Walter turned to look at his suddenly despondent wife and knew why the gloom. Wanting dearly to change the subject, he quickly picked up a brochure, pointed to it and tried to sound cheerful while saying,
“How about this one? It has two bedrooms and a den. All I need is the den and you can have the second bedroom for sewing and painting.”
Oblivious to his kind offer, she looked over to him and said,
“First thing tomorrow, I’ll check house registries in that area to see if any are empty.”
Knowing he was not going to pull her out of a sorrowful reflective mood, that it would take time, he nodded and closed the brochure. After a fake yawn he said,
“Let’s go to bed?”
Chapter 42
At the same time Gary was shoving food into the pillow case, Sam had scampered over her backyard fence and climbed up the drainpipe to the garage roof. She was now balancing across the peak of the roof to her bedroom window. After an experienced stealthy climb back through the window she was quick to locate a clean pair of coveralls. Although knowing that she was to meet Gary soon, she couldn’t help herself. She had to flop onto the bed just for a minute. The second her head hit the pillow she wanted all the emotions and horrors of the Factory to drift away. It didn’t work. In that moment of calm and weakness, the avalanche broke free and roared through her. It was not the excitement of the chase or the terrible realization of what could have happened that started the tears flowing but rather her broken promise to Amina.
After searching sensible things like empty houses, dark alleys and posting her picture on practically every lamppost in town, she reverted to irrational measures. The crystal ball, the Tarot Cards, anything at all that might help find her best friend. That was what drove her into the Factory and was responsible for all the impossible things that happened to her, things that any sane person would scoff at. When she finally found Amina, what did she do? She ran from her best friend as fast as she could and left her hanging in that terrible way. Sam could not imagine the horror and pain surging through Amina. All she could do was lay there on the bed and cry at her failure to save her friend.
After many sniffles and tears, eventually the stronger side of Sam crept forward. Yes, she had to run for her life. It was as Gary had so fittingly said, ‘if we die nothing will change. If we run, we can come back for her’. That was now her new number one mission, to somehow get back inside the Factory and pull Amina away from those wires and the terrible things they were doing to her. As she sat up at the edge of her bed, resolve and a new found determination made another solemn promise, “I will return for you.”
She suddenly heard voices. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she heard her mom and dad talking downstairs in the kitchen. Curious, she snuck downstairs, peeked around the corner, and saw them sitting at the kitchen table. Mom was saying,
“--- that’s why we are leaving you, at least until you do something for yourself and this family. You know I love you and dearly want this to end but it’s something you have to do on your own. I can’t tie you up and drag you to the hospital, I want to but can’t.”
Dad sat defeated and empty. His eyes were not locked to the bottle on the table but rather to the woman he loved. For all the fighting about his condition and fear of going public with what really happened in the tunnel, he thought silence was the best thing for his family. Not once did he realize what he was actually doing to her and Sam. He uttered a weak defence.
“You have no idea what is going on up there. They are powerful people determined to keep secret what they are experimenting with. You and Sam are a ripple in their determination to keep it from the public. They would step on us like a bug and think nothing of it. My silence is what keeps us safe. You have to understand that.”
“Yes,” she said, “maybe safe but in an intolerable relationship. Look what it has done to Sam. Last night she didn’t come home again and all day as well. She is afraid of you. As soon as I find her we are both leaving.”
Sam had heard enough. While running to her dad she screamed,
“No! I’m not afraid of daddy. I will never leave him.”
It was an impulsive move on Gordy’s part. Seeing his daughter running at him, he held out his arms and she dove into them. It was a move that greatly surprised Gloria for she really thought Sam was afraid of him. Sam stood next to her dad, looked at her mom and continued to defend him.
“Daddy came into the tunnels and saved me. Without his help I would never have gotten out of there.”
Frowns of confusion and disbelief furled across Gloria’s forehead. She tried her best to ignore what was obviously a delusion on the part of a distraught daughter. She said,
“Honey, your dad and I have been sitting here in the kitchen talking for hours. Before that he was sleeping on the couch.”
Sam was loud in defence of dad.
“No! He was there, we saw him. He made a promise to help me no matter where I was and he did. He saved our lives!”
She then turned to him and said,
“Tell her dad. Tell mom that you were in the tunnels with us.”
It was a struggle to look at Gloria but eventually sad slow eyes raised to her. He said,
“You know there is something different about me. Everybody thinks I suffered the same fate as the other two men lost in the cave of crystals. Only you and Sam know that I survived.”
When raising his glowing hand he added,
“Look at me honey. Do you really think I survived?”
