Chapter 6- Secret Passages

Now I had just run out of the room in tears. Now besides the fact that I was upset about missing the corn harvest I was distressed about crying in front of people in general. It was just embarrassing and demeaning.

I ran into my room and leaned against a wall. Now I wasn't trying to find anything. I had always heard that mansions had secret passages, but it never occurred that I would find one in the mansion. I guess I was just thinking that those kinds of things you saw on TV or read in books.

I leaned against the wall and the wall gave way. I scrambled about to my feet in a semi-dark tunnel. The only light I could see came from my room. The air was chilly and I heard squeaks; which were from either mice or bats. The place was nothing more than a huge cave.

I went down the corridor and past an elevator. I paused and looked back. Elevator? Why would a cave have an elevator? Judging from the old antiqueness of it the elevator was more than a hundred years old. The chains holding it were rusted.

I was so wrapped up in looking at the elevator than I nearly missed the footsteps. A heavy step got my attention and I crawled behind a rocky ledge, peeking out slightly. "Mr. Wayne and Alfred stopped by the elevator.

"Sir, is Miss Roberta going to be okay?" Alfred asked. I realized they were talking about me.

"I think so. She's had a lot to handle in the last few days. Alfred, make sure she doesn't find her way down here. I don't want to give her something else to think about," Mr. Wayne said.

"Very good, Sir, but won't Miss Roberta find out eventually?" Alfred asked, looking nervous.

"It'll be better for her if she doesn't. Rachel was nearly killed by the Joker. I don't want it repeated with Roberta. The less she knows, the better," Mr. Wayne said.

"Very well. I'll make sure she doesn't find her way in here," Alfred finally agreed.

Too late, I thought as the two of them entered the elevator. To my surprise the thing moved. I don't know how. It was so rusted I thought it'd never work again. I waited until it was out of sight before getting back on my feet. I then made my way back to my room. Fortunately the elevator wasn't far from it.

My room was incredibly warm after being in the chilly cave. I closed the wall. I'd try to find the spring later that opened the door. I wanted to explore that cave a little more. With Mr. Wayne there I couldn't. I'd wait until I knew for sure that he wasn't going to be there and that Alfred was somewhere else.

I scrambled up on my windowseat and looked out at the dreary landscape. I heard the door open softly. "Roberta?" Mrs. Wayne's voice asked gently and I felt a soft hand on my shoulder.

I turned and looked at her. "Are you ready to go? I got the credit card from your father and Alfred is waiting for us," Mrs. Wayne said.

"I guess so," I said, following Mrs. Wayne out of my bedroom.

Mr. Wayne came out into the hallway from a study at the end of it. He had changed from his casual clothes to one of his nicer suits. Like the one I had seen yesterday. It was a brown tweed jacket and pants with a striped shirt and a tie.

"Well, ladies, I have to go to work. Roberta you have fun. Here's some money. You go and get something that you'd like," Mr. Wayne said, giving me a fifty dollar bill. I was surprised. I have seen fifty dollars before, but I usually got it by doing hard chores around the house or reservation. No one has ever given me money when I haven't earned it.

"Whoah!!" I muttered under my breath, holding the money in my hand.

"I figure since you got so upset I think you deserve a treat," Mr. Wayne said, smiling briefly and an amused look on his face.

"Thank you. No one has ever given me money before when I didn't work for it," I said without thinking of how that would sound.

"It's nothing. I can afford to give you something nice," Mr. Wayne said, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pulling my head into his chest. The rich scent of his cologne was on the shirt he wore and he stroked my hair gently.

"Well, Bruce, we'd better go. I don't know her size and it'll be a long day. We'll have to start from scratch with her clothes. Of course the Hamilton's' will send us the rest of her things too," Mrs. Wayne said.

"If that's the case then why buy me more clothes?" I asked, following Mrs. Wayne out to the Rolls. Alfred opened the door for both of us and we got into the backseat.

"We are enrolling you in Gotham Private and we need some uniforms. Also me and your father go out to fundraisers and you need some nice clothes for that. The media is going to be looking at you and you can't wear that sweatshirt and jeans in front of the camera," Mrs. Wayne explained.

"Oh. Well, it's your money," I said casually. I really didn't want to go clothes shopping, but I guess it didn't hurt to have a few new clothes. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from the cousins. Since I have two cousins that are 4 or 5 years older than me then I'm the cousin next in line to get their clothes. After me my ten-year-old cousin, Julie, will be next followed by my five-year-old cousin, Jennie.

"Where do you normally shop for clothes?" Mrs. Wayne asked.

"The only thing I buy from anywhere is shoes, socks and underwear. I normally go to Wal-mart for those. Everything else I have on is stuff my cousins wore. They've outgrown them and since I'm next in line for it I have to wear it. Then my two little cousins, Julie and Jennie, will be the next ones to wear my clothes," I said.

"Hand-me-downs?" Mrs. Wayne questioned, wrinkling her nose.

