Chapter 2: The Escape

David carried a suitcase in each hand, while Stacy hung on for dear life. He ran as quickly as he could even though he was very loaded down. He jumped over logs that were lying on the ground, but had to go around trees that had fallen over.




Breathlessly, he whispered up to her, "Your name, Kytriya. K-Y-T-R-I-Y-A. Kytriya. Say it in your mind. You must remember." He then told her all the important data that was on her passport, and on her citizenship papers. He longed to tell her the story of who she was supposed to be, but did not dare lest someone over heard.



In the far distance, sirens were going off as police cars drove towards David's house or towards the school. Kytriya buried her head in David's neck, as if hiding her eyes would prevent them from seeing her.


David continued carrying her through the woods, dodging branches and muddy pits as best he could. "My name is Jzhyvyen but my nickname is Jez. J-Z-H-Y-V-Y-E-N is how you spell my name. I spell Jez j-e-z. You might be asked to spell it," he said while dogs barked in the far distance. He quickened his pace. Kytriya held her breath.


He stopped suddenly. "Kytriya, I need you to reach into the suitcase without touching the ground. Its the outer pocket. Can you do that?"


Kytriya leaned over as far as she could, unzipped the zipper and then leaned even further. She wrapped her left hand around his right arm, and continued leaning down, reaching her right hand as far as it would go. Feeling a round hard object, she hooked her finger tip into the hole, and pulled up, rubbing the tip of her finger against the inner wall. She repeated this two more times.


"I need you to carefully put my ring  on my finger - after you put your rings on your fingers." Kytriya did as she was told.


David continued running the best he could through the forest while Dogs barked in the background. "Jez Benyamin-Ze'ev Katzski is my full name and you are Kytriya Raziela-Ziv Katzski, with your maiden name, being Zvonitskaya, the feminine form of Zvonitsky.  Your name means "God's Crown, my secret is God, Bright".


Kytriya listened intently at the barking dogs to determine if they were coming closer or not. She relaxed when she realized they weren't.

Jez spoke quietly to her,"Those dogs could be barking at other dogs. We must hurry. Dogs can't track on concrete."

"Wouldn't they know where we were headed?" Kytriya spoke clearly, in an authentic British Accent of someone from the upper class.

Jez blinked. "Was, was that you?"

"Yes. It is I."

"You'll have to explain later. Sh!" Jez warned.

Having reached the end of the forest, Jez looked around for any signs of police or anyone else that did not belong. He knew this neighborhood well, having ran through it so many times before when he was sneaking out of town. He bent down so she could get off his back safely.

Kytriya reached into the pocket and pulled out a spray bottle containing some kind of liquid. "What is this for?"

"Ah, yes, the good stuff. Here, let me rub this on you. This concoction changes the way you smell without alerting anyone. Its not perfume, but spices. I just hope that your skin does not react because we don't have time to deal with it." He sprayed the concoction on her. It smelled like food from the Punjabi region of India, but was much more pungent.


Jez bent down and kissed her on top of her head before whispering into her ear, "I will not violate you. I don't believe in kissing before marriage, so you'll only get a kiss on top of your head. You are loved." He grabbed her left hand, and led her smartly down the sidewalk.

Kytriya pulled on his arm and started running. Reluctantly, he followed. She led him towards a park that was 3 blocks away. The neighborhood was unusually quiet as people were inside eating their dinners. A taxi driver drove by, pulled to a stop, and then backed up slowly until he was in line with them.

"Get in. I'm going to the airport anyways. Just don't tell anyone." He pleaded, before adding. "I'm suppose to only take people approved by the office."

They scrambled into the car while the Taxi driver tossed their suitcases in the trunk. Within a few short minutes they were at the airport. Jez wanted to tip him, but as he had requested no tips, he could only thank him, before leading Kytriya through the doors and towards the First Class Computer.

Kytriya's heart leaped into her throat. She hoped no one would ask her anything, as she didn't think she could speak. Policemen were scavenging the area, looking for someone. She knew that they were probably looking for them. Jez's words filtered through her mind, 'do not recognize anything'. Remembering this, she easily got back into character, and became Kytriya once more. Jez took his right arm, put it around her right shoulder, and gave her a gentle love squeeze, before kissing her on top of her head. He then untangled himself from her and took his turn at the computer.

