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Ava grabbed a nearby towel and began drying the dog. “I haven’t heard Edward or anyone else yell at you for a while, so maybe they don’t think they need to leave too many people here.”
“We can hope.” Sarah had made several escape attempts during the first couple of years of her captivity. She’d been caught every time, but it hadn’t stopped her from trying something else. She hadn’t tried in ages, and even though Edward hated her guts, he didn’t seem particularly concerned that she might actually get away. Not after all this time. “What do you think?”
The question twisted her gut as she asked it. Sarah hated to put this kind of pressure on her daughter, even if it was Ava’s idea. They’d be relying almost solely on her magic to get away, and it was an unfair burden for a child.
Fortunately, Ava didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. Instead, she gave her mother one of her classic grins. “I think I have something to show you.”
“Things are…progressing?” Sarah asked. It was such a hard balance to show Ava that she had confidence in her while not trying to sound too hopeful or desperate. Being a mother was challenging enough, even more so in these circumstances.
“You tell me.” Ava turned back to the sink. Just as she’d done in the kitchen, she swirled her finger in the air and then flicked it to the side.
Sarah’s stomach sunk back toward her spine as the terrier disappeared from the sink. He was now on the floor, standing between the two of them. “Is he all right?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“It doesn’t seem to bother him any more than the bath does.” Using the towel, Ava scooped up the dog and held him in her arms. “What do you think? Are you okay? Is your tum-tum upset or anything?”
The dog wagged his tail and panted happily.
Sarah realized she was holding her hand to her chest and quickly dropped it. “I guess you really have been practicing.”
“The soap was easy, so I just started working on bigger and bigger things. When I managed to rearrange the whole bedroom and put it back together again, I knew I needed to go somewhere from there. I need to do it with something living, you know? So when I was upstairs a few days ago, I moved that potted plant by the front window. It didn’t do so much as drop a leaf, so I figured this was the next best step.”
It was all perfectly reasonable, and there was no doubt that Ava was talented. She had to be to teach herself something like this. Adrenaline coursed through Sarah’s veins. “I guess that means we know what we’re doing tonight.”
Sarah had always hated being usedas a household servant, but that night, she was using it to her advantage. She picked up the desk chair in the guest bedroom and hauled it down the hallway to set it in the living room.
Frank was lounging on the couch, flicking through videos on the huge television. He glanced over his shoulder at her. “How long are you going to have all that crap out here?”
It wasn’t all that much, really: the chair, some totes from under the bed, a small side table that could be easily moved, and a floor lamp. The massive living room had plenty of space for it. “Well, it’s going to take at least an hour to clean the carpet, and then it has to dry before I can put any of this back. It might be tonight, or it might be tomorrow.”
“If it’s tonight, then you damn well better get it out of the living room before Edward gets home. I don’t want to hear it when he comes in and trips over something.” Frank clamped his finger down on the remote and flicked to a different video.
“That’s a good idea. Thank you.” Sarah repressed the urge to make some sarcastic remark about Frank being the only thing someone would trip over because he was nothing more than a useless waste of space, but she didn’t need to call any extra attention to herself.
Ava came through the kitchen doorway with the carpet shampooer she’d just fetched from the garage.
“Is that thing going to be loud? I’m trying to watch something here.” He used the remote to gesture toward the TV as though it were the most important thing in the world.
Sarah made a face. “Yeah, it’s kind of loud. But I’ll shut the door so it won’t be too bad.”
“Fine.” He turned his back toward her.
Ava stuck her tongue out at him and then headed down the hall.
Sarah followed and shut the door firmly behind them. “Let’s get that thing started up as quickly as possible.”
“I’ve got it all filled up.” Ava plugged the machine in.
Sarah took it from her. She pulled the handle back and flicked the switch. The shampooer roared to life, louder even than the vacuum. A squeeze of the trigger sent soapy water out onto the carpet, and Sarah began working near the door, gliding the machine back and forth in slow strokes. She realized her hands were shaking. No, her entire body was shaking. Their entire future rested on this plan. Doubts had been swimming in her head all afternoon. What if too many people had stayed behind at the packhouse? Even after she’d gotten permission to clean the carpets, she worried about whether or not someone would catch on to what they were doing. In a way, the plan couldn’t be any better. They had all the cover they needed, and if they pulled this off, no one would know they were gone for quite some time. If they didn’t, well, she didn’t want to think about that.
Ava tapped her shoulder and nodded. That was the signal they’d agreed on. Leaving the shampooer running, Sarah clicked the handle back into place. Frank could likely hear the faint noise of it from where he was sitting, and he’d assume they were right where they were supposed to be. Sarah came and stood next to her daughter.
She felt Ava pull in a deep breath. Her finger didn’t merely make a small circle in the air this time, considering the subject of her spell was much larger. She made a fluid motion with her arm and then flicked it away.
Complete blackness took over Sarah’s vision. Her lungs wouldn’t work, and every part of her body tingled with electric energy. Then she was struggling to keep her feet underneath her. The floor was tipping, and she couldn’t get her balance. No, not the floor. Theroof.
“Mom!” Ava reeled backward, her arms flinging out wildly on either side of her.
Instinctively, Sarah grabbed her wrist and pulled her close as she thrust herself toward the slope of the roof. The soles of her shoes caught on the roughness of the shingles. They lay there for a long moment, bracing themselves against the roof, catching their breath.
