Chapter Ten
The next morning, Jennifer didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep the previous night before. She was surprised to be awakened by her sister.
Before the sun had risen, Evelyn and her husband were well awake. When they noticed their son was gone, they were swept with panic. Evelyn opened the door that joined the two cars together to see his sister and her son asleep on the seat. Evelyn and Rick calmed down quickly and Evelyn went to awaken her sister.
By the time the sun rose, all the prisoners were awake and each of them were thinking of different ways to escape. Jennifer, however, had run into a dead end a long time ago. She was stroking Horus's feathers and trying to look like she was thinking of escaping. Evelyn looked over at her sister and at Horus; suddenly, Evelyn got an idea.
"That's it." She proclaimed. The others looked at her, they didn't have a clue with "it" was.
"We'll send Horus to find Ardeth-Bay and alert the Medji of Anubis and his plan." Evelyn said.
Jennifer cocked her head. "How does that save us?" She wasn't the least bit confused about the Medji, Alex had explained about them last night.
"Well, once Ardeth-Bay gets the message maybe he'll come rescue us." Evelyn suggested.
Rick nodded. "How does Horus find Ardeth-Bay?" He asked, more to himself then to his wife.
"Jennifer can tell Horus what he looks like and then Horus can find him." Alex suggested, having total confidence that Horus could fully understand Jennifer. Which, he could.
With help from the other prisoners, Jennifer explained to Horus that he needed to find the man they were describing to him. To write a message to Ardeth-Bay, Rick tore off a bit of one of the blankets -which were white, by the way- and after scouring the entire train, except the head car, the prisoners finally found a pencil. Evelyn wrote the message on the cloth and then tied it to Horus's leg. At first Horus tried to pull the cloth off but Jennifer stopped him. After making sure everything was "prefect" and Horus knew where he was going, the prisoners went to work on finding a way to get Horus out of the train. The only way seemed to be the window but that wouldn't budge, if it had they would have already attempted to escape. They searched the train again but none of the windows would budge even an inch.
The prisoners all met again in the room that Jennifer and Alex had stayed in last night. "Well, if the windows won't open, we'll have to break them open." Rick said simply.
"Why didn't we do that before?" Jennifer muttered.
"But if we break a big-enough hole, the sound of the breaking glass is sure to alert Anubis." Evelyn pointed out.
"Alright, so we'll make a small hole but you forgot one thing, we don't have anything to break it with." Jennifer pointed out.
"Then we'll have to find something." Rick snapped back.
Jennifer looked up at him but didn't say anything. "What?" She retorted, she wasn't the one to engage in a verbal argument but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of one.
Evelyn saw a fight coming and intervened. "We'll just have to find something. We'll have to search the train again." Evelyn said.
Alex groaned. "We've already searched the train lots of times." He moaned.
"Yes but each time we've been looking for something else." Evelyn told her son.
The prisoners spilt up again; Jennifer took the front of the train, this time. Instead of looking for something to break the window with, Jennifer worked up her courage and headed to the main car of the train to "spy" on Anubis and Sahure. Maybe she could overhear some of their plans or whatnot. Jennifer crept up to the door of the main-car as quiet as she could and leaned her ear against the door to see if she could overhear anything.
Inside the car Anubis and Sahure were having a "conversation". "The tracks should run out at anytime." Sahure said.
"Yes, then we will make the journey on foot. The O'Connells will point us in the direction of Amh-Shre." Anubis answered.
"What if the O'Connells refuse?" Sahure asked, there was a tint of fear in her voice at asking her "master" too many questions.
"They cannot, if they do we will kill one of the prisoners." Anubis answered.
In front of the door, Jennifer frowned; that was not good. As quietly as she came to the car, she backtracked. When she was in the car the O'Connells slept in last night, she finally let out her breath, which she had been holding since she got to the car.
Inside the other car, the O'Connells had already gathered. None of them had anything that could be used to break any of the windows on the train. When Jennifer entered, she also had nothing so the prisoners were back to plan A. However, now the prisoners had more bad news to throw into their need to escape.
Jennifer conveyed the information she had overheard to the O'Connells; Horus was perched on her hand, he appeared to be listening as well.
Rick gave an exasperated, angry sigh and looked at Jennifer. "Are you sure Anubis said that the tracks could run out any time?" Rick asked, though he was sure he heard Jennifer right the first time.
Jennifer nodded; her mind was racing with what else Anubis had said. Jennifer had left out the part about killing one of them.
"Well, we need to send Horus with the message now before we have to start out for Amh-Shre. If we release him while we're walking, Anubis will surely see him." Evelyn said, though she was aware that the last part of the sentence wasn't necessary.
Jennifer looked around the room and trying to think of things that would break through a window. "We'll just have to risk making noise." Jennifer muttered and stood up. She told the O'Connells to stay in this car; she'd only be a second.
Jennifer headed to the dinning car; all the tables and chairs were nailed down to the floor, which was the reason the O'Connells hadn't used one of the chairs or tables to escape. However, Jennifer was sure that it wouldn't be too hard to pull one of the chairs out of the ground. After all, they were only nailed. Jennifer tried prying up one of the tables but couldn't do it by herself, they were nailed pretty tightly.
Jennifer hurried back to the car where the O'Connells were waiting. "I think I have an idea but I'm going to need some help." Jennifer said. Finally, they had an idea.
