Chapter 31

The following day, Holly left for a walk, telling Mr. Caliban she would not venture too far. She tucked her suitcase next to the house which allowed for her to gain quick access and to make a quick getaway. The girl walked through town, a place that was home to her and was also safe. She smiled at many of the local people and did stop to chat briefly if they approached her. She exchanged simple pleasantries such as the weather and what she or they had been doing. However, this walk was not for leisure and was not part of a simple plan.

Getting close to Mr. Telltone's household, Holly used her spyglass to view the home at a safe distance. She waited and knowing that it was a sunny day, Mrs. Telltone and their daughter would eventually come out to enjoy the good weather. A pleasantly cool breeze was rolling of the fjord but did absolutely nothing to damper one's enjoyment of it.

In time, her patience was rewarded and the elderly woman and a young woman, quite a few years younger than her own father at the time, come out to sit with lemonade in their hands, a very pleasant drink for a very pleasant day.

The girl retracted her spyglass and then began to casually approach, waving to them as if their meeting was simple happenstance. They signalled to her to approach, and she did so, coming through the white-picket front gate and towards the lovely, decorated porch which had carefully carved shrubberies in front of the white-painted railings and lovely lilies and azaleas hanging from above.

"Holly S., how lovely to see you back," Mrs. Telltone said. "It feels like it's been much too long."

"It certainly has and thank you, Mrs. Telltone, I have missed home dearly," the girl answered.

"My husband tells me that your father is away on business again and you were staying with a family friend."

"I still am he's a nice man named Mr. Clarke. My father is coming back in a few days, but I missed Arcanum enough that I convinced my companion to come back early."

"I certainly do not blame you," Mrs. Telltone's daughter chimed in. "We all miss something when it's gone…"

From what research that I could find on the youngest child in this local family. Her name was Edith Telltone and she worked for the second most important bank with the third most important financial advisor in the city. She was vying for a promotion within the following months and would return to Arcanum once again to pop a bottle of champagne with her parents as a celebration. She seemed to be a nice woman with nice facial features and eyes that shone when she was happy.

"So, what brings you back to town?" Holly asked Edith. "How is the "big" city?"

The three women chuckled at the remark as the city she spoke of was not a big city, but rather a medium-sized one that was still polluted and rather crowded. However, it can be assumed that often small communities such Arcanum consider even medium-sized cities "big" compared to their own.

"Certainly busy. My boss, Ms. Haines has me working long hours with scarcely time for lunch. However, it pays quite well and I am due for a promotion within the next few months."

"That's wonderful," the Snicton girl says, doing her very best to remain attentive in order to discover the information that she needed.

"I came for a much-needed holiday and to help mother install her new curtains."

"Yes, they are simply to die for. Edith bought them for me in the city. Every wealthy person is using them right now."

"I saw them in this thing called "IN Magazine" and even some of the financial advisors have installed them in their own homes," Edith explains, removing an issue from the stack of magazines placed on the table positioned between the two women, a place where one could sit back for an afternoon and read under the shade of the porch with the occasional breeze rustling the pages. She opened to the page that contained the curtains and showed them to the girl. Holly nodded politely.

"It is rather strange to be obsessed over curtains of all things," Edith muttered to herself. "And what's in-style and what isn't. It often seems like the city is a completely different world from places like Arcanum. Tall buildings, bustling streets, mild-mannered and ill-mannered people, it's all like walking on the moon and the trends there are beyond unusual. My boss has been to board meetings with the other banks, and everyone is in pinstripes, a really odd fashion choice. I don't find them particularly slimming either. And apparently, they're trying to become more environmentally conscious… at least I assume that's what they're doing. Half the advisors in the city are living in darkness. Thank goodness my boss is smarter than that."

"Fashion and popular trends fail to resonate with me as well," Holly said, growing tired of the small talk about curtains and pinstripes and wanting the key to the rest of her plan. "My mother always called it a fool's gold, giving a person a fake sense of worth and value. So when are you heading back?"

"Tomorrow at about 6:00 in the morning," Edith answered. "Because I need to be in the office by 9:00."

"Well, we're certainly going to miss you dearly," Mrs. Telltone said, her once beaming smile now reduced to a frown.

"You and Father could come and visit me in the city," the daughter suggested.

"We will try dear, we will try, but with the coming summer season, you know we're going to be very busy."

"Of course, and so will I," Edith nodded.

"Well, I think I will be heading home," Holly said. "It was so wonderful to see you again Edith and I'll see you soon Mrs. Telltone."

A lie that did not sit well in the girl's stomach.

"Goodbye Holly, and please tell your father hello when he returns. He and I have yet to finish our last poker game," the elderly woman smiled.

"Same from me," Edith agreed. "Goodbye Holly."

"Goodbye Edith, Goodbye Mrs. Telltone, see you real soon."

