Unconvinced, Ava walked to the dumbwaiter and opened the sliding hatch. “Just as I thought. When the dumbwaiter goes up, it leaves a gap. There’s nothing in here just the cables.”
“What are you getting at?” Isabella pulled her long black hair up into a ponytail, secured it with a band, and then walked to her side. “It’s dark and filled with cobwebs, shut it before something runs out of there.”
“Can’t you feel that?” Ava leaned in closer to the hole in the wall. “There’s a cold wind blowing in from somewhere. The passageway between the walls must lead to the outside. I think we should go and see where it comes out.”
“I’m not sure risking climbing in there to look is a good idea.” Isabella frowned. “Which way would we go? What if he’s watching us? You know the penalty for noncompliance. I’m not sitting in the dark, starving to death again.”
“I’ll go. Critters don’t frighten me. I’ve slept rough too many times to worry about them anymore.” Zoe blinked at Ava through her pink streaked black bangs and shrugged. “I’ll take the right and you the left.”
Ava nodded and shivered. “It’s freezing in there, we’ll need extra clothes but not too many, we don’t want to get stuck.”
“What do I do if he comes to the door?” Isabella’s expression turned fearful. “What do I say?”
“Let me think.” Ava looked around frantically for inspiration. “Say nothing. Make up our beds to look as if we’re in them and then go to bed. He’ll only look down from the top of the stairs and he’ll think we’re asleep.” She waved her away. “Do it now. Zoe, get ready; we haven’t got much time. We’ll have to get out and back before he sends down our next meal or we’ll be stuck in here. You know he leaves the dumbwaiter down until we send back the dishes.”
“Okay.” Isabella handed her a thick hoodie. “But if you find a way out, don’t come back. Go for help. The highway is east of here. I remember turning left onto a bumpy road before I fell asleep. If you make it to the highway, you’ll be able to get a ride into town.”
Ava pulled on a second pair of socks and pushed her feet into her boots. “Okay.” She took the coat and helped Zoe through the small hole. Using a chair, she climbed up and lowered herself inside the wall. To her right, she could just make out Zoe’s white sweater moving slowly away from her. The girl had walked away without any sign of fear. The unemotional response worried her. It was as if Zoe had become complacent, being a prisoner. She lowered her voice. “Be careful.”
Swiping at cobwebs heavy with dust, she swallowed the lump in her throat, and taking small steps, moved toward the breeze. The walls smelled bad, as if an animal had dragged its dinner inside to eat and left bits of it to rot. Underfoot, the boards creaked and when her foot sank into more than a few soft spots, panic had her by the throat. If the floor gave way, she could fall through at any moment and be stuck inside the walls forever. Taking a few breaths to steady her nerves, she ran her fingers along the gritty, rough wooden beams that crisscrossed the wall. In the dim light, she tried to ignore the unidentified objects brushing her cheeks and kept going. The need to get away far outweighed her fear of confined spaces. Ahead, she made out the corner of the house. A beam of light streamed through a manhole in the floor above, no doubt to give access to maintain the dumbwaiter. A makeshift ladder formed from the corner house beams led to the open hole. She’d have to risk Preacher detecting her and climb up to reach ground level.
The ladder wasn’t in the best of shape and nails stuck out all over hanging loose in the rotting wood. She swallowed hard at the thought of falling and lying injured inside the walls but grit her teeth, tied the arms of the coat around her waist, and pulled herself up. Breathing heavily, she climbed. The crumbling steps disintegrated at her touch but she kept going. The next moment her feet slipped and chunks of the ladder fell away. Hanging by her fingertips, she stifled a cry, and spread her feet looking for the logs that made up the cabin walls. Terrified, she hung like a bat trying to regain enough strength to go on. It seemed like hours had passed by the time Ava reached the main level of the house. Filthy and dying of thirst, she poked her head through the manhole and peered around. A door was directly in front of her and the double-walled passage went both ways. Gasping for breath and arms burning from exertion, she clambered out the hole and sat for some moments to gain her breath. Conscious Preacher might hear her, Ava pushed down the waves of panic making her hands shake and moving as swiftly as possible, headed toward the light streaming through a gap in the floor a few yards away.
Crawling on hands and knees, she edged closer, wishing she had gloves to avoid the splinters from the rough floor. Blackened wooden boards had rotted away leaving a jagged gap. With one hand on either side of the hole, she poked her head through and stared at the confined space under the cabin. Sliding like a snake, she dropped through the hole and belly crawled over rocks and dirt to the snow-covered ground surrounding the house. She bit her bottom lip. It would be easy to follow her trail in the snow but she had no choice. She made her way to the edge of the house and stared with relief at the tall pines surrounding the cabin. If she could make it into the forest, she would be harder to find. Finally free, she stood on trembling legs and dragged on her coat. The icy chill bit into her skin and snowflakes melted on her hot cheeks. She took one look behind her and crept into the forest. Before she’d made cover, she heard a door creak open.
“You’ll be sorry.” Preacher elongated the words in a sing-song fashion as if taunting her but it was his chuckle that made her blood run cold.
Thirty-Six
Inside the wall of the cabin, an icy breeze brushed Zoe Henderson’s cheeks like the cold breath of a grave. The torture of indecision threatened to crush her as she edged her way forward. How much time did she have before Preacher sent down the dumbwaiter and sealed her inside the coffin-like walls? She moved as fast as possible, batting away cobwebs carrying fat spiders and searching for a way to escape. Ahead of her the only light came through a few tiny gaps between the logs. There had to be another room in the cellar. Above, she could clearly make out footsteps. Was he coming down the stairs? Had he heard them inside the walls? Surely Ava had gotten away by now. She’d headed toward the breeze, there must be a break in the rotting wooden floor somewhere.
The footsteps stopped and Zoe held her breath. No voice came from behind her, Isabella was playing her part and pretending to be asleep. Edging forward, her hand brushed against something metal. Frantically she searched the wall. Her fingers closed around a doorknob. A pulse thumped in her ears. It was now or never. Turning the handle gently, she almost cried out with joy as the door opened. She peered into a dark room and listened. Not one sound came from inside. Fear gripped her as she pushed open the door and stepped into the room. The air had a strange smell, like the meat department in a store. She ran her hand over the wall and frowned at the unmistakable slide of thick plastic under her fingers. Before she had time to think, a bright light blinded her. She staggered back, fumbling for the door handle. Then she heard a voice.
“Ah, so it’s you.” Preacher sounded calm. “I wondered which one of you would come first.”