Underdogs

by Jack Fiske

  “I know,” Susan agreed. “I’ll just have to be as quiet as I can and hope that nobody hears. Anyway, if we do manage it, when we get into the loft I don’t know what we’ll find. If there are floorboards above the ceiling, we won’t be able to get out at all. I don’t think there are though, because I rolled up a piece of paper and pushed it through the hole where the pipes are and I couldn’t feel anything. That means you’ll need to be careful when we get up there and just stand on the rafters, otherwise your foot will go through. Will you manage?”

  “No problem.” Millie nodded. “I’ve been in the loft with Dad and you just need to put your feet on the wood.”

  “Good. Remember it will be dark, but I’ve got a little torch on my key ring that will give us enough light to see by.”

  Susan didn’t want to shake her daughter’s confidence, but she thought she should at least mention one of Millie’s phobias, so that she was prepared.

  “There might be cobwebs and one or two spiders up there. Are you brave enough to ignore them?”

  Millie nodded with a look of determination on her face.

  “Good. Now if there’s a skylight or a way out, we’ll get out onto the roof and jump down at the back of the building. If not, we’ll look for a hatch to get down into another room.”

  “What if there isn’t either?” Millie asked.

  “If there isn’t, then we’ll just have to get as far away as we can up there and then break through the ceiling again to get out. If we do that, we’ll make a small hole first to see what’s in the room below. If we do get out, I don’t want you to run unless it’s really necessary. We just walk away as quietly as possible and even if someone sees us, we pretend that we are just going about our normal business. If it’s dark, it will be hard to tell who we are. Be ready though, because if anyone shouts to raise the alarm, or chases after us, you’ll need to run as fast as you can. What do you think? Will you manage?”

  Millie nodded again.

  Susan squeezed her hand reassuringly. “We’ll probably be back with Daddy again by tomorrow morning.”

  Millie turned towards her and gave her a big hug, burying her face in her side. Susan put an arm round her, realising that the reality was probably sinking in, rather than it seeming just like an exciting game.

  They lay on the bed like that for most of the afternoon. Susan found a play on the radio, which helped to pass the time and after an hour or so Millie did fall asleep. Susan shut her eyes and tried to sleep herself, but she was too wound up. With luck, adrenalin would keep her wide awake when the time came to put their plan into action.

  Despite her nerves, Susan must eventually have dozed off, as they were both woken by a knock on the door. Susan jumped up immediately, looking around the room in panic for the evidence that they were planning to escape, her heart pounding, until fully awake, she realised that they’d only been planning it and hadn’t actually done anything.

  There was another louder and more insistent knock at the door and Susan shouted, “Come in!” as she sat back down on the edge of the bed. A key turned in the lock and the door was pushed open by the same masked men who had delivered their breakfast that morning. Susan checked her watch – 7.00 p.m. That was good. They had both been asleep for a couple of hours.

  One of the men stood guarding the door whilst the other came in and put his tray down on the small table. Susan was careful to keep away from the door and the man who had pushed her earlier, but she did walk over and sit down on the tattered settee, from where she could see more of what lay beyond their prison door. Immediately outside was a small hallway, with a door opposite and a second more substantial door to the right which, having a doormat in front of it, must lead to the outside. Both doors were closed and possibly locked, although Susan could only guess at that.

  Having left his tray, the masked man rejoined his colleague who stood aside to let him pass and then closed the door behind them. Susan quickly stepped over to the door and listened. A key was turned in the lock and the bolts were thrown as usual. She put a finger to her lips to tell Millie not to make any noise and then pressed her ear to the wood. Beyond, she could hear the end of the men’s conversation, “ . . . and I’ll be back in an hour or so to take over for the night.”

  A key turned in the outer door and one man must have stepped outside, before it closed once more and she heard the inner door bang as the second man went back to the room beyond. Susan cursed silently to herself. She hadn’t been able to hear whether the front door had been locked again or not. She moved away from her position by the door in case their remaining captor could see her on camera and considered her plan. It seemed likely that only one man was in the building with them and that a second arrived with the food. From the conversation, it also sounded as if the shift was due to change at eight and that the second man would be there on his own overnight. With any luck, he would either be asleep at one in the morning, or not particularly alert, which would give them the best chance of escape. What still annoyed her was her inability to hear if the front door had been locked. That could make a big difference if they were able to get into the hallway beyond the bolted door.

  Susan turned her attention to the tray that had been left on the coffee table. There was the now familiar flask of tea, two apples, two bananas and a package wrapped in newspaper, which had the unmistakable smell of fish and chips.

  “Oooh. Fish and chips!” Millie exclaimed enthusiastically. Fish and chips were Millie’s favourite and Susan had to laugh at the way she immediately brightened up.

  “Can I eat them out of the paper?”

  “Go on then,” Susan agreed. “But make sure you wash your hands first.”

