Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or 'At The Sign Of The Sugared Plum'
Chapter 15
Kidnapping
Jesse starred at the brunette in stunned silence before whispering to him and asking him to repeat what he just said.
Jaden took in a deep breath.
"I said I'll take the baby" he repeated.
"Jaden …"
The bluenette gasped suddenly, falling away from the window with a thud, Jaden calling out his name in shock. If Jesse died now …
"Jesse! Come on, I need you to help me here!" the brunette called.
Jesse's pale and shaking frame appeared at the window, and he nodded once to the brunette.
"Are you sure? Your cousin …"
"Will just have to put up with it" Jaden whispered, so quietly that the bluenette had to ask him to repeat it twice. He then spoke louder. "Jesse, I'll get her out of here. I promise, I'll keep her safe."
"Why would you?" the bluenette asked kindly, soft tears forming in his caring green eyes.
"Because I love you. And you love her. It's all I can do now."
That was explanation enough for both of them.
Within a few moments, the brunette was standing silently in the garden, fidgeting anxiously. He had no idea how he was going to smuggle a baby out of the manor. And what if she had plague? She could be carrying the germs in her clothes or on her skin and then he would catch it and be shut up, bring Aster down with him …
But this was all he could do for Jesse.
Aster would understand. If the worst happened, he would take the beating from his cousin in the afterlife.
After a few more minutes - during which Jaden played endless disastrous scenarios in his head - Jesse appeared at the window with a naked baby in his arms.
"Her clothes?" Jaden asked, puzzled.
"No plague germs can hide in her clothes if she has none" Jesse said quietly.
"Good idea" the brunette whispered, sliding off his red jacket to wrap around the baby.
Jesse grabbed hold of the basket that was attached to the side of the house and led up to the window, through which the family inside got their daily provisions. The guard would send things up via basket, rather than enter the house.
It was a crime to remove anything from a house of plague.
Especially a person who could be ill with it.
Jaden had broke some petty rules before but he'd never committed any serious crime that could result in imprisonment. And yet here he was receiving a hopefully healthy child from a house of plague.
Using the basket and its thin coil of rope, the bluenette carefully lowered the baby to the ground, and when it rested carefully on the grass, Jesse slipped away from the window frame and out of sight.
Jaden called up to him again but he got no response. Jesse must have fallen asleep. Or passed out. Or … No, he didn't want to even think that.
The brunette stared at the child for a moment longer and then knelt down to pick her up warily, holding her away from him. She had who knew what germs on her skin!
But fortune smiled on him just that once, and he saw that the well in the back yard of the manor was in perfect working order and the water was clean. He placed the baby on the grass - the less he had to touch her the better - and got some water. He used it to thoroughly clean his hands and soaked the baby in it, humming softly to her all the while so she wouldn't cry. He was glad it was so hot, otherwise she would have cried at the water's coldness.
Eventually, the brunette stood at the side of Mapleside Manor, holding the half asleep, still wet baby girl wrapped in his red jacket in his arms. He had to sneak around the side of the house and not be seen by the guard, or there would be big trouble.
Carefully, Jaden peeked around the wall, and saw that the guard - a dark skinned man with an abnormally large nose and the look of a soldier about him - sat obliviously at the front of the house. He was obviously so used to seeing Jaden that he didn't think anything of it any more. Jaden had never caused any trouble.
Until he broke the law. Right now, in fact.
Taking a deep breath, Jaden tried to make it look like he was simply walking with his arms folded in front of him, and scurried around the wall and started walking away from the guard.
His heart was pounding hard. If he was caught now, the baby would be taken to a pesthouse, he would be sent to prison, and Jesse would most likely be killed - or just left to die, as seemed probable even to Jaden.
The guard didn't seem to notice that there was a baby in the brunette's arms, or that he walked very fast, or that as soon as he turned a corner he started running in the direction of home.
Jaden's heart was pounding. He'd done it!
Jaden wasn't giving up. He wasn't leaving Jesse now, no way.
He would go back for him once he had safely taken the baby away from the house of plague. He could only hope that she was healthy. If he was responsible for giving the plague to his cousin Aster, he would never forgive himself.
But if he didn't help Jesse by taking the baby, he would never forgive himself.
He was taking a risk either way.
He had to try.
Please R&R