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Salinski handed Miss Annabelle the sealed affidavit, two weeks later. It had been sealed by the federal government for ten working days. As suspected, the affidavit was written by Ms. Minner warning the INS that Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne would get married soon after their release.
"If you want to remove a violent threat to society -- the work of the devil himself -- before his marriage to a U. S. citizen, you'd better move fast," she wrote.
*
Miss Annabelle had been weighing her options over and over those past two weeks. There was no good answer. But tonight, after seeing Minner's affidavit, Miss Annabelle began reviewing her options again. She was searching for a clear choice, but there was none.
She had, with her lawyer, discussed three options. The first two options were illegal and carried great risks and grave consequences. The third option was the safe choice, but it was an unbearable thought: to not be with John for two more years, not until probation concluded and she would be free to leave the country.
The first option was high risk. The day John got to Australia and called Miss Annabelle, they talked for hours and figured out what their three options were. Like her, he did not want to wait two more years for the third option, although he knew the third option was safe and would mean that he might return to the United States in ten years or perhaps less -- as a U. S. citizen.
He started researching their first option: sneaking back into the country either through Mexico or Canada. A Caucasian with blond hair and blue eyes, his odds would be quite good, especially coming through a high-traffic, tourist point like Niagara Falls from the North or San Ysidro from the South.
If he were caught by the U. S. Border Police, then he would be permanently blocked for life from ever returning to the United States.
But the odds were good, maybe a 90% chance of getting through. Once here, he could live a low-profile life indefinitely. When Miss Annabelle's probation was over in two years, he could quietly slip back to Australia where she could come to get him. They could marry, and start working on getting him back to this country legally.
If, however, he was caught with Miss Annabelle, disaster would strike. They could both go back to prison for their full original sentences of five years each, plus added time -- perhaps substantial added time for a second felony offense -- for criminal acts of illegally entering the country and Miss Annabelle illegally harboring him.
The second option would be for Miss Annabelle to go to Australia and not come back. That would be relatively easy to do, but the consequences would be immediate. Upon missing her weekly probation meeting, she would be in violation. Upon coming back to the U.S., she would have to go back to prison for her full five-year term. Time done already would not count against those five years. Plus, she would get more time for fleeing the country. In short, if she left to be with her lover, she could never come back.
Salinski helped the two soul mates reach a decision. After considerable talking to different immigration experts, he felt confident Miss Annabelle would be permitted three one-week trips to Australia per year for the remainder of her probation. Miss Annabelle and Mr. Melbourne loved the idea. Being together for a full week every four months would work wonderfully. Two years would zoom by, and they would marry.
So, Salinski prepared a reasonable proposal to present to the companyities.
*
A sense of control was jelling around Miss Annabelle. The proposal for travel permission was presented two days ago. She had moved into her little home, and though she could not contact her students in any way, she started working on the next weekly lecture, just as if she would send it to them on audio tape like she did in prison. She did not know if her students would ever hear it, but she knew she needed to continue developing her program. Someday, she knew, it would be an immense value to many children.
One afternoon while working on an invaluable lecture about developing the power of a curious mind, six days after the proposal for travel permission was presented, Salinski called Miss Annabelle.
"I'm coming over, Jenny. We've got an answer. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." Salinski sounded rushed, so Miss Annabelle did not probe for the answer.
Ten minutes later the doorbell rang. Miss Annabelle was pleasantly surprised to see Angie.
"Hi Angie! Bruce is on his way over. They gave him our answer. ...Oh, I can't wait!"
"I know, he called me and told me, too. He asked me to come over."
While they were still standing in the doorway, Salinski pulled up to the curb and seemed to hurry out of his car toward the house.
"Let's go inside, and I'll read their response," he said.
Inside, he pulled a piece of paper from an envelope and read:
"Based on additional information learned about Jennifer Annabelle, permission to travel to Australia is rejected. Furthermore, Miss Annabelle's passport must be turned in to her probation officer within 24 hours of this dated letter."
Miss Annabelle gasped twice as he read the response.
"What additional information?" Angie asked, in shock herself.
"I don't know, but I'll find out," Salinski said. "But right now, you can't concern yourself with why they rejected you, Jenny. You need to make a decision. You're supposed to turn your passport in this afternoon. I'm your lawyer and cannot be telling you otherwise. But if you ever considered any other option, you'd have to move on it now. Tomorrow morning, your probation officer will be at your door looking for you."
Miss Annabelle sat down. "Will I be able to get permission to travel to him at all over the next two years?"
"I don't know. I don't know the nature of the additional information they've found about you. My suspicion is that someone who doesn't like you -- Ms. Minner -- is providing the authorities with something damaging to your credibility."
"That bitch!" Angie cursed.
"Right now, I can't say, but if I had to lay odds, I doubt if you'll get to see John before your probation is up."
