Maria, worn out from her afternoon bike ride in the cold, fell asleep quickly. Logan left the light on until he was sure she was sleeping soundly, then quietly turned it out and took his place by the window. It was a cloudy night and all he could really see was blackness. It wasn't long before he began to yawn uncontrollably. Staying awake all night, he had discovered, was a lot harder when you couldn't get up and walk the sleepiness off. What was it like for Max, he thought drowsily, sleeping so little ...
Suddenly overhead there was a tremendous thumping and banging. Maria sat up, terrified. When she saw Logan move around the bed towards the door she cried out, "Don't leave me!"
"Shhh, don't worry," he answered automatically, opening the door a crack and peering out. His heart was pounding. Damn! All he wanted to do was rush upstairs to find out what was happening, but of course even if that had been possible he could not leave Maria, who was now kneeling on the bed clutching his arm in a painfully tight grip, also trying to look out into the hallway.
Suddenly footsteps pounded down the stairs. Maria gasped and Logan hastily shut the door. "Down on the floor, over there. Go under if you can!" he whispered, prying Maria's fingers off his arm and gently pushing her towards the far side of the bed. The footsteps were coming down the hallway now. He turned the chair sharply and rounded the corner of the bed as quickly as he could, stopping at the first window, the one across from the foot of the bed. He turned the chair again so that he was facing the doorway, then let his head flop over on his shoulder as if he were sleeping. "Maria, stay right where you are until I say turn on the light," he whispered, then closed his eyes and braced himself.
Floorboards creaked in the hall.
There was a click and a rush of cold air and he opened his eyes just enough to see a dark figure slip into the room. He held himself still, waiting. The figure stepped cautiously into the room, moved towards the far window, obviously looking for an escape route.
Whoever it was would have to squeeze between the bed and the chair to reach that window.
When he heard the bump of legs against his right wheel, he reached out, grabbed, and shouted, "Turn on the light!" There was a muffled "Ow!" from under the bed as Maria banged her head. Someone heavy fell against Logan's chest, then the light went on and the door opened to reveal Max and David, trailed by Sam, rushing into the room. In one stride Max was in front of Logan, hauling the intruder off his lap and shouting, "Don't fight me, dirtbag!" David stepped past Sam and grabbed the man from the other side. He was very young, Logan saw, wearing some kind of uniform, too dirty and tattered to identify.
"Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" he cried in a Russian accent, holding his hands high in the air. At the sound of his voice Maria stood up from where she knelt next to the nightstand and said softly, "Sasha?"
All heads turned in her direction. "You know this guy?" Max asked incredulously, staring at Maria.
"Maria, are you all right? Have they harmed you?" cried Sasha, struggling against Max and David.
"Want me to harm you? I'd love that," Max growled, jerking Sasha closer.
"Sasha, I'm fine, these people are my friends," Maria said pleadingly, and Sasha stopped struggling. "Yes, I know him," Maria told Max.
For a long moment there was silence, and then Max yelled, "Somebody start talking!"
Maria and Sasha both started at once, talking to each other and to everyone else. It took a half-hour to get the story out of them, mostly because Sasha was too terrified of Max and anxious about Maria to make sense.
Maria and Sasha had met at the prison when Sasha was a guard in training, assigned to the cellblock where Maria and her mother were being held. He was good to them, Maria said with a smile. After her mother died and she moved to the warden's house, Sasha had volunteered to carry contraband and bribes from the prisoners to the warden, so h could see her.
"You didn't happen to come across any size-12 pumps, did you?" Max asked, then shook her head when everyone turned to look at her. "Never mind, go on."
The day Cindy and Max had broken out with Maria, Sasha had been on his way to the warden's house. He had seen them leave in the warden's car and fearing the worst, borrowed a bicycle from one of the other guards to follow them. Pedaling furiously, he managed to keep up until the car stopped and Max burst out of the trunk. That, and the warden being run over, convinced him that Maria was in great danger. He followed them back to town, back to Max's apartment, then lived for two days in a nearby alley until Max took Maria to the farm. He was able to follow them on his bicycle for a while, he said, but lost them in the country when Max revved up the motorcycle and took off.
"So? I like to go fast," Max said defensively when Maria looked at her reproachfully.
He had made it far enough, Sasha said, to narrow down his search. He had nothing else to do anyway. He couldn't return to Langford, and he had nowhere else to go, so he began to roam the countryside, hoping to spot Maria somewhere, some way. For months he had no luck. The weather grew cold and he took to sleeping in barns, stealing eggs and the occasional meal set out for a homeless wanderer.
One day it had occurred to him that maybe Maria had started school, so he began to hang out at the high school, and his search paid off. He saw Maria one afternoon and followed her back to the farm.
