Hope To Escape

by Jack Parker

  Slowly, they made their way back to the car. Max was very careful to ease Ess's way as well as he could. Ess's head ached more than ever and she could feel the blood slipping down her nose.

  "Keep your head down." Max cautioned. "You don't want the blood running down your throat."

  Ess did as he said, but it made the pain in her shoulder sharpen, and she wasn't able to keep her head down for long. Soon enough, she tasted blood in her mouth, and felt it trickling down her throat. This made her stomach queasy, and added to her present misery.

  They made it to the car, and Max helped her lower her bruised tailbone into the front passenger seat. She shifted around to relieve the ache that spread throughout her lower back, but there was no position that she could sit in that made her more comfortable.

  Max grabbed a paper napkin from the glove compartment and held it up to her nose to catch the blood. A few seconds later, the bleeding finally seemed to stop.

  "Well, you're a fast coagulator."

  "What?" Ess creased her eyebrows in a rather adorable way.

  "Ah, sorry," Max felt silly, "Just trying to be witty."

  Ess suddenly snorted a small laugh, which immediately started the bleeding again.

  "Oh, shoot. I'm sorry," Max reacted, putting the napkin back to her face. "I'm so sorry."

  "Really, you shouldn't apologize so much." Ess said. Her voice was nasally because of the pressure Max placed on her nose. This caused Max to grin, which made Ess realize how funny she sounded. The sensitive state of her nose kept her from snorting again, and she fought to keep a smile from forming on her face. She couldn't show any weakness to this man.

  "That's better." Max grinned again as the blood stopped gushing for the second time. "How's your shoulder?"

  "Hurts like hell." Ess was careful not to breathe through her nose for a while. She could feel it swelling, and at the moment, that pain outweighed the soreness in her shoulder and in her backside. "But I'll live."

  Max laughed. "Yeah, I think you will."

  "So, now what?" Ess had no idea where to go from here. So far he didn't seem intent on harming her, but she still didn't know what to expect.

  "Well, it's late." Max glanced at the clock on the dash. It glowed 1:48. "Or early, depending on how you want to look at it. It's cold, and your covered in blood. There's a cabin not to far from here. Can you walk?"

  "Ah, I think so." Ess still felt dazed and tired, not to mention cold and confused.

  "Good. I'll get the bags, if you'll hold the flashlight."

  "How far is it? I mean, I don't see a cabin, and this road, or whatever it is, looks like it continues on. So, where are we going?"

  "That way," Max pointed in a direction that ran almost perpendicular to the road. There was no path. "It's about two-thirds of a mile from here. I don't want to park the car too near to our location. It might draw some attention we don't want."

  Attention he doesn't want, Ess thought. She, on the other hand, would be better off if she could point others in the right direction. Maybe she'd have a better chance of being rescued. She thought about what she could do while Max opened the trunk and began retrieving bags.

  He fished through a suitcase - her suitcase - and pulled something out. It was her winter coat. He offered it to her with the intent of helping her put it on. Rather than accepting this gesture, Ess grabbed the coat and began to place her arms through it herself. Her shoulder protested vehemently, but she ignored the pain so she wouldn't look like a fool for refusing his help.

  As she went to zip the coat up, Ess realized that she still had the bloodied napkin in her hand. This gave her an idea. "Do you have any more napkins?" she asked, then quickly added a good reason. "In case the bleeding starts up again."

  Max was quick to oblige. "Of course." He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a handful of napkins, handing them to Ess along with the flashlight.

  Soon they were off on foot, side by side: Max with his burden and Ess with the light to guide them. It wasn't long before she began carrying out her plan. Max kept close and watched her scrupulously, eager to help if she showed the slightest sign of faltering. It wasn't easy to tear the napkins into smaller pieces inside her coat pocket as she went along, and drop them on the sly so that Max couldn't see what she was doing. It worked for Hansel and Gretel, so Ess hoped that it would work for her. Of course, using breadcrumbs didn't didn't do very much good for the fairytale siblings and Ess wasn't sure if the wind would carry her paper trail away, but it was worth a try.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The wilderness preserve was a long drive north, and Roden's BMW began to run low on gas. Fortunately, the old gas station near the entrance to the preserve was still there, just as Roden had recalled from years ago. Good thing, he observed, otherwise he would have to turn around and attempt to make it to some other distant station. That would have cost him time . . . and peace. He knew Manda would be all over him for that little screw up, and he'd had enough of that already.

  He was lucky that the dilapidated old place was open at nearly three in the morning. There were no other customers around. In fact, he hadn't passed anyone on the road in hours. The lack of traffic couldn't be good for business.

  As he pulled up to the only pump the station had, Manda stirred from her uncomfortable sleeping position in the front passenger seat. Her bobble-head doze couldn't have been very restful, but she had exhausted herself with her emotional outbursts and could no longer stay awake. Martin stayed quiet in the back seat. Roden imagined that he had probably fallen asleep over the past few hours, as well. The doctor himself was alert. His worry kept him wide-awake.