He then looked to Sam and added,
“You have seen enough in that cursed place to believe I could be in two places at once. Okay, I don’t understand it but I know it’s possible. Yes honey, I heard your cries for help and did what I could to help you. Your mom is right. I have been here the whole time but with you as well.”
He then looked to both and tried to explain.
“Just look at me and you know I didn’t come out of that cave unscathed. When my friends and I broke into the cave, they ran from the electrical discharges trying to get away but I was too stunned to move. I just stood there and watched them disappear right in front of me. I think the tentacles ignored me because I didn’t move. I was saved from the fate of my co-workers because I was a coward, frozen to the spot. Just past the crystals was an underground river running through the cave. While the tentacles were busy killing my friends there was no thought to danger, the worse danger was staying in the cave and so I jumped into the fast moving rapids. I didn’t care where the river went as long as it was away from there.”
Gloria was stunned. This was the first time her husband had opened up to her about what really happened in the cave. Sam was confused and asked,
“But daddy, you told us to jump into the pretty colors. Why didn’t you?”
“Honey, I know about the colors now and how they can somehow transport you somewhere else but I didn’t at that time. I saw the rushing river and jumped into it. I couldn’t tell you and that boy to do the same. It was a torrent disappearing into a hole on the other side of the cave and I almost drowned in there. After smashing against the rocks for the longest time, I came out near the cliffs where the Copper River merges with the Great Swanson. In the confusion of what happened, because I too was missing, everybody thought I suffered the same fate as the lost miners but I went home instead.”
He ended his story with,
“Sam, you saw what they are doing in there. That’s why I came home and hid. If I come forward now or even go to the hospital, they will not only come after me but mom and you as well. By hiding, I’m protecting you.”
Gloria finally understood his concern for the safety of his family. It was then that a sudden and harsh consequence of the story hit her hard. She pointed a stern finger at him and said,
“Are you telling me you know where those poor missing children are and you have done nothing to help them?”
It was a hollow defense, one that meant nothing to her.
“Hone
y, I kept quiet for my own safety as well as yours. I’m trying to protect my family. Don’t you see that?”
No she didn’t and added,
“But the poor children. Something has to be done to get them back to their family.”
What she said next was forceful.
“Do something to save them and get you back into our lives.”
He knew she was right. Just then, the doorbell rang.
As Gloria got up to answer the door, she said,
“Who could that be at this time of night?”
Leaving the kitchen and walking through the living room, she opened the door. Standing in the open door was a hulk of a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a black suit and shoved a badge into Gloria’s face along with a piece of paper. With practiced authority he bellowed for,
“I am with National Security. This is a search warrant allowing me to come into your house and search for your daughter.”
Gloria was quick to protect Sam.
“I’m sorry but my daughter has been missing for days. I only wish she was here.”
Sam had snuck over to the couch and inched the curtains apart to see who it was. She recognized Hanz as one of the men working for Warric. Quick steps carried her back to the kitchen and her dad. In a whisper, she explained who it was. This time it was her turn to save dad.
“You have to hide.”
He only nodded and said,
“Don’t worry honey. He will not be able to see me. It’s you who has to hide.”
Agreeing, and after a quick hug that felt like hugging a small electrical charge, she ran to the back door. She had picked up many skills in these last few days and one of the better ones was caution. Before firing the back door open and running into the yard, she peeked through the blinds to make sure the coast was clear. It was not.
She saw two other men in the shadows of the back yard obviously making sure there would be no escape in that direction. A quick mind turned fast feet around and up the stairs to her bedroom. Her crawl through the bedroom window was hurried but diligent to stealth. While crawling across the carport roof she stayed as low as possible. Looking down, she saw the two men standing by the back door. The drainpipe was on the other side of the garage and so she easily scampered down unseen. The opposite side of the house helped her escape unnoticed.
After reading the search warrant a number of times, Gloria reasoned that she had stalled long enough for Sam and her husband to escape. She reluctantly stepped aside and Hanz barged in. A quick look behind the living room furniture and curtains did not reveal his objective. In the kitchen, he saw a strange blue glow at the table but did not question it. After a comprehensive search upstairs, he was forced to conclude that the girl was not in the house. With no apology for disturbing her, Hanz simply barged through the front door and into the darkness of the street. Gloria returned to the kitchen, looked directly at the soft glow and in anger yelled,
“See what you have done? Because of you, our daughter is in danger. Will you finally do something now?”
Chapter 43
Escaping from the house and running toward the empty block and the treehouse was an easy task for Sam. It was just a matter of staying in the shadows. What was not easy was getting from the beginning of the trees to the treehouse. Quickly ducking behind a tree, she saw multiple flashlight beams practically lighting the whole block up. She knew it was the guards at the Factory looking for them. She heard a twig snap behind her and quickly darted over to a high bramble bush.