"Yep. My uncle said that since he has two daughters older than me that they might want to save Dad a fortune in shopping for clothes," I said, looking out the window.

"Well, it's a good thing then that we're buying you new clothes," Mrs. Wayne said, a relieved tone in her voice.

"Hand-me-downs aren't so bad. We just have to be careful not to rip the clothes because the next person who wears it won't appreciate that," I said, trying not to let on that Mrs. Wayne had hurt my feelings by insulting my family's thrift in not buying me everything in the way of fashion.

"And how does that work out for you, Miss Roberta?" Alfred asked from the front seat.

'Pretty well, actually. In Seneca families we don't ruin anything. Jane was very careful before she let me have all the clothes she outgrew. I'll have to do the same when my cousin, Julie, gets my clothes," I said, looking out the window at the drab landscape. Unlike where I lived or the reservation Gotham was ugly. It was dreary and the trash littering the sidewalks was really gross.

I only hoped the shopping wouldn't take too long. I also looked at the fifty dollars in my hand. Gotham wasn't far from upstate New York where the main Seneca reservation was. The way I figured it I could use the money Mr. Wayne gave me and go to the corn harvest.

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I came into the Wayne family living room, later that night, wearing one of the new outfits that Mrs. Wayne had gotten me. She had asked if I could wear one to dinner since Mr. Wayne was planning to take us out. Mr. Wayne stood, his green eyes shining as he looked at me.

"You look beautiful, Roberta," Mr. Wayne said, cupping my face gently.

"Thank you," I said as we got into another awkward silence.

"So, do you like your clothes?" Mr. Wayne attempted to say.

"They're all right. Shopping isn't really my thing," I said.

"Your mom told me. She said you wear second-hand clothes?" Mr. Wayne asked, stroking my hair gently.

"Yeah. Five girl cousins and my dad couldn't afford name brands," I said, keeping my voice low. I knew that Mr. Wayne hated that I called Patrick Hamilton my dad, but I seriously didn't know what to call him. Fortunately Mr. Wayne chose to let that one slide.

"Well, I guess we can just box up what you have from those girls and send it to the next one in line to wear them," Mr. Wayne said, attempting fake cheer; a bad move on his part. If anything I hate it when people use false cheer.

"It must be killing you to have to make small talk with your daughter," I said bitterly before I could stop myself. Mr. Wayne looked shocked. He looked as if I had slapped him across the mouth.

"It does when the daughter doesn't help," Mr. Wayne said, his eyes and voice hard.

"Well, excuse me, Mr. Wayne. I'm not a conversationalist. Ask my parents. They'll tell you. So stop trying to make me talk to you," I said sharply as I ran out of the room and upstairs to my room, locking the door to my bedroom. I didn't care that I was missing the dinner Mr. Wayne wanted to take me and Mrs. Wayne to.

I went to my closet and changed back into my sweatshirt and jeans. I went to the wall where I had found the secret entrance to the cave. Feeling along the wall I found the catch the released the door. I picked up the flashlight that I had gotten from girl scouts and shone it down the cave walls.

I managed to get open the elevator doors and stepped inside. Pulling a lever I held on as it lowered me. I went walking as if uphill into a spacious cavern, full of computers and a vault. I went up to the vault and tried to open it. Just my luck! It was locked.

I was nearly distracted when the sounds of footsteps came down to me. I had barely hidden myself when Mr. Wayne and Alfred came back.

"Sir, what are you going to do?" Alfred asked.

"About what, Alfred? Roberta or the city?" Mr. Wayne asked.

"Both, Sir. Miss Roberta needs you as much as the city needs Batman," Alfred said, touching my father's shoulder.

"I know, but I can be there for both Roberta and the city. She'll realize how much I love her; that I never stopped. But the city needs me right now. If I can't do it as Bruce Wayne I can do it as Batman," Mr. Wayne said, walking over to the vault and opened it carefully.

My eyes nearly popped out of my head and I held my hand over my mouth so they wouldn't hear me gasp. MY FATHER WAS BATMAN!!!! The suit was there larger than life and suddenly it made sense why he didn't want me to find this place earlier. I sunk down, trying to control my breathing.

"Alfred, don't you and Rachel wait up," Mr. Wayne said, his voice slightly gravelly as if he had laryngitis. I rose up slightly. My father was all dressed in the batsuit, I couldn't see his face that well since it was covered and he was getting into an armored car.

"What about Miss Roberta? She might ask where you are," Alfred said.

"Tell her I went out on business," Batman said as he started the engine and drove through a waterfall. I waited until Alfred left and then I made my way back to my room. I took short, harsh gasps of air as I sank to my knees. My father was Batman? Why did he wear the suit? Couldn't he have done this as Bruce Wayne?

I knew then I had to leave for the reservation. I had explored the mansion earlier and knew how to sneak out without being seen. Little did I know that Batman would see me leave Gotham that night.