No escape from Martin

J an ran toward them and threw her arms around Cari in a long, grateful hug.

“Jan! You’re here!” Cari cried. “I don’t believe it! I just don’t believe it!”

And then Cari noticed the movement at the back of the small room. A very surprised and happy Aunt Rose stepped out of the shadows.

“Rose! You’re here too!”

“How did you ever find us?” Jan cried, grinning through tears of happiness that ran down her cheeks.

“The question is, what are you doing here?” Eric asked, looking as surprised and confused as everyone else in the room.

“That’s a very long story,” Rose said, shaking her head. She gave her three rescuers a hug, one after the other.

“Rose, when did you get here?” Cari asked.

“The day after you did,” Rose said, struggling to straighten her hair, which obviously hadn’t been brushed in days. “I was feeling fine the next day, so I took the launch over. Simon met me at the dock and drove me to the hotel. But then … then he—”

“He forced her into the tunnel and locked her in this room,” Jan broke in, seeing her aunt falter. “Only it wasn’t Simon. It was Edward.”

“He looked like Simon,” Rose said uncertainly. “Of course, I hadn’t seen Simon in at least twenty years. As I was telling Jan, he was quite handsome in those days. Simon and I are distant cousins.”

“We know,” Eric said impatiently, looking back to the doorway.

“That means I’m related to them too,” Jan said.

“We know that too,” Eric said. “Listen, a lot has happened. Simon and Edward—they’re the same person.”

“What?” Jan cried, putting her hands on her aunt’s shoulders, as if for support.

“He’s a split personality,” Cari explained.

“Is that why he locked me in down here?” Rose asked, shaking her head.

“We don’t really have time to explain,” Eric said nervously.

“You’ve been down here the whole time?” Craig asked Rose. “You weren’t the woman in Simon’s room arguing about the party?”

“Woman? Party?” Now Rose was even more confused.

“Jan, how did you get locked in with Rose?” Cari asked.

“I … uh … Edward saw me. In the tunnel. I guess he was afraid I’d discover Rose, so he came to my room late at night. He grabbed me and took me to this room and locked me in with her.”

“But what were you doing in the tunnel?” Cari demanded.

Jan’s face reddened. She suddenly looked very embarrassed. “Uh … I think I owe you guys an apology,” she said quietly.

They waited for her to explain.

“You see,” Jan started slowly, “I knew about the tunnel before you three did. I’d discovered another entrance to it the night before.”

“But why didn’t you tell us about it?” Cari interrupted.

“I wanted to set something up to scare you guys,” Jan admitted. “You know. Like the skull and the sticky protoplasm in that little room.”

“Huh? You did that?” Eric cried.

Jan nodded her head. “Yeah. I found the skull in the tunnel and I thought I’d just play a joke. But then I got into it. I did all the ghost stuff here in the hotel. None of it was real. I made it all up. I put the skull in the little room. And that night we had the picnic dinner on the beach and I screamed and said I’d seen the ghost, I was making that all up. And I’m the one who followed you down the hall that night, Cari, whispering your name. And I put the sticky stuff on your doorknob.”

Jan moved forward and gave Cari another hug. “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It was so stupid of me.”

“But why?” Cari asked. “Why did you do all that? I don’t understand, Jan.”

Jan avoided Cari’s stare. “I just wanted you to believe me. I was so tired of the three of you laughing at me all the time, teasing me. I just wanted to make you believe. You tried to act tough, but I knew I could convince you.” A smile crossed her face. “I did have you believing it for a while. Admit it.”

“Come on, guys,” Eric said from the doorway. “We really have to get out of here. We made a lot of noise breaking down that door. If Edward or Martin heard us, they’ll be here any second.”

“Yes. We’ve got to keep going to the beach,” Cari agreed.

“It’s okay with me. I can’t wait to get out of this smelly little room,” Rose said. She took a few steps. Then her face turned white, her eyes rolled up, and she started to slump to the floor.

Jan caught her before she fell. “Aunt Rose?”

“I feel so faint,” Rose said groggily, struggling to steady herself, leaning heavily against Jan.

Cari hurried over to help.

“She’s probably weak from hunger,” Jan said, looking very worried. “Edward only feeds us once a day.”

“You’ll never make it all the way through the tunnel. We’ve got to get you something to eat,” Cari said.

“We can make our way back to the kitchen,” Craig said, starting toward the door.

“But what if Martin or Edward—” Eric started.

“We’ll have to take our chances,” Jan said. “Come on. We’ll grab some food for her and then go out the back way.”

With the two girls helping Rose, they made their way back the way they had come, moving quickly but carefully through the dark tunnel. “Watch out for the spiderwebs. They’re just around this corner,” Cari warned.

They ducked low to avoid them and kept walking.

We’re going to be lost in this darkness forever, Cari thought, supporting Rose.

But to her surprise, the door leading to the dining room appeared quickly.

Eric pushed it open a crack and listened. “No one there,” he whispered. “Come on.”

They pushed the door open just enough to slip out, and crept silently down the dining-room wall to the kitchen.

“Now what?” Craig whispered.

“It’s too dark. We have to turn on some lights,” Cari whispered.

It took Eric a while, but he managed to find the light switches. He clicked on one row of fluorescent ceiling lights.

The kitchen was clean and bare. The stainless-steel work counters had been cleared. Copper pans of varying sizes hung above the enormous range.

Cari had her eye on the kitchen door.

Were Simon and Martin out in the woods, trying to track the three teenagers down? If so, they would be safe here awhile.

But if Simon or Martin returned from the woods, they would see the kitchen light.

And then …

Cari and Jan helped Rose to a narrow rectangular table at the back of the kitchen, probably the table used by the kitchen staff for their meals. Making sure that Rose was seated comfortably, Cari hurried to the refrigerator.

“How about tuna fish salad?” Cari asked, pulling a large bowl off a shelf.

“Thank you, dear,” Rose said, her face still colorless and drawn.

Cari carried the big bowl to the table, put it in front of Rose, and found a fork for her.

Rose ate hungrily.

Cari and her friends stood waiting, watching, listening for any sound from the dining room.

We’ve got to get out, get out, get out. The words repeated in Cari’s mind.

Get out, get out, get out.

After a few minutes Rose put down her fork. Already she appeared to be stronger, some of the color had returned to her face. “Please, tell me what is going on here?” she asked.

Cari started to answer, but stopped.

Her mouth dropped open in horror.

Everyone turned to watch Martin stride into the room.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20