Lucy crept past the afternoon security guard without making a noise. Her working shift was supposed to be in the restrooms, but she had made other plans. Making it safely around the corner of the main corridor, she pressed her back into the wall, out of sight. She eyed Ms. Carrigan's office located directly across the hall from the library. Peering in through the door's window, she saw Benji, the orphanage's chimney sweep, walk through it.
Benji meekly stood in front of Ms. Carrigan as she sat at her desk reading the newspaper she had taken from Lucy the day before. Lucy assumed Benji had told her he was there to clean out the chimney in the library because Ms. Carrigan simply nodded and shooed him away without looking at him. As he closed the office door, he looked at Lucy and winked.
Looking back once more at the guard, Charlie, she tiptoed into the library after Benji and shut the door. Ginger and Tick were on duty there, and were dusting off the bookshelves and piano. They stopped and rushed over to Lucy.
"You're really gonna do this?" asked Tick nervously.
"Sure am, Tick, ya sure ya don't wanna change your mind and come with me?" asked Lucy with a confident, nervous expression on her face. She quickly pulled her shoes from her bag and slipped them on without tying them -- she had foregone their use in order to sneak down the hallway unnoticed.
"I'll watch the door for ya," offered Ginger, skipping past the bookshelves and leaving the door open just a crack. Ms. Carrigan had not moved from her office, still absorbed in the newspaper.
Benji laid down a sheet so the soot from the fireplace wouldn't get on the carpet, and set up the ladder. Lucy gulped as he told her it was ready for her to climb up. She had been so focused on getting out and being free that she had forgotten how much time she had spent in that orphanage. Even though girls would come and go so often getting adopted, she would miss the people there. She looked over at Tick, who had a happy yet sad look on her face.
"Don' look at me like that!" said Lucy, gulping down the lump in her throat. "You're gonna get out soon, too, okay? And it ain't gonna be by escape."
Tick nodded, walking over to Lucy and giving her a tight hug. Lucy looked past her, and Ginger nodded a smile.
"Best 'a luck, Luce. If I ever get outta here, I'm headin' straight for New York, just to see your brother!"
"I know, Ginge. You guys hang in there, 'kay?" Lucy smiled and took a deep breath. She looked at Benji, who gave her a look of encouragement, and stepped into the fireplace.
Lucy thought she knew every square inch of this orphanage after all the time she had spent there. But it was safe to say she had never been inside the fireplace. It was cramped and uncomfortable, covered in black soot until it reached the top. The opening of the chimney was shockingly bright with the sun's light shining across it. She gripped her shaking hands on either side of the ladder. Benji assured her he wouldn't let it wobble, and she started making her way up it.
With every step she took, the more adrenaline pumped through her system. She would have smiled if she weren't so scared. What would she do if the guards outside saw her? She knew they knew who she was. She would have gotten caught for sure, and this was too important to mess up. She suddenly closed her eyes shut, and for the first time, she didn't feel like she could get away with it. Even when she had gotten caught all those times, she had had this blind confidence that made her go for it, but this time, for the first time, she had doubt.
"I-I can't do it!" she said, halfway away from the top of the chimney.
"What?!" called Benji.
"I said I can't do it! I'm gonna get caught!" Her voice started to break and she felt suddenly suffocated in the confines of the chimney.
Tick rushed over and looked up. "Lucy, you'll get caught for sure if you just stay there! Get on with it!"
"I can't, Tick, I can't do it!" She started hyperventilating, her pulse skyrocketing, and she was too afraid to even move.
"Yes, you can! You…You're Lucy Sullivan! You got the guts to do just about anything in here!" shouted Tick. "Your brother's Jack Kelly, remember? Led the strike against Pulitzer! You got it, it's in your blood! "
Tick's words comforted her a moment. She pictured the photo of the New York Sun, with Jack standing in the middle, proud in his defiance, delighted to stick it to the man. She heard Ginger suddenly call from the other side of the room. "Charlie's comin'!"
"Lucy, go! Hurry!"
Without thinking, Lucy grabbed the next bar and climbed, climbed, climbed, until she tasted the fresh air of Boston. As she got closer and closer, the adrenaline kicked back in and she smiled deviously and proudly. She hoisted herself out from the chimney and onto the rooftop. She smiled and waved down at Tick and Benji, thanking them for their help and that she would be okay from there.
Her nerves shaking still, Lucy breathed in the air outside the prison-like orphanage and looked across the skyscapers with which she stood level. Escaping provided the best rush in the world -- it was like a high, and all those times she had broken the rules were feeding that adrenaline addiction. The nearness of getting caught only fueled it.
Thinking ahead about the security guards who patrolled the outer perimeter of the orphanage, Lucy rummaged through her backpack. She slid on a pair of baggy pants and button-down shirt, and threw her hair up into a ponytail buried beneath a cap. She threw the backpack over herself and made her way down the iron ladder, and onto the fire escape that led into an alley. She jumped down into a puddle, scaring a rat away, and watched for one of the guards.
This one was Max. He was the one who strolled outside the entrance during the day, sauntering up and down the street, tapping his baton in order to frighten away any miscreants. In the rush of her adrenaline, Lucy thought cockily to herself, You will not catch me. She smirked and waited for him to pass by the alleyway. As soon as he did, she broke into a run and escaped in the other direction on the street. She pushed her legs into the ground hard until she was safely a block away.
As soon as the orphanage was out of sight, she stopped and turned around. It was gone -- the orphanage, Carrigan, the guards, six years -- gone. Her breath was short and she smiled. She looked up into the sky to soak it all in. Her nerves were finally calming down, the high was settling. She made her way to the train station.
A/N: "e-SCAHP-ay...funny, it sounds just like the words escape!" Ten points to whoever knows this movie quote.