In a strong voice backed by hours of consideration, Miss Annabelle asked, "What would it mean if I left the country?"
Angie gasped.
"You would never come back. The odds are against Australia extraditing you. You'd live the rest of your life with John in Australia; you'd never be here again.
"If you go within the hour, you can drive through Niagara during the busy dinner hour and be in Toronto with your passport by early evening. You can be in Australia by the time your probation officer notifies his superiors that you're missing. But remember, when you say good-bye to Angie, you'll never be back here again. You'll never see your students again."
Miss Annabelle's head dropped. She stared at the floor for what seemed like a long time in the hurried atmosphere, then slowly said, "If I stay?"
"If you stay, you must turn in your passport this afternoon. I find out what negative information Ms. Minner has given them and work to reverse the damage. There is a chance you'll get travel permission, but these decisions are hard to reverse. ...You certainly would not get to go three times a year and maybe, most likely, not at all. ...In short, plan on not seeing John for two years. If you and John can live with that, it's your safest choice."
"I should stay," she said. An immediate wave of relief went through Angie and a lot of tension left Salinski. "But I don't know if I can stay," Miss Annabelle said after a pause. The anxiety returned. "Oh God, I need to really think hard about this. I need an hour," she said, looking at her best friend and then at Salinski. "Angie, could you come back in an hour? I'll know my decision then."
Angie nodded, too emotional to talk. She walked over and hugged her best friend. She and Salinski turned to leave. At the door, Salinski turned around and said, "If you don't know in one hour, then you'll have no choice but to stay. You need to be out of the Sydney Airport before the authorities here figure out what's going on."
Miss Annabelle nodded.
"If you go, I'll drive you to Toronto. You'll pose as my wife. One lightly packed suitcase is all you can take in case they check. It must look like we're going up for the weekend."
"Thank you," Miss Annabelle said, realizing Salinski was risking his livelihood and even criminal exposure.
When the front door closed behind her friends, Miss Annabelle closed off her emotions. She knew she did not have the luxury of time to feel the pain. She had to think and think hard to make the decision that would result in entirely different futures.
How could I ever leave my students? she asked herself. If I stay, I'll see them in two years. If I go, I'll never see them again. I couldn't bear that.
But she realized that if she stayed, in reality she would just see her students briefly again, perhaps once or twice. For, she would soon thereafter be off to Australia to be with John, and it would be quite some time before John and she could return to the States, even after they got married. By then, her students would be young adults and, with their superior Neothink minds, they would be leaving little Cheektowaga to live all over the grand globe.
I was 36 years old, she reflected, when I left my students and kissed John good-bye. If I stay, I'll be almost 42 years old when I see him again. That's too long...that's a whole phase of life we'll never share.
She remembered Megan in prison telling her how life goes by in a blink...then is gone. "Go after what makes you happy," Megan said from a life of experience. If she were here now, Miss Annabelle thought, Megan would say, "When something is good for you, don't hesitate. Go for it, or you might miss everything. Your journey could end before it begins."
Miss Annabelle knew what to do. She had known all along. She knew before Angie and Salinski had left.
*
The knock on the door was tentative.
"Come in!" Miss Annabelle called out.
Angie and Jessie walked in. They both dropped their heads as they saw their best friend standing with a small suitcase. Angie cried.
"Oh, Jenny," Jessie said in a sad, deep voice. "You're going."
The depth of feeling in Jessie's voice broke open the dam Miss Annabelle had placed before her emotions. She dropped her suitcase and cried. In a high voice, she said, "I've been such a pain to both of you for four years. I don't want to leave you. You're the most wonderful friends I've ever had. I have to go, but I don't know how I can possibly leave you. ...This is so hard!"
Miss Annabelle was trembling like that first school-board meeting when she entered the lunch room. Angie gathered herself and walked over and hugged her.
"Listen to me, Jenny," Angie said. "You never, not ever were a pain to Jessie and me. You're the only person we met since moving out of our nightmare in Philly who was like us at heart. We love you and always will."
Jessie bit his bottom lip and added, "We fought for what was right down in Philly, and now we're living our dream together. You fought for what was right in Cheektowaga, and now you must go, Jenny. You'll live your dream, a new dream in a new life, with John. You gave all that you could to your students -- and it was enough. It was enough."
"You must go," Angie repeated, putting her hands on Miss Annabelle's shoulders and looking into her eyes.
Here Angie and Jessie were, right to the end, giving her that priceless value they gave her from the beginning: strength. Like that first school board meeting, Miss Annabelle could feel strength coming from Angie and Jessie, calming her nerves. The trembling left.
"Good-bye," she said, hugging Angie and then Jessie. They knew it was their last embrace, their last look. She whispered, "I'll always treasure our friendship...it's so rare...so special." Then she slipped a small booklet into Jessie's hand, turned around and walked away.
