CHAPTER 4

Hope

To me, it was now a topsy-turvy life. My world, which up to this moment in my life had been ordered and shining bright with promise, was in rapid succession growing chaotic and dark.

Days earlier, worse still, David managed to make my dismal prison life even darker by bribing the guard while having such a weight put on an already fragile existence. The real and imaginary prison walls seemed to be closing in on me.

My cell's discomfort, coupled with the cruelty of the guards, was now becoming insufferable. Three days had passed since David's evil proposal, and the cloud of despondency and bewildering dimness hung heavy upon my mind. I was made to feel like a puppet in his wicked game, where every string is pulled further to torment me.

The dim hope in me, once a steady force, now fluttered as tenuously as a candle flame in the path of chilling wind gusts. I remain jammed inside that vortex of manipulation with little chance of getting out. Yet today was different, somehow.

As I trudged on to the usual place where visitors were taken, my heart quickened both in dread and anticipation, for Mary had come to see me once again. It was such visits, within this harsh reality of imprisonment, that were the only dissipating rays of light I could hang onto.

The garment had been here for five years, a soothingly stable force amidst the turmoil. I had learned to hold on to those few, short tastes of normality; a thin line which had become my grasp on life beyond these walls. The guard's voice was still icy, devoid of emotion, words hanging in the air like the cold. "She has 20 minutes for anyone who wants to see her today." His voice was clipped now, sans that mild hint of lenience.

These were the good 40 minutes lent to me, which were chopped away so cruelly.

I knew this was David's hand attempt premeditated to make every facet of my life a living hell, the latest way to break me down and make me feel that even my moments of solace were being taken away. Mary's arrival was like a whiff of fresh air in the stifling atmosphere of the prison.

My blood was immediately flooded with relief the moment I saw her. Although she had come after some time, in my despair she was a ray of hope. She brought with her some food and clothes- the least one could do, but here in this cold, uncaring space, it was much appreciated. The faint smell of freshly baked bread and stew was already growing in my nostrils: comforting odours from the outside world. We fell into the rhythm as Mary spread the food down on the little table between us.

I tried so very hard to push my anxieties aside and simply focus on the comfort of her visit. She was an anchor in this stormy sea; her compassion and staunch support were a foil to the brutality I lived with day in and day out. "Isabella, today I have something very serious to tell you," Mary said, her voice cutting through the veil of my thoughts. Her tone was serious, and her eyes held such weight that my heart skipped a beat. The cheer and lightness that usually typified her were not there today.

The seriousness in the tone suddenly turned my curiosity and apprehension with all that had happened of late. "What is it, Mary? " I asked, my voice quivering. That sudden strained tone of hers sent cold shivers down my spine.

For years on end, those visits had happened with the same regularity as clockwork, with the same plebeian courtesies and slight variations discussed.

The solemn heft of her words was out of place. I steeled myself in anticipation of whatever news she would break to me, my mind running riot with speculations. Mary took a deep breath; her eyes fell to the floor before she met my gaze once again. "Isabella, I have been doing some snooping.

I know it is hazardous, but I just could not sit idle and do nothing. I've found something about your case-something that might change everything." My heart was racing with every word she said because in the tone of urgency carried in her voice lay the hint that this might prove to be that rope to pull me out, or yet another mean twist in an already twisted fate. "What do you mean? " I asked, leaning further forward, my hands clutched onto the edge of the table. Food was forgotten now; my whole attention was riveted on Mary and the important information about to be relayed.

Mary looked around, seeming to make sure no one was listening. She leaned way forward, speaking barely above a whisper. "I learned that there has been much interference in your case. David is not the only one trying to make your life miserable.".

Some big players have a continued interest in keeping you behind bars by playing with the system.

I felt a shiver run down my spine. "Who? What do you mean? " Mary shook her head, a look of frustration and fear in her eyes. "I don't have all the details yet, but I do know that there's someone in the legal system beyond who has some interest in you staying in prison". It is not David's doing.

There's this web of corruption involved here, and you land in the middle of it." The line was like a kick in the gut. I did have a suspicion, but the categorical utterance sounded like one to my frail hope. "Why? Why would they do this? "Mary wincing, appeared as though she was about to tear up. "I don't know them all, but I do know your situation is more complicated than we thought. There are forces against you far beyond what we have been able to fight.

But there's something else." I felt my panic rise. "What is it, Mary? Please tell me."

Mary hesitated and took a deep breath. "Some files I mean, confidential came into my possession that indicate there might be a breach in your conviction. It is not a sure thing, but it could be enough to get you out of this if I can get it to someone who can do something about it. All I need is your help to get it into the right hands." I sat and stared at Mary, trying to comprehend the enormity of what she had just revealed. "What am I supposed to do from here? I'm locked in this cell." Mary's face relaxed a look of determination etched upon it. "I've been in touch with two of my sources outside these walls. They'll do it if we can get them proof. But she has to handle this very delicately.

If one word gets to David or anybody else, it blows up in our face."