She reasoned that Gary must be back already with the food and would be alert to the search. Hopefully he was not going to give his location away by making a noise or using his flashlight. She also reasoned that as long as she stayed hidden and the searchers did not shine their lights up into the trees they would eventually give up and go away.
She was right. Soon all the flashlights gathered in one place and from the grouping she heard,
“Okay, she was not at home with her parents and the boy’s house was empty. They have to be somewhere. Get back to the cars and drive the streets looking for them.”
With lights disappearing in all directions, the dispersal only took a few minutes. She waited a few more minutes and then cautiously made her way to the tree house.
She was right about Gary being vigilant. From the treehouse, he saw the searchers infiltrating the forest with flashlights and stayed low. When he peeked over the window sill and saw them leave, he finally started to breathe again. That was when he heard the warning bell ring and knew somebody was climbing up to him. Hoping that it was Sam coming back but wasn’t sure, the brave side of him surfaced. He picked up the baseball bat and braced himself to protect the treehouse against the bad ones from the Factory. Thank goodness he waited to see whose head would pop into view before wildly swinging. Sam saw the bat high above his head and said,
“That’s not the way to hit somebody over the head. You have to be behind them.”
Even though it was semi-dark in the tree house, only moonlight softly glowing though the windows creating shadows, she saw the food cache and dove into it. It was clear by the empty candy bar wrappers scattered on the floor that he had already helped himself to the best stuff. However, there was still bread and peanut butter left. At this point of starvation, anything was good.
While she chowed down, with a sad voice Gary said,
“Something really bad happened to my house. My grandmother is missing and somebody wreaked everything like maybe they were looking for something. They cut a big hole in the attic wall and took my electric stuff, the table and everything.”
With a mouth full of peanut butter, she still managed to say,
“It was them. You told them about hearing Amina’s voice transmitted through the speakers. That’s what they were after.”
While dipping a piece of bread into the jelly jar she added,
“They came looking for me in my house too but I got away.”
“How do they even know where we live?”
“You told them our names remember.”
Suddenly the warning bell rang again announcing to both that somebody was coming up the ladder. Panic followed and Gary snapped up the bat while Sam looked down through the hole in the floor to see who was coming up. However, other than seeing that it was a shadow of a man, it was too dark to make out who it was. The only friendly man it could possibly be was the one who helped her build this place, her dad. However, she reasoned that he would have called up to her first and known to avoid the bell alarm.
Turning to see Gary armed with the bat and ready to hit a home run she whispered,
“No, there might be more than one. It’s too dark to tell. Let’s get to the roof and hide.”
Sam slid the cover away from the ceiling and both scampered to the roof. The lid was slid back into place and both sat huddled on the roof hoping not to be detected. Because it was dark and the man inside was searching with a flashlight, outside branches close to the window glowed. A few minutes later the glow went dark and Gary whispered,
“He went away.”
Sam, every the cautious one whispered back,
“Let’s wait a while just to make sure.”
Because both were filled with pounding anxiety and fear, every second seemed like an hour. It was hard for Sam to know how long they had waited but eventually reasoned it was long enough. She pulled the lid away and Gary followed her down into the darkness of the tree house. He whispered,
“Should we turn on the light?”
“No, it’s best to just sit here for a while. If you are tired then sleep on the mattress and I’ll stand guard.”
As if insulted he rebuked,
“I’m not tired. I can take the first watch if you want.”
Suddenly a light lit up the whole room. When the sting in the eyes settled, both saw a man sitting on a chair over by the entrance in the floor. Gary took a step backwards and Sam followed. Using a pleasant tone, the man said,
“Go
od evening children.”
Gary took the first defensive step.
“We didn’t see nothing in the tunnels, honest.”
Sam, realizing that the game was over looked at Gary and said,
“He knows we did. He was there and saw us.”
“Tell me what you saw and why the men are after you.”
Gary was persistent in his innocence.
“We are sorry we broke into your place but honest we didn’t see nothing.”
Recognizing a dead end, the man changed tactics.
“Why don’t we start with your names?”
Looking at the boy he said,
“Who are you?”
Gary remembered the last time he told a stranger his name and that didn’t turn out so well. This time he was determined to keep his mouth shut. The man then said,
“Judging from the circulating pictures, you are Gary Albright. Is that correct?”
He wanted to remain silent, and he did except for a slow nodding head.
A finger pointed to Sam and he said,
The Factory Page 24