Jessie and Angie watched their friend walk to Salinski's car, out of their lives forever.
*
Salinski did not speak for twenty minutes, giving his client time to feel the impact of what she was forever leaving behind...and to give her the freedom to change her mind. Once she passed the border, there would be no turning back. Her life would be forever dramatically different.
Miss Annabelle welcomed the silence. Her mind went back to her students. She knew Jessie was right: it was enough. She had planted the seed of Neothink -- and that's all she needed to do. She felt grateful she had the full year to plant the seed in her twelve students and grateful that their seeds were growing.
A sad, sad thought tormented her though -- that she would not be there for Sally when her mom died.
"When we get to the border," Salinski said, breaking the long silence, "they'll just wave us through. If they stop us, it won't be the U. S. Border Patrol; it'll be the Canadian Border Patrol. In thinking it through further, we should not pose as spouses on a holiday. It'll be easiest, especially on you, if we tell them true facts and still accomplish our goal, instead of telling lies. They're professionals at catching lies. So, if they ask, we'll tell them our real names. If they ask the nature of our stay, we'll say we're going to Toronto on business. If they ask for more details, I'm your lawyer, and we have a meeting with William Davenport, a retired appeal-lawyer specialist who practiced in New York before retiring to Mississauga, a suburb about 25 kilometers south of Toronto. I actually set up an appointment with him tomorrow at eleven o'clock. Everything will check out, and we'll be confident telling true facts. Your passport records will not yet have a flag on it...it's too soon."
His plan relieved the growing anxieties in Miss Annabelle. Now, she felt completely relaxed. When they got to the border, the border patrol waved them through without asking any questions.
Past that point, Salinski tried his car cell phone, which worked fine. So he called Canadian information and got the number to several Canadian international airlines. He told Miss Annabelle to start calling those numbers to find out about flights to Australia.
"Get the fastest one, even if it's double the cost," he said, wanting her cleared at the Sydney Airport before the authorities here sounded the alarm.
At the airport, Miss Annabelle managed to get a quick call to John to tell him she would be there tomorrow. He was shocked and elated. She had no time to explain what was happening to her. That would have to wait.
At 8:50 p.m., Miss Annabelle thanked Salinski and shook his hand. "I wish we had some time to talk about you," she said. "I'll never forget your honesty three years ago when you stood up to ego justice in our trial."
"I'll talk to you on the phone and will let you know what I've gone through," he answered. "Until then, let me just say, it's been a hard path, but it's the honest path, and I would never change that."
They were both living in a different world than most everyone else -- the fully honest world. They were both enduring the attacks from those who built their lives on dishonest illusions.
"By the way," Salinski added, "don't call anyone in the States, no one but me. The authorities can trace any other phone line but mine since I'm your lawyer. And don't write to anyone...not even Angie, not even your students -- no one. The authorities can and will track you down. Call only me."
Those last comments by Salinski made the reality of what she was permanently leaving behind sink in for the first time. This was it; she was going for good. The reality of leaving her loved ones made her go numb. She nodded to Salinski, turned and boarded the plane. She would be in Australia, in John's arms, sometime tomorrow.
*
She saw him before he saw her. She stopped to admire him. She always knew he was a good-looking man, but she never realized how he stood out as so much better looking than the people around him. In short, she never really realized that he was such a hunk!
He looked bigger and stronger, yet slim. He filled out his camel colored short-sleeved, pullover wool shirt. His chest, shoulders, and arms looked so broad, big, and well defined. His waist looked small. His legs looked long in his white slacks, and the profile of his butt looked really nice and tight. Most of all, his handsome face, with those piercing blue eyes, radiated a sexy strength that came from years of constant hard thinking and penetrating breakthroughs. This man, she thought, fully injects himself into life, and I love that. As she studied him, she felt herself overflowing with a cornucopia of beautiful emotions. She stood there, tingling and warm inside; thanking her decision to come, which was...oh, so right...so very right.
He spotted her and ran toward her. This amazing man is running to me, she thought, which tickled her inside and made her laugh out loud. He scooped her up like a little girl. "God, I've missed that laugh, my darling," he said, his voice coming from somewhere deep within. "Jenny, I forgot how beautiful you are! Oh...you feel so good!"
He was saying everything she was feeling.
"My John," she said looking into his sweet blue eyes. "My John...I've missed you more than I could bear."
"Everything is OK now," he whispered into her ear, hugging her tightly, "everything is OK now."
"Everything is beautiful," she said, hugging him as tight as she could, like a little girl afraid to let go. "Everything is beautiful. I could never be away from you again."
They hugged, and somewhere in the back of their minds, they knew option three would have never worked, for they knew they could not ever be apart for any length of time, not ever again.
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