LGPatA - Bobby
Let's Go Play at the Adams (LGPatA), personal alternate ending #2.
9200 words. Version 1E6
Henry Tjernlund (2022) Personal alternate ending to LGPatA.
The following is my own personal alternative ending to the novel Let's Go Play at the Adams' by Mendal W. Johnson (1974). The book was out of print for 40 years. Recently it was brought back.
Though the novel is well written I found the ending to be terribly unsatisfying. So I wrote my own ending, or three.
It is recommended that the reader to have already read the original novel, otherwise this small slice might not make much sense. But here is a brief rundown of the characters and premise.
The Freedom Five are a group of kids who seek to be free of adult rule. They are-
Cindy (10) is one of two Adams' children and youngest of the group.
Bobby (13) is the other Adams' kid who aspires to be a successful doctor like his father.
Paul (13) is a neighbor kid who has a fascination for sharp things.
John (16) another neighbor kid who is a jr. Varsity athlete and has a fascination for pretty girls.
Dianne (17) is the gangly sister to Paul and smartest of the group being a master strategist.
Barbara (20) is a prettier than average college coed and swimmer who studies child development and aspires to be a teacher. Who else could seem better as a babysitter?
Premise: In 1970s rural Maryland the Adams hire Barbara to take care of their kids and estate in rural Maryland while they vacation in Europe for 2 weeks. Several days in, Barbara wakes up from being drugged to find herself tied up spread eagle to her bed. She is now the unwitting 'prisoner' in the children's prisoner-of-war game with the children as her 'prison guards'. Days into this game things have already gone too far as John, while on lone prison guard duty, had given into his lust and raped Barbara.
Note that this Adams' family has nothing to do with the Adams' Family TV shows or movies.
#
Here is where my personal alternative
version diverges from the authors original work.
#
There was a ruckus upstairs from the bathroom. Dianne was screaming and shouting. Everyone ran upstairs.
The totally naked and still mostly bound Barbara had Dianne by the hair with her only free hand. John was already in there trying to break Barbara's grip.
"The leashes!" Dianne yelled as she cringed from the pain in her scalp.
Paul grabbed the rear rope leash and pulled.
John changed his strategy to grabbing the forward control leash and pulling. Now Barbara was being choked from opposite directions.
Barbara gurgled though the rag in her mouth and tape holding it in. She had let go of Dianne's hair and now tried to get her fingers under the two choke leashes that were strangling her.
"Bobby get in here." Dianne ordered.
He really didn't want to. Bobby hesitated not being used to seeing Barbara totally naked. "There's no room," he gave his excuse.
Dianne grabbed Barbara's arm and twisted it behind the prisoner. John let go the forward leash and helped her control Barbara.
Paul eased up on the rear leash.
"Paul, you idiot. Keep pulling until we say so," Dianne yelled.
John turned Barbara sideways as Dianne secured her free hand to the other already behind her back.
"Okay, let up." Dianne said.
Paul let slack slip into the taut rope. But he still held onto the end just in case.
Dianne turned to glare at Bobby. "When I give an order, you do it, even if you have to climb over top her. Step on her face if you have to. Got it?"
Bobby nodded. His face was flushed with embarrassment and anger. Again he had the sense in his mind that the game was going too far. Even the rape he heard about secondhand was not as bad, because sex is what adults and older kids did, right? But this was first hand violence. Besides wasn't the prisoner expected to resist in the game, even try to escape?
Dianne looked in the mirror and probed the red bump growing on her forehead where bone struck bathtub.
Barbara was breathing hard through her nose like a steam locomotive.
"Let's get her back to her room," John said catching his own breath.
"No, The bed's too good for her." Dianne countered. She checked her bump in the mirror, it was already turning more red. "The basement."
Cindy chirped up "But Mom said we couldn't play down there."
Dianne spun at the girl."Is your mommy here?!" Their groups' oldest of seventeen glared at their groups' youngest of ten. "Well?!"
"No." Cindy bowed her head down.
Bobby didn't like his sister being yelled at. Dianne was acting too much like an adult. The point of the Freedom Five was to get away from adults and them ruining their games. And Cindy was right. They weren't supposed to play in the basement anymore. Dad's home study was down there and that was like sacred ground. Bobby tried to think of something to say. Suddenly an angle came to him.
"We haven't voted on moving her."
"All those in favor of moving her, raise your hand." Dianne said. John, Paul, and his own sister Cindy raised their hands. "There, the motion is passed by majority." Diane announced.
"We're supposed to have a meeting first," Booby objected, he knew it would be moot.
Just getting Barbara out of the bathroom and down the hallway to the top of the stairs was a chore. The package squirmed and kicked. She still had the hobble tie between her ankles preventing her feet to get no more than ten inches apart. It had worked great when they had her cooperation to get to the bathroom to toilet, but now that she was resisting with all her might it slowed things down. She had already managed to kick John in the thigh. A little higher and she would have got him in the nuts. Bobby wondered if that was her target. He had raped her. Just what was all this fuss about sex?
"Stop." Dianne said. "Be right back." Dianne went to the babysitter's bedroom. She came back with two pillow cases and the roll of tape they used to gag Barbara. Dianne put one pillow case in the other and then moved toward their package. John had to hold her head still as Dianne got the pillowcases over her head as a hood. Then the tape was applied. Not just over her mouth, but wound continuously all the way around Barbara's head, three times. "There, let's see how that works. Get it? See?" Dianne chuckled.
It was much more manageable moving their sightless bundle, one thumping step at a time, down the polished wood steps. Barbara grunted every other butt landing thump.
