Waking Rose: A Fairy Tale Retold (52 page)

“How is she doing?”

“Seems stable,” Paul said, “Want to move her now?”

“In a minute. What are those medicines, Paul? Can any of them help us?”

“Doesn’t look like it,” Paul said, lifting up a small bottle. He seemed to be trying to read the tiny print in the dim light. “I think this—phenobaritol—is a kind of barbituate.” He paused at the next drug. “Now this is odd. This one’s sodium pentothal.”

“What’s that?”

“Basically, it’s used by authorities as an interrogation drug—it lowers the inhibitions against talking so you can get information out of someone that the person would normally keep secret. That’s really weird that Ben found it in Rose’s room.”

“Actually, it explains quite a bit,” Alex said quietly. “But none of these are poison antidotes?”

“No, none of them is Digibind. I don’t know what some of these are. And I don’t want to give her something if I don’t know what it’s going to do to her.”

“We better get out to the car and meet Ben then.  I’m going to turn off the lights.  Everyone, get used to your night vision. Kateri, you help Paul carry her. James, you go first and make sure the coast is clear.  Leroy, you next. I’ll be our rearguard.”

Before, her friends had seemed like shapes hovering in water. Now they vanished before Rose’s eyes into the blackness, but she could still hear them. Yes, at least she could hear, and more clearly. The silver needle that had clouded her senses was gone, for now, but she could feel herself starting to become less coherent. She closed her eyes once more and prayed that Fish would come back soon.

“Here’s the backup plan,” Alex said quietly. “If anything goes wrong, Paul, you get Rose back up here.  The rest of us will try to keep the way clear for Ben to get back up here with the antidote. James, Leroy, and I will stay outside the attic to wait for Ben and make a distraction, if we need to, so he can get by.  But if we can’t do that, Paul, you’re the last line of defense here, since we need you for taking care of Rose. Don’t take any risks. Okay?”

“Right, chief.”

“What about me?” Kateri asked, a touch irate.

“You’re our second-to-last line of defense, of course. That means you might have to sacrifice yourself to save Paul and Rose. Not normally what I’d allow you to do, but you understand the circumstances?”

“Of course I do,” she said, quelled.

“What about if Ben doesn’t make it back?” James asked.

“We’re going to have to pray he does make it,” Alex said. “And once he does, we need to buy time for the antidote to work. And we don’t know how long it will take. But this is critical: once the doctors here discover that Rose is missing, we have to stop them from getting a hold of her again. If they get her, they’ll either drug her again or let her die, or do something else to incapacitate her for good.”

“What about if they call the police?” James said.

Alex seemed to smile. “My guess is that they won’t call the police, not unless the situation gets out of hand. They’ll try to contain it, even if that means getting rid of some of us. After all, there’s at least a million-dollar black market industry at stake here. I think we’ll actually be in better shape if they do call the police. The more light on this situation, the better. However, if the police come, still try to hold them off as long as you can. If they get in here, the first thing they’ll do is to get Rose to the emergency room at Meyerstown, and that means she’ll either die or get the wrong kind of treatment.  So, everyone understand?”

There were noises of agreement all around.

“Okay, we’re going. Remember, keep quiet.  Everyone in place.”

Rose found herself swaying up in the air and leaned her head against Paul’s shoulder.  She tried not to panic, but fortunately she was still disconnected from what was going on.

“I’m taking the steps slow,” Paul said in a hushed voice as they passed through the attic door.

They moved down the staircase in a careful, nearly silent procession, Rose at the center.  Her hearing still muffled by the waters, Rose could barely hear the labored breath of their entourage and their shuffling steps. She watched James’ light-colored head bobbing slowly down in front of them, checking around each corner…

Then she saw him pause at the second floor landing, and then all at once, his head was bobbing back towards them.

“Back up,” Alex breathed, and this proved to be difficult as Paul twisted in the narrow space, trying to turn Rose around without banging her head or feet.  In a moment they had her going the other way, and then the third-floor door banged open behind them.

“Hold it right there!” a rough male voice said.

Rose looked around to see a large shape standing between the shapes that were James and Leroy.  Leroy didn’t miss a moment.  His arms went around the man’s neck, and the next moment, the man sank to the floor.