  Millie ran to the bathroom and Susan opened the paper package, putting one portion onto a plate for herself and leaving the other in the paper for Millie. The food today had been completely different. Yesterday they’d been given a properly cooked meal and she’d had the impression that it had been prepared for more than just the two of them. By contrast, today’s food had been cereal, cold sandwiches and now fish and chips. If they were lucky, that could mean there were less people to be fed today, improving their chances of escape. Although, she supposed, it could just as easily mean that the cook had a day off. Susan put the thought out of her head and cut into the large battered haddock that lay on her plate. Like her daughter, it was also one of her favourites.

  By seven-thirty, both of them had finished eating and Susan put the dirty plate and greasy wrapping paper on the tray to await collection. Although the radio was one of the things that relieved the boredom of being cooped up, Susan had deliberately turned it off whilst they waited for the return of the second guard at eight. Sitting on the settee by the door, Susan glanced at a magazine whilst she kept an eye on her watch and listened for any sound from outside. Millie sat next to her on the floor, drawing a picture of a tree on a piece of paper.

  Just before eight, they heard the noise of footsteps outside and they both held their breath, straining to hear if the outer door would be unlocked. The footsteps stopped, there was the sound of a handle being turned and the front door opened with a slight squeak of its hinges, as the newcomer stepped inside and let it bang shut behind him. Again Susan waited for the sound of a key in the lock, but there was none. The door opposite their own opened and closed and they could hear muffled voices from the room beyond.

  Millie turned to Susan and whispered, “I didn’t hear it being locked.”

  “No,” Susan agreed. “Keep listening until they come in for the plates.”

  Millie went back to her drawing and five minutes later, there was a knock on the door. The two men entered and collected their dishes. As the door was closed and bolted once more, the two sat silently, listening for any noise from outside, until the second man had left and the front door banged behind him.

  “Well?” Susan asked. “What do you think?”

  “I still didn’t hear him lock the door,” Millie said.

  “
No, neither did I,” Susan agreed.

  Susan put an arm round her daughter’s shoulders. “Right, what do you want to do before we go to bed?”

  Millie was happy to continue drawing, so Susan settled down on the bed to try and relax for an hour or two. The noise of a television set, or was it a radio, could be heard faintly from the other room and she thought to herself that it would be a good indication as to whether their guard was going to be up all night, or whether he planned to get any sleep.

  Just after nine-thirty, Millie got ready for bed and settled down on the settee with a blanket over her. Susan wasn’t going to insist that she tried to sleep and said that she could read if she wanted to.

  By ten-thirty, Millie’s eyes were shut and the magazine that she’d taken was lying on her shoulder. Susan got up and gently removed it before covering her up with the blanket and lifting her head, so that she could put a pillow beneath it. Millie was still fully dressed apart from her shoes and Susan put those on the floor beside her where she could just slip them on. The noise of the television could still be heard faintly from the other room and Susan decided she should get ready for bed herself. Mainly for the benefit of the cameras, she went through the routine of washing, cleaning her teeth and undressing down to her underwear and then climbed into the bed, which squeaked loudly as the old springs took her weight. She’d need to be careful of that, she reminded herself, although she doubted whether the noise would carry very far.

  At eleven-thirty-five, the noise of the television set next door stopped and she could hear someone moving about, before everything eventually fell silent. Susan had been worried that she might fall asleep herself whilst she waited for the hours to pass, but she found that the anticipation of what lay ahead kept her wide awake.

  By twelve-thirty, here hadn’t been a sound for some time and Susan was sure that whoever it was next door was asleep. The minutes ticked by until her watch read one o’clock and she started to watch the small red light on the camera above the door. On . . . off . . . on . . . off . . . . The light seemed to say “now . . . no wait – now!” Susan counted as the light blinked out and had got up to twenty-seven before it winked back on again. She toyed with the idea of trying to move around only whilst the light was out, then rejected the idea. It wouldn’t work. They would just have to rely on no one being on watch at the other end.

  Slipping quietly out of bed, she dressed and went over to the settee. Putting a hand over Millie’s mouth, she shook her gently until her eyes opened and she could see that she was properly awake.

  “Are you ready?” she whispered.

  “Yes,” Millie whispered back.

  Susan leaned forward. “There haven’t been any noises for over an hour. You take over listening and if you hear anything let me know.”

  Millie nodded and sat up so that she could lean closer to the door.

  “No, lie down.” Susan instructed. “If anyone does look at the picture from that camera, I want the room to look completely normal.”

  “O.k.” Millie slipped back under the blanket.

  “Keep your fingers crossed,” Susan whispered, as she squeezed Millie’s hand and kissed her on the forehead. Standing up, she stepped over to the door and put one ear against the wood. There was absolutely no sound from the building beyond. She gave Millie a brief thumbs up and then walked quietly over to the bed, where she slipped the pillowcase off her pillow and put the pillow itself under the blankets, so that from a distance it looked as if there was still someone in bed. After a glance around the room, she picked up her bag and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  There was a little more light in the bathroom. The moon was up and illuminated this side of the building. Susan sat down on the toilet and watched the camera. The indicator light winked on and off and just like the camera in the other room, there was a twenty-seven second gap. She waited for the light to go out once more and then stood up so that she was silhouetted against the bathroom window. Reaching up, she closed the small hopper at the top of the frame, trapping the empty pillowcase so that it hung down, completely covering the glass. Susan sat down again as she continued counting . . . 24 . . . 25 . . . 26 . . . . The light winked back on and she waited to see if there would be any reaction. The room was now significantly darker and hopefully, closing the window would prevent any noise from carrying too far. The question was, whether anyone had been watching and if so, whether they would see any change on the picture from the bathroom camera. After a good ten minutes, Susan crept back into the main room.