They slid her down the smooth floor hallway to the basement door. Where Dianne said "Take a break."
Cindy went to get something to drink. She came back with a tall glass full of soda. "Barbara, do you want a drink."
The captive nodded.
Bobby wondered if she was getting enough air through the doubled pillow cases.
"No, she doesn't get anything yet. Speaking of anything." Wondering if Dianne had read his mind, she put one hand behind Barbara's head and grabbed her nose shut with her other. Barbara's swimming breath control was demonstrated as it was a full minute before she started to struggle to breath. Dianne waited another half minute until Barbara was moving her full body to try and get air. Then Dianne let go.
The cloth hood moved in and out with each of Barbara's fast ragged breaths.
"If you fight anymore you're going to more of that. Understand?" Dianne said. "Understand?" she said forcefully.
Barbara's head nodded "yes" inside the pillowcases.
Cindy shared her glass of cola with Bobby.
Dianne reached her hand out and made a grabby motion with her hand. She finished the last swallow of cola with a satisfying sound obviously meant to torment Barbara who hadn't had anything to drink since her breakfast of a single slice of dry toast and plastic cup of water.
"Oh, one other new rule." She looked at Bobby. "And we'll vote on it." Everyone but Bobby nodded. "For now on, She is a horsey. You can only use 'her or she' for her secret horsey name. She said the last part as if it was going to be fun. "And my very special super secret horsey name for her will be 'it.'" So everyone, hands up. Everyone immediately put their hands up. Bobby paused before raising his. "Now, every one say their horsey name for It." Dianne winked to them.
"Her," John said.
"She," Cindy said.
"It," Paul giggled.
"You can use that too," Dianne told him.
They all looked at Bobby. "She," he said. Cindy made a little clap. 'She-horsey."
"Okay, let's get 'It' down the basement and then we can go swimming." Cindy cheered. "Bobby, and Cindy, each of you grab a leg, just above the knee. Paul, you help Cindy." John and Dianne each got a hold of one arm. "Be careful. It's a horsey and It may buck. But bucking horseys get no food or water until tomorrow. Isn't that right... It." Dianne kneed Barbara in her back. Barbara nodded under the pillowcases.
With no bucking from their 'horsey' they got her down easily and quickly. "Set Her... It' I mean down on the bottom step. Now step away. Get her knees together Dianne said softly to John." She took a length of rope from her pocket and tied Barbara's thighs together just above the knees. She then made a motion to John to hold Barbara's calves where she undid the ankle hobble tie, Dianne started to tie Barbara's ankles together, but then stopped. Then she forced her ankles to cross and pulled out the slack which that provided. "That'll be tighter," Diane said.
"Turn her around."
"Hey, you didn't say 'It.'" Cindy protested.
Dianne smiled to Cindy. "Turn 'It' around." John did so. Dianne had previously tied each of Barbara's wrists separately to a rope waist belt so that they could free only one hand for their prisoner to eat, toilet, and wash. Dianne undid all that rope work as John pinned the prisoner's arms to her sides. Diane tied It's wrists together and then forced her elbows to touch and tied them together well.
Dianne walked around the basement studying the ceiling. Near the father's study there were some nautical decorations. "Here," Dianne said.
John picked Barbara up in a straight vertical carry over to Dianne. In the ceiling there was a large metal ring fastened to a heavy beam meant for rigging sails. Dianne tied the remaining length of rope to Barbara's wrists and ran the other end through the metal ring. Together her and John hoisted the rope until Barbara's arms were pointing straight up behind her and forcing her to bend over until her back was horizontal. 'It' grunted in discomfort. Standing on a chair Diane tied off the up-line to the ceiling ring.
"How do you know how to do all this?" John studied the rigging.
In a lower voice Dianne answered, "my dad. Besides this is what the Spanish Inquisition did to witches. It's called Stappado."
Cindy giggled. "She looks like a horsey-ride now."
"It does, doesn't it?" Dianne said gleefully motioning for Cindy to come to her where she picked up the ten year old and put her on Barbara's back. The horsey-ride grunted.
Cindy bounced up and down, "It's broken."
"No it's not, it just needs a quarter." Turning to John she asked "got one?" He looked confused that then fished in his pocket and produced one. "Well, put it in the slot," she nodded toward Barbara's butt.
As John did that, Paul giggled hard. Unseen to them Dianne twisted Barbara's nipple . "Giddy-up She-Horsey,"
Barbara moved her hips like a horsey-ride. Cindy laughed with glee. Diane held her with her other hand so she didn't fall off the 'ride.' Dianne liked Cindy. She did what she was told and always sided with her.
The exhausted Barbara wore out in only a minute and stopped.
"Well, no more quarters," Dianne announced, and used both hands to lift Cindy off Barbara's back who was shaking from the exertion.
"That was fun," Cindy exclaimed.
"Go up and get ready to go swimming."
Cindy and Paul ran upstairs. Bobby followed more solemn. He looked back and watched as he slowly ascended the stairs.
Diane stepped up to John. "Maybe you can ride the ride later," Diane winked to him as she grabbed Barbara's round butt cheek and gave it shake. Just be sure to take out the quarter. Now let's go swimming."
John looked at Barbara, "What about her, or it, or whatever? Someone has to stand guard."
Dianne frowned, "She can't get out of that." Her voice fell to a whisper, "Believe me, I've tried." She headed toward the stairs.
Bobby watched John who seemed oddly fascinated with Barbara's full round buttocks. "I could stay." John said again.
"So could I," Bobby added. He didn't want John to be alone with Barbara.