He stopped there as if the story was complete, but if anything, Max was even more suspicious. "What are you, some kind of psycho stalker?" she demanded, grabbing his arm again.
This time Sasha tried to twist away. "No, please, you don't understand. I know the warden was not kind to Maria. I thought you were bad too. I only wanted to protect her. So at night I watch and wait, to be sure she is safe from you."
Max frowned. "Then what were you doing climbing up to her window?"
"I see that you are here. You are the one who took her away. I need to see that she is safe, so I climb up to look in her window."
"Please, Max," Maria said earnestly. "I believe him, and you should too. He was so good to me at the prison. I know he didn't mean any harm." She looked at Max, pleading, and Max relented. She let go of Sasha's arm, though she didn't step away.
David and Sam exchanged glances. Sam said, "Young man, breaking into our barn and our home is wrong, no matter whether you meant harm."
"I am sorry," Sasha said meekly.
Sam looked at her watch. "You'll sleep here tonight, and in the morning we'll figure out what happens next."
Max took Sasha by the arm again. "Listen up. I'll be keeping an eye on you, so don't try anything funny. I'm a very light sleeper." Sasha glanced in alarm at Maria, who said,
"It's all right, Sasha. Max is my friend."
After that, Sasha allowed himself to be taken out of the room by David and Sam, to sleep upstairs under guard. It would be harder for him to try anything, like escaping, up on the second floor, Max pointed out. Then Max and Logan tucked Maria back into the guest room bed and sat together in silence until she fell asleep.
Max said quietly, "Good block you threw at him."
"Glad to be in the way," Logan smiled.
Max smiled back. "Fix your glasses."
"What?"
"Your glasses are crooked. Must have been knocked around."
"Oh." Logan reached up and settled his glasses properly. "Guess I should have taken them off. I was supposed to be asleep."
Max laughed. "You were asleep with them on last night," she said, standing up. "Anyway, later. I'm going upstairs to stand guard over our Romeo." She slipped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
Logan sighed. With Maria asleep in the bed, it looked like a long night for him. He took an extra pillow and a blanket and got as comfortable as he could, which wasn't very comfortable at all. Now, of course, he wasn't a bit sleepy.
A little while later the door creaked open and once again a shadowy figure silently entered the room. Max. On a sudden impulse he sat very still, eyes closed. She stopped moving for a moment, and the next thing he knew his glasses were gently sliding from his face. "Wonder if you do this every night," he heard her whisper, and then the door creaked open and shut again.
After that it took him a long time to fall asleep. He couldn't tell whether it was because he was happy or sad.
Suddenly overhead there was a tremendous thumping and banging. Maria sat up, terrified. When she saw Logan move around the bed towards the door she cried out, "Don't leave me!"
"Shhh, don't worry," he answered automatically, opening the door a crack and peering out. His heart was pounding. Damn! All he wanted to do was rush upstairs to find out what was happening, but of course even if that had been possible he could not leave Maria, who was now kneeling on the bed clutching his arm in a painfully tight grip, also trying to look out into the hallway.
Suddenly footsteps pounded down the stairs. Maria gasped and Logan hastily shut the door. "Down on the floor, over there. Go under if you can!" he whispered, prying Maria's fingers off his arm and gently pushing her towards the far side of the bed. The footsteps were coming down the hallway now. He turned the chair sharply and rounded the corner of the bed as quickly as he could, stopping at the first window, the one across from the foot of the bed. He turned the chair again so that he was facing the doorway, then let his head flop over on his shoulder as if he were sleeping. "Maria, stay right where you are until I say turn on the light," he whispered, then closed his eyes and braced himself.
Floorboards creaked in the hall.
There was a click and a rush of cold air and he opened his eyes just enough to see a dark figure slip into the room. He held himself still, waiting. The figure stepped cautiously into the room, moved towards the far window, obviously looking for an escape route.
Whoever it was would have to squeeze between the bed and the chair to reach that window.
When he heard the bump of legs against his right wheel, he reached out, grabbed, and shouted, "Turn on the light!" There was a muffled "Ow!" from under the bed as Maria banged her head. Someone heavy fell against Logan's chest, then the light went on and the door opened to reveal Max and David, trailed by Sam, rushing into the room. In one stride Max was in front of Logan, hauling the intruder off his lap and shouting, "Don't fight me, dirtbag!" David stepped past Sam and grabbed the man from the other side. He was very young, Logan saw, wearing some kind of uniform, too dirty and tattered to identify.
"Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me!" he cried in a Russian accent, holding his hands high in the air. At the sound of his voice Maria stood up from where she knelt next to the nightstand and said softly, "Sasha?"
All heads turned in her direction. "You know this guy?" Max asked incredulously, staring at Maria.
