Chapter 7:
It was barely dawn when Molly woke up. She made a drowsy face, trying to sit up and feeling pain shoot through her arms. "Ouch... what in the ...." Blinking a few times to clear her eyes, she looked around. "Where am I?" Then she saw Chris curled up on the floor not too far from her and the memory came back. She nudged him with her foot. "Wake up."
"Whazza... huh.... what?" he mumbled sleepily, opening one bleary eye to peer at her.
"It's morning."
"Huh?" Opening his other eye as well, Chris peered out the window, still half asleep. "The sun's not even all the way up yet..."
"But I can't sleep anymore and I don't want to be alone."
"I'm not going anywhere...."
"But it's too quiet in here...keep me company."
With a sigh, he sat up, wobbling a bit. "All right..."
"Do you think Andrew will come looking for us?"
"I don't know..." He shrugged. "He might look for us, but who knows if he'll come out this way... after all, we didn't tell anyone where we were going..."
She sighed. "I want to go home, Chris. Not back to Brooklyn, but back to Pleasant Valley and Spot and Rae and Kendra and everywhere else."
"I do too.... but you're lucky you have the choice... Well, you would have the choice if we weren't stuck here, that is."
"I'm sure if you talk to Spot he'll let you come back."
Chris snorted. "We didn't part on good terms... I doubt he'll be ready to hear me out any time soon."
She leaned her head against the wall. "My fingers and wrists hurt."
"My whole body hurts..."
"Maybe she'll untie us."
"Do you think? She didn't seem very nice yesterday..."
"Maybe she was just in a bad mood."
"We can only hope... My personal opinion is she's crazy."
"I wish this nightmare was over."
Chris simply nodded in agreement. The door opened and Dwarf walked in with a tray of food. Molly and Chris fell silent, watching him uncertainly.
"Eat," he said, setting the tray on the floor and walking back toward the door.
"Uh.... sir...?" Molly held up her hands. "It'd be kind of hard, tied up..."
He stopped and scratched his head. "Duchess said that you two had to stay tied up."
"Well how does she expect us to eat? Like hogs?" Chris asked.
Dwarf scratched his head again and wrinkled his nose. "I don't guess so."
"Well?" Molly moved her wrists towards him.
He slowly moved toward her and pulled out his knife.
She squeaked and closed her eyes tightly. 'I'm gonna die!' she thought. After a few sawing noises, the ropes suddenly fell free, and she opened her eyes again. Breathing a sigh of relief, she wriggled over to the food and began to eat ravenously.
Moments later Chris joined her. "You got your wish," he said, before biting into a piece of slightly stale bread.
"Yeah," she agreed around a mouthful of lukewarm, pretty flavorless soup.
Moments later the door banged open again and Duchess walked in. "What is going on in here? I thought I told you to tie them up?"
"They said they couldn't eat 'less they was untied," Dwarf said, "So I... untied 'em..."
She hit him. "You fool!"
"We won't run away. Promise," Molly said, her voice almost a whimper.
Chris nodded. "Yeah... it's not like we know where we are...."
"Shut up!" Duchess yelled, causing both Molly and Chris to jump.
"What did WE do?" Chris muttered, poking at his soup.
"You invaded my territory!" she yelled. "Maybe those people way back when had the right idea about spies. They executed them!"
Molly squeaked. "But we aren't spies! We were going to Coney Island and we got lost! Honest!"
"Likely story."
"It's true!" Chris piped in. Dwarf kicked him in the chest.
"Shut up. Tie them back up Dwarf," Duchess yelled, storming from the room.
Chris flailed backwards, gasping for air, and coughing horribly. Molly scrambled closer to him, but Dwarf caught her sore arm and she cried out in pain.
"HEY!" Chris yelled. "Let her alone! We haven't done anything to you!"
Duchess strode back into the room and picked him up by his collar. "What will it take to get you to shut up?"
"Just leaving us be! It's not like we can get back home or anything. We don't even know where we are!"
She back-handed him. "Watch the way you talk to me," she growled.
Chris yelped, holding his cheek. "I was just saying..." he mumbled.
She tossed him at Dwarf, who had just finished tying Molly's wrists behind her back again. She glanced at Molly for a moment before walking over to her.
Molly stared at her, wide-eyed, and scooted back as best she could.
"Don't ever argue with me!" Duchess yelled, before storming from the room.
Dwarf kicked her in the ribs before following his leader. With a yelp, she curled up, whimpering. When the door closed, Chris scooted across the floor. "Are you alright, Molly?" he whispered.
