|
|
Kat and Ivy parked at the edge of the drive. They didn't want to alert the whole household. If they could sneak up to the house and then away without being seen, it would be all the better.
"Maybe I should go up, first," Ivy suggested.
Kat disagreed. "I can't let you do that. You're a minor. Plus, Lydia would kill me if she found out."
Ivy zipped up her coat and pulled down her hood. "It makes the most sense," she said. "Mikela owes me and Grant our deposit for the Bunny Party that she canceled. I'm just an upset customer asking for her money back. That's all."
Kat's left eyebrow peaked. "Yeah, in the middle of the storm of the year? I don't think so. Not in this online banking generation."
Kat had a point. But Ivy didn't know what else to do. "I want to see if Lydia is inside Mikela's place. Yes. That's our main purpose. But if Mikela really is afraid of her brother, like Serene's notes suggest, then she needs our help too."
Kat looked in the backseat of the Jeep. "We have just enough seatbelts for Penny and Lydia. That's it. We get them. We head back to the farm that we just passed and call for help. Then we help Mikela. How's that?"
Ivy sighed. There was no arguing with Kat. Though the less hovering of the three moms, Kat was also the most obstinate. Once she made up her mind, she rode her train of thought to its destination. No matter the outcome.
"Okay," Ivy said. "Then we go together."
Kat agreed. She secured her own rain gear and shut off the engine. "I'm leaving the Jeep unlocked and the keys under the seat. In case we get separated."
"And what if Tamas' baby gets stolen?"
Kat shrugged. "We'll worry about that later. Let's focus on getting Lydia back first."
“Sounds good,” Ivy said.
They stepped out of the tired Jeep and headed up the drive to the yellow house.
***
THOUGH SHE REALLY DIDN'T want any, Lydia allowed Penny to feed her some soup. Warmth flooded her body with each sip. This did two things: energized her weary mind and amplified how cold her skin felt. After a few deeper drinks, Lydia made Penny stop.
"Thanks," she whispered, the taste of tomato and basil coated her mouth. "But I don't think I should have any more. You finish it. It will pump you up for your next escape attempt."
"My what? No. I'm not leaving you again," Penny complained. "You tricked me the first time. But not this time. There's no way you're going to make it out of that window or up that ladder on your own."
Lydia agreed. She wasn't intending on trying to escape. She was going to wait for help or distract Mac long enough for Penny to get away.
"You don't have a choice. I still don't believe they're going to kill us. Especially if Buck has anything to say about it. He's on our side."
"How can you be so sure?”
"He cried when you said you were in foster care, too. He empathizes with you. That means he's going to protect you."
Penny scoffed at the suggestion. "Empathy can be faked. Used as manipulation."
"True," Lydia said. "But not by Buck. He has nothing to lose. Besides, I don't think he's capable of that big of a betrayal. Not after all he's been through."
Penny's bottom lip wavered. "How could anyone be so cruel to a child?"
Lydia didn't want to think about it. There was more cruelty in the world than ever saw the light of day. She could only handle the current tangle in front of her and strive to help more, later.
"Mac didn't say it was intentional," Lydia clarified. "It could've been a mistake. An accident."
Penny shot daggers from her eyes. They weren't directed at Lydia, only at her words. The real bad thoughts went out to people in Penny's past. "I've seen 'accidents' in foster care. They can happen in all kinds of creative and heinous ways."
Lydia didn't disagree, and she didn't argue. The farther down that track they traveled, the more unlikely they were to face their present situation.
Just as she was formulating a plan or two, the rope ladder started to sway. Buck's boots overtook the first rung and then the second.
Penny quickly downed the rest of the soup and screwed the cap in place. She hid the loaf of bread under the pillow on the cot, just in case they were trapped for longer than anticipated.
Buck's boots hit the dirt with a thud. He offered a warm greeting and carried another lantern with him. He placed it on an overturned box in the center of the room before strolling over to Penny and retrieving the thermos.
"What's going on, Buck?" Lydia asked, just as casually as if she'd asked what he'd been watching on television.
Buck responded just as coolly. His information came without judgment or weight. It was just a conversation. "Mac's moving your car behind the barn. That way, the police don't see it when they come looking for you."
Penny stifled a gasp. Lydia reached over and patted the girl's foot. She needed Penny to remain soft towards Buck. Stay on his good side and keep him from panicking.
