A new life.
Allison pretended to be asleep and held her breath whenever she heard the wooden stairs creek. She held little Anna's hand tightly under the covers signaling patience and to be quiet. The alarm clock showed 1:30 a.m., she did not know how much longer their nerves would hold out or heavens forbid, before they fell asleep.
Anna squeezed Allison's hand impatiently and began to slowly slide off the bed. The clock read 2:00 a.m. and the house was as quiet as tomb. Slowly, Allison slid off her side of the bed and carefully put a foot in front of the other avoiding the creaky boards they had memorized over the past two years.
They grabbed a filled suitcase each and, out of habit, Allison thought of making the bed before going out the bedroom door but she corrected herself and continued towards the door to meet Anna and continue down the short hall towards the stairs.
They both stopped for a second in front of the master bedroom and listened for the irregular snoring that was progressing into a loud and rhythmic pattern that stopped abruptly when Anna dropped the key on the floor.
It seemed an interminable amount of time that they waited in a frozen terror by that door, barely breathing, and gripping each other's hand. The snoring returned and the girls carefully picked up the key and continued to move down the stairs, once again avoiding any portions that creaked by keeping close to the wall and away from the center planks.
Ryan was tall but too skinny for a boy of 14. He was wired with adrenaline this evening, which made up for the lack of muscle mass. His clothes were damp from the constant work he had been doing for over two hours, constantly moving around the perimeter of the house and gathering tools, rope and wood logs. He had slithered back and forth into the "danger zone", the inside of the house, and opened the linen closet below the stairs and retrieved blankets and pillows. He had ransacked the laundry room and grabbed t-shirts and socks. Anything he could find a use for and they would need later, he grabbed and stuffed in the trunk of the car, which he had left open to avoid making noise during all his trips while he waited for the girls to escape their bedroom.
At 1:30 Ryan was holding his breath while hiding under the kitchen table when he heard Richard climb up the stairs and pause for a second before continuing towards his bedroom. Once he felt it was safe, Ryan made his way slowly toward the pigsty that passed for a living room and located the pants that Richard had left behind by the glimmer of the belt buckle. The house was pitch black and Ryan did not dare turn on a light or even use the flashlight in his back pocket, the light coming in from the street pole outside the window was sufficient for his needs.
Once in the living room, he slowly lifted Richard's pants and removed the keys in the pocket. He searched the other pockets for cash and found loose change, which he quickly held on to tightly so as not to make any noise and placed in his front jeans pocket. He searched and found Richard's wallet. It contained $234 dollars and quickly he folded them and put away in his own pocket. As an after thought, he took a credit card and Richard's driver's license and pocketed those as well.
Slowly, he made his way back to the kitchen and stopped briefly by the stairs hoping to see the girls coming down, but it was not to be and he proceeded out the back kitchen door, leaving it ajar by placing a can of tomato soup between the door and the frame.
The girls reached the kitchen and slowly opened the refrigerator and filled with panic looked behind them to assess the impact of the light. As fast as they could, they bagged whatever they could find and fit into the supermarket's plastic bags. The back door opened carefully and Ryan's head popped in and whispered urgently: "leave it, let's go" Quickly, they passed the bags over to Ryan as quietly as they were able and slowly walked over a can. Anna picked it up and stuffed it in her coat pocket and methodically, she closed the back door.
They followed Ryan to the end of the road where he had rolled Richard's car over half an hour ago. He had rolled it as far away from the house without cranking the engine in a painstakingly series of moves and turns. He sweated every inch that car moved until he finally got it to the curb around the block of the sparse neighborhood. He knew that Richard was in the living room watching dirty movies while guzzling from a bottle of Jack Daniels and chasing it with a six pack of cheap beer. It was unlikely that he noticed anything outside the house, but just in case, Ryan became invisible. The last thing he wanted was to make a mistake that the girls would have to pay for.
They practically tip toed towards the car smelling the freedom that awaited them in just a few more seconds. A few steps later they were all sitting inside the car. Nervously, Ryan pulled out the keys and cranked the engine. It started immediately and they all let out a grateful sigh of relief. In less than 20 minutes the trio was heading down the highway towards California and towards their freedom. A smiled crossed Allison's lips when she realized that in two more days Anna would celebrate her 9th birthday in complete freedom.
They all talked in hushed, excited whispers about crossing state lines before morning. Planning on sleeping during the day in off-road locations, putting gas only at night, when attendants would be less likely to notice three under age kids in the car. Allison was not tall enough at 12 to pass for anything more than a 12 year old, but at night, and wearing a bulky jacket and baseball cap, and at a distance, Ryan could pass for an adult. He was almost the same height as Richard just not as bulky.
Before dawn and with the girls sleeping in the back seat, Ryan, acting as decicebly as he thought an adult would, drove the car into the farthest lane in the gas station, the attendant was barely awake behind the frosted window and did not pay any attention to the kid sliding a credit card into the slot of the pump and filling up the car.
With a sigh of relief he drove away towards the woods that would be void of campers and hunters at this time of year. He parked the car just before the sun came out, and under the cover of trees, the sleeping trio became invisible.
"Dear Allison,
I can't wait until next week and spend time with Kelsey and Tim. Don't let him know, but I have bought him the entire series of the Dragon Chronicles. I know you think I spoil them, but that is what aunts are supposed to do, and besides, you only turn 9 once!.
The best news I got this morning is that Ryan and Bess are relocating to San Diego with his unit and we will all be together again for a while. I have to take my boss to the airport and will call you when I get back. It is snowing again, I can't wait to feel the sand between my toes and wear a pair of shorts.
I love you, I love you all ! and I miss you and can't wait to see you. (can you tell I am excited ?)
Anne".