  He opened the car door, allowing a rush of frigid air into the car, and Manda moaned at the unpleasant chill. Rising from his seat, he stretched his limbs, and winced at the soreness in his muscles.

  Just as he was about to shut the door, he heard Martin speak. "Let me out, too, please. I need to use the restroom." Roden pushed the driver's seat forward, and let the tiresome man out. This, Roden pondered, was why his father had always ended up exasperated by the end of their old family road trips. He'd have to apologize to the old man the next time they spoke.

  Together the two men walked into the store. The old bearded man behind the counter looked surprised to see customers at this hour, but didn't say anything. His one exposed eye watched the two men as they approached the counter. Martin (obviously, discomforted at the sight of the eye patch) reluctantly asked the old man if he could use the restroom, and Roden asked if there was any coffee brewing.

  The old man grunted as he pulled out the key with its extra large wooden key chain and handed it to Martin. He simply pointed the way to the restroom outside, using his thumb as a guide. Martin then made a quick exit. Apparently, he really had to go.

  Then, the old man hobbled out from behind the counter and shuffled over to an industrial grade coffee pot. It was empty and the heating plate was cold, but the man flipped the switch and quietly filled the pot with water from the fountain.

  Roden smiled. "Thank you."

  The old man looked up and smiled back. "So what brings ya out here this time a' night?" Roden's appreciation for the coffee apparently loosened the old man up enough to reveal his curiosity.

  Roden took a moment to decide on his story. "We're meeting a friend of ours. He's staying in one of the wilderness cabins."

  The old man nodded, accepting this answer, so Roden decided to push for a little information. "You wouldn't happen to have seen him would you? He's in his late twenties, brown eyes, sort of messy brown hair – you know, that modern fashion the younger guys are wearing nowadays. May have been wearing a bomber jacket."

  "Yes," replied the old man, "Oh, yes. I remember him. Not many customers this time a' the night. Fact, 'tween the lot of you, you're the most customers I ever see any night."

  "Really?" Roden was amused at the thought, and had to inquire, "May I ask why you bother staying open all night then?"

  "Sure,
" grinned the old man, "and I'll be happy ta tell ya. It's 'cuz I'm married." He laughed. It was a high-pitched hissing sort of a laugh, like he had just told the most hilarious joke of his entire life. Roden couldn't help but laugh a little in turn.

  "The only way ta git away from the old lady. This here," he waved a hand around the store, "This is my alone time. Most a' the night I spend readin', or fixin' the old lady's appliances. Even surf the net." Roden glanced towards the checkout counter and caught sight of a laptop glowing in the corner.

  "Been dabblin' in stocks. Very lucrative business. Done pretty well in it. Haven't told the wife 'bout it yet, though." He laughed again and made to poke Roden in the ribs with his elbows, but was polite enough not to make contact. "Truth is, I've been plannin' a getaway for a couple a' months now. Gonna surprise the old ball-n-chain with a trip to the Hawaiian Islands. Ha, ha. What a laugh I'll git outta her reaction ta that."

  "No doubt, no doubt." Roden laughed with him. As entertaining as the old man was, Roden found that they were getting off track in regards to the information he needed. "Say, how long ago did you see my friend come through?"

  The old man replaced his grin with a pondering look as he tried to recall. "Oh, 'bout two hours ago maybe. Said he'd been travelin' most a' the day an' was lookin' forward to settlin' in. Had a young lady with him. She sat out in the car, though. Only stayed long enough to fill up his tank an' buy some food an' batteries. Thought maybe he was on his honeymoon?" The old man pried again.

  "Ah, no." Roden cut the curiosity short. "She's just a friend."

  "Ah, I see. Well, I think he may have a crush on 'er, then. Kept lookin' out the door the whole time he was in here, like he couldn't git enough a' lookin' at her."

  That thought didn't make Roden feel any easier about the situation. "Did he say which cabin he was going to be staying in?"

  "Can't say as he did. Didn't he let you know? Bein' as you supposed ta meet 'im there an' all?"

  "Ah, guess we forgot that part of the arrangement. You wouldn't happen to have a map of the different cabin locations?"

  "Na, don't keep such maps here. Ya have ta go ta the Ranger's Station for that."

  "Oh."

  "Yup, but it doesn't open 'til 'bout eight in the mornin'."

  "Eight in the morning?!" No! That would put them several more hours behind.

  "That's right." The old man seemed content that he was able to help, not knowing that the new information made Roden physically sick all over again. "Ya know, though, I could draw ya up a quick map. I know where all the cabins are. Been roamin' the wilderness preserve for 'bout forty years now."

  "Really?" This was too good to be true. Roden was actually getting one break tonight. "I would be very very grateful."

  "Not a problem." The man beamed, "Not like I got anything else ta do 'round here right now." While the coffee brewed the old man skirted back to the counter. He pulled out a scratch pad and began a drawing of lines and boxes, showing Roden the directions as he went. A few minutes later, Roden was folding a detailed, if not well scaled, map and stuffing it in his pocket.