"I think so," she whispered tearfully. "It just really hurt..."
"Can you sit up?"
She struggled to sit up (as it was hard to do, tied up as she was) and winced a little, but nodded.
"You can lean against me if you want," he offered.
Wriggling a bit, she managed to scoot a little closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Chris.... You know... Sometimes, you aren't so bad."
He sighed, "Tell that to Spot."
"I would if I could..."
"I'm sure we'll get out of here....eventually."
"Probably when we're old and gray," she muttered.
He slowly moved his arms so that his arms were around her shoulders. "We'll figure something out."
"I hope so." Molly sighed, snuggling closer to him. "You know... I always thought Hades was a bit of a tyrant at times... But she's not as grouchy as that.. Duchess, is it?"
"Hades is no where near as bad as this Duchess person," Chris said. "I wonder what Spot, Rae and the others are doing right about now."
"Having a lot more fun than we are, I can guarantee it."
* * *
"Spot...where are you taking me?" Rae asked uncertainly, as Spot led her blind-folded through the woods.
"Stop asking. You know I won't tell you."
"At least take the blind fold off, Spot...please..."
"If I did, you would know where I was taking you." He sighed. "Come now Rae, don't you trust me?"
"I do...I just don't like not being able to see where I'm going."
"Just trust me. It would ruin the surprise if you could see, because then you would've known pretty much right as we started."
She gave a slight pout, and Spot leaned down to kiss her.
"The pout's not going to do it, sweetheart," he told her with a grin.
"It used to work just fine, thank you very much."
"That's because you're wearing the blindfold now. You don't have those sad eyes to go with it now." He chuckled softly.
She pushed him playfully. "Just keep walking, mister."
"Walking."
"Are we almost there yet?" She asked, slipping her hand in his.
"Almost. Be patient."
"Hurry up will ya...we can't leave Sam very long..."
"Julie is taking care of him... everything will be fine."
"But he gets hungry every couple of hours and Julie can't feed him."
He held a finger to Rae's lips. "Everything will be alright, if you let it."
She smiled slightly. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am."
She laughed. "Remind me not to tell you that again...your head will get too big."
"I'll be sure to forget," he assured her with a grin.
"Can we start moving again?"
He laughed and tugged her along. After another few minutes he stopped. "We're here."
"Okay. Take the blindfold off now!!"
"Not until after I kiss you."
"Spooooot!" she whined impatiently.
With a laugh he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
"Now?" she asked, when the kiss ended.
"I don't know..." he teased, "I kinda like having you like this."
"Spoooot! Spot, I'm warning you!"
With another laugh he pulled the blindfold off. "Happy now?" he asked, but he didn't give her a chance to answer, because he kissed her again.
Rae looked around and laughed, kissing him back. "You brought me here?"
"Figured it was as good a place as any for us to be alone," he said, scooping her up into his arms.
"Ohhh, I love you," she said, grinning happily.
"I love you too, Darling."
* * *
"I..." Molly paused and made a face. "I need to use the bathroom." The problem was, neither Duchess nor her flunkies had been in the room for some time.
Chris shifted uncomfortably. "Well...I..uh...maybe they'll come in soon."
"You think they'll come if we shout for them?"
"Are you sure you want to upset them again?" he asked, lightly touching Molly's sore ribs.
She flinched. "No.... but I really gotta go..."
As if on cue the door opened and Duchess walked in.
Molly watched her cross the room, almost too afraid to speak up. "Um.... excuse me?" she squeaked.
"What?" she growled as she paced the room
"I... I have to use the bathroom. Really badly."
Duchess rolled her eyes, but hauled Molly to her feet and practically drug her from the room. Chris frowned.
They returned moments later and Duchess threw Molly back on the floor next to Chris. She paced the room in silence for several minutes before turning back to them. "So Spot moved across state huh? Why?"
Chris shrugged. "I don't know. We didn't- well, my sister and I- we didn't meet them right away..."
"Annie says that he left because of a factory accident," Molly said.
Chris snorted. "Like she would know."
"Who's Annie?" Duchess asked.
"She's one of the twins they found. Ann and Andy," she explained.
"What's this about an accident?" Duchess demanded as she began to pace again.
Chris shrugged. "I'm not sure... they never really told us..."
"Annie said something about an explosion," Molly retorted.
"Well it's not like I know... no one tells me anything," Chris muttered.
