Co-Authored by Tracey Arcieri and Karen LaManna

Chapter 5

Lee's hand twitched as it dangled off the edge of the cot and skimmed the dirt floor. His shoulders and neck were still cramped from his search of the ceiling. He was sweating and as soon as he laid down, he was dizzy, and a coppery taste formed in his mouth. Time was lost on him. He tried to calculate how long he may have been down there, but he was having a hard time focusing. He closed his eyes to try to stop the room from spinning. He couldn't figure out how long he had been in that position.

He drifted in and out of consciousness, Amanda's face floating through his mind. He whispered her name, the sound of his voice foreign to his own ears. He draped one arm across his forehead while the other fell off the side of the cot. Lee snapped awake as he felt a small pinch on his finger tip, a small warm body settled into his palm and a long-textured tail wrapped around his wrist. He jerked his hand upward, as a small squeal followed by the sound of scampering was heard. Lee forced himself to a sitting position, while he pulled his legs up onto the cot. He wrapped his arms around them and rested his head on his knees. This is the position he was in when the hidden door creaked open in the corner of the ceiling and Gregory's voice floated down. "Stetson!"

Lee inhaled before he replied, "Gregory, I should have guessed."

"Move to the light so I can see you," Gregory commanded as he squatted by the entrance.

Lee slowly moved off the cot toward the dim light filtering down. He glanced around the room and shuttered when he saw the small group of rats as they scampered around in the corner. He watched them long enough to see them squeezing in and out of a crack. With a small shudder, he turned back toward the opening above him, using his hand to shield the light. He was using what little strength he had left to appear stronger than he felt.

"You won't be here much longer," Gregory informed him. "I've already requested a trade for Koslov. Just another day or two, long enough for Mr. Melrose to make the arrangements and you'll be a free man."

"What, no grand game? No poetry? Excuse me if I don't believe you, Gregory. It's never been that easy with you," Lee spat at him, the venom dripping from his every word.

"You cut me to the quick, Stetson. I'm just attempting to re-establish my footing in the chain of command. You of all people should understand that," Gregory straightened himself up, brushing imaginary dust off his immaculate suit. "I'll be back."

"Gregory, wait!" Lee called out in vain, but his only response was Gregory dropping the door back in place. Lee heard the distinct sound of metal scraping on metal and knew trying to push the door open again would be fruitless. He blinked continuously, as he tried to adjust back to the darkness, bright spots of color still swirled around before him. The dizziness became worse, so he carefully shuffled back to the cot and curled onto his side and tucked his hands under his arms tightly. "Amanda," he whispered as he closed his eyes again.

"Amanda!" Francine snapped.

"Please, Francine play it one more time. I know I've heard those bells before, I just need to remember where," Amanda lifted her head, brown eyes staring into hard, cold blue ones.

Amanda was sitting in Mr. Melrose's office, staring at the picture of Lee as she listened to the recording for the seventh time. Francine was angry, punching the buttons forcefully each time Amanda asked to hear it again.

"Billy, this is just a waste of time. We've listened to this recording seven times already!" Francine moaned as she slammed the rewind button again.

"Amanda, are you sure you've heard that sound before? I mean, it sounds like ordinary church bells to me. They could be anywhere!" Billy stated as he rocked in his chair.

"No, those bells are very specific. I know I've heard them, I'm just trying to remember where I was. We've been to a few different churches lately, so I want to make sure I have it right," Amanda insisted.

Francine rolled her eyes but pressed the play button anyway. Amanda leaned forward again as she rubbed her temple with her fingers trying to concentrate. She was still staring at the photograph when she exclaimed, "I got it! I recognize this!" She waved the photograph in her hand. "Francine, stop that for a minute, please. Sir, this picture, where Lee is being held. It reminds me of the old storm cellar my Great Uncle Iggy in Topeka had. Around here they call them root cellars. You see, we used to play hide and seek in Uncle Iggy's when we were kids, well, that was before he ran away with the cult to become a wizard. But anyway, that's got to be where Lee's being held, in an old root cellar." She looked from Billy's face to Francine with her eyes wide, eyebrows high.

"Great! A root cellar in Virginia or anywhere else in the surrounding community. Amanda, do you realize how utterly useless that sounds right now? How many old homes there are in the DC area alone?" Francine sighed heavily as she looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, Francine, I'm just trying to help. I can't just sit by and think Lee's out there, somewhere, and not do anything to try to help find him," Amanda said quietly, looking down at her lap.

"And we appreciate your help," Billy said nicely before snapping in Francine's direction, "Don't we, Francine?"

"Billy, we haven't made any more progress than we did an hour ago," Francine snapped back.

"Francine, please, can you press play one more time?" Amanda begged as she leaned forward toward the speaker on the desk.

Francine groaned loudly but did as she was asked and depressed the button one more time. Amanda closed her eyes and listened intently, her head nodding with each chime. She began muttering the tune the church bells played, repeating the notes over and over until she declared, "I got it! It's the church bells from St. Peters Episcopal in Arlington."

Billy leaned forward and asked, "You're sure?"

Amanda nodded enthusiastically as she explained, "Yes, sir. I'm positive, sir. You see a few months ago, Jamie's teacher was getting married and she enjoyed his class so much, she invited all the students to her ceremony. I took him and three of his classmates all dressed up in their Sunday best down to the church. Oh, you should have seen how handsome the boys looked, but anyway, the church bells chime every hour and we were there for so long because after the service his teacher wanted to take pictures with the kids. So, I definitely heard the bells several times while I was there."

Francine shook her head, frustrated again, "Amanda, so what? So, what if that is the church, how many homes are in that area? How far away could he be, huh?"

Amanda looked down at her hands sadly as Billy jumped to his feet as he yelled, "Enough, Francine! Go see what you can dig up about Koslov while you cool off!"

Francine looked at him as she tried to explain, "But, Billy, I was just trying to point out…" However, when Billy glared at her she closed her mouth quickly. Without another word, she left the office.

"Amanda, I know you are just trying to help and I appreciate everything you're doing. Now, is there anything else you heard you think might be helpful?" Billy asked reassuringly.

Amanda shook her head yes and replied quietly, "The bird, sir."

"The bird?" Billy asked, confused. Amanda's ability to identify seemingly common items astounded him.

"Yes, sir, the bird. You can hear it between the church bells. It's a Brown Creeper, Sir," Amanda looked up, her eyes damp with tears.

"And, how can you identify it's a … brown creep…" Billy replied slowly, as he attempted to understand.

"A Brown Creeper, Sir. Last year, Philip was working on a badge for the Junior Trailblazers on endangered birds living in this region. The Brown Creeper isn't endangered per say but it is protected under the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act. He had to be able to identify the bird by its call. That is the call of the male responding to the church bells. It's a very common phenomenon," Amanda replied matter-of-factly although her voice quivered.

"Do the birds live in any specific area?" Billy prodded knowing Amanda was full of untapped knowledge.

"Yes, Sir, they live mainly near Bellevue Forest, by the Potomac River," Amanda inhaled, as she tried to stop her tears from falling.

Billy moved around his desk and put his hand on Amanda's shoulder as he said, "We'll find him, Amanda, don't you worry."