Eldorado (23 page)

“You’re not asking me,” said Keller. “I’m telling you – I’m going. Maybe the three of us would be crazy to stake out Crack’s hideout together, but you’d be absolutely barking mad and hell-bent on throwing your life away to go there alone.”

“But…” Richard began.

“Richard – just forget it.” said Carrie. “I’m not going to let you go alone. Don’t even think about it.”

“Look,” said Keller. “Let’s just accept that whatever happens we’re all in this together. Even with the three of us it’s a long shot, but if we play our cards right and lady luck is with us we might beat the odds. Anyway it’s too late in the day to do anything now. We’ll head over tomorrow and check the place out. Maybe some ideas will come once we’ve actually seen it.”

Deliberately changing the subject, Keller said, “Anybody up for dinner?”

He rose from the table and made his way outside, folding the map and laying it on a far corner of one of the upper kitchen shelves on his way. Carrie followed behind him. Richard waited until both were out of sight, then reached up and stuffed the map in his shirt.

It was late in the evening and both Carrie and Keller were asleep when Richard carefully swung the RV door open and slipped outside. He hoped that even if they should hear him leave they would assume that he was just getting up to relieve himself.

He tiptoed to the spot where he’d hidden his pack – behind the back wheel of the RV. The sleeping shape of Zonk lay a few yards from the door. Zonk heard him and lifted his head, but soon laid it back down sleepily, without barking.

Richard breathed a sigh of relief and blessed the dog’s passive nature. He silently grabbed his pack and walked toward the trail to the outhouse, as if he really was going to relieve himself, but then doubled back to where he had secretly parked his bike. Glancing back he noticed Zonk standing as if to follow him, and cursed himself for not thinking to tie the dog up earlier.

He raised his hand and whispered, “Zonk – no – stay,” To his relief Zonk lay back down and seemed to relax.

He unlocked the bike and rode off into the night.

The Ride to Danny's

Lacy knelt holding Serena’s lifeless body, desperately trying to think what to do next. Suddenly screams and cascading footsteps echoed down from the stairwell above. Seconds later, a stream of hysterical girls came pouring out of the opening, shielding their eyes from the light of day and running in every direction, ignoring Lacy and Serena. Lacy saw Mei-Lien emerge from the doorway. Mei-Lien spotted her and ran over.

“Thank you! You saved our lives!” she cried, and hugged Lacy in gratitude. Finally she noticed Serena.

“Oh, poor Serena – I’m so sorry. But we’ve got to get out of here! The cops will be here any minute. You don’t want to have to deal with them. Come with me. We’ll find my family and you can stay with them.”

“No,” said Lacy dejectedly. “Get away. I’ll be leaving soon.”

“Good luck,” said Mei-Lien, and she turned to leave.

“Mei-Lien – wait,” Lacy said.

Mei-Lien stopped and anxiously turned in her direction.

“How do I get to East Vancouver from here?”

She pointed at the street in front of them. “Go down this road until you hit a street called Denman. Turn left, cross the bridge and keep going until you hit a street called Broadway. Turn left again and after a while you’ll reach East Van.”

“How far is it?” called Lacy.

“A long way on foot – maybe ten or twelve miles.”

Lacy’s heart sank even further. She was already exhausted, and still had a long way to go.

“Thanks,” she said. Mei-Lien waved and took off as fast as she could go down an alley. The whine of the police bikes grew louder. Lacy knew she had to move, but hated to abandon the girl who had saved her life. Finally she thought:
Serena died trying to help me escape. She’d want me to get away, even if she can’t, so that’s what I’m going to do.

She glanced over at the horse. It had calmed down completely. She approached the animal and reached out to touch its shoulder. At first it snorted and shied away, but after a few seconds she was able to stroke its neck and whisper a few soothing words in its ear.

