by Trinity Crow
I put one leg over the window and ducked my head to swing my body through the opening. With one foot firmly on the roof, I brought my other leg out.
“Good job,” Nikki said. “Now stand up and press against the wall. I already banged about with that metal bar and it seems sound.”
The mention of the bar brought back the door, the locks, the tunnel, the tunnel. . .
Dark spots floated before me and I pushed them away, taking deep breaths. As I flattened my back against the side of the house, the wooden rectangles of the rickrack pattern pressing into me. The ground now seemed a long way down.
“I'm coming out,” Nikki said. She cleared the window easily and carefully moved past me, stepping confidently over the two foot gap to the small pitched roof of the porch. Crossing to the far side, she braced herself at an angle and then extended her hands.
“Ready?” she asked “Just come to the edge and then, step like you are going up some stairs. Just think of it as a slanted step.”
I took her hand, smaller and softer than mine but more confident, and stepped forward, pressing my foot firmly on the slanted side.
“Now, dig in with your toes a bit and swing your other foot up to this ridge. Remember, you're climbing stairs.”
I kept my eyes on hers as I moved my left foot into position, feeling it touch the roof with a feeling of relief. Nikki stepped back, her feet unerringly wedging into the same area she had left.
“Now, put your right foot where mine was. . .and now. . .” She walked me forward. “Flat again!”
We had done it! The window was mere steps away. Smiling at each other in triumph, we climbed through the open window and the bright welcome of the room surrounded me.
"Do you want to lay down and rest?" she said, moving towards the door.
"I. . . Where are you going?" I asked, bewildered.
Nikki hesitated.
"I want to see if that guy is still there," she said finally. "I mean, he did fall down the stairs."
I startled a bit, my eyes widening in shock. I had completely forgotten about him.
"Why don't you wait here?" Nikki said, her brow wrinkling. "You had a rough morning."
I shook my head. "No way," I said. "I can help."
I snatched a metal candle holder off the bedside table, turning it so the was heavy end was forward.
"Good idea," Nikki said, her black eyes approving. She grabbed a small, brass doorstop and we crept out the room, ready to defend ourselves and the house against the intruder.
Chapter 13
The house was silent around us as we tiptoed to the head of the stairs.
“Do you see anything?” I whispered, leaning over Nikki's shoulder.
“No," she whispered back. “Maybe he fell all the way down.”
My mouth turned down at the thought. The landing was pretty broad. He should have rolled to a stop there. What if he had broken his neck?
“Or maybe he's gone,” she added, catching a glimpse of my face.
Creeping down the stairs, I gripped my candlestick nervously. The thought occurred to me that the man might not be unconscious but instead still be walking around the house. One step past the landing and we saw that he was not. The man lay sprawled across the second riser, face down. A thin trickle of blood made its way down the wooden stairs.
I moved past Nikki who was standing stock still in shock.
“Did I kill him?” she asked, face horrified. All her bravado seemed to have deserted her.
I leaned forward, candlestick held high, and pressed a finger to his neck. His warm skin sent a shiver through me. I searched in vain for a pulse, but the rise and fall of his chest showed he had survived the fall.
“He's alive,” I told her, moving back hastily.
Nikki exhaled in relief.
"We need to tie him up," I said firmly, anger overcoming my fear at the sight of this flesh and blood enemy.
"Uh, should we move him?” she said grimacing. She wrapped her arms around herself and gave a shudder.
“I am moving him enough to tie him up,” I said, past caring about his health. I moved slowly past him, careful not to step in the blood. There were curtain ties in the parlor, I remembered. They might do if the fabric wasn't too fragile from age.
Nikki followed me, her breath coming in little gasps. Our positions had reversed, I realized, when she saw the guy she had caused to fall. Now I was going to have to help her. I looked up to reassure her and caught sight of the guy's face. My jaw dropped in amazement.
I knew him.
I had seen that face scowling at me as he tried to wrestle the binder from my hands at the raffle.
