The Curse of the Lion's Heart

by Angella Graff

  “Oh love, we all know your daddy isn’t coming,” Daniel said with a sneer. “Seems our little friend here decided to sneak out all on her own, with only little Jackie to keep her company. No one has any idea where you two have gone, am I right? Not even my father?” Daniel sneered at Jack with narrow eyes.

  “When he finds out what you’ve done,” Jack warned.

  “He won’t find out, and you’re a fool if you think he’ll care. How do you think he got so rich, Jackie? Certainly not stocks and bonds. Certainly not working a single day of his life. No, he made his money by acquiring things, and now he thinks he’s above it after he retired. Now he thinks he can tell me what to do, how to live my life. Thinks he can tell me to go to school and get a job and work for what I earn while he sits around in his mansion paid for by stolen goods.” Daniel threw his head back and laughed, his head shaking a little from side to side. “He won’t miss you, you know. He’s never liked you. You’re too much like your father. Too curious. Too good.”

  Jack’s face was white as Milton Barnes dragged him across the room and sat him down in the chair. I noticed then his hands were tied behind his back with duct tape, and I could see the roll around Milton’s wrist. I thought briefly about escape. Could I make it past them out the door? Could I jump out the window?

  Milton must have seen my wandering eyes because he laughed his creepy, nasal laugh and said, “Oh, I don’t think so my dear.”

  I had never been so terrified in my life. I couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks, though I stayed completely quiet and still, as Milton pressed my hands together and wrapped the tape around my wrists. I winced as he cut the tape with a small pocket knife, and made a little, “oomph,” sound as he shoved me into the chair next to Jack.

  I pushed myself back into the cushions as far as I could go, trying to calm myself and keep my fear under control. I’d never been in a situation like this. Not even when the cranky old professor, who’d stolen from Magellan, had caught me in his office was I this afraid, this trapped. I took in a shaking breath and dared a glance at Jack.

  He looked somewhat scared, a little peaky, but his face was set in a firm glare, his eyes fixed on his cousin and Milton who were talking quietly across the room. I couldn’t hear them, but the way Jack’s eyes moved between them, I could tell he was reading their lips.

  “Are we going to die?” I whispered, my greatest fear bubbling up from my lips.

  He glanced at me and chanced a small smile. “No, Alex, I promise we’re not going to die. These two are creeps, but they’re not going to kill a couple of kids.”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back. “Your cousin seems pretty unhinged.”

  “Yeah, he’s the only one who might give us some trouble. Lucky for us, though, his father never trained him.” It was then I realized Jack was doing something behind his back. I stared over with a frown and realized he was working at the tape, moving his wrists from side to side, clenching and unclenching his fists. The movement was so soft, so subtle, I wasn’t surprised Milton and Daniel hadn’t noticed.

  A few minutes later, while the other two men were still talking, I saw Jack’s hand get free. He slipped it in and out of the tape, and when Daniel looked over at us, Jack secured his hand where it had been. He was free though, and hope flared up in my chest.

  “Put them in the back bedroom and guard them,” Milton finally said. “Our buyer isn’t going to be here until noon, and there’s no way we can let these two out of our sights before then.”

  “You know we can just get rid of them, right,” Daniel said, shooting me a wicked smile that made my heart plummet.

  “Don’t be an idiot, boy,” Milton snapped. “Put them in the back bedroom, the one with the walled up window, and don’t let them out. I have to appear at work at least once in the morning. I know Ethan will have the authorities out looking for his daughter the moment he notices she’s gone, so I have to make sure I have my alibi set straight.”

  With that, Daniel and Milton marched us down the hall to a tiny, freezing cold, empty room with a bricked up window. We were shoved inside and I heard a lock click from the outside the moment the door shut. The moment we were alone, I burst into tears. My panic and fear was overwhelming and I was absolutely certain in that moment we weren’t going to get out alive.

  “Hey, Lex,” Jack said, freeing his hand from the tape and taking me by the arms. “I know you’re freaked out, but I’ve been in worse situations, okay? I’ve had a gun pressed to my forehead and I’ve made it out alive and well. I need you to stay calm for me. Can you do that?”