"No, everyone swims." Dianne stated. "I want her to be here all alone, in the entire house. To think long and hard about what she did. So she never does it again." She checked the bump on her forehead. "Come on."
#
While the others were having a good time, Bobby just swam and brooded. The babysitter said she was a swimmer. He liked it when the first day she was baby siting she had been showing him some pointers on swimming. Now Bobby hated that he had been the one who hid under her bed and chloroformed her after .she fell asleep. It was his fault. He was responsible for her. He was responsible for her situation now and in the future as well.
Bobby was also mad at Dianne for taking over the group. Usually John led the way in their games with only suggestions from Dianne. But those were simple games, fun games. Now, it was neither. The neighbors were on his land, in his house, in his father's basement which held special meaning to him. They had talks, him and his father. Bobby wanted to be like him. The doctor's creed had been reveled to him in that basement. "First, do no harm." And now, in that very place, harm was being done, being done to the pretty and kind Barbara.
Why had they given Dianne power over them. Why had HE given Diane power over HIM. But they outnumbered him. If they could overpower the athletic newly adult Barbara, they could easily overpower him. He needed something. Something they didn't have. Was it his shotgun? The small shotgun for shooting small game with ammo designed to kill birds and squirrels. John had his 22 rifle which had bigger and more powerful projectiles. A 22 could still kill a man. But what if John didn't have his long gun. Could he do something to help Barbara. Oww, he stepped on something. Going underwater he found it. I twig, maybe of just the right size. He put it in his pocket.
Bobby waded to shore. Out of the water he headed toward the house, past Cindy and Paul who were arguing about which of theme were going to ride She-Horsey next. "You already had your turn," Paul yelled at their smallest member. "So? It's my house." Cindy shouted back. Could Bobby get her to join his side? They were family. Wasn't it supposed to work that way?
"Where are you going?" Dianne called to him.
"To my house," He answered. To my house. To MY HOUSE. My house, not yours. He thought to himself
"Why?"
"To use the bathroom."
"Just pee in the river."
"It's number two," He lied.
"Well, stay out of the basement,"
"I will," he lied again. It was HIS BASEMENT.
"If you're not back in five..."
"I'll be back. Gees."
#
Once inside he hurried up the stairs. In the bathroom he turned on the sink faucet and flushed the toilet. Each would slow the water flow to the other. Then he closed the door. He was using the same kind of trick she came up with in telling anyone who called and asked for Barbara that she was 'in the shower.'
He quietly went down to the first floor, then to the basement. Barbara's body looked slack. Was she dead? Had she suffocated like he worried? He sneaked over to her. The cloth of the hood moved slightly in and out. She WAS breathing. He leaned to her ear and touch her head. She jerked. "Shhh," He waited for her to settle. "Barbara, I'm so sorry. I'm going to try..." There was a creak in the floor upstairs. He hoped she would understand what the incomplete sentence meant. "Just hold on Barbara, please." He made a point of say her name twice after Dianne made her rule not to. Her rule, not his.
In the corner by the one chair was Johns rifle. Quietly he went to it and picked it up. He test fitted the still damp twig. It was slightly too big. Perfect. He forced the twig into the muzzle as best he could. Then he put the muzzle against the floor and put his full weight into it. When he checked the twig was flush with the barrel opening. Though it could be barely seen it would take work to remove it. He replace the gun exactly how he found it. As he passed by Barbara again he again whispered, "I'm going to try, Barbara." She gave the faintest of nods. Try what? He did not yet know. But he might have successfully sabotaged the rifle. Now the playing field was a little more level.
Back up in the bathroom, he flushed the toilet again. Then washed his hands. Opening the door Dianne was there.
"I have to use it too, now."
Bobby went past her, down the steps and outside.
Dianne stepped into the room. She sniffed the air and frowned.
#
Bobby waded back into the river. He had trouble acting like he was having fun like the others. He didn't like the change in what happened. It seemed like it would be fun to tie up their babysitter and then release her the next day. He had seen it is a couple comedy shows. But this was going nothing like those. John had made it very serious by raping Barbara who was extremely vocal about it.
Dianne said that rape in Maryland could have a lifetime jail sentence and John at 16 could be tried as an adult. Bobby didn't know if that was true. Seemed unusually extreme for a guy putting his thing in a woman. It wasn't as if he had murdered her which Bobby DID know had the possibility of a life long sentence. Were they really the same? He didn't know who to ask. The closest library was ten miles away and he had no way to easily get there. Dianne explained that the best thing would be to keep Barbara a prisoner until they could get her to calm down or until the Adams parents returned from Europe in less than a week. The parents would know what to do.
Dianne was making Bobby mad. She was taking more and more control. And she was a good talker. She could get the others to side with her on almost anything.
Bobby forced himself to concentrate on some of the swimming tips Barbara showed him her first day babysitting. Dianne didn's seem to like Barbara much. Not only did she know more, but she didn't seem to like the way John had been looking at their babysitter. When John wanted Barbara naked, which seemed like would be kinda funny at first, Dianne showed no hesitation to put it to a group vote. Dianne was the one who carried out the cutting off of all Barbara's clothing. Bobby felt an unusual sense of excitement himself of seeing Barbara that way. But he didn't like the way John looked at the naked Barbara and the way Dianne looked at John looking at Barbara. Bobby wished he could go back in time and changes his vote, but he would still be in the minority. Too late now. Done was done. And now things were worse.
#
The TV room did have one of those encyclopedic dictionaries. He looked up Strappado. There was an illustration of a witch tied up like Barbara except the witch was completely off her feet with weights added. The text said that the torture sometimes resulted in the prisoner's shoulders being dislocated. Barbara had both feet on the floor. If they pulled her up and lifted her feet off the floor and added weights, like in the illustration, then Bobby would say something. Would he, though? He hoped he would. He was ashamed at his own cowardice.