  “Any noises?” she asked.

  “No, nothing,” Millie whispered.

  “O.k. I’m going to start then.”

  Susan retraced her steps and closed the bathroom door once more. She had already decided how to tackle the ceiling. Taking a metal nail file from her bag, she bent over the toilet cistern and started to turn the small screw that was set into the bottom of the handle. A few minutes later, the screw dropped into her hand and she was able to slide the metal handle off its post.

  So far so good.

  Standing on the edge of the bath, Susan could reach the ceiling easily and was able to jam one end of the handle into the hole in the plasterboard where the pipes came through. It took her a little while to get enough leverage on it, but then there was a sharp cracking noise and a small piece of plasterboard broke away. Susan held her breath. The noise had sounded very loud and she wondered how far it had carried. She waited for a few moments and then, when Millie didn’t raise the alarm, she returned to the task. Now that there was a bigger hole, Susan found that she could nibble away at the edges without making quite so much noise. It was hard work, but after ten minutes the hole was large enough to get a hand through. Stepping up and into the sink enabled Susan to put her arm through up to her elbow, so that she could feel what lay beyond. To her relief, there were no floorboards above and she could feel the rafters on either side and a gap in between, which seemed wide enough for them to get through. Withdrawing her arm, she stepped down onto the edge of the bath and continued to chip away at the hole. Eventually, the space was wide enough for her shoulders to pass through and taking the small torch from her key ring, she stepped into the sink once more and put her head through, so that she could see into the roof space.

  The light from the small torch was starting to fade from too much use, but she could still see a few feet in either direction. Above her, the roof sloped upwards at an angle of forty five degrees and she was disappointed to see that the tiles had been laid over solid boards.

  The rafters disappeared into the darkness on either side and there was no light at all, which suggested there wouldn’t be a skylight, otherwise some trace of moonlight would have found its way through.

  As she lowered herself to the edge of the bath, Millie’s head appeared around the bathroom door.

  “Mum, there’s a car coming.”

  Susan stepped down to the floor and quickly ushered Millie back to the other room.

  “Quick, back into bed and pretend that you’re asleep.”

  They both moved as quietly as possible and were back in bed before a car’s headlights washed across the window and the car itself stopped a short distance from the front of the building. Doors slammed and two or three people got out. Susan could hear their voices, but not loudly enough to hear the conversation. Another door opened and closed in the distance and there was silence once more.

  Millie’s head lifted from her pillow and looked in her direction. Susan waited until the red light on the camera winked out and then slipped out of bed to join her by the settee.

  “Did you hear anything next door?” she asked.

  “No nothing,” Millie replied. “Just the car.”

  “O.k. then. We’ll wait for half an hour and if it’s still quiet, we’ll try again. The hole in the bathroom ceiling is nearly big enough.”

  Susan would have liked to wait a little longer, but they couldn’t leave it too long, in case they lost the co
ver of darkness. Also, there was now a large hole in the bathroom ceiling and if they didn’t try to escape tonight, it would be discovered first thing in the morning.

  There were no more noises from outside during the next half hour, so after checking with Millie that she was ready, they both made their way quietly to the bathroom.

  TEN

  Standing beneath the hole in the ceiling, Susan gave her key ring torch to Millie, explained what she wanted her to do and then stepped up onto the edge of the bath. As instructed, Millie stepped up behind her, up onto the sink and then, after reaching through the hole to get a grip on the rafters, she put her foot onto Susan’s shoulder and got a boost up and through the hole. The manoeuvre was completed surprisingly quietly and Susan hoped that she could do the same. She stepped into the sink herself, pushed her head and shoulders through the hole and heaved herself upwards. Her legs flailed wildly for a second or two, before she too was through and kneeling on the rafters in the loft space above. They both waited for a moment or two, holding their breath and listening for any sound from below, but thankfully everything remained silent.

  “O.k. let’s go,” Susan instructed. “Follow me and be careful where you stand.”

  Following the outside wall, they walked along the edge of the loft space for several yards, before hitting a brick wall. They then turned to follow this, taking them back towards and then past the centre of the building, until they eventually stopped at a sloping roof which, Susan reasoned, must mark the front of the building. She stopped for a moment to check that Millie, who was following carefully in her footsteps, was still alright. So far, they had crossed the bathroom ceiling and the ceiling of the room where they were being held and she was sure that they now stood immediately above the window at the front of that room. If they continued along the front wall, she hoped they would cross above the bolted door and into a new part of the building. Mentally keeping her fingers crossed, Susan stepped from rafter to rafter, leading Millie in that direction, until they encountered another brick wall, above the point where the bolted door would have been in the room below.