his face before he walked towards the anchored ship.
The hem of his trench coat fluttered in the sea breeze, and his hands, shoved deep into his pockets, fiddled with his rings repeatedly. Leon held out the boarding pass, which had already become damp in his hand, to the sailor, and reflected on his decision.
Trapped together in this trap, Grace will go to the land of freedom that she so desperately wants.
What a trap.
Leon chuckled lightly. As he climbed up the first-class passenger door, this ship began to look like an escape hatch to him.
A smile appeared on Grace's lips as she opened the guest room door.
"It's better than I thought."
It was a much more comfortable and luxurious room than I had expected. I thought the corridors were the only nice things about the ship, but the cabin was also well-decorated. A dark brown bed with a reddish hue and a dark green sofa with silver embroidery sat opposite each other, with a washbasin placed in front.
Grace flipped on the switch next to the door to turn on the light and pushed the stroller inside. It was a small single room, but it would be fine for a couple of days with the baby.
"Should I ask if there is a baby crib?"
Grace muttered as she sat down on the single bed that was too big for her. The bed was quite soft. She lifted Ellie, who was sucking her fist and whining, out of the stroller and onto the bed.
"Isn't it fluffy?"
But the baby crawled up to Grace and clung to her, seemingly uninterested in the new bed.
"Aww, wow, wow-."
Then, with his eyebrows furrowed, he babbled as if he was complaining to himself.
'How could Mom do that to me!'
It was obvious what it meant.