Dianne seemed to have too much power now. She even confiscated all the kitchen knives and hid them away in the car John brought from his house. So Bobby couldn't just sneak down and cut the prisoner loose. Dianne even took the coiled phone cord and kept it in her denim jacket pocket so no one could make a phone call. One new rule, which was not voted on, was that only Dianne would answer the phone. And no one but her was allowed to untie and retie Barbara. In their usual prisoner of war game, when Dianne tied someone up, they stayed that way. Dianne, on the other hand, always got free.
This was going too far. The dictionary could supply no answers for this. Bobby had an uneasy feeling about it all. He went up to his room and consult his journals of morality.
Sliding the box from under his bed he opened it. He scooped up the colorful issues of Sergeant Rock, Doc Savage, and others. He went through the pages of one comic and found a panel he was thinking of. A damsel in distress was suspended by her wrists. An interrogator was whipping her with a cat-o-nine-tails. The interrogator looked a bit like Dianne. Same expression of cold cruelty. Like it was noting more than just a job. Pages later Doc Savage was rocket skiing through the snow with the unconscious damsel draped in his arms. It flipped the roles that the Freedom Five used to play the prisoner of war game. Barbara wasn't the bad gal to be questioned and punished but instead the damsel who ended up in a bad situation through no fault of her own. The pattern was repeated several times through the comics scattered around the bed as Bobby fell asleep pondering what character he was in all of this.
#
Bobby carefully made his way down the hallway to the basement door. Opening it he heard activity. It was a rhythmic wet sound. He stopped to listen.
"Someone's coming," Dianne whispered from below.
There was sounds of cloth in motion for several seconds.
"Say nothing," another whisper came from her to Barbara this time. "Come on down whoever it is," Dianne said in an out loud voice.
Free to make noise Bobby tried to step slowly yet not like he was making a point to stepping slowly. He reached the bottom. Barbara was still tied in the strappado. But her cloth hood was half way off. Her mouth and nose were uncovered. But tape had been wrapped around the hood as a blindfold. A thin stream of viscous spittle dripped from her mouth to the floor.
John was partway across the room with his back toward Bobby as he seemed to examine a sailing boat picture on the wall. His shirt was out. It was usually tucked in. Dianne had a plastic cup of water and had put the tip of a straw to Barbara's lips. "Now sweety, sip on this, swoosh it around in your month, and swallow. Don't spit it out or you'll get no more until tomorrow." Dianne turned to Bobby. "We're just checking on her. Weren't we dear." Dianne gently petted Barbara's cloth covered hair. "Weren't... we..."
Through slightly ragged breathing Barbara said just "uh-huh."
"Can you run up and fetch me a dampened washcloth from the kitchen?" Dianne asked of Bobby.
Bobby went upstairs. As soon as he reached the top landing he heard a belt buckle being fastened. Quickly he got a dish rag and whetted it. Quickly he went back down trying not to seem that he was trying to be quick.
When he got back down, he saw that Dianne had already pulled the pillowcases down over the rest of her head. The gag-rag had been pushed into Barbara's mouth from the outside and taped in place with a single tight windings. Then she cut a triangular hole through both layers of pillowcase so that Barbara's nose could poke through.
John now faced forward, his shirt tucked in and belt buckled.
"Turns out we don't need that for this." Dianne indicated the wet rag. "But horsey did pee itself, so do you mind cleaning that up?"
"Sure."
Bobby glanced around the room. Johns rifle was exactly where it was before. With the muzzle of the barre pointed such that he could not tell if the twig was still in place. It was a common argument among gun owners if a clogged barrel could make a weapon fail.
The two went upstairs, John with his riffle and Dianne with the roll of tape and scissors. It meant that Bobby could not ungag Barbara and re-gag her without Dianne knowing. The tape picked up lint which would keep it from sticking again.
Bobby eased up to Barbara and whispered. "You okay?" She shook her head 'no' a slight amount. "Did they do something?" She nodded yes just as slightly. He hesitated uncertain if he should even ask the next question. "Is the quarter still... there?" There was a delay before she nodded. "Want..., need it out? A longer delay before she shook her head. Was it that it didn't hurt or bother her, or was it that she didn't want Bobby to have to reach inside of her. His father being a doctor probably had to probe into women's private parts in the course of his job.
Do no harm, his father's voice sounded in his mind. He quivered from a moment of rage. Bobby pulled a table up behind Barbara. Then he placed a box which was just the right height onto the table. He guided her to be able to sit on the box. It took her weight off her feet. Climbing on the table he could reach the knot at the ceiling. Dianne was meticulous about her knot work. She would know if any were tampered with. He didn't untie the knot but worked slack trough it. Technically he wasn't breaking Diane's rule. As he cleaned the sticky urine off the insides of her legs he also massaged her arms and legs. Barbara nodded and sobbed quietly. But what would Dianne do? Would it be taken out on Bobby himself, or Barbara? Dianne was getting more and more bossy every day, and no one challenged her. If only Bobby was big and muscly like in the comics he could, would oppose her rule. But he wasn't. If he tried too much they might keep him from her completely. At least now he could help a little bit.
Dianne came down the steps. She was mad.
"You said to clean her up, This was the best way." Bobby countered with at edge in his voice. Then he sat in a chair and pretended to read a book.
Dianne went back upstairs without a word letting Barbara be as Bobby had put her.
