Page 166 of Running to You

“Oh, sweetie. We’re going to be all right.”

“How can you say that?” She looked around the dingy room. “We’re trapped here in the middle of nowhere. Nobody cares.” Her voice lowered as if she were talking to herself. “Nobody’s ever cared.”

“I care.” Eliza patted her knee. “And I promise, I’m not the only one.”

Mom gripped her sleeve. “What do you mean?”

Jon had told her not to tell them anything, so Eliza ignored the question and moved to the window, her arms aching from holding Levi. “Hey, buddy. Can I put you down for a minute? I need to do something.”

“Come on, now,” Mom said. “Come to Grammy.”

It took Levi a moment, but he shifted out of Eliza’s arms and into Mom’s.

Eliza stuck her fingers through the wooden slats, trying to find a way to make a gap in the wool behind it.

“What are you doing?” The question came from Nicole.

“Maybe we can get out this way.”

“We can’t.” Nicole sobbed into her knees. “We’re trapped, and we’re never getting out. You know what he’s going to do, don’t you? He’s going to light the whole thing on fire. We’re going to burn to death.”

Eliza’s head snapped around. “Why do you say that?”

A shrug. “I just keep seeing that place in Texas, the one where everyone was trapped inside.”

Hadn’t Eliza had the same irrational fear?

“That’s not going to happen. We’re getting out of here. Mom, see if you can find me something long and hard. Like… Oh! Get up, move over with Nicole.”

Mom did, taking Levi with her, and Eliza flipped the mattress back to reveal a crisscross of metal springs and wires holding it up. Maybe something could be worked loose. She searched along the edges where the springs met the frame. Nothing, nothing.

And then she found one that might work. She unhooked the end attached to the frame. The other end of the spring was connected to the long wire that reached to the opposite edge of the bed. But there was a small gap in the eye. If she could just wiggle it free…

She pulled and twisted and tried to make it work, but it was too tight, thanks to the adjoining wires.

A voice in her ear startled her. “Unhook it from the other side.”

“Goo—” Oops.

“Shh,” Sam said.

“What did you say?” Mom asked.

“I scraped my finger. ‘Gosh’ is better than the alternative, right?” She twisted to face her mother and winked. “Pelletier ladies don’t swear.”

“Good save,” Sam said.

She did what he suggested, unhooking the opposite side of the wire attached to the spring she was trying to work loose.

“No.” Nicole’s voice was stronger now. “You said ‘Good.’ Who are you talking to?”

“You’re hearing things.” Now that it was disconnected, Eliza had more leeway with the spring. She wiggled and cajoled this way and that, and then it came free. “Yes!”

“What did you do?” Nicole asked.

She turned and lifted the metal piece like a trophy. “I just want to see if I can peek outside. Maybe, if we can lever the boards away, we can get out of here.” She dropped the mattress back down in case someone came in.

“Brilliant.” Sam’s word was kind in her ear.