Chapter 20: Chances

Looking at the rising floodlight sun, Poppy ran off into the bushes. Elli was tempted to go after her, but she realized she risked getting caught the longer she stayed out here in the main area of the PlayCare. So she pocketed the tracking devices in her yellow nightgown and snuck back into Home Sweet Home.

This time, she made sure not to get spotted by Kissy on her way to the bedroom. After the morning announcement went off, Elli reluctantly got out of bed after having only slept thirty minutes and dragged herself into the bathroom.

"You're starting to get bags under your eyes," Rez said after Elli emerged from the bathroom all dressed up.

"Bags?" Elli went to a nearby wall mirror and looked at herself. There were small dark lines starting to form under her eyelids. "What do you mean by bags?"

"If you had paid attention in Anatomy, you would know what Rez is talking about," Nathan said. "Miss Delight said the 'bags' are the lower-part of your eyelids that grow dark when you don't get enough sleep."

"So is that a bad thing?" Elli asked.

"No, but it's bad for us," Rez said. "If Mommy sees them, she might grow suspicious of you."

Elli didn't like the sound of that. "What should I tell her if she asks?"

"Maybe something along the lines up staying up late to work on a school assignment," Nathan suggested. "I'm sure she'll buy that since your grades aren't the best."

Grumbling, Elli said, "Thanks for reminding me."

Later, as the kids were waiting for the train to pull in, Elli stepped as close as she could to the edge of the platform. She took the shorted out tracking devices from her shorts and tossed them onto the train tracks.

"What did you just throw?" Rez asked, walking up to Elli as they boarded the train to the Game Station with the other kids.

Realizing she couldn't lie to Rez, Elli whispered, "The tracking devices."

"But I thought Nathan threw them away. Did you sneak out with Poppy again this morning?"

"I did. She told me to throw the tracking devices onto the tracks so they wouldn't be found by the factory workers."

"You mean the factory workers that empty the trashcans?"

Elli nodded.

"Man, I didn't even think of that! This Poppy doll really is smart," Rez complemented. "Maybe we should get to know her better, since I'm still not convinced we can trust her."

"So why do you want to get to know her better?"

"You know how in spy stories the spies often exchange information? It's not because they're friends, but because they know the other spy knows something they need. So to get what they want, one spy tells the other something they don't know."

"Are you saying you want to use Poppy to get information about the factory, regardless if you trust her or not?"

"Exactly," Rez confirmed. "Because even if she is on the side of the factory workers, we can use her knowledge to find out valuable things which will help us plan our escape."

A week later, it was Parent-Teacher Conference Day. What this meant was the kids didn't have to go to school, but they still had to go to the Game Station. So while one group of kids went to the Game Station to play the games at their usual designated time, the other would stay at the PlayCare with Mommy Long Legs escorting one kid at a time to the school. There, they would meet the Miss Delight teacher of each class and discuss the kid's grades as far as what they excelled at and what could be improved on.

"This is the perfect chance for me to sneak into the locked door in the library," Nathan whispered to Elli and Rez on the train ride back from the Game Station. "With Mommy and the Miss Delight sisters occupied with the individual meetings of each kid, there's no way they're going to be paying attention to all the other kids."

"But what about Kissy and DogDay?" Rez said. "They're probably going to be watching us while Mommy and Miss Delight are occupied."

"Not to mention that Miss Delight who caught us by the door with the red light," Elli brought up. "She might be patrolling the school hallways during the meetings."

"You mean the one that has the morning star weapon she calls Barb?" Nathan guessed. When Elli nodded, Nathan didn't seem discouraged. "That's why I'm not going to walk around the halls of the school."

"Then how are you going to get around without being spotted the Miss Delight with Barb?" Rez asked nervously.

Nathan pointed his index finger at Elli. "Is the GrabPack you took from that hidden room in Home Sweet Home still inside the vent?"

"It should be," Elli said. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I'm going to use it to sneak around the vents of the school, and enter the library that way," Nathan explained. "All you and Rez have to do is keep Kissy and DogDay occupied so they don't see me leave Home Sweet Home with the GrabPack on. Can you two do that?"

While Rez gave Nathan a confident 'Yes,' Elli hesitated. She wanted to tell Poppy about Nathan's plan first, but she didn't want Nathan to give her a hard time for trusting Poppy more than him. And so reluctantly, she echoed Rez's answer to satisfy Nathan.

Upon returning to the PlayCare, the kids were escorted to Home Sweet Home by Kissy while DogDay was busy watching the toddlers in the Playhouse. Being at the back of the group, Elli briefly separated and went around the house over to the panel with the red flower painted on. Right on queue like that morning, Poppy showed up.

"You know you're taking a risk seeing me this late in the day, right?" Poppy said, looking around her cautiously.

"I had to see you again," Elli responded quietly, hoping no one was listening to their conversation. "Nathan just told me his plan to break into the school library."

Poppy's eyes widened. "Then let's hear it, and quickly before someone sees us together."

To be continued…