Was the show of strength a mistake? But he now saw Barbara as the damsel to be rescued and Dianne as the villain to be defeated. But how? He knew how to drive the family station-wagon, technically. But he was afraid to drive on the actual road, with traffic and all. He hadn't been instructed in enough of the rules.
#
Bobby recalled a war movie were prisoner's were being marched in a line. The rule was that if someone caused a problem, then they would be shot but also the person in front of them and behind. So might him getting out of line might even affect Cindy? But she seemed to side more with the Dianne, John, and Paul. Could he even trust Cindy to keep a rescue plan secret. The only way is if she didn't know it was a rescue plan. There was plenty of room to hide Barbara in the station wagon. A blanket or pile of clothes could do it. But there would be very limited time between getting Barbara into the car and then Cindy. But could he reverse that? Get Cindy into the car first? But she had a short attention span. And it would have to be at night. Cindy was afraid of the dark. She might not stay in the car as Bobby went to free Barbara. Could he get both to the car at the same time and during the day?
#
When Bobby saw Cindy next was at the river. They were swimming and playing. Dianne was watching over them while reading a book. John was playing with Paul trying to catch fish in a bucket.
"Want a ride on my shoulders?" Bobby asked Cindy.
"Sure."
Bobby got down so that Cindy could climb on.
"There's bigger fish in the deeper end. Wanna go see?"
"Sure,"
Bobby made a point of facing them away from the others. Cindy's voice could sometimes carry. "Barbara told me that she saw some ponies not far from here."
"We're not supposed to call her that."
"It's okay. Dianne can't hear us. Just keep your voice down." Bobby walked a little farther out such that the Cindy's toes were in the water.
"Besides, it has to be put-down."
"What?"
"Dianne said the horsey is sick and has to be put down. What does 'put-down' mean?"
"That sometimes means to kill an animal. Put it out of it's misery."
"Oh, okay." Cindy said matter of factly.
"They said they're going to kill Barbara?" He asked in shock.
"It's just pretend, silly."
"Who said this?"
"Dianne, of course. They put it to a vote."
"When was this?"
"You were a sleep. Besides we all voted 'yes' so your vote wouldn't have mattered anyway." Cindy kicked her feet and splashed in the water.
The shock almost made Bobby forget his plan. "Did they say when the horsey-ride was going to be 'put down'?"
"Two days before mom and dad get back. And I wanted them to see me riding it."
"Day after tomorrow." Bobby cringed. If he was going to do what he wanted to try, it would have to be tomorrow. But what if they lied to Cindy or changed their minds and moved it up by a day, or even more? "Cindy I'll get Barbara to show us where she saw those other horsies tomorrow. Say nothing to the others or Dianne will spoil the surprise when we come back with one, okay. Imagine surprise on their faces. It's purely an Adams Family secret.
"Okay, I guess." She sounded uncommitted.
Okay? You know, like we used to have before Dianne became so BOSSY BOSS Okay?"
"Bossy Boss," Cindy repeated with a giggle.
"Yeah, she's a BB brain."
Cindy laughed again.
"But don't tell her we have a new secret name for her. It's an Adams' secret."
Bobby saw the others watching them. They were supposed to be having fun. "Oh no."
"What?"
"Two torpedoes coming, right for us."
"No," Cindy shouted a laugh.
"Evasive maneuvers," Bobby began moving erratically in the water. "Port or Starboard?"
"Port," she said giggling.
Bobby shook. "Oh no, we've been hit. Brace for sinking."
"NO!" Cindy shouted.
He stiffened, and then logged over sideways into the water.
Cindy screamed as she splashed. They both laughed as they came to the surface. "I can't touch bottom."
"Swim for it. Or the sharks will git ya." He held out his hand for her to hold.
Cindy wasn't the best swimmer, but she could swim. He walked beside her as she swam. A minute later they were to the shore.
"Hey guys, know what?" Cindy said.
Bobby tensed. Was she going to give their plan away?
"We got torpedoed, and sank."
"The HMS Bobby has sunk. Blub, blub, blub," Bobby added, making her giggle
#
Bobby didn't sleep at all that night. He tried going over the plan. At the same time he listened for any commotion from downstairs from them moving Barbara early. He put the windup alarm clock under his pillow so that only he would hear it if he did fall asleep.
Bobby woke just as the alarm clock stopped ringing. He was only a few minutes late in waking up, but if slept through the alarm itself, what else might he have slept through? In only his socks he hurried downstairs. He knew just where to put his foot on each step to not make a sound.
Bobby opened the door to the basement just a crack. Just enough that he could hear voices only catching something about moving her after dark. Getting on his hands and knees he could barely get an angle to see that Barbara was still there, still in stappado.
He quietly closed the door holding the latch until it was in place and then eased it, not even a click. They were moving her tonight which could only mean they were going to 'put her down' in the late night or in the morning. His plan had to be put into effect today, before twilight.
He sneaked into Cindy's room. She was in one of her odd sleeping positions, bent at an uncomfortable looking angle. Carefully he woke her.
"Your in my room," she grumbled and rolled her back to him.
"Get up, but quietly." I'm going to see if the weather is any good for looking for horsey today."
"I'm sleeping."
"You can nap in the back of the car, so we don't forget you, okay."
"Alright." She was groggy.
"So get dressed and don't let Dianne see you. She's in the basement."
"Did they put Barbara-Horsey down yet?" She said with worry.
"Yeah, I think so, maybe"
Cindy suddenly woke partway up. "For real? Dang, I wanted to watch."