  I was able to focus on the steady confidence of his words and get my tears under control. They still fell freely down my cheeks, but I was no longer sobbing. Jack made quick work of the tape around my wrists and when my hands were free, I swiped them across my cheeks. I let myself take in a few shaking breaths and then remembered my phone. However, when I patted down my pockets, I realized that Milton must have taken it.

  “They took mine as well,” Jack said, circling the room. There was an air duct in the ceiling, but it was the size of a brick, and there was no closet. The door was obviously being guarded by Daniel, so trying the lock would have been pointless, and from what I could see, there was just no way out.

  “My dad is going to freak out,” I moaned, sliding down against the wall and putting my forehead against my knees. “I can’t believe I let myself get into this mess.”

  “You do realize if my locket leaves this city, the world is doomed,” came Elizabeth’s voice from beside me. I looked up and glared in her direction as she said, “You need to pull yourself together and bring my locket back. That boy out there has it.”

  “I’m aware of that, thank you,” I snapped at her. “As I’m sure you’re aware that Jack and I happen to be stuck in this room, so complaining to me about the locket isn’t doing us much good.”

  “Is the ghost here?” Jack asked with wide eyes.

  I nodded miserably and looked back at Elizabeth. “Any suggestions on how we get out of here?”

  “Why can’t your thief here pick the lock on the door and then overpower that man? He doesn’t seem like much,” she suggested.

  I relayed that message to Jack who rolled his eyes. “Like I hadn’t thought of that,” he snapped. “Unfortunately my stupid cousin knows exactly what I’m capable of and he’s taken all of my lock-picking stash. Even the ones I hid in my shoes. We’re well trapped.”

  Elizabeth huffed and crossed her arms. “Were I queen, he’s be arrested and executed by dawn.”

  “Well you’re not queen, and since I’m the only one who can see you, it looks like you’re not going to be much help.”

  “Hopefully you’ll sort this out before sunset. Otherwise people will start dying and the curse will start spreading. Good luck.” And then she was gone again, leaving me more miserable than ever.

  “What did she say?” Jack demanded as he continued to explore every nook and cranny of the room, though there weren’t many at all.

  “Only that if we don’t get the locket back to the museum by sunset the sick people are going to start dying and the curse is going to start spreading.”

  “Brilliant,” he said sarcastically. He finally sat across from me and put his hands to his temples, massaging them gently. “I just… I need to think. I need to come up with a plan. Give me time. I swear I’ll get us out of here.”

  I wanted to believe him, I really did, but in that moment, Jack looked defeated. I knew if he was defeated, we were probably both doomed, and if Daniel didn’t end up disposing of us, the curse certainly would.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alexandra’s Great Escape

  I couldn’t be sure how much time had passed, and as much as I was absolutely terrified, at some point I slept. Jack did, too, and was still asleep when I woke with a start. I’d almost forgotten where we were and what had happened until I looked around at the bare room. It was still pretty dark, but the ligh
t under the door had grown brighter and I realized it was at least day time.

  I started moving a little, stretching the kinks out of my back I’d gotten from sleeping on the floor, and the motion woke Jack, who sat up with a start. He rubbed his eyes and stretched his head from side to side.

  “Do you think he’s still out there?” I wondered quietly.

  Jack gave a shrug and then dropped down to his belly a few feet from the door. Pressing his cheek to the floor, he peered under the crack and then sat up. “It must be early morning. He’s out there talking to Milton.”

  I groaned and rubbed my eyes tiredly. “My dad is probably freaking out.”

  “As is my uncle,” Jack agreed. “He may not like me, but he’s always been very careful about what I got up to. Daniel was right, my uncle was trained as an Ainsworth thief and he knows I was, too. He also knows I always make it in before sunup, so he’s going to come looking for me.”

  “Here?” I asked hopefully, thinking maybe we’d be saved.

  Jack shook his head. “I don’t think he has any idea what his dear son’s got up to this past year. We need to get out of this room.”

