After having freed their father from the twine and duct tape that had held him to the chair, Maria and Sara led him outside, where he would be able to get some fresh air to facilitate his recovery. The last thing he needed was to be surrounded by the mounds of deactivated gremlins, which would only serve to remind him of the dark period he had spent as a captive, helpless and at the mercy of those mischievous, misguided robots.
He walked stiffly as the blood was restored to his muscles, which had cramped up while he had been bound so tightly. With each step he took, he was working out the soreness and recovering his strength. Rubbing at his wrists to alleviate the irritation where his wrists had been taped, he rotated his head and stretched his neck, taking long, slow breaths.
To the surprise of the sisters, Double H was eager to tag along with her new acquaintances. She seemed invigorated by the excitement of the adventure, and quite pleased with her role in saving Chief Fresco from the horde of crazed mecha-monkeys. It was as if the experience had given her a newfound sense of purpose.
She had only hesitated a moment before crossing the threshold of the school’s front doors and stepping outside to follow the others. This was quite amazing, considering her long standing fear of the outdoors, and the anxieties which had forced her to remain in the safety of her home (however weird that particular home might be).
As the group stepped outside, they heard the birds singing in the treetops, celebrating the beauty of the late afternoon. There was still plenty of sunlight, and the skies were blue, sprinkled with sporadic clumps of clouds. Within the woods that surrounded the school, frogs croaked and crickets chirped. A light wind carried over the land, stirring the many plants and trees and flowers, creating a lovely bouquet of scents.
As Sara and Maria studied her, Double H took an exceedingly deep breath of air, as if savoring something so rare and delicious, one might call it priceless. She tilted her head to the sky, letting the sunshine fall upon her face, and she held her arms wide, as if to embrace all of the outdoors. The tail of her cape fluttered in the breeze, and as she finally exhaled the breath from her lungs, her face broke into a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
“Ahhh…” she sighed. “Fresh air. Oh, my. It’s been a very long time, indeed. I’d forgotten how wonderful it tastes.”
“And you seem to be holding yourself together pretty well,” Maria noted.
“Yeah, this is impressive,” Sara said. “If your anxiety disorders have truly prevented you from venturing outside for years, you’re handling this like a champ. You should be proud of yourself!”
Double H nodded slowly, and she beamed at the praise the girls had given her. “You know something? I think I’ve turned over a new leaf. That little adventure we just had really did something to me. It’s like… I don’t know how to describe it, exactly. If I could do something like that,” she said, hitching a thumb toward the school, “then I can do anything. There’s nothing for me to be afraid of out here, is there?”
“We’re pretty fond of the outdoors, ourselves,” Sara said. “You’ve been missing out on a whole lot, lady.”
“It all seems so silly now. Why did I stay cooped up for so long?” Double H wondered. “I could have gone out and obtained my own pizza, any time I pleased!”
“Uh… yes. Among many other things.” Maria shrugged. “Although pizza is as good of a place to start as any, I suppose.”
Chief Fresco cleared his throat and narrowed his eyes at Double H. “So… just to be clear… you are the so-called Phantom of the Auditorium, are you not?”
“That’s me!” Double H answered proudly. “Or, uh… that was me, anyway. I guess I can be anything I want, now that I’m not confined to the school.”
“Then I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you into custody, ma’am,” Chief Fresco said, pulling a pair of handcuffs from the back pocket of his jeans. “Make no mistake, I really appreciate you helping me out in there when those crazy little robots had me captive, but I can’t let your actions go unpunished. Your tomfoolery in the auditorium – and elsewhere in the school, I gather – will have to be answered for.”
There came a loud, grumbling noise, and Chief Fresco dropped into a wary crouch, searching the area for threats.
“What was that?” he asked. “Be careful, girls!”
Double H grinned and clutched at her belly. “Sorry - that’s just my stomach. I’m soooo hungry, you wouldn’t believe it. I certainly won’t mind going to the police station with you, as long as there’s some food there!”
The chief stood up from his crouch and cleared his throat, while his daughters tried to swallow their giggles. “Uh, sure. I’ll stop and pick up some sandwiches and candy bars on the way.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Double H exclaimed, her eyes growing misty at the very mention of food.
“Now please hold your arms in front of you so I can place you in handcuffs,” Chief Fresco said.
“Sure, no problem. No hard feelings here,” Double H said without hesitation, offering her hands.
She held her arms before herself, with her wrists close together. Chief Fresco stepped forward and applied the handcuffs, clicking them into place as the locking mechanisms engaged.
The chief had seldom had cause to use his handcuffs in his career as a lawman, for Hollow Oak was a rural, peaceful town with nearly zero crime. He made sure the cuffs weren’t too tight, so as not to hurt Double H’s wrists, for he was a compassionate man, and saw no need to make his prisoner uncomfortable.
Chief Fresco turned to his daughters. “The two of you should get back to baseball practice. How about a little normalcy in your lives, for a change?”
Sara smiled. “Sure, Dad.”
The sisters would be happy to resume practice and get to play outside with their friends. If there had been any downside to their current adventure, it was that they had missed most of practice already, which was a daily ritual they always looked forward to.
“We just need to go back in the school and grab our backpacks. We had to leave them behind in the service corridor near the furnace room, and our cleats and gloves are in there,” Maria explained.
“No!” the chief cried. “Do not go back in there!”
“But, Dad, the danger’s been resolved,” Sara assured him.
Chief Fresco shook his head firmly. “I’m not taking any chances. You two have been in more than enough risky situations as of late. I’m going to make sure Principal Funkmeyer and everybody else is out of the school, and then I’m going to lock it down until we can get the place cleaned up and make sure there’s no more robots – or other surprises, for that matter – hiding in there.”
The sisters giggled at their father, patting him affectionately on the shoulder.
“Haven’t we proven that we can take care of ourselves yet?” Maria asked.
“We did just save you, you know,” Sara pointed out. “And if we hadn’t disobeyed your orders and gone back in the school to look for you, who knows how things might have turned out?”
Chief Fresco fidgeted from foot to foot, readjusting his ball cap and running a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I realize that, girls. Believe me, I know you bailed me out of some very hot water back there.” Then, to the amazement of his daughters, he threw back his head and laughed, seemingly amused by his own contradictions. “Aw, who am I kidding? You two have more than proven that you know how to take care of yourselves. If you want to go grab your backpacks, go ahead.”
“Well, I have a question,” Double H said, interrupting the moment of bonding between father and daughters.
“Lady, you are in no position to be asking questions right now,” the chief told her.
“But won’t you be needing these, if you’re going to be taking me into custody?” Double H asked, her voice filled with mirth, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Chapter Thirty-Two
All the World’s a Stage
The Green Beans, Volume 5: The Phantom of the Auditorium Page 31