"No, just pretend, silly." Bobby was trying to keep his voice upbeat yet, quiet. "So get your clothes on and you can sleep in the car. You like doing that. Every time we went on a long trip, you slept in the back. So, get dressed. And like I said, Dianne seems in a BB-brain mood."
He helped her get dressed, Then he took a pile of laundry and made it look like she was still sleeping under the blanket.
"Just like in the movies," Cindy said amused.
Taking her pillow and extra blanket they quietly went to the car. It was a cool morning with some fog which Cindy always liked. He got her situated and rolled both front windows down a crack.
Now for the hard dangerous part. He would have to be Sgt. Rock - Sgt. Bob Rock, expert at hostage rescue operations.
#
"I'll get their car ready." Dianne's voice came up the stairs. Then's as soon as it's dark, we'll move her. We'll need their grill, charcoal, lighter fluid, and both fireplace pokers." Dianne snorted a laugh. "You know what would be funny? Next time we eat over here for a cookout and they grill some chicken,.. (snicker) we'll know." She finished with a hush.
"Know what?" John hushed back.
"Ugh," Dianne exasperated.
"Oh, you mean about It." John got it. "What if they do figure it out?"
"They won't. My plan is perfect."
Cindy, hiding in the back would be found and she might reveal the escape plan. Another part of Bobby's mind was trying to process the list of items she mentioned. The escape had to be now, right now. He went to his room and grabbed his shotgun and the last 3 shells from the box of ammo. Cracking the long gun open he put a shell in as he walked back down. He put the last two shells from of small bird shot into his pocket. He didn't have time to find his knife. He had taken one last glance at the comic book covers to inspire courage.
Dianne was coming up the basement stairs as he was going down them. He passed her midway. He didn't acknowledge her at all. She was distracted by her own tasks to notice him. Then she froze at the top of the stairs turned and watch him go into the room. She must have just processed the look on his face.
"John, your gun!" She yelled down. "Paul, stop him."
Paul steeped in Bobby's way brandishing his pocket knife, just as Bobby snapped the shotgun closed and pointed it in the other's face. Paul backed up so fast he ran into Barbara still hanging in strappado and fell at her feet. Then he crawled under the table.
Bobby saw Barbara's butt cheeks. They were smeared with mucus and blood. A trickle of red leaked from her anus. His own blood started to boil.
The several seconds allow time for John to get his riffle. As he took aim on Bobby, Dianne yelled,"stop, there's something in your barrel." John pulled the trigger anyway. The misfire knocked John's aim sideways several inches.
The bullet, intended for Bobby's face clipped his ear instead. As John looked at the splitting riffle barrel, Bobby saw the same smear of blood and mucus on pelvis area on John's jean's. He dropped his aim to that and pulled the trigger.
The bird shot of the round tore open the front of John's pants. But the multiple folds of heavy denim absorbed most of the energy. Some of the shot must of gotten through because the other dropped his riffle and grabbed his groin screaming.
Barbara screamed through her hood and gag. She thrashed against her strappado rope.
Bobby cracked open the shotgun, pulled out the spent shell tossing in behind him, and loaded another round.
"NO!" Dianne yelled. "You're ruining my plan."
She grabbed the shotgun. They wrestled for control.
Bobby shoved forward then pulled the gun back to himself. Dianne hadn't completely let go. He got the gun pointed away from himself. It went off. The shot tore into her right jacket breast pocket. The one she kept the coiled phone cord in. Dropplets of blood scattered everywhere. She screamed seemingly as much from rage as pain.
Something sharp bit into Bobby's back. He spun fast. It was Paul. The blade of his pocket knife was broken off. Bobby raised the shotgun and butted him in the face with the stock. Paul crumpled crying. "Can dish it out but can't take it, huh," Bobby spat.
Only Bobby and Barbara were still standing but only because she was still partially suspended from the ceiling.
Bobby reached into his pocked for his knife, but then remembered he didn't have it. He loaded his last shell into the shot gun and aimed it at the out of reach anchor ring in the ceiling. He pulled the trigger. The rope snapped and wood splinters showered the area. The tiny small game shot scattered around the room. Barbara was released and fell to the floor. She was still trying to scream. He didn't think she was directly hit, but now was not the time to check.
Having used his last shell Bobby abandoned the firearm. Barbara was infinitely more important. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted. He couldn't completely lift her by himself. "Barbara, can you hop. We're getting out of here." With his help he got her to the bottom of the steps. "We'll go up backward." Getting on the steps behind her he lifted and pulled. She got her bound feet on a step and pushed. It worked. They repeated for each step. They were quickly getting coordinated.
Bobby watched the other room in the basement. He didn't know how long it would take the others to recover and attack.
"Get them," Dianne yelled. With some caution John came in sight. He had a disappointingly little amount of blood where Bobby shot him. They were only halfway up the stairs.
"When I say 'kick', kick as hard as you can." Bobby said into Barbara's ears. As She was still hooded he would have to aim for her. They got two more steps up when John came for them. "Ready," Bobby said. John started up. "Not yet," Bobby told his weapon. Too early of a kick and it would not only fall short, but give their athlete opponent a chance to grab her feet and pull her back down again.
"Kick Now!"
John tried to grab her feet, but Barbara was an athlete too. Maybe even a better one. The double barrel leg kick sent him flying not just to the bottom but ricochet off the side wall.
"Excellent," Bobby said. "Let's move again." They resumed their step climbing.
Dianne ran to John with his rifle. She was trying to get him to reload it but he was stunned. By the time the rifle got loaded with a single round, Bobby was pulling Barbara through the door into the hall.
