A Reckoning in Mayberry

Part 8/2 Fall Two

Rose Marie seemed to be completely under William's spell, or it could be the baby's spell. Magdalena was unsure. It did not matter, because short of opening the door and letting them walk out, Rose Marie seemed to be helping with their escape plan to dig out through a hole in the ceiling. William had been digging up for weeks and making progress, but he was really making progress now. Thanks to Rose Marie and the pickaxe.

The pickaxe was delivered unceremoniously, two days after a request was put in by William. They didn't know if Rose Marie had to think about the request, or if she just had a hard time finding it or smuggling it in. It did not matter because it was here now, and William was inside the Hope Hole picking away.

The hole had gotten so big that William had spent a day notching slots so that he could stand on a solid surface and and swing without having to stand on whatever they could stack to reach the hole. William apologized to any of the names that he vandalized to make the step slots.

"Don't worry," he whispered to the names, " I will not forget you. I will make sure you have your revenge."

William was now so far in the hole that he felt like he could swing away. The sound was muffled and unless Magdalena was directly underneath the hole, she could not hear the banging. Even Shania was not bothered by the tap, tap, tapping. She was currently sprawled on the beanbag taking a nap.

William had reached a point where he needed to notch another step. He was proud of his progress, and he did not want to slow down for a minute, so he was stretched out on his toes and swinging overhead as far as he could reach. Two more swings and he would have to take a break and then come back and notch those steps. He swung and a big chunk of rock came down. Rose Marie had not yet delivered the requested hard hat, and so the big rock hit William square on the head and stunned him to the point that he slipped and fell all the way down the hole. He grabbed for a hand hold in desperation but only caught air. The stacked ladder was never meant to catch a falling man. William landed on the floor of his prison at exactly the same time he felt and heard a loud pop.

As he fell, William looked up and could swear he saw a sliver, just a sliver, of light. Before he passed out from the pain, he started laughing and by the time Magdalena got to him, he was laughing so hard he was crying.

"What's so funny?" asked Magdalena who was certain that William was in shock. "What did you see?"

"Hope," said William who then passed out so suddenly that Magdalena thought he was dead.