"Explosion...?" Duchess murmured, pausing.
Molly shrank back. "That's all I know...but his face got messed up because of it..."
She smirked. "Of course.... I bet that did a blow to his ego, eh?" She snorted. "Oh, what can destroy the great Spot Conlon..."
"Rae," both Chris and Molly muttered.
"What about Rae?" Duchess demanded.
"Nothing," Molly said, shrinking back even further.
"If you're going to start something, you'd better finish it," she snapped.
"What do you want to know?" Chris asked.
"You mentioned Rae... Why? Did she cause this explosion or something?"
"No...but she's been with Spot since the accident...they're married now."
"Married?!" she squawked in disbelief. "You're talking about Rae Kelly and Spot Conlon?.... But they hated each other!"
"Not anymore."
She started pacing again, muttering, "I don't believe it... I just don't believe it... Someone doesn't like me... to play all these sick tricks on me!... I don't believe this..."
"They have a baby too...." Chris said, then yelped in pain when Molly kicked him.
"That is... that is absurd!" Duchess pointed an accusing finger at them. "You're making all of this up, aren't you?"
"No," they both whimpered.
She frowned. "That's just... impossible."
"But it's the truth..."
"Well you two better think of a way to get Conlon and his little 'family' here to prove it...If doesn't show up...you'll regret it."
Molly and Chris looked at one another and gulped. Who knew when the word would get to Spot that they were missing?
~*~
"Daddy," Andy yelled running into the clearing by the little cabin.
Spot looked up from the porch swing where he and Rae were dozing. "What is it?" he asked, yawning.
"Somethin's wrong with Julie," he panted.
"What do you mean?" Rae asked worriedly.
"She's sittin' at the table and she laid her head down while we was eatin' lunch...but she won't wake up!"
Spot frowned, concerned. "All right, we're coming."
"Hurry, Daddy," he said, pulling on Spot's hand. "Sam's screaming!"
He hurried, with Rae at his heels. "We're coming."
Once back up at the house, Rae rushed to the living room to pick up Sam while Spot checked on Julie. "Julie," he said, shaking her shoulder.
Julie didn't stir. Spot's frown deepened and he shook her shoulder a little harder. "Come on Julie... Wake up..."
Rae reached around him and placed a hand on her face. "She's burning up...get her upstairs..."
With a nod, he scooped her up. "Who will go for the doctor?" he asked.
"Can you go?" she asked, following him up the stairs.
"I..." he hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes... yes, I'll go."
"Thank you," she said, setting Sam down in the upstairs cradle.
He nodded, creasing his brow worriedly. He just hoped that the townsfolk had forgotten their accusations of him as a murderer. "I'll be back as soon as I can."
She gave him a quick kiss. "Be careful."
"I will." And he ran out of the house and down the road to town.
Rae turned to Julie and began to bathe her face in cool water when Ann slipped into the room.
"What's goin' on, Momma? Why won't Julie wake up?"
"I don't know, sweetheart. Can you do me a big favor?" She nodded, wide-eyed. "Can you go downstairs and play with Kendra until Daddy gets back with the doctor?"
She nodded and raced downstairs.
"Can I help Momma?" Andy whispered at her side.
"Sure sweetheart. Could you go get me some more water for Julie?"
He nodded and gave her a quick hug, before going to get some more water.
Rae sagged a little, frowning wearily. "Why us? ... It's always something..."
"It happens to all of us sooner or later, my dear."
Rae turned suddenly, "Noelle?"
And there she was. Noelle smiled. "Hello Rae dear."
She threw her arms around the older woman. "I'm so glad that you are here."
Patting Rae's head, she hugged her back. "It seems as though this troop has had a rough time?"
"It sure has. I thought things might settle down a bit after Chris left....but now this..." she said, pointing at Julie.
"You go take care of Sam and let Grandma Noelle take care of Julie."
Rae gave a slight smile at the older woman's self-proclaimed role.
"Thank you, Noelle."
"Your welcome dear," Noelle said, pushing Rae from the room.
She frowned a bit when she was finally out of the room and headed downstairs just as Spot arrived with the doctor. "Noelle's here..." she told him.
"Noelle Saint?" the doctor asked. After a pause, Rae nodded. "I want you two to stay down here out of the way. Noelle will be all the help I need."
"Um... all right..."
With a nod, the doctor disappeared up the stairs and Rae leaned against Spot.
"Noelle is back? But how did she...?" Spot asked.