Bobby slid Barbara out of the way to close the door. She was on the floor and he was standing. He pressed his weight against the door trying to guess where Dianne would guess to shoot through. She hit her light frame against the door. Bobby had his feet against the wall on his side. A shot rang out putting a small hole in the door but hitting nothing other than the wall across the hallway.
He suddenly pulled the door open. Dianne fell in against him. She was surprised. He grabbed her face and shoved her back against the wall behind her at the top of the stairs. Then he shoved her toward the stairs but she grabbed the hand rail. He had a thought. A totally unethical thought. But this was war, life and death war. He punched her in the same breast she was shot in. She howled and let go the railing to cover her breast. Again he shoved her down the stairs. He had hoped to grab the riffle from her but failed. It went down the stairs with her. Her fall knocked John down too.
Slamming the door shut, he got on the other side of Barbara. "Stay down." He pulled her by her feet down the hallway to the kitchen. Bobby looked around. No knives. Dianne confiscated them all and hid them away. He didn't have time to search.
He continued dragging her to the main door. She slid easily. Getting her to the car would be more tricky. "I'm going to fireman carry you." He hoped. Bet he was not as strong as he hoped. The blade still in his back made a burning sensation. He got her down the steps and only halfway to the car before he had to set her down. The pain in his back was so sharp.
Barbara muffled something that sounded like "get car," "No," he said. "If they get to you they might just outright kill you. I'm not taking that chance. Can you hop some more?" She nodded. He got her up and she started hopping. The grass and gravel ground must he hard on her bare feet, he thought. And her one breast kept bouncing in his face. She didn't seem to protest but he figured he'd have a lot of apologizing to do later, if there was a later for them. He had originally put her in this situation in the first place.
It took a minute to get her to the station-wagon. John's excuse for a teenager's sports' car was parked behind them. Opening the passenger door he pushed her head down and slid the rest of her onto the full width back seat. Dianne was yelling from inside the house. They had to hurry.
He reached over the back seat, praying Cindy was still there. He pulled aside a blanket. There she was. "Get up here." She started climbing over the back of the seat and froze when she saw Barbara.
"What are you doing?" she said.
"Shut up and get up here. On the floor on this side."
"Dianne's going to be pissed."
"Fuck Dianne," Bobby said without apology. "Now get up here." He latched the lock and closed the door. Bobby moved to the front and climbed over the hood. He got into the car just as they came around the edge of the house. John had his rifle and Dianne had Bobby's shot gun. Did they find ammo? Bobby thought as he reached around and locked all the doors. "On the floor," he told his younger sister again.
He got the spare key into the ignition and started the car. Throwing the transmission into reverse he floored it. The station-wagon hit John's smaller car . It nearly stopped them dead. But Bobby kept the car moving even if slowly.
John took aim at Bobby and fired. But the splitend rifle barrel sent the bullet to skip off the edge of the glass, cracking it but not penetrating.
Dianne didn't aim his shotgun. Did it have ammo or was it just a trickster's threat to try to scare them into stopping.
Bobby put the shifter into drive, moved forward, then in reverse again and pushed the pedal all the way down. Hitting the car behind them with more speed got it moving better. Putting it in drive again he again gunned the engine. The two attackers had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. In reveres he was able to get past the car but not without the two cars scraping against each other.
"My car!" Bobby was certain he heard John yell.
Bobby got their car turned around and pointed down the driveway. He gunned the engine again sending a spray of dirt and pebbles at John and Dianne. Then they were moving down the driveway. In thirty seconds they reached where driveway met paved road which on the other side was the abandoned tenet house where they were planning to move Barbara once it got dark. Without slowing they turned onto the road. In seconds the two other would be in their car coming after them and John's car was smaller and faster.
"Where to, where to, where to?" Bobby said openly.
"The police station," Cindy called out. Bobby felt a sense of relief that his sister was back on his side instead of Dianne's. "Too far. Somewhere closer." he pointed out. "He glanced back. Neither seemed hurt but Barbara was a shaking bundle of bound panic. "Put the blanket on her and untie her," He said as they headed down the road.
In the rear view mirror the others were pulling out of the driveway onto the road.
He looked to the backseat Cindy was still working on the first knot. "Cindy!"
"Knots are too hard." she cried trying to pick apart one with her small fragile fingernails.
They would easily catch up to them before they could reach a police station, the closest certain to be staffed was 10 miles away. He headed that way anyway. Maybe John would blow a tire or something. Bobby's back hurt more. The blade still inside. His shirt was wet from blood. He coughed on his sleeve. There were dots of red.
Bobby stepped on the gas. The road was straight for the next several miles. After one mile there was a STOP sign. In the mirror the others were closing. Seeing no cross traffic at the intersection he blew through it.
Another mile and they had caught up. The road ahead was empty so Dianne pulled up just behind him and matched speed. John leaned out of the passenger window with the riffle. But he wasn't aiming at him, but the back tire. Did that really work? He couldn't take the chance. They could match any speed he could get so he hit the brake instead. John fired just as they started to shoot ahead. As best as Bobby could tell they didn't hit anything.
Now they were in front and he was behind. Dianne started to slow. Now Bobby hit the gas again and swerved directly behind them. He slammed into them, with the advantage of being in the heavier car. Dianne almost lost control of her steering. But it was not without cost. I cloud of steam erupted from the front of the station-wagon. Bobby didn't know cars well enough to know how long they had before the engine would fail from lack of coolant, be he knew it would fail and possible before they could reach the police station still 8 miles ahead.
The ENGINE light came up on the dashboard. The distraction allowed Dianne to slip in behind the them. Now all the others had to do was follow and wait until the escapees could go no farther.