The next morning, Jennifer didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep the previous night before. She was surprised to be awakened by her sister.
Before the sun had risen, Evelyn and her husband were well awake. When they noticed their son was gone, they were swept with panic. Evelyn opened the door that joined the two cars together to see his sister and her son asleep on the seat. Evelyn and Rick calmed down quickly and Evelyn went to awaken her sister.
By the time the sun rose, all the prisoners were awake and each of them were thinking of different ways to escape. Jennifer, however, had run into a dead end a long time ago. She was stroking Horus's feathers and trying to look like she was thinking of escaping. Evelyn looked over at her sister and at Horus; suddenly, Evelyn got an idea.
"That's it." She proclaimed. The others looked at her, they didn't have a clue with "it" was.
"We'll send Horus to find Ardeth-Bay and alert the Medji of Anubis and his plan." Evelyn said.
Jennifer cocked her head. "How does that save us?" She wasn't the least bit confused about the Medji, Alex had explained about them last night.
"Well, once Ardeth-Bay gets the message maybe he'll come rescue us." Evelyn suggested.
Rick nodded. "How does Horus find Ardeth-Bay?" He asked, more to himself then to his wife.
"Jennifer can tell Horus what he looks like and then Horus can find him." Alex suggested, having total confidence that Horus could fully understand Jennifer. Which, he could.
With help from the other prisoners, Jennifer explained to Horus that he needed to find the man they were describing to him. To write a message to Ardeth-Bay, Rick tore off a bit of one of the blankets -which were white, by the way- and after scouring the entire train, except the head car, the prisoners finally found a pencil. Evelyn wrote the message on the cloth and then tied it to Horus's leg. At first Horus tried to pull the cloth off but Jennifer stopped him. After making sure everything was "prefect" and Horus knew where he was going, the prisoners went to work on finding a way to get Horus out of the train. The only way seemed to be the window but that wouldn't budge, if it had they would have already attempted to escape. They searched the train again but none of the windows would budge even an inch.
The prisoners all met again in the room that Jennifer and Alex had stayed in last night. "Well, if the windows won't open, we'll have to break them open." Rick said simply.
"Why didn't we do that before?" Jennifer muttered.
"But if we break a big-enough hole, the sound of the breaking glass is sure to alert Anubis." Evelyn pointed out.
"Alright, so we'll make a small hole but you forgot one thing, we don't have anything to break it with." Jennifer pointed out.
"Then we'll have to find something." Rick snapped back.
Jennifer looked up at him but didn't say anything. "What?" She retorted, she wasn't the one to engage in a verbal argument but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of one.
Evelyn saw a fight coming and intervened. "We'll just have to find something. We'll have to search the train again." Evelyn said.
Alex groaned. "We've already searched the train lots of times." He moaned.
"Yes but each time we've been looking for something else." Evelyn told her son.
The prisoners spilt up again; Jennifer took the front of the train, this time. Instead of looking for something to break the window with, Jennifer worked up her courage and headed to the main car of the train to "spy" on Anubis and Sahure. Maybe she could overhear some of their plans or whatnot. Jennifer crept up to the door of the main-car as quiet as she could and leaned her ear against the door to see if she could overhear anything.
Inside the car Anubis and Sahure were having a "conversation". "The tracks should run out at anytime." Sahure said.
"Yes, then we will make the journey on foot. The O'Connells will point us in the direction of Amh-Shre." Anubis answered.
"What if the O'Connells refuse?" Sahure asked, there was a tint of fear in her voice at asking her "master" too many questions.
"They cannot, if they do we will kill one of the prisoners." Anubis answered.
In front of the door, Jennifer frowned; that was not good. As quietly as she came to the car, she backtracked. When she was in the car the O'Connells slept in last night, she finally let out her breath, which she had been holding since she got to the car.
Inside the other car, the O'Connells had already gathered. None of them had anything that could be used to break any of the windows on the train. When Jennifer entered, she also had nothing so the prisoners were back to plan A. However, now the prisoners had more bad news to throw into their need to escape.
Jennifer conveyed the information she had overheard to the O'Connells; Horus was perched on her hand, he appeared to be listening as well.
Rick gave an exasperated, angry sigh and looked at Jennifer. "Are you sure Anubis said that the tracks could run out any time?" Rick asked, though he was sure he heard Jennifer right the first time.
Jennifer nodded; her mind was racing with what else Anubis had said. Jennifer had left out the part about killing one of them.
"Well, we need to send Horus with the message now before we have to start out for Amh-Shre. If we release him while we're walking, Anubis will surely see him." Evelyn said, though she was aware that the last part of the sentence wasn't necessary.
Jennifer looked around the room and trying to think of things that would break through a window. "We'll just have to risk making noise." Jennifer muttered and stood up. She told the O'Connells to stay in this car; she'd only be a second.
Jennifer headed to the dinning car; all the tables and chairs were nailed down to the floor, which was the reason the O'Connells hadn't used one of the chairs or tables to escape. However, Jennifer was sure that it wouldn't be too hard to pull one of the chairs out of the ground. After all, they were only nailed. Jennifer tried prying up one of the tables but couldn't do it by herself, they were nailed pretty tightly.
Jennifer hurried back to the car where the O'Connells were waiting. "I think I have an idea but I'm going to need some help." Jennifer said. Finally, they had an idea.