"That's smart," Lydia said. "Then what's going to happen?"
Buck frowned as he thought over his words. "Mac says I shouldn't say. But I don't see what you can do to stop us."
"Stop you from what?"
"Getting away," Buck said. His bright eyes fell grave and sullen. "She says that the writer lady can't come find us anymore. But we still can't stay here. I wanted to live here, take care of Daddy's farm. But Mac says it's too dangerous."
Lydia processed Buck's words. He didn't seem to know that Serene had died. Mac must not have told him. As if she didn’t want her big brother to carry the burden of the writer’s death. That gave Lydia hope. Hope for Mac's heart. Hope for her abused brother. And hope that she and Penny would still make it out of this mess.
"That's too bad," Lydia commiserated with the tall man. "What about the zebra? Zoey, right?"
Buck beamed with pride. "Yes, Zoey," he said. "Mac found her after all the years we couldn't be with her."
"Was she part of the petting zoo?"
Buck nodded. "The best part. Who wouldn't want to pet a baby zebra? And I took care of her."
"You're taking care of her now, too?"
Again, Buck nodded. "But the trailer has a flat. I'm not sure we'll get to take her with us this time."
"Maybe in the van? If you tie her down and cushion it?"
Buck stared at the ceiling, thinking over the suggestion. The duel lanterns shot eerie streaks along his face making his scar all the more obvious and intimidating. Penny shot wild eyes at Lydia. Lydia silently shushed her co-captive.
Mac's voice called Buck. He jerked his head in response, searching for his sister. "I think she's in the barn," Lydia offered.
Buck scrambled up the ladder though it waved loosely in the air. The man was much stronger than he looked, and, to Lydia, he looked strong enough to pull the head off an elephant. The mental image gave her the chills.
Climbing the ladder the way he did, as quickly as he did, took core strength. Mac had helped her brother keep active instead of babysitting him with TV shows and junk food. That information exposed another soft patch in Mac's armor.
"Where's he going? Are they really just going to leave us here?" Penny asked. She wandered over to the still trembling ladder and looked up into the barn.
"Can you hear them talking?" Lydia asked.
"Barely." Penny strained to make out the words. She relayed it back to Lydia. "She's telling him to tie us up."
"Don't let him tie you up if you can help it," Lydia instructed.
Penny didn't think she'd have much of a choice. "What about you?" she asked. "You can't fight him off."
"I don't think Mac is going to waste much time with us. She's ready to leave. When she does, you can go get help," Lydia explained.
Penny was less than thrilled with the idea. She continued to listen, at the ladder, until two sets of footsteps stomped away from the barn.
"I think they've gone," Penny whispered.
"Good." Lydia smiled. "We have a few minutes to get you ready."
"Ready for what?"
"They left the ladder down. You're going out the way you came in. Hide in the barn until they leave if you're too nervous to try the car again."
"No way," Penny growled. "You must be crazy. There's no way they're going to be gone long enough for me to hide."
"You've got to try, Penny," Lydia encouraged "You can do this!"
Lydia's faith in disturbed the girl. Especially since she had so little faith in herself. She bit her tongue and gathered her supplies.
***
IVY AND KAT HUDDLED beneath the tiny front stoop. The loudest part of the storm was on a break, but the rain still splattered everything outside. Ivy knocked on the screen for the third time.
Kat had already looked in the windows. Ivy’s casual knocking was only for pretense. They were on a stakeout.
“I don’t think anyone is home,” Kat said.
“This is the address on the business card,” Ivy frowned. “Have we driven all this way just to arrive at the wrong place?” She was moments from crying.
Kat tried the doorknob, ignoring Ivy’s worried sentiment. The screen door opened easily. Kat gave the door a gentle, polite knock. She twisted the front doorknob. It too opened far easier than Kat had anticipated.
“Someone’s left in a hurry,” Kat said. She bolted into the small house without hesitation.
“What are you doing?” Ivy whispered from her place at the stoop.
“Looking for Lydia.” Kat rolled her eyes and beckoned Ivy to join her. “You don’t think her kidnapper just let her lounge on the couch, do you? If Lydia heard us knocking and ringing, she’s unable to shout out to us. Gagged and tied. Probably in a back room. Now, get in here and help me.”
Ivy stuttered at the door, but eventually joined Kat in the cozy house. Kat waited for Ivy to shut the front door before she took off to the kitchen. “Not in here,” Kat called. She rushed past Ivy, snagging her hand along the way.
