Renée

Chapter 29

After Nigel returned, he explained the plan on how we would get out of the estate. To my surprise, the plan was well thought out, considering how he only had last night to come up with it.

"Are you sure we're going the right way? Isn't this just our usual route for our daily walks?" Gwen asks as we move through the forest.

"That's the point," I say as I casually stroll down the path, glancing back at her. "We're trying to make it look as if we're doing nothing out of the ordinary."

"I'm not sure we're pulling it off with these thick cloaks we're wearing." Gwen gasps. "It's so hot out, and there's barely any wind."

"It's a little warmer than I thought it would be underneath the cloaks." I sigh.

"A little warmer is an understatement. It's brutally hot."

"Just be grateful we won't have to wear it later today. Could you imagine what it would be like without any of the shade from the trees in mid-afternoon?" I glance at the leaves overhead.

"I don't want to imagine it."

"Then we're on the same page." I notice the ivy covered estate walls approaching in the distance. "Thank God we're almost there."

"Those are the estate walls, the ones we pass every day we take a walk, right?" Gwen asks.

"They are."

We stop just a short distance away, and she stares at them with a focused gaze. "Such beautiful craftsmanship. I can tell a lot of effort went into putting these walls up."

"It's fascinating, isn't it?" I smile.

"It is." She looks towards me. "But how are going to get out from here?"

"You'll see in a second." I look around to make sure there's no one else around before I walk to the wall. I reach my hand through the ivy.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asks, confused.

I glance back and smile. "Just wait and see," I say as I drag my hand across the stone, searching for the opening. When my hand falls off the stone, I pull back the ivy and reveal the rusted gate.

Gwen's eyes widen. "Has that been here the whole time?"

"It has."

"Seriously? I wouldn't have known."

"Only three people know it exists: me, Nigel, and now you."

"Wouldn't this be an easy place to breach the estate?"

"I've thought about that, but no one else seems to know it exists, so Nigel and I aren't that worried about it." I grab the bars and pull the gate open. At least this time I don't have any trouble, though there's a bit of rust on my hands. "After you."

I motion for Gwen to walk through the opening as I hold the gate open. She nods and hesitantly steps through towards the other side. I follow behind and close the gate, placing the ivy back in place to hide the opening. I then pass through the ivy on the other side and step outside the wall to see Gwen looking around in awe. It reminds of the first time we snuck out from the estate before she woke up here, when she was still Maryanne.

"This is incredible," she mumbles.

Chuckling, I move the ivy back in place. "I'd like to let you keep looking, but we can't waste any time here. Nigel said we have to walk east towards a massive tree. He said it would be obvious which one he meant."

"This is the east wall, so we just have to walk straight?"

"Supposedly that's all we need to do."