Tony watched, unmoving, as Magnum flicked back the curtains at the window and then moved to listen intently at the door. It all seemed farther and farther away to Tony as his hand began to really hurt. He'd never really felt anything to compare. He'd lived a sheltered and secure life and had never been sick that he could recall, so the pain was a new experience for him. His whole world was centered on his hand as the pain began to throb in time with the frightened beating of his heart.
Until he felt a gentle shake on his shoulder.
"Tony?" Tony could hear the concern in Magnum's voice and it warmed him, made the pain not so bad somehow. "Stay with me," he said.
Tony nodded, "I'll do my best," he promised.
Magnum smiled at him, "That's all I can ask. So far your best has been pretty darn good. Now, I need to tell you some things," his voice was rich with the urgency. Tony did his best to push the pain and panic away and listen to him. It helped, just concentrating on something else, it made the pain recede a little more.
"We can't go out the way you came in," Magnum nodded toward the door from the hallway, "because the goon squad could be out there guarding the door, or someplace close. I don't think the window has an alarm on it, but it's pretty steep down the side of the house, and I don't think you're going to be able to climb with your hand in the shape that it's in."
Tony started to object, he could do whatever he had to do, but Magnum stopped him.
"Don't talk, just listen to me. I'm going to carry you down on my back."
"But you're hurt," Tony did manage to get his objection in this time.
"You have to trust me, Tony, I'm not hurt too bad, I get beat up every morning before breakfast just to stay in shape, so I know I'm okay."
It brought a smile to Tony's lips as Magnum continued, "Now I've carried grown men like this, so a kid like you will be nothing. Do you trust me?" Magnum's voice was solemn.
Tony nodded, just as solemnly, he would trust Magnum with his life, he realized. And he probably was.
"Good boy." Magnum gripped his shoulder tightly for a second.
It helped in so many ways. The contact gave Tony strength and helped to keep him in the room. Despite trying his best to pay attention and do what Magnum needed him to do, he was beginning to feel light and floaty. He was a little afraid his head was going to come away from his body and float away. Even the pain in his hand was beginning to feel like it belonged to someone else.
Magnum kept his hand on Tony's shoulder as he led him to the window, guiding him to a spot next to the window where he could keep an eye on the boy as he worked. It also happened to be behind the curve of a chair, Tony saw. If someone came through the door, they wouldn't see him right away.
"Now, Tony, I'm going to climb out first," Magnum told him. "I'll let you know as soon as I'm ready. Okay?" He waited for Tony's nod before he slid the window up. Tony watched as he disappeared through the window. He was gone for only a moment when he popped his head back in. "Now you," he said.
Tony studied the situation only a second. The window sill was pretty high, so he turned the chair and clambered onto the chair and then onto the sill. As he climbed outside, he made the mistake of looking down. The house was built on the side of a cliff and so, while he was on the second floor of the house, down was a long way down and ended with blue water and a rocky shore. Tony clutched at Magnum's arm with his good hand.
"Don't look down," Magnum told him just a second too late. He didn't try to hurry Tony, he let him take all the time he needed although their need to be away was urgent. Magnum perched on the window precariously so that Tony could climb onto his back, his legs locked around Magnum's waist, his arms wrapped around Magnum's neck with his right hand locked around his left wrist tightly.
Once he was secure and Magnum began to move, Tony couldn't help it, he looked down again. It seemed even further this time and he pressed himself against Magnum's back as the man began a slow lateral descent of the house. From their height, Tony could see a lot of cliff, but he could also see where the land sloped gently down and met the water. There was a small dock with a power boat moored next to it.
Because of the way the house was built they had to climb along the second floor to the side of the house before they could climb down and get to solid ground. At first Tony thought they were going to get away undetected as Magnum continued to move steadily away from the window they had escaped from. He moved slowly, testing each handhold and foothold for soundness before trusting their weight to it. They had nearly made it to the far edge when Tony heard a shout.
Looking back in the direction they had come from, he could see one of the bad guys leaning out the window, climbing out to follow them. He was shouting at someone inside.
Their time was up. Magnum began to move faster, with more urgency.
Even so, he got all the way to the ground before anyone gave serious pursuit. Tony was never so glad to feel solid ground under his feet. Magnum didn't give him time to appreciate it before scooping him up under an arm and making a dash, not for the tree line that Tony remembered, but towards the dock.
By this time one of the men had emerged from the house. Tony could hear his shouts as he called to the rest of the men who were out searching for him. He couldn't really see anything behind them because of the way Magnum was carrying him, but he could hear the confusion.
Magnum was fast and they were nearing the boat. Tony thought they were going to make it away when the sound of the confusion resolved into gunfire as the man realized that his captives were getting away.
Then they'd made it to the boat and Magnum deposited him inside.
"Stay down," was his terse order as Magnum threw off the lines that attached the boat to the dock.
The gunshots were getting closer.
Tony peaked over the edge of the boat. He could see that the man who had followed them out of the house was pounding down the dock towards them.
"Magnum!" he cried in fear and warning.
Magnum was bent down at the back of the boat and didn't see the man. Magnum stood at Tony's cry, diving into the water just as the man fired at him. Tony couldn't see if he'd been hit or not. The man ran to the edge of the dock, intent on finishing him off.
Tony clambered out of the boat as fast as he could. The man was paying him no attention, he continued firing into the water where Magnum had disappeared. He obviously thought that kids were no threat. Tony intended to prove him wrong. He got a running start and flung himself at the man, hitting him with his good shoulder.
The man turned a little, surprised to see him there. He flailed a moment, windmilling with his arms trying to regain his balance, before going over the edge into the water himself. Magnum chose that moment to reappear, surfacing right next to the man. He didn't give the man a chance to recover before driving a watery fist into his face. The man went down like a stone. Tony thought Magnum was going to let him go and sink into the water, instead he drug the unconscious man with him as he pulled himself out of the water and back onto the dock.
Tony glanced back at the house anxiously. The other men, hearing the shots, had finally emerged from the trees and were headed for the dock. They were running out of time.
"Mr. Magnum," Tony pointed to where the men were rapidly gaining ground.
"I see them," he said, "get back in the boat. We're getting out of here."
Tony threw himself back into the boat, Magnum climbing in beside him. Taking the wheel, Magnum pressed a button and the boat purred to life. They slid away from the dock just as the other men pounded down the dock. Tony ducked down as the air was peppered with shots.
It seemed like they were going to make it. Tony was sure they had made their getaway this time when one of the shots aimed in their direction hit the boat.. Tony could smell the acrid scent of gasoline as Magnum picked him up and bodily threw him in the water before plunging after him.
Behind them, the boat blew up. The resultant shock wave washed over them as the explosion filled the water around them with flaming debris.
And the adventure continues...