Passport: Honeymooners

The house smelled like juniper on the warm fall day. The whole setting was so warm and comforting as the couple stepped in from the street. The front of the building said Antiques and Collectibles, which is what drew the couple to go in. They were on their honeymoon, an American couple in England. They had stayed away from the larger cities and decided to take in the rich countryside instead.
As the couple stepped in, besides the fragrant air, all the antiques and collectibles of all shapes and sizes that were crammed, neatly, into the building captivated them. The shop had to be much bigger than it appeared on the outside. The couple split up and looked around, admiring the beauty of the various pieces. The woman noticed one piece in particular, a necklace with a single am amethyst on it.
“Tony, come look at this,” she called to her husband.
“Where are you, Barb?” he called back, looking down a couple of aisles.
“Over here.”
Tony followed her voice to her side and looked at the necklace, unimpressed. “It is a rock. A rock on a chain,” his tone indicated a little sarcasm. He looks at piece again and notices the price tag. “A rock on a chain with a large price on it.”
“A rock on a chain, worth more than its weight in gold to some.” An older woman with an ageless face steps into view. Her soft brown eyes could put anyone at ease and her demeanor was that of a nice old grandmother. To look on her was to find comfort and relaxation.
“To who?” Tony simply could not believe the rock was of any value.
“To those who like it. Your wife seems to have taken quite a liking to it,” her voice and eyes were so soft. Tony looked over to his wife, Barbara, and smiled. The necklace did look good on her, almost art deco, but good. “If you want it, get it,” Tony gave in to his wife and the old woman.
Barbara smiled and with a little gleeful hop went over to the register with her new treasure. The storeowner rang up the necklace and asked her for 50 Euros. Barbara sat her purse down on the counter to get her money out when there was a crash at her feet and a small child running off with her purse. It took a second for Barbara and Tony to realize what had happened, then Tony was running off after the kid.
Tony easily caught up with the kid who threw the purse down and ran off. Tony calmly brought it back to his wife. Barbara was so shaken by the even that her hands were shaking so bad she had a hard time just taking the strap of her purse. She reached for the zipper to pull out her wallet and found that a very difficult affair as well.
“Go and take the necklace. It belongs with you and you had quite the scare here. You deserve it,” the old woman said with a calm and concerned smile. Her hand touched the top of Barbara’s in concern and the soft skin seemed to put Barbara more at ease.
“Thank you,” Barbara almost whispered. Tony led her out of the store and they went in search of a lunch and a hostel to spend the night.
Once at the hostel Barbara and Tony went to the check in station to turn in their passports and get a room. Tony pulled out a chain from inside his shirt and placed his passport on the counter in front of the teenage hostess. The girl snapped her gum boredly as she checked the passport and identification. She then turned to Barbara for her passport, “Ma’am?”
“Oh yeah, I have it right here,” Barbara suddenly realized she had to turn in her passport too. She set her purse on the counter and went to grab her passport. It was not next to her wallet as she had thought it was. Not worried, Barbara checked another part of her purse. It was not there either.” Maybe it was under her wallet she thought. Barbara took the wallet out of the purse and checked there as well. “It has to be here somewhere,” she mumbles as she starts to take everything out of her purse. Panic finally sets in as she realizes that it is not in her purse. Barbara flips her purse and dumps everything in a single panicked motion. Compacts, lipsticks, tampons and piles of various other pieces of stuff come out of the purse and land on the counter and floor. The passport does not come out of the purse with everything else though. “Where could it be?” Barbara’s voice trembles as tears ruin her eyeliner.
Tony thinks and comes up with a quick possibility, “Maybe we left it at the last hostel. We were in a hurry to get out of there because we were running so late. Why don’t we call there, maybe they have it.”
The hostess rolls her eyes in disgust for the hassle as she grabs the phone and places it on the counter along with the phone book. She drops into her chair behind her and files her nails while Tony looks up and dials the number to their last hostel. The phone rings a few time but finally a man picks up.
“Hello. Yes, my wife and I stayed at your hostel last night and we were curious if her passport is still there. We can’t seem to find it,” Tony’s voice is much calmer than he feels.
There is a pause while the other person speaks but then it is Tony’s turn again, “Her name? Barbara Tereesse Nilla. She’s from Great Falls, Montana.” Hope begins to build in Tony. There is another pause followed by Tony announcing, “He’s looking now.” After another longer pause Tony’s eyes sadden slightly and he thanks the man quietly.
“They don’t have your passport, Babe.” Tony looks disappointed and very concerned. He knew Barbara could not get home without a passport and that obtaining one from here would be very difficult. “That kid that stole your purse, he must have it. Hopefully he didn’t sell it already.”