Jez's fingers blazed over the keys searching for the 2 first class seats to London that were open, and was a direct flight. He knew that the police would be checking flights to other parts of the USA and not paying much attention to the overseas flights. Noticing a flight to Japan, he was sorely tempted to take it as it would be much easier to get her into Britain from Japan. However, she spoke no Japanese and would be totally lost. As if she could read his mind, she pointed to Japan. Quickly, he bought the tickets. The plane was to leave in thirty minutes. This would give them just enough time to get onboard. He took his receipt, grabbed her hand, and took her at a brisk walk towards security.

A guard driving the golf carts noticed and offer them a ride. Jez helped Kytriya load her suitcase before showing the guard his papers. The guard drove off to the far end of the lobby to the other security station where first class passengers to Japan were in Queue. They got off the cart and waited only a few seconds for their turn, as they only had 2 people in front of them. Kytriya wondered if they would ask her to take off her shoes, or whether that was not done anymore. A lady guard signaled for her to walk through the gate. Jez followed after her. They grabbed their things, and plopped them back on the golf cart. Kytriya did not dare recognize the feeling of relief, lest some part of her body gave her away.

They were dropped off at the boarding gate, where people were anxiously waiting to board. A group of four Jewish dancers were doing a circle dance out of sheer boredom. Kytriya left her suitcase with Jez and went over to join the group. A man and a lady parted ways to let her join them. They each grabbed one of her hands and led her into the middle of the circle where everyone lifted their hands up high, before stretching the circle back out. They repeated this move before doing a grape vine to the left. They hopped on their right foot while lifting their left foot into the air and circling it over the right leg to continue the grape vine in the opposite direction. Jez marveled at how in sync she was with the dancers. The dancers let go of hands before turning diagonally to the right and even further away from the circle. They reversed the move, grabbed hands and then repeated the entire dance from the beginning.

Jez, upon seeing the police walking down the hallway, moved their suitcases to be in the same vicinity of the other dancer's suitcases. Police walked in two looking, searching, examining each and every person to see if anyone was in disguise. They did not see Kytriya dancing, as they were told that Stacy only knew a little ballet and a little tap, but beyond that, only did normal dances expected of a child pretending to know how to dance. These dancers looked like they were professionals who knew what they were doing.

They took a precursory look at Jez before deciding he was apart of the dance group and not who they were looking for. Kytriya's back was to them, so they never got a good look at her face.

Kytriya remained devoutly focused on the dance at hand and paid no attention to the police, lest she break her cover. Jez's warning of recognize nothing, would flood her mind from time to time but only for a brief second.

The police moved on, looking more carefully at the children and any adult who appeared to be short. Not hearing anyone stuttering, nor seeing anyone who looked like the Stacy and David, one of the police officers got on his walkie talkie and gave an all clear. Within seconds, the Stewardess called for First Class passengers to Japan to line up. All of the dancers bowed to each other before Kytriya took her suitcase from Jez. The police looked around, waiting to see if anyone gave themselves away.

As the dancers were picking up their packs, the leader of the troupe asked, "Which synagogue did you dance at?"

Kytriya did not know how to answer, so she simply said, "My father taught me."

"You dance very well."

"Thanks! So do you." Kytriya answered, while the police watched on.

Jez commented as if they were good friends. "I can't wait to get to Japan." With a nod towards the line, he added. "But we have better get in line, or we might miss our great opportunity."

Jez put his hand on the small of Kytriya's back, and gently pushed her in front of him, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He had noticed the policeman looking in their direction, but paid no attention. Kytriya remained oblivious, choosing instead to focus on those immediately around her.

The other dancers fell in neatly behind Jez and Kytriya. The policeman grabbed his walkie talkie and whispered something into it, but Jez couldn't hear what. He chose to ignore it, while he handed the Stewardess their passes. The people boarded the plane in silence as they tried in vain to keep up with the Stewardess leading the way. Kytriya waited until she was out of sight of the waiting room before looking at her pass and trying to read where her seat number was.

