Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“How did he find us?” Katie whispered, as we tip-toed back to the steps at the other end of the room. The footsteps stopped, I’m not sure if hearing them or not was more shrilling.

“You two get the other set of stairs! I saw them come up here.” Shaw’s footsteps became quicker along with two sets of others. That’s it, I thought, we’re done for!

            We stood against the railing above a horse stall. Suddenly having an Idea I nudged for Katie and Red to follow me over the railing.

“There they are!” A man shouted, two men rushed from one side and Shaw came walking steadily, like a cat chasing a mouse. Before I could think I hopped over the railing still holding on, I dangled a foot over the top of the horse stall.

“Let go!” Red shouted, I straightened my legs and decided it was now or never. I let go. I landed on top of the stall for a split second then fell off. Katie and Red followed me and both landed exactly how I did.

“Let’s go!” I shouted and we dashed towards the door.

“GO, GO, GO!” Shaw shouted to his group, they ran across the bridge and down the stairs.

            Just as we made it to the door Shaw grabbed Red by the collar of his shirt and held his arms behind his back. We turned to him, out of breath and scared to death.

“Where’s the map!” Shaw shouted at me. I kept my mouth shut.

            He wore the same clothing as he did the first time we saw him. They were much grimier and I could smell the overbearing sent of beer and weed.    

“Did you hear me boy!” He boomed, he yanked Red’s arm abruptly upward.

“Ahh!” Red cried, out of habit he raised his foot and kicked Shaw, probably thinking that he would let go. Shaw took one fist and smashed it into Red shin. Again Red cried out in anguish. All Katie and I did was stand there and watch, afraid that if we did anything he would attack us too.

“You’re going to tell me where the map is“ Shaw said quietly, “or I’m gonna kill you’re little friend here!” He shouted

“Why should we do anything for you?” Katie snapped

“Why should I?” he laughed as if it were a joke, he reached into his back pocket revealing a pistol, “This is why sweetheart” he sneered at her. He directed the barrel at Katie, not daring to move she stood still. He pulled the trigger.

            The deafening sound that followed the trigger was almost unbearable. I looked at Katie who was still standing staring at Shaw. There was a hole in the barn door where the bullet had pierced.

“Next time, I won’t miss” he said.

            Suddenly the door burst open, Sesenta and an older man-most likely her father-came barging in, hitting my head on the door in the proses.

“Who in the heck do you think you are, coming in and shooting up our barn!?” Barked. She stomped right up to Shaw’s face with fire in her eyes (I have to admit, she looked hot when she was mad).

“Sesenta, calm down.” Her father told her as he pulled her away gently by the shoulder.

            She took a few baby steps backward but still continued to glare at Shaw as if he came from the sewers.

“Like my daughter said, what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry to disturb your family sir.” He said as it were a revolting word, “I was just-“ he stopped and I smiled, there was no way he could possibly cover up all of this.

“I was just retrieving my boy here.” Red looked up at me with panic in his eyes.

“Uh huh.” Sesenta’s father said, “And who are these two kids who helped my daughter clean the barn?”

“Only a couple of hoods who convinced my son to take a trip with them” Shaw replied.

“A couple of hoods?”

“Yes”

“Who clean barns?”

“Uh, yes…..Sir” Shaw proposed.

“Right, and who are the two men with you?”

“My other kids”

            I looked at the other two people who had chased Katie, Red, and I. One of them had a bulge in his shirt most likely form a gun. He was tall and lanky. The other was slightly shorter and had a good build.

“Quite a family” Sesenta spat with her hands on her hips.

“Sesenta, please” her father told her patiently, then directing himself to Shaw he asked his final question, “What is his name?”

“His name?”

“Yes” Sesenta’s father repeated.

“Red, sir”

            Numb I stood still trying to stay calm and cool, but I’m pretty sure I was having a heart attack.

“Take your kids and get the heck out of here.” Sesenta’s father told him.

            Shaw grinned a grin that only a mother could love. He looked at us and with his arm still firmly clutched to Red’s. His black greasy hair was disgustingly falling over his forehead and eyes. He stepped towards the door and sneered quietly, “See you in a week, California, you want your friend, right? Meet me at the Russian shop, an equal trade. Red, for the map.” He showed his teeth and breathed in my face. His breath reeked, as it did when we first met almost 2 weeks ago. He snickered, “you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into.” He stood tall again and walked out.

            Car doors slammed and I watched them drive away in their red Triumph. There was nothing I could do! Sesenta’s father wouldn’t believe a bunch of kids his daughter picked up on the side of the road!

            Soon they both left Katie and I in the barn alone. We paced the wooden floor like no other could have done. Soon we started thinking out loud about what to do.

“Call the police?” Katie asked.

“What about the map? Shaw will never leave us alone and we might never find Scott or Red.”

“Plane tickets? Without Red we wouldn’t use as much money.”