Hurrying down the hallway, Kat and Ivy tiptoed as rainwater squished through the toes of their shoes and onto the carpet. There was no hiding the fact that they were trespassing. No covering their tracks. They were literally imprinted on the rug behind them.
Kat motioned to Ivy with a finger to her lips. Ivy nodded. Kat crashed through the door and into a bedroom. Drawers and clothes were scattered along the bed. Shoes were tossed around the room. “He’s planning a getaway.”
Ivy pointed out the obvious by holding up a floral skirt. “Except these are women’s clothes.”
Kat shrugged. “Could be like Norman Bates?”
Ivy shuddered. “I’m thinking this is Mikela’s.”
“That’s not surprising. I’m sure he’s forcing her to come with him,” Kat reasoned. “Next room.”
Following the same pattern of tiptoes, shushing, and bursting through the door, Kat and Ivy entered another room. It was just as disheveled as the first except the clothes were obviously a man’s. “Looks like you were right,” Kat said.
“One more room,” Ivy said.
Kat opened it more slowly than all the others. It was a bathroom. Kat ripped the shower curtain open and inspected every corner. “There’s no sign that Lydia’s been here. At all.”
Ivy pointed back down the hallway. “I saw another door off of the kitchen.”
“The backdoor? It was propped open.”
“No. It was on the other side of the room.” Ivy squished against the wall as Kat rushed past her to the very last chance to find Lydia.
This door was more secure. The sound of skittering was muffled but audible when Kat stuck her ear against the door. “Someone’s in here,” she told Ivy.
Ivy’s eyes widened. “Lydia? Lydia, we’re here!” She said in hushed whispers that were accompanied by hot and desperate tears. “Let us know if you can hear us.”
Kat heard more scuttling behind the door. “She must be unable to speak. Help me find a way to bust in.”
Ivy hurried to the kitchen. She pulled drawers from their runners and dug through the cabinets. First, she scored a screwdriver. Then on her return to Kat, she spotted a keyring on a shabby chic rack. Three keyrings dangled from their hooks. One was obviously to a tractor or some sort of farming machinery. Ivy ignored that one and brought the other two rings to Kat.
"Which do you want first?" She held out her plunder.
"Let's try the keys. It'll take forever to undo the hinges." Kat scooped up the keyring that hosted three keys. Quickly she stuck one into the lock, but it wouldn't turn. She flicked through the ring to the next. It wouldn't fit in the lock at all. The third one was a duplicate of the first.
"Next," Kat commanded. She tossed the useless keys to the floor and ripped the next bunch from Ivy's palm. A crudely copied, sharp key sliced a thin cut across Ivy's skin.
"Ouch," she whined before shoving her injury to her mouth and sucking on it instinctively.
"Sorry," Kat said. She fit the first key into the lock before she asked, "Is it bad?"
"No, just a scratch. Turn it."
Kat turned the key in the lock. The doorknob clicked. Ivy bit her lip in anticipation. Kat creaked open the door and came face to face with the last thing she’d expected to see.
“Bunnies?” Kat questioned. “Who has a room full of bunnies?”
Ivy smiled in spite of herself. They were cute. Sleeping in bundles in open and fluff-filled cages, the bunnies barely acknowledged the intruders. A few long ears flicked and spun, listening for the hint of a threat. But none moved from their cozy beds.
Kat closed the door. Frustrated and running out of ideas, she ran her hands through her hair and stomped her foot.
“A locked door of bunnies. I was so sure. So sure, Lydia and Penny would be right there,” Kat groused.
Ivy paced, thinking things through. She stood at the opened back door, squinting through the screen out into the muddy pasture. “Did you hear that?”
Kat fumed behind her in the living room. “I don’t hear anything.”
“No, listen!” Ivy said, she opened the back screen and stuck her head outside. “You can’t hear that?”
“No,” Kat whispered, straining to hear.
“It’s windchimes!”
Kat blinked at Ivy before registering what she was implying. “Like Lydia’s call?’
“I think so.” Ivy paused to concentrate. “They’re coming from way over there.” She pointed to a barn off to the left, amazed that the storm had let up enough that she could hear the chimes over the rain.
“C’mon,” Kat said. “We’ll drive over.”
Ivy pulled the screen closed. And followed Kat out the front door.