CHAPTER 32
The first week in May marked our ninth month anniversary of coming to Rayne Manor. It had been a couple of weeks since mother’s last visit and the season had changed to spring. With the warmer weather, Will decided we all needed to get some fresh air to put some color back in our flesh.
One day during the twins’ school ‘recess’, Will lifted one of the attic windows and brought over a blanket. “Guys, we’re getting some air.” He went out onto the roof and spread the blanket out over the black slate. “We need to put some color into our cheeks. We’re all too pale.” He said coming back in from outside.
Dawn was concerned as usual. “What if grandmother sees us?”
Will came over to her and ruffled her hair. “She won’t. There’s a chimney that comes up so it will hide us. Unless we’re standing straight up and someone is specifically looking up from the right side of the house, we’ll be hidden from anyone’s view.”
I agreed with Will. “We need to get out of here. We need to breath in something besides stale air.” I said rummaging through a trunk looking for some shorts or bathing suits. Finding some shorts for Connor and Will, a one-piece bathing suit for Dawn and a bikini for me, Dawn and I went downstairs to change in the bathroom while Connor and Will stayed in the attic.
When we came back up, Will and Connor were already outside lying in the warm May sun in just the shorts I had found. “Will, move over. I want to be next to Connor.” Dawn said as she crawled out onto the roof. Will moved over more into the middle of the blanket so Dawn could slide in between him and her twin. “Thank you.” She said as she settled in.
“You’re welcome.” Will replied as he eyed me coming up beside him in the red bathing suit I had on. The bikini was one of those little string ones that were so popular in the late seventies, with the triangle patches to cover the breasts and the ties at the side of the hips to hold together the cloth covering the lower half. I felt like Farrah Fawcett in ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and blushed at the look on Will’s face. He ogled my body openly, hungrily and then turned his head as Dawn asked him a question. “What?” He asked, not having heard her since he was watching me.
“I said do you want to play the cloud game with us?” She asked exasperated that she had to repeat herself.
“What’s that?” Will asked as I lay down next to him. The sun felt so good on my skin.
“It’s when you find shapes in the clouds.” Dawn replied. “Like see that one there?” She asked pointing up to the blue sky to a fluffy cloud passing overhead. “I think it looks like a bunny.”
“I don’t see it.” Will replied squinting at the sky.
“Sure you do. Those two lines at the top are its ears, the circle like puff at the back is its tail and it has little feet at the bottom. See?” Dawn insisted.
Connor saved her. “I see it. It’s very obvious. Will’s just being dumb.”
“Hey!” Will said. I laughed beside him and he turned back to me. “I suppose you’re going to tell me that you see it.”
“Of course I do. It’s clearly a rabbit.” I said with a twinkle in my eye. “Just like that one there,” I said pointing my finger to another cloud “looks like a clown.”
“Oh yeah, that’s a good one.” Connor said in agreement. “That one over there looks like a windmill.” Dawn giggled at his assessment.
“You’re all insane, you know that?” Will said not being able to identify any of the pictures in the clouds.
“You’re just not trying.” I said. “Look at that cloud over there.” I pointed one out in the distance. “What does it look like to you?”
“A cloud.” Will dead panned.
“Use your imagination, William. I know you have one or you wouldn’t be able to write all those stories about Buffy.” I leaned over closer to him. “Now, what do you see?”
Will’s breath tickled at my chest. “Um…,” he said trying to concentrate on the cloud and not my breasts dangling in front of him. Swallowing hard, he continued “Um, I guess it kind of looks like a flower. Maybe a rose?” He asked looking me in the eyes, while licking his lips.
“I can see that. See, you can do this, William. It’s easy once you try.” Dawn said.
Dawn and Connor continued pointing out different shapes in the clouds. Every once in a while I would interject a comment into their game or pick out a cloud to analyze, but Will hardly said a word and I thought he was just trying to forget about the tension in the air between us.
In the days following, we would all trek out onto a different part of the roof for some sun and air. Our skin had lost some of its sallow hue and our spirits were high from being outside after our long bout of being trapped indoors. We would occupy ourselves with the cloud game, but Will continued to stay quiet. Little did I know that his mind was preoccupied with other things.
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Will shook me out of my sleep one spring night in mid-May. “Put these on.” He said while pushing some clothes into my arms.
“Will, what’s going on? Is everything all right?” I said still half asleep. I looked at the clock and saw that it was three-thirty in the morning.
“Don’t question me, Elizabeth. Just put them on and meet me in the attic by the mattresses on the west side.” Will left me confused in my bed. Since I wanted to know what this was all about, I got up and went into the bathroom to get dressed. Looking at the black turtleneck and stretch pants he must have found in the attic, I realized Will and I were going to try to get out tonight.
After hurriedly putting on the slightly too large clothes Will gave me, I anxiously went into the attic to where he would be waiting. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. I couldn’t believe we were finally going to put one of our plans in motion. My stomach was churning with both hope and fear. I hoped we would find a way to be free of our prison, but at the same time I was afraid of being caught and the unknown that would lie ahead of us when we did escape.
Reaching the meeting spot in the attic, I watched as Will gathered up some rope and coiled it around his elbow and shoulder. “What’s the plan?” I asked.
Will looked up at me, startled from my voice as he didn’t hear me approach. “I’m going to tie this rope to the finial over in the right corner. We’ll climb down from there.”
“How do you know this is the best place? That tonight is the right time?” I questioned.
“Elizabeth, why do you think we’ve been switching our sunbathing spot? I’ve been doing surveillance on the roof, trying to figure out the best way to go down. This is it. The finial is the closet to the edge as well as one of the thickest around the base so it should hold us. Also, we’re at the back of the house between a couple of dormers so we’ll have good coverage.” He paused in his lecture as he stepped out the window onto the roof.
I followed right after him and watched as he knotted the rope around the finial with an impressive looking knot. He must have read up on that somewhere. “The moon is full tonight so it will give us enough light to see in the darkness. I don’t want to use a flashlight or lantern in case it draws attention to us.” Looking over the edge, he threw the rope over the roof and watched it uncoil. Once the rope was unfurled, he tested the sturdiness of the finial to make sure it would hold our weight. Then he looked up at me.
“I’ll go first and you follow once I get about half way down. Don’t follow too close, it will look less suspicious. I put knots in the rope every few feet for grip. Use them for both your hands and feet. I don’t want you falling or not being able to make it back up.” He stared at me in the moonlight. “Do you think you can do this?”
I nodded my head. “Yes, Will. I’m ready to get out of here. We need to start taking things into our own hands.”
“Ok, but remember this is just a run through. We’re not getting out tonight so don’t be careless.” He handed me a pair of black gloves and took a pair out for himself. “Also, there’s a row of jagged slate at the edge of the roof. Make sure you are careful when going over and back up onto the roof. Most of them have been worn down from the weather over the years, but there are still some that are pretty sharp and could cause some damage if you hit one the wrong way.” He took my hands in his and squeezed them. “Are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” I said letting out a deep breath.
He kissed my forehead softly. “Be careful. I don’t want you getting hurt.”
I watched as he walked over close to the edge and picked up the rope. “I will be, and that goes for you too.” He smiled at me nodding his head, right before he went over the ledge.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry it took so long for me to post this one, but I've actually got some chapters in reserve now. Thanks to my beta Jess and thanks to you for all the reviews. Hang in there - it won't be long now, just need to get some plot out of the way first :)