Solid Walls

Chapter Thirty

Willa had been pacing and weeping for hours. Sam sat with her most of the morning, begging her to save her strength, to not give up. But Willa couldn't see the point. Tomorrow morning, her dad would come drag her away, and she wouldn't be ready. She still didn't understand this room, this house, the reasons she'd been feeling this way for so long, but she knew she couldn't leave, couldn't be taken away, not that far away. There was nothing she could say or do, no place to run or hide—

But then the glint of faraway light outside the window caught her eye, and she stopped pacing. She remembered Sam and Nell, prying the boards from the walls just outside and finding...something. She hadn't been able to see very well, but they'd said it was a hidden space, some kind of passage. Nell said there could be more. She said they could be everywhere.

Willa started looking wildly around the room, grabbing at the walls, kicking the floorboards. She bunched her little hands into fists and hit every inch of wood she could reach until her skin was red and sore. She kept prying and scraping, searching for some crack or opening or key, until she was totally spent and back to feeling stupid and helpless.

Then, after hours of expending every ounce of adrenaline she had, she must have finally done something in just the right way. A soft sound made her turn and stare at the wall behind her desk. She wiped her eyes and swallowed hard. She took two halting steps forward then paused. No. Not yet. She'd do what she should have been doing all day and conserve what remained of her strength. She'd wait till the time was right, till everyone was asleep. Then when they came for her, she'd make sure that for the first time in a year, this room that sat above them all like a weight crushing their shoulders would finally be empty.