  Suddenly we heard footsteps approaching the door and I could see every muscle in Jack’s body tense. The lock clicked open and Jack took a step back, blocking me slightly with his body, as the door opened. Daniel stood there, looking grim and a little crazy, his eyes wide and wild.

  “Milton’s gone. He thinks we can just let you lot go when we’ve passed off the locket, but I know better. Father may not have taught me much, but I’ve observed enough to know that you don’t let the witnesses go. Witnesses talk.” He took a menacing step forward, and then Jack sprung.

  He was almost like a cat, catching air as he flew at his cousin. He managed to get one of Daniel’s arms behind his back, and with reflexes I could only ever dream of, he reached into Daniel’s pocket, grabbed the locket and flung it at me. “Run!” he cried as Daniel struggled.

  The locket hit me in the chest and I grabbed it, ducking beneath the two wrestling cousins and I did as I was told. My feet made a hollow tapping noise on the bare floorboards as I raced down the hall and took the steps two by two. I heard a violent crash and a cry, but I kept going. Going and going down, I reached the front door. It was locked, and I was scrambling to unlock the deadbolt when I heard Daniel cry, “Stop, or I finish him!”

  I froze, my face growing hot, and I turned slowly. My eyes widened in horror as I saw a long, sharp, knife pressed to the side of Jack’s throat. Jack’s hands were behind his back and he wasn’t moving a muscle. Daniel propelled him down the stairs, step by step, until they were two away from the ground. I stood, my back pressed to the door, the locket clenched tightly in my hand.

  “Give it here,” Daniel said slowly, “or I’m going to do him in.”

  Jack gulped and gave a small shake of his head. I looked at the knife, and then at my balled fist where I held the locket. “You’re going to kill us anyway,” I said, unsure where I found the strength to speak. “You said so yourself.”

  “Hmm true,” he said with a small smile. “Smart girl to remember. But do you really want to let your friend here bleed out? I’ll do it, you know. I have no love for my cousin. Watching him bleed to death on the floor would be kind of… fun.”

  I felt sick as I could see his eyes light up with that thought. My hand began to shake and I felt sweaty all over. “I’ll give you the locket, but you have to let us go,” I said firmly.

  Daniel pressed the knife harder into Jack’s skin, cutting it a little. Jack cried out as a small drop of blood trickled down his skin, and I felt my breath catch in my throat. “How about you give it to me, and I make it quick? Painless?”

  “No,” I said. “Let him go, and you can have it.”

  “Just run, Alexandra!” Jack cried, and then whimpered as Daniel pushed the knife even harder.

  “It seems we’ve reached an impasse,” Daniel said, tilting his head to the side. “Why don’t we—” but his words were cut off when Jack suddenly stomped on his foot. The knife sank deeper into his neck, but Jack didn’t seem to care as he reached up, hitting Daniel in the nose, and he grabbed the knife from his psychotic cousin.

  “Go!” Jack cried.

  I turned, trying to turn the lock but it wouldn’t open. I looked back at Jack, panicked as he struggled to keep his cousin down. “It won’t open!”

  “The kitchen!” he shouted back at me. I ran, but just as I rounded the corner, a hand caught my wrist and I turned. Milton was there, his beady eyes wide and furious, his nostrils flaring as he squeezed my wrist. My hand opened involuntarily and the locket clattered to the floor. He shoved me against the counter and I cried out with pain as the wood dug into my back.

  “Very clever, but not clever enough,” he sneered at me. One hand still on my wrist, he bent down to pick up the locket. He shoved it in his pocket and then turned back to me. His free hand crept up slowly, pressing to my neck, and he gave it a little squeeze. “And here I thought we’d be able to just let you go. You should have just stayed quiet.”

  His grip tightened and I felt for that moment this was it. It was over. My life was ending. No more middle school, no more Penelope. And the world was going with it, as the curse would take over. I had failed, and there was no escape now. Nothing left. His hand grew tighter and I felt my breath hitch. My eyes were fixed down on the golden buckles of his shoes and I wondered, just for a split second, how I managed to get myself into such trouble, how I let my entire life flush down the drain because of one, greedy museum curator. All for what? A ghost’s missing stuff?