Leroy rasped in a whisper.  “Keep bringing Rose down.”

“Someone else is coming,” Paul said.

“Back up to the attic!” Alex hissed sharply. “Now!”

Paul and Kateri obeyed, silently and swiftly. Even Rose could hear approaching footsteps, and the next moment the third floor door was opening.

“What’s going on?” a second voice said, and, “Hey—!” as Leroy closed in. 

“James, get these guys out of the way,” Rose heard Leroy’s voice float up.  “If someone else sees them, we’re sunk.”

Alex halted Paul and Kateri at the door to the attic. “Clear the steps,” he said, sotto voice, to James and Leroy. “Then we’ll come down.”

“Right.”

Alex said to Paul, approvingly, “Told you Leroy’s judo would come in handy.”

They all waited, tense as Leroy and James moved the unconscious guards someplace. Just another minute, Rose told herself, and they would be going down and—

But then, everything went wrong.  “Stop right there, you two,” a nasty voice said. “Drop him.”

There was a brief pause, then a rush of movement.  Leroy must have rushed the guard, but then there was a strange buzz, and a simultaneous, horrible scream.

Rose found herself back in the attic being lowered onto the mattress. She could hear shouting, more movement, and angry voices.

“They got one of us,” Paul said grimly.

They kept straining, trying to make out the conflict below.

 “I hear Alex,” Kateri whispered.

“And James,” Paul said. “They must have gotten Leroy.”

“What happened?” Kateri whispered to Paul after she caught her breath.

Paul’s voice came from the door. “I’m guessing, but I think they used a stun gun on Leroy.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I don’t think he’s wounded or—”

Kateri’s grip on Rose’s shoulder seemed to relax a little. “I hope not,” she said.

“Though something tells me these guys didn’t do it to be humane,” Paul said in a low voice. “I don’t think they’d particularly mind killing us.”  He must have cracked the door, because Rose could hear voices suddenly.

“I said, you punks get down here now, or you’re going to get the same treatment as your friend. You want a killer headache? The kind that makes you throw up and wet yourself? If that’s what you want, stay put until we come and get you.”

“What are you going to do with Leroy?” Rose heard James’ voice, trying to keep steady.

“Just putting him in cuffs and bringing him down to the cellar. The director will want to talk with him when she gets back.”

“Why aren’t you calling the police?” Alex asked evenly.

“Oh, we will—eventually,” the man said.  “Now, are you coming down, or do we have to come and get you?”

The voices suddenly stopped. “Alex signaled me to lock the door,” Paul said. “I guess we’re in for it now.”

“Should we barricade it?”

“No, we’ve got to keep it clear for Ben when he comes back. Rose, how are you doing?”

Rose was feeling worse by the minute. It must have shown on her face, because Paul leaned over her.

“I’m going to do some acupressure points,” he said softly. “Try to relax.”

She felt pressure on her ear and elbow, and somehow, some of the tremors inside her diffused. Kateri stroked her hand.

“Why don’t you pray for Fish now?” she asked. “I’ll pray with you if you like.”

H
IS

Fortunately, Fish could figure out his way to the barn, even in the dark. He spoke only to give Donna directions. The tension in the car was palpable.

As they turned down the driveway, he broke the silence. “Pull over into the trees. Let’s go in on foot.”

Donna brought the car to a stop and turned off the engine. They got out, and started down the dirt road that led to the house and barn. As they came closer, they could see lights ahead. A car’s lights, and several smaller flashing lights.

“They’re up there now,” Donna whispered.

He gripped her arm. “Look, Donna, I want to make one thing clear. The most important thing at this point is to save Rose. I’ll see if I can get the antidote. When I give it to you, your job is to get back to the car as fast as you can. Wait three minutes for me, and if there’s no sign of my coming, you drive back and get that antidote to Paul. Everything depends on that. I’ll get back on my own, however I can. You understand me?”

“I understand,” she said, taking a deep breath. He looked at her critically, but she seemed resolved and steady.

“Good. Now, stay behind me and stay out of sight. Don’t go into the barn—just wait outside for me.”