“Come on, Nikki,” I said, in a calm voice as I tugged her into the parlor. "It's okay. It's the town historian. The one who tried to stop me from bidding on the house.”
Nikki's attention was caught by this astonishing tidbit and it distracted her from whatever guilt she was feeling.
"What? Why would he. . .? You could probably sue!" Nikki spluttered, indignation replacing guilt.
I walked further into the parlor, feeling my way through the gloom to the windows. The hold the darkness had over me broke as anger swelled inside me.
How dare he? How dare he come in my house and try to harm me? I wish he had broken his neck!
When we returned, Nikki froze once more, staring at him in wide-eyed horror. “He could still die. . .” she said in a small voice.
“Call for an ambulance then,” I told her impatiently, “but I am still going to tie him up.”
“My battery's dead," she said absently, her eyes never wavering from the still figure crumpled upside-down on the stairs.
I jerked in surprise as I pulled the knot tight, causing him to shift.
"When did it die?” I asked casually.
“Last night…” Her own words penetrated her guilty fog and she looked up at me, stricken. Then she shrugged. “Okay, yeah, I lied. You were. . .in a bad way. I thought if I told you the truth you would. . .” Her voice trailed off.
The words go mad hung unspoken between us.
“Get worse,” she said finally. “I didn't lie to be sneaky or hurt you. I figured knowing help was on the way would give you the reassurance you needed to calm down. I was kind of hoping that independent streak would rear its head.” Nikki shook her head. "I get you might be mad. I thought about climbing out and running around to unlock the door while you were unconscious, but what if I fell? What if he was still in the house and knocked me out? I couldn't take the chance that you would wake up alone.”
In that room. . .
A uncontrollable shudder ripped through me.
"Okay, I see that,” I said quickly. “I'm not mad. Of course, I'm not mad.” I stared at the guy. “Do we wait for Cassie and Adam to show up like she said they would or or do we walk for help?”
“Are you up to walking?” Nikki said, raising her eyebrows.
I started to nod, but even as my head bobbed, I felt my knees quiver in a delayed reaction.
“That's what I thought. I could go. . .”
“No need," I interrupted. “Here they come.”
Nikki looked at me, eyebrows raised, and then swung her gaze out the door to the empty drive. A tiny sense of smugness bloomed in me. I watched as her disbelief became astonishment when Adam's car turned in and began bumping its way towards us.
“Wow," she said, impressed. "You have amazing hearing."
I smiled, modestly, I hoped, but a thin thread of unease uncoiled inside me and my smile dimmed. I hadn't heard them. . . I had just known.
***
The car pulled up in front of the house and sound of the engine died away. Nikki gave me one unreadable look and then hurried out to the car. I sank down on the stairs and looked up at the unconscious man.
Let her go, I thought. Let her tell them I had an incident. That I lost it. That I was unstable. None of that mattered.
I stared at the drying blood on the wood of the steps and felt somet
hing in me harden as well. I wasn't going to run anymore. I wasn't going to hide. And I was done keeping my head down. I would tell anyone who would listen about New Eden. I would tell enough so they wouldn't dare come after me for fear the authorities come knocking on their door.
This horrible man had come here to hurt me, to threaten or scare me into leaving my house. But he hadn't succeeded. A slow smile spread across my face.
"You did me a favor," I told him, my voice soft but intent. "I will never leave. I refuse to be afraid. This is my house.”
Some trick of acoustics picked up the words and they whispered through the listening rooms.
. . .my house. . .my house. . .my house. . .
Bought and paid for,” I whispered back, “and now sealed in blood.”
. . .blood. . .blood. . .blood. . . the echoes answered me eagerly.
“Abby? Abby?” Cassie ran through the door, shouting my name.
Here, Cassie,” I said calmly and I offered her the old Abby's smile, hesitant, wistful.
She grabbed me in a hug, gawking at the man on the stairs. “Oh, you poor, poor thing!”