She reached for a length of rope hanging from the horse’s head and led it down an alleyway parallel to the road Mei-Lien had indicated. She soon reached an open square out of sight the main streets. Continuing to stroke the horse’s neck, she untied the remnant of the elevator rope from its harness. It flicked its ears and nodded its head in response.

Now for the hard part
,
Lacy thought,
as she grabbed one of the harness straps that had held the elevator rope and hauled herself up onto the horse’s back. It bucked and neighed half-heartedly, but was apparently too tired to care, and finally settled down. She was uncomfortable on its back, with no saddle, but found she could hook her feet into the harness straps to help her hold on, and she remembered enough about riding to control the animal with the rope attached to its head. With a friendly click from Lacy, and a shake of the rope, the horse began to plod toward Denman Street.

“I’m going to call you Serena,” she said, patting the horse’s neck affectionately. “You can escape for her. How does that sound?”

It gave a gentle snort, and nodded its head as if in agreement.

“Oh – you agree, do you?” she said, smiling. “It’s settled then. Serena – let’s head for East Van.”

As Mei-Lien had directed, she located Denman Street a few blocks away. She turned left down a less traveled alley parallel to it, and headed southeast toward the bridge, which she could just make out in the distance. Behind her, a chorus of blaring sirens and whining Mosquitoes converged.

The horse didn’t like being on the street, but with constant coaxing it kept moving, and they plodded toward the massive bridge in the distance. Danny’s map covered only a tiny section of the city; her only hope of finding her way back was to locate a landmark or sign that she could follow. She realized that, though she knew the general direction, for all practical purposes she was completely and utterly lost.

Gigantic steel spans loomed above them as Lacy and Serena plodded toward the threshold of the bridge. The horse was reluctant to step onto the bridge deck. Lacy kicked gently at her haunches and clicked encouragement, and she grudgingly began the climb to the crest of the massive arch. Lacy had kept to the back streets on the way, but now had no choice but to cross, in full view of anyone who happened to be around. Motor-scooters screamed by several times, and with each passing Serena tossed her head and kicked up her back heels.

“It’s okay, Serena,” Lacy crooned, giving the horse a gentle pat on the neck. “I’ll take care of you. Don’t be afraid.”

Lacy was terrified that one of the motorbikes might backfire, imitating the gunshots that had driven the horse to madness earlier. To her immense relief that never happened.

On the far side she shifted again to the back alleys. The buildings she passed were neglected and crumbling, like most of those she'd seen since returning to the city. Clotheslines crisscrossed the laneways; the hanging shirts and underwear waved like parade banners in the light breeze. The back of every building was heavily fenced, and the frantic barking of guard dogs followed her progress. Often a curtain would move aside and the outline of a watchful face would appear in the shadows. She kept moving, guessing that nobody would report her as long as she wasn’t a threat. Behind most fences she could see the green of home gardens, sometimes being tilled or weeded by one of the tenants.

After an hour or so she took a chance and moved onto Broadway, hoping to spot a sign or landmark that would indicate where she was. The traffic was light, but even so there were constant stares at the bruised and blood-spattered girl riding a horse with no saddle. She decided that such a public route was a mistake and returned to the much less traveled side-alleys.

Twenty minutes later she started to panic; without any direction she might never find Danny’s house. Again she risked the main street, and was soon rewarded. She turned a corner and was ecstatic when she spotted a beaten-up sign-post that read: ‘East Vancouver Community College’, with an arrow pointing to the right. Ten minutes later she was within sight of the College, an aging and run-down but handsome stone building.

It occurred to her that Danny’s brother might be there. She considered going in, then looked down at her torn and bloodstained clothing and thought about her bruised face, and decided against it. The College might choose to call the police, and that was a complication she wanted to avoid. Using Danny’s map, it was easy to find her way back to the Hamptons’ house.

She tied the horse to one of the gateposts of the fence. The gate was now unlocked and the front door latch damaged, though a repair job had been done on the lock. She knocked several times, and peered through the windows. There was no-one home.

