Awake

Chapter Twelve - Hide-and-Seek

"We can find a staircase on our own."

Jonathan backed slowly through the door, pulling Lucia with him. He pushed it shut behind them and leant against it, breathing hard.

"They found us so fast," Lucia whispered. "Do you think...?"

"They can't know," Jonathan answered, sounding more confident than he felt. "It's just bad luck. Joseph was hurt last night...he probably wasn't paying so much attention..."

Lucia leant against him for a second, trembling. Jonathan stroked her back absentmindedly. He wished there was a way to solve this that didn't put her in danger. It had been one of the primary attractions of Lucia, that she was an outsider to this world.

  The room they were in was a small backroom, something like a larder. A door led out into a garden and, from there, across the fence were only a few streets until you reached the woods... That was the way out. Just one door, a sprint in the open, and then they would be back on Jonathan's ground, headed for safety.

Jonathan reached out and ran his hand along the shelves until he found an iron key, large and old-fashioned. He closed his hand around it, tested it in the lock. It fitted.

"We're going to make a run for it," he whispered. "Stick close to me and do exactly as I say."

Lucia nodded seriously.

"There's nothing up here!" a voice called from high above them.

Jonathan's heart did a little panicked skip. All of Joseph's incriminating evidence would be hidden somewhere; the officers might never find it. But the most incriminating evidence was Jonathan and Lucia and if they couldn't get out without being noticed, Joseph would be dead by morning.

  The key slipped into the lock and turned with a loud, decisive click. Jonathan eased the door open and the hinges creaked audibly. He flinched, paused, but there was no sound except the boots of the officers as they tramped back down the stairs.

"Now," he told Lucia and shoved her out into the garden.

It was lucky she got the message, and that she was fast. She broke into a run, dashing across the short strip of grass while Jonathan pushed the door closed again as quietly as possible, leaving the key on the doormat outside.

"Hey!" a voice called from overhead. "Hey, there's a girl running across the garden!"

Jonathan swore loudly. They'd left someone looking out of the window. How was that fair? He took off running after Lucia, overtaking her just as they reached the fence. He grabbed the top and kicked with his legs, scrabbling until he fell face-first over the wall.

  Lucia landed on the ground next to him with her knees scraped and a tear in her skirt, a fierce, blazing look in her eye. She grabbed his collar and hauled him up.