ESCAPE
Chapter Sixteen
Her children in tow, Rose got as far away
from the house as possible. She was careful to close the kitchen door so that
no one would suspect how she got in. She never knew when another break-in might
be necessary.
Ten minutes later, exhausted, she crouched in
the dark street. Both children were now asleep on her shoulders, and she
awkwardly adjusted her purse. After resting for a little bit, she was on her
way again.
The night seemed hotter; the walk longer as
she made her way across dark streets.
She finally made it to the building she had
seen earlier; the one that provided cots at night and soup in the morning.
Seeing that all of the lights were turned off, she managed to get one of her
hands free and lightly rapped on the door. It was some time before a worn-out
woman opened it a few inches and peered out at her. "May I help you?"
"Yes. I was wondering if my children and
I could spend just this one night here?"
"Sorry. You have to come earlier than
this. We have no extra beds and besides, lights out at nine. We can’t have you
barging in and waking people up." The woman stared at Rose’s new dress,
shoes, purse, and well-fed, finely dressed children. "And the people
you’ll be waking up are in a far worse situation than you." With that, the
door was closed, and Rose could hear the woman quickly retreating.
I disagree, Rose thought to herself about the woman’s last
comment. But I guess it’s for the best. Once Cal realizes that Jacob and
Jayvelin are gone, he’ll triple all the men posted and won’t eat or sleep until
I’m found. At the thought of sleep, Rose realized how tired she was. It had
certainly been a long day for her. It was hard to come to terms with the fact
that just twenty-four hours ago she had been in her lumpy bed at the asylum.
But how could she rest? There was nowhere but the rock-hard ground, first off,
and she was sure to be robbed the second she closed her eyes. And second, come
morning, every inch of the city would be searched for her.
Weary, hungry, and aching, Rose set upon a
journey to get her far from Philadelphia. where there was nothing but a life of
strict imprisonment and towards California, where the sun shone all year long
and the poor lived like kings.