I stiffened and then relaxed. She meant well, I knew. Adam came rushing in behind her, phone in hand. "I called for an ambulance,” he told me, “and the police.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said simply. He smiled at me but his eyes were worried. I smiled back, rising from the stairs. “Thank you for not saying you told me so.”
“I… I…” Adam's eyes darkened with emotion. “I never meant anything like this,” he burst out. “You should never have to worry about some psycho coming in your house. I only meant weak floors or exposed wires. Abby, I am so sorry this happened.”
“Well, Nikki is the hero,” I said, shying away from the intensity in his eyes. “She not only found a way to free us, but took care of the bad guy as well.”
“She barely told us what happened,” Cassie said eagerly. “I need details.”
I hesitated, a frown creeping across my face.
“Let her be, Cass,” Adam ordered. “You can hear it when they tell the police.”
Cassie pouted but then nodded. “Let's go in the parlor and sit down,” she suggested abruptly, her caring manner returning. “You don't need to be near all this."
“I'll be there in a minute,” Adam said. “I want to check to make sure those ties are tight.”
Cassie steered me through to the parlor, but at the last moment, I balked. “Can we go out on the porch instead?” I said, wanting to breathe the fresh air.
“Of course, we can," she said comfortingly. I put no trust in Cassie's sudden maternal air. The girl switched moods so fast that I couldn't tell what her personality actually was. Though she and her brother seemed to have good intentions, I found it hard to fully believe them.
We walked out on to the porch and sat down on the steps still shaded from the sun only now lowering in the western sky. I watched Nikki sitting in the Campling's car where she was talking animatedly on her charging phone.
“She said she wanted to call the hospital and check on Tasmyn,” Cassie said absently.
That sounded like Nikki, I thought. I turned my head to look at the cinder blocks filling in the parlor window that looked out on to the porch.
“Cassie,” I said idly, “How do you get blocks like that out? Do you chip away at them? Is there something to dissolve the mortar?”
Cassie hopped up and began poking at the mortar holding them in. “Wow, someone did a good job on these,” she said. “You're going to be forever getting them all out.”
“Nikki thinks I should wait because it makes us too vulnerable.” I sighed and stood up to poke at them myself. “You're right. This will take forever.”
Cassie stepped back. “You know… " she said in a considering voice. "Why take them all out, Abby? What if you took a block out the middle of each to let in some light? Or a random pattern of blocks? Like a checkerboard?” She swung around to look at me, her face transformed by excitement. “No one could get in and you could just glue some screen across to keep out bugs.”
I stared at her blankly for a moment as the idea became a image in my mind. “Cassie. . . Cassie! That is brilliant. You're brilliant.”
She smiled, her eyes warm with happiness. “Really?'
“Yes,” I said. “Honestly, you have made my day.”
The lightness of the moment faded as the sounds of sirens filled the quiet air. Cassie stiffened and then slipped an arm about my waist, leaning her head against my shoulder. I felt the sadness coming off the girl in waves and wondered did the sound remind her of her parents' death?
Chapter 14
I let Nikki do most of the talking to the police. The two men focused all their attention on the injured man until I began to feel some of the guilt Nikki did. All I saw was judgement and condemnation in their faces and I had to remind myself that injured or not, this man had broken into my house and locked us in. He was not the victim.
The officers' initial suspicion faded once Nikki took them upstairs and showed them the room with the locks and the open window we had climbed out of. The sight of a man draped across the stairs, tied up and bleeding, did look incriminating, I supposed, but after questioning us all, they seemed satisfied Nikki and I were not violent criminals after all. The junior officer actually laughed at Nikki's description of banging on the wall and the man's subsequent fall. A stern look from his superior had him blank-faced and straightening in his seat, but I saw his mouth twitch just the same.
The EMTs, who arrived with the ambulance siren screaming, were efficient and professional. They seemed to think the city official was in no danger of dying anytime soon, telling the officers he would probably be available for questioning later that day. The figure on the stretcher gave a slight jerk at these words and the officers exchanged a telling look with the medics.