"I don't know....she just showed up in Julie's room," Rae whispered wearily.
"I believe we live in ... a very... curious house..."
"You can say that again," she replied, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.
Spot smiled, putting his arm around her. "Come on... Why don't we sit down so you can rest?"
She merely nodded and allowed him to lead her to the couch.
They sat down and he held her, stroking her hair gently. "I wonder what happened..."
She shook her head. "I don't know...we shouldn't have left her alone..."
"We couldn't have predicted this would happen, Rae."
"I can't help but feel guilty about it, Spot."
He sighed and nodded. "I know."
They were quiet for several minutes. "Spot..."
"Hmm?"
"I think it would be a good idea to send for Chris..."
After a moment, he nodded. "Yes... yes, it probably would be."
She started to stand. "I'll go into town and send a telegram..."
"No, no... I will. You'll worry yourself sick if you go, wondering what's happening... Best that you stay and get the news first, hmm?"
She nodded slowly. "I guess you're right...it's about time for me to feed Sam anyway."
He kissed her forehead. "I'll be back soon."
"I love you," she whispered, taking his hand.
He smiled. "I love you too."
He gave her kiss before he left the house again.
With a heavy sigh, Rae went off to get Sam, who was beginning to whimper, and fed him.
After feeding him, changing his diaper and putting him back down for a nap, Rae went to the playroom to check on Ann, Andy and Kendra.
"Are you three getting along?" she asked.
"Yes," Andy chirped, but Ann made a bit of a face.
"Kinda... But Kendra keeps pulling my hair!"
Rae sat on the floor and pulled the baby girl into her lap. "Don't pull Annie's hair sweetheart."
"Annie," she repeated, grasping onto a lock of Rae's hair.
"No Kendra," Rae said, prying her hair from the little girl's hands.
"No," she said to Rae seriously.
Andy started to laugh, but after a stern look from Rae, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
"Can we go play outside?" Ann asked after a moment.
Rae sighed. "I guess you can go play in the front of the house," she said, standing and lifting Kendra into her arms. "I'll come sit outside with you."
They nodded, scrambling to their feet and grabbing a few toys to play with outdoors.
Rae settled Kendra on the porch playing with some blocks and sat on the steps to wait for news from the doctor.
Andy and Ann occupied themselves playing a game of tag. Not too long after, the doctor came outside.
Rae jumped to her feet. "What's wrong with Julie?"
"Well," he said, placing his hands together. "We are not quite sure... She seems to have a terribly high fever."
"Is...is there something you can do?"
"I can give you a medicine that might help.... but the best you can do is just make sure she gets lots of rest and drinks a lot of water to keep cool."
"Can she...die...because of this?"
"It ... is possible... if the fever rises too high," he admitted.
Rae ran her fingers through her hair. "Spot went into town to send for her brother..."
Just then Spot came running back into the clearing.
"Rae!" He was waving an envelope. "Read this." He looked annoyed and worried at the same time.
She took the letter and quickly read its contents. "Not this...we don't need this now!"
Thumping his hands on his hips, he said, "Do you know this has been sitting in the post office for FOUR DAYS?!"
"What?!?!?!"
"Yes! Of all the nerve! They were afraid to deliver it to our house!"
Rae growled and then sighed. "What are we going to do? Julie needs Chris here."
Spot sighed as well. "I don't know.... I guess I'm going to have to go to Brooklyn and look for him."
Nick suddenly appeared from inside the house. "Both of you go...take Sam with you....the last thing the two of you need now is another separation."
Rae made a startled squeak. "But.... but what about Ann and Andy... and Julie... they'll need us too..."
"Noelle and I will be here with them."
"But ... I..."
Spot held a finger to her lips. "Shush... Let's just get Sam and go. They're offering to help us here."
She sighed. "Alright."
Grabbing her hand, he pulled her inside, they packed a few things, and grabbed Sam.
"Momma... Daddy... where are you going?" Ann asked when they exited the house.
"We have to go to Brooklyn to get Chris," Spot explained.
"Can we go?" Andy asked.
"Not this time sweetheart," Rae said.
"But Sam can go..." he whined.
"Sam's a baby and Nick and Noelle can't feed him... Behave for us, all right?"
Andy pouted, but nodded. She kissed both Andy's and Ann's foreheads, waited for Spot to do the same, and then they left, heading for the train station.
"I feel bad for leaving like that, Spot," she said as they boarded the train.