"Maria, are you all right? Have they harmed you?" cried Sasha, struggling against Max and David.
"Want me to harm you? I'd love that," Max growled, jerking Sasha closer.
"Sasha, I'm fine, these people are my friends," Maria said pleadingly, and Sasha stopped struggling. "Yes, I know him," Maria told Max.
For a long moment there was silence, and then Max yelled, "Somebody start talking!"
Maria and Sasha both started at once, talking to each other and to everyone else. It took a half-hour to get the story out of them, mostly because Sasha was too terrified of Max and anxious about Maria to make sense.
Maria and Sasha had met at the prison when Sasha was a guard in training, assigned to the cellblock where Maria and her mother were being held. He was good to them, Maria said with a smile. After her mother died and she moved to the warden's house, Sasha had volunteered to carry contraband and bribes from the prisoners to the warden, so h could see her.
"You didn't happen to come across any size-12 pumps, did you?" Max asked, then shook her head when everyone turned to look at her. "Never mind, go on."
The day Cindy and Max had broken out with Maria, Sasha had been on his way to the warden's house. He had seen them leave in the warden's car and fearing the worst, borrowed a bicycle from one of the other guards to follow them. Pedaling furiously, he managed to keep up until the car stopped and Max burst out of the trunk. That, and the warden being run over, convinced him that Maria was in great danger. He followed them back to town, back to Max's apartment, then lived for two days in a nearby alley until Max took Maria to the farm. He was able to follow them on his bicycle for a while, he said, but lost them in the country when Max revved up the motorcycle and took off.
"So? I like to go fast," Max said defensively when Maria looked at her reproachfully.
He had made it far enough, Sasha said, to narrow down his search. He had nothing else to do anyway. He couldn't return to Langford, and he had nowhere else to go, so he began to roam the countryside, hoping to spot Maria somewhere, some way. For months he had no luck. The weather grew cold and he took to sleeping in barns, stealing eggs and the occasional meal set out for a homeless wanderer.
One day it had occurred to him that maybe Maria had started school, so he began to hang out at the high school, and his search paid off. He saw Maria one afternoon and followed her back to the farm.
He stopped there as if the story was complete, but if anything, Max was even more suspicious. "What are you, some kind of psycho stalker?" she demanded, grabbing his arm again.
This time Sasha tried to twist away. "No, please, you don't understand. I know the warden was not kind to Maria. I thought you were bad too. I only wanted to protect her. So at night I watch and wait, to be sure she is safe from you."
Max frowned. "Then what were you doing climbing up to her window?"
"I see that you are here. You are the one who took her away. I need to see that she is safe, so I climb up to look in her window."
"Please, Max," Maria said earnestly. "I believe him, and you should too. He was so good to me at the prison. I know he didn't mean any harm." She looked at Max, pleading, and Max relented. She let go of Sasha's arm, though she didn't step away.
David and Sam exchanged glances. Sam said, "Young man, breaking into our barn and our home is wrong, no matter whether you meant harm."
"I am sorry," Sasha said meekly.
Sam looked at her watch. "You'll sleep here tonight, and in the morning we'll figure out what happens next."
Max took Sasha by the arm again. "Listen up. I'll be keeping an eye on you, so don't try anything funny. I'm a very light sleeper." Sasha glanced in alarm at Maria, who said,
"It's all right, Sasha. Max is my friend."
After that, Sasha allowed himself to be taken out of the room by David and Sam, to sleep upstairs under guard. It would be harder for him to try anything, like escaping, up on the second floor, Max pointed out. Then Max and Logan tucked Maria back into the guest room bed and sat together in silence until she fell asleep.
Max said quietly, "Good block you threw at him."
"Glad to be in the way," Logan smiled.
Max smiled back. "Fix your glasses."
"What?"
"Your glasses are crooked. Must have been knocked around."
"Oh." Logan reached up and settled his glasses properly. "Guess I should have taken them off. I was supposed to be asleep."
Max laughed. "You were asleep with them on last night," she said, standing up. "Anyway, later. I'm going upstairs to stand guard over our Romeo." She slipped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
Logan sighed. With Maria asleep in the bed, it looked like a long night for him. He took an extra pillow and a blanket and got as comfortable as he could, which wasn't very comfortable at all. Now, of course, he wasn't a bit sleepy.
A little while later the door creaked open and once again a shadowy figure silently entered the room. Max. On a sudden impulse he sat very still, eyes closed. She stopped moving for a moment, and the next thing he knew his glasses were gently sliding from his face. "Wonder if you do this every night," he heard her whisper, and then the door creaked open and shut again.
After that it took him a long time to fall asleep. He couldn't tell whether it was because he was happy or sad.