Jez bent down and whispered, "last row in the first section, on the right." Kytriya walked confidently towards the back of the first class section. "Kyt, let me get that bag for you."

Kytriya let go of her bag while Jez shoved his bag in the compartment above. He took his bag back down and grabbed his Computer case which held his  laptop, before replacing it on the shelf. He took out Kytriya's Computer case that doubled as a purse and business case, and handed it to her. He then put her suitcase up on the shelf while Kytriya sat down by the window. Kytriya took her passport out from her pocket and studied it while Jez took his computer out and turned it on. Kytriya quickly put her passport away and took out her computer. Kytriya glanced at the folders, familiarizing herself with them.

Jez leaned over and whispered into her ear the common Japanese greetings as more people boarded the plane and moved to economy class. Kytriya opened up a new document and started to type the first thing that popped into her head, The morality of duty versus the morality of aspiration as applied to education demands that we aspire to help all students achieve their greatest potential, using whatever means possible, without violating our societal laws.

Policemen boarded the plane and looked immediately in the direction of Jez and Kytriya. Kytriya saw them, but continued typing away as if nothing was up.

The shorter police officer walked up to them and said, "Hi!"
"Hello," Kytriya answered in a perfect upper class British accent suitable for a 21 year old lady, the age on her passport.

The police officer handed back her passport, satisfied that everything was in order. "Sorry, someone just thought you looked just similiar enough to someone else. Nevermind." He then turned and spoke to a tall police man. "It can't be her. Stacy can't say H words ever, especially the word 'Hello'."

"Okay, fine," answered the tall policeman, while Kytriya went back to typing her thesis.
"And, her passport is authentic," The shorter policeman continued. "I've seen fake British passports and that one ain't it."
"Good. I guess they aren't trying to skip to Japan then. Thought he was a bit daft anyways. Kids usually don't run away overseas unless they're rich, and these two aren't rich."
"Yea, especially her."

The tall policeman turned towards Kytriya. "What are you typing?"

"This is a treatise on how we could improve education by applying the principles of morality of aspiration and morality of duty towards the way we teach students in the classrom."

The tall policeman's jaw dropped. "Of all the people he chooses to confuse with a 10 year old girl, he picks a philosophy major!" He then tipped his head back and roared with laughter. Jez and Kytriya exchanged shocked looks before breaking out into laughter.

"Hey, Sarge. He finally flipped. I told you didn't I. One of these days, his gut feeling would be wrong." He beamed.

"Yea, yea. Well, you can't win them all the time. Look, don't rub it in too hard. Okay?"

"Yea, or he's liable to bend over backwards trying to prove and moot point." The smaller policeman winked.

Jez looked over at the policemen and asked in a suitable upper class male accent, "I'm curious. Who is this girl?"

The smaller policeman answered, "Oh, just some 10 year old girl who accidentally killed another 10 year girl, a bully. I mean the dead girl was a bit of a bully. The doctor think that she died from a weak heart, but won't be sure until the autopsy is done. That much I can tell you, as its already front page news."

"I'm sorry."
"Yes, I'm sorry too. Thats tragic." Kytriya commented.
"Yea, I feel for the parents. But, that girl ran with a boy. Don't worry about it. They'll show up. They always do." He turned and followed the other police officers off the plane.

The dancers who sat right in front of them, turned around. "They thought you were 10? That is too funny! No 10 year old could dance like you do and get the timing of that dance down. Its the turning outwards that they always mess up."

"That is so true."

Before they could continue the conversation, the stewardess came on the loud speaker, giving the usual instructions to turn off the cellphones and other emergency procedures. Once the plane took off, Jez worked on teaching Kytriya 4000 of the most used words and phrases in Japanese.  With 26 hours before scheduled landing, and a six hour extended stay in Paris, this gave her20 hours to study and sleep.

With this in mind, Jez amused himself with the nitty gritty details. She would have to learn almost 300 phrases or words an hour, or 5 per minutes. As if she could learn Japanese that quickly! I could, but then again I see it once and I know it for life.