"There wasn't much we could have done..." he replied quietly. "If those postal workers would have delivered the mail..." He grumbled under his breath.
"The letter said that Molly was gone too....where do you think they could have gone?"
"I don't know... But I'm really hoping their disappearance is not because of Chris' behavior."
"Can anything else go wrong?" she asked, adjusting Sam in her arms and leaning her head against the back of the seat.
"Probably... but don't jinx it," Spot replied.
She sighed. "I'll try not to."
Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. "I didn't mean you in particular... just saying that... might."
* * *
Rae and Spot stood across the street from the Brooklyn lodging house. "Ready?" he asked her.
She nodded, shifting Sam from one hip to the other.
Blank and Shadow glanced up when they entered and both ran over to greet them at the door.
"It took you long enough," Shadow commented.
"They didn't bring the letter to us," Rae explained.
"Why not?"
"Because they're stupid townspeople who let rumors get the best of them," Spot muttered.
Sam woke and began to whimper.
Shadow looked over at Rae, who was holding him. "Is that the baby?" She scooted over to her and peered at Sam. "Awww..... Can I have him?" she kidded.
"I gave your sister back...isn't that enough?" Spot teased.
"You're kidding, right?" But she chuckled a bit anyway.
"I think Sam is getting hungry," Rae said. "I better go feed him before he throws a fit."
Spot smiled and nodded, before looking back at Shadow and Blank. "All right... tell me what you know... where were they last?"
"I left them selling together a few blocks away," Blank answered.
"And we haven't seen them since," Shadow added.
"If he did anything to my sister, so help me, I'll-"
"Right now we need to worry about finding them," Spot interrupted.
Blank sighed. "You're right."
"Now... where did you look so far?"
"All over New York...but no one seems to have seen them."
Spot gave a long, thoughtful pause. Then he frowned deeply. "Have you talked to Duchess?"
"No one knows where she is these days."
He frowned even more deeply. "I'll bet she knows..."
"Silk may know where to find her..." Shadow started.
"But you and Rae were the only people who could ever find Silk." Blank added.
"Well.... I guess she'll be my first visit."
"Be careful," Hades said, joining the group. "The birds are saying that Duchess will stop at nothing less than killing you."
He scowled. "I'm not afraid of her."
"I know you aren't," she snapped. "But don't forget that you have a family to look after," she added, looking upstairs to where Rae had disappeared with Sam.
"I know..."
She clapped her hand on his shoulder and walked away.
Spot sighed and plopped onto a chair, folding his hands before him.
"Where are Kendra and the others?" Blank said, sitting in a nearby chair.
"They're back at the house with Nick and Noelle," he replied.
Blank nodded slowly. "Hades was right...you need to be careful. No one is sure exactly how powerful Duchess is these days."
"I will be.... But I'm not going to be afraid of her... That would just sort of defeat the purpose of confronting her."
"Do you think she has them?" Shadow asked, sitting beside her brother.
"I wouldn't doubt it," Spot replied.
"We're here if you need us when you are ready to close in on her," Blank offered.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think it would be best for Rae and I to go alone."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"I'll keep an eye on Sam for you," Shadow offered.
"That would be wonderful."
Blank glanced out the window. "Crowds should be getting thick soon. Do you want to go look for Silk now or wait until morning?"
"I'll look for her now."
"Good luck," Blank said.
Spot nodded. "Tell Rae where I've gone?"
He nodded. "We will."
Rae came back down a few minutes after he left, a sleeping Sam in her arms. "Where's Spot?" she asked, glancing around.
"He went to find Silk," Shadow replied.
She nodded and sat down on the couch. "The last thing we needed was for Chris to disappear."
"And Molly," Blank pointed out.
Rae nodded. "Spot had gone into town to send for Chris when we got the letter....Julie's really sick and she might...."
Shadow frowned.
Rae leaned her head against the back of the couch. "Just when things were getting better..."
"They can't stay bad forever...." Blank said absently.
* * *
Spot carefully picked his way through the evening crowds. He hadn't needed to go looking for Silk in a long time, but he hoped he could still find her.
"You look a little lost there," a voice said behind him.
He turned suddenly, his hands going to his pockets. "Just looking for you."
Silk smiled, noticing the motion. "Don't worry, I left whatever loose change you were carrying in tact.... for now. What do you need?"
"Some information."
"Well, there's no telling what information I might have, but it'll cost you up front."
"This is important Silk."
"So is my survival Spot. I need to stay in business some how."