“What do we do?” Barbara’s face was streaked with eyeliner and mascara, but at least she was no longer crying.
“We’ll go to the police and see if they can help us,” Tony answered as he reached around Barbara’s shoulders and turned her towards the door. He held her tightly as they walked towards the police station. He remembered walking by it earlier that day.
When they reached the station, they were told to speak to a Sergeant McDonaldson; he was the one that dealt with missing passports. Sergeant McDonaldson met them in the lobby a short time after their arrival. He took their information and story, listening quietly to all the details that they shared with him. It was not until he asked to see other forms of identification that Barbara carried that she shared with him that all of her identification was with her passport, which is now gone. Sergeant McDonaldson then grew very serious and still.
“Ma’am, without any type of identification, you can not file for a temporary passport or even a missing passport. I know you say you are his wife and an American, but we cannot know that. You might just be some woman who wants to attempt to make a new life in the States. You must admit that it is very suspious that you claim it was stolen at eleven in the morning and yet you do not report it until almost eight at night. Don’t you think that would have been the first thing to look for?”
“I was scared. I did not know what to do. I had never been robbed before. I didn’t even think of the passport,” Barbara was once again in tears, this time of desperation. She just wanted to go home, to the States, but she could not do that without a passport, which now looked impossible to get.
“I am sorry. The only suggestion I have for you is to fax or call someone in the States to see about a duplicate passport or identification. If you can get a driver’s license, birth certificate, and social security, then we can start working on you passport, but until then, there is nothing I can do.”
“Thank you, Sergeant McDonaldson. Thank you for your help,” Tony stood to shake hands with the officer and turned to Barbara, who appeared to be in shock. “Let’s go, honey.”
Barbara followed Tony outside. She seemed as though on autopilot. Once they were outside in the cool air, Tony turned to look at her. He did not like the hopeless look in her eyes. She knew she was the only child of a dead mother and that her father had quickly followed her mother. She knew she had no one to call. He knew she knew.
“Honey, Love, it will be okay. I will go back home tomorrow. Once there I am sure I can find someone who can help us. I will get you a hotel room and enough food to last, then I will come back to get you. How does that sound?” he spoke in a soft, reassuring voice. He took her hand firmly.
“Sure. That sounds like the only reasonable thing to do,” her voice even sounded hopeless.
“I’ll come back, I promise. I wouldn’t leave my beautiful wife here, alone. You know that,” He smiled as he cupped her face in his hands. She gave him a watery smile and nodded in agreement.
The couple went back to the hostel and from there he arranged for Barbara to stay at an inn for a week. The next morning they got food at the local market and checked Barbara in at the Inn. Tony flew back that evening to begin the hunt for Barbara’s identification.
A week passed and no word from Tony had reached Barbara’s ears. Barbara tried to find a job, even an under the table one, to get money to get more food and more time at the inn. She could find nothing and was evicted in short order.
For a while, Barbara was able to live in various homeless shelters and sell her belongings for food. After a couple of weeks, she was broke and only had the cloths on her back left. She decides to move. She figures that it would be better for her to go to a larger city that would have more resources for her to draw on. She did not want to leave, incase Tony should come back looking for her soon, but she could not stay there. She decides to go to London where he would be flying into and wait for him there. After all, he did promise that he would come back for her.
Finally, after a couple days delay, she decided to leave a message at the shelter of her going to London. The day was cool when she decided to head out. She wished to herself that she had some nice hiking boots. Although if wishes were pennies, she’d be home by now. She smiled to herself; it was going to be a good day to get out of the small town that could not support its own poor, let alone one that did not belong there. This was the first glimmer of hope she had in almost a month. She would stay at a shelter by the airport and wait for her Tony to come back to her. He would not even have to look for her, she would be right there when he landed.
As the day wore on, the day got colder instead of warmer. A storm seemed to be brewing not far from her. The wind was harsh and the hunger that Barbara had grown used to now seemed unbearable. It seemed like such a long day to Barbara as she forced herself forward through the wind. She had seen no cars to hitchhike with, as she had hoped to do.
As the sun began to set, Barbara decided to lie down and sleep where she was. As she lay down on the thin blanket she got from the shelter, she realized what a mistake the whole thing was. She knew then that Tony should not have left her so soon, that they should have tried other routes of finding help. She knew then that she should not have waited so long for Tony to come get her, if he did not come quick, then he was not coming. She knew then that she should not have attempted to walk to London, hundreds of miles away, so close to winter. She let a few tears roll down her cheek as she let go of her hope and slipped into sleep.
The next morning did not come for Barbara. She was found by a passing car that happened to notice the pile of blankets. The police were quickly called and equally quickly called her death, death by exposure. She was buried as Jane Doe #1535.