In Red

Chapter 11

"ARE THE REST OF THEM COMING TOO? 'CAUSE THEY SEEM KIND OF loopy."

"Of course they are," answered Joseph, unwilling to share, amidst the stressful situation, his friend's playful tone.

They were now in Roxanne's room. The doctor had insisted on checking the wound condition first of all.

"You're getting it all wrong. They don't want to leave. And the worst of the matter is that if we do, Mr. Harris will hurt them."

Joseph put some dry gauze dressings over the wound and began to secure them with paper tapes.

"We'll stay here. We'll stay until Harris comes back and we'll have a word with him."

"I think he's already made his point clear enough. Do you honestly believe it's gonna be any use?"

"So what do you intend us to do? Take them against their will?"

"No way," Alan responded gravely. "You're embarking on too big a crusade. I told you before. And now that we're here, I see it all the more clear."

Joseph stood looking at him, as an obvious prelude to a fatal ultimatum. But Alan did not provide him with the opportunity.

"We'll do whatever you want. I just need to have a clear conscience that I've warned you of all the potential setbacks I can see coming."

"Thank you."

"What is it you want from us?" suddenly asked Celeste, who was sitting down on the floor, in a corner at some distance.

Joseph endeavored to grasp every shade of meaning hidden in the girl's voice before providing an answer.

"We just want to help you. Help you get out of here, like you already tried to do on your own."

"But, why?" now spoke Roxanne. "What do you expect in return?"

The question made absolute sense to everyone there, except to Celeste, who then realized that was exactly what she herself was referring to.

Joseph exchanged a needless look of agreement with Alan.

"I'm your brother," he confessed. "One of the many children Leonard has scattered here and there. I think this alone is reason enough."

"But...," Celeste decided not to finish her sentence, more and more conscious of how little she knew. The best thing would be to talk with her sister, who seemed less surprised by each new piece of information.

"Anyhow, we don't know how long it'll take Mr. Harris to come back. Maybe, even our father will come first."

They were all amazed at the easiness with which Roxanne had picked up the original matter, after Joseph's shocking declaration. He was actually expecting a stronger reaction – of frustration maybe? – in her.

"She's right," Alan said. "We've no idea how long we will have to wait."

"Listen, man, I'm doing this! If you wanna help, fine... If not, nobody's forcing you to stay."

Like any other loud sound in the castle, the echo brought back an amplified version of Joseph's annoyance.

His friend left the room.

After briefly roaming around the ground floor, he came across the exit to the walled back garden and sat on the steps, which reminded him – as it had surely happened to Roxanne conversely – of the ones in Joseph's yard.

When he had remained there for a couple of minutes, he saw that across, in the distance, among the trees, a grey dress was watching him.