“We can’t get on a plane unless we have a guardian.”

“What do you suggest?” Katie questioned me with annoyance.

“Hot wire a car?”

“Naw, that wouldn’t-…WAIT!!!” Katie screeched, scaring me and half the horses nearly to death, “Brady, you’re a genius”

“Say it again.” I joked, “Why?”

“Honestly?” Katie asked as if I were a complete idiot.

“Yes, I’m not as smart as you.”

“When Sesenta asked her gung hoe work mom she turned off the car but left the keys in the station wagon.”

“So we wait until everyone is asleep and steal the car?”

“Right! But steal is an over statement.” Katie said.

“Borrow without asking?”

“Good, do you know how to drive a stick shift?” she asked.

“A little, I dabbled before my parents died.”

“Ball of sunshine aren’t ya?”

            It took forever before all the lights in the house went out. As we occasionally looked out the enormous door Katie had the bright idea to turn the barn lights off. Only moments after we did so the last lamp fade away.

“Finally, let’s go.” I told her.

            We took our knapsacks and Red’s (which was no relief to our backs) and stepped out into the darkness of the night. There was no moon that was there to illuminate against the metal of the car since it was covered by the dark clouds.

“Where is it?” I asked myself aloud as I stepped through the dark dreariness of the night.

            Walking a little further my foot slammed against the tire of the metal car. Trying not to utter a word of my pain, I hopped on one foot clutching the other in my hand.

“Ouch!” I muttered under my breath.

“Shut up” Katie hissed at me, “Get in the car.”

            I obeyed with clenched teeth as I opened the door to the station wagon quickly setting my stuff inside and silently closing the door careful not to make any noise.

“Are the keys in the car?” Katie asked. I felt for where the keys should have been. My ears had been shattered by the noise the many key chains made when I turned the keys into ignition.

            We were welcomed by a low hum of the engine and pleased with the noise level.

“What are you waiting for? Start the car!” Katie told me. I stepped on the gas pedal and our stolen car lurched forwards a few times then accelerated.

            I turned on the headlights and watched the house become smaller and smaller as we sped away.

“I didn’t know you had that much guts.” Katie told me.

Unsure if it was a complement or an insult I replied, “Leaving the warden’s domain was gutty. This is just stupid.”

“I’ve known you ever since you came and I still can’t figure you out.” She told me.

“Yeah? Well I’m not exactly an open book.”

            After darting across the seemingly unending bumpy road we came to the main road. Turning to the right we began yet another long road ride. It felt weird to have a car that would obey my every commandment and turn left or right. Scott and I had been driving ever since we was 14 and still didn’t have any driver’s licenses. No matter though, if I did have a reputation with society, it wouldn’t have had any blotches. Perfect record!

            Soon I started to wonder whether or not we could get Red back without giving that creep, Shaw, the stupid map. It was like he had been plagued by a sickening disease. Sort of like the gold fever our class had learned about when we were young. Suddenly I had an idea.

“Katie!” I blurted.

“What!” She screamed back at me.

“If Shaw would go to the trouble of kidnapping Red wouldn’t that mean the map could actually lead us to something important?”

“My gosh, Brady you’re right!” Katie said excitedly.

“Make a copy of what we have everything, the writing, the world, the everything!”

“Why?” she asked.

“If Shaw gets ahold of our map, that filthy jerk will get away with kidnapping, murder threats, and who knows what!” I said.

            As Katie worked franticly to copy the map I stepped on the gas pedal trying to get as far as I could. While the road passed by too quickly to piece any of it together, I was grasping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles were white.

            Finally the triumph came into view. With the station wagon in full gear we couldn’t speed up any more. The car easily outrun ours. And yet it lagged behind, the driver was Shaw, of course. He was taunting us, and I hated it. I stuck the stick into a different speed shift and we sped up and rammed into the back of the Triumph. It lurched forwards and slowed down some, then I did it again. It did the same.

“Brady what are you doing! You’re going to kill us!” Katie shrieked.

            One of the unknown men turned around and pointed a gun at us.

“Duck!” I shouted. No sooner had we done that when a shot was fired. It smashed through the windshield. And I rammed the station wagon into the car again, sending it flying into a ditch.

            I stepped on the break and pulled the emergency break also. The car squealed to a stop. I jumped out and ran over to the edge. It wasn’t a deep hole, just enough to get the car stuck.

“RED!?” I shouted into the hole. There was a long moment of silence. My gosh, I thought, I killed him! My heart was pumping so fast I thought it could had cracked my ribs and fallen out. My hands were shaking so hard I could feel the bones beneath the flesh rattle.

“Brady! You sure are somethin’ else!” He shouted back out to me. I heard him crawl up the small hill and finally saw him.

“Shoot you scared me half to death.” I said. A few moans came from the wreckage below.

            His brown eyes looked back at me, “Let’s get a move on.” I smiled and we hoped back into the station wagon and sped off.