Chapter 14
"How long could it take for them to pass?" Pascal fretted. He hated being away from his beloved pipes for more than a few hours at a time.
"Oh, I should say no more than a day or two…three at the most," Father assured him.
"THREE DAYS!" Pascal gasped, as if Father had said years instead of days.
"The Pipe Chamber is a dangerous place, Pascal. If you should fall or even pass out, with no one there with you, it could be hours before you were discovered," Father warned.
"I could have Zach there with me. He's a very good student!"
"Then he should be able to see to things while you recover. Lucy, can you care for both Pascal and Stephen while I take care of some things?" When she agreed, he went on to say, "I will have William send dinner for the three of you. Just broth tonight for the injured. I will have Mary relieve you once she has rested and I will check in on you later too." Father left them before Pascal could protest any further.
"I really can't be away from my pipes that long, Miss Lucy! Is there any way that you could keep an eye on me there?" Pascal practically begged.
"Normally I'd love to do that, but I have to watch Stephen too, and I don't think he could be moved to the Pipe Chamber."
"Oh, of course not. I had forgotten that, and was selfishly thinking only of myself."
"It's not selfish to want to get back to a job that you love as much as you do yours. It wasn't until coming here that I knew what that felt like. No one in my line of work up top ever liked what they were doing. They only did it out of need."
Pascal blushed and was once again speechless. He was both embarrassed and horrified to think of what her previous life had led her to do.
He was very glad when Mary entered at that moment. She was supporting a very slow moving Stephen. Lucy rushed to help her get him into a bed and then suggested that with her help Pascal should do the same. After all, the exam table wasn't very comfortable.
While all of that had been going on, Catherine, Isaac, and Vincent were dealing with the five captured Silks. Because they were all safely tied and all but their leader, Miss Patricia, was unconscious, the three of them stepped just far enough away not to be heard as they discussed what to do. After several suggestions were offered and dismissed, the best they could come up with was to take them all to Isaac's gym and call the police. Lucy could file an attempted kidnapping complaint and while the police were processing them, the tunnel entrances in that area could be sealed off. That way if the Silks told the police about the tunnels there would be nothing to support their story.
The story they would tell the police was that Isaac saw the Silks try and grab Lucy in front of his gym and with Catherine's help, who was there for a self-defense refresher course, had run out to rescue her. The two of them had overpowered the Silks and had tied them up, then called the police. They had talked about Catherine not being involved in the rescue so she could prosecute, but it was decided that she would be better off corroborating Isaac's story.
It took them two trips to get the Silks from the tunnels to Isaac's gym. Patricia was blindfolded so she wouldn't know the route they took and the others were still unconscious.
Before leaving the tunnels the Vincent tapped out a message that they would need Lucy to come to the gym. Isaac was in the process of calling the police when she arrived.
Mary had heard the message before leaving the hospital chamber and said she would stay to watch over their patients while Lucy went Above to talk to the police.
When Pascal heard she had to go, he protested that it was too dangerous. Mary reminded him that Vincent, Catherine, and Isaac would all be there to protect her.
Lucy smiled at him and told him not to worry. She would be fine and would return as soon as possible.