The four of us clustered on the porch, watching as they drove away. The officers, Jackson and Burton, had promised to fill us in once they spoke with the unconscious man.
“Wow,” Cassie said. “Running from a cult, buying a crazy bricked-up house with an unmentionables room and now a sneaky town historian running around causing mayhem. Your life is like an episode of Scooby-do. Dibs on Daphne. Adam, you can be Shaggy!”
Cassie laughed at her own wit and then flinched when both Nikki and Adam turned to glare at her. “Not funny, sis. I doubt life in a cult was like a cartoon.”
Cassie flushed and looked down. “No, I guess not.” She offered me a crooked grin, but her eyes were bleak. “That's me. . .inappropriate again.”
The depth of pain in her eyes shook me and I gave her a encouraging smile. “It's fine,” I said, shrugging as I tried to be offhand. “At least you take the attention off the weird cult girl. I feel much more normal standing next to you.”
Cassie stared at me for a long minute and then whopped with laughter. “You really are a psycho,” she told me, grinning.
Even Adam and Nikki were smiling now. My heart was warmed by their quick defense. I realized now that something inside Cassie was broken and my thinking shifted from victim to survivor. The trauma she had suffered had somehow made her more fragile than me, even with my history and this latest panic attack. That knowledge gave me a new strength. A purpose. I was not as damaged as I thought. I could recover. I could fight back and I would.
“Well,” Cassie said, breaking the moment, “We're all yours this afternoon. We got the electricity and water on at Adam's house and cleaned as best we could. I've ordered plywood and locks for my place. So, we figured we'd help out here for a bit and then take you to town if you needed to go.”
“Oh, we could get the lights on!” Nikki said, looking relieved.
Cassie and I both shook our heads. “There's no wiring for electricity,” I told her gently.
“Which was probably why only Abby was daft enough to bid!” Cassie added cheerfully.
Adam ran a hand though his dark hair and cleared his throat. I turned t
owards him, flushing slightly as those blur eyes met mine.
"There has to be something we can do to make it a little more comfortable for tonight,” he said determinedly.
I nodded. “I want to do something about the locks on that door. Oh, and move the bedroom furniture to the room next to mine.”
“Sounds doable,” Adam said. He flexed a muscle, making us all laugh.
“Lunch first,” Cassie said. “We brought Subway. Too bad if you don't like it!” She made a face at us, daring us to complain.
“I love Subway,” Nikki said dramatically. “And now. . .I love you!”
Cassie laughed and then ran off to get the bag from the car.
“Subway makes sandwiches,” Adam told me quietly, noticing my puzzlement.
I nodded. “We didn't eat out often at New Eden,” I said wryly. He gave me a quick grin. “We never ate out,” I explained patiently, seeing Nikki's surprise. “I was joking.”
“Oh.” Her puzzled frown cleared.
I turned to Adam. “I'd like to try and get the flashlight out the cistern. I know I may need to boil the water to use it, but a flashlight and batteried rusting in there won't help it any.”
“I can do that. I'm just glad I don't have to fish Cassie out,” he told me with a wink.
“Maybe we can toss the boards out the windows while he does that and get them out the way,” Nikki added, "and then all help with the furniture."
“What boards?” Cassie asked, climbing the stairs with a couple of see-through bags marked in big, yellow letters.
"We've been busy too,” I told her, proudly. “Nikki and I removed all the boards off the upstairs windows. Well. . .almost all. And Nikki did the last room by herself,” I added fairly.
“Yeah, but Abby was up at dawn clearing the back for a garden,” Nikki chimed in. “Oh, and we found some tools in the old shed out back!”
Cassie passed out sandwiches, and after hearing I had never had them before, insisted in cutting them all in fourths and letting me have a taste of each. The meatball was savory with tomato sauce and melted cheese, but the pepperoni and salami one, Adam's choice, was unlike anything I had had before.