A mile ahead was a traffic light. "I don't remember that." Bobby said out loud. As they got closer he could see that it was only under construction and not yet operational. On the left was more new construction, a shopping plaza. As the whole plaza came into view it was obvious that half of it was vacant and only half of the half which had stores-to-be looked like they might be open.
One caught his eye with a big GRAND OPENING banner. It was a bank. There were at least a dozen cars around it. Bobby was about to switch lanes when Dianne pulled up beside them to apparently block them from turning into the lot. He braked and changed lanes behind them into the TURN-ONLY one. Then he turned in. The other car was already too far along to turn in as well, and they slammed on their brakes.
The braking and turning almost stalled the already laboring engine. In the parking lot Bobby steered directly for the bank when the engine gave out completely. They started slowing. It took a couple seconds for Bobby to think to put it in Neutral. The steering wheel no longer turned. He started to apply the brakes. There were none.
"We're going to crash a party, literally maybe," Bobby said. As soon as we stop, you get the door."
There were no pedestrians in sight. "Please doors, be open," He prayed out loud. He waited as long as he dare and pulled he emergency brake handle. The tires screeched, the wagon went sideways, and the came to rest against a pillar at the corner of the entrance. Bobby climbed over the back of his seat and unlock the rear passenger side door. Careful in stepping over Barbara he opened the door. Cindy was getting out of her door too. Booby shook his pointing arm at the bank entrance door. Dianne's car was just coming into the parking lot.
He pulled the blanket around the still naked and bound Barbara and slid her most of the way out the door. His back felt on fire. With a burst of energy he got her half into a fireman's carry with her feet still dragging on the ground. Cindy needed all her might to get the heavy building door open. Bobby dragged Barbara straight in.
#
People gasped as Bobby dragged and pushed Barbara into their midst on the polished marble floor. The blanket was slipping off. At the limit of his strength Bobby set Barbara down. He shucked off his shirt and threw it across her nakedness.
"What's the meaning of this?!" a man in a bank-president looking suit shouted. Bobby pointed to the door, which was closing, "they're going to kill us." Half the people looked that direction. The other half still stared at Barbara. The bank was filled with the aroma of coffee, pastries, and chocolate.
Dianne's car slowly aligned to see inside the door. John was easily visible with his riffle. Bobby laid his body across Barbara thinking that John might still try and shoot her. Seeing all the people, Dianne accelerated past.
Questions were being shouted. Bobby ignored them all. Getting his mouth close to Barbara's hooded head he asked hurriedly, "You OK?" With a shuddered breath she nodded her head and began crying with relief. Bobby pressed his head against her shoulder. His adrenaline was wearing off and the pain in his back becoming intense. He coughed. There was more blood this time. Several tellers with scissors hurried to them. A woman announced herself as a nurse knelled beside them. She ordered all the men to make a circle around them but facing outward.
He let himself be moved around by three tellers who worked at cutting Barbara free of her ropes and cloth and tape hood. The nurse checked both of them then concentrated on Bobby. She borrowed one pair of scissors and cut his shirt open where he bled. She started giving orders. Bobby felt faint. He had done as he promised and gotten her to safety. There was nothing more that Sgt. Bob Rock could do. Relaxing he let the fatigue take him.
The ambulance took Bobby first as he was more directly injured by the knife blade and coughing up still more blood.
#
Bobby woke up in a surgical recovery bed. He had IVs in his arms and a heart monitor connected to round electrodes on his chest. Someone kissed the back of his hand. He rolled his very heavy seeming head. It was Barbara in a hospital gown, in a wheelchair with her own IV to a bag of clear fluids. She looked better now but not as good yet as when she first started her babysitting job. "You saved my life," she whispered. "I might have been dead by now if it wasn't for you."
"But I started it with the chloroform," He said weakly. "I'm so sorry."
Barbara nodded. "Don't tell them that. They don't have to know. But there's an old saying, 'It's what you do last that's most important. And you were amazing." Barbara glanced over her shoulder. "My parents are coming to take me to another hospital. I'm not supposed to say where. Dianne and John are still at large."
Bobby tried to think of a place called 'Large'," The haze cleared enough so that he got it. Bobby half laughed.
"We'll stay in contact," Barbara said as she half stood and kissed him not on his cheek, but on his lips. A kiss of fondness. Just like the heroes got in his comic books.
A nurse came and wheeled her away, Barbara kept eye contact with him until she was out of sight.
Epilogue
The spectacle at the bank made headlines. Boy Saves Kidnap Victim. Not all the information was released to the public, such as Bobby being the one to actually chloroform the 'kidnap' victim.
Dianne and John were never heard from again.
Bobby and Cindy were entered into therapy. Paul was placed into
an institution by his parents until the age of 18 after which he too disappeared.
Needless to say that the Freedom Five never had another meeting, Never asked a "what if we..." question. Never held another vote, and never had another prisoner of war.
Barbara changed her studies from child development to counseling abused and raped women. The Adams' parents paid for all the rest of her college. Barbara quickly became the star counselor where she was hired. Traumatized women who opened up to no one else would open up to her.
Bobby had some heart to heart talks with his parents who were both disappointed in him and proud at the same time "It's what you do last that counts the most," came up often. Bobby dropped his goal to become a doctor like his father and instead got hired by and later became owner of a private security firm. The firm had one life long client who got security services for free.
Cindy got a real horsey. The abandoned tenet house was torn down and a -small stable was built in its place. The fallow corn field became a corral.
Barbara, Cindy, and Bobby kept in close contact with each other and meet each anniversary's of the day Barbara was to be killed in order to celebrate life.
THE END