He bent low and walked quickly forward across the field. He heard Donna following behind him. The ground was a bit wet, and mostly broken hay stubble and new grass. There was no camouflage here except the darkness. He circled around the building warily, watching and listening. There was a car parked outside, its headlights shining into the open barn doors. Inside, two figures were moving around and talking.

There was a curse from Dr. Prosser. The wind blew, and now Fish caught the strong scent of gasoline. “You’re lucky they were storing fuel here anyhow, the country fools. Get that ladder up and show me where those boxes are.  Everything has to burn.”

Stealthily, Fish moved along the outside of the barn until he could see inside the doors. The ladder was propped against the loft again, and Dr. Prosser’s legs were vanishing up it. Dr. Murray was following.

As soon as both doctors had climbed the ladder, he quietly stole inside and moved to the other ladder, the one bolted to the wall. Looking over his shoulder, he could see the two doctors bent over the boxes.

Swiftly, he climbed the ladder and stepped onto the loft, crouching behind the hay bales. Inch by inch, he made his way towards the two women.  Dr. Prosser had her back to him. She was kneeling down, pushing aside files and frowning. The pockets of her trench coat lay loosely trailing on the ground beside her.

Close enough now, Fish gauged the situation, then reached stealthily into her pocket. His hand closed on several glass vials and without breathing, he withdrew them and slid his hand back to his side.

There was no mistaking the labels:  Digibind. The antidote. Taking a deep breath, he moved back towards the wall ladder.

A cell phone bleated. Dr. Prosser swore. “That’s yours. Go outside if you need to. The signal’s so bad out here.”

Fish pressed himself down on the floor as Dr. Murray climbed skittishly down the ladder while her cell phone continued to ring.  He didn’t dare to try to get down now.

But just to his left was a window on a hinge, which had helpfully swung open in the wind.  Making sure he was still hidden from Dr. Prosser, Fish rose and looked out the window.

He could hear Dr. Murray talking below to his right. Out to his left, he made out the faint light shape of Donna, hunched down and waiting for him.

Silently, he took out his handkerchief, wrapped the bottles in them, and knotted it tightly around them to make a compact ball. He waited while Dr. Murray talked angrily into her phone. He could tell from the bits of conversation he overheard that Gracton Hall had discovered they had been invaded.
Great. Now I have even less time.

Finally, Dr. Murray closed her phone and hurried back into the barn. Fish chose this moment: he signaled with his hand, and saw Donna look up. Swiftly he tossed the ball to her. She reached out and caught it. A moment later she was backing away into the darkness, getting to her feet, and running for the car.

Now, he had to get out of the barn somehow, and his problem was compounded by Dr. Murray, who instead of climbing back up the ladder, stood on the barn floor and called up, “The guards think there’s a prowler at the facility.”

“A prowler? What does that mean? Rose’s crazy boyfriend who escaped from the cops?”

“I wouldn’t think he’d have risked that much.”

“Well, someone who knows something is over there. Call back and have them check on the girl. Then get Barnes and send him over to keep a lid on things. We’ve got to make sure the police don’t hear about this. And get your people to nab that prowler. If he is the boyfriend, we can drug him and send him to your crematorium in the cellar.”

Fish looked out the window.  He could see the roof of the adjoining tool shed.  Thinking quickly, he climbed out of the window, managing to get completely through without making a sound. The shed roof creaked slightly beneath him, but he was relieved it was sturdy.  Quietly, he made his way to the edge. Now he lowered himself down and dropped down from the top of the shed.

He hadn’t had time to look beneath him when he dropped. His foot hit something metal and he slipped off balance, twisted, and fell, his leg caught. Something in his foot snapped and he cried out in surprise, despite himself.

Shakily, raising himself on his elbows, he realized his foot had gotten trapped in a piece of an old combine. He tried to move it but couldn’t without searing pain. Reaching forward, he grabbed the metal frame, pulled himself up, and managed to remove his damaged foot, but even that maneuver was fiercely excruciating. He hobbled forward on one foot, dragging the other, but realized that running—or moving at anything more than a crawl—was impossible. Quickly, he dropped to the ground and crawled forward on his elbows, keeping to the shadows.