Wow, I'm inspired to write this evening. It's great, cos I can spoil you guys with another chapter!
Chapter 5 – Locating Lizzie
That evening, when Amanda left the room for dinner at her aunt's, the toys made their move. Buzz had been overjoyed at Woody's news to know Jessie wasn't that far removed from them, and had insisted they go across to the house to at least let her know they weren't going to give up on her without a fight. Sadly, Woody had to leave Bullseye behind in the box, since he was too clumsy to get from the window to the ground safely. The little horse didn't seem to mind though, and licked Woody's cheek before he left.
With Buzz in tow, the cowboy made his way to the windowsill in the same way as earlier – from the shelf to the bed. They squeezed through the gap that remained between the window and the ledge, and crept along the outer sill to the drainpipe. Sliding down it was easy – both toys had completed such manoeuvres from Andy's window long before now. Landing on the grass, they began to run for the fence, pressing against it while they caught their breath. Then, with a glance exchanged between them, they slipped between the struts of the fence and out onto the road beyond.
Once across safely, Woody led the way, to the little house three doors down - with bushes instead of a fence around the property. They pushed their way into and through the bracken. It was as Woody was deciding what option would be best for getting to, and entering the house, that Buzz spoke.
"Woody. How are we going to find the child's room? We don't even know where she'll be."
Woody looked at his friend, stumped for a moment.
"Maybe..." the cowboy started to say, "Maybe we should just check all the windows. If we can get an idea of how many people we have to avoid in the house...we can make our own way upstairs without being caught."
Buzz nodded. It was worth a try, for Jessie's sake.
Minutes later they were on the first windowsill of several. The window appeared to belong to a kitchen, and as they peeked through cautiously, Woody saw a brunette standing over the sink. He recognised her as the girl who had answered the door to Amanda earlier. Seeing her close up, he could tell she wasn't old enough to be Liz's mother.
"She must be Liz's sister," he hissed to Buzz, who nodded, watching the girl now preparing pasta over the hob. They saw her mouth moving as she called to someone in another room, and after some time she finished her cooking and left the kitchen, snapping off the light. With the room plunged into darkness, the toys leapt down into the garden again, searching out the next window.
The next window was in darkness however, but the third seemed to belong to the family den. Buzz was first to peek through, catching glimpses of an older woman and man sitting watching television together. The clock on the wall read 8.30pm, and Buzz turned to Woody.
"Liz might be in bed. It's too late for a child to be up."
"Or she could be a little older. Either way, she must be in her room," Woody whispered back. "I bet if we can locate her room right now, we'll see Jessie again, Buzz."
Buzz shivered slightly, thinking of the redhead who meant so much to him. "Let's go, cowboy," he whispered back, and the two toys started to climb down from the sill, searching out a drainpipe or similar handhold to allow them to access the first floor of the house.
o0o0o0o0o0o
"This better be the right room," Woody muttered, sidling across the ledge to peek through the curtains at the interior. His eyes fell on a large room decorated entirely in white with stencil patterns. Near the window was a pile of pillows and a beanbag chair; a dresser that held a lava lamp, but otherwise strewn with cosmetics; then next to the dresser a large wardrobe; and to the far end a television and stereo unit. To the right of the window sat the bed, half obscured by a funny little slanting wall that alcoved the bed from the rest of the room.
He saw the young brunette from the kitchen in the room, and because of the window being open slightly, he could hear the music playing from a laptop sitting on the bed. She was eating pasta; forking tendrils of it into her mouth, between sewing something rapidly.
Woody blinked as Buzz joined him at the sill. "This can't be the right room," he muttered to his companion. Buzz didn't say anything. He just stared.
"Buzz?" Woody gave the space ranger a gentle push, and when Buzz didn't respond, Woody followed his gaze back into the room. The cowboy hadn't noticed it, but the girl sewing was holding Jessie's jumpsuit in her hands. The cotton and thread flew in and out as she sewed the seams fluently.
"What's that girl doing with Jessie's jumpsuit?" Woody voiced the thought aloud, and glanced around the room they were looking into. Buzz suddenly clutched at Woody, and pointed.
"Look!"
Following his friends gaze a second time, Woody caught sight of Jessie. She was right there in the room, lying on a pillow, her hat sitting beside her. Her small body was covered with a piece of cloth. She appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be asleep.
"Jessie!" Buzz pressed his hand to the window, and Woody grabbed him.
"Buzz, don't be stupid. She'll spot us," he whispered, jerking his head in the direction of the brunette who was still sewing Jessie's jumpsuit together.
"But Woody, we have to get into the room and save her," Buzz said firmly, tugging his hand free.
Woody was about to scold Buzz for being deluded enough to give away their secret of coming to life, when the girl snapped the thread she'd been using and stood up. Woody grabbed Buzz and they jumped out of view.
o0o0o0o0o0o
It was a while before either of them moved, and when they did, Buzz was first to take the plunge. Peeking around the slat of the window, he shielded his eyes as he saw the young woman pick up the doll from under the cloth. He knew full well Jessie wouldn't be wearing clothing now, and wanted to spare himself his blushes in front of Woody.
Uncovering his eyes at last, Buzz deemed it safe to peer inside again. He saw the brunette sitting on the bed, Jessie in her hands - now thankfully fully dressed in a now very clean and tidy jumpsuit. The girl was combing Jessie's hair through her fingers gently, smoothing it flat.
She lay Jessie down on the bed for a moment. Jessie remained lifeless as the young woman rooted in a small square green box on the dresser. When she returned to the bed, she dropped several items down onto the mattress. Sitting down again, she placed Jessie between her knees to hold her steady.
The first thing Buzz saw her pick up was the length of yellow ribbon. She began to deftly twist Jessie's yarn hair into a ponytail, and wrapped the ribbon around the yarn twice, tying the ends securely in a small knot. She smoothed the ponytail down and smiled, before lying Jessie back down again.
She then took Jessie's hat and placed it on her lap, picking up a needle and what looked like thread; measuring the thread around the cowgirls face. She snipped off a small length and began to thread the needle with it, pushing the needle through the holes on the hat and creating a loop of thread so the hat would stay on Jessie's head. Snipping off the excess thread, the girl fitted the hat onto the cowgirl, pulling the thread a little. Buzz realised the girl had used elastic for the fitting, not thread, due to it stretching comfortably around the cowgirls face.
With a satisfied smile, the girl settled Jessie back on the pillow next to her, picked up the laptop, and began to type furiously on the keyboard.
Buzz couldn't tear his eyes off Jessie. He realised the brunette had just given the cowgirl a new lease of life, presumably so Jessie could be given to her little sister.
From behind him came a tap on his shoulder. "Buzz. We have to leave. Amanda will be back soon."
Buzz's face fell as she stared into the room at Jessie. He was so close to her, yet so far away. He couldn't imagine how she was feeling, separated from both Woody, Bullseye, and of course, himself.
With a heavy heart and a final glance at the redhead, Buzz turned and started to make his way down the sill after Woody. With every step he hated himself for not springing into the room and carrying Jessie away with him.