She led Serena through the front yard, then through a second gate and into the back, to a spot hidden from the street. There she tied the horse to a small tree near a patch of grass to nibble on. Returning to the front door, she examined the latch more closely. Whoever had fixed the lock had done a quick and dirty job – a firm pull would easily unlatch it. She hated breaking into someone’s home, especially Danny’s, but she was desperate – she was sure he would understand. She grabbed the latch and twisted it hard. It broke apart immediately.

Inside, a short, narrow hallway led into the living room. She gazed in awe at the luxuriousness of the palace that was Danny’s home. It had upholstered furniture, real glass windows, even proper pictures on the walls. Most incredibly, when she walked over and flipped a switch on one wall, an electric light blinked on.

On the mantel above the fireplace she found several photographs. One showed Danny in what must have been a school picture. She giggled to herself. He looked totally geeky and sort of bewildered. In another, Danny was sitting with a young man.
That must be Danny’s brother, she thought.
She examined it carefully. It might be important to recognize him if she ever saw him.

Finally, off to the side, away from the others, was a tiny photograph of a much younger Danny, his brother, and an older man and woman – Danny’s mother and father? She could see a resemblance. All were beaming, and had their arms around each other.
Poor Danny,
she thought, suddenly yearning to go and comfort him.

The thought snapped her out of her daydreaming, and she set about preparing to head back to Surrey. First, she secured the front door, using some lamp cord she found in one of the closets to bind it shut. It wouldn’t stop a determined intruder, but at least they would make some noise that she would hear.

Her next priority was to get out of her filthy, bloodstained clothes. She found what she assumed was Danny’s bedroom and picked out a sweatshirt and some pants that looked like they would fit, albeit with lots of room to spare. The bathroom was unbelievably luxurious. It even had a shower – a far cry from washing herself on the river bank.

She figured out how to run it, stripped off her filthy clothes, and enthusiastically jumped in. Hot water! She’d died and gone to heaven! She scrubbed the grime and blood from her body, at the same time scrubbing away the horrific memories of what had happened over the past few days. Thoughts of Serena returned to her suddenly, and the shower droplets mingled with her own tears.

She dried herself and got into Danny’s clothes. There was something comforting about wearing them, as if he was touching her, enveloping her with his presence. She felt safe and happy for the first time since she’d left Surrey. She was also tired. She wandered back into Danny’s room and collapsed on his bed, vowing not to sleep for more than an hour or so. According to the clock on the dresser – another luxury! It was 2 PM. She would sleep until 3 and then head back to Surrey. Any later and she would risk traveling at night. She laid her head down and was immediately asleep, dreaming of Danny.

Crack's Lair

Richard rode through the night, stopping only once or twice to check the stolen map. The evening was warm, and the breeze against his face invigorating. A quarter moon lit the edges of the fluffy clouds dotting the night sky. Away from even the feeble lights of what remained of civilization, the sky sparkled with billions of stars.

He wasn’t sure what he would do when he got where he was going. There was no way that he, acting alone, could hope to implement Keller’s plan of ambushing one of Crack’s gang. Instead, he’d formed a vague plan to find a way into Crack’s lair, eavesdrop on him and the others, and hope to hear something about Danny.

The ride down Broadway was easy. Energy Triage still deemed it an essential thoroughfare, and therefore worthy of being lit at night. Once he turned onto Kensington the way wasn’t so clear. Street lighting was sporadic, and as he traveled further away from the main street, more and more of the buildings he passed looked abandoned.

After about an hour’s ride, he arrived at the address Keller had provided. The place was undistinguished – one large building with a parking area and a few low side buildings. What did distinguish it and, Richard considered, made it an ideal hideout, was a steel mesh fence, largely intact, that ran around the entire perimeter. At regular intervals a dim halo of light spilled from the top of one of the fence-posts. An opening at the front was blocked by a sturdy gate secured with a sturdy looking padlock.