"Fine, but I'll give you what I think is fair after I see what you know."
She gave him an agitated look but saw he meant business and sighed. "All right. What do you want?"
"I need to know about Duchess. Everything you can tell me."
"Well... there's a lot or a little I can tell you... I don't want to bother you with useless information... what exactly do you want?"
"Where is she hiding these days?"
"Well, she's moved around a bit the last few months," Silk replied, squinting at the sky as she thought. "She goes back and forth between a couple locations."
"Any idea where she is now? Somewhere were a couple of kids could have stumbled upon her accidentally?"
She shook her head. "Nothing definite. Like I said, she's been on the move a lot lately... I can give you the places I usually see her or her thugs, but that's about it."
"Did you see Chris anywhere outside of Brooklyn?"
"Hmmm.... Last I saw, he was with some girl, around Coney Island."
"Is one of Duchess' hideouts on Coney Island?"
She nodded. "Unless she changed on me within the last two days, yes."
"That's where they are! Thanks Silk," he said, walking away.
"Hey!" She grabbed the back of his shirt. "Pay up!" He pulled some money out of his pocket and shoved it at her. "Pleasure doing business with you Spot." And as easily as she came, she melted back into the crowd.
He rolled his eyes before walking as quickly as he could back to the lodging house.
Rae looked up the moment he entered. "Well?"
"Duchess has them on Coney."
Rae frowned. "I doubt she'll give them up easily either..."
He sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "You and I will go talk to her in the morning."
With a sigh, she nodded.
"You don't have to go, sweetheart, I just thought that you would want to go."
"I do... I'm just afraid it's going to be a long, difficult day tomorrow."
"Why don't you go ahead and get some sleep," he suggested.
After a moment she nodded and kissed him softly. "Good night then."
"I'll be up in a few minutes," he said, as she left the room.
"All right."
Rae stepped into the extra room and knelt on the floor next to the dresser drawer that would serve as Sam's cradle until they went home. "What if we're too late Sam?" she whispered. Sam simply wrinkled his nose in his sleep. She kissed his forehead and wearily crawled into the bed.
And, as promised, a few minutes later, Spot came up.
"You're really worried about tomorrow aren't you?" he asked, sitting beside her and brushing the hair from her face.
"Yes," she replied with a sigh, resting her head on his shoulder.
"What's worrying you, sweetheart?"
"I'm just.... worried that we might be too late... I mean, I don't know if Duchess would be that drastic.... but... what if she was?"
He stroked her hair. "The only way to find out for sure is to go over there."
"You... don't think she did, did you?"
"No...of course not," he said. It's only me that she wants dead, he thought.
* * *
"I'm hungry..." Molly moaned.
"Me too," Chris replied.
She was quiet for a brief moment. "Do... do you think Spot and Rae will come for us?"
"I'm sure they will....whenever they find out that we are missing."
"But will they know where to look? I mean... I've never heard of this Duchess girl before until now... What if Spot doesn't know who she is either?"
"Spot's lived here most of his life...He most likely knows who she is....since she seems to know him."
"Well.... Spot can't know EVERYONE in New York.... and... Well, I heard he had a reputation, so word would get around about him...." She sighed. "I don't know..."
"I don't either....I wonder how much longer she's willing to wait..."
"I'm hoping a good long time... She scares me."
"You aren't the only one she scares."
Molly fidgeted and sighed. "I wish she would at least untie us..."
"After all the smarting off we've done?"
"You mean that you've done...right?"
He sighed. "I guess..."
"My ribs still hurt...is it possible that he cracked one or two?"
"I'd say quite possible," Chris replied with a nod.
Molly whined a little and leaned her head against the wall. "I was afraid you would say that."
"Well, I never was very positive, I suppose.
Molly whimpered again.
* * *
"You two please be careful," Hades said as Spot and Rae walked down the stairs.
"We will," Rae replied. "Thank you for taking care of Sam while we're gone."
"We don't mind watching him for a few hours....but I don't want to raise the kid...so you two better come back."
"Don't worry, I wouldn't trust you to raise a kid," Spot teased a bit, trying to keep things light. "We'll try to be back before sundown."
"We'll be back before that," Rae corrected. "Sam will be hungry again in a few hours."
"Right."
She sighed. "Ready?"
Spot glanced at her. "I'm telling myself I am."
"If you don't leave you can't come back," Shadow stated.
They offered slightly weak smiles. "We'll see you soon." And out the door they went.