  As I closed my eyes in panic, my desire to breathe growing more frantic, something happened. I heard a noise, shattering glass, and a man yelling. There was a breeze from outside, and suddenly Milton’s hands were gone and I slid to the floor. I pressed one hand to my neck and looked up, gasping for air as I saw a police officer, gun drawn, backing Milton up into the corner of the kitchen.

  There were more officers then, a blur of black uniforms racing through the house and everything was so confusing. I was crying again, I think, but I couldn’t be sure. It was definitely shock, my brain told me, but I couldn’t make sense of anything as an officer took my arm and led me outside where an ambulance waited. An EMT was there, pressing gauze to Jack’s bleeding neck.

  Things started to clear then, as I saw Jack smile at me, throwing me a thumb’s up, and I looked at the officer who was speaking in a rapid voice, asking me questions I hadn’t heard. “I’m sorry, I’m… I’m…” I said. My voice was hoarse, my throat aching from being nearly strangled, and I gave a little cough.

  Then suddenly there were arms around me, and a familiar cologne. My dad had arrived, and he was squeezing me so tight I couldn’t breathe. I really cried then, holding on to him for dear life as I realized that I was safe, the locket would be returned, the bad guy had been caught, and we were alive. Jack and I were both alive.

  I felt my dad running his hand down my hair and his voice in my ear telling me that I was okay, that it was going to be okay. When he finally let me go, I swiped the tears from my cheeks and cleared my throat. “Hi dad,” I said, and tried not to look at his own tear-stained cheeks.

  He looked like a combination of relieved, terrified, and absolutely furious, and I wasn’t sure if he was about to hug me again, or possibly ground me for the rest of my life. He gingerly touched the sore spot on my neck, which was probably going to bruise pretty badly, and he shook his head, tears in his eyes. “Oh Alex,” he whispered.

  Fortunately the officer who had been walking with me came up and took me aside, saying he needed to get a statement. My dad seemed pretty annoyed by the whole thing, and talking wasn’t high up on my to-do list with how sore my throat was, but I just couldn’t face that fear in my dad’s eyes right then, so I agreed to give a statement.

  I wasn’t sure what to say, though, knowing if I told them Jack’s secret, he could get in big trouble. So… I lied. “When m
y dad told me the locket had been sent for restoration by Mr. Barnes, I got suspicious. I decided to sneak into his house and see if I could find it, and Jack saw me walking down the street. He tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen, so he followed me into the house. That’s when Mr. Barnes and some other man I don’t know grabbed us and tied us up. We almost got away after that other man opened the door, but he caught Jack and put a knife to his throat. Mr. Barnes found me after that, and tried to choke me, but then you guys came in and um… you know…” I trailed off with a shrug, my voice shaking and a slight feeling like I was going to be sick all over the grass. I knew I wasn’t making a ton of sense, that I wasn’t speaking as clear as I normally did, but my nerves were still raw and I was still trying to deal with everything that had just happened.

  I glanced over at Jack, who was watching me talk, and I saw him very carefully mouth, “Thank you,” in my direction. I gave a very slight nod and turned back to the officer who was writing all of that down.

  “Well, we caught Mr. Barnes, but the other man managed to get away before we could catch him. Could you give a description of him to our sketch artist?”

  “How about let her calm down first,” my dad said, stepping in swiftly. “She’s obviously been through a lot, and I know her mother would like to take her home and make sure she’s okay.”

  The officer and my dad started talking about what to do next, victim rights and all that stuff, and honestly, I was just tired and ready to go home. I saw one of the officers give the locket to my dad and in that moment, I felt an almost physical release, like the curse lifting. I couldn’t be sure of that, maybe it was my imagination, but I knew then it was going to be okay.

  Once Jack was patched up, we sat on the edge of the open ambulance and watched as the officers tucked Milton Barnes into the back of the police car. I let out a breath of relief. “Well that was um…”