by R. J. Parker
When Maisie reached eighteen, Lily heaved up the heavy lid of the freezer and took a step back. The action wafted the cold mist and she peered through it at what was inside. As the cloud dispersed Lily was relieved to see that one half of it was stacked with bags of veg and meat and the other half contained large bottles of frozen milk.
‘Coming!’ Maisie entered through the door.
Lily didn’t turn.
‘Wow.’ Maisie peered at the packed chest freezer.
How deep was it? How much milk was that and how many meals were contained within it and stored behind her?
‘Is this all for us?’
Lily nodded grimly. There was enough food to survive here for months and months and that revelation made Lily’s legs tremble beneath her.
‘Choca-Pops!’ Maisie pointed to the logo on one of the boxes. ‘Can I get all the free toys?’
‘No,’ Lily answered absently.
‘But there must be boxes and boxes here. Please can we get the toys out of each one?’
‘No.’
‘Please …’ Maisie entreated.
Lily turned to her. ‘I said no.’ But she said it too sharply.
Maisie blanched.
‘These are not ours. They belong to the scary man.’ She still couldn’t keep the harshness from her voice.
Maisie shook her head, not understanding. ‘Aren’t you glad we won’t be hungry?’
‘Yes, of course.’ She couldn’t tell Maisie what the room meant. That their captors intended them to be prisoners for a very long time to come. And what would happen when the food ran out? Would they simply lock the door again and restock?
‘I thought you’d be happy.’ Maisie’s face prepared for tears.
‘It’s good we’ve got food.’ She knelt and gave Maisie a hug. ‘Come on now. It is good.’ She put her hands on her shoulders. ‘But it belongs to him.’ Lily wanted to say that they wouldn’t need the food because they weren’t going to stay one second longer than they needed to. But they were probably listening. ‘We only take what we need.’
Maisie breathed in unsteadily.
‘We still have enough food in the kitchen for the moment, so we don’t need to come in here.’ How had they opened the door? She hadn’t heard the front door close behind them. Was there a hidden door to this room and was that how they’d brought Maisie back?
‘I want some Choca-Pops.’
‘We’ve already got another box of cereal open.’
‘But they’re there.’ Maisie pointed, as if Lily hadn’t seen them.
‘Finish the first box of cereal.’
‘But there’s so many here. Just one, so I can have the toy.’
After all that Maisie had been through Lily almost felt tempted to rip open the box and pull out all the toys she wanted. But she wasn’t about to accept anything from the people who had taken her. ‘You’re not to come back in here without me, OK?’
Maisie lifted her shoulders and sighed, her eyes on the navy blue carpet.
‘OK? I need a promise.’
She nodded. ‘I promise.’
‘We don’t know if the scary man might be hiding amongst these boxes.’
Maisie looked suddenly alarmed.
Lily felt a pang of guilt. But if it meant Maisie wouldn’t be tempted to go in there the tactic was justified.
‘I want to go now.’ Maisie wriggled on the spot.
‘Come on then.’ Lily stood and let Maisie slip around the door first.
Maisie waited for her in the hallway. ‘We should close it.’
‘Good idea.’ Lily pushed the door shut.
‘And lock it.’
‘I can’t.’ Lily pointed at the keyhole. ‘No key.’
Maisie seemed troubled. ‘How did they lock it?’
She didn’t want Maisie to have the same thought process as she had about hidden access. ‘We’ll look for the key. It must be here somewhere. Then we can lock it ourselves. Breakfast first though.’
Maisie turned over what she’d been told and knew she’d been fobbed off. ‘Shall we try to break the window again?’
‘No, we can’t do that. We have to behave. I’ve promised,’ Lily said for the benefit of the camera over the kitchen doorway.
‘If we’re not going to do anything … how are we going to get out of here?’
‘By behaving ourselves.’ She turned her back to the camera and winked at Maisie.
