Jansen’s POV
After hours of tossing and turning on the fishing boat, I finally saw the Valdirra pier from a distance. I saw several boats anchored at the edge of the pier, people moving around, shops selling their wares, and on the other side in a less crowded area, I saw couples or families relaxing while enjoying the sea view.
To be honest, I had visited this pier once with Mom long before we met Dad and Jessie. Ah, time flies so fast. I guess that was a few years ago.
I didn’t want to miss this beautiful memory alone. I woke up Jessie, who was asleep beside me.
“Jessie, Jessie, wake up,” I said. Rose also fell asleep in front of us. It looked like they were exhausted. I was also tired and wanted to lie down on my soft and fragrant bed.
Jessie didn’t budge. But, I didn’t want to give up so easily. I kept trying to wake her until she opened her eyes. After all, this ship would dock soon.
“Jessie, we’re at Valdirra,” I whispered in her ear.
Jessie stirred. Her eyes opened, although she still looked sleepy.
“Really?” she asked softly. Her voice sounded small and lethargic.
“Yes, open your eyes,” I replied as I stroked her forehead. Then, I took some water and gave it to her to make her feel more refreshed.
“Drink this. Rose said it was cold coconut water. It looks like it’s still cold,” I said as I handed her the bottle.
Jessie took the water and drank the contents. Then, she pointed her index finger at Rose, “Did Rose fall asleep too?”
“Yes, both of you are sleeping. I’m the only one awake,” I replied.
“Oh, look at the pier. Soon we’ll reach the famously beautiful Valdirra pier. You’ve never been here before,” I said.
“Wow. Is this what the pier is called? It’s crowded, unlike the pier we went to when we were kidnapped,” she replied with wide eyes and a wide open mouth. She was in awe.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yes. Let’s go for a spin around the pier before we go home,” she pleaded with a whimper. Her princess character came back. But I wasn’t surprised because Jessie had lived in luxury since she was a little girl. Everything she wanted, she would get easily and effortlessly. Dad spoiled her a lot. While I was living in deprivation anyway, I didn’t want to trouble Mom with anything.
“No, no, no. We should go home soon. Mom and Dad are probably waiting for us at home,” I replied.
Despite her objections, Jessie obeyed because she missed Mom and Dad too much. The food, comfort, and warmth of home that we had missed.
To calm her down, I stroked her hand. “Next time we ask Dad to take us to the pier. How about it?”
Jessie nodded with sparkling eyes. It was a good thing she complied.
Finally, the boat we were on docked at the edge of the pier. We woke Rose up and prepared to get off the boat. Rose got off first and helped Jessie down. I got off last.
“Valdirra, here we come!” Jessie yelled as she raised her hands.
After we set foot on the dock and said goodbye to the boat owner. Rose took us away from there. We walked to the exit of the dock, which was quite a distance away. The traffic of people made it difficult for us to walk. Fortunately, we didn’t get separated because Rose held Jessie’s hand. Jessie held my hand.
After a while, we could finally see the exit of the pier from a distance. But there was an entourage of several black cars that caught my attention. There was one car that I recognized because it looked like Mom’s car.
Could it be Mom picking us up or Ken? I had to find out.
However, my guess was right. One car walked towards us and stopped right beside us. The driver of the car rolled down his window. “Wait. Get in the car. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Hearing this, we were shocked. Rose asked us to stand behind her. One thing that slipped my mind was the kidnappers. They had returned to Valdirra and they could have known about our escape from Palaca Island. Please, we didn’t want to be taken away again. We’ve suffered enough. If they want to kidnap us again, I’ll pull Jessie’s hand away from here to the crowd of people on the dock and scream at the top of my lungs.
“Who are you?” Rose asked probing ly.
“Jansen, who are they?” Jessie asked fearfully.
“I don’t know. I hope they’re not the kidnappers,” I replied.
The driver of the car and the person beside him got out of the car and showed their IDs, “Don’t be afraid, we’re police.”
We could finally breathe a sigh of relief. I thought they were the kidnappers. I just didn’t want to go back to the island and be away from Mom and Dad.
“Please help us, sir. We’re running away from the kidnappers,” Rose pleaded with a pained look on her face.
“We already know everything. Wait here,” the police officer replied as he called someone.
Then, a convoy of police cars parked near the entrance of the pier walked towards us, including a car similar to Mom’s car. Not long after, someone came out of the car who turned out to be Ken.
“Jansen, Jessie,” Ken yelled as he ran towards us.
“Ken,” Jessie and I called out.
Oh my God, we weren’t dreaming, were we? Please never let those bad guys find us again and take us away from Mom and Dad. We didn’t want to be in that forest again.
Ken hugged us and cried, so we cried too.
“Ken, take us away from here. We want to go home,” Jessie cried. Her tears flowed so fast that they soaked Ken’s clothes.
“Ken, I’m sorry your clothes are wet,” Jessie said as she continued to sob.
Ken stroked Jessie’s hand and looked at us in turn. “It’s okay. It’s just an outfit. Let’s go home. Mrs. Piper is waiting for you at home.”
With sparkling eyes and smiling lips, we quickly pulled Ken’s hand to hurry to the car. Suddenly, we remembered Rose. I released my hand from Ken’s and ran over to Rose. “Rose, come with us. You’re safe with us.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your fun. But you are asked to come to the police station now to give a statement, after which we will take you home. I promise it won’t take long,” one of the policemen said.
I looked at Rose and Ken. Ken nodded and knelt and whispered in our ears, “It’s okay. I’ll come with you. We’ll go to the police station together. Okay?”
“Promise you’ll always be with us and Rose?” I asked, holding his hand.
“I promise. Calm down. Let’s go now,” Ken said.