  The path basically looped around the entire preserve. The only problem was which path he should take when he got to that initial fork in the road. He couldn't really remember which cabin he had dropped Max off at the first time he was there. It had been so long ago. He did remember making a right turn at the fork. Was it right?

  After buying some packaged doughnuts and a bag of pretzel twists, not to mention several bottles of water, Roden headed out to the car while blowing on his steaming coffee. Manda was out of the car and standing by the pump. Roden cleared his throat as he came up behind her, trying to avoid startling her. He deposited his purchases in the car, and inserted the gas pump into his tank to fill it with the fuel he had just prepaid for.

  "Sleep well?" He wasn't sure if he asked her out of concern or because he kind of enjoyed riling a bitter reaction out of her. If it was the later, then it wasn't a healthy interaction that he was aiming for, and he realized that he better start checking himself.

  The question did receive a bitter reaction. She rolled her eyes and turned up her nose. "This place is dirty and it smells. I can't wait to get going again. Where did Martin go?"

  "Is he still in the restroom?" Did the man need to do more than just urinate? Roden wanted to get a move on, as well. "I'll go check on him while the gas is pumping. Keep your eye on it. Don't let it go over twelve gallons. It's an old pump and I don't know if it stops automatically."

  "Right, right." Manda rolled her eyes again. She did that a lot. Roden was surprised she didn't pull any of her eye muscles.

  He turned and headed in the direction of the restroom. On the side of the building was a wooden door stained a brownish yellow with age. The doorknob was completely rusted, but the dead bolt looked new. A plastic sign on the door, though chipped and coated with an oily dirt, appeared to indicate that it was a restroom. It read: 'Gotta pee? Get the key'.

  Roden knocked on the door, and waited. No reply. He knocked again. Still no answer. So, he knocked harder and shouted Martin's name. He didn't hear a stir. It was strange. If there was something wrong with Martin in there, Roden would be livid. He didn't need any more complications.

  Again, he pounded on the door and shouted "Martin! You in there?" Before he finished his pounding, Martin appeared out of the dark, coming around the corner from the backside of the building.

  "Jeez, I'm right here. Cool it, will you?" He tossed the butt of a cigarette on the ground before Roden, and extinguished the cherry with a twist of his foot.

  "What?" Roden was getting fed up with this guy. "Where have you been? You said you were going to the restroom? We need to get going." He turned and headed back towards the car.

  Martin caught up with him. "Man, I'm sorry." He nudged Roden in the arm with his elbow and whispered, "Listen. Don't tell Manda what I was doing, okay?"

  "Huh? Why not?"

  "Well," Martin's whisper was tinged with guilt, "I told Manda I was a non-smoker. I'd hate for her to know that I lied."

  Roden had to hold his breath to keep from laughing out loud. The only reply he was able to give by the time they reached Manda, was an amused glance and a nod. What a fascinating pair Manda and Martin made.

  * * *

  The cold was biting in the middle of the woods. There weren't any tall building walls and pavement to hold in the heat like in the city. The numbness that Ess felt earlier in the night crept back into her feet, and the hand that was wrapped around the flashlight ached with icy stiffness while the other grasped the remaining napkins in her coat pocket.

  Max was too busy balancing Ess's suitcase, his duffle bag and several sacks of supplies while watching their footing to make any further attempts at conversation. He wanted to, he ached to earn her trust, but his concentration was more important elsewhere at the moment. They would have plenty of time to learn about each other when they made it to the cabin. He had a feeling that they would be there together for awhile.

  By the time the dark shape of the cabin was in view - complete with a chimney that must be connected to a fireplace - they were both grateful. In covering the last several yards, they alternately dragged and pushed themselves forward, resolute towards crossing the threshold. Ess felt so thankful when she pulled herself up on the single cement stair at the cabin entrance, that she breathed her relief heavily and sighed aloud, "Finally."

  Max gave her a sheepish smile, feeling the fault again for putting her through this trial. She didn't see his expression in the dark. It was just as well. She had told him to stop being sorry so much. He really should work on that.

  Since he didn't actually reserve the cabin at the ranger station, he had no key, nor had he been certain that the cabin wouldn't already be occupied. There were no signs of occupation now. That was one plus tonight. How would he explain it to Ess if their hideaway was already inhabited? He'd lose any ground he had gained with her. That was, if he had gained any ground in the f
irst place, which he wasn't certain he had.

  "Hmm," Max hummed as he patted his pockets, "Uh oh."

  "Uh oh?" Ess wasn't stupid. She knew what that meant.

  "I, ah, seemed to have mislaid the key." He realized that this search of his clothing was a bit over the top, but he never was a very good liar.

  "Oh, really?" If Ess wasn't cold and with a crazy stranger, she would have been amused.

  "Why don't I just try to break in for now?" Max finally determined.

  "Good idea." Ess didn't care at this point. She was cold and tired. Besides she wasn't an accomplice in this. She was a victim. Let him break more laws. It was his jail time he was racking up.