Maisie smiled briefly, pleased to be part of Lily’s subterfuge. ‘Yes, we’ll be on our very best behaviour,’ she said a little too affectedly.
Lily widened her eyes at Maisie. ‘Breakfast then.’ She turned and walked to the kitchen, deciding to look briefly up at the camera. It would be unnatural for her to stop doing so and she didn’t want to give the impression that they really had been performing for the camera’s sake.
She would speak to Maisie tonight about being natural when they were back at the tap. But she realised that planning to do so meant she’d already accepted that they were spending another night there.
Chapter 38
Maisie ate little of her cereal, and Lily just made herself a cup of coffee. She completely filled the kettle and left the remaining water to cool to give to Maisie to drink later. They had no choice but to use the tap and Lily acknowledged that their captors could put whatever they wanted into the supply. Although seeing the storeroom had been a shocking illustration of just how long it looked like she and Maisie were going to be captives, it was also reassuring. The amount of supplies indicated their captors’ obvious desire for them to remain alive.
Lily drank a large mug of black instant Colombian. Maybe she should do a cup every couple of hours. She’d be buzzing but it would keep her awake and she was determined to change her sleeping patterns. Some people she knew managed on only a few hours a night. But would it make any difference? If the man or woman wanted to enter they only had to wait for Lily to fall asleep, at whatever time and however briefly it was. She would learn to sleep light but she was still convinced she’d been drugged the night Maisie had been taken.
‘What shall we do now?’ Maisie was staring into her full cereal bowl.
Lily glanced at her cracked phone on the table. It wasn’t even five in the morning. ‘How about some crafts?’
Maisie frowned deeply.
‘Come on. There’s no TV. Let’s make something.’
‘OK.’ She didn’t sound very enthused.
But Lily was considering another idea. Something that would tell them for sure if the storeroom was definitely the way they were getting in. ‘Let’s use these old magazines.’ She picked up a stack from inside the recycle container and flicked through them. An identical selection to the old glossy supplements at home.
Maisie came around to her side of the table. ‘What shall we make then?’
‘Have you heard of a mood board?’
Maisie shook her head.
‘It’s a collection of images that sum up an idea or the way you’re feeling about something.’
Maisie seemed to like the idea. ‘I get it.’
‘Why don’t you go through these and find the pictures you like. Then we’ll cut out the ones that best fit your mood.’
Maisie accepted them from her and started leafing through them.
‘You do that, and I’ll find the scissors and Sellotape.’
Maisie nodded, already distracted by the task at hand.
Lily rose from the table, went to the drawer and rummaged around until she’d found both. Then she sat back down with Maisie and helped her select the images.
‘I like this one.’
It was a photo of a chimpanzee screaming.
‘Yes, I’d pick that too. Cut it out then.’ She handed Maisie the scissors. ‘We’ll use this as a board.’ Lily pulled the bag of cereal out of its box and handed it to her.
After Maisie had found enough images Lily got her to cut up the box and they used the front panel to stick the pictures on. As well as the chimp there was a mush
room cloud, a man from an indigestion pill ad with arrows in his stomach, a frightening enlargement of a bedbug, a window from a double glazing ad, Bela Lugosi as Dracula with his black cape around a female victim and a cupid angel with a bow and arrow surrounded by hearts.
Lily pulled strips of Sellotape, bit them off and stuck them to the leg of the kitchen table. ‘So, tell me what they mean. How about the man with the bad tummy?’
‘That’s how I feel. Like it’s all full of butterflies.’
Lily nodded. ‘Good. And we know what that window is.’ She made sure she pulled off a couple of strips more than they had pictures. ‘What’s that?’ She pointed to the bedbug.
‘That’s how I feel too. Icky.’
Lily had expected it to be the scary man.
‘The chimp too. The chimp’s screaming.’
‘Do you feel like screaming?’
Maisie nodded.
‘And what about him?’ She pointed to Bela Lugosi.
‘That’s you.’
