HAPPY EASTER! :)
Hands bound and stomach aching, Mandie followed Daniel. Mandie could feel her stomach ripple down to her legs, it had been a whole day now since she ate anything but the apple. Trying to get her mind off her hunger, she focused on Daniel and his false backstory. How strange of him to lie about Ms. Stallon, she thought.
"Daniel, why did you lie to me about Ms. Stallon? You told me her name was Charity." Mandie stubbornly questioned him while being pulled through the woods.
Daniel rolled his eyes. "I only lied so you could make a connection and trust me. I thought maybe if we both had a parent who was sick or dead you would take pity on me and believe me. Which you did." Daniel snickered.
Mandie stomped her foot onto the dirt. "God forbids us to lie! I only trusted you because I was desperate for help and God calls us to love everyone, no excuses."
She could feel the tears festering. This was unfair. God called her to love everyone, even the people she didn't always get along with. Polly, April Snow, she thought to herself, flinching as she knew she didn't always control her tongue with those people. Yet here she was in this predicament; what should she do?
"Just shut up and move it. We're here." Daniel said, excitedly dragging her quicker to the house. He tugged Mandie through the rope and hoisted her up the porch steps.
Mandie cautiously looked around, maybe Joe is here, she hopefully thought. Daniel noticed her observing the area. He pulled her back into reality by pulling out a key to the door. Mandie gasped.
"And how do you have the key to Joe and I's house?" Mandie was in awe, she had discovered the person behind the mystery of the unlocked door.
Daniel shrugged, "I made a copy before you even had moved into the house. My father and I have been trying to decipher where Ms. Stallon's hidden gem was for years. We finally discovered where it was, right under this house." He clapped his hands together in delight when he saw the house unoccupied.
Mandie was thoughtful for a moment. "But that still doesn't answer how you got the original key in order to make a copy of the key?" She pressed on more; wanting to discover the true mystery behind the door scandal. Daniel sighed and turned to look at her.
"My father knows the guy who made the master key and pressed a new key for us. It was easy to bribe him," Daniel then quickly moved on and dragged her to the kitchen.
"Why are we in the kitchen?" Mandie asked, rubbing her sore wrists which were still bound.
Daniel smiled his mischievous smile and then suddenly started pulling up a few of the floor boards that were hammered back down into place. Mandie stared at him in disbelief. The floorboards revealed a small hidden hole under them, a hole tiny enough for a short, skinny person. Mandie sighed, now I can see why I was recruited.
"Now here are the instructions and listen closely. Go down into this hole, retrieve the gem, and bring it back up to me," Daniel spoke to her forwardly.
Mandie weakly nodded and looked down into the hole. "But what if it's dangerous down there? Is it safe?" She questioned him, which only made him angry.
"Get down there or I will burn your father's house down!" He spoke angrily to her, causing some tears to form in her blue eyes. She sighed painfully, knowing she had to do this.
He untied her hands and then tied the rope around her waist. He grabbed the other end of the rope and nodded her down impatiently. She closed her eyes in fear, and then climbed down into the small hole.
Daniel smiled in satisfaction.