Of course, as Holly Snicton walked back down the neat path and through the white gate, she knew how hollow her words would be. Like fool's gold, they were worth nothing as they were a lie and in fact, Holly would not see anyone from this small seaside town for some time. While she had no ability to realize this at the time, there was a heaviness that can only come from leaving the familiar and the valuable for fakery and worthlessness… and her case, possible danger.

Counting down is a skill that a child often learns in their early lives or when they attend school for the first time. The ability to count forwards and backwards can be impressive if one can count back or down from an extremely high number and not make any mistakes. It is part of our lives, sometimes appearing in common or unusual situations. Count downs are often seen when space vehicles are about lift off into the sky or when a New Year is approaching meaning it is a time for celebration that includes noisemakers and tasty pistachios. They can also be heard when a person is about to begin a foot race or counting the days down until a specific holiday or birthday. All these elements of counting down have one specific thing in common… time. Something we wish we could have more of it or want to turn it back to prevent the horrible and regrettable mistakes that a person might make in their lifetime. Our lives often revolve around time; about when we get up or fall asleep or when we must report to work and that night in the home of Holly Snicton, when another person goes to work was imperative for the girl's plan.

After a quiet and rather uneventful dinner with Mr. Caliban, Holly had found herself watching the time and counting down. She had a certain number of hours, a rather high number at the time and it relied on not making any mistakes. She was not rushing off to watch a space shuttle launch or counting down to the new year… the use of noisemakers would spoil her need for stealth and absolute quiet and she did not have time for pistachios. She would be participating in a foot race of sorts, but not in the most typical sense.

The girl continued to watch the clock on the fireplace mantel, running the hours down in her mind. She also had one more dilemma to solve. Whether she should use the front door or slip out her window. The door would no doubt be locked, she always heard the VFD agent lock everything at night, and if her current companion slept on the couch, very close to said door, she ran the risk of being discovered. Plus, she also had to consider the squeaky floorboards. While she could easily memorize which ones to avoid in her aged old house, there was still a chance that she would miss one and ruin everything. Her other option was the window, which still posed many problems. It was unlikely that she could use a ladder because Mr. Caliban would notice and question its presence by her window, but the longer she thought about it, she wonders if she could perhaps fashion a rope of some kind to get out and lower herself safely to the ground.

Her mind would reel for approximately two hours as she sat in the living room with Mr. Caliban reading and enjoying cups of tea. While her supervisor took it without sugar, the girl did have some, unknowingly breaking a long-held family custom that also necessitated the use of a particular vessel for storing something sweet.

At 8:00, she decides it's time to head up to bed and figure out the rest of her plan.

"Well, I am going to practice the violin for a little while and then go to bed. I am awful tired."

Mr. Caliban nods, scarcely looking up from the book he was reading.

"Please let me know in the morning if there's any news on the Quagmires," she added, continuing her ruse to make the man believe that she would be present for breakfast the next morning.

"Of course," Mr. Caliban said. "Have a good night Holly."

"Good night," the girl said before vanishing upstairs, not to see her living room for a considerable amount of time.

At 9:00, Holly puts down her violin. While she did not intend to play it as long as she had, she knew it was her last chance before it went away for a while. Playing her favourite songs allowed her to forget the anxiety of her plan and her need to continue counting down the hours to execute said plan. She polished her instrument and put it carefully back in its case, showing a great degree of respect and care that her former vice-principal never had. Before shutting the lid, she gazed at herself in the polished wood, wishing that she didn't have to leave one of the last pieces of her mother behind. It had travelled far and wide with her and now, it was being put in a safe place.

However, since the discovery of the crawl space, Holly now had more from her mother, specifically another kind of instrument… but first, the girl had to fashion her rope.

She went down the hall towards the bathroom, hoping that Mr. Caliban believed that she was brushing her teeth but stopped at the linen closet. Quietly, she opened it and looked for the old sheets that no one used anymore. They were a particular abhorrent pattern and her parents refused to use them, even if there were no clean sheets in the house. They told Holly that they were from someone they were not fond of and that could use them when she built pillow forts or tents, but even the little girl didn't want to use them either. There would be no objection to using them for a rope to get out the window.

After actually brushing her teeth, Holly returned to her room at 9:30 and shut the door. She then began to rip the ugly sheets into long, but sturdy strips that could hold a 15-year-old's weight. When it came to tying them together, she recalled Violet talking about using a knot called the Devil's Tongue knot for a grappling hook she'd invented. However, Holly S. did not know how to tie such knots, so she went into The Incomplete History of Secret Organizations for possible instructions. Counting down the pages, the girl did not find the Devil's Tongue knot, but rather the Sumac knot, which worked rather well when climbing tall objects.