Lily was taken aback. ‘Me?’
Maisie registered her reaction. ‘You’re protecting me, like he’s protecting her.’ She indicated the female victim.
Of course, Maisie had no real idea who Dracula was. ‘Is that not me?’ Lily pointed at cupid.
‘That’s the lady.’
Now she really didn’t understand. ‘The lady upstairs?’
‘Yes.’
‘But you didn’t see her.’
‘That’s what I think she looks like.’
‘You think she’s a nice lady?’
‘I think she is,’ Maisie declared earnestly.
‘Did you think that when you heard her voice?’
Maisie considered that and then pouted. ‘Not really.’
Lily thought about it. Maisie hadn’t even found a picture to represent the scary man. He was obviously somebody she didn’t want to contemplate and, after her ordeal, Lily could see why she was so desperate to believe that one of the people holding them was the polar opposite.
‘But I don’t think she’ll let the scary man harm us. She wanted him to show us the storeroom.’
Lily nodded. Indeed, she wanted the scary man to show them and leave them in no doubt that they weren’t going anywhere else now or even in the distant future. Was that honesty or sadism?
Chapter 39
As Maisie finished sticking her cut-outs to the mood board with the Sellotape lengths Lily unrolled more, bit them off and stuck them to the leg of the table. By the time they were finished she had plenty left there for what she needed to do. She leaned forward and furtively pulled four of the lengths off and fixed them to the back of her hand. Moments later the last picture was attached to the cardboard. ‘That looks great. Think of where you’d like to hang it. I’m just going to the bathroom.’
Maisie nodded distractedly and took in her handiwork.
When Lily got in there, she went to the bathroom cabinet and pretended to be looking for something. She glanced up at the grill in the wall above. If there was a camera there, she was in a blind spot below.
She quickly pulled a hair from her head, unpeeled a piece of Sellotape from the back of her hand and stuck it to one end of it. She ripped off another and fixed it to the other end. She pulled another hair out and repeated the process. She stuck the hairs to the palm of her right hand, took the canister of painkillers out of the cabinet and closed the door.
Lily left the bathroom and returned to the door of the storeroom.
‘What are you doing?’ Maisie called out from the kitchen.
‘Just making sure this door is closed properly.’ Lily pushed on the handle for the sake of the camera in the hallway and then leaned against the panel as if listening. As she did so, she fixed the hair across the edge of the door with the Sellotape. It was something she’d seen in an old detective movie. If the hair was broken she’d know they’d opened the storeroom door to get in.
Lily went to the front door and repeated the process. If neither hairs got broken and they still got inside, she’d know there was another entrance.
‘What are you doing now?’ Maisie had wandered into the hallway.
Lily didn’t want her asking questions about the Sellotape. ‘Don’t come near these doors. Back to the kitchen.’
Maisie regarded her suspiciously but turned on her heel and walked back.
Lily paused outside the storeroom door and listened again for effect before following her there.
‘Can we put it on that wall?’ Maisie was holding the mood board and pointed to the area beside the sink.
‘Sure.’ Lily pulled another piece of Sellotape off the leg of the table and fixed the mood board to the plaster. ‘How’s that look?’
Maisie nodded, as if she were satisfied.
Lily took in the board with its collection of disparate images. It was a unique addition. Now the kitchen had something that didn’t tally with their real one. How else would their surroundings change in comparison to their real home before they were freed? If they were ever freed.
‘You’ve gone very quiet.’ Maisie sounded worried.
Lily shook away the thought. ‘Just admiring it.’ She unstuck the Sellotape and hung it straighter to sell the lie. ‘There.’
‘Can we open the blind now?’
‘It’s still dark outside.’
‘But it’ll be light soon.’
‘Just leave it for now.’
‘Are you scared if we open it the scary man will take me again?’
‘There’s just no point at the moment.’ But that’s exactly what she was afraid of. Would she deprive them of their only source of natural light because of what had happened?
‘As long as we close it again …’
‘But it’s still dark.’
‘But it’s morning, not night.’
‘Somebody could still see the light. And that’s what we’re not allowed to do.’ Lily hoped he or she was listening. ‘You’re not to touch it. Under any circumstances.’
‘I get it.’ Maisie sounded despondent.
‘Why don’t we make our own window?’ Lily suggested.
‘What do you mean?’
‘We’ve got more cardboard. Why don’t you draw one so we can stick it to the wall? You can put whatever you want as a view.’
‘Like our garden?’
‘Yes.’
‘That’s a silly idea.’
‘Why?
‘We won’t get any light through it.’
‘You can draw a beautiful day, with all the flowers blooming. That’ll brighten us up.’
Maisie returned to the kitchen table but started tidying up all the paper.
‘Have a think about it. You’re so good at drawing.’
‘Maybe another day,’ Maisie replied, like Lily often did when she wanted to let Maisie down gently.
‘I’d really like to see what you’d come up with.’ She needed to distract Maisie. What were they going to do next? The day hadn’t even started.
But Maisie suddenly clutched her stomach and bent over.
‘What’s wrong?’ Lily rushed to her.
‘It hurts.’ Maisie let out a sigh of pain. ‘Really hurts.’
‘Sit down a moment.’ Lily lifted her onto her chair.
Maisie shook her head. ‘I don’t feel very well.’
‘Where’s the pain, high up or low down here?’ Lily pointed to her stomach.
But Maisie doubled over again.
Chapter 40
Lily knew they couldn’t call an ambulance or doctor. Would their captors help them? ‘OK, try to be calm,’ she said to herself as well as Maisie.
‘It’s getting worse.’ Maisie wriggled in the chair.
‘When did this start?’
‘Only just now.’
Was it the cereal? But it seemed odd that they would try to poison Maisie. Lily still didn’t know what the motives of their captors were, however. Did they just delight in torturing them?
‘I feel sick.’
‘OK, let’s get you to the bathroom.’ But it was then it occurred to her that it could be Maisie play-acting. That was what they’d agreed she should say if she wanted to have a private conversation. ‘You really do feel sick?’ She met Maisie’s eye and she nodded, but there was also mischief in her glance.
‘Yes.’ Maisie got down from the chair and headed out of the kitchen.
Lily felt anger at Maisie having alarmed her. She’d never feigned illness like this before, but she realised that this was probably a deceit game she hadn’t wanted to miss out on. ‘I’m right behind you.’
Maisie ran the tap as Lily walked into the bathroom.
‘Lean over the sink.’ Lily knelt beside her.
Maisie did as she was told.
Lily pulled her hair from her face. ‘OK?’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘Are you pretending?’
Maisie turned to her and smiled.
Lily’s relief escaped in a breath. ‘I said you were only to use that fib if you really needed to talk, in an emergency.’
‘This is an emergency.’ Maisie sucked on the column of water from the tap and spat it out.
‘What do you need to talk about?’
‘I think that if we hear someone outside again and need to look out of the blind, you should pretend you want to talk to the scary man in one of the other rooms while I have a look.’
‘No,’ Lily said as firmly but as quietly as she could.
‘But if they’re too busy watching you I’ll be able to peep.’
Lily tried not to be too annoyed with her. ‘I know you’re trying to help but we can’t risk that.’
‘Why not?’
‘You said you heard two of them. They’re probably both watching us and can see what we’re doing, even if we’re in different rooms.’
‘But I could be really quick.’
‘No. OK? You know what happened the last time we looked out of the window.’
‘That’s because you tried to smash it.’
‘Do you really want to go upstairs again?’
Maisie shook her head once.
‘Do you want to sit on that stool again?’ She didn’t want to remind her of what she’d been through, but Lily had to make sure she understood.
Maisie’s expression became stern and suddenly she seemed much older than her five years. ‘You said you wouldn’t let that happen.’