Once her rope was fashioned, she tested it to see if it would reach the ground, and then tied it to her bed, the sturdiest and heaviest thing in her room. She then got ready for a few hours of sleep, knowing that she could not stay up all night. A lack of sleep would hinder her entire plan and she knew what could happen without any form of sleep.

At 10:00, the girl climbed into bed and gazed at the clock, still counting down the hours. She turned out her light and attempted to rest. Sleep did not come easy, but she was still determined to get a little bit.

At 11:00, she got up for a glass of water and saw that the lights were still on and the sound of China plates being clanked together along with running water, meaning Mr. Caliban was doing the dishes.

At 12:00, Holly awoke to the sounds of dogs barking and Mr. Caliban shouting into the night.

At 1:00, she got up again, this time to refill her glass of water and saw the lights were still on, but the sounds of pages being turned, meaning he was now reading.

At 2:00, she peeked out her door to see the lights still glowing and the fireplace crackling. The fire poker could be heard prodding a log in the metal grate. Her hear raced in fear that Mr. Caliban would never go to sleep and the risk of being discovered became much greater.

By 3:00. Holly had been tossing and turning, very afraid that the VFD agent would not sleep at all.

She calmed herself a little bit and slept until 4:00. When she got up and went into the hallways, to her great relief, the lights were out, the fire was not crackling and the faint sounds of snores were heard, meaning Mr. Caliban was finally asleep.

At 5:00, Holly could no longer sleep. Her countdown was closing in. She was up and getting dressed as quietly as she can. She picked clothes that were comfortable and would be easy to move in while riding in the taxi. She then organized her suitcase and bag. She also opened a bag of pistachios to give her some energy.

At 5:30, she put her note to Mr. Caliban under the slot of her door and then opened her window. She tied one end to her suitcase and then slowly lowered it to the ground. She did the same to her shoulder bag.

When she checked the clock again, it was 5:45. Without another thought, she held onto the rope for dear life and slowly lowered herself down. It was terrifying, being so high up and very afraid that the rope would break. She decided to take her mind off her fear was to count down the steps she took as she used the side of the house to walk herself down backwards. When she finally reached the sand, she had no time to praise herself or celebrate the count down as she had to move.

Taking her bags, Holly ran through the town, using the shadows of the trees whenever she could. The early morning air stung her a little bit, but the determination to not let this plan fail kept her warm.

She counted the steps to the Telltone's house, only glance at the clock in the centre of town once to tell her it was 5:50.

At last, the little yellow house, which looked rather gray in the morning light, came into view. The lights were on and a yellow taxi was parked and running idle.

Holly then knew what had to happen next.

She watched as the driver puts Edith's bags in the back and slammed the trunk shut. Edith was with her parents, still talking and not noticing another person getting closer and closer.

Holly crouched down beside the yellow car and scrambled to find what she needed in her bag. Her father had driven enough taxis for the girl to know how to open the trunk only a little bit.

At last, her hand found the tiny metal device. The extra key her father had for the trunks of taxis. It was rather fortunate that all taxis had the same key for each vehicle.

The sounds of the Telltone family still chatting provides Holly just enough time to put the key in the slot and open it just enough. She lifts her suitcase in, just as the driver honks, indicating it's time to go. The clock on the dashboard indicates it's 5:57. The sound sends a shock into the stowaway girl's body, but she finds her focus. She opens the trunk just enough to slip inside.

When darkness surrounds her, she breathed a small sigh of relief and closed the trunk but wedged a small piece of cloth between the gap of the lid of the trunk and the car, to allow for air.

The voices still continue as Edith Telltone climbed into the car and bid her parents goodbye for "a little while" and they said they would count down the days until she returned. If I could go back in time and inform Holly S. that it would be longer than "a little while" for her to see her hometown again. That her return would be much longer to count down and would not be as impressive due to the circumstances in which she would come back. If I could tell her that she would face dangers, additional hardships, awful disguises, a few fools' gold hopes and a horrific tragedy that even I myself cannot fully fathom all these years later, then perhaps it would have saved a few of the tears she would inevitably shed in the coming weeks. And perhaps the next chapter in her own series of unfortunate events would leave her wishing that she had remained in a safe place or never left the darkness of the trunk. But sadly, I cannot do any of these things, just as much as I cannot stop that taxi from driving away from Arcanum.

For now, I will allow my relative to revel in her triumph of her plan going almost perfectly and permit her to count down the miles leading her towards her friends and the city. As for me, I will count down the days until the next tragedy in her journey occurs.

A/N: Sorry for the delay and Please is right, you are human, not immortal so here is the next chapter. Special Thanks to Guest, Your lover and Russ Acedera for the encouragement. Also special nod to Bragnation who may not be able to comment as often but is always a supporter.

For BookwormQueen, Holly had a date with Duncan and she has strong feelings for him. My hope is to "ship" them with each other, if the story pans out, but as we know... there are no happy endings Not here and not right now.